ATLANTA, Georgia --- Falcon’s quarter back Michael Vick was arrested a few weeks ago for allegedly running a dog fighting ring called “Bad Newz Kennels”. The football star pleaded not-guilty, but due to the detailed indictment many believed him to be guilty from the start.

As if it couldn’t get any worse for Vick his co-defendants took a deal and pleaded guilty, turning over photos and other hard evidence over to the cops. This made the case against Vick even stronger. It seemed there was no way he could be innocent.

Because of the controversy, Vick was suspended from his job as quarter back which has lost him more than $10 Million in pay. Most thought that was a good thing, because as Bill O’Reilly from The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News put it: “This is barbaric.” And it is. Anyone who would do these kind of things is a monster.

The extensive indictment against him included allegations that he was in charge of “Bad Newz Kennels” and even worse, the way he ran it. Allegedly he and his cohorts would breed Pitt Bulls and then train them to be fighters. Often when they would fail their so-called “practice fight” they would be murdered; hung, shot, or having their legs cut off. The same thing was often done to the losers of the fights which people placed bets on.

Now, due to all the evidence mounted against him, Vick has agreed to take a deal and plead guilty. He could get up to five years in prison and up to a $250 000 fine. He probably won’t get five years, not only because he is a celebrity but because judges rarely throw the book at people who committed what some consider a “lower-level crime”. But I think he should. He participated in a disgusting act that is not acceptable on any level. Putting dogs into a pin to kill each other is not entertainment, it’s murder.

There is a twist to this story, though. Not everyone is angry about it. In fact New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury defended Vick today, saying: "I think, you know, we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dogfighting [sic] is a sport. It's just behind closed doors.''

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Although many people consider hunting as a form of murder as well, it is not cast in the same shadow as dog fighting for a number of reasons.

One, it is the way it is done; in hunting a human shoots the animal in as humane of a way as it could be; in dog fighting the dogs rip each other apart in one of the most brutal things imaginable. Two, in hunting the animals are wild they are not domesticated (or kept as pets) as dogs are. And three, the situations are nothing alike because hunting down a wild animal and killing it is considered a sport but betting money and watching two otherwise gentle dogs kill each other is not and should never be.

And the story goes deeper. Some are now saying that there is a racial aspect in this case. That’s right, people are saying that the only reason so many people considered Vick guilty before he had his day in court was because he is black. And furthermore, they argue that this can be proven by looking at the Duke rape case; they say that when the three kids were arrested everyone said not to “convict” them before they had a fair trial. That is all complete and utter bull.

The reason that people believed the allegations against Vick is because they saw the evidence piled against him and they saw his codefendants leave him high and dry by confessing; you can’t get much more guilty than that. And as far as the Duke case goes, most of the people (especially blacks) condemned the boys before they had their trial, very few actually spoke up in their defense and when they were proven innocent I didn’t hear any apologies. So actually you could say that case had a racial twist to it, but not this one.

Vick is now awaiting to plead guilty and hear his sentencing. He should get the full five years and the fine but he most likely won’t. As long as he serves at least one to two years, though, he probably will never play in the NFL again because they can’t take that risk, and that punishment will suffice.

It is sad that so many people try to make stories into something they are not, but at least some good has come of this; how much, we will have to wait and see.