Michael Vick Sacked By Nike, Reebok

Amid Dog-Fighting Scandal, Nike Suspends Quarterback's Contract, Reebok Halts Sale Of His Jersey

(AP)  Nike suspended its lucrative contract with Michael Vick on Friday, while Reebok took the unprecedented step of stopping sales of his No. 7 jersey.

Facing protests from animal-rights groups, Nike announced it was suspending Vick's endorsement deal without pay, as well as halting sales of Vick-related shoes and other products at its retail stores.

Reebok, the official uniform supplier of the NFL, said it would stop selling Vick's replica jersey at retail stores and through its Web site.

The moves came one day after the Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleaded not guilty to federal dog-fighting charges in Richmond, Va.

"Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent," Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said in a statement.

Since Vick has not been convicted of any crime, Nike left open the door to resume its business relationship with the star player if he's acquitted.

"We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen in the United States," according to the statement. "Therefore, we have not terminated our relationship."

Vick is barred from the Falcons' training camp while the league investigates his actions for possible violations of its new personal conduct policy.

Although Reebok does not have a business relationship with Vick, the Massachusetts-based company serves as the official supplier of apparel and equipment to all 32 NFL teams. Through that deal, it holds the coveted rights to sell jerseys at the retail level.

"We just find the allegations very upsetting and very disturbing," Reebok spokeswoman Denise Kaigler said. "While this is just the beginning of the legal process and we know that it has to have time to run its course, we felt that making this decision now was important and the right things to do."

Reebok said it also was willing to take back any unsold Vick jerseys that are returned by retail outlets.

Kaigler said she already had received numerous e-mails in support of the decision. Even though numerous NFL players have run afoul of the law, this is the first time Reebok has stopped sales of an individual jersey.

"The number of e-mails and statements we're getting from consumers was pretty telling about how disturbing people find these allegations to be," Kaigler said.

[adian1-2009]

Well done, NIKE. Now I won't feel bad when I buy your products for myself or for members of my family. I was ready to stop buying your brand, even though I recognize that it would be hard to find something of same quality for the money. Now I have one concern less than yesterday. Thank you!

[cdfoxtrot]

About time. I guess Nike realized the public relations disaster that's unfolding, by being associated with an animal abuser. Hopefully the Nike spokesperson who was quite belligerent in comments the other day, supporting the animal abuser, has been invited to find employment somewhere else.

[cantshutup]

does nike still outsource it's manufacturing to india ???

i think dog fighting is horrible too, but so is taking jobs away from Americans for the profits of nike...

[us18988]

Thanks Nike.

If Vick is indeed found guilty of the charges, and the proof is pretty incontestable, then he should be hung up by his gonads in public.

And the same goes for any other overpaid, over tattoo-ed loud mouthed, incompetent in the NFL, the NBA, and the AL and NL too. It's time we had athletes like DiMaggio, Koufax, Aaron, Mays, and Clemente who were true role models, not cr&p like Canseco, Vick, and that NBA clown Latrell who tried to choke his coach to death. They should be stripped of their salaries and made to clean toilets.

In Vick's case, if guilty, put in a pen with those poor dogs whom he abused to the point of violence.

[formrusmcsgt]

I wonder why Visk didn't wear his ever-present Aunt Jemima rag to court....

[keithle1]

Guys from the ghetto will exhibit ghetto/thug behavior. Vick isn't being paid to be smart. he's paid to throw a football around. Could have seen this company. Companies don't want to be associated with any pro athlete or celeb involved in anything that's
illegal/controversional/questionable. Of course folks will say he's being persecuted because he's black. Better keep your nose clean, fellas.
You can't keep anything a secret in this age of the Internet, cellphones, camera phones, 24-7 news on the TV/radio, etc.

[dannyttown]

Praises to Nike and Reebok and to everyone who sent them e-mails in protest. It's good to hit Vick where it hurts: his pocketbook! Also, thanks to PETA and The Humane Society for all the fine work that they are doing!

[dovestar]

Mr. Vick has been formally accused of some vile and disgusting acts. By rights, he has been suspended by his team pending an investigation. But the way I hear those who have thusfar responded to this comment line, Mr. Vick has already been convicted and hung out to dry.
Folks, the trial hasn't happened yet. Mr. Vick is just like any other American. He has the right to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. Mr. Vick will have the opportunity to present his defense in a court of law and account for his actions. Until then let's not rush to judgement. There's a security guard in Atlanta who could tell you a real story about that.

[nothappyatall]

"Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent," Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said in a statement. "

Forgetting that he is INNOCENT untill proven guilty in court and he hasn't had a trial yet.
Forgettign that these sportswear companies enjoy record profits off the backs of slave labor in third world countries they suddenly get ethics!

[nothappyatall]

Dannytown- you need to actually READ about the animal rights terrorists of PeTA and HSUS, their goals and their agenda to eliminate pets. Their support and pushing for MANDATORY spay-neuter of ALL dogs follows PeTA's stated sentiments of "neuter neuter neuter till our pathetic version of the cat is EXTINCT" (Ingrid Newkirk quote to the media)

petakillsanimals.com


Hypocrisy is the mother of all credibility problems, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has it in spades. While loudly complaining about the "unethical" treatment of animals by restaurant owners, grocers, farmers, scientists, anglers, and countless other Americans, the group has its own dirty little secret;

petakillsanimals.com/petaKillsAnimals.cfm

PETA raked in nearly $29 million last year in income, much of it raised from pet owners who think their donations actually help animals. Instead, the group spends huge sums on programs equating people who eat chicken with Nazis, scaring young children away from drinking milk, recruiting children into the radical animal-rights lifestyle, and intimidating businessmen and their families in their own neighborhoods. PETA has also spent tens of thousands of dollars defending arsonists and other violent extremists.

[nothappyatall]

PETA Trial

The North Carolina animal-cruelty trial of two PETA employees ended with a surprising result, but the animal rights group admitted under oath that it does, indeed, kill large numbers of animals. Our daily reports from inside the courtroom provide a rare look at one of the radical organization's most secret programs

Learn how they obtained healthy adoptable animals under FALSE pretenses and then killed them;

petakillsanimals.com/Trial.cfm

Jurors hear testimony that on June 15, 2005 Adria Hinkle promised PETA would try to find homes for animals she killed later that day. And police describe a few bizarre conversations with Hinkle before her arrest.

petakillsanimals.com/Trial_Day5.cfm

[nothappyatall]

In 2001, PETA donated $1,500 to the North American Earth Liberation Front, a criminal organization that the FBI classifies as domestic terrorists. Since 2000, PETA activists have been arrested over 80 times for breaking various laws during PETA protests. Charges included felony obstruction of government property, criminal mischief, assaulting a cabinet official, felony vandalism, performing obscene acts in public, destruction of federal property, and burglary.

PETA's leadership openly advocates breaking the law.
In 2003 PETA collected over $24 million from Americans, avoiding over $3.5 million in fed income taxes. Because this tax break amounts to a huge subsidy, every taxpayer is footing the bill for PETA's behavior

PETA's tax-exempt status was granted by the U.S. govt on the basis of the group conducting itself in a lawful fashion. PETA has failed to live up to its end of the bargain, and that the Internal Revenue Service should cancel PETA's tax-exempt status.

Sign the petition to have PETA's tax-exempt status removed;
petakillsanimals.com/article_detail.cfm?article=154

[zertrat]

I'm so happy to hear that PETA is blasted for standing up against injustices. Man, that would ruin this country for good. Just think of how our American Revolution was based on standing up in favor of injustices. What an anti-American thing, to stand against injustices. Paul Revere. the Boston Tea Party. George Washington. They were all about conforming to injustices.

Yeah, PETA doesn't want Vick and others to electrocute, drown and beat to death dogs. And do you know what the NFL official statement was. "We agree with PETA."

[zertrat]

I know *** well why you folks are upset about PETA. We all do. You do. They make you realize how disgusting it is that you daily consume cadavers. This is not what the Vick case is about, so relax.

It is not about eating the cadavers, it is about causing living flesh to become cadavers in inhumane ways, in acts that glorify violence, and excuse human emotion and responsibility. PETA is all about people and their actions more than animals (By the way, I'm not a member.)

Now, go eat your cheeseburger or bullsballs. That's not the issue here, and stop crying and complaining. Violence to non-human animals and to humans is highly correlated. Sick florks are sick florks no matter what the victim.

[zertrat]

Vick, guilty or not?

We will find out.

Can he be suspended anyway? Of course. If you peed on the desk of your boss, would you be suspended before a trial? If you got busted for possession of cocaine would you be put on leave? Of course. If you were caught in bed with the bosses wife, would you be fired or shot dead? Of course.

I cannot understand how it is that people believe "innocent until proven guilty" applies to the work place, and secondly, why it would allow anyone to have the entitlement of earning millions of dollars in the face of unambiguous allegations. Keep protecting the millionaires. Let regular people suffer by lacking similar protections. This is all about fame, glory, star power, and the home team winning.

Anyone pushing "justice" is hypocritical.

[dannyttown]

zertrat, you're a pretty sharp cookie. I love your persuasive points. Very well said!

[nothappyatall]

Hey zertrat- dog fighting is already ILLEGAL and has been for a long time in all 50 states, IF convicted the jerk ill do time no thanks to PeTA.

PeTA is doing nothing but capitalize on the publicity for their sick agenda of extincting dogs with their pushing the mandatory spay-neuter of *ALL* dogs legislative bills. Anyone who would support this group is a NUT CASE and their anti pet agenda is proof they are dangerous to anyone who has animals.
I signed the petition to YANK their non-profit status.

From the July 2007 issue of DVM magazine..

PETA Targeted in DEA probe
Norfolk, VA The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigated how members of PETA handle euthanasia drugs.

While the inquiry is being dubbed "administrative" DEA agents searched PETA headquarters and made copies of training manuals and competency certificates for 17 employees according to news reports.
PETA reported euthanzing 2,000 animals in 2005.

By the way, while these groups yammer about overcrowded shelters, there are shelters who are IMPORTING stray dogs from overseas, WHY???!!!;

Best Friends airlifting dogs from Lebanon to US.
http://www.bestfriends.org/aboutus/media/092506crisis.cfm

[nothappyatall]

Although we successfully defeated California AB 1634, an overreaching and invasive mandatory pet spay/neuter law, our opponents have not given up.

While the author of the bill, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, prepares another version of AB 1634 for the Senate Local Government Committee, those behind the measure have only increased their shrill rhetoric and efforts against pet owners.

On a national level, PETA is urging supporters to "Meet with your local officials to get a [mandatory spay/neuter law] passed in your own community," and encouraging Assemblyman Levine, "not to give up."

[nothappyatall]

Memerable quotes to the media by PeTA showing their extinct pets agenda is behind their push for MANDATORY spay-neuter bills such as the one that failed in California recently. Read these quotes and then it becomes clear why they are pushing the bills;

"The cat, like the dog, must disappear...We should cut the domestic cat free from our dominance by neutering, neutering, and more neutering, until our pathetic version of the cat ceases to exist."
-John Bryant, Fettered Kingdoms: An Examination of a Changing Ethic, PETA 1982, p.15.

Pet ownership is an "absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation."
-Ingrid Newkirk, PETA
(Washingtonian Magazine, August 1986)

"One day we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals.
(Dogs) would pursue their natural lives in the wild...They would have full
lives, not waiting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet
them and then sit there and watch TV."
Ingrid Newkirk - Founder, PETA
"Where Would We Be Without Animals?, Chicago Daily Herald, March 1, 1990

"...Eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return
to a more symbiotic relationship, enjoyment at a distance."

Ingrid Newkirk - Founder, PETA
Harpers, August, 1988

Sign the petition to have PETA's tax-exempt status removed;
petakillsanimals.com/article_detail.cfm?article=154

[mbpfrance]

Remember the Duke university lacrosse case!!!!!!

Despite what we feel we know, it is based on what we have been told by the press only! All that adds up to exactly NOTHING to me at this point. If we have learned anything this past year it is NOT TO BELEIVE what is sworn testimony or allegations, be it by the FBi or a the Attorney General, Generals in the Army, or a City Prosecutor!

That is not to say he should'nt keep a low profile and focus on getting this chapter behind him! He has to stand tall, alone and weather the storm here! If he is innocent at least he has the resources to exhaust every possible window to prove that!

A man who earns approxiamtely $75000USD per day has no motive to get into a sport that pays loose change comparatively! It does not add up!


He has to be allowed to be innocent until proven otherwise. If not, if we demand suspension, cancelled contracts, and worse his neck... etc on allegation alone , then any and all of us better start looking to have a real good attorney close by just in case *** lands on your door based on someones allegation alone.

Remember he has entered a plea of not quilty!

[cantshutup]

you people who are making the dumb racist comments don't get it...and i think you're over reacting a bit over dog fighting, which while horrible, doesn't hardly compare to the stuff we really ought to be worried about...like an executive branch thumbing its nose at our laws, trampling the constitution and stealing our liberties...oh, or maybe the fact that your job will probably soon be outsourced to india soon or that our military is trained to violate our 2nd amendment rights...white trailor trash rednecks probably invented pit bull fighting, so get off your ignorant high horses...! we got bigger problems than this distraction...

[adian1-2009]

Some comments seem to condemn the step taken by Nike and Reebok. They contend that this gentleman enjoys the presumption of innocence. They are right regarding this argument. But it must be taken into account that in our country a person is accused --formally charged before a court of law-- only after probable cause has been determined. Probable cause means that there is some evidence that a crime has been committed and that there is a probability that the person charged committed it. That is why even though the presumption of innocence has a constituional rank, people can be legally jaled pending trial, or requested to put up a bond if they want to remain free pending trial. What NIKE and REEBOK have done is more than justified. In fact, it was their duty.

[cryonbrian]

In America a man can rape and murder women at will and no one ever comes out holding signs calling for his death.

In America a man kills dogs and he is greeting with protesters holding signs asking for his death.

Only In America!

[Ed0719]

Some people here seem to think that because other people commit more heinous crimes, that "minor" crimes should be overlooked. That's not how the system works, people. All crimes, even those you might consider "minor", should be dealt with in accordance with the law. Giving someone a pass simply because Bush and Cheney are war-criminals is rather silly.

While under the law Vick is presumed innocent, I think the dead dogs and other incriminating evidence against him is pretty sufficient to charge him with the crimes.

[drummer94]

Good! Nothing brings you into reality like when your money goes away. This guy should have gotten some professional help managing his dough. Now he's skrewed hisself beyond repair. I hope the NFL gives him the boot 2.

[cryonbrian]

Thats the problem with America!

You can go out a molest children and you can cop a plea and do no jail time.


Kill animals and they want to give you life in prison and take away your income.

Vick will be back and that is a fact! You think he makes money? He makes nothing compared to the White folks that hired him to throw a ball and endorse products! Once he is out of this mess he will slowly rebuild his financial network. Happens all the time! Get over it!

[iceman_1960]

"In America a man can rape and murder women at will and no one ever comes out holding signs calling for his death."
- Posted by cryonbrian at 08:13 AM : Jul 28, 2007

Huh ?

Signs seen in the cheering crowd at Ted Bundy's execution in the electric chair:

"Burn, Bundy, Burn"

"Rest in Pieces, Ted"

"I like my Ted 'well done'"

"Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Hello, Ted,
We're going to KILL you."

The cheering crowd exceeeded 100 people.

[cryonbrian]

Iceman_1960

It is very rare in America to find people protesting
when someone kills another human being!

You kill a chicken in America and you will have these nut cases protesting establishments and burning down test facilities! FACT!

[iceman_1960]

"It is very rare in America to find people protesting when someone kills another human being!"
- Posted by cryonbrian at 09:08 AM : Jul 28, 2007

Don't get to Chicago much, do you.

It seems that whenever there is a senseless killing of a young student in Chicago's poorer neighborhoods, demonstrations are held denouncing the thugs and calling for stricter punishments and prevention.

Here's a recent one:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/441135,23jackson.article

[drummer94]

cry me a river, cryer. He was a mediocre player at best. Teammates hated playing second fiddle to this guy. Football is a team sport. Like a lot of idiots who sneak into the Pro sports system, he was not equipped to handle the gross amount of money the white and black establishment was handing him. Get off'n it. The moron is done. His next job should be cleaning the cages at a local humane society.

[iceman_1960]

"You kill a chicken in America and you will have these nut cases protesting establishments and burning down test facilities! FACT!"
- Posted by cryonbrian at 09:08 AM : Jul 28, 2007

Amusing hyperbole.

The killing of chickens advanced beyond the testing phase a few millenia ago.

Besides, cruelty to animals and to humans is closely related -- which is why Clint Eastwood is a vegan and refuses to go hunting.

Child psychologists will tell you that cruelty by small children is a very dangerous sign of future criminality against human beings. Notorious killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Allen Davis were into disgusting acts of cruelty to animals in their younger days. Davis, the murderer of Polly Klaas, used to pour gasoline on cats and set them on fire.

[opedanderson]

Like it or not this is a racial issue. Black people are quickly learning a valuable lesson. Dont mess with animals. White people LOVE animals more than people.

During the massacre of Rwanda in the 90's the Hutu leadership made it very clear to their hencemen NOT to touch the volatile white gorilla population less they really want to raise the ire of the west! Kill 800 000 Tutsi's ok. Just dont kill the gorillas in the mist.

[iceman_1960]

"While under the law Vick is presumed innocent, I think the dead dogs and other incriminating evidence against him is pretty sufficient to charge him with the crimes."
- Posted by fuziwuzi at 08:28 AM : Jul 28, 2007

You know what Humphrey Bogart said in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."

"Dead dogs wag no tails."

[iceman_1960]

"Like it or not this is a racial issue. Black people are quickly learning a valuable lesson. Dont mess with animals. White people LOVE animals more than people."
- Posted by opedanderson at 09:31 AM : Jul 28, 2007

There was general outrage in the "white community" when James Byrd Jr. was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck.

There were no parties, celebrations and rallies by whites on behalf of his killers.

Unlike the "Free My Man OJ" parties and rallies that blacks had, all over the place.

[cryonbrian]

I am not sure how this is a racial issue? Black folks love animals just as much as any other group of people. At the hearing for Vick Black folks were just asking that you let the legal system do its job and White folks were asking for Vick to be executed. At no time did you see any Black person holding a sign condoning what Vick did. Regardless of how Black folks were treated in the past they for the most part believe in the judicial system, White folks on the other hand want to kill the guy before he even enters a plea?

Iceman_1960,

Whatever, no one is condoning what Vick might have done! But as Americans you should let the legal system do its job. Who in the ham sandwich cares if some celebrities do not eat meat? Those are the same losers that go around making movies that glorify killing someone?

[iceman_1960]

"I am not sure how this is a racial issue? Black folks love animals just as much as any other group of people."
- Posted by cryonbrian at 09:43 AM : Jul 28, 2007

I couldn't agree more.

I was responding to a poster who was trying to make it one.

[cryonbrian]

White folks can not leave OJ alone! OJ used the white mans system to beat him at his own game, period. What does one loser Black man like OJ have to do with the cost of gasoline? Every time there is a discussion about race OJ's name comes up. White folk, OJ was found not guilty by a system that you created so what gives!

And as for cheering when some one is killed. Did you know that America used to print post cards of Black folks being lynched? Go to some of the archives in American History and you will see these sick images! You will see Black folks swinging from trees with Whites folks with their children laughing as they die!

[iceman_1960]

"White folks can not leave OJ alone! OJ used the white mans system to beat him at his own game, period."
- Posted by cryonbrian at 09:50 AM : Jul 28, 2007

He also stabbed two people to death. Those who say otherwise are liars and perverts.

Those white cops who beat up Rodney King were also acquitted, originally. But black folks could not leave it alone ! They went on an ugly rampage and murdered hundreds of innocent people.

So the cowardly Justice system retried and convicted the cops, in a blatant example of double jeopardy.

[iceman_1960]

And another thing, cryonbrian.

In the world today, Black folks have "taken up the White Man's Burden" by becoming the great majority of the lynchers.

Not just in Haiti, but in America.

Almost all the underreported lynchings in America are done by Blacks.

"June 21, 2007

David Rivas Morales, a 41-year-old house painter, had hitched a ride home with a co-worker Tuesday night when, investigators say, the driver of the car accidentally struck a 2-year-old boy near an apartment complex parking lot.

The driver got out of the Ford Taurus, which police say was surrounded by as many as 20 [Black] men, and was attacked by several of them, according to investigators.

Morales got out to try to shield the driver. He was instead beaten to death.

Austin police investigators said Wednesday that according to the handful of people they have interviewed, no one immediately around the car did anything to stop the attack.

By the time an anonymous caller dialed 911 and the first officers arrived at the Booker T. Washington housing development shortly after 9:30 p.m., the crowd had dispersed, Austin police Cmdr. Harold Piatt said."

Source:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/21/21murder.html

[cryonbrian]

You talk about rampages?

Read your American History books but you will need to really search! White folks burned down every prominent Black community after the reconstruction period and during the period of 19th century. They used the excuse that White women were being rapped! That stupid movie Gangs of New York did not show the true story! White folks have enjoyed burning down Black folks communities and magically those stories never made it into mainstream history books? So if you think Black folks can riot, trust me they learned it from White Folks! FACT!

[iceman_1960]

How quickly this pathetic race baiter changes his tune...

"In America a man can rape and murder women at will and no one ever comes out holding signs calling for his death."
- Posted by cryonbrian at 08:13 AM : Jul 28, 2007

"White folks can not leave OJ alone! OJ used the white mans system to beat him at his own game, period. What does one loser Black man like OJ have to do with the cost of gasoline? Every time there is a discussion about race OJ's name comes up. White folk, OJ was found not guilty by a system that you created so what gives!"
- Posted by cryonbrian at 09:50 AM : Jul 28, 2007

We have nothing more to discuss, Sharpton.

[cryonbrian]

Iceman_1960

Caught you in a lie! Here is the link that the FBI and Justice Department is opening cold cases of lynchings. It was printed in yesterdays news by CNN. I have noticed that White folks will never fess up to any wrong doing. They always go find some of the wall website that promotes bigotry and believe those silly stories!


http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/26/moores.ford/index.html

[iceman_1960]

"They always go find some of the wall website that promotes bigotry and believe those silly stories!"

The website I cited was the Austin American Statesman, a well respected newspaper in Austin, Texas. It was not some racist website at all.

And nobody "caught me in a lie." I said the MAJORITY of lynch mobs in PRESENT DAY America are Black. The incident I cited occurred last month, not "40, 50 or 60 years ago" as in his "lynching cold cases" - That's why they're called "cold cases," dummy.

Some fools want to live in the past to justify every crime that criminals in their groups committed last month.

[iceman_1960]

"They always go find some of the wall website that promotes bigotry and believe those silly stories!"
- Posted by cryonbrian at 10:20 AM : Jul 28, 2007

Now who's caught in a lie ?

"The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises and edited by Richard Oppel, who led his previous newspaper, the Charlotte Observer to multiple Pulitzers. The Statesman places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region.

The Statesman is sometimes referred to as liberal. On balance, its editorials show it to be an amalgam of liberal philosophy combined with strong pro-business sentiment. In this, it reflects the Texas heritage of focusing on business and Austin's history of being youthful and liberal."

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_American-Statesman

[iceman_1960]

Once again I have plunged down the slippery slope into name calling and personal abuse.

I apologize, and will now award myself a 24 hour "time out" in the penalty box, away from these Comments Sections.

[rushlimpdrug]

"You kill a chicken in America and you will have these nut cases protesting establishments and burning down test facilities! FACT!"
- Posted by cryonbrian

Ok, now I'm pizzed.
Who the helll is killing chickens in America?
It better not be those dammm illegals.

[juli28428]

Thanks Nike and Reebok! Finally, you're sending a message to the children of the world that animal cruelty is not okay.

[linfinster]

Black, white -NOT the issue here. What he has been accused of is horrible. FOCUS PEOPLE! Geesh!

[sclaires]

I am glad that Nike and Reebok shut down on Vick. There is enough cruelty to animals as it is and dog fighting is illegal in all states if I am not mistaken.

We have a BIG problem with dog fighting here in South Carolina. You are constantly hearing on the news and seeing in the paper about people being arrested for dog fighting. And since the dogs can't be rehabilitated, they have to be put down but it is done humanly instead of the way Vick is said to have done with his dogs.

I happen to have one dog, one fat cat, and one kitten. The way I discipline the kitten is with a spray bottle of water. He knows that he is going to get a bath if he is doing something he shouldn't be doing. The dog and fat cat are the same way. You can train and discipline an animal without being cruel. Of course the one thing I can't get across the kitten's head is that he does not climb my leg by way of the skin. Of course by the time he has started, it is too late to grab the spray bottle.

[ikewarren]

I'm sorry that people have to make this a racial issue. It is a crime issue. Someone who commits a crime and is caught should be punished. David Berkowitz was a white Jew who committed the "Son of Sam" killings in New York, and he doesn't get a pass because of World War II and the Holocaust. The old, white guys living in trailers in Florida who kill little girls don't get a pass because they are poor and living in trailers and addicted to drugs. Lindsay Lohan looks to me to be a flat-out addict, but she can't drive the streets drunk and endanger other people. If Michael Vick didn't do what he's alleged to have done, he has nothing to worry about except paying an attorney whom he can very well afford (and then paying him to countersue for damages if the charges are untrue and have derailed his career). If he's guilty, then he's screwed up his own life. Let's not make this racial. Let's make this guilty or not, and if you're guilty you go to jail.