I’ve read speculation all over the internet about Michael Vick and if he should get the final boot from the NFL after being at a nightclub where a co defendant was shot.  I’ve got my own opinion on this one that I want to share.

Innocent until Proven Guilty…Michael Vick was there but was seen leaving minutes before the shots were fired.  He wasn’t there.  He had a birthday party and left the party.  Someone was shot and now people want Vick kicked out of the league.  No matter what or who we are in life we can’t control another person’s ability to choose for themselves.  Vick left the party yet people want to blame him for the incident or for being there.  If we find out later that Vick orchestrated the shooting or whatever then that’s a different story but if he didn’t then let’s just leave the guy alone.  He was there and he left and those are the facts of the case right now.  He has a right to live his life and was punished for his previous crimes.  He’s lost out on more money than most of us will make in our lifetimes combined and I hope he learned his lesson from it. 

By all accounts Vick was upfront with the commissioner and informed him right away of what happened and his ‘involvement’ in it.  He has met with the police and is not a suspect at all in the shooting because he wasn’t there.  I hope to see Michael Vick in uniform very soon living up to that enormous potential that he has.

In light of the World Cup that is taking place I want to put it in perspective for the typical american.  The World Cup has been viewed by over 1 billion people thus far and is the largest sporting event by far in the world.   It is much bigger than the olympics and anything else in the world.  So why do I compare this to the Super Bowl?  Because it doesn’t compare to the SuperBowl. 

As I write this i just watched 2 hours of soccer that resulted in no goals and only a handful of decent shots.  Players were falling all over the ground with fake injuries only to get back up shortly after being taken off the field on a stretcher.  I watched the crowd groan on misses that missed by 20 feet.  In comparison it is like watching an airball in basketball and the crowd groan because it was close to going in.  The anticipation of the goal is what is exciting but World Cup Soccer isn’t near the Super Bowl in terms of action and excitement.

The Super Bowl is now a world wide event but football (real football) is something that is not a world wide sport yet and not something anyone can play.  I stick to my original thoughts on this that soccer is the worlds most popular sport because it is the easiest one to play.  Outside of the US the best athletes are soccer players but here they aren’t.  It’s the way it is right now.  Soccer players outside the US are the best paid athletes but here the motivation is to play other sports where the real money is.  You can’t blame them.  That’s why the Super Bowl is better.  It takes the collection of the best athletes in our country and showcases them to the world.  Imagine a day when the World Cup isn’t just for soccer, but for football.  It will probably never happen but I can hope for it.

I got a good chuckle yesterday.  I was reading the bottom line on Espn and saw that the Redskins fined Albert Haynesworth 10k for missing the mandatory mini camp last week.  10k.  Haynesworth is a little over a year removed from signing his 100 million dollar contract with 41 mill of that being guaranteed.  Haynesworth recently got a sum of 32 million yet he got hit with a 10k fine. 

I understand that the team can’t go much more than that because of the players association so their hands are tied to a degree and they are trying to send  as strong as a message as they can.  What do the Redskins do at this point?

Albert is still a dominant defensive force but wasn’t much so for the ‘Skins last season. This season the team will be using a whole new scheme that doesn’t play so well to his strengths and he isn’t happy about it.  He was promised things when he came to town and now those things aren’t being upheld mainly because of the new coaching staff.  What should the ‘Skins do?

I’m sure they are trying to trade him but what can they get back without admitting this was the worst contract signing in sports history?  I know teams are interested and the guy is still a great player but him staying could be worse for the team in general.

Years ago when the salary cap came about gms’ and owners found ways to skirt it by giving players large signing bonuses.  These bonuses could be creative so they didn’t count against the cap completely or could make it so that when they did count it was years later.  Teams were smart. 

However, last season Albert Haynesworth signed for 100 million dollars of which 41 million of it is guaranteed through bonuses.  In fact, he just recently received a 32 million dollar bonus check and then decided to hold out of camp. 

Football has some great things going for it with non guaranteed contracts and everything but the signing bonuses need to be addressed.  Not only is it ridiculous to give rookies this kind of money, it is also ridiculous to pay any 1 player 41 million in guaranteed money and expect that not to effect him.  Haynesworth has gone from one of the best interior lineman in years to one of the most hated/disrespected teammates around.  After missing mini camp this past week his teammates lit into him in the press trying to send a message.  Somehow Albert seems to be doing just fine, after all, he has 41 million reasons not to rest on that should help him get over it.

USC was hammered by the NCAA the other day in what is sure to hurt the USC program in the short and long term.  The last team to get this steep of a violation that was this high profile was the University of Miami and they haven’t been at the same level since.  All in all USC loses 30 scholarships and is not bowl eligible for 2 seasons.  Juniors and Seniors can freely transfer from the program without losing eligibility so this is something that could really hurt USC this season.

Already we saw some chinks in the armor last season and this season had some question marks as well with new coach Lane Kiffin.  Coach Kiffin brings his career losing record back home where he started and he wants to make a big impression.  Keep in mind that he is already a coach with a serious target on his back for his questionable tactics at Tennessee. 

This will be an interesting situation to see.  Will USC be able to continue to bring kids in knowing they can’t play in a bowl game right away and will this hurt the depth of one of the best programs we’ve seen in years?  I think the fall of Troy is upon us and I think the fall of USC football is going to be blamed on Reggie Bush.

All eyes are on Texas once again as they debate whether to stay in the big 12 (10 schools) or move on to the Pac 10 (16?).  What to do what to do…

Let’s talk about what is involved here.  Texas has all the cards right now and can pick and choose the best offer and place for them.  What offers are out there?  The Pac 10 can and will have more to offer right now than the Big 12 were.  Nebraska is gone and with them goes a huge fan base and a national football program.  Nebraska leaving for the BIG 10 left a big hole to fill or leave alone as the talks indicate now.  Texas is the premier power in the conference in basketball and football.  With them comes a top 5 football program and the best recruits arguably in the country.  Texas wants to make the right choice but also put them in a spot to make the most money.  The Big 12 was caught off guard and quickly lost 2 programs.  If Texas goes then the conference will either collapse or be seriously remodeled.  What happens with kansas and Kansas st is a great what if at this point and those programs are left waiting for Texas and what they will do.  The smart schools will follow Texas and the money they will bring.  Texas is the BCS waiting to happen and in turn supplies those schools with lots of money.  Texas could agree to a year extension with the conference and stick around giving the big 12 time to retool.  Who knows what will happen but sooner or later we’re going to either see the end of a once great conference or see the beginning of the first true super conference.

I don’t know about you but I’m not a big fan at all about all this talk with creating superconferences.  All this talk that the Big 10 and Pac 10 could expand to 16 teams each is a bit much for me.  I’m such a purist at heart that it still bothers me that Penn St is part of the Big 10 in the first place.

As much as I like the idea of a conference title game in football I don’t like the idea of the Super Conferences dominating the money of college football and in turn the excitement.  It’s moves like this that take away from the landscape of college football even more because of the lack of a tournament.  People want to see Boise St beat another top 5 team and Utah tear apart a BCS darling.  When the Super Conferences are born then this will happen less and less because not everyone will be invited to the party. 

No matter what fans will always want to see the best play each other but they also want to see David vs Goliath.  Some of the best NCAA tourney games of all time were upsets like Villanova over Patrick Ewing and Georgetown or NC St beating Olajuwon and Houston.  Those are what make the NCAA tourney in basketball so special.  The superconference won’t affect that as much but it will have a negative dramatic effect on football where the haves get even more separation from the have nots.

I love how schools do this and i wrote on it weeks ago but Michigan slapping it’s own hand in hopes of limiting what the NCAA does is politics at its best. 

I have been been married for 16 years now and if I know I’m going to be in trouble I’ll apologize to my wife beforehand and give solutions and everything in hopes that i can make it better when I tell her the truth, my version of the truth.  That’s what this is about.  Michigan wanted a chance to tell their version of what happened and punish themselves based on ‘their’ version or ‘their’ findings.  I’ll tell my wife to appease her so that she’ll get off my back or think it’s enough and leave me alone.  Michigan comes out before and admits guilt in some areas while also trying to handle public criticism.  “Here is what we did wrong, we think it should mean this and don’t believe everything that comes from the mouth of the NCAA”. 

Luckily the NCAA will have the final word here and they may agree with a typically powerhouse football program like Michigan or they may simply come down even harder on them in a couple months.  I look forward to seeing what happens with them as this political seesaw continues.

ESPN article on Dr. Galea

This is a case that could have some ramifications for the NFL very shortly and they won’t be good ones. I’ve always said that the NFL was the next league to get it’s doors blown off with PED’s and this could be the beginning of that. Dr. Galea is being looked into as helping 23 professional athletes get hgh and this could just be the beginning.

All we are waiting for is the Jose Canseco of the NFL to step forward and the floodgates will open.

I love when schools do this. Michigan is giving themselves some self imposed sanctions from Coach Rodriguez’s violations when it comes to improper practice time. The self imposed sanctions will be announced on the 24th of May with a clear attempt to hold off bigger sanctions from the NCAA.

Whenever schools do this it is clearly an admission of guilt and their attempt to throw themselves at the mercy of the NCAA gods. I don’t blame them. Michigan is one of the chosen schools that the NCAA wants to do well and needs to do well. They have struggled for the past 2 years now so it is important that they don’t get hit so hard that they can’t recover for years. Who wants a one sided Ohio ST vs Michigan rivalry or a Big TEn with Michigan at the bottom? Not the NCAA. They want that 108k seat stadium filled and don’t think that doesn’t play into their decision making. Sure they want to make a statement but not so big a statement that MIchigan isn’t a player in the BCS bowl picture.

Do they reduce scholarships? Do they ban a bcs appearance for the year knowing they aren’t going to make one anyway? What does the school do to try to head off the mighty NCAA. One thing is for sure and that is no matter what is announced next MOnday, some more stuff will come down the pipe in August and every school that competes with Michigan is using that to negatively recruit against them. For MIchigan the best thing that could happen is that the NCAA comes down hard enough where they are forced to fire Rodriguez and start over because he’s the football version of Kelvin Sampson.