More Vick/Bonds Stuff

The Michael Vick dog fighting/dog murdering issue has really struck a nerve with the public. Vick is innocent until proven guilty but the N.F.L. has every right to ask him not to attend training camp. Vick does not have an inalienable right to play football.

I found this CNBC piece that says the N.F.L. has stopped selling Vick merchandise interesting. Two staements from the article; first from the N.F.L.

“We have suspended sales of Vick-related merchandise on our official league e-commerce site, NFLShop.com,” said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. “This includes Vick jerseys and collectible items such as autographed balls and other memorabilia.” McCarthy said the decision was made because it was “not appropriate under the circumstances.” The suspension will take place for the immediate future.

And, second from Reebok who manufacture jerseys and stuff.

“Although Reebok does not have an individual endorsement or marketing relationship with Michael Vick, we are the official supplier of apparel and equipment to all 32 NFL teams and the league’s 1,800 active players. While we respect the legal process we find the allegations against Mr. Vick too disturbing to ignore, therefore, we have decided to immediately suspend selling Vick NFL product, both at retail and on-line through the Reebok website. In addition, Reebok has honored retail cancellations of Vick NFL jerseys.”

I’m glad they did this for a couple of reasons. How would a parent explain this mess to a kid who owns a Vick jersey? Also, stopping the sale of the merch will hopefully cut down on the morbid freak market that exists when these incidents come to light. Just think about O.J. selling autographs at serial killer conventions.

Bob Costas had Curt Schilling and a chemist, Patrick Arnold (who evidently designed some of the steroids Bond’s may have used), on his HBO show saying that they both thought Bonds used. When asked about the show, Bonds in his typical condescending fashion said Costas was, “little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball”. To which Costas later replied…

“As anyone can plainly see, I’m 5-6 1/2 and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally.”

I have defended Bonds on, among other things, the innocent until proven guilty issue. Going after Costas while ducking the issue just adds to the Denali sized pile of evidence that Bonds doesn’t get, never got it and never will. One good career baseball man, Jim Leyland, had exactly right in this video from way back in spring training of ‘91.