• Well, at least Michael Vick is keeping his millions of dollars in signing bonuses. [NYT]

• On Super Tuesday Eve, Hillary cries again. I checked out the video, and I really don't think they're fake tears. But still. [TS]

• Michael Ealy will play Will Smith's brother in Seven Pounds. [BV]

• Larry King and Snoop: A meeting of the minds. [RL]

• Paris Hilton might be glad to hear that 50 Cent got kicked out of an Arizona mall just like she got kicked off of his stage. [AHH]

Ah, loopholes! Michael Vick might be eligible for a 50-percent discount on his 23-month prison sentence. All he has to do is join a drug rehab program.

Under the program, Vick could be released after serving only 12 months of the 23-month sentence he was given Dec. 10 in Richmond, Va. His exact release date remains fuzzy, as it is unclear whether the 12-month stretch would be counted from the day he entered Leavenworth or the day he voluntary entered prison in November.

Two sources tell Yahoo! Sports that Vick qualified for the drug program because his 23-month sentence included his failed drug test for marijuana after pleading guilty to the dog fighting charges.

I've never known someone to need rehab for weed, but if he's eligible, he's eligible.

As nice as this year's "highs" were in the black community (that list is coming next), the good stories got significantly less press than the following incidents, which will hereby be known as "lowlights." And there were more than a few of them to choose from this year, when it seemed like we took two steps back for every step we took forward. I compiled this list of lows not to be negative, but to put all of 2007's ridiculousness behind us so that we can have a more positive, productive 2008. Deal? Deal.*

*Yeah, right.

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• Before his sentencing, Michael Vick tried to tell the judge in a heartfelt letter that he was not the beast he was made out to be in the media. Apparently, the judge didn't believe him. [CNN]

• Just when I think Irv Gotti (or Superhead, really) can't get any more disgusting… [EUR, YT]

• This movie looks like a train wreck waiting to happen. [C&D]

• Chris Rock and Tichina Arnold love the children. [People]

• Slow news week or Entertainment Weekly? [EW]

• Label me a skeptic, but I find it very hard to believe that Solange Knowles' new album is truly "bananas." [BB]

• Michael Vick's sentence might have been harsh, but it was for something he has admitted to doing. It's time for the NAACP to chill with its "the Feds care more about dogs than black people" bit. I'm not sure if they realize it, but their Vick protests are succeeding in making an organization look bad, but it's not federal law enforcement. [NBC12]

• Let's lay it on the table now — a noose is not always a symbol of racial intimidation. Sometimes it's a rope with knots in it. [BG]

• A group of fatherly black men just want to give Dog Chapman a big hug. No, really! [BT]

• Naomi Campbell gets what's coming to her. [SB]

At the end of a 90-minute hearing this morning, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in jail for financing a dog fighting ring. Although the sentence is supposedly in the mid-range of federal sentencing guidelines, it sounds pretty harsh to me. And we all know how I feel about Michael Vick.

The 23-months in federal prison, in addition to however much, if any, prison time he gets if convicted of his pending state charges, will effectively put a close to what was — minus the behind-the-scenes penchant for cruelty to animals — a promising career. As it stands now, football is out of the question, and the riches he amassed from playing football are nearly gone.

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• Historically, R. Kelly's had a problem going on tour with talented male competition. Is that why Ne-Yo's suddenly been kicked off his tour? [C&D]

• This new, charitable Nicole Richie is sort of endearing. [People]

• So, a lot of Kanye news today. Here he is on the cover of GQ. [Bossip]

• I'm really jealous of an audience in Macon, Ga., right about now. [Oprah]

• Michael Vick owes almost $1 million in expenses for the care of the dogs confiscated from his property. Damn, if only he had never decided to get into dog fighting… [CNN]

• In a bid to try to lighten his sentence, Michael Vick enters custody early to begin his jail term. [MTV]

• Oh no, Jennifer Freeman. No. [Bossip]

• T.I.'s making like a Harlem drug kingpin and giving out massive amounts of turkey's this Thanksgiving season. [EUR]

• Nicole Richie's having a boy. Next. [SP]

• Black filmmakers are aiming to show the wide range of the black American experience. Finally. [CT]

Russell Simmons, who has done PSAs about animal cruelty in the past, appeared in a clip about dog fighting that was released on YouTube yesterday. I'm waiting for the one starring Michael Vick.

• Black teens love them some Michael Vick, dog fighting and all. [ET]

• Environmental racism could be going on right under your nose. Literally. [LW]

• Minorities, young people, hip hop, and the internet — a recipe for profit. [BW]

• T.I. sincerely looks forward to being exonerated. He said so himself. [AP]

• LL Cool J is still pouting about Def Jam. [EUR]

Since I had you guys vote for the most popular blackface Halloween costume, the least I could do was search Flickr for some real life examples. While there were a few Michael Vicks – check one out after the jump — I found this one to be the most egregious. According to the Flickr site, this guy is supposed to be Zwarte Piete (Black Pete), who, to make a long story short, is Santa Claus' black assistant in Dutch folklore. Considering the fact that this guy had the nerve to tag his photo "blackface," I'm pretty sure he knew what he was doing.

More fun with ignorant blackface costumes Flickr after the jump.

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Let's be real. A football player is probably the easiest sort of black person a white person can impersonate, since a helmet over the face can at least partially obscure one's skin color. I guess that would be too easy — or too hard, I can't figure out which.

The readers of Stereohyped have spoken, or at least voted, and you officially predict that Michael Vick will be the most popular inspiration for blackface enthusiasts this Halloween. You also felt that a nappy-headed ho look would be popular.

Some of you wrote in your ideas, which include:

Barack Obama — How could I forget about him! All you need is shoe polish and a suit.

Barry Bonds — How could I forget about him? All you need is shoe polish and 'roid rage.

A Rasta with dreadlocks — Eh. I wasn't so sure about that when I saw it. But 'lo and behold, a band of University of Illinois students were photographed dressed as the Jamaican bobsled team. I'm pretty sure none of them were Rastas, but they hail from the same geographic region.

Check out the results from Stereohyped's Halloween Poll after the jump.

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