Make it stop. Please. Make it stop.

As the whole world knows by now, ATL’s #7 was in Richmond, VA last Thursday for a hearing related to his indictment on dog-fighting charges. Why, oh why oh why were people lined up downtown for BLOCKS starting as early as 9am when he wasn’t due in court until 3pm? OK, back it up for a minute. Why were they lined up anyway?? I’m not talking about the protestors. I’m not talking about all the folks jocking for one of the 300 seats available in the courtroom. I’m talking about people who took a day off work to stand outside in the frigging heat and humidity for H-O-U-R-S just to get a glimpse of him?? The court session started at 3pm; Vick strolled up to the courthouse about 5 minutes before show time so trust me, all they got was “a glimpse”.

Why is it that the local news kept interrupting perfectly sappy soap operas, and reruns of Ellen and Oprah every 20-30 minutes with “Breaking News Coverage of the Mich.ael Vi.ck saga”? What frigging breaking news? This is how it played out all afternoon…

First report: “Mich.ael Vi.ck made his appearance at 2:55pm. He entered the courthouse without acknowledging the crowd gathered outside. Let’s go to ‘Reba Reporter’ who was inside the courtroom. Reba…

“Thanks Mr-news-anschor. I was indeed inside the courtroom where I sat next to Vi.ck’s uncle. Mr. Uncle says that he is here to support his nephew. During the arraignment, Vi.ck looked around the courtroom several times, making eye contact with his mother, other family members. He didn’t smile, he just made eye contact. Back to you Mr-News-Anchor.” ‘Thank you ‘Reba Reporter’. There you have it folks. Mich.ael Vi.ck in court today under federal indictment on dog-fighting charges. He’s not smiling, his mood is somber. Stay tuned for breaking coverage.”

Second report: “In a strong voice, Mich.ael Vi.ck entered a plea of not guilty. The three others charged also entered pleas of not guilty. Stay tuned for more breaking coverage.”

Third report: “In a clear, strong voice Mich.ael Vi.ck entered a plea of not guilty. His lawyers have gathered outside the courthouse with Vi.ck’s mother. Let’s go to them live.”
Head Lawyer: “This is just the beginning. We caution everyone, including the media to wait until the trial before passing judgment. This is just the first step towards that trial. Mich.ael is inside completing some paperwork. I would like to read a statement from Mich.ael: ‘blah blah blah…not guilty…blah blah blah…apologize to my mother and the Fal.cons team and fans…blah blah blah…clear my good name…blah blah blah.’ At this time I’d like to introduce the entire legal team…him, him, him, him, oh and him and me.”

Reporter: “Mich.ael Vi.ck has entered a plea of not guilty. He vows to clear his name. Stay tuned for breaking coverage in the continuing saga of Mich.ael Vi.ck and allegations of dog fighting.”

Fourth report: “Mich.ael Vi.ck left the courthouse amid boos from protestors. He entered a plea of not guilty as did the other defendants in this case. Stay tuned for breaking coverage.”

OK…all evening long. U-G-H. What frigging breaking news? Dude was actually in court for what? 20-30 minutes? The rest of that time was spent filing paperwork, and trying to wait out the crowds. I’m sure you heard by now that the trial date has been set for November. Lawd! How much more of this will we have to deal with until then? If they were actually REPORTING something, I might be able to take it but this? *sigh*

Friday morning I was rushing around, trying to get packed so I didn’t listen to the news. I personally wanted a break from “the continuing saga”. I gassed up the car, popped in some CDs and drove to my hometown to pick up D before heading back north to BigBro#4’s house. I get to my mom’s, pick up our tiny, tiny weekly paper and what do I find? A pic of Mr. Vi.ck. No biggie – he’s a VA native, it’s a VA paper, right?

Oh but why is it that I find my tiny ass hometown might just be caught up in this mess? For real. It’s been alleged that Mr.Man may have actually been in my hometown…with his crew…and their animals…at a d.o.g.f.i.g.h.t.!!!! What? What?? When? Where? For real?? Oh and “Barney Fife” is M-A-D ‘bout that stuff, for real. It appears that, while our tiny little slice of country here on the backside of Southside VA may have been named in the indictments, the Feds ain’t called nobody, ain’t reached out to nobody, ain’t said “Boo!” to nobody. Apparently, the powers-that-be in my hometown heard about it the same way the rest of the world did – by reading the indictment. Oohhwee! “Barney Fife” is H-O-T. Why weren’t they told? Hmm…I’on know. Prolly cause ya’ll ain’t really ready for primetime. I mean, your star officer with the great arrest record DID just kill the best drug dog you had by leaving him in a hot a** squad car overnight right in the midst of a major drug roundup. I’m just saying.

Bottom line, I don’t know if he’s guilty or not. I am willing to wait until he’s actually on trial including the presentation of evidence and the refuting thereof. What I do know is regardless of how this plays out, his life will NEVER be the same. That may actually be a good thing in the long run. We’ll just have to wait and see.

What I also know is I miss the days when the biggest news story in VA was about the funds running out for displaced families in Battery Park (how long HAS it been?) or when the former-governor-once-US-presidential-candidate-now-city-mayor was taking money back from the schools, closing down the arts center project and giving the elderly fits about their real estate taxes. (I swear I think Dude is straight s-e-n-i-l-e. He gets the “sitchoazzdown” award…)

Ahhhh yes…that sweet Virginia Breeze.