Vick’s “Good Name”

Hurricane Dean did not hit Jamaica dead on as the weather people predicted, once again demonstrating that it’s tough to out think nature.

Michael Vick has pled guilty to the dog fighting charges. The story I’m hearing is that his decision came after being shown evidence on further charges including racketeering.

A couple of weeks back, Vick said he could not wait to clear his “good name”.

I am also hearing that the Atlanta Falcons are looking in to the possibility of suing Vick for roster bonuses that add up into the millions. If you start to add up the money this guy stands to lose for choosing to act this stupidly, it boggles the mind. He has a 10 year contract somewhere in the neighborhod of $130 million, he had possibly the highest endorsement income of any N.F.L player, and his jersey was the N.F.L.’s biggest seller. He stands to pay fines of around $250,000, who knows what his legal fees will add up to and the Falcons will sue and recoup some of the money he has been paid.

Vick is financially in the same league as many C.E.O.s of large corporations. His job carried as much responsibility in many ways. Most people, casual fans, would not be able to name more than a handful of N.F.L. players. In most cases, Vick would be a part of that handful. There a lot of football players in trouble with the law at this time. Vick’s case is more important precisely because he is one of the few players that represent the league.

The Cards beat the Cubs 6-4 this afternoon and are now only 3 games out of first place in NL Central. Rick Ankiel hit his fourth home run. Ankiel, who started his career as a pitcher then, lost any ability to throw a strike then, decided to try his hand as an outfielder is the feel good story of the year. Peter Gammons calls him a “real life Roy Hobbs”. It took 7 years from his melt down in the playoffs to make it back to the big leagues. Ankiel deserves a lot of respect for persevering an the Cardinals deserve credit for sticking with him.

I’m in the studio tomorrow; looking forward to that.

If you are in a serious mood, ceck out Sister Jayne’s article about the right to die over at Textual Relations.