Some Good News

So much to do, so little time. If we could add about 4 or 5 hours to each day, that'd be perfect. Until then:

1. Michael Vick scored a legal victory. A federal judge known to be athlete-friendly overturned the arbitrator's decision that Vick had to return most of his signing bonus, finding that he only had to return about $3.75 million of the nearly $20 million he received. That's the first good news he's had in nearly a year. Hopefully they gave him an extra pudding cup or something to celebrate.

2. Bye bye, Bob Knight. I'm not 100% sure if this one will be official retirement or if he just quit at Texas Tech. He says he's done. And now son Pat Knight is taking over. Reports are that his team was a bit emotional. I'll let this marinate for a while and then give my ruminations later this week. " . . . but that would be an insult to Mickey Mouse." Ah, I'm going to miss him.

3. They're saying 97.5 million people watched the Super Bowl. That's enough for the most watched Super Bowl ever and the second most watched TV program ever. Ever. Wow. The media hype fuel is a powerful thing. Let's just hope the ads don't cost an arm, leg, and both ears next year because of these numbers. That's pretty amazing, though. And there were at least 50 people around each TV at the house where I watched the game, so that number may not be quite accurate.

4. Speaking of which, thoughts on the funniest commercial? Apparently, I missed Naomi Campbell and some lizards performing Thriller but it looked semi-humorous. My favorites were Shaq as a jockey, the guy with the spark plugs attached to his nipples, and the dog lapping up the Gatorade. The latter was mostly funny because everyone else was grossed out and trying to figure out what was going on, and that made me laugh. But maybe I'm weird.

5. It has been a pretty good year for the Cleveland Brown's Derek Anderson. First, he comes from the bench to start for the Browns and does a darn good job, leading them to 10-5 record, keeping media star Brady Quinn on the bench, and throwing 5 TD's in his first start and messing up my first week of fantasy football. And now, since Tom Brady is too beat up to attend the Pro Bowl (why go to Hawaii when you can go home to Brazil with Gisele?), Anderson will be replacing Brady at the Pro Bowl. Heck of a first season as a starter.

Not Hard Out Here For A Pit

The Michael Vick story continues . . .

Now the feds want to take about a million bucks of Vick's assets and use it to take care of his dogs, including finding them new homes.

How many dogs is this again? 54? I don't spend more than $10-$15 every 2 or 3 weeks on my two dogs. How much could it possibly cost to care for a dog and find it a new home?

Leona Helmsley, as you may recall, left $12 million to her one dog for the duration of its life. A million bucks for the care and housing of Vick's pitbulls?

I know his dogs may have suffered, but I swear dogs nowadays really have it better than humans.

And in case anyone is interested in the jail where Vick will be held for the next few weeks until he is sent to an actual prison, an AP writer did a feature on his new digs. No weight-lifting, just running and playing basketball. But at least he gets traditional Thanksgiving dinner. That's all that really matters.

The Old and The Heartless

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Troy Williamson was docked pay (approximately $25,000) for missing a game to attend the funeral of his grandmother (she raised him, so really, she's his mother).

Now, I'm sure there's something in the collective bargaining agreement that says that players don't get paid if they don't play for a variety of reasons, but this just seems ridiculously unfair.

First off, Williamson's not making millions of dollars, he's making about a half million this year. Which is definitely a lot. But $25,000 then turns out to be a lot of money to a guy not making a half million.

Even if this was the policy, I think the team should dig in their fat pockets and give the man his money back. I know this is a business and they don't play that many games to begin with, but even I get paid for missing work sometimes.

He's appealing the decision. I really hope he wins.

'Cuz They Want It All . . . Or Nothing At All

In a move to clear more space under the NFL salary cap, the Atlanta Falcons scored a "victory" over their beaten down QB, Michael Vick. The Falcons asked arbitrator and law professor Stephen Burbank to order that Vick return to them over $20 million in signing bonuses received. Burbank obliged. The NFLPA, which represents Vick, is now appealing the case.

Two things here. First, the Falcons' argument

The Falcons argued that Vick, who pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a long-running dogfighting operation, knew he was in violation of the contract when he signed a $130 million deal in December 2004.

The team said he used proceeds from the contract to fund his illicit activities and sought the repayment of $19,970,000 in bonuses he was paid over the last three years.

And here is Burbank's ruling:

In a highly technical, nine-page ruling, Burbank said the Falcons were entitled to $3.75 million of the $7.5 million bonus that Vick was paid after signing the deal in 2004, $13.5 million of the $22.5 million in roster, reporting and playing bonuses he was paid in 2005 and 2006, and $2.72 million of the $7 million roster, reporting and playing bonus that he received this year.

So he pretty much gave them exactly what they asked for. I don't have the time to really analyze this like I would like, but I'd also like to track down the opinion if I can before I give my full comment. Suffice it to say that I think the arbitrator made the wrong decision based on what I've seen so far, particularly the part about the bonus applying to future services vs. money already earned. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts in the meantime.

Vick Betta Have My Money!

So Arthur Blank and the Atlanta Falcons want the money returned that they coughed up to Michael Vick. They had threatened it before but now they're really going for it. They don't trust their odds, so they have two actions going simultaneously, one with the NFL's non-injury grievance arbitrator for recovery of $22 million, and one at a hearing with the NFL's special master, an Ivy League professor, asking for $16 million.

Although I am only mildly familiar with these proceedings from a class I took in law school, I do know that this is one area where the "man" does not always prevail. After all, fights with leagues has led to everything from the creation of modern day free agency to salary cap exceptions. The league will argue that he didn't live up to his end of the bargain, while the NFL Players' Association, which represents the players in these matters, will argue that his bonus was already earned and may not be taken back. Catch the rest of the details here.

I understand that the Falcons want their money back, but in the real world, this just would not fly. Just by way of example, let's pretend that my job gives bonuses, that they gave it to me when I first started, and that they wanted it back if I did not stay employed there for, say, 15 months. No way they're getting that money back.

My motto is "If you give it to me because I earned it, consider it spent. And don't come back for it, either because it's gone." With legal fees and no paycheck, I'm guessing Vick could use every dollar he can get these days. But at least he lightened his payroll by no longer supporting those cousins who sold him out!