Asymmetrical Information

I would explain pro football to you* if you would explain the issues surrounding the value of China's currency to me. Unfortunately, until they come up with the technology that allows two people to communicate from very far away, we're both going to remain hopelessly ignorant.

*assuming you lose sleep not knowing how football works

"A number of readers have emailed to ask why I am such a liberal hypocrite."

Well, on the up-side they assume you are all-knowing to be up to date on all possible stories involving dog abuse.

I guess you're supposed to be the patron goddess of abused puppies, in their eyes. ;)

What I don't understand about the Vick situation is why this is a federal case. Is this really something that can't be handled on the state level?

What I don't understand about the Vick situation is why this is a federal case. Is this really something that can't be handled on the state level?

wph, it's a federal case because Vick is alleged to have transported dogs across state borders for the purpose of fighting them. I'm not sure, but it may be alleged that he did the same with gamblers, for the purpose of betting on dogfights. There is no federal animal cruelty law, per se, to my knowledge.

Absent the federal element, I think Vick's legal jeopardy would have been much, much, smaller. The county proesecutor where this operation was discovered is a part-time employee nearing retirement, and I suspect the county budget is modest, given it's rural nature. Mike Vick is probably worth at least 50 million; I think the locals would have been outgunned, both in terms of money and talent.

Being pursued by the Prosecutor of Nearly Unlimited Resources, in terms of time and money, however, is a far more grim prospect. I suspect RICO statutes (which I generally oppose) may eventually be applied here, and if THAT happens, well, Mr. Vick is going to receive an education in legal pain most often reserved for fellas of Sicilian descent.

Whenever I think there may be a limit to human stupidity, something comes along, like a young guy who should have the world in the palm of his hand, but is taking a plunge into the abyss for sheer idiotic cruelty, to show me the error of my thinking.

Interstate transport of materials to commit a felony. Interstate conspiracy. Interstate wire fraud with respect to the betting.

He is still potentially on the hook in some states for the actual dog fights, but his indictment is more about the 'business' aspect of the fighting, not the actual fights.

Whenever I think there may be a limit to human stupidity, something comes along,

Which raises the question: who's dumber, Vick or Harry Potter?

So, you're anti-roach now are you? These little details about Jane keep dribbling out.

Next thing we know you'll be all anti-Chilean Sea Bass and supporting Al Gore's decimation of the species.

Be glad you're not down here in Atlanta, where the AJC, rather amusingly, shut down all Vick-related blog comment threads until this morning.

I believe the Thrashers get the Least Embarrassing Atlanta Pro Team nod now. The Dany Heatley* case was worlds different from the Vick case, but I was still glad they traded Heatley away.

* = for those who don't follow hockey gossip: Heatley was Thrashers' young star; drove drunk and way too fast on Lenox Road, which is twisty, and crashed, killing his friend and teammate.

I dunno, Tolbert, I REALLY love succulent and moist Sea Bass that hasn't been covered in 'goop' to take away the natural flavour. By the way, over 50% of what restaurants serve as 'Chilean' Sea Bass, isn't really. In the best of obfuscation techniques, there is an allowance to call a fish, well, almost anything. So your fish-n-chips ends up being any fish that is white (unless you get those really ugly tasting things with the grey meat still attached).

I don't think the soon-to-be Hottest Media Type (Print) in DC is losing much sleep over football rules, Dave. Anything above Division I college ball leaves me cold. Australian rules f-ball, though, is as fun a game to play as it is to watch (and to practice Rugby after-game socializing, to boot).

Click on my name, Dave B.

don't blush, Jane... see Vick doesn't want the keys to the launch codes, so... apples/oranges the only reason you have even heard of this instead of blackjack the dog-fight king is because of what Vick is. Wealthy, talented and with a lot to lose. Also potentially stupid, to throw that all away. Guess he must not have taken that "Young Millionaires 101" course where they tell you that the millions are now yours to lose...

D

who's dumber, Vick or Harry Potter?

Harry is more persistently dumb, but Vick has displayed a greater depth of stupidity.

The indictment mentions that Vick was involved in murdering 8 dogs by various methods including hanging them, covering them with water and then electrocuting them, and picking them up and slamming their bodies into the ground until they were dead. This would make him eligible for 8 (or perhaps more) counts of animal cruelty in state court. He's facing 6 years of federal time, and there no parole in the federal system, so he would probably serve 3 years if he were convicted on both counts. Sentences in state courts are more variable, but he could face much more time in state court if convicted of the full 8 counts of animal cruelty. My guess is that the feds took the case because it wasn't a high priority for local prosecutors and because local prosecutors are probably more favorably disposed to Vick.

This is a pretty knowledgeable crowd, so I'll ask one of my favorite questions here. Does anyone know the average 'burn rate' of pro athletes? That is, how much money is being spent per time period? I'm guessing it's high, but I'm wonder how high?

klug, if you are asking how fast athletes go through their money, the disparity is so wide that I don't know if the average would tell us much. Ob one hand, I know of guys who have earned upward of 10 million a year, while living in $1000 month apartments, and driving used Chevrolets. On the other hand, I've seen it reported that Mike Tyson earned over $500 million dollars in about 15 years, and now is essentially bankrupt,and not because his stock market investments went sour. He was famous for walking into Las Vegas jewelry stores with his posse, and spending a quarter million dollars in 20 minutes, or buying 10 luxury cars at a time. God only knows how much he lost at the tables in Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

Along those lines, there was a Philly trucking magnate, Leonard Tose, who bought the Philadelphia Eagles in the late '60s. By the early 80s, his drinking and gambling were completely out of control, and what was, if I remember correctly, about a 50 million dollar fortune was eventually squandered in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. When the last casino, The Sands, went to collect on a 1.25 million dollar gambling debt, Tose countersued, claiming that the Casino deliberately kept him too drunk to know what he was doing. Despite the testimony of a cocktail waitress who stated that she was told that her only responsibility was to keep Tose's monogrammed glass filled with Chivas, The Sands won. He spent his final years in a downscale hotel in downtown Philadelphia, his mansion having been sold in a U.S. Marshal's sale.

That's a bio every gambler should read, not that they would pay attention.

I'm following the Vick situation very closely.

But who's this "Mitt Romney" ?

Short and sweet, Jane. Professional football is a game in which you travel across state lines and fight like dogs legally. You don't have to take women, another erstwhile item sometimes traveled across state lines for immoral porpoises, because they show up on their own. So you're pretty much left to questionable activity with dogs.

Then you've got the 'Dawg Pound' eveyone in Cleveland seems to be so enamoured with, the Porps in Miami thrashing the water with every Flipper-Girl they can make, and in Oakland you've got the Pirate Wannabees who are nothing like their intimidatin' selves of bygone eras.

Still, are pretty much bad-a**e* who just don't understand the value of money, at least the newest Millionaire Sports Heroes.

Michael Vick is a Tidewater Virginia born and schooled quarterback who was great at VA Tech, but has been only mediocre in the NFL (playing for the Hot-lanta Falcons). He's known for his penchant for running the ball instead of making spectacular passes. You don't want to draft him, if ever you play Fantasy Football.

He claims that this dog-fighting business is really being run by his relatives, and he's unaware of all their wrongdoings. Washington Redskin Clinton Portis got into some hot water by saying that this controversy is overblown because dogfighting is simply part of Southern culture. He neglected to specify that it's part of ghetto, gang-banging Southern culture.

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