Month: June 2007 (Page 11 of 14)

Did WVEC jump the gun?

On Friday, I posted a story from WVEC in Virginia, which stated three dozen dog carcasses were allegedly found by Federal investigators on the Surry County property owned by Michael Vick. It became such a national story that even ESPN Radio allegedly reported the same story via WVEC on some of their broadcasts.

Well apparently WVEC jumped the gun on the situation, because they’ve since taken down the story and replaced it with one dedicated to Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter and how he’s upset with the way the Feds are now involved in the situation.

How can WVEC misconstrue the situation that badly? Did they make up that dog carcasses found or did they really know and just shouldn’t have reported it without the Feds releasing the information first? Either way, these national media outlets better get their crap together in reporting what’s really going on with this whole Vick-dog fighting fiasco. You can’t report something as serious as “Over three dozen dog carcasses were allegedly found on Vick’s property” and then later in the day pull the story and replace it with something else. If it comes out later that no dog carcasses were found on the property and this was all just a misread on WVEC’s part, then they should be ashamed of themselves just like Vick should if there really was dead dogs buried at one of his homes.

And shame on me for believing that there are journalists out there actually doing their jobs in reporting on this situation and not jumping the gun on something as big as this. What a freaking mess.

UPDATE: WVEC has a correction on its main page about Friday’s article, but now the network is blaming ESPN:

Correction: Friday, WVEC.com reported information about dog remains allegedly found at the Vick property. We attributed the information to ESPN Radio. That information was not reported by ESPN and cannot be confirmed by WVEC. We regret the error.

Interesting, WVEC didn’t “attribute” the news to ESPN Radio in the orginial article. Hmm…

Dog carcasses found on Vick’s property

With each passing day, more and more is coming to light about the Surry County, Virginia property owned by Michael Vick, in which an illegal dog-fighting ring allegedly occurred. Thursday, Federal investigators searched Vick’s property for the possible remains of dog carcasses. On Friday, national reports – including this one from WVEC.com – claim nearly three dozen dog carcasses were found buried on the property.

In related news, Davon Boddie, a cousin of Vick and the one who led investigators to the home originally after being arrested for marijuana possession, has been quoted as saying this whole situation was his fault. He also apologized to the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons for, “what’s going on”, but also claimed that, “there was no dog fighting” going on at the property. Riight Davon, there was no dog fighting going on – just a bunch of dogs who dug holes in your backyard and then somehow managed to burry themselves in the process. And I’m sure the Feds will take your confession about all this being your fault to heart and leave Vick alone from here on out.

From dog fighting in general, to Vick’s possible involvement, to many media outlets hanging Vick before any charges have been brought on, this whole situation is sickening.

Feds search Vick property

ESPN.com is reporting Federal investigators have stepped into the Michael Vick-dog fighting case. The Feds showed up to the home Vick owns in Surry County, Virginia with a warrant to search the premise. On top of looking for anything they could use to nail Vick to the wall, they were also looking for possible dead dog carcasses burried somewhere on the land.

Surry County Prosecutor Gerald Poindexter is a little confused of the Feds involvement:

“What is foreign to me is the federal government getting into a dogfighting case,” Poindexter said. “I know it’s been done, but what’s driving this? Is it this boy’s celebrity? Would they have done this if it wasn’t Michael Vick?”

Poindexter makes a valid argument, but it doesn’t matter – these investigators are already involved now. Vick still might be exonerated even if he is guilty because lack of evidence, but still, one would think it’s safe to assume the Feds will do a thorough job in trying to convict all involved, no matter who the “name” in the case is.

Devil Rays land top pitching prospect

I know the MLB Draft comes absolutely nowhere near the NFL equivalent in fans’ eyes, but it’s significantly important nonetheless and definitely worth following today.

With the first pick in this years’ draft, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays landed arguably the top lefty in all of the draft, Vanderbilt pitcher David Price. According to several scouting reports, Price has a fastball in the mid 90s, a sharp slider and uses an occasional change. He projects as a #2 starter at the next level.To follow the rest of the draft, check out MLB.com’s live Draft Tracker.

By the way, watching Bud Selig read each pick on ESPN2 makes me long to hear NFL commissioner Roger Goodell or former headman Paul Tagliabue say, “With the first pick in the NFL Draft…” There’s just no comparison between Bud “The Slug” and Tags, although Peter Gammons is easier on the ears than Mel Kiper Jr. as far as analysts go.

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