He's no coach killer, he's a dog killer

I'm no legal expert, but it looks like Michael Vick is in big trouble. It's not good to have the ruthless Feds coming after you in a high profile case. Just ask Scooter Libby or Conrad Black, who are both probably a tad cleverer than Vick, and, more importantly, were likely consorting with a more sophisticated type of co-conspirator. And neither Libby nor Black killed Fido by slamming his body to the ground.

Nor did they wet Snoopy down and electrocute him to death. Or shot Benji in the head. I've seen a lot of nasty and unlikely things written about Scooter Libby, but never once did anyone accuse him of hanging Lassie until she was dead because she couldn't cut it in the brutal blood sport of dog fighting. Allegedly.

Speaking of the message boards, I've been checking them this morning for reaction to the Vick indictment. It's no surprise that public sentiment is uniformly against him. Not that there haven't been some funny comments out there (Did Vick give the dogs herpes too?), but even on the sports and celebrity boards, where things tend to be pretty loose, the opinions have been earnest and outraged.

Of course this indignation could temper if it happens to come out that Vick wasn't involved in the actual doggy executions -- as the indictment states. If not, Vick could probably garner some public support by playing the race and celebrity prosecution cards.

I'm sure Vick's lack of direct involvement is what his legal team will try to establish. And it stands to reason Vick could reach an informal agreement with his other "dogs" in which they take the rap for the worst stuff, he pleas down to a misdemeanor, and then compensates them for the couple years they have to spend in prison partly on his behalf.

Although with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell now handing out long suspensions for multiple DWIs, and the standard NFL contract containing a morals clause that would certainly forbid involvement in dog killing, there is no guarantee, from here on out, Michael Vick will be able to make good on any of his monetary promises.