Not The Game It Was Billed To Be

Tonight's Monday Night Football game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints was supposed to feature two of the biggest stars in the game: Michael Vick and Reggie Bush.

Only it didn't quite turn out as planned.

Bush is injured and is out for the rest of the regular season and perhaps the playoffs, too, if the Saints make it that far. With a win over the Falcons Monday night, they put themselves in a better position to do just that.

Vick, as you all know by now, did not play this year and will not play for at least the next two seasons after being sentenced to 23 months in prison and 3 years probation for pleading guilty to federal charges related to dogfighting.

Several of the players and fans made tributes to Vick, wearing his number. One Falcons player, Rodney White, donned a hand-written "Free Mike Vick" shirt under his jersey. Interestingly, most of the fans, and all of the players supporting Vick appeared to be African-American.

Vick received his sentence of almost 2 years in prison because the federal court judge said that he had lied. Lying to the government - and then getting caught - is an offense worse than death when it comes to the feds. Guaranteed to get you on the higher end of the sentencing guidelines.

Here, the prosecutors asked for a 12-18 months sentence, and the federal guidelines said the judge should sentence Vick to 18 months to two years. The judge pretty much threw the book at him, with 23 months. The feds don't really do that whole "early release" thing but he could about a month reduction, added to the month he has already served, and the earliest he could expect to get out would be the summer of 2009.

He's also looking at state court charges, but hopefully he can serve that concurrently with his federal sentence so that he would still get the same summer 2009 release date.

Well, I won't repeat everything I said before about the Vick situation (click here for my previous posts on the matter), but it is sad to see him become another statistic. Sports pundits on ESPN are saying he'll never play another game for the Falcons, but that's not what Falcons owner Arthur Blank said during Monday night's telecast. He, like NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, said that he would weigh the situation when it came time to do so. Prior to the game, he said that Vick was out of the picture. For now, Vick's contract will likely be tolled until he is able to return to the team. Blank's in this business to make money as much as he is anything else. I'm sure having Michael Vick, hopefully a new Michael Vick who's trying to keep his head above water, will be a money-making venture for which most teams that need a boost would pay a lot of money. Basically, if the Falcons are still struggling, I

Leave it to a federal judge to mess up my prediction that he would be back next year. Tolling that time for his prison sentence, Vick will be back as soon as he is free to do so. He will be sent to a "Club Fed" somewhere presumably not too far away from home, where he'll be able to stay in pretty good shape, but more importantly, he'll be able to put some distance between himself and this situation. Club Fed is nothing like being free, but it's the best he could get while still being held behind bars.

The one thing that the judge who sentenced him (not coincidentally, a George W. Bush appointee) said that I agree with is that he let a lot of kids down who looked up to him. But beyond that, he also has a chance to be a role model for those who have hit their lowest points to turn it all around. Now that he has almost two years to think about things, I sincerely hope that his story ends as one of redemption and not one of lost potential.

I'm pulling for you, Mike Vick, and in time, so will your previous fans.

There's Only Room Here For One Of Us

Ah, inspiration.

Let's start with the Atlanta Falcons' Jonathan Babineaux, who is breathing an enormous sigh of relief today after learning that he won't be facing charges for killing his girlfriend's pit bull.

The DA determined that Babineaux fought with the pit bull, and when it became clear that it was either him or the dog, Babineaux wisely chose to save himself. A classic case of self defense. The pit apparently had it coming. Not only had it provoked a few fights in the past, but it "had been neutered, placed on Prozac, sent to a dog trainer and kept on a leash." If Prozac doesn't get it, the dog probably can't be helped.

Good thing for Arthur Blank and the Falcons, because it's bad enough to have one convicted animal abuser on the team. Two would just be overkill.

(No pun intended.)

Exclusive! Eyewitness Account from Vick's Courtroom Plea

Today, Mr. Michael Dwayne Vick finally entered his guilty plea. He also commented for the first time on his case. Someone said that he must have been reading my blog because he was saying all the things he needed to say if he ever wants to play in the NFL again. Watch the man apologize to the public and judge for yourself. My favorite part is at the end when all 900 reporters try to ask a question at the same time. Can't fault them for trying.

A good friend of mine in Richmond actually attended today's hearing in person. She said it so offhand, I thought she was joking. In the interest of protecting her anonymity, here is our redacted (and spellchecked) Google chat conversation about the Vick hearing:

Friend: i sat in on the plea hearing today
he looked so sad
me: you did?
Friend: i know it was crazy
me: i write about this on my blog
Friend: it was a typical plea hearing nothing exciting
he is set for sentencing on dec 10
me: ok, first off, that's not true
Friend: there were crowds lining the street though -- protesters and supporters
me: this is a spectacle
Friend: yeah but it was pretty much by the book in the court room
me: would you mind doing a short little paragraph
me: :-)
Friend: when he left the court people were chanting but we couldn't make out what they were saying
Friend: his mother, brother, girlfriend and other family members were there
the court was mostly filled with reports
reporters
i can say people were lined up as early as 7:20 when i got in to work today
me: how did he look?
Friend: hard to describe - first thing that comes to mind is that he looked like he gave up
sort of accepting the situation and making the best of it
at the end he did turn around and lay a comforting hand on the girlfriend who was crying -- sort of like it's ok
he also looked sort of ashamed
me: did he look near tears himself?
Friend: no
he looked like he was trying to put up a strong front but you could feel the disappointment and sadness - it was heavy
odd thing is that it seemed like no one in the court room cared but his family and one guy who came in his jersey -- don't know who he was but -- he walked by and told him to keep his head up
me: any teammates or friends around?
or people that looked like football players, etc
Friend: umm not that i could tell -- but the court room only allowed a limited number others watch on closed caption tv in an over flow room so there could have been
me: you were in the actual room or in the overflow room?
Friend: courtroom but gotta run talk to you later
me: ok
cool
thanks!
take care
Friend: everyone else was there to get the story

Orson Welles once said “We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.” So even though millions of people have watched him on TV, hundreds have played against him, three friends turned c0-conspirators have apparently run a dogfighting ring with him, today, Michael Vick is all alone.

As my friend noted, he will be sentenced on December 10 (the same day the Falcons play the New Orleans Saints - I knew the connection was more than passing), and then the fiasco begins again. This Washington Post columnist says that he should never play in the NFL again. I say, as I said before, that the NFL will never go that far, and Vick has helped his case and been as remorseful as they need him to be to make it acceptable to let him play again. (Exhibit A: Falcons' President/GM Rich McKay's and owner Arthur Blank's statements earlier today about Vick). I expect to see him return just in time for fantasy football in the 2009 season (Jemele Hill says 2010, but I'm more "optimistic.").

To Vick, I hope that you meant what you said in court today. I am rooting for you now, even when it may not be popular to do so, because I believe everyone deserves a second chance, and I think you deserve a chance to redeem yourself and your name. And rest assured that if you don't start surrounding yourself with better people, you will be right back here all over again.

Alone.

NFL means Not (Gone) For Long

In case you haven't heard, Mike Vick filed his written plea agreement today (for those of you with the time and the patience, or who just need to know everything, here is a copy of the actual plea). He pretty much admitted to everything with which he was charged, only in the vaguest way possible. After looking at it, I'd have to say his lawyers are worth every million that he paid them. He was careful not to admit to personally benefiting from any gambling on the dogfights, which would amount to giving the NFL the noose to officially hang him and his cleats (sorry, I couldn't help it) up forever.

Following his plea, both the NFL, led by Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the Atlanta Falcons, led by Arthur "I was betrayed" Blank, responded with their own open letters/statements. (Oh, Vick's estranged father also resurfaced with his own tales about Vick, but I'm not even linking to this one, so you'll have to Google it on your own.)

The bottom line of the events today is that Vick has been suspended indefinitely from the NFL.

Blank made the following statement following the plea and the commissioner's decision to suspend Vick:

“Today, Michael Vick admitted his guilt to very serious charges related to his earlier indictment. His admissions describe actions that are incomprehensible and unacceptable for a member of the National Football League and the Atlanta Falcons.”

“We respect and support the Commissioner’s decision today to place Michael Vick on an indefinite suspension. As with other actions he has taken this year, the Commissioner is making a strong statement that conduct which tarnishes the good reputation of the NFL will not be tolerated.”

“We hope that Michael will use this time, not only to further address his legal matters, but to take positive steps to improve his personal life.”

Did he really say "tarnishes the good reputation of the NFL"? Nothing better than a billionaire with a sense of humor in supposedly serious situations. They claim there is more coming next week, so that's all I have to say about this statement.

Moving right along. In his open letter to Vick, Goodell expressed his disappointment, stating that Vick lied to his team, and (more importantly) he lied to Goodell. Ultimately, he suspended Vick indefinitely without pay. Concerning Vick's possible reinstatement into the league, Goodell said:

I will review the status of your suspension following the conclusion of the legal proceedings. As part of that review, I will take into account a number of factors, including the resolution of any other charges that may be brought against you, whether in Surry County, Virginia, or other jurisdictions, your conduct going forward, the specifics of the sentence imposed by Judge Hudson and any related findings he might make, and the extent to which you are truthful and cooperative with law enforcement and league staff who are investigating these matters. I urge you to give these individuals your full cooperation.

Let's take a closer look at this. This letter is open, and Goodell knows it, so he had to be as stern as possible to appease the people calling for Vick's head in a doggie bag. But see that last part of the above quote where he tells Vick exactly what he has to do to return to the NFL? That was Goodell giving us the "wink wink" that we shouldn't lose hope because we will see Vick play in the NFL again. He could have just said that the suspension would be reviewed in a year or after he completes his sentence, or something along those lines, but instead, he decided to go into way too much detail. Because justice and atoning for your actions are one thing, but money rules the world. You might as well set your TiVo now for the most watched game in NFL history. Mark my words.

Who's the Boss?

Today's post is quite long, but I think this topic deserved more space than I've seen it given - which is none at all.

I saw the title of this article by CNN/SI writer Peter King earlier today, and I was not happy to say the least. No, I was pissed. Why? Well if you haven't ventured over there, here is a link to Peter King's latest offering as the Monday Morning QB, entitled "A Boss Betrayed?" When I first saw the title, it was under a picture of Mike Vick, so it didn't take long to figure out who had been betrayed (Falcons' owner Arthur Blank), and who had done the betraying (Vick). Accoriding to King, Blank deserves our sympathy because he "did everything for Vick and got kicked in the groin." I didn't have to read past that line to realize that I wasn't going to like the article, but, for the sake of the blog, I kept reading.

King discussed with Blank about what he would do if he were in Blank's position. King said he'd spend $500,000 on a CIA-level background check on the next would-be-Vick to make sure the team was protected from the possibility that its investment might be lost. To which Blank replied:

"I can tell you we're going to be more thorough in looking into players before we sign them, particularly before we commit a lot of money to them,'' Blank said. "With Michael, I guess looking back now, we should have been concerned about the time he spent away from our facility. When he went home to Virginia, it's like he disappeared. It seems clear now that Michael had a secret life we didn't know about.''

I'll come back to this.

Next, King suggests that Blank should encourage players to stay in Atlanta year-round so that they can in essence keep an eye on them. He adds that the:

Vick story has driven home a point to him that when players leave town, they're sometimes back in the surroundings that led to trouble before they became pros. It's almost for their own good, in many cases (and certainly, as it turns out, it would have been good in this case) that some players cut ties with their past.

I'll come back to this, too.

Then King concluded with this:

The only thing left is for the Falcons, sometime in the next few days, most likely, to forever cut their ties with Vick. "Will you cut Michael Vick whenever this plea deal happens?'' I asked.

"That is unanswerable right now,'' he said.

No, it's very answerable. I think we all know that.

One last point. After the game, I asked rookie coach Bobby Petrino about his philosophy in handling the Vick story with his team.

"When you have a crisis involving one of your players, and this certainly is a crisis, I believe you do three things,'' he said. "You mourn properly, you do something positive for someone deeply affected by the crisis -- someone like Mr. Blank -- then you get back to putting your energies into what was important before the crisis. That's what we've done.''

Nice point by Petrino. I have a feeling it's not much of a Band-Aid for the bloody gash Vick has inflicted, though.

Ok, now it's my turn. It's bad enough that the NFL uses these guys, never giving two sh a hoot about them or where they come from or what they do until something goes wrong, and then they throw them under the bus and sever all ties forever. Then the owners cry woe is me for having believed in this guy and done everything he could. "We should have known, we shouldn't have picked this guy . . . if we had known, we would have thrown him back into the situation he came from. "

Yeah, I'm not buying it. This is the #1 draft pick who had one of the (if not "the") best selling football jersey around the world, one of the most popular and marketable players in the NFL despite his inconsistent (admit it, Falcons fans) performance since he entered the league in 2001, who went from the projects in Newport News, VA (aka "Bad News") to a multi-millionaire in a relatively short period of time. The same guy who could throw a ball clear across a football field (was that real?) . . . and you want us to believe that you actually took an interest in mentoring him or seeking help for this guy when you knew he had some issues even from the very beginning? If you believe that, then why don't you join ex-FEMA director Mike Brown as he spearheads the effort to help the people in New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina (just went there and they are still just beginning to recover) ? What's that you say? He hasn't been seen or heard from, at all much less in New Orleans, since he botched the relief effort? Oh.

Plenty of people who are far less "important" than Vick (in the NFL'$ eye$) walk around here with issues and have problems adjusting to a different environment and no one says anything to them. Rather than anyone trying to ease his transition from Bad News to "Good News" (HA!), and actually caring about Mike Vick and [insert names of any other "disappointing" NFLers] we stick them in an environment in which they are destined to fail, throw "opportunity" at them, and then wonder why they can't get it together.

Ok, why can't they? For starters, it is highly likely that our player's - whom I'll call "Superstar" - friends and family are/were still living in Bad News when Superstar "made it out" of wherever he came from. You tell Superstar to associate with better friends now that he has money . . . but people are constantly trying to erode every dollar Superstar takes in, so he trusts the people he's known his whole life, not these new "friends" - as well he should, IMO. But his "boys" from home are seeing dollar signs just like the NFL sees. They may even be jealous of our Superstar, and as close as they may be to him, they resent that they didn't make it like he did. They don't feel bad when they exploit him because, well, that's what friends are for. He makes it, we all make it. Superstar probably had several bumps along the way to his professional career, but no one says anything because he's performing, and that's all we want him to do.

That is, until he makes "the big mistake." Superstar and his friends get into trouble. Had this trouble occurred when Superstar was not, well, Superstar, nobody outside of the neighborhood would have cared, and everyone involved would have probably gone to jail. But wait! Hold on! Superstar was involved in this trouble! Now why would he do that? He had so much money, so much opportunity - why would he do this to himself?

Well, the answer is that he had some help. I can tell you the exact moment the problem began. It started the first time someone looked the other way when he did something inappropriate because he was a "freakish" athlete with "freakish upside potential." Anyone who is judging Mike Vick and calling him anything but his name for ruining his opportunities is being shortsighted. It is just as important to be in a position to take advantage of that opportunity as it is to have it in the first place. Can Arthur Blank and any other coach, athletic director, etc. who encountered Mike Vick truly look himself (or herself, but this is football we're talking about) in the mirror and say that he tried to help that kid take advantage of the opportunity that he had in his grasp?

King's perspective infuriates me for its shortsightedness. Tracking a grown man during the off-season and encouraging him to stay in the city where he plays is not the solution. Neither is paying anyone $500,000 to do a background search on the next prospect? What happens when the search turns up that the prospect - gasp! - grew up in the 'hood? "Good thing we found that out beforehand!"

King's article is nothing but a shameless attempt to absolve Arthur Blank (the man with the money, as King reminds us) from any blame whatsoever in this Vick debacle. Blank even uses the old standby of "copping" to having flaws that aren't really considered flaws (i.e., loving someone too much). Give me a break. You cannot green-light everything your player does, admit that you had no clue what he did in the off-season (which, incidentally, is twice as long as the "on-season"), and then turn on him when it's seemingly safe to do so.

I'll close with this excerpt from this article I found when I was looking for images of Arthur Blank. The article is ironically entitled "The Most Respected CEO," but what I found even more ironic is this quote from Blank himself, after comments regarding how he wooed Warrick Dunn:

In an era of absentee owners and - worse - meddling egocentric tyrants like Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders and George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees, Blank has become involved in a deeply personal way. "I really am interested in each one of these fellas," he says. "Personally and professionally, in their families and their kids and their interests and their foundations, and how we can help them with their life's work. I care for them. I suffer when they're injured. I wish our fans could be down on the field and see these guys. They go to the locker room and I see the blood, see the throwing up, see the pain. And what you see on the inside is worse. They've laid it on the line for themselves and for their teammates and for the city. It's not about money. They play with a tremendous amount of pride. It's a huge commitment they've made. I came in the day after our last game [a loss at Philadelphia in the playoffs] to say goodbye. I gave 'em each a hug and told them thank you for what you've done for this city; you've turned this community around, made them feel connected again; told 'em I wish there were four-and-a-half million people who could be in this room and give you a collective hug. It's all about caring."

I couldn't agree with you more, Mr. Blank. I would just appreciate it if you would actually practice what you preach.