It looks like Ron Mexico is about to be let loose. A bunch of sources are reporting that Michael Vick has been approved for home confinement and could be released to his Virginia home (the one he might lose because of bankruptcy) as early as May 21.The question now becomes when, or if, NFL commissioner Roger Goddell will reinstate Vick to the league. We are guessing he will, but not for 2009. Goddell will probably throw down a one-year suspension, meaning Vick has to prove he can stay clean for a year to play in 2010.
The Falcons, who have the anti-Vick in last year's rookie phenom Matt Ryan, would love to trade Vick's rights to another team, but probably won't get much value. This is not a running back who drove drunk and or a wide-receiver whose gun went off at a nightclub. Those crimes were stupid. Most crimes are. They are committed from a combination of stupidity, greed and passion. But dog-fighting, and the savage way Vick treated his animals, suggests more than mere stupidity or greed, and these certainly weren't impulsive acts. His crimes speak of an innate cruelty; a methodical, almost compulsive sadism towards creatures with no power to resist. That's hard to comprehend, let alone forgive.
For NFL teams, Vick becomes a complex equation. The Grinder has always hated his style of play, which turns the precision timing of modern offenses into an improvised sandlot game. But Vick probably does (still ) have enough ability to help a bad football team win a few more games. Still, he brings enormous emotional baggage. Any team that signs him will face a massive public relations firestorm, almost certainly losing hundreds or maybe thousands of season ticket holders. That has to be weighed against whatever benefits Vick would provide, and it's hard to imagine that any team would take the risk. Yet, one probably will. Maybe it'll be the Bengals, who don't seem to mind felons. Or the Raiders, who love them. We'd like to see Vick go to Cleveland. Not for any football reason. Just for the irony of seeing him play for the Dawg Pound.
Bill Simmons + Deadspin + Joel McHale from"The Soup" = Darn Good Comedy
Jason Whitlock explains why Jim Calhoun's rant over his bloated salary was such a pathetic, shameful display. But Jason leaves out one point. Calhoun thinks he's worth whatever he's being paid because UConn basketball supposedly brings $12 million dollars to the university. But Calhoun ignores that he can't do it alone. He, personally, doesn't bring in all that money. It takes a combination of staff, coaches, ticketing, security, vendors and, oh yeah, the young men and women who play basketball. Surely, they bring something of value to the table, what being the ones who dribble, pass and shoot the ball. Whether college players should get paid is a topic for another day. Right now, we just want to point out another way in which Calhoun is a jerk.
Finally, with all the Tiger hype coming back online, Holy Taco helps us remember that not all golfers are superhuman robots. Check out the Eight Greatest John Daly moments.
