I think Vick should have to wear Dog Shit cologne 24x7 for the next 10 years.
I believe that he should receive the same options at the end of his active career (basically today) that he afforded to his fighting dogs when they could no longer perform. According to reports, those options were:
[ul]
[li] slammed to the ground until dead[/li][li] wet down and then electrocuted[/li][li] drowned[/li][li] hanged[/li][/ul]
Any one of those is good; unlike the dogs, he’d be allowed to choose.
Sailboat
Face up or face down.
On this issue, I think they could get a lot of cross-over support. Animal rights in general is not too much of a hot-button issue for most Americans, unless the animal in question is a dog or a cat. Then they will freak the fuck out.
The list of succesful celebrities who earned millions of dollars and still went broke because of poor financial decisions is longer than my arm. And a lot of them were folks who seem to be pretty smart in general. Just judging by this particular controversy, Vick seems dumber than a sack full of hammers, so I don’t much expect those tens of millions he’s already earned to last him for too long. In fact, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he’d burned through most of the money he’s earned even before this dog fighting thing blew up in his face.
Not that I’m an expert, but I really doubt it. I know they have gyms in prisons, but I don’t think he would get to use one as often as he does now. He wouldn’t have trainers, he wouldn’t have first rate equipment or whatever high-tech stuff the team might have, he wouldn’t be practicing any of his football skills, and he probably wouldn’t be eating right either. I’m just musing; somebody like Qadgop could give you real information. But I’m sure jail time would do significant damage to the body of a pro athlete.
That agreement was put in place after Williams played in Canada.
That’s why you’re the… law-talking guy. So Canada is out, at least in the foreseeable future.
I have been unable to find a good cite for that new CFL rule (not allowing NFL-suspended players to play). I think I heard it on the radio originally.
You must be because I loved it. 
Here’s a conversation on the CFL’s own message board where it comes up: http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=19317. They also have their press releases on that website, and I thought I might find something about it in there, but NOPE.
Wouldn’t the CFL be out for the simple reason that Canada doesn’t let felons into their country?
John Clayton has an article on ESPN with some speculation about Vick’s future. He mentions the CFL but does not reference a league rule preventing suspended NFL players from playing. I recall there was discussion of adding such a rule when Ricky Williams came up here, but I don’t remember hearing that such a rule was actually added.
The CFL has barred suspended players starting this year
I remember this coming up during discussions on if Williams would come back to the CFL after failing a drug test again this year. For what it’s worth, I believe the Argos would have no interest in him returning even without the new rule.
According to the reportage going on on ESPN right now, he could get as many as five years in prison, but it’s more likely 12-18 months. That seems very lenient to me, given the sheer number of abused and murdered dogs involved.
Couldn’t each dog be the basis for a separate count of [felony] animal cruelty, at least in theory? If Joe Schmoe can get a year in prison for killing one animal, how can organizing the abuse of dozens of dogs (and participating in the killings of some) result in basically the same?
By the way the NFL rules are worded, there is a sliding scale of what the NFL will do to a player convicted of a crime. Fair enough - I don’t think a player convicted of desecrating a flag in North Carolina should receive the same post imprisonment punishment as the player who beat up his own grandmother for drinking money.
I understand, and share, the vitriol towards Vick, and also share the desire not to see him return to earning multi-millions a year. However, I feel like a hypocrite for that. If it was my neighbor convicted, while I wouldn’t be attending any more of his barbecues, I wouldn’t want him to be permanently jobless once he’s an ex-con. When he’s paid the price the law says is currently adequate (and I’m offering no opinion on whether it truly is adequate or not), once paid in full, an ex-con should have and needs a way to re-integrate into society. Should Vick’s conspirators be similarly permanently barred from any legal employment they may have had?
I’d love to see an No Escape type option - just toss violent offenders (and I consider Vick a violent offender) onto an deserted island with a guarded perimeter and let them all fend for themselves. That said, the British tried it once, and all it resulted in are Outback Steakhouses, Fosters, Crocodile Dundee, and Men at Work. The criminals got their revenge.
To add to this, there is a potential for the Falcons to sue Vick for his signing bonus back. There may be a contractual basis to get it back, a la Ricky Williams with the Dolphins (the signing bonus was a large part of the reason Williams had to come back).
I agree. He can play the repentant sinner all he wants, but that, combined with the gambling, would offer sufficient reason for the NFL to tell him he’s not wanted.
I haven’t seen much in the way of “repentant sinner”. And although I can understand that a criminal conviction (of any sort) shouldn’t necessarily cost someone their job, I think a lot of people sentence with their wallets, which would hurt the whole organization. I certainly wouldn’t buy a ticket/souvenir jersey/Falcons sweatshirt thinking that my money was going to support someone so loathsome. You get enough like-minded people and it ends up being more cost efficient to release him.
I wish, beyond (but including) a just punishment, that I could just shake some compassion into folks like this who don’t understand that what they’re doing is wrong. You can punish all you like, but without a cchange of attitude, what difference does it make?
StG
Because the Cowboys joke seemed just too easy?