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Thursday, April 26, 2007
Hoping NFL commissioner can influence Vick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
It’s one thing for Michael Vick to stiff a bunch of U.S. congressmen, which he did earlier this week.
It’s another if Vick is a no-show on Saturday in New York, where he is slated to be a part of ceremony before the NFL draft that will include somebody less forgiving than many on Capitol Hill.
We’re referring to Roger Goodell, the tough-guy commissioner. After just months on the job, Goodell already has shown his intolerance for the epidemic of knuckleheads in the league by sending Pacman Jones and Chris Henry to the NFL slammer. So, given the spiraling mess around the Falcons’ knucklehead at quarterback, Goodell needs to do a couple things before or after the first set of teams is on the clock.
You know, provided Vick doesn’t miss his flight or something.
No. 1: Goodell needs to look Vick in the eyes and tell him with a strong voice that the coddling is over.
No. 2: Goodell needs to tell Vick that he is one more “something” away from becoming a person of interest. That’s in regard to the commissioner’s edict last month that demands good conduct off the field by all NFL players — or else.
I mean, somebody has to begin screaming into Vick’s ears. Nobody is doing so around Flowery Branch. Either that or Vick just isn’t listening. At best, he is indifferent to whatever voice of authority he actually may hear from the Falcons, and who can blame him? He has spent much of his six seasons with the franchise as a $130 million pampered soul. You’ve had everything from owner Arthur Blank pushing a broken-legged Vick around in that wheelchair on the sideline to general manager Rich McKay’s getting amnesia after admitting publicly to scolding Vick.
Remember?
Well, McKay doesn’t.
When word surfaced in January of Vick’s water-bottle thing at the Miami International Airport, McKay called a news conference to speak of a “stressful” meeting of Vick and other team officials and to say Vick had “let a lot of people down” before adding Blank “was upset.” Days later, Miami police dropped the investigation. Two months later, McKay suggested reports of his previous hard-line stance with Vick were figments of the media’s imagination. McKay said he never spoke to No. 7 about the contents of the water bottle.
Such flip-flopping by Falcons management just contributes to Vick staying out of control. The missing watch (not his, by the way) incident at a security gate of the Atlanta airport. Ron Mexico. That trick water bottle. Numerous parking ticket issues. His one-fingered salute to fans at the Georgia Dome. Then came this week. It began with Vick missing his flight to Washington for a breakfast with those congressman and others involved with Vick regarding the funding of after-school problems. It continued on Thursday, when Virginia police searched a property owned by Vick but occupied by a relative. That relative was being investigated for drugs at the residence when the police discovered a possible dog-fighting ring.
Vick also was due to appear in a Virginia court on Thursday on trespassing charges for a fishing violation. We’re talking about minor stuff. But we’re still talking about stuff, and there is too much stuff involving Vick these days.
“This really is unfortunate, because Mike is such a great guy,” said Susan Bass, the director of Vick’s foundation. “He cares about his family, his friends. He cares about football, and he’s just trying to live a peaceful life. So when these things happen to him, it’s unfortunate, because it doesn’t reflect who he really is.”
Whatever the case, the commissioner needs to say something to the guy at Saturday’s draft. Vick is scheduled to join fellow Virginia Tech players DeAngelo Hall and Bruce Smith, along with Hokies coach Frank Beamer and Goodell, on stage for a tribute to the Virginia Tech community.
Then will the commissioner say something to Vick? “That’s not planned, no,” said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, before keeping hope alive by adding, “Then again, the commissioner will be visiting with a lot of people Saturday.”
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Tech basketball’s in limbo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
People think college basketball coaches earn their money in March. Wrong. College coaches gain bigger jobs in March, but the real strain comes in April. As we speak, Paul Hewitt has no idea what sort of team he’s going to have when practice commences in the fall.
It might be a good one, a Top-10-in-preseason sort of team. It might be a picked-to-finish-ninth-in-the-ACC sort of team. It might fall in between. And whether Tech is good, bad, or indifferent in 2007-2008 is now out of Hewitt’s hands. Think how that must feel.
Nobody at Georgia Tech was surprised that one freshman decided to explore NBA draft options. Some Tech folks figured it would be Thaddeus Young doing the exploring; others were guessing it’d be Javaris Crittenton. That both have taken the step qualifies as a surprise. Neither seems a lock to go even in the lottery, which consists of 14 picks, and NBAdraft.net has Crittenton at No. 25. (Then again, Jarrett Jack left early two seasons ago and was taken with the 22nd pick, and he started 79 games for Portland this season.)
The guess here — just a guess — is that one of the two will return to Tech. If I’m Hewitt, I’d rather have Crittenton for a second season than Young, who’s the bigger talent but who plays a less essential position. Tech without Crittenton next season would be akin to the rudderless team without Jack in 2005-2006.
If both leave, the Jackets of next season will look pretty much like an older version of that team — Anthony Morrow, Jeremis Smith, Ra’Sean Dickey and maybe Lewis Clinch — plus incoming freshman Gani Lawal. And how did Tech do in 2005-2006? It finished 11-17.
As the Jackets were struggling to win a road game over the winter, some Tech fans looked on the team and said, “We’re just young. We’ll be better next year.” Alas, contemporary college basketball holds no assurances for any next year. Ohio State was young, and it played for the national championship. Syracuse was young in 2003, and it won the national championship. A coach had better win big with what he has when he has it because he might not have it for long.
Hewitt is still trying to live down the inability to reach the NCAA tournament in Chris Bosh’s one collegiate season. Will he now have to face similar scrutiny for not being able to win an NCAA game with two one-and-done’ers on his roster? He doesn’t yet know. He doesn’t know who’s coming back. More to the point, he doesn’t know who isn’t.
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