17
Jul
2007
Quick Thoughts.. Vick, Summer, Football!
I’m sure you have seen/read/heard about Michael Vick by now. If not, see the links for ESPN on the upper right side of the page and get caught up. I’m not going into detail about this topic yet for a few reasons:
a) I don’t know enough about the facts and I don’t like to just speculate based on nothing
b) The alleged charges are pretty disgusting (electrocuting dogs who lost fights etc.)
That being said, I was listening to ESPN Radio on the way home from work and was tuning into Doug Gotlieb’s show “The Pulse”. Gotlieb had John Kincaid on via phone conference. They went on to talk about Vick and what the Falcons should do. Kincaid went on to say that Arthur Blank, owner of the Falcons, should forget the salary cap hit and just cut Michael Vick. He said to “send his bags packing”. He went on to justify this by saying that having Vick on the team is a public relations nightmare. He said it would be better to just cut him and be done with him.
Umm. What??
So you’re saying to cut one of the most prolific superstars in the league when he hasn’t been proven of anything yet??? Seriously? You’re saying to cut a player, take the cap hit, and get NOTHING in return? Do you really want to talk about a public relations nightmare Kincaid?
Cutting Mike Vick doesn’t help your situation in Atlanta. First, consider the fact that no matter what has happened, he is LOVED in the city and the state.
(For those who have read my previous articles: As I’m typing this, ESPN Deportes has just come on to the tv screen. Wow i’m so interested in 10 seconds of spanish women swimming.)
(Now I just heard Beckham is sore and questionable for the season opener 10:55PM EST, for those who just read my article above. I’m not saying I can see the future but I’m pretty damn good. No more interruptions now.)
If you have ever been to Georgia, you will see that Vick is to that state and the city of Atlanta what Shaq was to southern California. So if you think cutting him and getting no compensation is good for public relations, you are quite frankly, out of your damn mind.
Cutting a player of his caliber, then having Joey Harrington start for the season, and winning maybe 5 games and setting the franchise back 3 years is going to lead to more public relations problems buddy. Having a losing team with quality citizens is worse for the city than having a criminal (allegedly) leading your team to playoff contention each year. At least Bengals fans, as embarrassing as their team character has been, AT LEAST they have something to be excited for when the season starts. Bobby Petrino designed his playbook around Vick. He traded Schaub away because he wants Vick as his QB. So getting rid of a guy who hasn’t been convicted, or even charged at this point with anything, is so beyond the realm of reasonable thought that I have no words for it.
Another thing. Innocent until proven guilty. I can’t stress that enough, as bad as this looks. Kincaid said that the fans of Atlanta will never welcome Vick back after something like this. Oh really? So are you telling me the fans of Atlanta have so much more class than Baltimore fans who embraced Ray Lewis after he was connected with a murder?! Please.
One last thing on this topic before I put it off for the future when I have more facts. I love and respect Mark Schlereth’s commentary and analysis. I do disagree with him on something he said today on NFL Live. He said that he doesn’t see how Michael Vick can have a successful season after this looms over his head for the duration. Well, Kobe dealt with a rape charge, which is much more severe, and he seemed to do fine; one of his best years actually. So I disagree on that aspect. Anyway, thats enough of that for now. Stay tuned for more info and facts as they come in.
—–
I know it’s July 17th. I know we’ve just kicked off the start of the second half of the baseball season. I know Barry Bonds is about to break the record. I know the Yankees are in trouble. I know Arod news and rumors are hitting the fan. I know there is a lot of parity in the league this year. I know David Beckham is officially here. I know that NBA Free Agents are signing with new teams. And yet, all I can think about is college football and the NFL.
Normally, you don’t talk about the two until August. But as I heard Colin Cowherd say this morning on his radio show, “The Herd”:
There are two seasons in sports for America. Football Season. And Waiting-For-Football Season. Two seasons. That’s it.
I could not have said it any better myself. This country has a football addiction. You can go anywhere in the country…anywhere. You can go somewhere so unlike your normal place of living and talk about football. A 25 year old stock trader from New York could go to a 65 year old wheat farmer in Nebraska. They have nothing in common; Except football. Football is our great common denominator.
That being said, I don’t care about other sports stories right now (quite frankly, nothing that interesting is happening anyway). I am going to talk about football when nothing else major is going on. Wednesday, I’m going to start with an article on the NFL’s AFC South and NFC South. I’m going to break down each team, their schedule, and where I see them come the last week of the season. Thursday I’m going to do the same for college football. I’m going to break down the ACC Atlantic and the ACC Coastal. The day after that will be the AFC North and the NFC North. The day after that will be the Big 12 North and the Big 12 South. I think you see where I’m going with this.
Of course I will cover other relevant important topics as they come. But since everyone loves football, we are going to look at every conference and every team from both college and the pros and disect them and split them and research them because thats what the sports fans want. Thats that the sports fans will get.
(Oh it’s that time people. It’s that time.)