Femmefan Blogger

Danica is Pissed!

2008-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Danica Patrick may be a star and she may be sexy cash cow for endorsers, but she is a true competitor. As a female race car driver, when she thinks she's been wronged she can get pretty damned pissed off.

I don't follow racing but even I was curious to see how Danica would do this weekend at the Indy 500. I was sitting at a bar with my husband on Sunday watching ESPN and thinking, who gives a shit? The NBA final, nah, nobody I like is in the finals, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, another contest I have no interest in since the Sharks got knocked out.
I casually watched the screen and thought how nice it was not to have to worry about writing an article about my true love, football.

And then a funny thing happened on my way to casual disinterest, the crawl at the bottom of the screen flashed, "Danica Patrick knocked out of contention in a crash".
What??? I immediately asked the bartender to make it louder and to switch the channel to the race channel. But I was the only one interested in having the station changed so I settled for getting snippets of information as they came crawling along the bottom the screen.

So here it is ladies and gents.
The woman who may be the best female race car driver of our generation and who may have had a legitimate shot at becoming the first woman to win the Indy 500; was knocked out by New Zealander Scott Dixon, in what amounts to another driver making a lane change without giving the proper signal.
And Danica reacted the way anyone who has ever been cut off would, she was pissed! Only this wasn't a simple case of road rage, it was a legitimate rant from a woman who was closing in on history.

Patrick jumped out of her car and stormed down pit lane in search of Briscoe until security officials stopped her.
"As people pull out of their pit boxes, if you are in the outside lane, then they have to wait to blend in," said Patrick, who last month became the first woman to win an IndyCar series race with her triumph in Japan." It looked like it was pretty obvious what happened. You just don't come out of your pit box and swing three lanes out."

Danica may be little but she's tough and she doesn't back down. In a much publicized confrontation last year, she got involved in a shoving match with Dan Wheldon after a race.

Asked what would have happened if she had reached Briscoe's pit area, she replied: "It is probably best I didn't get down (there) anyway, isn't it?"

Danica is saying to the guys, "back the f-- up!"

I may not be a race car fan, but damn, I may just have to go out and buy a Danica Patrick hat..

Chinese Egg Roll - the Torch Debacle

2008-04-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

Chinese Egg Roll – The Torch Debacle
By Ivette Ricco

Four months and counting. The Beijing Olympics are getting plenty of press, it’s just not the kind they want or had expected. The symbolic torch running has become a political hot potato and rallied Free Tibet supporters worldwide.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. That’s right; the radical left side of the world. I love the fact that this area is known for its radical thinking. It’s one of the most appealing aspects of living here. Berkeley, or as we know it, Berzerkely, is one of my favorite place, anywhere.

It comes as no great surprise that the Olympic torch is running afoul of protesters in London and Paris, but the protests abroad have been clumsy and threatening. The protests we’ve all seen have been most uninteresting and uncreative. In those elite cities the protesters set out to block the torch runner or to extinguish the torch, and they achieved a modest level of success.
But here in San Francisco things are done with a sense of adventure, creativity and with aplomb. On Tuesday, as the world watched and cringed at the protestations world wide, a well prepared team of protesters in S.F. calmly, carefully, without disruption or violence, scaled the Golden Gate Bridge and hung Free Tibet banners on the world’s most famous bridge. Call me crazy but there is something very unique and admirable in the way they handled their protest.

I love the Olympics, summer, winter, whenever. I believe in the purity of sports and the ideal of the Olympics, to cast a spotlight on the world’s best athletes and to honor athletic competition. Athletes work their entire lives to reach an Olympics and they deserve to compete without the nasty specter of politics getting in the way.
Ah, but that is unfortunately wishful thinking.
Too often the Olympics are used as a platform for dissent and for political rhetoric.
In fact an Olympics without controversy would be as unlikely as an ice hockey pair from Haiti. Sadly, the ideals at the heart of the Olympics have been diminished by politics.
It is after all an opportunity for “prime time” coverage of groups concerns and issues, real or imagined.

I am torn by the entire Olympic torch debacle and the greater debate about the Beijing Olympics and the Chinese government. I want Olympic athletes to have an opportunity to do “their thing”. They have worked hard to represent their country and have sacrificed much to get to an Olympic game. Those selected to carry the torch have been given a unique and wonderful honor, one that should be respected. I don’t agree with the tactic of chasing down torch runners and trying to stop them or to extinguish the flame.
But one has to admit that the Free Tibet issue resonates with many Americans.
Freedom is America’s foundation; we offer freedom to all, “send me your tired and your poor”. But should the Olympics, wherever they are held come under such fire?
Should families be afraid to visit China and attend an Olympic event?
Should the world be held hostage every time an Olympics takes place?
The world changes, it evolves, the Olympics do not. We seem to forget that politics have often stood in the way of idealism and competition throughout the history of the Olympic Games.

A History Lesson on Olympics Protests and Violence
When Barcelona held its successful Games in 1992, it was the first time since the Rome Games in 1960 that there were no boycotts. Those were the heady days when the Cold War had just ended and another source of boycotts, apartheid, had also disappeared. South Africa was welcomed back that year.
Beijing's opportunity to show China's advancement into the modern world has also given demonstrators their chance to return to what is really an old Olympic tradition of protesting. It goes back to 1908, when Irish athletes, angered at the refusal of Britain to give Ireland its independence, boycotted the Games in London.
On a smaller scale, the US team refused to dip its flag to King Edward VII in the opening ceremony. "This flag dips to no earthly king," was the captain's comment. The US tradition of dipping its flag to nobody has continued since and will provide its own little side story when London is the host in 2012.
In 1932, there was a preview of the problems that would come four years later when, in Los Angeles, an Italian winner gave a fascist salute on the podium.
The Berlin games in 1936 (awarded to Germany before Hitler came to power) "would have to take the first prize for the most controversial", according to the Olympic Historians' Society Vice President David Wallechinsky.
The Nazis drenched the games in propaganda. There were calls for boycotts - and actual boycotts by some Jewish athletes. But the United States did attend after Avery Brundage, President of the American Olympic Committee, overcame calls for a US boycott. The irony is that the Games are now also remembered for the performance of the black US athlete Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals under Hitler's nose.
Incidentally, the Olympic torch relay idea was started by the Nazi organisers of the 36 Games as part of their self-glorification effort. It remains to be seen if, after this year's protests, the relay survives.
After World War II, the Games resumed, but the Cold War began. There was a flavour of that in Helsinki in 1952, when the Soviet athletes stayed on their side of the border and came across only to compete.
In 1956, in Melbourne, the troubles in the Middle East made themselves felt when Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon stayed away because of the Suez invasion by Britain and France. The Cold War had an impact when the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland refused to go because of the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian revolution.
Tokyo in 1964 saw boycotts from Indonesia and North Korea over an argument about their athletes competing in some rival games and South Africa was banned because of its racial policies.
Mexico's 1968 Games were marked by two very different protests. In the first, students demonstrated against the government about ten days before the Games and were fired on by the Mexican army. More than 200 students were killed.
Then, during the games, two black US runners, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, raised their hands in a black power salute from the podium. They were expelled on the grounds that political gestures are banned from Olympic ceremonies, but they had a huge impact.
The most disastrous games of all, in which protest moved into violence, was in Munich in 1972.
Gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group got into the Israeli compound, by climbing over an unguarded fence, and by the end eleven Israeli athletes had been murdered. The Games paused for a memorial event - and then went on.
Political influence continued in Montreal in 1976, when 26 African and Caribbean countries held a boycott because New Zealand, which had played rugby in South Africa, was allowed to compete.
Montreal started another trend in controversy - the cost of the Games. It plagued Athens and is plaguing London.
The biggest boycott of them all came in 1980 when 62 countries led by the United States stayed away from Moscow following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan the previous year. Retaliation followed in Los Angeles in 1984. The Soviet Union led an Eastern bloc boycott. The Games were at a low ebb. Politics had nearly taken over.
The Seoul Games in 1988 saw something of a recovery, and even North Korea's refusal to attend, annoyed that it was not the co-host, impressed only Ethiopia and Cuba, who stayed out in sympathy.
Recovery was celebrated in a big way in Barcelona four years later and although the Atlanta Games in 1996 were marred by a bomb explosion, they were also largely free of protests.
Sydney in 2000 was judged one of the best Games ever. Athens, while hit by a large bill, went off smoothly as well.
But Beijing has shown that protests are always ready to erupt.
Tonight as I finish this piece I am watching the news report the Torch Run in San Francisco. No violence, no torch extinguished, no torch runners accosted. But San Francisco had to play a game of hide and seek with the Torch and many Olympic supporters and plain ordinary folks who wanted to experience a moment in history were deprived of that opportunity.

What is the solution? More security? Eliminate the torch run? Is the entire ideal of the Olympics in jeopardy? There will always be a cause, a reason, valid or not, to disrupt events with world wide audiences.
I hope we all accept the state of our world today and make decisions based on the reality.
Protesters need to take a page out of the SF bridge climbers’ book of protests and demonstrations. Be civil, respectful and most of all, be wildly, peacefully, creative.

Free Tibet, yes, absolutely. But I doubt that disrupting the Torch run will stop the genocide in Tibet or change Chinese policy. Not much of a trade off is it?

A Very Hairy Issue

2008-04-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

When you’re itching for a NFL fix even the NFL owners meetings create a sense of arousal. Sad, isn’t it?

How I would love to be a fly on the wall during the meetings.
What happens when a roomful of fat cat owners, a group of old white guys with millions of dollars invested in a game and a team, for the profitability of the enterprise, for bragging rights and ultimately for ego stroking; come together to discuss the state of their business? Do they drink Gatorade? Do they wear their teams’ jerseys? Do they go to bed by eight PM after a long day of NFL BS? Do they get along? Do they talk about each other behind their backs? Do they share dirty little secrets? Do they bad mouth the coaches and players who have given them grief over the years?
I imagine that these annual meetings are pretty much like the standard fare offered at annual corporate meetings. Lots of bad food, insincere conversation, mountains of boring information, statistics and charts, not enough sleep and way too much alcohol.
Given that these men are multi-millionaires and probably not very interesting (is it true that Al Davis needs a bib when he eats, or that Jerry Jones’ botox-riddled face makes him look eerily similar to the Joker in Batman?

Let’s see, which owner would I like to spend an evening with?
Tom Benson might be interesting; he sure seems like a party animal when he does his “Benson Boogie” after Saints home game victories.
Dan Snyder, Mr. Big Bucks might know how to have a good time.
Jerry Jones, Jerry Jones always seems to have something to say, about everything. Al Davis, the mystery man is from Brooklyn and that alone makes time spent with him worthwhile. But the rest of them, not so much.

The league has placed some rather interesting issues on the agenda for this year’s meeting. One discussion possibly headed into dangerous waters is the collective bargaining agreement. Some of the other issues on the agenda this year:

Reseeding the playoffs
· Using instant replay on field goals and extra points to see if a kick has gone through the uprights.
· Eliminating the forceout on receptions at the sideline or back of the end zone, meaning a receiver must get two feet inbounds.
· Deferring a choice for winning the opening coin toss to the second half.
· Not allowing a player's hair to cover the nameplate or number on the back of the uniform, an idea brought up by Kansas City.
Results: The owners did pass several resolutions, including eliminating the forceout on receptions; allowing teams to defer their decision to the second half when winning the opening coin toss; and making field goals and extra points subject to replay review to determine whether the ball passes over the crossbar and through the uprights.
In addition, any direct snap from center that is untouched by the quarterback now will be a live ball; in the past it was considered a false start and the play was blown dead. The 5-yard penalty for incidental contact with a facemask has been eliminated, with the 15-yarder remaining for any grasping or twisting of the facemask.
On Tuesday, the owners approved a communication device in the helmet of one defensive player.
However, the reseeding was not met with much enthusiasm or support from the owners.The league's competition committee withdrew the proposal after an informal vote sent it ``down in flames,'' according to New York Giants co-owner John Mara.
Atlanta Falcons, was not surprised about the lack of support for reseeding, in which a wild-card team with a better record than a division winner would play at home in the first playoff round.
``This idea we wanted to push this year to get the discussion going,'' McKay said. ``There were not a lot of hands up, so we withdrew the proposal for now.
``There is the historical idea that a division champion should have a home game.''
Which was exactly why Patriots owner Robert Kraft opposed reseeding.
``I do believe if you win a division, it's good for your fans to know you will have a home game,'' Kraft said. ``To win a division, there is a reward and we wanted to keep that.''
There remains concern about late-season games becoming meaningless when teams already have secured their playoff positions. Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated discussions of reseeding are not dead.
``The focus I said to the competition committee is what are the alternatives we have to make sure every game is as competitive as possible,'' Goodell said. ``I think the debate was good.''

Playoff reseeding makes sense to me and to some owners, but not enough to make it happen, not yet in any case. I hope they find a way to make the playoff seedings indicative of the team rankings and not solely based on division wins.Case in point, the New York Giants, last year’s Super Bowl winner had to take the long way to the championship, as a wild card team. They had a season record of 10-6 while the Tampa Bay Bucs finished the season at 9-7 but were able to rest their players as division winners.

Another are that bears review and evaluation is the way college players are compensated in the draft. It is an insane system. Rookies are guaranteed unholy amounts of money before they have played one second of NFL football. The injustice is even greater when it comes to first round picks. I don’t know why the NFLPA hasn’t taken a stand on this inequitable treatment on behalf of their veteran players.
It is not just unfair it is a ludicrous way of doing business.

Here’s another suggestion for all these men to consider, stop running Viagra and Cialis commercials during games. This is supposed to be a family friendly game (notwithstanding the f-bombs we hear on the air) so what does one tell ones children when they ask what an erection is, and I would like to know, what does one do if an erection does in fact last 4 hours? Call 911?
Men have control of the NFL and it is truly still a very masculine testosterone driven endeavor, over the centuries men have tried various ways to cure impotence and enhance their sexual prowess, some of them are rhinoceros horns, deer antlers, love potions and ointments. They have also blamed their wives, girlfriends and witches for their inability to….uh..um….perform. But, please if you are going to promote cures for ED how about you give women and a cure for menopausal symptoms, dryness, lack of libido and irritability, equal time?

The Hair Issue
The owners have deferred a decision on the long hair issue until May in order to give the players association an opportunity to provide feedback.

Here are the top five reasons why NFL players shouldn’t be allowed to wear long hair.
1. it’s unfair to the white bald guys
2. long hair might get caught in a strippers g-string
3. locker room showers are backing up
4. shampoo and conditioner costs are excessive
5. hairdressers are banned in the locker room

I’m certain the NFL will hear from those young men who have for religious, cultural or simply fashion reasons decided to wear their hair long. This could become a contentious issue and one that might even make or break upcoming collective bargaining negotiations. I suggest the owners begin to broach the subject with their own players and make sure that earning millions for a skill is the motivation for playing the game, yes money honey, not the length of the hair.Go spend some time with these dread lock wearing athletes as they have their hair done, that is easily a four hour sit down.

1.Pacman Jones (when he had them)
2. Marshawn Lynch
3. Nate Webster
4. Devin Hester
5.Reggie Williams
6. Josh Cribbs
7. Ernest Wilford
8. Rashean Mathis
9. Marion Barber
10. Laurence Maroney

From the Dog House to the Big House - Up in Smoke

2007-09-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Up In Smoke.

Commissioner Goodell, that loud crash you hear outside your window isn't a jet flying by, it's the sound of Michael Vick's fall from grace.
As if the whole Dog-gate incident wasn't enough to scare him straight, now he has tested positive for marijuana. H-e-l-l-o, is there a brain in there Michael?

How quickly the once promising career of this young man has gone from iconic to idiotic.
I live in Northern California, you know the place, the birth of hippies, free love, and flower children, a little wacky tobaccy does not fit the "just say no" definition of dope around here.
I've been around my share of good feeling folk and funny smelling tobacco. I am not judging Vick or Williams on their personal smoking habits. But for pity's sake, when the world's microscope is perilously poised in the most southernly regions of your anatomy, how the heck do you think you can get stoned and avoid detection?
This is either the height of arrogance or stupidity.
Or..maybe a little bit of both.

Sex, Steroids, Spies and Videotapes..

2007-09-12T20:54:00.001-07:00

The first week of NFL 2007 is in the books. It was a truly fine week of professional football infused with excitement and drama. Yes, it was just the antidote for the millions of football fans assailed all off season by Bad Newz.
But just when you thought it was safe to go back into the football stadium to cheer on your team, drink beer and forget your troubles, along comes another weird football flap.
Sex, steroids and lies are all too prevalent in the headlines and in our world, sports or otherwise. Competition comes in many shapes and many forms, in its purest form it is a thing of beauty.
But now we've sunk to video tapes and spies along the sidelines? This may seem like a minor incident to some, but not to me. And what team was caught red-tape-handed? None other than the ever squeaky clean New England Patriots!
Commissioner Goodell has had to deal with more transgressions than a warden at an all male prison.
The corporate world has always had its spies and trade secrets but I admit I was totally taken by surprise by this covert NFL operation. I suppose I was naive to believe that the high character standard coaches want in their players would be applicable to them as well. Coaches never cease to preach to their players about fair play and hard work and competitiveness, are they simply giving lip service to these ideals? Surely winning just can not be everything.
Shame on you Bill Belichick.

More Bad Newz

2007-08-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

Michael Vick's NFL career may just have gone up in smoke.
The rats are jumping off the sinking Vick ship and he is now left on board the Bad Newz ship all by his lonesome. No matter what Michael Vick does from this point forward his life will never be the same. His "'co-conspirators" have now all pleaded guilty leaving Vick and his attorneys with few options.
He can cut his own deal and serve jail time (possibly less than a year) or stand trial and have all the grisly and bloody details of the Bad Newz Kennels be put on public display. This situation could never have been envisioned by the Falcons, the NFL or Michael Vick a year or two ago. Arthur Blank, Falcons owner is stunned, he never saw this coming. Arthur Blank banked on Michael and forged a friendship with his star quarterback.

Blank accused Vick of lying to the owner and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when they first questioned the quarterback about the allegations.

"It's just very sad," Blank said. "It's sad that those allegations exist and now they are confirmed by others. It's sad that Michael has put himself into that kind of situation. It's his responsibility for putting himself into that situation."
Blank said he was stunned by the charges made against Vick by his co-defendants.
"It's distressing after six years spending time with somebody, you think you know them and then there's another side that is shocking to all of us," the owner said. "Those statements of facts don't match up with what the league was told, even our organization, and certainly not was said to the commissioner. So we'll have to see what comes out in this plea and deal with the facts as soon as we have them."

Most sports fans understand that the players they "idolize" are human beings and often make mistakes. We too often hear about the drinking, the drugs, the spousal abuse, the womanizing etc.But never before has an athlete of Michael Vick's stature been accused of a crime that in America is perhaps as grevious as any.
Forget the fact that others have transgressed and made it back, the allegation of animal abuse touches Americans deeply. Americans dote on their pets, spend billions of dollars on them and care about them as much as their other family members.
This is the equivalent of child abuse in the eyes of many.

There is no EZ way out and it is simply more bad newz for Michael Vick.

The Genius - A Personal Memory

2007-07-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

There are many tributes being written about Bill Walsh.
He was a special football coach,and I am merely another fan.
But I had the privilege of meeting him, of standing next to him, shaking his hand and chatting briefly with him.
His death also touches me because he succumbed to Leukemia, the same disease that stole the life of my 27 year old nephew. It makes Bill Walsh's death feel very personal.

Too often journalists parrot each other. As Jerry Seinfeld said, yadayadayada.
I don't want to do that.
I don't want to list his achievements, or provide a laundry list of the Super Bowls he helped the 49ers win, or the way he resurrected a floundering franchise.
I would rather note the fact that he lived his life in an exemplary fashion.
With the current jailhouse rock the NFL is experiencing, Bill Walsh, his career and his life are worth recognition.

The event I attended in 2006, the NFL Alumni 25th Annual Golf Tournament, honored Bill Walsh. At that time his condition was known to only a few. He chose that day to speak with great honesty and emotion about his football career, his players and his fellow coaches. He spoke from his heart, but as usual he peppered his speech with humor and antidotes.
I didn't realize how special that moment was until now.
The world has lost a very fine man.

Vick's Dog Days - Deeper into the Dog House

2007-07-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

By Ivette Ricco
July 23, 2007
The young quarterback with so much natural talent was placed on a pedestal from the start. He had the physical attributes, the winning smile and the easy manner necessary to forge a great career. But everything Michael Vick had is now in serious jeopardy and for reasons no one could have ever predicted in 2001 when he was selected as the number one pick in the draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

His career has survived the tenures of head coaches Dan Reeves and Jim Mora. His career has survived injuries and set backs to the team’s quest for a Super Bowl. His athleticism and spectacular on the field moves gained him the loyalty of the Falcons owner, Arthur Blank. But now all that may be gone, and Michael Vick, may no longer be, “all that”.
I wrote on July 9 that things were not looking good for Michael Vick and the allegations of dog fighting at his Virginia home. But I fully expected Michael Vick to successfully avoid prosecution and elude these charges. I was wrong. Michael Vick has been named in a federal indictment.

These are the worst of times for the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick and the team’s owner, Arthur Blank. The league has told Falcons owner Arthur Blank that the disciplinary ball is in his court, for now, and Blank intends to act by disciplining Vick in some way by the end of Tuesday, July 23rd.
What will he do? He is really in a no-win situation.
If he doesn’t discipline Vick he will have the very vocal folks of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) picketing every day. The weeks leading up to NFL kickoff might very well be a nightmare for the Falcons franchise. Daily pickets at training camp coupled with public outrage are a serious and significant public relations nightmare.

If Arthur Blank disciplines Vick and names Joey Harrington as the starter many Falcons fans may decide they would rather stay home on Sunday than spend their money watching Harrington lead “Vick’s team”.
Arthur Blank has stood by his man, he committed $130 million to Vick only 30 months ago, he personally wheeled Vick around the sidelines when Vick broke his leg in 2003 and now…now, his franchise quarterback has become the primary subject in the NFL’s bad boys’ hall of shame.

Already the PETA activists have made their presence felt. Monday animal rights advocates and their dogs gathered outside the Falcons headquarters calling for Michael Vick’s suspension. They had signs that read, “Kick Vick”, “Tackle Cruelty” and “Sack Vick”.

The PETA website is asking that the NFL suspend Michael Vick and that pressure must be considered by Arthur Black as he decides what he will do.
The PETA website states:

NFL star Michael Vick, of the Atlanta Falcons, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on felony dogfighting charges. Vick is charged with violating federal laws against competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines.
In a raid conducted on April 25 and 26, local and state law enforcement officials found 70 dogs—including at least 60 pit bulls and many dogs who reportedly were neglected, scarred, and malnourished—on quarterback Vick's rural Surry County, Virginia, property. Some of the animals evidently bear scars and injuries, and paraphernalia commonly associated with dogfighting—including a "rape stand"—are also said to have been found on the property.
Humane officers and other law enforcement officials routinely break up illegal dogfighting rings and confiscate dogfighting paraphernalia, including treadmills used to build the dogs' endurance and drugs used either to numb pain caused by injuries or to "jazz up" the dogs. According to Vick's indictment, even if the losing dogs survived, they met a cruel fate, "sometimes put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution, or some other method."
The professional sports world is plagued with players who have been accused, charged, or convicted of cruelty to animals, abusing pit bulls, and dogfighting, and we hope that this indictment sends a loud and clear message to players and the NFL that celebrity is not a sufficient excuse for breaking the law and that animal abuse should never be tolerated under any circumstances

How do you feel about this? Should Michael Vick be suspended?

Post your comment:

Vick's Dog Days

2007-07-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

At 6'-0" and 215 pounds, the left-handed passing Michael Vick was selected as the number one pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.He was touted as the new prototype for NFL quarterbacks with his speed, agility, and arm strength. However, his detractors have pointed to his mediocre passing statistics and ratings, as well as his inability to lead his team to consistent playoff appearances.
Vick rose from a youth living in a public housing project to become one of the highest paid NFL players, as well as earning lucrative commercial product endorsements. He has been involved in charitable activities, especially those which benefit economically-disadvantaged youth such as after-school programs, football camps, and the Boys and Girls Clubs. In 2006, he joined his mother and brother in forming the Vick Foundation.
But Vick is now under public and legal scrutiny by state and federal authorities into allegations of involvement in the unlawful underground subculture of dog fighting and related gambling. Michael Vick is innocent until proven guilty, however, the news coming out of this investigation is not good.A search warrant was executed at a large home and 15-acre property Vick owned in rural Surry County, Virginia after a cousin, Davon T. Boddie, 26, who had been living there, was arrested twice in a week in two other jurisdictions on narcotics charges. Police discovered and seized evidence of a dog fighting ring and removed 66 dogs, including 55 pit bulls, along with a "rape stand," used to hold dogs in place for mating; an electric treadmill modified for dogs; and a bloodied piece of carpeting. Subsequently, authorities and media sources stated there are witnesses who place Vick at dog fights and engaging in related gambling.
According to ESPN, Michael Vick was at a dog fight in 2000 and is "one of the heavyweights" in the sport. The network Sunday cited a police informant whom a dog-fighting investigator called "extremely reliable." "That's who bets a large dollar," the informant said on the show "Outside the Lines." "And they have the money to bet large money. As I'm talking about large money, 30 to 40 thousand, even higher. He's one of the heavyweights." The informant said his dog beat Vick's dog in 2000, the year before Vick was chosen by the Falcons with the first overall pick in the NFL draft.

Dog fighting has been documented in the recorded history of many different cultures, and is presumed to have existed since the initial domestication of the species. Many breeds have been bred specifically for the strength, attitude, and physical features that would make them better fighting dogs. The sport was popular in many countries throughout history and continues to be practiced both legally and illegally around the world. Today dog fighting is associated with violence, drug-dealing and high-stakes gambling .It is a blood sport and one that seems to have been embraced by young men with plenty of money to throw around. What once was an “underground” activity in a largely rural and illicit sport has become a pastime for thrill seekers and those wanting to be a part of the “outlaw” fringes.
One reason for the growing popularity of dog fighting is that it seems to have come into vogue among professional athletes and entertainers, whose attention to this “sport” has given the brutal pastime a certain amount of street cred.
In 2005, National Basketball Association player Qyntel Woods pleaded guilty to animal abuse charges after abandoning a pit bull that had wounds consistent with dog fighting. That same year, former NFL running back LeShon Johnson pleaded guilty to possessing fight dogs and encouraging dogfights. And Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis, when asked about Vick, expressed an attitude that appears all too common among pro athletes: "It's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."
Rap music also glorifies the blood sport. The rapper DMX, who appears with a snarling pit bull on the cover of his album "Year of the Dog Again," has sung: "Place your bets/You can imagine what the bloodline is like," and "All my pups is crazy, 'cause off the leash/They can eat, stand a match for three hours at least." Those familiar with dog fighting say it has undergone a cultural shift in recent years. A pursuit once practiced chiefly in the rural South has moved to the mean streets of the “hood”. Pit bulls have become iconic in the rap and hip-hop music culture. Missy Elliott and rapper DMX feature the animals on album covers, and an unedited version of rapper Jay-Z’s video “99 Problems” features footage of dogs preparing to fight in a pit as spectators watch.
Madison Avenue has been quick to seize on such attitudes to instill a certain street cred in its own advertising. In 2003, the clothing company Nike, which has endorsement deals with numerous top athletes including Vick, released a gritty-looking TV ad dubbed "The Battle" which featured a brief glimpse of a growling pit bull and Rottweiler about to face off. A Nike representative denied that the ad encouraged dog fighting, but explained, "People have to understand the youth culture we cater to. Our market is the urban, edgy, hip-hop culture."
For Michael Vick as for Pacman Jones and other young men whose roots are in the “hood” and who still identify with their past life, the trappings of fame and fortune continue to pull them back and perhaps pull them down.
Can you imagine how nervous the Falcon franchise must be as they await the results of the investigation? Their franchise quarterback, the player the Falcons and their fans expect to lead them to the Super Bowl, the player who has outlasted head coaches Dan Reeves and Jim Mora is now being accused of being a major player in the ugly sport of dog fighting, Arthur Blank must be sweating bullets.
The question is can Vick successfully avoid prosecution and continue as if this never happened? I think so. Michael Vick will elude criminal charges as easily as he eludes and slips tackles on the football field.

Things that make you go...Hummmm

2007-05-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

Former NFL rushing champion Ricky Williams tested positive last month (April) for marijuana.
Hummm, didn't Ricky publicly state in SI and in other media that he was off the weed and happily teaching Yoga in Grass Valley? I'm not judging him, just wondering how bright he is to indulge when he is trying to get reinstated.
Oh, okay, I get it, the grass that grows in Grass Valley has a high level of THC and therefore it is impossible to avoid. Breathe deeply....
Hummm.

Steve McNair was arrested for driving under the influence. Problem is he wasn't driving, his inebriated cousin was. Steve admits that he had been drinking and thought he was doing the responsible thing by turning the wheel over to someone else. Note to Steve, call a cab!
Hummm.

Adam "Pacman" Jones was ticketed for speeding four days before he meets Commission Roger Goodell to appeal his season-long suspension. Note to Jones, stay home!
Hummm.

Michael Vick has sold the Virginia property linked to an alleged dog-fighting operation. He avoided the topic in a media session after the first practice of a three-day mini camp. Sheriff, oops, Commissioner Goodell has already met with Vick and could suspend him if it's shown that he was aware of the situation. Note to Vick, this may be a whole lot more problematic than the water bottle incident.
Hummm.

Making a Mockery of the Draft

2007-04-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

The clock is ticking, tick, tock, tick, tock. Yawn....
I love football, NFL brand football.
I can watch it til my eyeballs pop or my ass gives out, whichever comes first.
But...the NFL Draft makes me daffy.
If I were given a choice between an all expense paid trip to New York City to attend the two day draft or a weekend of mammograms and pap smears, I swear I'd be conflicted.

There is, admittedly, some drama.
This year the Raiders have a big decision to make.
Do they go with the best quarterback in the draft (JaMarcus Russell) or do they take the best player (wide receiver Calvin Johnson)?
Given the eccentricity of their owner and the woeful offensive showing of last season, this could go either way. And, maybe the old guy has a surprise up his silver covered sleeve. Maybe he can wheel and deal and get a quarterback and another player to shore up the offense.

The first five picks in this year's draft will determine the balance of the first round. It is very possible that the first two picks will create a crazy domino effect. Al Davis would just love that scenario.

But do I need to sit in from of the TV for two days?
No, I can turn on ESPN and watch the first hour and I'll know what players have been selected with the first five picks and that's good enough for me.

But before we reach that point we've endured months of conjecture. Months of Mel Freakin' Kiper and his bad hair. Months of every other "so-called" analyst and his Mock Draft.

Mock me if you must, but I can't bring myself to get terribly excited about the draft past the first pick and the sounds of Commissioner Goodell as he runs his first Draft, "and the Raiders select .....").

The rest my football-headed friends is simply anti-climatic.
Wake me when it's September.

White Dade: Baseball: It's a Man's Sport

2007-04-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

White Dade: Baseball: It's a Man's Sport

Don Ignor-imus

2007-04-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

I'm all in favor of free speech. And I hate it when people get their panties in a bunch whenever a "politically incorrect" comment is made and then blown all the hell out of proportion.
I believe in the right of every American to be as stupid as they damn well please and the right of every other American to ridicule them.
Rush Limbaugh, "Kramer", Rosie O'Donnell and Mel Gibson come immediately to mind as folks with foot in mouth disease.
Sometimes ill-advised comments can be excused due to these high profile folks being under the influence. But have you noticed that controversy and ratings are bedfellows? None of these celebrities have lost their careers, fame or fortunes due to their "missteps".

But it does irk me that this Don Ignor-umis guy seems to be getting a free ride by virtue of his nasty comments about the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team.
This man is all about shock radio and we can't be naive enough to think that shock value on shock radio is not meant to be shocking.

But if you dig deeper you will unearth the ugly truth about our society's bias when it comes to women. Women are still treated according to how they look.

The sad irony is that women have stood by and let it happen.
The music of this generation denigrates women. Rap music is full of references to ho's, bitches and skanks.
These comments may have been directed at a group of African American women, but it is a slap in the face of women of all colors. Ho's come in all colors and some of them are nappy headed and some are not. Truth be told we are getting exactly what we deserve.
You need to demand respect in order to get it.

The Rutgers coach and the players and every woman who is righteously outraged should be screaming for an end to the way we are treated in the media, in music and in every way imaginable.
Our daughters and our granddaughters' futures depend on it.
The first step would be to suspend Imus for one year and he can hang out with Pacman Jones and Chris Henry.

There's a New Sheriff In Town

2007-04-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

And he ain't putting up with any bull s---.
That's what Pacman Jones is afraid of, as is Chris Henry and Tank Johnson, and ......
Yep, the NFL is laying down the law. If you want to make millions of dollars on the field, you best get your butt out of the clubs, stop hanging with the bad boys, stop "packin" guns, and say adios to the "parteey life".

It's about damn time somebody put the bad boys' feet to the fire.
This isn't a decision that the Rookie Commish is making in a vacuum. The Commish has wisely created a council of six veteran players to provide input and feedback on a variety of issues.
Very smart and very prudent.

The players on the council are:
Troy Vincent, a former Eagle who is currently a free agent; Eagles linebacker Takeo Spikes; safety Donovin Darius of Jacksonville, fullback Tony Richardson of Minnesota; center Jeff Saturday of Indianapolis; and wide receiver James Thrash of Washington, another former Eagle.
"This is the first time in NFL history that a commissioner has used a group of current players in an advisory capacity," Upshaw said. "The players are a great resource for our game, and this is a direct way of getting their input. This is a good example of how the new commissioner is leading through strong communication. We appreciate what he is doing."

A decision is expected sometime next week on the fate of Adam "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry. There could be some very serious consequences if what we hear is true.
The NFL Players Association executive director told the Washington Post that Goodell is considering adding a lifetime ban to his forthcoming player-conduct policy for players who repeatedly get into serious legal trouble.
Those were the strongest words yet linked to Goodell, who has made policing the league - and protecting, as he called it, "the shield" - an early mandate during his first year in office. And while a lifetime ban might seem a drastic measure, just about everyone agrees that the commissioner needs to have the ability to levy harsh penalties in order to discourage deviant behavior.
At least 50 players reportedly have been arrested since the start of 2006. Goodell wants it to stop.

"None of these cases we're talking about will be a permanent ban," Upshaw told the Washington Post. "I don't think we're at that point yet with these cases. We understand there will be some type of suspension, but not that. . . . One thing was clear: Once a player has gotten himself into this fix, it's going to be up to him to get himself out."

From my spot on the sofa I see this as the best news an NFL fan could get (the NFL not playing a pre-season game in China is a close second).
You go Goodell!!

How Bad is Your team?

2007-04-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Once a year ESPN conducts a survey that ranks each sports franchise from 1 to 122 according to fan/customer satisfaction.

Do you know who came in at number one?
The Buffalo Sabres!!

Who? You know the Sabres. They're an NHL team in Buffalo.

Okay, so maybe you never heard of them but apparently the folks in Buffalo really love them.

Maybe the number one ranking has something to do with the fact that there may not be much to do in Buffalo in the dead of winter. But just for argument's sake let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they are doing what all sports franchises should do, treating their fans right.

Fans are sneered at by many team owners. Oh - those know it all fans, they are so damn opinionated. Well aren't the fans the consumers and ultimately who the franchises should be trying to please?

What a concept.

This survey may not meet the credibility smell test, but from my seat on the sofa if it's conducted by ESPN, well, what higher authority can there be?

So, how did your team rank?

Check out the complete survey here

Favre Calls It Quits!

2007-04-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

It's official, Brett Favre is hanging up his jock strap.
No it isn't because he's getting old, or because he wants more money or because the team isn't going to win a championship anytime soon.
No, according to anonymous sources he has finally decided he has had enough because today's NFL is being ruled by criminals and fools. Brett likes everything old school. He has been heard complaining that today's game is being dominated by prima donnas who cry like little babies and think they're "all that".
Being the tough hombre that he is Brett wants every NFL player to play by the rules and stop the whining.

Today is April first, by the way. Maybe you already figured that out!

Heil Coughlin?

2007-03-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

What the heil is going on?
I'm a native New Yorker, and I still can't believe it. Well, maybe I can.
As if Tom Coughlin wasn't already on the hot seat going into the 2007 season.
Note, he's a lame duck coach, retired player Tiki Barber took some shots at him as he left and Baby Manning clearly regressed in 2006. N0w Tom is officially on the Big Apple, "we'll eat you alive" hot seat.
Why? Because he answered a question with an ill-advised reference to Hitler.
In his defense he was simply responding to a question about accusations regarding his hard line style of coaching.
Tom you should know better, don't feed the fire, you work in New York City for crying out loud. This isn't Green Bay Wisconsin!

Hitler is not just a faux pas in the free world, it's beyond bad taste in New York City, a city where the Jewish community wields considerable power and influence.
But why is this response to a question being blown out of proportion? Why is this comment news?
Because it's New York City, where anything, and I mean anything mildly related to the New York Giants is headline news.
Now I remember why I became a NY Jets fan.

Here's the article from the New York Daily News

Tom: My plight 2nd to Hitler's
BY GARY MYERSDAILY NEWS SPORTS COLUMNIST
Posted Thursday, March 29th 2007, 4:00 AM

Tom Coughlin
PHOENIX - Tom Coughlin barely hung onto his job after the Giants collapsed in the second half of last season. He tried to make it seem he was oblivious when there was so much speculation he was about to be fired. Clearly, it had an impact, because yesterday he compared the barrage of criticism to what Adolf Hitler received.
It was a regrettable and politically incorrect comparison, but just putting himself in the same sentence as Hitler shows the strain Coughlin was under and the degree he felt despised.
When he was asked at the NFC coaches breakfast by a football Web site reporter whether he paid attention to what was being said about him last season, Coughlin replied: "I hear some of it and I see it. You know (VP of communications Pat) Hanlon tells me about it, what's going on."
Then, he paused, and said, "Hitler and then me, in that order. Unfortunate, but it is."
Coughlin is on a short leash with the Giants despite making the playoffs the last two years. The Giants were 6-2 at the halfway point last season, struggled to finish 8-8, made the playoffs by a tiebreaker then lost in the wild-card round for the second year in a row.
The final two months of the season were filled with reports that Coughlin was coaching for his job. His daughter would call and tell him he had to read what was being said about him. The day after the season, he met with co-owners John Mara and Jonathan Tisch and was required to present a plan how he was going to make the team better.
Finally, three days after the playoff loss to the Eagles, the Giants announced that Coughlin was back with a one-year extension through the 2008 season. He has a must-win mandate.
For a proud man such as Coughlin, the speculation that he was about to lose his job bordered on humiliation. "It wasn't any fun," he said. "And to be honest with you, to go through that whole circumstance at the end of the season is embarrassing. It's embarrassing not only to me, but to my family. But I know it's part of the game. I admire ownership for the position that they took at the end of the season."
As far as what? "As far as me staying," he said. "It would have been easy to go the other way, according to what I understand."
He didn't let himself be disappointed about not being offered a long-term extension. "I think as it was explained to me, under the circumstances, that wasn't going to happen," he said.
Will Coughlin be the Giants coach in 2008?
It looks to me like Coughlin and new GM Jerry Reese could have conflicting agendas. Reese has done virtually nothing in the offseason to improve the Giants as he tries to make the team younger and healthier. This could be a two-year process, but Coughlin needs to win now. That won't be possible unless Reese gets him more players.
"All coaches are on the clock for winning every year," Reese said. "I don't care what is on your contract. In the NFL, every coach has to win every year. It's not only Tom. The 31 other coaches feel the same way whether they have one year or five years on their contract."
All GMs ultimately want their own coach. Reese inherited Coughlin. "I feel like Tom Coughlin is our head coach and if Tom is the head coach for the next 10years with us and we are winning Super Bowls, I'm happy with that," Reese said. "We're not looking for a coach. We're looking to help Tom win with this current team. That's on my agenda right now."

New Rules

2007-03-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Prepare to learn the new NFL rules for the 2007 season. If you thought a rule book that weighs as much as the New York phone book couldn't possibly get bigger, think again.
Every year at this time the owners meet to go over a variety of issues in their multi-billion dollar business and the outcome typically is a change in rules.
Sometimes they're good, other times, not so much.
It's customary for them to discuss on the field rules changes and you can bet that they will be discussing off-the-field player behavior at some length.

Among the changes to be considered by the competition committee are the overtime rules. Statistics show that the team that wins the coin toss wins the game 62% of the time. I kid you not.
A change has been suggested to try and "level the playing field".
The change moves the kickoff from the 30-yard line in regulation to the 35-yard line in overtime. Seems like a little thing, doesn't it? Sort of like nit-picking, right? Wrong.
According to the competition committee, in games played between 1984 and 1993, when the kickoff was at the 35 yard line, the team that won the coin toss won only 48.6% of the time.
The hell you say!

The most significant "new rules" will likely deal with the troubling off the field behavior of some NFL players.
There are 1800 professional football players wearing NFL uniforms and the majority of them are living a life that is beyond reproach, but there is growing concern regarding guns and violence and outlandish behavior that the league must address with swift and decisive action.
Nothing less will do. I am very interested in seeing what new Commish Goodell will do to curb this unacceptable behavior.

Baby you can drive my Carr.

The NFL Draft is only a month away (give or take a few days).
Teams are working feverishly to decide what players they want in the draft.
They have probed, prodded, measured, tested and dissected these young men to try and determine who will become productive contributors in the NFL. That ain't easy.

The Oakland Raiders have the number one pick in this year's draft and most mock drafts have them selecting LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Here in the SF Bay Area Raiders fans are waiting with great trepidation to see how the unpredictable Al Davis and baby-faced, first time head coach, Lane Kiffin will do. The Raider Nation is hoping and praying that JaMarcus will be delivered to them on a silver platter with the first pick and that he can resurrect a flailing franchise.
We all know they surely need help.

But having the number one pick in the draft is not without its hazards.
Last year it was a given that Reggie Bush would go the Texans at number one. But...no.
The Texans shocked everyone by taking Mario Williams as the Saints had Bush fall from on high right into their open arms.
And being number one doesn't come close to guaranteeing success or productivity in the NFL. There are just too many examples to cite here and now.

Case in point, the Houston Texans, the same team that passed on Reggie Bush, and Vince Young and Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler, released David Carr, the quarterback they took as the first draft pick in franchise history five years ago.
David Carr had the look of a super star in the making. And he was given his chance, albeit on a terrible team. But now that same terrible team has sent Carr on his way and traded for perennial back-up Matt Schaub. Scahub was not the number one pick in the draft, no not even close. In fact Schaub was drafted in 2004 by the Falcons in the third round as the 27th pick!!!
Ain't life grand.

A Sports Fan Treks to The Vegas

2007-03-19T02:47:00.000-07:00

This week, I will have the pleasure of spending spring break in Las Vegas with seven of my closest friends. Not wanting to lose out on the experiences that we are sure to have, I'll be updating this blog with a running Las Vegas diary. When a sports fan goes to Sin City for the first time, there's sure to be some fireworks.

5:48 A.M. Monday, March 18th - The anticipation builds as we sit in the lonely Greenville/Spartanburg Airport waiting on a 6:30 flight. Of all of the planes that American Airlines flies, I'm confident that they sent their smallest. Most of us haven't been to sleep since sometime early Sunday morning, so we're primed and ready to go. When passing through security, a seemingly harmless member of our entourage was singled out for an advanced pat-down. He really looks the part of a terrorist, too. Some things I'll never understand.

Maddening March Madness

2007-03-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Do the people who sit down and fill out the brackets for this marathon tournament have a life?
How does one keep track of all the college basketball teams nationwide enough to know and understand adequately which of the 64 teams will be good enough to make it to the Final Four?

Someone please tell me.

When the tournament finally gets to the Final Four I am officially interested.
I am not a patient watcher of endless games, with too many players and coaches, scores, stats and stories. I can fake interest and excitement with the best of them, but really, this is simply exhausting.

The First and Second Rounds are over, thank you sweet mother of hoops.

The next round is called the Sweet Sixteen. Just like that, the field has been whittled down to a mere 16 teams.
None of these 16 teams was ranked lower than 7 in their respective divisions. So apparently no Cinderfella stories here.

Here is the remaining schedule for March Madness, the Men's NCAA Tournament.

SWEET 16 - March 22-23
ELITE EIGHT - March 24-25
FINAL FOUR - March 31
CHAMPIONSHIP - April 2

Wake me up on March 31st.
By then I might be interested, and maybe the Jayhawks will be in control.

Bad Boys - Bad Boys - Whatcha Gonna Do?

2007-03-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

...when they come for you

My goodness, can a day go by without another athlete getting nailed?
Today it was Jeramy Stevens' turn to pose for his mug shot. The Seattle Seahawks tight end, who hasn't been a fan favorite, won't be visiting Margaritaville anytime soon.
Stevens may not be long for the Hawks in any case as he is an unrestricted free agent after five season with Seattle. When stopped he told an officer that he had four or five margaritas.
When given a field sobriety test Stevens almost fell over, according to the officer, during the walk and turn test. Police said they also found a green leafy substance in his pocket.
Sounds like Stevens is joining the ver growing NFL chain gang.

And bad behavior hasn't been confined to the athletes. The Arizona Cardinals fired wide receivers coach Richie Anderson four days after he was arrested in a police prostitution sting operation, smile for the camera Richie.

Moon over Green Bay?

Randy Moss caused quite a stir when he signed with the Oakland Raiders several seasons ago. But his tenure in Oaktown has been marked by injuries and bad attitude.
He has had a tendency to drop the ball or to slow down when he runs his routes and the team has been, well, abysmal.
Moss's magic seems to be gone. Or has it simply gone into hibernation?
The Green Bay Packers may be banking on the latter.
Randy is due a big payday if he stays in Oakland, $9.75 million in 2007.
Nice work if you can get it.
But the Raiders are rebuilding and Randy wants out. He wants to play for a contenda, or at least with a quarterback who has more chest hair than birthday candles.
But is Randy Moss a good fit in the land of Cheese?
One might think that the Mooning of Packer fans would preclude such a move, but, remember that T.O. danced on the Cowboys star and then went on to play for the Boys with nary a protest from the fans.
No, the only reason Randy might play in the land of Lombardi is because no other team will pay him to play when he feels like playing.

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

49ers Spend Like Drunken Sailors on Shore Leave

2007-03-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a wild and crazy spending spree the 49ers went on in the first week of free agency.
I wonder what all those fans who called John York a penny pincher are thinking now?
I have to give the man props for letting Mike Nolan and Scot McCloughan pick up players without trying to turn in discount coupons. But when you shop with an extra 39.5 million in your bank account, well, it's not about the money.

What have the Niners spent so freely on? Well, yes, they spent on shoring up the defense, but the true bottom line for Niner fans is that the team spent on giving them hope. Hope that they might actually make a serious run at the NFC West title, and that, my friends, is no small accomplishment. Not after years of struggling in salary cap hell and watching other teams "dis" the Niners and pound them on a regular basis.
That led to much anxiety and alcoholism for the Faithful at Candlestick. Trust me, I know!

The Niners message?
They've sent a clear message to the NFL and to players, that the 49ers are getting better and you just might want to jump on this bandwagon.
A statement to 49er fans that they are serious about winning.

And what have they purchased?
Defense!
Yep as the saying goes, defense wins championships. And boy did we need help on the "D".
Mike Nolan has very methodically worked on rebuilding the offense for two years and now it's time to turn his attention to the defense.
Nolan's a defensive-minded guy so he should know what he's looking for. The 26th ranking last year must have burned his arse. With the draft opening up the door to further depth with young talent, the team seems to be making all the right moves, finally.

The Shopping Spree "Buys":
Cornerback Nate Clements.
Free Safety Michael Lewis.
Nose Tackle Aubrayo Franklin.
Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain.
And on offense, Ashlie Lelie to replace Antonio (I'm Not Reckless) Bryant.

So who will the Niners target with the 11th pick in the first round of the Draft?
Right now they can take the best available player, and that might be a receiver.

Stay tuned as we follow the progress of the SF 49ers as they head into the draft.
Drunken Sailors unite!

Angst for the Memories

2007-03-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

Jake "the Snake" Plummer retired today in a move that reeked of a big "f-u" at Mike Shanahan and the Broncos.
The Broncos haven't had a star quarterback since John Elway, ah, those were the days my friend.
Jake Plummer shoulda, coulda, woulda, been the savior if only he could have taken the orange crush to the big game (oops careful there, the NFL is trying to trademark that name).
But it was not to be, clearly the writing was on the wall.
After all when your team drafts Jay Cutler and then sits you down midway through the season you can't expect that they are planning on offering you a ten-year extension.

The Bucs made a trade with the Broncos for Plummer and at the same time signed Jeff Garcia. That's one veteran too many, you think?
Garcia and Plummer are both scrambling quarterbacks, while Chris Simms is, well, not!
Maybe they want to have two life insurance policies for Simms.

And so, the career of another veteran quarterback appears to have reached the end of the line. Or has it?
Perhaps Jake the Snake is simply going to wait until he can un-retire.
There are plenty of teams who will need his services once the NFL season begins and they will come a-calling to be sure.
You have to admire Plummer for doing things his way, and giving the Broncos the ole one finger salute as he exits stage right.

Pack Your Bags Pacman

2007-03-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

Pack up all your cares and woes, there you go tokin' slow, bye, bye, Pacman.

Ok, I know there hasn't been an official announcement, but let me be the first to report this:
PacMan Jones has been released by the Tennessee Titans for conduct detrimental to the team. Up in smoke is more like it.

An anonymous source told Femmefan.com that Ricky Williams has reserved a room for Jones at the Yoga retreat he's currently frequenting in Grass Valley California.
The good new for Pacman, no more two a days, no more weight rooms, no more rules and regulations, lot of brownies, ice cream and Hersheys syrup.
Now he is free to live off the land and not be weighted down by bags full of dollar bills ($81,000 in singles must be a bitch to carry).
No, just oooommmmm and some very fine Mendocino green weed for the Pacman.

Does the Pacman deserve to be the first to be banned in the NFL under the proposed "three strikes and you're out rule?" You be the judge.

Let's review.
"The cornerback promised he had seen the inside of a courtroom for the last time Feb. 1, when a judge dismissed an assault charge filed by a woman who claimed Jones spit on her during an October nightclub altercation."
"Charges in a confrontation with a club manager during a private party in July 2005 also have been dismissed."
"Jones was ordered to stay out of trouble until July 5 if he wants his criminal record cleared of public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges for an August arrest in the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro."

Speaking on condition of anonymity a convicted drug dealer who was part of the biggest drug busts ever by Nashville police stated on surveillance tapes that he tried to steer Pacman in the right direction.
"We gotta get him focused on football, man. He's focused on too much other shit."

Apparently Pacman didn't share his dealer's concern.
When Pacman was asked to get out of his Corvette while a SWAT team searched his Georgia home last year, the car reeked of mary jane.

Capt. Mike Pruitt, head of Fayette County's drug task force said Jones admitted smoking marijuana but none was found in the car.
Capt Pruitt stated that he wasn't interested in enforcing NFL policy but did ask Jones why he would risk his livelihood and money for some stupid marijuana.
Jones replied, "We know when we're going to be tested. We know months in advance when we're going to be tested. I stop using two months ahead of time."

Ricky, get that room ready for Pacman, he's a-headin' your way.

Do the Crime and Do the Time

2007-02-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

It's about time the NFL and its players woke up and smelled the Starbucks coffee.
The NFL and the Players Union announced yesterday that they will propose a "three strikes and you're out" rule that would ban players for life after the third conviction.

What strikes me about this proposal is that it wasn't just the league trying to protect its public image, but that players are pushing for this change. That is a major step in the right direction for the America's most successful and richest sports league.

Ten players attended the meeting in Indianapolis with Commissioner Roger Goodell, Players Union President Gene Upshaw and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. The Broncos have been rocked by the shooting death of of conerback Darrent Williams on New Years Eve.

Guns and violence are nothing new to Americans, and statistically NFL players are only a small blip on the police blotter. But the league that has been hammered by the constant line up of Cincinnati Bengals, the recent DUI of Colts running back Dominic Rhodes and the problems of Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson.
The players should be the motivating force for change. Imposing rules and sanctions by Roger Goodell or Gene Upshaw won't hold much weight unless players feel the pressure from their peers and from the teams that pay them.

The Indianapolis meeting was the first step towards mitigating a resolution that could help keep the NFL's 2,000 players out of trouble. That may seem like wishful thinking in this society of excess but it puts players who might choose the wrong friends and make the wrong choices, on notice.

The NFL and its 32 franchises conduct exhaustive interviews, background checks and in the course of the combine and the draft process make these young men jump through hoops to enter the league. But once they are in the league many of them find their fame and fortune leading them to people and places they should avoid.

The NFL and its franchises need to work harder to educate these young men and direct them once they achieve the much coveted lifestyle of the rich and famous.
That's not to say that these young men shouldn't know better, they should.

One of those present at the meeting, Ken Hamlin, Seattle Seahawks safety, spent a week in the hospital in October 2005 with a fractured skull and a blood clot near his brain after a bar fight.

"He was a testament to what can happen when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, which happens to a lot of guys," said Upshaw. "He was the victim, not the attacker. People see athletes come into a bar. Women gravitate to them. Other people get angry."

Colts head coach Tony Dungy emphasizes the athletes decision making.
"I point out that being out at 1 or 2 in the morning, or to be in places with dubious characters is not what you should be doing." "You have to remember that you're high profile and that there are people who would like to take you down."

The NFL is working to elevate their process of evaluation, making the effort to employ men of character over talent. Imposing a three strikes and you're out rule is the right way to get the attention of young men seeking fame and fortune in the NFL.

NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR

2007-02-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

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