Vick A Big Player In Dogfighting?

by Dave Choate on May 28, 2007 12:40 PM EDT in News

Just as the prosecutor says there is little in the way of witnesses, ESPN digs up an anonymous source who says Vick is heavy into dogfighting:

"He's a pit bull fighter," the source said of Vick. "He's one of the ones that they call 'the big boys': that's who bets a large dollar. And they have the money to bet large money. As I'm talking about large money -- $30,000 to $40,000 -- even higher. He's one of the heavyweights."

This would probably be pretty damning if I had any idea who this source was. Aside from political reporters, no one uses the anonymous source more often than the sports reporter. Many times their insider knowledge is invaluable for a story and the reporter is willing to give them anonymity in exchange for it. The problem then becomes accountability. Anybody can claim to know that Vick is constantly a patron of dogfighting, and there's no way to say whether he would actually have any knowledge of that. You have to assume ESPN would've looked into him before using him as a source, but there's no way to know. It's fair to say he's involved in dogfighting simply by this attitude:

"They shouldn't be really upset, OK?" he said. "Because it's only just an animal. It's just a dog that is raised up. He's put out there, you know, and he's chained up, OK. And the time he gets a certain age, this dog is going to want to fight. It is bred in him, OK? He knows what he is and he's going to fight. Just take him off the leash, let him go."

Personal feelings aside, that seems to be exactly the kind of moronic thing that someone would say if they were involved in dogfighting. Oops, I guess I didn't set my personal feelings aside entirely. My bad. But obviously if this could be corroborated, Vick is in perhaps deeper trouble than he was before. That could be a problem for other football players who have been involved, too, and this could turn into a full blown NFL scandal at some point. That's really bad news for anyone who's a fan of football, and it's just another item in a long line of nebulously bad news about Vick.

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Far from Daming

I've got several problems with this supposed eyewitness.

First, the eyewitness is, by his own admission, a participant in dog fighting. So it's extremely misleading to simply label him as an "informant". If the guy was caught dogfighting he may well try to implicate others, rightly or wrongly, to improve his own situation. It happens so often it has a name -- prisoner's dilemma -- and it is an often abused tactic of overzealous prosecutors.

Second, the supposed witness' story doesn't really make sense to me.

Why would Mike Vick go to a dog fight, bet on the dogs, but not be "in the pit"? That would be like a boxing fan going to a fight, betting on the fight, but not watching the fight. It doesn't sound credible to me. Vick takes the risk of going to an illegal dog fight but doesn't bother to watch?

Also, the guy talks about seeing Mick Vick at a fight in 2000 -- before he was drafted, and ostensibly before he had the kind of money it takes to be a big bettor. So either this guy saw Vick betting heavy at a much latter date, he's full of shit, or Mike Vick had a lot of money that no one knew about. If he saw Vick at a later date, I assume he would say so. So that narrows it down to the witness being a lier or Vick having a secret source of cash.

by 34hawk on May 28, 2007 1:59 PM EDT reply actions

A good argument

I'm leery of anonymous sources in general, because it grants you so much more protection to freewheel with your story. But you've pointed out some of the weirder logical inconsistences of the story. Until we get a name to a face or some corroborating witnesses, it's more of a scary thought than actual evidence.

by Dave Choate on May 28, 2007 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

imo

I think Mike Vick didn't get in the "pit" for the same reason boxing fans who bet don't get in the ring .... for fear of being mangled accidentily

Could imagine Vick trying to spin dog bites all over his body or a serious infection due to a dog attack? So many questions would arise from that alone.

Plus he could still see the match without being in the "pit" as the pits walls are only 3 1/2 feet tall.

I can't believe we're discussing dog fighting and the nfl. Something tells me this is not the image or discussion Roger Goodell wants the public to have. Do you guys think this issue blows over? Blows up? Hits the fan prior to Training Camp, at the start of Preseason, or not at all?

I'd venture to say the ish is about to hit the fan

by JScott on May 28, 2007 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Vick's future

The dog-fighting stuff aside, how do you Falcons fans feel about Vick's future as the leader of your franchise?
I posted some thoughts on this over at Big Blue View, so stop by and share your opinion.

BigBlueView

by ETVal @ The Falcoholic on May 29, 2007 11:41 AM EDT reply actions