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3-on-3 basketball season begins

Unless you've been hiding beneath a rock for the past few months, you've undoubtedly heard about Michael Vick's indictment and subsequent guilty plea for dogfighting. Once upon a time, back in 2001, which now seems like such an innocent time, when Vick was first drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, he injected hope and excitement into a city lacking both.

He was a new type of quarterback, a never-before-seen freak of athletic prowess. He was an electric player, and the fans responded by selling out nearly 60 straight games during his tenure with the Falcons. However, back in April, all that changed with Vick�s indictment. The grisly details of his dogfighting enterprise destroyed his reputation, tarnished already by lackluster play and earlier incidents of questionable behavior.

Vick�s fall was momentous. Within just a few months, he had been suspended from the league, pled guilty to his indictment, lost every advertising contract he had, and was forced to apologize for his behavior in front of the world on the day of his guilty plea.

However, throughout it all, some people have steadfastly remained Vick supporters. Dustin Ivey, a student at GHC, said that he felt Vick had been "unfairly treated" and "didn't deserve what he got." The sad fact is that Vick would perhaps have been better off if he killed a human being than what he did to those dogs. Americans have always been dog-lovers and the idea of torturing, murdering, and forcing dogs to fight each other struck a chord in millions of people.

Even PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who has so often been the subject of controversy, found innumerable allies in the American populace. Vick said he was sorry and seemed sincere while doing so. He knows that he, and he alone, is to blame for his fall from grace. His loss of millions of dollars, and maybe even years of his life, is his fault, and he knows this. People ask themselves why someone, who seemed to have so much going for him, would do such a thing.

Perhaps it was the forbidden fruit appeal of it; perhaps it was simply a misguided attempt of Vick's to stay connected to his childhood friends. Whatever the reason, when the December 10 sentencing comes. The stigma of this mistake will last much longer than his football career.