NINTH SEASON: WEEK TWO

The Bizarre Case of Mike Vick.

I have read quite a few things this past week about how strange it is that people are not rallying behind Michael Vick.  Normally, we here in America are complete suckers for a comeback story.  We love it when a player hits bottom and then scrapes their way to the top again.  Shoot, we don't just feel that way about athletes - we feel that about all kinds of people.  Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, and Sandra Bullock are all examples of this.  They were down professionally, and then we embraced them once they finally got their talent to match their opportunities - while not shooting themselves in the foot.  Donald Trump went from an egomaniacal billionaire to a bankrupt egomaniacal former billionaire to a beloved egomaniacal billionaire again.  George Foreman was more loved on his second run at the heavyweight championship, and turned himself into a multi-million dollar industry.

In sports, we have awards like "Comeback Player of the Year."  We celebrate players who can make it back from bad years or injuries.  It is part of the sports culture.  We do the same thing with teams.  Would the Saints have been so supported last year if they had not always stunk and if the city hadn't been underwater?  We love stories like that - overcoming the odds to reclaim success.  So why is Michael Vick still so hated?

His crimes were heinous.  That much is true.  Injuring and killing animals is depraved and shows a major moral deficiency.  He did his time.  He was reinstated.  He worked hard to get back in shape - mentally and physically.  And he was willing to take a second position.  Now, he has had two incredible weeks.  He earned the starting job.  And he still has to deal with booing fans and newspapers running headlines like "Michael Vick: Top Dog."  There are still fans who think he never should have been allowed back into the league.

It is bizarre.  There are other players who have been suspended and brought back.  Few have met the open hostility Vick has.  Bret Favre has battled both painkiller and alcohol addiction issues.  Ray Lewis stabbed a man to death (allegedly).  Donte Stallworth killed a pedestrian.  Jamal Lewis ran a drug ring.  Manny Ramirez and multiple others did steroids.  And that is not to mention the countless drug using arrests, DWI arrests, domestic abuse arrests, holdouts, and halfheartedly played games.  So, why is Michael Vick getting the short end of the stick?

It comes down to the fact that there are two things you can't do in this world - hurt a kid and hurt a dog.  Think about it.  In the movies, that is how you really know a villain is a SUPER villain.  They are willing to hurt a dog.  I remember watching Independence Day in the theater when it came out.  There was a scene after the aliens started to attack.  Fire is boiling down the streets of Manhattan - destroying everything in its path.  A small group of people race into an alleyway.  Their dog is chasing after them.  The whole audience was terrified the dog wasn't going to make it.  Now, mind you, like five million PEOPLE had just been crispified.  The White House was destroyed.  All over the world, complete devastation.  But, dang it, if that dog had died, it would have been too much to take.

I think that is the kicker.  He hurt dogs.  They are cute and innocent.  And, according to Vietnamese people, quite tasty.  That is not to minimize his crimes.  But it is to remember that they were animals.  he was sentenced.  He did his time.  He is allowed to come back.  Good for him if he does well.  Why should he be denied the opportunity to earn a living?  Vick would have been better off running a real life Fight Club or a human trafficking ring than a dog fighting ring.  Then, he would have probably already have earned redemption.

NFL HITS

• Like I said a couple weeks back, the NFL concussion rule is just a big mess.  Reading the excellent as always Gregg Easterbrook, he highlighted the inconsistencies in the rule.  Eagles linebacker Stewart Bradley got his bell run in week one.  A few minutes later he went back into the game.  He was not examined by an independent neurologist.  Rather, the team doctor - an internist - green lighted his return.  The Iggles claim they were exempt from the rule because Bradley "left the game on his own" instead of being taken out.  Now we have an answer - no league officials, no refs.  The teams are left to police the rule themselves.  I'm sure they'll err on the side of caution.  Whatever.
•  The Tampa Bay Bucs are 2-0 and FAVORED over the Steelers this week.  What. The. Heck.  This comes after I wrote the stunning piece on my other blog, ripping the organization.  I guess it just served as bulletin board material.  And it proved, once and for all, that I know absolutely nothing.
• I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible.  I can't stand the obnoxious, press addicted, ugly, stupid Manning family.
• There were many glasses of beer cheese soup raised in celebration of Bret Favre's sterling performance on Sunday, I betcha.  
• I know it makes me a petty person, but I absolutely love it when some big overbloated team with a ridonkulous owner and stadium just sucks.  I don't know where the unhealthy obsession with the Cowboys comes from.  But it sure is funny to see them flounder.  Haha.
• Let's see how I'm doing on my last place picks...  Not so great.  I am on track with Buffalo, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Oakland.  But Washington, Chicago, and Tampa Bay are in first place.  So far, Indianapolis, Dallas, Minnesota, and Carolina are bringing up the rear in the other divisions.  I don't think that will stick, though.
• What the heck is going on with Denver?  Three players dying in four years?  That is bizarre.

COLLEGE HITS

• Continuing our weekly lambasting of the ACC...  Well, they didn't do as bad as in the first two weeks, I guess.  They can add three more "quality opponents" to their victim list.  BYU, East Carolina, and Cincinnati join UCF and Navy on that list of "teams that don't completely suck but are by no means national championship material that got clipped by the ACC."  However, West Virginia, Stanford, Auburn, and Alabama took ACC teams behind the wood shed this past week.   The ACC is now 0-9 against ranked teams.  This next week should be a reprieve for the ACC, since the only "quality teams" they play are UM vs Pitt, UNC vs Rutgers, and Duke vs Army.
• On the flip side, the SEC has six teams in the Top 15.  Yeah, that battle of top conference is pretty tight.  
• I wanted to comment on the UF arrest story.  Gator Greats owner Eddie Gilley wrote a pretty thoughtful (and only mildly defensive) post the other day about this issue.  I agree with several of his points, especially the one about the environment these kids come from.  How many arrests are going on in those areas?  Is the ratio higher?  But, I do differ with Eddie on some points - as would be expected from someone who is not close with athletes.  I think that one arrest on a team is too many.  But thirty over six years is a serious problem.  Sure, some of those were dropped or easily resolved.  However, that is still going to leave a good number.  I think of it this way.  My kids have things called markouts in their classes.  This is the disciplinary action of choice.  For a kid to actually get a markout for behavior, they have to do something multiple times - ignoring all the warnings.  I'm not talking about the "work not in" markout.  People don't get arrested for minor stuff - and chances are campus cops are going to be pretty lenient if at all possible, especially with athletes.  So the action would either be repetitive or bad enough it couldn't be ignored.  We've all done stupid immature stuff.  None of it was arrest-worthy.  There are times these things are going to happen with college kids - especially with ones from bad upbringings.  But, still, thirty arrests is ridiculous.  I like Eddie's comments about the athletic dorms.  Maybe we do need to go back to that kind of environment.  Whatever the solution, I think UF has to seriously address it - and they needed to do so earlier than now.
• Final point on that, remember when tons of FSU players were getting arrested?  People took great glee in using that as examples of how Bowden had "lost control" of the program.  How is this any different?  
• I have a feeling that Mark Richt needs to get his resume together.  UGA is 1-2.  True, both losses came to Top 15 teams, but how bad is this year going to be?  They still play highly losable games to UF, Auburn, Tennessee, Colorado, and Georgia Tech.  I don't think he can survive 6-6 or 5-7.
• I said after last year that UCF had to give George O'Leary this year to see if he could establish some kind of consistency.  Like most UCF fans, I hoped for a strong year.  After losing to NC State and struggling against Buffalo, I really don't know.  If this is the same old UCF, there are plenty of games they could lose on their schedule.  Unfortunately, if UCF pulls off a 6-6 or 7-5 year, they won't have the cojones to can him.  (Even though they fired their basketball coach for the same kind of frustrating inconsistency - it just took 10 years to do it.)

SFL HITS

• STOP THE PRESSES!  We can not go any further in this sham of a recap without shouting from the rooftops that the Tampa Bay Rams are 2-0 and in second place.  Their success is almost as startling as the Tampa Bay Bucs.  The Rams have never started a season 2-0.  But there they are, at the top of the league.  Good for them.  Their close shave victory over Mean Green kept them undefeated.  The future looks good - it is always good when you have Peyton Manning.  Looks like we're in the market for a new whipping boy.  We'll have to see how Reggie Bush's injury hurts them.  Green had some trouble this past week.  Romo was strong, but Dallas is looking shaky and Romo's taking a lot of the blame.  Will that affect his mental state?  The supporting cast, though, is pretty rough - not many #1 guys.
• Tebow Tosser is staking his claim to the post of whipping boy with another losing performance.  Of course, he lost to first place Gator Greats, so the jury is still out.  Tebow's roster is a little shaky - not a lot of big playmakers (aside from the Steelers' D and Frank Gore).  He also has the wrong Manning.  Gator, on the other hand, has an embarrassment of riches.  Vick and Cutler.  A stable of good running backs.  Kind of scary for his opponents.
• While Monkey may also be occupying the cellar, it is hard to be too tough on him.  He lost a heartbreaker to Bloodthirsty Ferrets this week - he didn't relinquish the lead until Monday night with Pierre Thomas' performance.  He also has Matt Schaub, Randy Moss, and Reggie Wayne - and Big "No Means No" Ben on the bench.  It's hard to imagine they'll stay down all year.  Ferrets is up to his usual high scoring ways.  Solid lineup - everyone has high point potential.  (This week he won despite having Dez Bryant on the bench.)  His point total is 2nd highest, by just .32 points.  Although there is that loss....  
• The team that actually appears to be in the best position to be strapped to the whipping post is Queen City Noles.  Even though they are 1-1, their point total is second worst.  They have some strong players, but there is a big fat old question mark at QB.  If Favre looks like he has thus far all season, it is going to be a rough year for QC.  If he can get his act together, then there may be a chance to right the ship.  Da Bus is proving they got over their weak start.  They laid the hammer down on QC this week with a 50+ point win.  There is some real explosive potential on that team - if everyone clicks at the same time.
• The last matchup featured two of the teams that have to be favorites to be virtually playing deep into November.  Odious Repercussions lost, but it was largely due to a smaller performance by Arian Foster and a near no show by Jacksonville and Jones-Drew.  Even still, he may have pulled off the win if it wasn't for Jahvid Best's out-of-your mind performance.  Stickboy really got bailed out with that game.  He had five players under 10 points and three under 4 points.  Rumor has it that thank you cards have already been sent to Detroit and Philadelphia.  
• We know for sure that we will have a sole possessor of first place after this week.  Gator Greats and Tampa Bay Rams go at it head to head.  Yahoo! is predicting a 99.2 to 98.3 victory for Gator Greats.  Stay tuned to see what happens.  The bottom four teams all square off against each other, too.  So we should have some clarity on the cellar dweller as well.