ESPN’s Massive Vick Brick (*Update: Vick Suspended Without Pay by NFL)
Uncategorized August 24th. 2007, 4:13pm
Breaking: Vick has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
All morning, ESPN touted a massive scoop: Mike Vick wouldn’t admit to killing dogs or gambling when he entered his guilty plea in a Virginia court on Monday. To put it mildly, it was a curious story, made more mysterious by the fact that the story – which was picked up by many, many outlets – did not carry a byline. Strange, huh? You’ve got a massive scoop, but nobody’s taking credit?
Now we know why. Vick filed his plea agreement this afternoon – smart move doing so on a Friday; it’ll blow over this weekend and someone else will be in the news Monday morning – and he admitted to everything. In a race to be first on the biggest sports news story of the year, ESPN bricked. Badly.
People miss. We get that. But the timing of this transgression couldn’t have been worse. As Slate pointed out, the four-letter hasn’t been the one-stop shop for the most comprehensive Vick coverage. Heck, even the AJC has topped ESPN (our opinion). How can that possibly be, considering the 4-letter has more resources than any other sports media outlet? Sure, they’ll beat you over the head with opinion/analysis – which you can pick up at any blog – but what good is it to have six different talking heads at one network yapping about Vick? How come more of them weren’t utilizing their cozy relationship with players/owners/coaches to get somebody on the record? You know, like actual news?
We’ve largely been ignoring the Tim Donaghy scandal, which is currently mucking up the NBA, but everytime somebody’s talking about news on this front, it seems to be coming from outlets like the New York Daily News or Sports Illustrated. It makes one wonder – with ESPN so heavily invested in the NBA, can we expect the WWL to come down hard on the league?
NFL … NBA … Rob King’s going to be dropping the hammer awfully soon in Bristol.
40 Responses to “ESPN’s Massive Vick Brick (*Update: Vick Suspended Without Pay by NFL)”
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August 24th, 2007 at 4:27 PM
It really is amazing when you think about how little reporting you get anymore from ESPN…these days SportsCenter is basically in a steady “Highlight-Corporate Sponsored Analysis” rotation
I wonder how much longer before Gammon and Mortenson are given the boot because their inside information is useless compared to the respective wisdom of Eduardo Perez and Sean Salisbury
August 24th, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Len P. had to be the one the gave the WWL this “scoop.” He is so far Vick’s agent’s ass that Len knows if he’s got polyps in his colon. I can only hope that Vick gets the same treatment in prison as child molesters.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:31 PM
the reporting on ESPN has been left to outside the lines, everything else is just sports entertainment, kind of like wrestling, but without the ‘roids. i really wish they would throw under the bus the reporter who screwed the pooch on the story. (pun unintended, or is it?)
August 24th, 2007 at 4:39 PM
Highlight-Corporate Sponsored Analysis. I love it.
Nice work, TBL, if that is in fact your real name.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:42 PM
This is not what I had in mind when I agreed to manifest myself on this planet.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:10 PM
Actually…
Vick did not admit to gambling.
And…
He did not admit to personally killing dogs. Pretty simple really. If the feds had him dead to rights on that, they wouldn’t have agreed to the ‘as a result of the collective efforts’ language. I’m no fan of ESPN, but they were right on this one.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:12 PM
Len Fatbelly won’t fit under any bus.
Maybe one of those huge dump trucks you see on the Discovery Channel.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:16 PM
“And he acknowledged participating in killing underperforming dogs.”
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d801c1644&template=without-video&confirm=true
August 24th, 2007 at 5:17 PM
Wanting Vick to get the same treatment as child molesters either means you care waaaay too much about dogs, or you have some type of vendetta against the guy, cuz thats just fucking retarded.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:18 PM
Trent-
How was ESPN right? He admitted to everything. Instead of me typing it- go to profootballtalk.com and see for yourself.
I think what happened is they got led down the path by the Vick PR team- and I think even ESPN knew it because they attached no one to it. Its either that or they figured they’d throw it out there and see if it sticks….
August 24th, 2007 at 5:26 PM
Mortenson hasn’t been right on this story yet, and even the WWL’s own legal experts are wary of this plea, unless he’s going to turn state’s evidence against other people; and that sounds like what he’s going to do. There’s also something called an Alford plea, where a defendant can accept a plea bargain without actually admitting guilt.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Hollywood Wags: That quote is from the article, not from Vick’s signed and filed Statement of Facts. Read the Statement instead. People also thought that the Indictment said Vick personally killed dodgs. it didn’t.
maxbcat: Profootball talk is a great site, but I’m taking my reading from the actual court docs, not simply a reporter’s or blogger’s take. My personal take, then is that based on the Statement of Facts signed by Vick and the prosecutors, the language is purposefully vague and therefore suports the ESPN take. The relevant language is: “Vick agrees and stipulates that these [6-8] dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Philips and Vick”. Very carefully worded I’d say.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:28 PM
Did ESPN do this shit as a favor to someone?
I always suspect ESPN of nefarious motives for everything they do.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:40 PM
@jay
Yes child molestation is worse than dog fighting, but Vick’s acts are of a cruel and amoral sociopath. My guess there are a lot of dog lovers in prison.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:41 PM
I’m not a lawyer, but what part of “collective efforts of Peace, Phillips, and Vick” doesn’t imply that he helped kill at least one, if not all, of those 6-8 dogs? Also, doesn’t an admission of guilt to a conspiracy, under federal law, implies knowledge of and implicit, if not direct, participation in the acts specified. That’s how the feds have been able to lock up many Mafia folks.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:45 PM
trent is right. read the actual legal document. it is very carefully worded so that vick does not have to admit to killing the dogs himself. he is part of a “collaborative” effort. as such, he can always claim that his part of the “collaboration” was indirect (financial). espn was not incorrect in their reporting. it seems, ironically, that the blogdome’s dogmatic dislike of the WWL has them committing the same sins for which they criticize ESPN.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:54 PM
jim- well you said you hoped Vick got the same treatment, therefore implying you would treat a dogfighter the same as a child molester… I personally feel that rapists and child molesters should be put to death, but thats just my opinion. Big picture-wise, dogfighting is really nothing.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:54 PM
I’m not surprised by ESPN’s airball at all.
The Virginia Pilot has had more in-depth and credible information on this case since it broke. ESPN just doesn’t invest in quality journalists like they do folks who can blab about it.
Bloggers are just as reliable at the four -letters’ assessments, and they often are not as biased as the talking heads.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:56 PM
Trent – Perhaps you should look at this link to the Smoking Gun.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0824071vick1.html
“Earlier this year, Vick, and two cronies “agreed to the killing of approximately 6-8 dogs” that fared poorly in testing sessions at his Smithfield, Virginia property. Some of the animals were drowned or hanged, and Vick “stipulated” that the animals died via the “collected efforts” of himself, and codefendants Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace. Both Phillips and Peace previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and stated that Vick participated in the execution of eight dogs last April.”
If you look at the document, 1A talks about gambling.
August 24th, 2007 at 6:14 PM
TheBigLead: Love the site, by the way. I think that the language quoted there is still intentionally vague. And while you and I and most people might agree that it’s enough to taint Vick, it’s still pretty clear from the language in the Statement of Facts–which the feds signed off on–that Vick did not personally kills any dogs.
That may, for many people, be a distinction without a difference. I get that. But people–reporters, commentators, bloggers, etc.–are discussing the case as if Vick had obviously killed dogs with his bare hands. But no proof of that exists, including his own plea. Might seem like a minor point, but when people talk in detail about ‘how Vick himself electrocuted a losing dog’, it bears mentioning that there is no proof or even concrete assertion that such a thing happened.
August 24th, 2007 at 6:40 PM
Interesting comments about child molestation and dog fighting. Today the child molesting & murdering John Couey was just issued the death penalty for killing 9-year old Jessica Lunsford while an old Klansman was given life for killing two young teens in 1964 and Michael Vick pleads to gambling, dog killing and fighting but we all know his deeds don’t even hold a candle to the other two crimes. Interesting article about Vick’s father in the Atlanta Journal Constitution-makes you wonder how Vick and his brother even made as far as they did. His sperm donor comes off like a low-life parasite-just there to collect off his son.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:10 PM
If it goes down like Vick’s lawyers want, he will be the victim in a couple of years. He was involved, but only financially. He was just trying to help out some friends, etc., etc. You see that by the wording of the plea, and the statements they have released.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:33 PM
Trent – you are correct. Vick may not have strangled the dogs or flipped the switch to kill the dogs.
But if you and three friends kill somebody, and you are there with them … and you bankrolled the project … what are you?
August 24th, 2007 at 7:37 PM
TheBigLead – Agreed on all counts. I just mean to suggest that if people are going to get giddy about saying that Vick personally strangled dogs, they should admit that it is conjecture that he in fact did so. But yeah, it seems that at the very least, he bankrolled, or condoned, or ‘okayed’ the killing of dogs. I don’t mean that Vick is a saint, but the conventional wisdom seems already to be that he was rolling out of bed and strangling dogs himself, when that may have not been the case.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:44 PM
Oh dear, now Mike Mexico is snitching!
Oh my, what will his defenders say now! He snitched on DMX, in the house!!!!
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1567865/20070824/dmx.jhtml
LMAO. Too fuckin funny.
“but the conventional wisdom seems already to be that he was rolling out of bed and strangling dogs himself,”
Hey, why don’t you exaggerate just a LITTLE bit more?
Strawman, perhaps?
If it’s found Mike killed dogs after setting them against other dogs to have their faces chewed off, he’s in serious shit with the state of VA. People have gotten a lot of time for doing the same thing.
Mike is fucked.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:54 PM
Hollywood Wags:
Where is the suggestion that Vick snitched on DMX? (I’m not suggesting that it didn’t or won’t happen–I have no idea. But I didn’t see that allegation at the link you provided).
And although I wish I didn’t have to say as much, I’m not defending dog fighting or even Mike Vick. Just trying to promote accuracy in the discussion.
Thanks for link, though.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:13 PM
Yeah, they pretty much got it exactly wrong. Then again, so did everyone else. I believe Fox Sports actually picked up the erroneous story first, and ESPN, not wanting to be outdone, jumped on it as well. I could be wrong on that, though. Regardless, you would think they would check and double check their sources before making such a big splash with the headline. Pretty embarrassing.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:13 PM
C’mon Trent…
The timing is just a little too good, no? Mike enters a plea, then the cops raid DMS’s shit…
I think we have more to come here, Mike was not exactly without contacts in the rap world.
The feds got a fish big enough to shit all over the place.
This whole thing will be as good for craziness as the OJ trial.
Where’s Ron Shipp? Does he own any fighting pitbulls?
Just finding this whole thing nutty as all hell.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:05 PM
I love the headline Feds Seize Distressed Dogs at DMX’s House.
Nothing worse than distressed dogs. Probably just learned to read, found out about Bad Newz Kennels, and popped some Zanax. If the Feds were to take away all the depressed people in the US, the whole city of Boston would disappear. Actually, that might not be a bad idea.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:41 PM
Anyone read the letter from Goodell to Vick? I know its on espn.com. He sure won’t make it easy for Vick to get back in the NFL.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:13 PM
The Falcons are not exactly happy about Mike pulling this shit.
Man, who knew that Marcus might be the bright one.
Hey. 130 mil, let’s have some pitbull fights.
So stupid.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:26 PM
Trent, if Vick could find 12 of you living in Virginia, he should have taken this shit to trial. He killed the dogs, and he did admit to it, you should be smart enough not to fall for semantic bullshit.
Hollywood Wags: first off, love your line about Marcus, I agree with you 100%. Stomping on a player is now looking damn near respectable! but I personally think the Falcons are overjoyed at Vick doing this to himself, they would have had trouble [read: black people pissed] cutting him next offseason (which would have been the first time it would not have been financially crippling). I have thought he’d be cut June 1, 2008 since I saw his contract in 2005, it simply made sense (unless he got to the Super Bowl). Now Arthur Blank can move on without the headache, and a year earlier. For an Atlanta resident tired of non-winning seasons, I say it’s a blessing.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:56 PM
Atlanta resident????? I’m sure Arthur Blank isn’t overjoyed about cutting Vick and is playing the highwire act of simultaneously being the pissed owner trying to appease a few (read: white people, particularly the ones who kiss their dogs in the mouth) and the owner trying to figure out the opening to bring back his franchise player. Because in spite of being a franchise located in a second rate sports city with second rate sports fans, Vick put butts in the seats and that’s the bottom line.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:34 PM
White peopel, black people, green people, orange people…
They all agree.
Vick sucks and he is summarily fucked beyond anything OJ could conceive.
Vick doesn’t put butts in the seats as much as a good winning team does.
That’s the bottom line.
Vick has not lived up to his standards…
Look at Phil Rivers. Drew Brees, Vince Young to make it racially equitable.
Vick has sucked, he’s always sucked…
Blank got the good reason to let his non-performing butt sail down the river.
Goodbye Mike.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:45 PM
Vick put butts in the seat, even those who are informed who dislike Vick would acknowledge that. The QB’s you mention have accomplished nothing Vick hasn’t. Actually they haven’t accomplished as much. If they have, please tell me what?
August 25th, 2007 at 3:30 AM
An aside, the most under-reported piece of news is that the WWL was beat by MSNBC by a full two television segments on Aug. 20 in reporting that Vick accepted the plea.
August 25th, 2007 at 3:40 AM
Ummm….I don’t know how ESPN dropped the ball on this one. The entire point of the plea deal was the specific language where Vick said he did not kill any of the dogs and where he did not personally gamble. If you want to, you can throw that language out and say he admitted to everythign (which, via conjecture, he did), but that plea deal wouldn’t have been cut without that particular language. Disregard it at your own bias.
But I think it should still be favorable to him. 10-18 months isn’t a bad sentence at all. HOwever, checking out Goodell’s letter he’s setting it up as if he could care less about the specific language in the plea deal. Since it seems most fans who wanted his head on a platter in the first place will ignore the fact that he didn’t gamble and he didn’t kill the dogs personally (“collective efforts” could mean VIck supplied the money to buy the dogs for the purpose of dogfighting, and as a consequence of that the dogs were killed), it would seem Goodell is doing the same. In his letter, he specifically says “Even if you did not place the bets, as you contend, your actions in funding betting…” and other language to the effect that he couldn’t care less about those carefully worked out passages.
Goodell has been wildly inconsistent when it comes to the punishment of his players–he really basis it solely off the press coverage. So with that I pretty much expect a lifetime ban. No matter though, I highly doubt the Falcons will be able to recuperate much of the signing bonus (especially this deep in the contract), so I’m sure in about a year or so Vick will be doing just fine–he’ll just have his retirement start a bit early.
August 25th, 2007 at 3:46 AM
Oh, and no Hollywood Wags, Vick has one of the best winning percentages as a starting QB in the NFL. He consistently put up top 10 numbers (unless you want to cherry pick stats) and willed his obviously flawed team to a lot of victories. A bust as a #1 pick? Probably, especially given the fact that he was trades for Ladanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees (I remember how mad San Diegons were when that went down). But he’s been a darn good QB in this league for quite some time.
Luckily for the falcons, however, they’ll have the #1 pick next year (which goes to show you how much Vick meant to that team), and pick Brohm if he’s out there. Unfortunately for the falcons, they’ve stockpiled ZERO talent in the backfield, offensive line, Wide receiver position, or linebacker. Quite frankly the only talented players they have are Deangelo Hall, Jamaal AndersonAlge Crumpler and……Jerious Norwood?
August 25th, 2007 at 10:48 AM
ESPN sucks!
August 25th, 2007 at 3:28 PM
Well if anyone has seen Vince Young so far in this preseason, it looks like we’ve got a new Vick anyways…