Last Saturday the HAMPTON ROADS DAILY PRESS reported that a former childhood friend of Michael Vick, Quanis Phillips, was identified as being shot in the leg outside of Vick’s 30th birthday party late last Thursday night at a restaurant in the Virginia Beach area.

(Police: Vick birthday party shooter drove white Escalade (not pictured))

Phillips, who was admitted to the hospital after the shooting, was a co-defendant in the dogfighting case that landed Vick in federal prison for 18 months.

Shalamar Davis, who attended the party, told the Daily Press that Phillips was the shooting victim. “His friends were dragging him around the corner and blood was everywhere,” she said.

So far other witnesses to the shooting have “refused to talk” and Michael Vick’s lawyer has said his client was “long gone” from the scene before the shooting occured. The NFL quarterback has since been interviewed by police on the matter and reportedly is not a suspect in the criminal investigation.

Police though have not exonerated Vick’s brother Marcus, who was also at the party. Read more…

Dagger Derek? Darned Important Shot Derek?

Derek and the Three-Point Dominoes?

Perhaps the experts should handle the new handle for Derek Fisher now that he’s sunk another huge shot to carry the Lakers into overtime, where they took a formidable 3-1 series lead via a 99-91 triumph in Orlando last night. A three-pointer on an unusual inbounds play (taking it full court instead of using the opportunity to advance the ball on a time out) with just a few clicks left on the clock cinched the need for extra work from Kobe and friends.

Neither team shot the ball worth a Mouse’s posterior, allowing the Magic to freefall from a 12-point lead into an overtime where they made one lousy shot from the field. Also not helping: the Vitamin Water that made Dwight Howard’s hands too slippery, causing him to turn the ball over seven times and miss over half of his 14 free throw attempts.

The series continues Sunday (because why rush greatness?) in Orlando, but it’s all over but the Kobe Koronation (™ SPORTSbyBROOKS Industries), barring three straight Creighton-esque repeats of Game 3’s wanton abuse of the three-point stripe.

The NHL, on the other hand, has gone the distance in the Stanley Cup Finals with home ice making the difference thus far. For one more night, they’ll be able to draw attention from the Phoenix Coyotes debacle and one man’s claim that the St. Louis Blues are even worse off than the Coyotes these days.

As always, Pittsburgh has brought the charm and grace it’s known for to the final Final game table:

(That man is Bill Guerin, 87-year-old right wing for the Penguins. The sign is in Pittsburgh. The ridiculously large bird wearing the faux sandwich board probably isn’t a union member.)

On the other hand, the birds that sabotaged the Kansas City Royals last night in Cleveland have clearly organized. The Indians’ Shin-Soo Choo singled in the bottom of the tenth to score Mark DeRosa for a 4-3 win, but any possible throw to the plate to thwart the scoring attempt by DeRosa had to be abandoned when the batted ball bounced off a flock of seagulls in center field and ricocheted away:

First bugs and now nature’s winged rats… the Indians will rain down just about any ol’ plague on its enemies, won’t they? The only natural disaster of Biblical proportions left to terrorize opponents with has to be Dwight Howard’s free throws. (Bricks are the little-known 11th plague for obvious reasons.)

And now an errant hail of bullet points to enjoy while you avoid arrest while holding the police at bay by claiming to have swine flu:

• Kids are rather self-sufficient, as all parents know. You just tie ‘em up with ropes and rags and you can head down to the bar for Game 3 of the NBA Finals with zero consequences.
• Rex Grossman has gone from starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears to battling for the backup backup slot in Houston. On the other hand, he’s still being paid to play a game professionally, so we shouldn’t mo… eh, screw it; we’re mocking him deep.
• Marcus Vick might be going to jail. There’s nothing worse than a younger sibling envious of all the attention the older kid gets.
• Asking the NCAA for leniency when changing schools (and not having to sit out a year) to be closer to your sick relatives only works if you select a school next to your sick relatives. Damn you, cruel bureaucracy!
• Derrick Rose is really sorry about that gang sign thing. Best friends in marketing deals still?
• Online poker players have their winnings frozen by the Feds.
• Finally, vindication! The Phillies do have a PED-taking miscreant! Wait… Pablo Ozuna?
• Apparently, young adults are still running around in their underwear at UCLA. Are any of you young men trying to impress the young women in their undies by using package-enhancing drawers?
• And, because we’re inherently weak, a soccer player tackling a referee:

• ROTOHOG is set for a thirsty Thursday of their own, as they serve up their version of the NBA Draft Drinking Game.

• Darren Rovell of CNBC smells something rotten about the so-called Tiger Woods apple core for sale on eBay.

• MiLB.COM takes a behind-the-scenes look at video of the ballgirl making such a great leap forward. (Bonus: the article is written by Benny Hill.)

• PRO FOOTBALL TALK discovers that the woman who was recently arrested with Marcus Vick had earlier in the yea sued Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown.

Read more…

Brooks can’t decide on dinner tonight - A Hardee’s Thickburger, or a bag of Flame-Broiled Burger King potato chips?

• You know why Marcus Vick is such a bust? He gets caught by bike cops.

• A Texas high school football coach takes a gamble on pawning his players’ equipment.

• $60 will get you a leg up on joining the Memphis Grizzlies dance team.

• Is Dallas Cowboy Ken Hamlin trying to corral some sex online?

• A St. Louis Cardinals draft pick gets called up - for combat duty.

Read more…

Most of us have already forgotten about Virginia Tech troublemaker and NFL bust Marcus Vick, and that’s a shame, because the rest of us knew, deep down, that he had so much more to contribute to society.

And as of today, we were right.

The junior Vick is back in the news after being cited for a DUI in eastern Virginia. That Marcus, he just doesn’t give a Norfolk (so long as you pronounce it correctly). Read more…

WE’RE ASSUMING THEY HAVE A REASONABLE PET DEPOSIT: The NEW YORK POST’s PAGE SIX reports today that despite his financial woes, Michael Vick has somehow raised the cash to buy “a pricey pad in the luxurious Philippe Starck high-rise Icon South Beach.“

Dwyane Wade also lives in the building, and Shaq apparently has a girlfriend stashed who lives there.Source “[Vick] has bought [an] apartment. Since his indictment he hasn’t visited, but his brother Marcus, who was released by the Miami Dolphins and has charges of statutory rape pending, has no problem partying it up with the ladies in his brother’s pad.”

A woman has a suit pending against Vick’s younger brother Marcus, alleging they had a two-year affair starting when she was 15.

Isn’t it astonishing how Michael and Marcus just can’t seem to steer clear of bitches in heat?