Your GRRRs | Things That Make Me Go Grrr! | The GRRR! Book
So Michael Vick has copped a guilty plea in a deal for a reduced sentence on charges of transporting dogs over state lines for illegal dogfighting activities.
The star quarterback will reportedly serve 12 to 18 months in jail as part of the agreement if the judge accepts the deal, and his attorney, Billy Martin, said Vick's camp was awaiting word from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the future of his football career.
Future career?
Who is going to tune in to watch Vick throw a football ever again? I don't care if Vick has paid his dues to society, I for one won't be watching this guy play the game after he's set free.
Millions of kids grow up watching NFL games with their family and friends, and like it or not, they are influenced by the on-the-field AND off-the-field behavior of their football heroes.
No parent in his right mind should let their children root for this guy. Vick is a cruel, vicious dog-killer.
And what of the gambling allegations leveled against him? Do you think prosecutors have agreed to overlook those allegations — which, at least to Vick, are even more important than the animal cruelty charges — as part of the guilty plea arrangement?
Of course they will.
You see, the NFL bans any player associated with gambling activities, and the other two defendants in the case have reportedly told prosecutors that Vick fully funded gambling associated with the dogfighting ring, and that he once even delivered a "book bag" filled with $23,000 in cash after one of his dogs lost a fight.
Vick's career would be kaput if he were indicted on gambling charges. So something tells me Vick and his legal team would take a guilty plea only if gambling were not part of the indictment against him.
How convenient. It's also a bit confusing how it's OK in the NFL to be a felon, but not a gambler — but maybe it's just me.
I don't know Michael Vick, but I do know that even after serving his time, the man doesn't belong on national television.
I'm not saying that he should be denied the right to earn a living, however.
If the NFL wants to let some team pay him for his services, that's all well and good, but that team shouldn't be allowed to appear on television, where millions of people have to relive those images of bloodied and mutilated dogs, with their ears, noses and faces chewed off.
Now, I've heard both sides of this argument debated over the past few weeks.
Some people say that no matter how cruel Vick's crime against animals is, dogs have no souls and do not go to heaven. Therefore, the amount of outrage, some say, was unwarranted.
On the other side, critics — me included — would like to see Vick himself thrown to a pack of hungry, killer-trained dogs, like some of the pets that are kidnapped by dogfighting purveyors for training purposes, and see how the guy who takes to the field all padded up with helmet and shoulder pads handles a little tooth-to-skin combat.
Or better yet, let's let him play quarterback for the Falcons, and electrocute him the first time they lose.
Plead out all you want, Vick, but no matter how much time passes, people won't forget the kind of person you are.
Americans love a comeback story. Just not yours.
You know when the right lane on a three lane highway merges with the center lane so that there are only two lanes left? Don't you just love when some Oblivion guns it in order to beat you to the merge — passing you on the right and barely making it?
I encountered one such moron over the weekend who nearly crashed into me, and I was so Grrr'd, I could have rear-ended this jerk at the next light. I refrained, since I know that would only be detrimental to me, no matter how much I was grinding my teeth.
I also refrained from hitting the high beams and staying on his tail for the rest of the trip. I mean, I did a little bit, but I let it go after a few hundred feet. You never know what kind of idiot is driving the car.
Last thing I need is to get shot dead due to some guy's road rage. But man, do you ever get that feeling of absolute rage yourself? I mean, it's one thing if I was putting along. But I wasn't, so this idiot really had to push his car to beat me to the merge.
The real kicker is while the rightmost lane was merging, the traffic was also shifting, so I was focused on the car in front of me to my left who was drifting into my lane, as this clown was racing past me on the right.
Who designs these roads anyway? GRRR!
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