OxfordPress.com

ATLANTA — Even in Buckhead — the northern portion of Atlanta that houses the Georgia Governor's Mansion, has the city's wealthiest neighborhoods and is known as the "Shopping Mecca of the Southeast" — the tremors of the Michael Vick Crisis could be felt on Monday.

Atlanta sports fans poured into Buckhead's restaurants and taverns, and their eyes were riveted to television screens for ESPN's day-long coverage of Vick's guilty plea on federal dog-fighting charges in Virginia, Vick's apology in a news conference at the Omni in Richmond, Va., and a news conference conducted in Atlanta by Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

It almost seems like tonight's nationally televised game (ESPN) between the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons is a meaningless afterthought, considering the NFL future of the Falcons' troubled quarterback is in jeopardy. The highly publicized Vick has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL and could face prison time when his sentence is announced in December.

Blank said the Falcons are not in a position to terminate Vick's contract — which runs through the 2013 season — because of all the legal ramifications associated with the case, including the salary cap implications Vick's suspension has on the team.

Atlantans mostly expressed disappointment that the player they revered — Vick was the face of the Falcons franchise and city — has fallen from grace, embarrassed the city and placed the 2007 season in disarray.

A TV station interviewed a patron, Sonya Thomas, at Dantanna's restaurant near Lenox Square shopping mall early Monday afternoon.

She said all of Atlanta feels the impact of Vick's guilty plea and is saddened by his absence from the team.

"How will Atlanta heal?" she was asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," she replied.

There was sympathy, too, coming from Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.

"I felt real sympathy for Vick in watching him speak," Pacelle said. "I saw a man whose life has been turned upside down. No one can feel good about seeing someone take this kind of fall. It's tragic.

"I deplore what he did. Many animals experienced immense and sustained suffering at the hands of men who used their power in the wrong way. There's no defense for it, and Vick offered no excuse for it today. I am heartened that Michael Vick spoke about his mistakes and took responsibility for his actions, calling dogfighting 'terrible' and saying 'I reject it.'

"I also was very pleased that Michael Vick noted how he failed America's young people. He apologized to them. Michael Vick now can tell a powerful, personal story and show young people that you must take responsibility for your actions and that dogfighting is not a benign hobby, but a sickening, barbaric and criminal action. The practice has been surging in urban centers around the nation, so that message is timely and relevant."

The Bengals were due to check out of the Westin hotel in Buckhead at 5 p.m.

Earlier in the day, defensive tackles Domata Peko and Matt Toeaina got a thrill — and a laugh — when they bumped into comedian Dave Chappelle in a computer store at Lenox Square.

There won't be much laughter when the Bengals team buses roll into the Georgia Dome parking lot, where demonstrators are expected.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com