11:30 AM Amid rumors that he bought Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl XXV ring in an auction, Charlie Sheen tweeted Friday: "As much as I would be honored to own such an important artifact ... I had nothing to do with the acquisition."
Roger Goodell deserves credit for one thing: he’s not afraid to push anybody around. In his short tenure as Commissioner, he’s already made examples of Chris Henry, Pacman Jones, and Chad Ochocinco as targets of heavy punishment, and doubtless there are plenty of NFL players more carefully toeing the party line for it.
(How can you not want this back?! The London Monarchs were incredible!)
What he hasn’t done as much, though, is go after the underperforming franchises in the league. That seems likely to change, though, considering the slumping monetary performance of so many teams and the resultant threats of blackout and relocation.
But threatening to put a team in London? Soon? Yikes.
After two years in the joint, a lengthy suspension, and every other bit of trouble that’s nipped at his ankles until he electrocuted them - what, too soon? - it looks like Michael Vick’s path to relevance is clear.
We mentioned earlier today that Vick and Roger Goodell were meeting about his eligibility for the upcoming season; speculation ran to the point that we thought Vick might be ready to rock for the season opener. But as Goodell just announced to Peter King and other, slightly less sycophantic reporters, he decided to grant full reinstatement to Vick for the Eagles’ week 3 game against Kansas City. It’s a substantial step up from the Week 6 ceiling Goodell had earlier set, but perhaps that’s the point; let him think he’s in for a month, and two week’s going to seem downright lenient.
As Kay said in “Godfather II”: “I should have known that you were too clever for them, Michael.” The LOS ANGELES TIMES is reporting that Michael Vick may not have to wait until Week 6 to find out of he’s back in the NFL. He could be back today. To quote a great cartoon philosopher: “Zoinks!”
Roger Goodell is reportedly preparing to huddle with the Philadelphia quarterback today, and could decide to set Vick free for the Eagles’ opener on Sept. 13 at Carolina. A dramatic turn of events from just, well, yesterday, when it was unclear if Goodell would let Vick play in any NFL Reindeer Games at all. Read more…
For both casual and devoted fans of any given sport, there’s no more frightening word to enter the discussion than “lockout.” Sports seasons are supposed to come and go like actual seasons, not go and then wait for extremely rich people to shake hands every couple of years.
(Also a problem - the NFLPA’s executive director apparently has a basketball in his office. Sir, do you know what sport you’re representing?)
But that’s what the NFL is headed toward, according to the executive director of the NFLPA, De Smith*. Smith was at Colts camp today and told reporters that’s what he’s expecting when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2011. Oh, good.
Apparently, having a track record of domestic assault charges and a girlfriend with a busted up face wasn’t enough to convince jurists that Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall was guilty of it this time - not even close. The ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION reports that it took a jury less than an hour to deliberate before acquitting Marshall of domestic assault charges filed by his girlfriend following a confrontation in March 2008.
Take that, “Outside the Lines”! Because while ESPN’s hard news program aired an in-depth report in late May on Marshall’s history of domestic abuse complaints, including no less than 13 cases where the police had the get involved, it doesn’t seem that report made its way down to Georgia. Or the jury actually chose to follow instructions and not watch or read anything involving the case. Yeah, right!
At first glance, “Tank McNamara” may seem the least likely of comic strips to be pulled from newspapers because of some ugly controversy. Well, except for “Family Circus.” In fact, if pressed, I’ll bet few people can even tell you what “Tank McNamara” is about — it’s just the comic strip in the sports section you always skim over on your way to the baseball box scores and Cialis ads. Even though it’s been around since 1974.
But those fans who read it religiously know that Tank has grown out of his affable doofus stage. No longer a benign character, the athlete-turned-commentator tackles contemporary issues with 21st-century aplomb; hot-button issues such as steroids, gambling addiction, runaway athlete salaries and now … Dick Cheney advising a hit on Michael Vick? What? If you’re wondering why today’s “Tank McNamara” in the Washington Post is a rerun, it’s because the paper has pulled it.
(The offending comic in question is after the jump.)
(I want to thank the Good Lord for no hot-air hand dryer)
Early this week a friend invited me to the game, which gave a good excuse to get out of L.A. for a long weekend. That weekend has barely started, but I’ve already got the only thing I’ll remember from the trip.
How long does an indefinite suspension last? It sounds like some sort of sports-themed Zen riddle, but it was a question on the minds of many football fans regarding the suspension of noted animal lover and one-time NFL quarterback Michael Vick.
Since Vick was released from federal custody earlier this month, many sportswriters have speculated on the timeline for Vick’s return to the NFL. Whereas once it seemed like a long shot that an NFL team would even entertain the notion of employing Vick, now it seems like almost an inevitably that someone will give him a shot. This afternoon, Vick came one giant leap closer to an NFL roster after commissioner Roger Goodell finally decided Vick’s fate.
When SbB held its first 30-day moratorium poll this past week, I was somewhat disappointed that there could be only one winner. And while the actual choice (who shall not be named) was fine enough, it meant that we were still going to have to talk about what Terrell Owens is doing.
And that, today, is apparently suggesting that Roger Goodell go spend some time in prison so that he knows what Michael Vick has been through. This in response to the idea floating around that Goodell plans to suspend Vick for four games as a condition for returning to the league. Ray Ratto thinks T.O. might have some ulterior motives, but that he appears to be genuine in his support for Vick. Now, about the suspension…well, I can’t put it nearly as eloquently as T.O. can (via FANHOUSE):
“I don’t think it’s really fair for him to be suspended four more games. That’s almost like kicking a dead horse in the ground.”
Oddly, T.O. has a bit of a point. Vick’s livelihood was taken away while he was in prison, so why would Goodell feel the need to tack on a token suspension that is the same length as one for a first violation of the league’s drug policy? I mean, if he really considered the prison time as separate from the league’s punishment, then you would think the suspension would be harsher, like a year or something. Otherwise, isn’t being out of the league for two years and going bankrupt serving the same purpose? I don’t think Goodell has to give him four games off to prove that the NFL doesn’t approve of dogfighters. I think that’s pretty well understood, considering you get in trouble for wearing your socks wrong in that league.
Don’t be fooled by that 5-0 win by Mexico over the U.S. in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final yesterday at Giants Stadium. The Americans have been playing this entire tournament with a second-tier squad made up mostly of players with little international experience. The Mexicans, meanwhile, put a much better team out on the field, as was shown by their dominance throughout the tournament. And, while it was sad to see the U.S. team fall apart, the way Mexico dismantled our guys in the second half was quite a thing to watch (the game was scoreless at halftime). Get ready for goooooooooooools-a-plenty:
The U.S. was somewhat fortunate to advance this far, struggling to a tie with powerhouse Haiti and needing extra time to beat Panama. So a loss was to be expected, though the magnitude was larger than anyone thought. It’s the worst loss for the U.S. since 1985. Perhaps it was for the best that it was only on in English on the tiny Fox Soccer Channel.
If anything, this was a moral boost for the Mexicans going into the huge showdown on August 12th between the two countries in World Cup qualifying in Mexico City. None of the players the U.S. used yesterday are likely to play in that game, while a couple of Mexico’s players will probably see action. But I can’t imagine that this game is really going to have much impact on the qualifier. The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS’ Filip Bondyseems to think that the credibility the U.S. earned in games against Spain and Brazil is diminished by this result, but anyone who follows the sport closely (ie. everyone in the world besides Americans) knows that the U.S. lineup was a shell of the team that made waves in South Africa.
The NEW YORK TIMES seems to have grasped this, and notes that all of the goodwill Mexico earned yesterday could be lost if they can’t beat the Americans in August. The U.S. is 0-22-1 all-time in Mexico, but a win by the Americans would be devastating to the hosts, who are fourth in the qualifying group (only the top three automatically make the World Cup). The U.S. is currently in second place behind Costa Rica.
• Lou Holtztook a Notre Dame alumni team over to Japan, where he coached them to a 19-3 win over the Japanese national team. No word on whether or not “Dr. Lou” made an appearance on Japanese television.
• Dwyane Wade is tweeting to Lamar Odom, trying to coax him down to Miami. What he doesn’t seem to realize is that a bag of Jolly Ranchers will do the trick.
• French president Nicolas Sarkozy can’t stand the heat. Literally. He collapsed while jogging yesterday in Paris, but he’s going to be just fine. Which means we can run this picture of his wife without any guilt:
