I’ve been holding off wanting to comment on Michael Vick and his dogfighting/cruelty charges, even thought it’s been the talk of the nation for several weeks now. The thing that amazes me is how much press it has gotten and how easily its has jumped from simply a news story involving a popular NFL sports to the talk of TV and radio news, talk radio, and the cable networks. And I wonder why that is. Is it because of the nature of the charges? The selacious stories that have come out as a result of his indictment? Is it because he’s arguably the NFL’s most visible black quarterback? Is it because he’s a black sports celebrity? Is it because animals that most people consider to be household pets were involved?

I’m wondering: would charges of this nature involving a white athlete garner the same kind of coverage and headlines?

Make no mistake about it – if what Michael Vick was involved in is true – and there’s no reason to believe it isn’t given his impending plea bargain – then he deserves whatever penalties the prosecutors in this case will negotiate with Vick’s defense team. He’s going to spend hard time in jail, and whether or not his career is over remains to be seen. I just wonder why in this day and age a news story like this gets the amount of widespread, mult-media coverage it has gotten. I’m not saying this is right or wrong, mind you – after all, the amount of coverage given to Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton following their own recent legal problems underscores just how much of a sick, celebrity-obsessed culture we’ve become. I just wonder if there isn’t a little bit of gleeful piling on here in Michael Vick’s case, and how much his race has to do with it. That’s all.