Michael Vick

People may forget but Michael Vick was traded before he was ever even drafted into the NFL. The San Diego Chargers held the 1st pick in the 2001 NFL draft but they traded that to the Atlanta Falcons for the 5th overall pick, the 67th overall NFL pick, the the 49th overall 2002 pick - plus Tim Dwight.

Those picks were used to tale LaDamian Tomlinson, Tay Cody, and Reche Caldwell by the Chargers while the Falcons picked Vick. Atlanta and got 11,478 passing yards, 71 passing TD's, 3,869 rushing yards in 6 seasons before his career was derailed by dog fighting. Meanwhile the picks of the Chargers had 9,176 rushing yards (Tomlinson) plus another 3,407 combined receiving yards from Caldwell and Dwight. Not to mention the 111 rushing and receiving TD's from Tomlinson alone.

That puts the trade about equal in terms of production but when you factor in that San Diego did not have to go through the same PR hell as Atlanta plus additional more productive seasons from Tomlinson - have to say they made out on the transaction. Glad Vick was able to turn his life around though.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm not a fan of President Trump's antics but I also can't shake the feeling that if he was a Democrat the press would be shouting at us "It's the economy stupid!"... It's now been 10-years since the NFL suspended Michael Vick for running a dog fighting ring... 30-years of music industry formats in 30-seconds... It would be seriously funny if Steve Bannon's Secret Service code name was "the Hedgehog" (too obscure?).... Mexican fishing bats (yes it's a real thing)... Metallic Hydrogen would be a good name for a geeky rock band... Touching story - Semper Fi Fido.... Just saying but doesn't Venezuela have a single-payer health system?... Heh heh...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I wonder if Michael Vick would still vote for himself for MVP after yesterday's performance. I hate to toot my own horn but I did call that Vick would make the Eagles a one and out playoff team... Kind of funny to see Drew Brees and Peyton Manning in commercials now that their teams were eliminated in the first round... I guess "Wealthy Hippies" don't exist... The things you learn from the Internet: The La-Z-Boy got its name in a contest. Other submissions included the Sit-N-Snooze and the Slack-Back (via Mental Floss)... Very interesting theory - is Roger Clemens the real reason Andy Pettitte is retiring?... Every time I see that ad for Lectric Shave with Carmen Electra - I think the ad is going to be for a porn movie... When I was growing up people were worried about Irish bombs. Today it is Irish bonds. Is that progress?... Most comic use for activated carbon ever. If you are anything like me - you actually read that and think about buying some... The things you learn from the Internet Part II: Before renaming the team "Jets" in 1963, the New York Titans franchise considered the names Dodgers, Gothams and Borros (via Mental Floss). Too bad they didn't go with Borros because with a jackass for a coach it would really fit...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It is amusing that on HBO's 24/7 NHL series the closed captioning does not transcribe any of the swears. I mean every other word is "f*ck" but are they trying to protect the sensibilities of deaf people?... Who knew? Not only is there a Saratoga Springs NY - there is also a Saratoga Springs Utah! The Utah town was started in 1997. It would be cool to have homes in both towns... Interesting way to look at it - Wisconsin just mustered the 8th largest army in the world... I recently re-read A Christmas Carol and one Charles Dickens simile that make no sense jumped out at me - "like a bad lobster in a dark cellar." What the hell is that supposed to mean?... Speaking of Christmas carols - a very under-rated one is Annie Lennox singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen...Not my joke but I'll repeat it - do you think Rex Ryan and his wife spent the last two days sniffing the Christmas stockings?... I think Michael Vick talking about voting for himself for MVP will cost him some votes. Tom Brady would never make that kind of faux pas but then again Tom Brady would never torture and kill dogs either... So that's how it is in that marriage... Cliff Lee was just an average pitcher until 2008 but since then Roll Tide...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm so sick of Michael Vick. Enough already. The guy will never be a factor in the NFL ever again. Stop with the stories and updates. I don't think I'm alone in saying I just don't care anymore... On this day back in 1941 Ted Williams finished the season with a .406 batting average becoming perhaps the last major league batter to ever reach .400 for a season. Amazingly Williams did not win the MVP that season despite hitting with 37 HR, 120 RBI and 135 runs scored. The voters just like Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak better.... Now we'll never have to hear about how Ben Roethlisberger has never lost a game in the state of Ohio ever again... Today is Ryan Zimmerman's 25th birthday. I like to think of Zimmerman as Kevin Youkilis if Youkilis was stuck on an awful team... There is a good chance that the Cleveland Browns could lose every game this year matching the Lions mark of futility from last season. Is it me or does Eric Mangini seem like Rick Kotite without the charisma?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The Philadelphia Eagles game on December 6th at the Georgia Dome against the Falcons just got a whole lot more interesting... Torn testicle and Internal bleeding - no not a punk rock double-header - that's what happened to Adrian Beltre. I'm guessing that when Beltre gets back to action that he'll start wearing a cup... I'm guessing that he'd like to take this quote back: "[Josh] Beckett is to Boston what Jeff Weaver was to the Yankees: the ace that never was." Tom Verducci August 2006... Heh heh - it's a RAT!! EEEK... I'm thinking of writing a play based upon Kevin Youkilis' baseball career. But here's the twist - I'm going to make it a musical... Something for Boston fans to keep in mind - the Red Sox play 16 of final 19 games against the Orioles, Royals, Toronto and Indians, 4 of the 5 worst teams in the league...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I can't believe that Paul Konerko leads the White Sox in hitting with a .270 average. Is it any wonder that Chicago has the worst team batting average in the AL with a .246 mark? Is it any wonder that they are battling the Royals for last place in the AL Central?.... Many scribes and TV talking heads have been decrying NFL teams charging full price for tickets to pre-season games. Two things I haven't seen brought up when discussing this subject is the fact that most of the people taking the NFL owners to task for charging full price never pay for a ticket to an event in the first place. Its easy to get on your high horse when you watch the games from the press box for free. Secondly - at this time of year many fans are starved for football action and are willing to pay full price even for exhibition games. It has been months seen we've any pigskin and many people are Jonesing... If he played for the White Sox - Coco Crisp would be their leading hitter with a .272 average... My guess on Michael Vick is that the judge sentences him to 18 months and not the 12 to 18 the prosecutor offered in the plea deal. I also think there will be an unofficial black-balling of Vick in the NFL when he gets out of jail (there is little upside to signing him at that point - look at how many teams are lining up for Ricky Williams). One final prediction - Michael Vick gets mad at not getting a deal with an NFL team and writes (more accurately - has written for him) a tell-all book ala Jose Canseco.

Michael Vick

So Michael Vick has reached a plea agreement. Who didn’t see that coming?

Make no mistake – a plea agreement was Vick’s last chance to leave open the possibility that he could come back to the NFL. If he went to trial and heinous details of torturing dogs made the nightly news, night after night – the disgust factor with Vick would have been off the scales.

Now with the plea bargain and guilty plea – he can hope that someday he can go back to playing on Sundays. The door is open but only just a bit. My guess is that Vick has taken his last snap in the NFL.

Michael Vick won’t ever be back in uniform with the Atlanta Falcons. That’s for sure. He lied to the face of the owner and he betrayed his responsibility to the team. The Falcons can’t wait to void Vick’s contract to free up some cap space. This season the Falcons may tank and end up with one of the top picks in the 2008 draft. It is well within the reach of possibility that by the time Vick gets out of jail that Brian Brohm will be the #1 QB for the Falcons.

When Michael Vick gets out of jail it is entirely possible that Commissioner Roger Goodell will refuse to reinstate him because of the gambling aspects of the charges that Vick is about to plead guilty to. You are known by the company you keep and the company that Vick was keeping while tens of thousands were bet on dogs trying to kill each other is not the crowd the NFL wants players hanging with. The quality of company Vick will be keeping in jail may actually be an upgrade.

If by some slim chance Commissioner Goodell does reinstate Vick – who will want to take a risk on him? What team will be in such dire straits that they would take a chance on a player who will have been out of football for two years and who has a reputation already as a coach-killer? This doesn’t even take into consideration the fan protests the franchise would face from dog lovers and PETA.

I won’t even be charitable enough to hope that Michael Vick has saved some money so that he can support himself after prison. I hope he has played his last down in the NFL and hope he has to work at McDonalds the rest of his life – after he gets out of jail that is.

Things Always Happen in Threes

You must be aware of the old saying that "things always happen in three." Right now we seem to have a potential pro sports / FBI trifecta in play.

First Michael Vick was indicted by the FBI for running a dog fighting ring on his Virginia property.

Now we have the news that NBA referee Tim Donaghy may have bet on NBA games and is involved with some pretty shady characters. It came out today that Donaghy is the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation.

So what will be the third thing? Should I remind folks that Barry Bonds still has a grand jury out on him and it has been said that it may hand down indictments on Bonds for perjury by July 26th? One can only hope that the trifecta comes into play.

Two More Michael Vick Issues to Think About

Dog fighting is hundreds of years old and on matters of history regarding gambling I turn to David Schwartz fine tome Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling. Schwartz mentions dog fighting twice - first on page 141:

Blood sports like bearbaiting, dogfighting, and cockfighting, long popular in England, never become widespread in New England, where colonists generally shunned violent sports.

Then on page 261:

Gambling was so common throughout the mining frontier, from California to Montana, that dogfights, bearfights, and bearbaiting were rampant. One man even proclaimed his "killer duck" an interspecies champion and pitted it against all canine challengers.

The two points I want to make here are first - dog fighting was historically only popular on the edges of society were other entertainment options did not exist. This is not the time of Henry II or the old west of Deadwood - Michael Vick had plenty of other entertainment options available to him. That he voluntarily chose to be involved in such a cruel and felonious gambling activity speaks volumes about the character of Michael Vick.

The second point is much more important. Two things go hand in hand when it comes to dog fighting - cruelty and gambling. Everyone seems to be focusing on the cruelty involved (and given the shocking ways some of the dogs were murdered - it is understandable). However, it should not be lost on the NLF and Federal authorities that these dog fights were part of a high stakes gambling ring. Gambling seems to be a forgotten factor here.

Imagine that it was not dogfighting but some other felonious high-stakes gambling operation that was being operated on Michael Vick's property. If gambling was the focus of this investigation then I have to wonder if the NFL would be so willing to let the Falcons handle this in-house as they apparently so willing to do.

I have to ask - isn't a player who would risk staging such felonious gambling activities at his own house the exact type of player organized crime would try to get their hooks into to shave points? Michael Vick has been known as an up and down player. Great one week and inconsistent the next. Maybe there was a consistency to Vick's below expectations performances. These questions have to be asked. A person who would engage in dog fighting is capable of anything. Michael Vick does not get the benefit of a doubt.

Michael Vick

What Michael Vick is accused of doing is heinous and evil. There's no middle gound here. Heinous and evil. It is in the best interest of football that he be suspended immediately and that suspension should last as long as Vick is on trial or in jail.

Michael Vick has already been found guilty in the forum of public opinion. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must know this and he also must know that every Atlanta Falcons game will automatically become a freak show of animal rights protest as long as Vick is in uniform. This is the very sort of negative publicity that Goodell vowed to act against. Goodell has to have the best interests of the NFL at heart and even though Vick is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law - any association with him right now is toxic to the league. Suspend him now Mr. Goodell.

Vick will be a huge distraction to the Falcons. Having a new coach and a new system to learn is tough enough in the best of times but trying to do it while under the pressure of going to jail for most of your adult life while protesters distract and impede you and teammates alike is not a condusive atmosphere to winning to say the least.

The FBI doesn't bring these charges lightly. Michael Vick will probably be going to jail. It was his house. There were dozens of corpses of mutilated dogs on his property. The witnesses who can damn him will come forward because they don't want to go to jail for an NFL star who is already going down in flames. Michael Vick is a sinking ship and the rats he called friends will turn on him gleefully as they abandon him to his fate.

The local authorities who originally investigated the allegations should also face investigation and penalties. Specifically Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter should face investigation for his original handling of the allegations against Vick. It boggles the mind to think that Poindexter could have been any more obvious as he tried to bury this case. Obstruction of justice charges to begin with seems an obvious possibility here.

I truly hope that the Feds don't stop with Vick and Poindexter. The dogs had to come from somewhere. Whoever was supplying the dogs should face stiff penalties with no leniency. Anyone who was involved or profited from what happened on Vick's property should face severe consequences.

Now I've said my peace about Michael Vick. If you are interested here are some very good posts on this subject.

- Van Walker has been all over this case from the start. Here is his latest post on the subject. Van also had an earlier post that is well worth your time.

- Here's a very good post on the subject from an Atlanta sports fans perspective

I Learned Something New Today

While perhaps not being as glamorous as being the second largest city in New England - today I learned that Daejeon is the 5th largest city in South Korea (and with a population of 1.4 million - it is slightly larger than Worcester).

I learned this because I got an email from my old Internet buddy Van Walker who is teaching English Literature at Daejeon University. Van is an example of a man who is enthusiastic about sports and whose writing ability would put to shame most of the columnists working at major papers in the US today. Seriously - if Van got a job as a sports columnist - he'd automatically be in the top 25 in the country.

Because of end of term commitments - Van hasn't been able to post that much but his blog The Chair-Armed Quarterback is well worth a bookmark on your part. His take on the Michael Vick situation (though dated) is better than anything I've read elsewhere.

Can you tell I'm a fan of Van's writing? I just wish he'd write more.