Michael Vick is a douchebag and people need to start admitting it.

I’ve been wanting to address this for a while now, but wanted to wait to see where it was heading before I did.

On April 25th, authorities searched Michael Vick’s (RB of the Atlanta Falcons, and no, “RB” is not a typo) Virginia property and found 66 dogs inside rows of cages on the property. These dogs were malnourished and many of them had injuries, and were heavily scarred to the “face, head, ears, chest and front legs.” Also found on the property: equipment used for training fighting dogs, such as “treadmills, chains, whips, and injectable drugs.”

Before I get any further into it, I’d like to give a plug to PFT. They run an amazing NFL blog called the Rumor Mill, and there truly is no better source for NFL news. Much of the information contained within has been compiled from PFT.

Regarding the dog fighting allegations, Vick, of course, used the “I don’t know anything” defense.

“I’m never there. I’m never at the house,” Vick said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I left the house with my family members and my cousin. They just haven’t been doing the right thing. The issue will get resolved.”

“It’s unfortunate that I have to take the heat behind it,” Vick said. “If I’m not there, I don’t know what’s going on.”

Uh-huh. Right.

From PFT:

Our own Taco Bill found the web site for Vick’s K-9 Kennels. The Vick in question is clearly Mike Vick. The site shows an address of Moonlight Road in Suffolk, Virginia. [Unsurprisingly, there is no Moonlight Road in Suffolk, VA. ] Coincidentally, Wednesday’s raid occurred at an address on Moonlight Road in Smithfield, Virginia. Also, the site identifies the company as “Vick’s K-9 Kennels c/o MV7, Inc.” The owner of the property that was searched is Mike Vick and MV7, LLC.

The website, which is now (SURPRISE) down, depicted a breeding company, largely for Pit Bulls and Presa Canarios, aggressive dogs commonly used in dog fighting operations. It also featured pictures of the dogs and kennel, which matched up quite nicely with overhead pictures taken of the Vick property after the raid.

As the story continued to develop, neighbors began coming forward, reporting sightings of Vick on and around the property. Additionally, clerks at a nearby store stated that Vick comes in to buy “lots of supplies” for the dogs, including syringes.

Which leads to the next point: financing. All of the residents of the Vick property are currently unemployed. It’s estimated that it would cost over $100 a day, just to feed the animals found on the property. Who paid for the concrete slabs and row of cages to be constructed in the back of the property? Who paid for the treadmills? Who’s paying for the drugs? It seems obvious that Vick is the only one with that kind of disposable income. And his trips to the local store prove it.

Vick put the property up for sale shortly after the story started to gain some traction. While it was appraised at $747,000, he accepted an offer of $350,000 the same day it was put up for sale. Fire sale anyone?

The Virginian-Pilot has reported that authorities are have an informant who has seen Vick at dog fights. The informant has been “100 percent reliable” in the past, according to Mark Kumpf, former president of the Virginia Animal Control Association and a consultant on the case.

Sportscenter has just recently started covering the topic, with a 30 second to 2 minute piece, coming once every few days. These pieces don’t address the investigation so much as they report what other people are saying about it…mainly NFL players.

Which leads me to Ray Buchanan, Jamie Dukes and Clinton Portis.

First, Buchanan. In a May 11th interview with Steve Duemig of 620 WDAE in Tampa, Chris Landry of Fox Sports Radio stated that, former Falcon, Ray Buchanan told Landy that Vick is directly involved in dog fighting:

“He tells me that Michael has been into this dog fighting for so long that…he not only knew about, he is behind all of it, he’s paying for all of it…Apparently, he’s into it big time.”

Landry also said that Vick was trying to recruit teammates to become involved in the “sport.”

Buchanan later denied saying any of this, stating: “I don’t know anything about Michael being involved in any of that and I would not snitch on a player if I did. I’m a player’s mouthpiece.”

Landry has refused to retract his statements, standing by the fact that Buchanan informed him Vick was involved.

In a segment on the NFL Network, Jamie Dukes stated that he would not believe any of the allegations involving Michael Vick until there was a “cell phone picture of [Vick] at a dog fight.” Are you kidding me?

And then came the best of all, Portis.

“I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it’s his property, it’s his dog,” Portis told WAVY-TV. “If that’s what he wants to do, do it.”

When the reporter pointed out that there dog fighting was a felony, Portis responded by saying, “It can’t be too bad of a crime. You want to hunt down over fighting some dogs, you know, I think people should mind their own business.”

He further added, “You take someone who is doing positive in the community, you take a positive role model and put him behind for no reason. You know, over a dog fight?”

Nice, Clinton. Very nice. Yes, Michael Vick is nothing short of a “positive role model.”

Thank god Portis hasn’t procreated.

As some of you may be aware, Michael Vick, has had some “issues” lately.

• April 2006: Vick settled a case with a woman who alleged that Vick had knowingly infected her with the herpes virus. Documents showed that Vick had visited a clinic to get treatment for his “condition” under the alias of Ron Mexico.

• Nov 2006: Vick was kind enough to give all 60,000 fans in the Georgia dome a symbol of his gratitude.

• Jan 2007: TSA officials at Miami airport obtain a water bottle belonging to Vick, found to have a hidden compartment that contained “a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana.” Vick later said the bottle was used for hiding jewelery. That’s why you threw it away? Despite the reports, Vick was cleared of any wrongdoing.

• April 2007: Shorly after the VT shootings, Vick issues a press release stating, “When tragic things like this happen, families have enough to deal with, and if I can help in some small way, that’s the least I can do.” Small way is right. he donated a whopping $10,000. Vick has a $130 million dollar contract. As pointed out by PFT even if he managed to only tuck away $10 million of that, “$10,000 is less than one week of interest earned on the money.” Comparably, Justin Hamilton of the Cleveland Browns donated $50,000 of his own money. As a rookie with the Browns in 2006, he made only $275,000 in salary.

• Vick was then scheduled to make an appearance in Washington D.C. as part of an effort to raise money for after school programs. He missed his flight, re-booked on a later flight, while at the airport…and missed that one too. Needless to say, he didn’t make the appearance.

And finally, that leads me to my point: Where is the outcry on this subject? It took the AP over a week to pick up the story at all, and even then, their coverage was brief and uninspiring. The news networks have barely given any time to this story whatsoever. As PFT so pointedly addressed:

This coming just a few weeks after we beat a 60-something-year-old man to death for calling a bunch of women’s basketball players an off-color name.

If Vick is ever indicted, this will become a much bigger story. But Don Imus got a nationwide blanket party and he didn’t come remotely close to breaking a law. How is it that one of the primary faces of professional sports is getting a pass from the press, especially when the evidence already indicates that the man is lying about what he knew and when he knew it?

A poignant question and one that needs to be addressed.

Read the updates on this story here.

~ by Kyle Davidson on May 21, 2007.