Vick sentenced to 23 months

Michael Vick has been sentenced to almost two years in prison and three years of probation for his roll in the dog-fighting ring. Considering that the co-defendants received 18 and 21 months respectively, the court evidently found Vick to have greater culpability in regards to the crimes involved.

Not including any punitive measures by NFL offices, Vick will be unable to return to the NFL before October of 2009. I would guess there will be a suspension imposed that will not be allowed to serve concurrently with his jail time. As Vick is the first active player to be convicted and sentenced to jail time, my guess would be that the suspension will be indefinite, to be revisited at the beginning of each season, pending Vick's behavior while serving his probation.

I'm still not convinced we will ever see him under center in an NFL uniform again.

And considering he got nailed for using pot while awaiting sentencing, I'm not convinced he can remain clean for three years of probation.

Objects in Mirror may be Closer than they Appear...

Is it just me, or is Francona managing the lead away with the handling of the Red Sox pitching staff?

The Yankees have shaved three games off the Sox lead because -

• Francona brought in Paplebon too early (bullpen error two in that game, by the way)
• Left Schilling in too long
• And expected Gags to hold a one-run lead

In spite of months of evidence that he should do the contrary, Tito did the above and it has cost the Sox three games.

This now makes, I think, four games that Gags has cut off the Sox division lead. Do you suppose he's somehow on the Yankees' payroll? I want that investigated.

Say it ain't so, Rod, say it ain't so...

By now most out there know about the report that has hit about when Rodney Harrison was first doping. I think paraphrasing the final lines from Bernard Malamud's great baseball novel, The Natural is somehow appropriate.

Not necessarily accurate...but appropriate.

For those of you who have never read the book, it is the novel from which the movie was adapted...and it has a decidedly different ending. The character of Roy Hobbs was inspired by Shoeless Joe Jackson, and what happened to him during and after the Black Sox Scandal.

At the end of the novel, after Hobbs has refused to take the Judge's money, he strikes out at the plate anyway. Overcome with emotion over blowing his chance, he falls asleep on a clubhouse bench.

After he comes to early the next morning, he is greeted by a paperboy selling newspapers with the headline that Hobbs was bought off and the paperboy imploring him to, "say it ain't so, Roy."

The fallen hero imagery of the reference spoke to me.

Get well....

Joe Andruzzi. You're fighting your toughest opponent yet.

Get Walking....

Kevin Everett. It's good to hear that you have motion in your hands and legs.

One final comment on Vick until sentencing...

So, as I am sure many that have followed the Vick dogfighting case will recall, a number of athletes such as Deion Sanders and Emmitt Smith gave some form of defense of Vick's dogfighting - based on cultural differences (ie: it should be considered okay because culturally, he grew up around it in the South).

Whoopi Goldberg engaged in the same defense just a couple of weeks ago. She said, "He's from the South, from the Deep South ... This is part of his cultural upbringing. For a lot of people, dogs are sport. Instead of just saying (Vick) is a beast and he's a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not questioned."

Boy, that's just lovely. I can't wait for the next Ku Klux Klan member who gets charged with murder and hate crimes to start talking about hating non-whites as part of his/her "cultural upbringing," and warning us to not call him/her a monster because he/she comes from a culture where that just isn't questioned.

If Vick were picked up for snorting or dealing cocaine, would she have claimed the same "cultural" defense because he came from a poor black community where drug dealing and use is part of the "culture"? Of course not. Because it's commonly understood that the act is illegal.

And let's face it - if he didn't know it was illegal, why go through great pains to create a set-up where he can at least try to deny involvement?

Let's face it Whoopi, your "cultural" defense is indefensible.

Testing the limits

According to an AP report, Michael Vick's guilty plea will not include pleading guilty to the gambling charges or the charges that he was involved in animal cruelty. He will be pleading guilty only to the interstate commerce for the purpose of dogfighting charge.

From all reports, the Feds have Vick dead to rights on just about all of the charges, so what remains to be seen - on Monday - is whether or not the judge accepts the plea.

If the judge does not, look for the Feds to move forward with the superseding indictments and for a court case that is going to only further tarnish Vick's reputation and cause greater damage to his chances to repair his image. In essence, if the case goes forward and more facts surface regarding how deep Vick's involvement in this subculture really is, the worse it will be for any earning potential or possibility of returning to football.

With the narrow scope of what Vick is pleading guilty to, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the judge assigned to this case throws the plea out.

Can't find my way home....

It appears, in the last couple of years, that the NAACP has lost its way.

I know that football is an emotional game, and it is difficult as a fan not to get emotionally invested, but for the second time in three years, the head of a major chapter of the NAACP has made a truly bone-headed statement to the press in regards to a professional football player. With the presidents of two major chapters in the last three years taking some idiotic stances, I think the organization has lost the right to have their membership showing blind faith in its leadership (this doesn't even include issues like the embezzlement of the organization's funds by its leaders in 2002 in the smaller chapter in Frederick, MD).

The first time was in December of 2005 when J. Whyatt Mondesire, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP essentially called Donovan McNabb an Uncle Tom because McNabb no longer scrambled like he did early in his career. Of course one of the major facts that Mondesire ignored in his argument that McNabb was better before he became a pocket passer, is that until McNabb stayed in the pocket, the team didn't even make it to the NFC Championship game, let alone the Super Bowl.

The same man compared McNabb to Doug Williams, calling him, "no Doug Williams," for his failure to perform in the Super Bowl. For that, Philadelphia fans should be thankful. Williams was at best a mediocre quarterback who had one great game and a couple of good ones on his way to his Super Bowl win with the Redskins. Williams was in and out of the league, playing 1978-1982 for Tampa before toiling in the USFL until 1986 when he joined Washington. He was gone before the 1990 season, playing in only 21 games during his four seasons in Washington.

Head to head, McNabb was and is the far better quarterback =

Williams - 8 Seasons, 88 games

Att 1240  Comp 2507  Percentage 49.5 Yards 16998   Yd/att 6.8 TD 100 INT 93

McNabb - 8 Seasons, 104 games

Att 1898  comp 3259  percentage 58.2 yards 22080   yd/att 6.8 TD 152 INT 72 

Statistical comparisons aside, this attack confounded the NAACP brain-trust who openly wondered if Mondesire shouldn't have more pressing civil-rights concerns.

One has to wonder the same about R.L. White, president of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter who yesterday said, "As a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football. We further ask the NFL, Falcons, and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country."

That's an easy request for a man to make that is not reliant on the general public to pay his salary. The NAACP does not get its revenues from a consumer base - many of whom are dog owners.

White compared dog-fighting to hunting. Not necessarily a stretch, but also the wrong group to attack as they are often dog owners.

He mentions that others were saying things to save their own hides. Probably true - but that doesn't necessarily mean that what they were saying were lies either - particularly in light of the video evidence that the Feds supposedly had...not to mention the fact that is seems the money trail kept leading back to Vick.

Like Mondesire, White ignored a number of facts in this case. If Vick receives a lifetime ban from the league, it won't be for dog-fighting. It will be for gambling. If sponsors do not return to Vick, it will not be because he failed to rehabilitate himself, it will be because they believe that he is no longer a viable marketing commodity and would more than likely cause sales to drop rather than increase.

Finally, being in Atlanta, home of the Genarlow Wilson debacle - like Mondesire, doesn't White have some real civil rights issues he needs to be working on?

Mid-week observations

Getting tougher in the Bronx

The Yankees have been great since the All-Star break, climbing to as close as four back of the AL-East leading Red Sox. They have cut what was once a 15-game deficit to what is now six games and are in the thick of the wild-card race, climbing from as many as ten games under .500 to 70-56.

In spite of all that, I still think the Yankees are done.

This is why -

The Bommahs are 22-25 against the East. A winning percentage of 0.468.

Against the West they are 12-15 - 0.444.

However they have owned the teams in the Central. Against the Central they are a gaudy 26-8. That's a winning percentage of 0.765.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, they only have seven games remaining against the Central. At their current paces against each division, that means we're looking at five wins against the Central and two against the West. The Yanks have 25 games remaining against the East which translates to maybe 12 wins.

Realistically, I think the Yankees finish with a respectable total of 87...maybe 89 wins. The Red Sox could go .500 in their remaining games and still finish with 94 wins.

The Yanks could still make the wild-card, but I'm guessing Seattle gets it.

Wake-up call

The Red Sox have two fifteen game winners and one fourteen game winner. With approximately seven starts remaining, Tim Wakefield has a legitimate shot at 20 wins. I think 18 is more realistic, but Wake's year could give the Sox a staff with three starters with at least 17 wins.

When is the last time that happened?

Welcome to the Bigs, rook

I've said this before and I will say it again. Right now the Red Sox have to have three of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year in Dustin Pedroia, Hideki Okajima, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Unfortunately for Oki, I think Pedroia is more likely to get the award.

Don't get me wrong, Pedroia has had a deserving season, but I don't think the Sox are in first without Okajima. He has been the rock in the bullpen, and the most consistent of the three. I just don't think middle relievers ever get the credit they deserve.

This ain't gonna be The Longest Yard

Vick couldn't beat the feds and now he's facing a local DA in Virginia who is going to use the Feds evidence and Vick's own confession as a cudgel in trying to convict him on animal cruelty charges. If my understanding is correct - each charge carries with it a maximum five-year sentence that can be ordered to be served consecutively rather than concurrently.

If Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter convicts Vick of all charges, the soon to be former Falcons quarterback could be looking at serving up to an additional 40 years in a Virginia penitentiary after he gets out of federal prison.

What do you suppose the over-under is on when his brother finally screws up enough that he's out of the league as well?

From Don Banks -

Before he would let our conversation end, the veteran personnel evaluator made
one more point, and said it was something he thought a lot of people within NFL
circles have felt as Vick's long, sordid dogfighting saga has played out the past four months.
"I don't know what's going to happen to Michael Vick, and I don't care,'' he said, slowly and with emphasis. "The guy has embarrassed the NFL and embarrassed the game that a lot of us care about greatly. He's not worth any more time and energy and attention. It's his problem now.''

Banks in his article at si.com talked to a number of personnel people around the NFL about Vick's future in the NFL based on speculation that the earliest Vick could return would be for the 2009 season - really a best case scenario for Vick. There's a fair chance he could receive a lifetime ban from the NFL for the gambling aspect of his recent issues.

Realistically, I'm guessing a two year suspension which can only be served while he is on a roster. Assuming he remains on the Atlanta roster until June so they can minimize the salary cap hit, we're probably looking at ten games this season before he starts his jail term which will eat into next season. That means Vick will likely still be looking at 22 games - and that's only if he can get onto a roster, a team that is willing carry close to a season and a half of dead money before this guy can play. That would be after a four season layoff.

At best, he would come back as a back-up quarterback, or maybe a wide-receiver or running back. I doubt anyone would consider one of the statistically worst quarterbacks in the league for a starter after a four year layoff. But there's a chance someone might look at him for another position.

But who would take a flyer?

The following teams are unlikely to take him due to being set at QB and because Vick doesn't fit what the team does - or his reputation for not being a hard worker will also hurt him with the following -

Patriots - QB
Jets - not a hard enough worker for Mangini and probably are set at QB
Colts - QB
Bengals - QB
Chargers - QB
Saints - QB
Seahawks - QB
Packers - Green Bay just plain won't accept him
Rams - QB
Falcons - Arthur Blank will have burned that bridge
Giants - Mara family unlikely to take a flyer on Vick
Steelers - Ditto for the Rooneys

The following recently addressed QB issues and hope they won't have to address the position in four years -

Raiders
Browns
Redskins
Cowboys
Eagles
49ers
Cardinals
Texans
Chiefs
Broncos
Titans
Bills
Dolphins
Vikings

Teams that might be in most need of help at the QB position, or might address it between now and then -

Jaguars
Panthers
Ravens
Lions
Bears
Buccaneers

Personally, I think that the suspension will operate like a scarlet letter. No one is going to want to invest money in a player that can't earn the money for a year and a half. It's why no team, no matter how deficient on defense, has signed Tank Johnson.

A lot of people are speculating that Vick will one day return to the league, but I think that the suspension is tantamount to the end of his career. I wonder if he actually has enough saved up to sustain himself while he finishes his degree. If not, I think he needs to get used to the words, "would you like fries with that?"

You knew I had to comment

So Michael Vick accepted a guilty plea today to the dogfighting charges.

Surprise, surprise.

There's a lot that's sad about this -

It's sad that many of those who supported Vick throughout this will continue to maintain his innocence, claiming he was railroaded by the federal government; that they will do so in spite of the fact that, according to the indictment, there was video evidence that he attended dogfighting; in spite of the fact that there was no evidence that a single one of his cronies could have in any way funded an operation like this.

There will be those that continue to defend him, like Clinton Portis did, because, "they's his dogs, he should be able to fight 'em if that's what he wants to do."

It's sad that many of these people believe that it's because he's black that he has been targeted by the feds, in spite of the fact that people like Donovan McNabb and Robert Johnson (the founder of BET) have not. It's sad that they think this is a racial thing when in fact it's about federal statute.

It's sad that a supremely talented athlete (he has a long way to go as a quarterback, but he's one hell of an athlete), is willing to throw his career away because he needed cheap thrills from a bloodsport, and needed the added excitement of gambling on said bloodsport. This was what was more important to him during the off-season than working on his game.

Don't pity him, because this is the path he chose, but it's sad that football was just a means for him to fund something else. If he wanted to be the best in the game he would have done what McNabb, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and countless other quarterbacks do during the off-season - they work on their game, they train, they try to improve. He thought fighting dogs was a better use of his time.

And that's just sad.

Quick hits

Slim to none

Michael Vick's chances for an acquittal just went from Hell in a hand basket to...well, whatever could be worse than going to Hell in a hand basket. Maybe the best comparison is that his scrotum is about to get raked across hot coals by the feds.

With the news hitting that Vick's remaining two co-defendants in the dogfighting trial, Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace are copping guilty pleas, Vick's defense just took a major hit.With Phillips and Peace copping pleas months before trial, it's probable that these two have worked out deals in which they will be testifying against Vick. This now gives the feds at least seven people that will be testifying against Vick.

Sayonara Mikey, don't let the turnstile hit you in the ass on your way out of the league.

Knuckling down

To some people's chagrin, and I will never understand why that is, Tim Wakefield right now is Mr. Red Sox. With approximately eight starts left, Wake is now second on the team in wins at 14-10, is second on the team in innings pitched 150.1, and third in ERA (4.55) among starters.

This guy has been invaluable to the team in his time here. He has started, been middle relief, closed, and even was the emergency starter two games after his scheduled spot in the rotation a few years ago. The man has been an innings eater and an absolute horse and last night, after a series in which the bullpen blew two games the team had essentially won, Wakefield silenced the Devil Rays' bats through six full innings, and finished the game with three hits over eight innings.

That's veteran presence.

Interesting tidbit from Steve Phillips

Phillips noted that Eric "Gags" Gagne, since coming to the Red Sox is throwing fastballs on roughly 62 percent of his pitches. During his streak in Texas where he was pitching so well - only 52 percent of his pitches thrown were fastballs, and his punch-out pitch was typically a change-up.

I would like to think that Red Sox scouts would have noticed this.

Double Jeopardy

As explained at http://lp.findlaw.com/:

''The constitutional prohibition against 'double jeopardy' was designed to
protect an individual from being subjected to the hazards of trial and possible
conviction more than once for an alleged offense. . . . The underlying idea, one
that is deeply ingrained in at least the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence,
is that the State with all its resources and power should not be allowed to make
repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby
subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live
in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the
possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty.''

In essence, the courts can only try someone once for a specific crime. This doesn't prohibit, however, the same charges being filed in regards to the same crime on both federal and state levels - which is what seems to be the direction that Virginia is going in with the Michael Vick dogfighting case.

That is not what I am referring to with Vick.

While it appears to be likely that Vick will face an indictment from the State of Virginia in addition to his federal indictment, I am talking about something different.

I am talking about the other indictment that could be handed down in Atlanta.

From 2004 through 2006 the Falcons won 11, 8, and 7 games respectively. In each of those three seasons, in spite of passing for more yards each year, his completion percentage dropped from 56.4 in 2004 to 55.3, and, ultimately 52.6 last season. Overall, he is a career 53.8 percent passer who has piloted the Falcons to two winning seasons. The only time that the Falcons have won more than nine games with Vick at the helm coincides with his highest completion percentage - 56.4.

Joey Harrington, for all the knocks he takes in the press, is the better quarterback. Over the last three seasons playing for Detroit and Miami - two teams no one could really consider contenders, Harrington has posted completion percentages of 56, 57, and 57.5 respectively.

If after six seasons of Vick, during which the Falcons could achieve ten wins only once, what will it say of Vick - the so called "most exciting player in the game," if Atlanta wins ten with Detroit's first-round quarterbacking bust at the helm?

Isn't that just another indictment of Vick?

His defenders point to the number of dropped passes his receivers had last season. They don't point to the fact that, until this past off season when the dogfighting was about to hit the fan, Vick didn't spend anymore time around Flowery Branch than the bare minimum required. He didn't spend the extra time developing that rapport with receivers that quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Donovan McNabb do.

Whose fault is that? The receivers?

For all the hype, and the excitement he has caused on the field (and off), nothing ever justified Arthur Blank's signing of this man to the richest contract ever for a quarterback. As much as you may here players and coaches give proper respect to Vick's athletic ability - you never hear them talk about him as a great quarterback.

Why? Because defensive coordinators would rather face someone like Vick than someone like Brady or Manning. They know if they bottle up Vick, then they force him to pass. That's not a prospect that defensive coordinators in the NFL fear - not the way they fear what Brady, Manning, McNabb, Carson Palmer, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, or any one of a number of other quarterbacks can do if stuck in the pocket.

Don't be surprised if Vick faces another indictment by the end of the season - only this one will be on the football field.

Questions

Apparently Adam "Pacman" Jones will moonlight as a professional wrestler during his suspension. This begs the question - will they create villain wrestlers for him named Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde?

Wade Phillips is taking the heat in Dallas for missed practices by Terrell Owens. Anyone else surprised in the least?

Can anyone out there explain to me what Brady Quinn is thinking? Get the deal done and get into training camp - you've already made yourself public enemy number one in Cleveland - don't make it any worse.

Does Michael Strahan really think he has any leverage whatsoever in his hold-out? The man has played in 33 of the last 48 regular season games over the last three years and turns 36 in November. Either get into camp, Mike, or retire - you're not getting an extra dime out of the Mara family and they're unlikely to trade you to someone who will.

What do Michael Vick supporters really think of his chances in federal court? Innocent until proven guilty is a lovely concept, but let's face some basic facts. Vick isn't facing Mike Nifong who was pandering to his electors, or the mess that was the O.J. trial - also a local jurisdiction case. He is facing a court system in which 90 percent of those charged cut deals. The other ten percent that go to court? 95 percent of them end up convicted.

The feds are deliberate in their approach, and they don't indict unless they think they have the subject dead to rights. Think about it in this context - for every 1,000 people that the feds indict, the proof is so strong that 900 of them accept deals, and 95 of the remaining 100 are convicted. Five of every 1,000 walk away from the charges - 0.005 percent of those who are indicted are found innocent. Those are long odds for anyone, no matter how good the lawyer.

When will the DA's office in Georgia figure out that the system is supposed to be about justice and not one's own personal conviction stats and let Genarlow Wilson walk?

Why is it that all my questions today are related to football?

Thoughts that hit on a lazy Sunday in Maryland...

Those that know me well know that I would rather be talking about what players are doing on the field, or when off the field, what they are doing to help - Saints defender Charles Grant buying the Saints administrative assistants lunch, Drew Bledsoe and his foundation, the work many Boston area pro-athletes do with the Jimmy Fund. There's a lot that many big-leaguers have to offer to the community, and many do.

Then there's what's happening now.

With Vick.

After today I am going to make an effort to stay away from this story as much as possible considering what the media saturation is going to be like. However, I wanted to touch on a few quick things that have not yet come up.

If indeed Vick is found guilty he could miss up to seven seasons, assuming he doesn't play this year. Or he could receive a suspended sentence, probation, or a number of other options. Assuming he remains free after a guilty verdict, whether on probation, or for some other reason, this opens up a whole new can of worms for the NFL and the Falcons.

The studies will start coming out of the wood-work. The studies that PETA, the SPCA, and every mental-health professional in the united states has on file that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to abuse people at some point in their life. Or people will begin creating psychological profiles of Vick based on passages like the following:

In 88 percent of 57 New Jersey families being treated for child abuse, animals in the home had been abused. An unpublished study by Frank Ascione of Utah State University found a strong pattern suggesting that child abuse victims are more likely to harm animals.

Ascione found that 25.5 percent of physically abused children were cruel to animals, 13.2 percent of sexually abused children were cruel to animals, and 34 percent of both physically and sexually abused children were cruel to animals, while only
4.7 percent of non-abused children were cruel to animals.

To put it bluntly, Vick can kiss endorsements goodbye if he is found culpable in any way, shape, or form - and with black community leaders like Al Sharpton and hip-hop mogul Bill Simmons publicly siding with PETA and calling for corporate America to cancel those deals, it's likely to happen anyway.

Just 'cause he was a running back doesn't mean he has to stick his foot in his mouth...

But Emmitt Smith went and did it anyway. I won't reprint Smith's statements, but he said, in essence, that Vick was probably going to end up taking the fall for everybody else because he was the biggest fish in the pond.

I don't know how they sounded when he said them, but the way they read comes off as a"Vick's being railroaded by the government" sort of sentiment. Of course it couldn't be because they believe that Vick could be bankrolling the dogfighting ring, could it? No...the money behind it couldn't be coming from the athlete with the $130 million contract.

Anyone else wondering if Emmit Smith's ESPN career will be over before it began? Come to think of it - with the way they're going, Smith is fine...it's not like he has sexually harassed any of the people behind the scenes.

Will the real slim shortstop please stand up?

Over the last six weeks the Red Sox have gone through their toughest stretch of the season. I'm not talking about scheduling - I'm talking about hitting.

They have been brutal, leaving an inordinate number of men on base. The clutch hitting has been non-existent. Baseball's best three-four combo in the game has been mediocre, and Kevin Youkilis - a big reason why the offense got along with Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz hitting like...well, Dave Magadan - has five hits in his last 31 at-bats over the last ten games. His average has dipped from .324 to .310 during that time.

However, following three losses, the Sox had three wins. Mostly due to timely hitting from the team's lightweights - Coco Crisp, and Julio Lugo.

Lugo has been something of a freak, and it's time for the real Julio to stand-up.

In spite of hitting below the Mendoza line for a greater portion of the season than any regular has the right to, somehow Lugo is tied for fourth on the team in RBI's with 47, and leads the team in stolen bases, in spite of the fact that his .291 on base percentage ranks him ahead of only Wily Mo Pena and Doug Mirabelli among position players on the team.

The freakish thing really is the last ten games, after he broke out of a slump that felt much too long. Over the last week and a half's worth of games, Lugo is 16 of 39 (.410), 7 RBI, and a grand slam.

To put that in perspective - Ortiz over the same time frame - 14 of 40 (.350), 9 RBI, and two homers.

Will the real Sox shortstop please stand up? I'd like to know what to expect for the second half.

The number 95 and other thoughts produced by the two cells that are left...

There are a lot of things that Michael Vick should be worried about in this case -

He should worry about the sheer amount of details in the indictment that include where and when dogs were purchased, the actual amounts bet on fights, locations of the fights, and the fact that there are at least four witnesses for the prosecution listed in the indictment.

He should worry that his cousin who was so ready to take the fall for him a month ago, even going so far as to have a press conference during which he admitted culpability and denied Vick has any knowledge, appears nowhere in the indictment.

He should worry about the timing and the fact that the Federal court in Richmond is known as the fastest in the country at pushing cases through the courtroom.

He should worry about the fact that it's the federal judiciary rather than some local like Mike Nifong who was incompetent or Surry County District Attorney Gerald Poindexter who was dragging his feet on the investigation, and likely to let it drop.

Most of all he should worry about the number 95. That's the percentage of criminal cases in federal court which result in a conviction. There are a number of other people who have a lot more money than Vick who are now behind bars after being dragged into the federal judiciary. Anyone remember Enron and their brain trust?

There are claims of racism already appearing in some quarters, others are alleging that it's because Vick's a celebrity, however, I put it to you, ask the average - and I emphasize AVERAGE - Michael Vick fan from a predominantly black community in Georgia to tell you who Ken Lay was...I give an outside chance at best that the individual will know who that was and that he was nailed by the feds.

Also, if this had been some white guy, Samoan, or even black guy who was a back-up lineman making league minimum with the Falcons, I guarantee he would be cut already. If anything, I would say that Vick's celebrity has thus far protected him as anyone of his previous transgressions - the water bottle, flipping off the fans, smoking the roach on the girlfriend's MySpace page - would have gotten a bottom of the roster player cut.

Baseball writers need to...

Get off the Bud Selig's back about attending Barry Bonds perversion of baseball's biggest record. I am no Bud Selig fan, but this constant whining from the writers - particularly the ones at ESPN - needs to stop.

Selig does not need to be there - get over it.

The vast majority of writers turned as blind an eye to the problem as any of the owners - at whom the writers point their fingers, seldom lumping themselves in as culpable. Now they seem to be beating on Selig as though making him the bad guy in all this gives them a pass on "celebrating the record" as it should be...to paraphrase ESPN's Buster Olney. Olney is among those that think it would be a travesty for Selig to not be there, because it would belittle the breaking of the record.

His argument is that it seems as though Bonds has become the scapegoat for the entire era and that people have forgotten that Bonds was not the only one on the juice, and that's not fair.

Nobody has forgotten that others were juicing - Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Rafael Palmiero are still talked about regularly. There are still whispers of why Pudge Rodriguez got a lot less pudgy when the testing was instituted and why Roger Clemens, after three years of decline in his 30's, suddenly seemed to be 25 again...after being on a Red Sox team with Jose Canseco

It feels to me like the baseball press is trying to make Selig the bad guy in this just so they can make themselves feel better about covering this travesty. The man has cheated the game and the its fans and the writers will once again be culpable in the sham that will be the home-run record.

I guess there are those that learn history and are doomed to repeat it anyway.

Dry rot in Flowery Branch

I touched on this a little bit last night.

Michael Vick has been indicted on Federal charges related to the dogfighting investigation. The charges include conspiracy and transportation across state lines in addition to the dogfighting charges. The conspiracy charge in particular has to be troubling to Vick's lawyers as Vick's defense has been that he was never at the property.

Under the federal conspiracy statute, he doesn't have to be directly involved. As long as he has been facilitating the operation, he's got problems - and it's one of the few charges where proving that link is made considerably easier for the government.

Additionally, this isn't the incompetent Surry County prosecutor they're going against. And the federal prosecutor's office already has close to half a dozen witnesses that put him not just at the fights, but as a major player in the dogfighting underworld.

Some of the reports say that Vick could be in court as early as the middle of November.

Reaction from league offices has been...less than satisfactory given their reactions to other repeat offenders (and make no mistake, someone who is on his girlfriend's myspace page smoking a joint, and later gets in trouble at an airport over a water bottle with a secret compartment before getting indicted by a federal grand jury is a repeat offender). For many, particularly animal rights activists, the wait and see approach being favored by the league at the moment is not going to fly. According to a report this morning by Steve Wyche in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"We are disappointed that Michael Vick has put himself in a position where
a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against him," NFL spokesman
Brian McCarthy said in a statement. "We will continue to closely monitor
developments in this case, and to cooperate with law enforcement authorities.

"The activities alleged are cruel, degrading and illegal. Michael Vick's guilt has not yet been proven, and we believe that all concerned should allow the legal process to determine the facts. The matter will be reviewed under the League's Personal Conduct Policy."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones for the season for repeated run-ins with the law. Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tank Johnson, who was cut by the team recently, was suspended for eight games, for his legal problems. So was Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry.

Though the strengthening of the player code of conduct was aimed to punish repeat offenders, Goodell could suspend a player on a first offense and has warned Vick as much.

Goodell, who took over as commissioner in 2006, met with Vick in late April, shortly after police raided a property Vick owns in Surry County, Va., and found evidence of dogfighting. At that time, Vick told Goodell that he was not involved in dogfighting. Vick also said as much publicly then, in his only statements on the issue.
If the facts prove that Vick was not honest with Goodell, that could factor into any punishment levied.

Blank also met with Vick in early May and in a "stern" conversation. Blank said the
talk was mostly one-sided but that he would trust and believe in Vick unless proven otherwise.

Part of the new player conduct policy deals with teams facing possible sanctions for not holding players accountable for negative behavior. That facet of the policy could prompt the Falcons to take proactive measures.

If the 27-year old quarterback does get suspended this season, and then convicted of the charges he faces - he could lose up to seven years of his NFL career to the dogfighting, effectively ending his tenure in the NFL. Personally, I believe that if he even had an inkling this was happening on his property (and I honestly believe he more than just had an inkling), Vick needs to be, I'd say thrown to the dogs, but I really don't think I should make a joke about this.

On a related note, what do you think Clinton Portis would say now?

Roger Goodell's gonna need shackles and a cattle prod before this is all over...

A banner day for the NFL -

Pacman Jones is trying to work out with the Titans (I'm sure Bud Adams is thrilled), franchised malcontents Lance Briggs and Asante Samuel failed to agree to contract terms with their respective teams, and now what every blogger has been waiting for - Michael Vick has been indicted on federal charges.

With an indictment now hanging over the head of the "league's most exciting player," Goodell will be forced to act. He cannot stand idly by when one of the league's most over-rated star players faces federal charges when he has handed out a one-year suspension to Jones who has had multiple run-ins with the police, but no convictions...and no federal indictments.

How Goodell handles this will send very clear signals to the press and to the NFL-fandom about who he really is. It's one thing to suspend a cornerback, a number three receiver, and a defensive tackle. It's another thing altogether to nail one of the league poster-boys to the proverbial wall.

Of course, in light of Vick's last year, Goodell might very well be happy to serve notice that being a poster boy is not...shall we say, a right for the highly talented. This might become the single most interesting decision to come out of league offices during the Comish's brief tenure.

A well needed win...

I stand by my earlier statements regarding Curt Schilling and the degradation of skills. That said, it was a hell of a showing yesterday when the Sox needed it. While the story the press is reflecting on is the no hitter that got away in the ninth inning, it really should be wrapped around the fact that Schilling only threw 100 pitches to come away with the complete game one-hit win.

Schilling, who has historically gone deep in counts, walked no one and faced 29 total batters.

Why is all this so important? Because over the last couple of years when Schilling has been allowed to throw more pitches in a game, his following start to two starts have suffered. It was particularly noticeable last year after a 130+ pitch outing against Cleveland and Schilling just looked old for his next two starts.

One other observation: Is it just me, or have Schilling's trouble spots come up whenever he has shaken Varitek off?

Good job boys...now let's get number nine for Beckett. Number nine, number nine, number nine...

From bad to worse...
I'm trying to figure out if the Feds getting involved in the Vick dogfighting case bodes worse for Vick or Gerald Poindexter, the Surry County prosecutor who appeared to be dragging his feet on this case.

Poindexter upon being ousted by the Feds, made the following statement as part of the AP article:

"There's a larger thing here, and it has nothing to do with any breach of protocol," Poindexter said, still trying to rationalize where the federal government fits in. "There's something awful going on here. I don't know if it's racial. I don't know what it is."

Vick and Poindexter are black.

Of course, here are some of the issues that have taken place under Poindexter's watch:

1. Shortly after the May 25th raid, the state animal control rep who was with the police on the raid noted that there was enough evidence to begin issuing indictments/warrants for arrests, particularly in light of the fact that neighbors could place Vick at the house in spite of his assertions that he was never there. Those warrants still have not arrived.
2. Multiple witnesses have come forward over the last two weeks connecting Vick with dogfighting. Still no warrant.
3. During Poindexter's watch, the Vick home where this all took place was broken into. Publicly Poindexter seemed unconcerned, stating that he believed that whoever broke into the home was probably just after furnishings...never mind the fact that it was a crime scene, and it could easily have been someone going there to destroy evidence.
4. At least one witness noted that a number of dead dogs are buried on the property. Somehow Poindexter's office screwed up that warrant, and had to wait for that one to expire while a new warrant was in the works.
5. As a breeder of these dogs, and an allegedly individual involved in fighting the dogs in both North Carolina and Virginia, the crime crosses state boundaries and becomes a federal offense.

All of this doesn't even account for the fact that the Vick family appears to get special treatment on the Virginia peninsula due to their celebrity status as athletes. Really, would Marcus Vick have gotten the slap on the wrist he had if he wasn't either of the following; A) The starting QB at Virginia Tech B) Michael Vick's little brother C) A black sports star in a predominantly black area?

Do I think there might be some racism at play? Maybe, maybe not. If there is, I don't think it's on the part of the Feds. Have the Feds lost confidence in Poindexter's ability to prosecute this case because of other issues? I'm guessing that's a yes.

Shoring up the minors...
According to the Herald, this is our newest first draft pick...

The Sox took University of Washington left-hander Nick Hagadone with their first selection, the 55th overall pick and the 25th pick of the compensation round. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior averaged 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings while posting a 6-1 record, 11 saves and a 2.77 ERA in 25 games this season.

All in all, that doesn't look too bad for a team whose first pick didn't come until the second round. Especially considering the kid is a lefty.

Coming Soon...Post 200!

I spy with my little eye...a Vick

According to an AP report that hit early this morning, the prosecutor investigating the Michael Vick case has linked Vick to dogfighting and charges are imminent. According to prosecutor Gerald Poindexter, eyewitnesses to Vick at dogfights in Virginia have voluntarily come forward to finger Vick.

Suddenly Vick is in a lot more hot water, and things could really be on the verge of finally falling apart for the talented player who has lived on the edge for quite some time. As I watch this case quickly unfold, I can't help but think that this isn't going to end well for him.

Speaking of football...
It appears that Chad Brown might be on the verge of returning to the Patriots. If moved back outside to his natural position, Brown might provide the Patriots with decent depth.

If he does indeed come back, it would make sense for Belichick to move him to the outside for other reasons as well - he struggled when moved to the inside, and with the five linebackers in front of him, there are three, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, and Adalius Thomas, better suited to the inside.

A new challenger to enter the arena...
According to reports, there's a new football league on the horizon - the United Football League, tentatively scheduled to begin play in August of 2008. Even though it's looking at kicking off during the NFL season, the league is reportedly looking at a smart design for competition.

The UFL is looking at setting up teams in eight markets that currently have no NFL team such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Antonio (though nothing is written in stone...except for maybe Vegas). Games will be scheduled for Fridays so that it avoids competition with the NFL's Thursday and Sunday games as well as college football's Saturday heavy schedule.

For the real football hardcore, that means five straight days of professional or college football from Thursday through Monday. For the NFL, this means little except that they might accelerate their plans on getting a team into the L.A. market.

The league will face a lot of issues as a start-up. The last league to successfully challenge the NFL for any sort of market share did so before the big television contracts, however, it's a loophole in the laws that govern the NFL's broadcasting that the league hopes to take advantage of. According to one report:

The UFL plans to exploit the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which prohibits the NFL from televising games on most autumn Friday nights. The United Football League the U.F.L. plans to make a smaller deal with a cable network like USA, TNT or Comcast’s versus network.

This might be a smarter move than the USFL in the 1980's or the more recently failed XFL which tried for spring league football, competing with the more established fandoms of baseball, not to mention for ratings with playoff basketball.

Their bigger problem will be competing for talent with the NFL. The only way I can see that happening is if the UFL offers guaranteed contracts with the caveat that if the league folds, then no monies are guaranteed. Otherwise what incentive will talented players have to go to a smaller league with no established stars, no established fan base, and what is likely to be a much smaller television contract?

How serious is the upstart league? Investment banker Bill Hambrecht, an owner of one of the original USFL franchises has already put up money along with his partner Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google, and basketball mogul Mark Cuban has already dipped his feet in as an owner.

It's certainly bound to be an interesting ride.

Yanks at Sox...
I was going to preview this weekend, talk about match-ups, best-case/worst-case scenarios and all, then it occurred to me...there's no reason to talk about how far ahead of the Yankees the Sox could be at the end of the weekend. Really.

Until the Yankees show that they can string more than two games together without immediately losing three, there's not point in talking about them in relation to any sort of run at first place.

Yes, they are that bad right now (in spite of their win last night). They are at a point where they merit far less consideration from the press than they are currently receiving - do the Texas Rangers or the Kansas City Royals get this sort of press? No? Until the Yankees pull ahead of Baltimore and Toronto, I think (unless something else goes monumentally wrong for them) I will begin to focus more on the Orioles and the Jays in the AL East.

Nuggets from the weekend

RIP
Patriots back up defensive end Marquise Hill died this weekend in a jet ski accident on Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain. Hill was 24.

I am not going to wax poetic about how Hill was a supremely talented football player who was on the verge of a break-out year. He wasn't. He was a second round draft pick who was likely entering his make or break year with the Patriots. He worked hard, but in three seasons managed to play in only 13 games.

There's a chance there was a great player beneath all that hard work that would have surfaced in a system other than the one played by the Patriots, that sort of thing happens all the time. As it is, we'll never know.

Unfortunately, the young defensive end is now a cautionary tale as he and his friend went jet skiing sans life-jackets and Hill ended up paying a terrible price.

Hill, a native of New Orleans, according to reports had dedicated much of his free-time to the rebuilding efforts of the hurricane ravaged city. Also according to reports, Hill's final act was to make sure that the childhood friend with whom he was on the lake, was able to grasp a nearby pylon, saving her life.

Hill's death comes in an odd NFL off-season during which Hill is the third active player under the age of 25 to meet an untimely demise. The other two were Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams who was shot on New Year's Eve and back-up running back Damien Nash who collapsed after a charity basketball game.

The longer it goes, the worse it looks...
According to an AP report that hit the wires over the weekend an individual termed as "a reliable" police informant has placed Vick at the scene of at least one dog fight laying down money on dogs. The informant claims that his own dog beat Vick's dog in a fight.

The report goes on to say that the Surry County, VA district attorney is preparing charges, but it does not note whether or not Vick will be included in those charges.

In previous reports at least one neighbor has placed Vick at the property that he claims to have never been at (in spite of owning it), and now someone is placing Vick at a dogfight. I wonder how the Falcons are enamored with their second string quarterback, because it seems a strong possibility that they're going to be using him a lot this year.

A note on the AL East...
Currently the Yankees reside 13.5 games behind the Red Sox and 7 games under .500. This has been the lead story on ESPN and a number of different sports pages. Almost none of these stories have noted that the Yankees are tied with the Devil Rays for last place in the East, nor do most note that both the Orioles and the Blue Jays are ahead of the Yanks, and both teams are beginning to play decent baseball.

The Yankees on the other hand are playing like they're in beer-league softball. They look old, worn down, and reliant on the long-ball for most of their offense.

The fact that sports writers are not writing about the Orioles or the Blue Jays is something of an injustice. Not a huge one, as both teams are battling to get back to .500, and the second place Orioles are only two games ahead of the Yankees, but that still puts them two games closer to the AL leading Red Sox, and two games closer to the wild card.

Outside of the Red Sox, the teams in the AL East have to be setting their sites on the wild card. In about one month we will be halfway through the season. If the season ended at the All-Star break, this is the ground that teams would have to make up -

Detroit Tigers: 29-21 Wild Card Leader
Seattle Mariners: 25-22, 3 Games back
Chicago W. Sox: 24-22, 4 Games back
Oakland A's: 25-25, 4 Games back
Minnesota Twins: 25-25, 4 Games back
Baltimore Orioles: 24-27, 5.5 Games back
Toronto Blue Jays:23-27, 6 Games back
New York Yanks: 21-28, 7.5 Games back

What do the teams at the top of the list have in common? Almost all have some quality starters. Not starter...starters. The teams towards the bottom of that list? The Yankees have the lowest innings pitched per start in the entire league, the Blue Jays only now got their ace back from the DL and their closer hasn't pitched an inning this year, and the Orioles closer who was so dominant last year has been pinata-like this year.

Rim shots

Arbitrarily speaking...
While it sounds like Floyd Landis had a good day in court on Monday, and it has been revealed that at least one lab tech was aware that the "anonymous" sample being tested belonged to Landis, I believe this still could go either way. I base this mostly on what I have seen from other arbitrators (for example, I still don't understand how an arbitrator was going to find in favor of Terrell Owens when he was trying to get out of his contract with the 49ers).

Dog eat Dawg...
The Washington Redskins released a statement "on behalf of" Clinton Portis apologizing for his comments to a Virginia media outlet regarding Michael Vick and dog fighting. After listening to Portis' tirade, it was pretty obvious that the statement did not come from him - he's no where near as well spoken as the statement would make him out to be.

The meat of the Redskins released statement read, “I want to make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog fighting in any manner.” Portis' words to a Norfolk news station, “I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it’s his property; it’s his dogs. If that’s what he wants to do, do it.” Doesn't sound like the same dude to me.

Gotta admit, wouldn't be surprised to hear that police wanted to talk to Portis at some point regarding the dogfights that he seems to know so much about on the back roads of Mississippi.

At best...
For New Yorkers, the Yankees win tonight and come away with a series win against the Sox and close the gap back to 9.5 games. The Sox finish off the road trip with three against Texas before returning to Fenway for three with the Tribe before hosting the Yankees for three.

The Bomahs - they host the Angels and then go to Toronto for three before arriving at Fenway.

Just a guess, but with the way the Yankees are playing I would be surprised to see them do any better than 3-3 during the next six games (tonight notwithstanding). I could easily see them drop two to the Angels and at least one to the Jays. At the same time, I can't really see the Sox doing any worse than 3-3, and think they will go 4-2 between now and next week when they see the Yankees again.

Say Ow!
Junior's back in the fold with the Pats, giving them the needed depth at linebacker. Rumor has it that Vinny Testaverde could be returning, Belichick has already said that Troy Brown has a place with the team if healthy, and Chad Brown might be returning (I would guess that they wouldn't use him inside like they did last time - he's just not suited to it).