• Donovan McNabb says America has it out for black QBs. When one of them gets caught fighting killing dogs, it probably makes things a little worse. []
• As more details come out about the West Virginia kidnapping/torture/rape case, police pile more charges against the six suspects. Do any of the new charges carry a mandatory sentence of burning in hell for all eternity? []
• Stars are not immune to acne any more than we are, and it’s also not a secret that Alicia Keys has some skin problems. But if you’re beautiful with cover-up on, then I don’t buy the argument that if you have acne you aren’t pretty. [SR]
• Lou Gosset, Jr.’s bringing the social activism in his old age. [NR]
• From what I know about Jena, the residents are just going to love it when swarms of unhappy black folk/northern white liberals swarm their town for the Sept. 20th rally. [USAT]
Here’s the thing. Why do we really need BET to produce a show called We Got To Do Better? In addition to the fact that it sucks, we already have something similar. It’s called the newspaper. And most of those tales are far more cautionary than grainy YouTube clips of ignorant people doing ignorant shit.
Take 28-year-old Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry, for instance. The man has a $25 million contract, he makes roughly $50,000 a month, he recently spent $100,000 on a car and $146,000 on jewelry. And he has 9 kids by 9 different women scattered across four Southern states. Unfortunately, he has a bit of trouble paying their child support.
Things are so bad that he once had to borrow $9,800 from the Tennessee Titans so he wouldn’t miss a payment, and now a judge is requiring him to set up a $250,000 trust to ensure he has the money to pay every month. According to his lawyer, Henry has “significant financial issues.” Clearly, he’s too broke to buy a damn condom.
[AJC]
Michael Vick’s legal team is currently brokering a plea deal, which will probably include some jail time, for their embattled, (alleged) dog-fight-loving client. The plea deal comes after Vick’s co-defendants all pleaded guilty as part of a deal with the prosecutor. In other words, it wasn’t looking good for him.
Vick’s motivation to enter a guilty plea is likely fueled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement last month that it will seek a new “superseding” indictment against Vick by the end of August. With the cooperation of Vick’s three co-defendants, there will likely be new, and more specific, allegations against Vick. The federal grand jury in Richmond is expected to hand up that indictment sometime early next week…This week, Vick learned that in the criminal justice system, friendship only goes so far.
Well, that’s that. The various activists involved in either side of the argument can move on to their next pet projects. No pun intended.
[AJC]
Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton, and PETA have joined together to create an interesting anti-dog-fighting trio. They sent an open letter to Michael Vick’s sponsors, the NFL commissioner, and the Atlanta Falcons CEO condemning dog-fighting but going kind of soft on Vick, in my opinion. I guess there’s that whole innocent-until-proven-guilty roadblock.
Click here if you’re interested in signing a petition, although I don’t see what petitioning something that’s already illegal will do. Read the full letter after the jump.
CONTINUED »
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is in a whole heap of trouble either for allowing a dog fighting ring to be operated from his Virginia house or being directly involved in said ring. Either way, a yard full of buried pit bull carcasses is not a good look for a NFL player now that the league has tightened its personal conduct policy. Actually, murdering a bunch of dogs is not a good look for a human being, period.
The 19-page indictment alleged Vick was highly involved in the operation, alleging that he attended fights and paid off bets when his dogs lost. It said he also was involved in the executions of dogs that did not perform well.
If convicted, Vick could face a total of up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines. He could face additional discipline by the NFL, even if he is not convicted.
I know there are worse crimes, but, to me, animal cruelty on a wide scale like this is disgusting, and I won’t be sad if he goes to jail for it.
[WP]
- Quincy Jones feeds Michael Jackson the “I’m busy” line to avoid having to see him face to face. No judgment, Quincy. I would, too. [Starpulse]
- PETA’s offering free animal cruelty seminars to NFL players. Seriously. [DP]
- Young Jeezy was arrested, and his bail was a paltry $284. Snowman, indeed. [SR]
- Jay-Z fled his lawsuit drama stateside to visit Cannes and lay out with Beyonce in Monaco. [PR]
- Lil’ Wayne and Trina reenact the last scene of Love Jones on stage in Miami. [C&D]
Football Wives, an NFL-themed drama starring Holly Robinson Peete, Gabrielle Union and Ving Rhames, was supposed to air on ABC this fall. The show, based on the wildly popular British series, Footballers Wives, about the exploits of the spouses of pro-soccer players, had great buzz, but ABC didn’t deem it worthy of a place on the fall schedule. Budget issues, they said. Others think pressure from the NFL — which also caused the cancellation of sister-network ESPN’s controversial Playmakers – was what did it. According to AOL Black Voices, the actual NFL players are doing far more to sully the name of the organization than any fictional television show ever can.
CONTINUED »
- Shar Jackson wants a Neptunes beat for her new album. Maybe Britney Spears will let her borrow “Slave For You” as a thank you for babysitting her babies while she was in rehab. [Starpulse]
- Because sometimes a professional athlete’s salary just isn’t enough, ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Richard Seigler resorted to pimping in his spare time. []
- Mims tells the world, Bubba (from Forrest Gump)-style, about the depth and scope of his love for shrimp. He also recommends Sonic burgers. [GrubSt]
- Don Cheadle, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and George Clooney plan to use the press surrounding the premiere of Ocean’s 13 to call attention to Darfur. [AP]
- Mariah Carey’s recording a new album and getting acting praise from the producer of her new movie, Tennessee. I saw Glitter. This producer has a motive. [EUR]
- And that’s it for the week. I don’t know about you, but I’m off to Miami for a much needed weekend getaway. Have a great weekend, and kiss your mothers!
