Michael Vick seems to be Topic A today in American sports.

The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles and will be eligible to play in the preseason — and in the regular season, as well, once he serves a six-game NFL suspension.

This is a hot-button topic for, basically, two reasons:

–It involves animal abuse, and the country has increasingly vocal and influential groups of people who support animal rights.

–It has somehow morphed into a race-tinged debate, and there is no more polarizing issue than that.

Vick was convicted in August of 2007 of conspiracy and running a dogfighting operation and was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison.

Without question, facts surrounding the dogfighting case were inhumane. Vick and associates personally killed pit bull terriers that didn’t perform up to their standards. And the fights themselves are a blood sport that has long since passed out of the realm of decency (let alone “sport”) for most Americans.

But Vick’s sentence was no slap on the wrist, and when compared and contrasted to various other societal malefactors, his 23 months in prison seemed, to some, harsh.

I’m not one of those who says Vick’s crimes involved “just dogs” because I have had several dogs in my life, and it seems alien to me that someone would set about to maim or kill his own dogs.

But there also is some sense of “proportionality” we ought to bring to this; we have Browns receiver Donte’ Stallworth serving only 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Stallworth was legally drunk when he ran over — and killed — a 59-year-old man near Miami Beach. The NFL has suspended Stallworth for one year. Vick already has missed two full seasons and has been suspended for six more games of a third.

Now we begin to slide over into the race issue.

Some African-Americans seem convinced Michael Vick — who at one time was the highest-paid player in the league, playing for the team (the Atlanta Falcons) that many consider the unofficial African-American capital of the country — was made “an example” of, and singled out for particular punishment. Others, presumably mostly whites, mock that and add that Vick got what he deserved.

Perhaps the most interesting and disturbing aspect of this story I’ve seen, to date, are the comments below the Vick story on espn.com. As of 8:20 a.m., more than 9,000 comments — 99 percent of them anonymous — had been posted, many of them crude and most of those race-baiting, back and forth. It is not an attractive batch of notes to read, and it leaves one wondering about the inner dialogue in the heads of lots and lots of Americans.

My take on the basics of the signing of Michael Vick is … he served him time, he says he has reformed, he is being advised by former Colts coach Tony Dungy, a paragon of NFL virtue … and Vick deserves a chance to play again.

It would be nice to think we can get past the race and animal rights debates and return to talking about whether a quarterback far better at running the ball then passing it can be a useful player in 2009.

I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.