It's Vick's Gift That Just Keeps On Giving

So, you thought that the sportsfan in your life had already received everything they could possibly want. Well, put down that Belicheater cutoff sweatshirt, and save that officially licensed, NBA player approved personal alarm(because all we need help during home invasions) for Easter and head to the snowglobe portion of PETA's website. Once there, you'll be able to select from six nefarious characters. Well, it's really seven, but the Olsen Twins are just two halves of the same person. Anyway, since we're discussing sports here the one you want is "Dogfighter Michael Vick".

Shake up the globe, and watch(and listen) as Vick punts footballs onto his own head and prison dogs bark at him. There's no soap scene, so I'm not exactly sure how realistic it is, but you get the point. Send them to your dogloving friends, or to the Falcons fan that you love to piss off. Just make sure to spread the Christmas spirit around at someone else's misfortune. You'll take some pleasure in it when you're stuck in line listening to babies cry while you're buying a gift on Christmas Eve for someone you don't really even know, and definitely don't like. I can't wait for the President's Day version. Hopefully it has Abraham Lincoln chinbutting Vick while lecturing him about animal cruelty.

Please Do Not Support Your Dog Fighting Brethern

When the Falcons faced the Saints on Monday Night Football, after Michael Vick had been sentenced to 23 months in prison, a buddy and I noticed some of the Atlanta players sporting signs and messages supporting their incarcerated teammate. My friend asked me if I thought they would get fined, and I told him that, "yeah, their paychecks are probably going to be a bit lighter in the coming weeks". Well, today we found out that five players were collectively fined $47,500.

Roddy White and four other Atlanta Falcons were fined by the NFL for violating uniform regulations with tributes to Michael Vick during last week's Monday night game.

Vick, Atlanta's suspended Pro Bowl quarterback, was sentenced to 23 months in prison on federal dogfighting charges the morning of Dec. 10. The Falcons played at home against New Orleans that night.

After scoring a touchdown, White displayed a "Free Mike Vick" T-shirt under his jersey.

He, along with tight end Alge Crumpler and cornerbacks DeAngelo Hall and Chris Houston, were fined $10,000 each. Crumpler, Hall and Houston all wore black eye strips with written tributes to Vick, which the league called "displaying an unauthorized personal message."

Wide receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500 for pulling up White's jersey to show the black T-shirt with handwritten white lettering. The fines were confirmed Tuesday by NFL spokesman Randall Liu.

I understand that these guys make a good amount of money, but it seems to be an awfully high price to pay just to voice your opinion. Obviously they're trying to show support for their teammate, but they have to understand that he's in his current situation because of his own actions. He hasn't been framed for anything, and their messages of support could be construed by some(not me, by the way) as supporting the illegal activities that have put Vick behind bars.

Michael Vick's Prison Journey Begins

Today, Michael Vick headed off to prison to begin serving whatever sentence the judge hands down at his December 10 hearing. That's right, he voluntarily went to prison early in an effort to get his time served started as soon as possible, and to possibly earn a lighter sentence because of his willingness to accept responsibility for his actions.

Right now, it's believed that Vick will be sentenced to about 1.5 years. Whatever he receives, it will take him a long way from being a #1 draft pick, and signing a 10-year $130 million contract.

Michael Vick's Saga Continues

In case you had forgotten, Michael Vick and his three partners in crime are scheduled to appear at the Surry County Circuit Court tomorrow to face local charges in the dogfighting case.

Today, however a "team of dog behavorial experts assembled by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" found that 48 of the 49 pitbulls seized from Vick's property in Surry County can be placed in adoptive homes or with law enforcement officials.

Only one dog was deemed to be dangerous enough to be euthanized.

According to a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the dogs fall into five categories that include eventual adoption and specialized training for law enforcement work. Some of the dogs either exhibited fear toward people or suffered from a medical condition

The motion doesn't indicate how many dogs were placed in each category other than to suggest one, identified as number 2621, is an immediate candidate for euthanasia because its aggression toward humans made a complete examination unsafe.

There isn't any word on how the other 11 dogs seized, there were 60 total taken, have fared, or if any of them will need to be euthanized. It does make you wonder, though if these findings will have any bearing on how hard the local authorities come down on Vick.

Killing and/or maiming dogs is not right, and Vick deserves to be punished for his involvement in that type of activity. However, his chances of seeing some type of leniency possibly go up with every dog that's deemed not dangerous or aggressive. In this case, I wonder if the ASPCA's findings, an organization that probably wants Vick to suffer the harshest possible consequences, will actually help Vick out in the long run.

Is Michael Vick Really Just An Idiot?

By now we all know about Michael Vick's involvement with dogfighting. He pleaded guilty to being involved so there's no denying that. However, something we haven't figured out is does he do stupid things because he has no regard for the consequences of his actions, or because he's an idiot?

That question got a little harder to answer this afternoon seeing as how Michael Vick tested positive for marijuana.

A federal judge placed tighter restrictions on Michael Vick on Wednesday after he tested positive for marijuana.

Because of the result, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson placed special conditions on Vick's release, including restricting him to his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and ordering him to submit to random drug testing.

The urine sample was submitted Sept. 13, according to a document by a federal probation officer that was filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday."

So, here's Michael Vick, with the spotlight firmly on him, yet knowing that his every move will be scrutinized he violates a condition of his pretrial release.

You can look at this situation much the way Vick's other situation could be looked at. Did he really think that if he was caught engaging in this illegal behavior that nothing would happen? Or, did he think that there was nothing wrong with smoking some weed?

The two sound similar, but they are indeed very different. If it's the first, then Vick has decided that at a certain point the law does not apply to him. He's conducting his life under the assumption that he's above the law, and he should be punished accordingly. If it's the second, then obviously Michael Vick has no grasp of the concepts of right and wrong and punishment. In that case, he probably should undergo some type of mental evaluation and testing to determine just how impaired his judgment is.

I can't believe that someone who is severly impaired mentally could function as an NFL quarterback, but Michael Vick's actions have definitely brought that into question.

My Take On ESPN's "Michael Vick Town Hall Meeting"

Will over at Deadspin has a decent rundown on the "event" with links to commentary by Fynal Cut and Nation of Islam Sportsblog.

This is what I took away from the whole thing.

First, the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Vick. This point was made even more obvious when one of the panelists(Chuck Smith I believe) compared Vick to a person who committed murder because they both knew what they were doing when they perpetrated their crime. The crowd did not like that one bit, and their loud boos conveyed that quite clearly. However, he did have a good point because Vick had to know that what he was doing wasn't in his best interest but he did it anyway, and now he has to pay the price for it.

Also, former Falcons player Terrence Mathis was there, but all he seemed concerned with was letting everyone know that he's forgiven Vick for what he's done. Great insight there Terrence, thanks.

Anyway, it does appear that there will be some support for Vick should he ever be up for reinstatement into the NFL. This is may be the best thing he's heard in months because public support could influence Roger Goodell one way or another. Just as some have accused Goodell of coming down too harsh on Vick because of public opinion and the Humane Society's outcry for justice, he might be more apt to let him back into the league if it appears that a majority of people have forgiven him.

In any case, the town hall meeting last night came across as a pretty big trainwreck to me because the panelists seemed to be genuinely interested in voicing their opinions, but the audience didn't want to hear any of them. Unless they were saying that Vick had been unfairly targeted, then they probably would have stood up and cheered for half an hour. Once again, ESPN presented us with something that in theory could have worked, but ended up crashing down in flames.

Fallout From The Vick Suspension, Less Sellouts?

Since Michael Vick won't be making any appearances in the NFL anytime soon(unless it's picking up trash outside a stadium in an orange jumpsuit), it also means that fans of his won't be purchasing tickets to NFL games. For the most part this probably isn't a big segment of the ticket purchasing crowd, but how might it affect a city where the local NFL team isn't a huge draw and there have been rumors of the team moving to Los Angeles.

Say, a team like the Jacksonville Jagurs?

Well, the Jags failed to sell out their game against Atlanta this Sunday, and consequently the game will be blacked out.

The NFL blacked out Sunday's Atlanta-Jacksonville game Thursday morning because of lackluster local ticket sales.

There are about 4,000 tickets available for the game at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, and it was unlikely the Jags would sell all of them by today's 1 p.m. deadline. The NFL requires the game be a sellout 72 hours before kickoff.

The Jags never faced an Atlanta team with Vick at QB, so it's difficult to draw any comparison. And they have had a problem with games being blacked out, including almost having their '07 season opener blacked out.

However, not having a flashy player like Vick on the field has to keep some people from buying tickets, especially for a franchise that has trouble drawing fans in the first place.

Michael Vick Still Has Fans In The Big Brother House

Last night, on the gameshow "Power of 10" two of the "Big Brother 8" houseguests were contestants as a reward for winning their power of veto challenge. Amber Siyavus made it through to the next round, and her $100,000 question was about pitbulls.

In a sign of things to come whenever pitbulls are mentioned, host Drew Carey "called out" Michael Vick. Siyavus reacted by saying that she "likes Michael Vick". However, she's been locked away in the Big Brother house for the entire summer, and has no idea what's happened regarding Vick. Unfortunately for Vick, the rest of us weren't in the Big Brother house. Eventhough she's been cut off from the outside media coverage, it's still sort of weird to see someone proclaiming that they like Michael Vick.

Welcome To The NFL Bobby Petrino!

Somewhat lost in all of the Michael Vick hoopla is that the Falcons team Bobby Petrino agreed to coach way back on January 8 is significantly different now. Think about it, when he arrived in Atlanta he had Michael Vick starting, one of the NFL's most sought after back-ups in Matt Schaub, a decent DE in Patrick Kerney, a solid FB in Justin Griffith and an apparently healthy running back in Warrick Dunn.

Now, Coach Petrino is looking at starting Joey Harrington with Chris Redman(and his 10 total games of experience) as the lone back-up(DJ Shockley is out for the year), thanks to Vick's desire to kill dogs and the trading of Schaub to Houston. He also lost Kerney to Seattle, Griffith to Oakland and Dunn is coming off of back surgery due to a herniated disc.

The team is quite different than the one he took over the duties as head coach for a little over seven months ago. Hopefully he puts most of that $24 million over 5 years away because this stint as an NFL head coach could burn him out forever. Or maybe he could ask to opt out of his contract since this isn't really the same team he agreed to coach, and he could head back to Louisville to re-take the head coach spot with the #11 ranked Cardinals. At least there he wouldn't have to worry about Brian Brohm torturing dogs.

Vince Young Is What's Right With The NFL

I'll admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of Vince Young. I can't say exactly why that was because as a college football fan I certainly respected all that he was able to accomplish at UT. However, for some reason I never really liked him, though I didn't exactly hate him either. Recently, though I've begun to like him more and more.

It started during this past season when he seemed to emerge as a leader on the Tennessee Titans. He felt slighted when the Texans passed on him, and he turned what appeared to be a chip on his shoulder into a point of motivation. And what appeared to be some showboating at the end of his overtime winning TD run against the Texans was really just Vince showing his fans some love in a stadium that he grew up six miles from.



The most recent thing that Young has done to make me more of a fan of his is to speak out about Pacman Jones and his brushes with the law. If he wants to be the leader of an NFL team he needs to be vocal, and do his best to keep his team on the right track. On Thursday, Young took another step towards being that leader.

Young was asked during a minicamp session Thursday if he was concerned about Jones, who’s been told to turn himself in to Las Vegas authorities to face two felony charges.

“We love him a whole lot, but we feel like he don’t care about us right now,” Young said.

“He’s got to stay out of trouble and watch his back out there,” Young said.

No Vince, he doesn't care about you guys right now. His actions forced your team to find other options at the cornerback position, where they ultimately had to sign two guys to fill his spot.

For once it's nice to see an NFL player voice an opinion over what's right and wrong, unlike Clinton Portis' comments regarding Michael Vick's alleged involvement in dog fighting a few weeks ago. If Young keeps it up he'll have a fan in me after all.

Suspended NFL Stars, Fielding The Baddest Flag Football Team Of All Time

Upon hearing that Tank Johnson had been suspended for the first eight games of the NFL season, I began wondering what he and his fellow suspended NFL stars could do with their time. Then it dawned on me. They could field one kickass flag football team.

Now, there are a ton of leagues out there, each with numerous stories about how this one guy was going to go pro but he blew his knee out(damn you feeble ACL!). These guys, however are the real deal. Running around, pulling flags, and then drinking beer and eating wings afterwards is a great way to stay in playing shape. It's a lot better than sending Tank to prison, that's for sure. The only way to get them to play, though would be to offer an incentive. Since I'm unaware of any flag football league that awards lapdances and blunts as prizes, we'll have to go with cash.

In this case, we'll see what kind of team could be fielded for the 4-on-4 ZFootball Tournament, and it's $30,000 prize.

Pacman Jones: Currently serving a one year suspension from the NFL. Has the coverage skills to dominate at defensive back, and the speed to play wide receiver. Don't bring any cheerleaders, though unless you want him to show them his "bump 'n run" technique. In the absence of Michael Vick being suspended, Jones will play quarterback because of the arm strength he's shown while "makin' it rain".

Ricky Williams:Pending reinstatement decision to come in September. "Ricky Marley" appeared to be on track to get back into the NFL, but last month it was reported that he failed a drug test. It's also been reported that the physicians overseeing his rehabilitation program have recommended that he not be reinstated in September. That just means more time for flag football! Ricky has the talent to destroy opponents from the running back position. He also has some experience playing linebacker, and can use his coverage skills to lock-up whoever he's guarding. Just make sure that the officials realize who he is, or they might wonder why a homeless man has wandered onto the field.

Chris Henry: Suspended for the first eight games of the 2007 season. Henry's brushes with the law have been well publicized, and for that he's gotten himself an eight game suspension. His speed and size make him a threat downfield and in the red zone. He's the prime candidate to receive those jumpball passes for touchdowns because there's no rushing allowed within five yards of the endzone. He's also the most likely to celebrate every single f#@king point he scores, as he's been Chad Johnson's understudy for two years.

Tank Johnson: Recently suspended for the first eight games of the 2007 season. Tank will have a number of positions to play on his flag football team. He might not be the fastest, or most athletic, but he's very integral to the team's success. On offense he'll play center/TE, as his size will force opposing pass rushers to choose which side they want to rush from. He also has experience playing TE, and his wide frame is perfect for shielding the ball from defenders. On defense he will rush the passer. As nose tackle on a stellar NFL defense, Tank is familiar with angles and chasing down the QB. Combine that with his imposing size, and most quarterbacks will be too busy scrambling to even think of throwing the ball downfield. Unfortunately, he does have a weakness for beef jerky and honeybuns, so his teammates have to monitor his intake of those before games.

Possible Additions:

Michael Vick: Vick's involvement with dog-fighting could net him a multi-game suspension. If that's the case, there's always a spot for him on the flag team. He would instantly come in as the starting QB, and as long as he can keep his fingers to himself he should be able to torch opposing defenses every game.

Odell Thurman: Up for reinstatement into the NFL in July. However, recent alleged assault may keep him out indefinitely. Thurman has the talent to be used at multiple positions. Running back, defender, just about everything but designated driver. He can be a valuable asset off the bench, or perhaps "off the couch" which is what he practiced last season.

So there you go, not only do these NFL players get to practice something they enjoy, they also have a shot at winning $30,000. With the way some of them are going that would be a welcome addition to their legal defense fund.

The Fallout Of Mike Vick's Dogfighting Investigation Begins

As a very marketable athlete, one can make inherently more money from endorsements than from a salary paid by a team. Plus, those endorsements can continue even after your playing days are done. Losing endorsements not only hurt at that moment in time, but often other companies will follow the decision of the first and drop the athlete in question as well.

That seems to be where Michael Vick is at at this point in time.

AirTran, which had employed Vick as a pitchman since 2004, decided not to renew his contract when it expired on May 8. AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson released this statement about the matter:

"Michael's contract expired May 8, and we advised him then that we would not renew it."

Since 2004, Vick had appeared on five billboards, and some radio commercials. His contract had been renewed twice since it was first signed.

I wasn't able to track down exactly how much his AirTran deal was worth, but it had to have been several million. However, the most costly effect of this decision by AirTran is that Vick's other endorsers could sever their ties with him as well.

Here's a list of some of the other companies he has endorsement deals with:

Nike
EA Sports
Coca-Cola
Powerade
Kraft
Rawlings
Hasbro

It will be interesting to see how many of those companies also drop Vick because of his involvement with this dog-fighting investigation. At some point I would imagine that consumers of these products might threaten to boycott unless Vick is removed as a pitchman. It seems that right now may be just the start of a snowball effect involving Vick losing endorsement deals.

Michael Vick, Getting Cleaned Up For His Court Date

As the Atlanta Falcons started their offseason workouts, something was noticeably different. No, not Bobby Petrino as head coach, or Joe Horn in a Falcons jersey. It was Michael Vick without braids. You may remember that back in 2004 Vick said he wasn't going to cut his hair until he won a Super Bowl.

"I'm growing my hair out it, and I'm not going to cut it until we win a Super Bowl," Vick said. "I was going to let my hair grow last season, but I cut it three weeks before I got hurt. I'm really superstitious, so I'm going to let it grow. As bad as I want it off my head, and as hot as I am, I won't cut it off until I win a Super Bowl. I will win a Super Bowl -- someday."

Well, the Super Bowl win obviously hasn't panned out yet, but a few months of turmoil sure have.

It started with Vick giving a fan in Atlanta the one finger salute following a loss to the Saints. Then, he was busted at Miami International Airport with a fake water bottle that had a secret compartment. Early reports indicated that it contained marijuana residue. Most recently, he's been implicated in a dog-fighting operation that took place on a property he owned in Virginia.

That last incident is the most severe of the three, and if Vick is proven to truly be a "heavyweight" in the dog-fighting world he'll be facing serious jailtime.

However, that new haircut should help him look a bit more presentable should he have to face a judge in the next few weeks. Or maybe he believes that he's sort of an anti-Samson, and that cutting off his hair will actually help him not engage in stupid behavior. Either way, I'm sure the inmates at Georgia State Prison don't care whether he has braids or a new fade.