Obama calls Eagles owner,.... to congratulate him for signing Vick ?

Becoming? That's rather tame compared to what would've been said or done but a few decades ago.

Amazing. I guess those same ghost voted him to Pro Bowl 1st team selection too.

Absolutely true about the Ben Roethlisberger thing. Even though he was never convicted, you are right, if it had been Randy Moss there would have been no question. They would have been calling for his head before there was even a trial.

The Police Department in Milledgeville Georgia, along with District Attorneys office somehow lost the video tape that showed Ben Roesthlisberger forcing the female victim inside of the women restroom.It also showed how the off duty policemen blocked her escape attempt from getting out of the restroom. Ben slung her to the floor and forced himself on her. When she came out her face was bruised. She said that Ben hit her. He said that she fell. His statement was an admission of him being inside of the womens restroom. His 2 bodyguards were off duty police from Pennsylvania. The pay off must have been huge because the investigating officer in Milledgeville quit his job during the investigation and the other 2 where forced to resign. NFL commissioner (top cop), Roger Goodell sat back and did nothing. Ben never did a day in jail. He just had to sit out for 4 games and no one in the media wants to talk about it anymore.

Ben Roesthlisberger is a renown rapist but that's OK by a lot of people as long as he can get the Pittsburg Steelers back to the Super Bowl, because the victims were only women. They weren't dogs.
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Statements taken from the victim given to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

One witness, Ann Marie Lubatti, told investigators that she saw one of Roethlisberger's bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door. Lubatti said that she immediately approached another bodyguard and said, "This isn't right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now." Lubatti, who described Roethlisberger as "noticeably intoxicated," said she was rebuffed by the bodyguard, who remarked, "I don't know what you are talking about."

When Lubatti later spotted her friend, the alleged victim said, "We need to go now." Lubatti said the woman told her that Roethlisberger "walked back to where she was with his penis already out of his pants. She told him that they shouldn't be doing this and that it wasn't right." The woman told Lubatti that Roethlisberger had followed her into the bathroom and shut the door. "She continued to say she didn't want to have sex, but he kept saying, "No, it's OK." Lubatti said that her friend told of having unprotected sex with Roethlisberger. After hearing her friend's account, Lubatti and another woman, Nicole Biancofiore, "walked up to the first cop we saw and told them what happened."

Biancofiore also told police about seeing her friend disappear with Roethlisberger inside the club. She recalled telling the club's owner that her friend was "too drunk to be back there" with Roethlisberger, adding that the man assured her that "Ben would not do anything to ruin his reputation." Biancofiore said that when her friend resurfaced, the woman was crying and "she told us he raped her."

Another sorority sister, Victoria Garofalo, recalled that the alleged victim was wearing a name tag with the initials "DTF." The tag--which the woman had received at a birthday party earlier that evening--was the subject of an inside joke between the students. When Roethlisberger asked about the initials, "Garofalo explained that 'DTF' stood for 'down to fuck' and that it referred to a joke between" the women.

"I'm not down to fuck, but I like to fuck girls," Roethlisberger replied, according to a police report.

Witness Elizabeth Brooks told investigators of partying with Roethlisberger at Capital City, where he purchased a round of shots for women in the VIP room and announced, "All my bitches, take some shots."

The GBI records also include an interview report with Brad Aurila, a Roethlisberger pal who accompanied the athlete on the Milledgeville bar crawl. When the athlete's entourage returned to Roethlisberger's home, Aurila--who had noticed cops speaking with the NFL star at Capital City--asked Roethlisbeger what happened. "Roethlisberger explained to Aurila that nothing had happened," and that he was "in the back with a girl and they were 'messing around.'" Aurila recalled that Roethlisberger said the "girl slipped and he helped her up and then came back out." Aurila noted that "he took 'messing around' to mean 'kissing, whatever,'" according to a GBI report. He added that Roethlisberger's demeanor was "angry and shocked that this was happening" as he spoke of the allegation leveled against him

When I think of racism now I really think of people who actually believe there are races...and I think that belief will be kicking for awhile. I hope most wouldn't dispute that or that poor Americans get the short end of the stick--thanks to decades of segregation and centuries of slaver that position is often allotted to those with more melanin. My problem with Vick has nothing to do his skin color, in fact it has everything to do with all the stories that have been also mentioned here and it makes our two tiered society all the more blatant: have money do what you want. Rape. Murder. Do whatever. I definitely agree that the public perception of black athletes skews towards the critical but the legal system just looks at them as people with money. Stoudamire getting caught with weed and me getting caught have two totally different results. Roethlesiberger raping someone has totally different results then if I did. Braylon Edward's DUI is different than my DUI. To me it just wreaks of the Lindsay Lohan or Neil Bush treatment.

Exactly!

Or have the ability to make people with money more money.

While I don't dispute any of what was posted, I find it interesting that Vick is being judged with less harshness based on what other white athletes have gotten away with. I'm not saying that their crimes shouldn't be punished (in fact it sickens me that they aren't) (coupled with the fact that is seems everyone and their mom is corrupt these days) I just feel that they are situations separate from each other.

at the NFL,...they just give and give and give..... +^d

"Unleash the Tiger in your pants! Got Wood?"

if I had a prize to give..... +^d

That would be an awesome ad campaign! :D

+^d

He has no regrets about fighting dogs He has regrets about being caught. Look at the smirk on his face. I'm willing to bet He still has contact with those that were in his fight club. The one ring was broken up to make room for the next one. He still has His blood line going You know he does He may not be hands on now but thats as far as it goes. I think they call it going underground DEEP underground.

If you actually believe a word that you just printed, there's not a word in Websters to even come remotely close to describing just how crazy you are. You actually believe that with, every law enforcement eye in Philadelphia keeping tabs on him all day and all throughout the night, and with a chance to possibly put is life together for the first time in his life, he's going to risk it all by financing underground dogfighting ?

Worst than crazy Bailey, you're jealous obviously because you probably never made anything out of your own life. People have probably given you 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8 chances and you're still just who you are today, whatever that is..

I hate what Michael Vick allowed to happen to those dogs. I'm a dog owner. I owner a pit terrier. His a house dog. I love him and I couldn't imagine anything bad at all happening to him. Vick did his time in Leavenworth Prison. There are millions of inner city children in this country that are born into the lives of crime. This man has spoken to hundreds of thousands of those children already about the ills of dogfighting and crime. Whether you like it or not, he's saving lives the of dogs and human beings today Bailey.

Bailey, I've watched you defend Christianity on regular basis. One of the tenants of your religion is the resurrection. It's a damn joke. You believe that it's possible that a man was resurrected from a physical death 2000 years ago, but it's impossible that a man right in front of you cannot be resurrected from a spiritual death.

I almost feel sorry for you. Your true colors are starting to show.

Ok first off I have NEVER defended Christianity. second I guess I'm CrAzY because I believe every word I said. As for being jealous I think not I have a very good life. Yes I have been given many chances in my life and each time I did what I could to better my life. I'm sorry you feel that way but Thats the way I see things. I may not be right but who is 100% of the time.Oh don't feel sorry for me save that for those that don't have anything to work with.

Ditto!

I agree that you have to let a man move on and rejoin society , debts payed, once he has done his time in the "JUSTICE" system,....and I mean that. So WE ARE stuck with him now.

I, however,...... would have slammed him up against the wall and SHOT his worthless sadistic ass initially. Or at least put him away for a career ending ten year ( hard time: real time spent ) term.

He is an "asset" the money brokers of our society don't want to squander,....and our criminal justice system in bought and payed for by "bidneess" and BIG MONEY - - -end of story.

WE are to blame for having to tolerate that SOB.

The question is ridiculous.. Michael Vick, by himself drowned ONE dog. I'm a dog owner. That's a horrible thing to do to a pet and I'm not defending what he did. He took full responsibility for the rest of the drownings and electrocutions that took place at Bad Newz Kennels. He allowed this to happen on a property that belong to him, even though he wasn't even there most of the time. No one can ever change the past, but Michael Vick paid a heavy price with the loss of everything, plus hard time in a federal prison. He wasn't sent to a country club. Since his release, he has spoken to high school chrildren at least once a week for over the past 2 years about abusing animals, but you continue to try and make a monster out of this man.

I've always felt an irony with people condemn Vick but hunt and kill animals for sport. Still today, some of these people are the same ones that pay to watch starved Greyhounds race for money. Brett Favre took pictures of his balls and sent them to several women before he was caught.He wqas never suspended or punished for his foul behavior. Not at all.The story has some how just died and it certainly never made the front page of Current before it did. One of those things that make you go ........hmmmm.

As long as it's not a dog or a cat, it's OK to get a license in this country to kill any other kind of animal you choose to. Then you can even eat it if you want to

probably not, that is,...not "crave".
( he just doesn't GIVE A SHIT about animal cruelty. )
What,..........we think you send a guy to PRISON ( NOT therapy ) for 2 or 3 years,.....and they come out "ALL sensitive" ?
They tend to learn they don't really like prison,....thats about the end of it.

I don't do ANY of those things. BUT,....if I were LEGALLY EMPOWERED, I could bring myself to put HIM down. Painlessly. Humanely.

p.s. "exposing nutsack" and animal torture are so NOT even in the same range of immorality, that I find the ethics of anyone who seems to equate them , to be, well,...questionable.

Once you get that in your blood you will always crave it. just like a drug.

Hold on my friend I hunt to put food on the table. I do my very best not to make a animal suffer when I shoot it. I have gone to great lengths to make sure that whatever I shot did not suffer or go to waste. What He did was to cause the animal to suffer a great deal of both pain and fear. I would have never let him off as easy as they did. He should never be aloud to have a dog so long as he lives. I'm not so sure He is not backing another dog fighting ring. I truely dout He has any remorse for what he did to those animals. I'm sure He has regrets about getting caught but thats as far as it goes.

No you were right to use the word crave. That is what one does They crave the rush the power they feel when the dogs fight.

Keithponder...they don't starve greyhounds. How exactly would a half-starved animal be reliable? What you do is keep them healthy but take sandpaper to the pads of their feet. That way they can't run as fast for a race, mess up the betting line, and by the next race, the dog's feet are better and you can count on at lest a 1.2 maybe up to a 2 second faster time.

Many people view greyhounds as half starved but that is due to their body type, not due to starving. It makes no sense to starve any racing animal.

None of this is to say that I support dog, horse, or camel racing.

Also, in regards to hunting, it takes a hell of a lot more skill to kill a deer for food than to go to the local grocery store and pick up whatever was raised on a factory farm.

I didn't really have an objection to "crave",....I was just trying to narrow the scope of the critique. Vic,...uhm,....irritates me. I'm not really going to quibble with the annoyance of others ! and a +^d !

He's an asset to the hundreds of thousands of inner city children that he speaks to every weeks about the ills of dogfighting and crime in general, as well.

don't you ever say anything every again about my granddaughter.I will never ask you again not to.

All dogs aside, you would not have done jack to Michael Vick. I've met him. He's all muscle and he doesn't flinch. You might have wanted to do those things to him but trust me on this one, you can hate him all that you want to but man to man, you'd be better off remaining in your seat or not coming into the stadium at all.

So WE ARE stuck with him now. Who is "WE", because the majority of the people that I know have forgiven the man and moved on.

I have and will continue to eat Gator and caribou and if given the chance bear. Though I have been told it is very gamey. A true hunter will not shoot an animal to mount on a wall Thats what Sportsmen do. I have yet to see a couger but i have seen a few bobcats and lynx but would not shoot them because I don't eat cat. How ever if I was truely hungry and no other food was around I would be happy to put one in a pot to make a meal out of. Do you eat meat? Have you ever killed and dressed an animal in your life? I have I will when the need arises I will provide for me and mine. But I will do so with respect for the Animal.

you have experienced with it and thats how you know?

Mountain Lions are protected...and you can eat bear, gator, Caribou, and crocs. Hell, I live in Baltimore and you can buy Alligator meat down at Lexington street market...so I have no clue what your wall mounting comment even means.

why cant we compare puppys to cows? is it because puppys feel more because they're domestic and cows dont feel s### because their not? what the f###?

your wasting your time arguing with these people because they're not little kids they are grown men its too late for them.

It's news to me.

+^d

Yes, yes and yes!

Great comment!!

wow.

you always seem to try and carry yourself as the level headed, america first older southern gent who wants practical solutions for america's problems...

now i just think you're some southern prick who doesn't like a black man being your president so obviously he's ruining YOUR country... ya know, your country where you don't have to eat next to the brothers and you get to piss in whites only toilets.

It was a joke! Thanks for the compliment by the way, that was very nice, even though I might argue with "older". ;-).

not funny at all.

Not unlike most of my jokes. Apologies to all.

It's cool brother.

it's all about the money. You go get yourself a good lobbiest and have lots of cash to give away You can get anything you want.

he wasn't praising the prisoner, he was praising the owner for taking a chance.

The owner didn't take a chance, it was a guaranteed money maker regardless of Vick's performance.

no, not necessarily. he had to be good for the team to sell jerseys and more tickets.

if he sucked it would have been a waste of a roster spot and of money (even though it's not much at all)

the fans are still going to come out to the games and spend the money. but the casual fans wouldn't necessarily turn out, maybe they loved dogs, maybe they didn't want to deal with the protests, maybe their wifes wouldn't let the family go to support the dog killer's supporters, so the family event of football was gone, so was the four pack of seats and parking...

it was potentially a gamble, very very small mind i'll give you that, but still, could have been a waste. not a negative, i don't think the team would have suffered, but it could have been a waste.

The very controversy surrounding signing Vick to a contract generated revenue. Even if he was a bust.

No once a puppy abuser always a puppy abuser. I never said it was right to do so but those in charge see things diffrent. They are looking through cash colored glasses.

that's not true. what money was generated?

the team makes their money on the team. the owner already has his tv licensing money, and he's deal with endorsements and his season ticket holders. it's the casual single game buyer and how much they spend on concessions that give him anymore opportunity to make money... without them he's not earning anymore than he would without him.

until this year when he is an MVP candidate. so now the gamble paid off. like i said, it could have been a million dollar waste (as in he wouldn't earn anymore money and wouldn't recoup what he paid vick)

Your ridiculous comment is not even close to being true. Vick could have gotten in trouble again and given the Philadelphia Eagles, the owner Jeff Lurie, and the NFL a huge black eye. Remember, unless you never knew, over 5,000 season ticket holders in Philadelphia tried to re-sell the tickets when Vick came to town.This was anything but a sure bet. I'm retired from the league and I'm still a member of the NFL Players Association Executive Committee here in Atlanta. This is just not my opinion. I know what I'm talking about.

ANY player could get in trouble and give an owner a black eye. Vick's NFL paraphanalia has not declined, not even at the height of his trial. His jerseys sold off the racks! If you can not make money off of Vick as an NFL owner, you should not be an owner. This was not even CLOSE to a gamble. This was as close to a sure thing as you can get in business.

+^d

I am not sure why we got off on to this side topic in light of the article. So I will cede that you are right, and i am wrong.

Now! Back to the topic at hand!..;-P

These were full grown dogs and that doesn't make it any better but calling them "puppies" to try and create more anger than this story has already generated is pathetic.

Most Americans are not happy unless they have someone to hate. You always need a bad guy so we can feel that much better about yourselves.

ANY player could get in trouble and give an owner a black eye
==========================================================
If that were the case, we would not even be having this dialog. No one in all professional sports combined was carrying the baggage that Vick was. Out of the 32 teams in the league, only 3 stepped up and considered signing him.

Get out of the opinions, and give some facts. His jersey is the number 1 selling jersey in the league because of the success that he's had on the field. No one in America knew that Mike Vick was going to come back the way that he did.

You guys really need to just stop hating. Read em' and weep. Haters always lose.

and what might that be sir ?

Whoa whoa whoa...you are making the assumption that I have a problem with Vick..I have NO problem with him whatsoever.

Whether or not the Eagles are the ideal candidate from a call from the President of the United States in gratitude for giving an ex-con a second chance. Vick was absolutely going to get a second chance. Whether he made it in the NFL or not, he was never going to have to worry about where his next meal was coming from. There are plenty of organizations out there who perform just this task for people who definitely face an uphill battle with a criminal record hanging around their neck.

+^d

obviously you can do wrong... the guy was in jail for two years.

if you excel in sports you have a greater chance to do right, and you get rewarded proportionately more than "normal" folk but it doesn't make you perfect.

If you excel at sports you have a greater chance of having people turn the other cheek.

When was the last time Obama called employer 'X' to say job well done for hiring ex-felon 'Y'??

that's exactly what i said, "better chance to do right" (as in more opportunity, as in "people turning other cheeks)

and by "normal" folk (who don't get the reward, the chance) that's your ex-felon 'Y'

Doing right isn't people turning the other cheek.

Why the double standard?

i'm sorry, that was misplaced words on my part.

I guess i should have said "perceived to do right" or maybe "forgiven" which would mean people turn the other cheek and move on.

i didn't mean he was automatically a good guy because he was good at sports.

+^d

He should still be in prison.

it's cultural. he wasn't evil, just stupid.

phillipinos eat dogs, they're fine with eat. I've eaten "wittle bunny wabbits"

he grew up with dogs not being important, and then he made money off them, and then the ones who lost him money needed to be "taken care of" he didn't see the dogs as most americans do, they were just property.

he didn't play with them and love them. he bought them and caged them and then used them. no one is angry at farmers for doing the same thing with cows; branding them, taking the food they produce for their babies, and then when they've outlived their usefull-ness taking them off to get electrocuted so we can eat them.

i'm not condoning it, but you can't blanketly decide that he's an evil person. culture matters.

i've heard this argument before...and if he'd just been betting on dog fights or arranging them i would totally see the point but what he was doing was sadistically torturing these animals. he didn't just fight them--he drowned, electrocuted, and hung them.

I would THINK you would be on unassailable "safe" common sense ethical grounds with that statement. My "trouble" with "cultural relativistic ethics" is,.....well,......EXACTLY that sort of "but thats his frame of reference" out-of-jail-free-card.

Oh,......ultimately thats a BIG +^d !