"I think it's clear he's paid a price, but to a large extent he's going to have to demonstrate to the larger community — not just to the NFL community and to me — that he has remorse for what he did and that he recognizes mistakes that he made."
Roger Goodell, the heavy-handed commissioner of the National Football League, is already being asked for his musings on the highest-profile case that he has seen or will likely see in his commissioning tenure.
With Michael Vick set to be released from prison just in time for the opening days of NFL training camps. The Atlanta Falcons, who still retain his rights, are saying he'll be up for grabs. With 31 teams who could not only use a specimen like Michael Vick, but a Michael Vick who has been doing nothing but thinking and lifting weights (pick which one he does better), it's a safe bet that there are more than a handful of teams who would be willing to fork over the extra money to install some fire-hoses to ward of the PeTA protesters who would surely bombard their respective stadium.
But hold those horses! Goodell says that the court ordered paying of debts, both monetary and punitive, may not be enough. Goodell is saying that the single most explosive player isn't going to be able to waltz in like he owns the place anymore. He is going to have to pay even more. He is going to be weighed on a scale more mighty and fearsome than any judicial system known to man.
He's going to have to tell Goodell that he's sorry. And he's going to have to mean it.
The most omniscient Goodell will try the man's soul. He will look into his very heart and determine the sincerity of his words. All will hail his magnanimous judgment for it will be good. It will be just. It will be politically correct. This man who has been living behind bars had better be grateful for the millions he may or may not get back, and he had better not be lying about it.
Because this is the NFL. We don't take kindly to people who lie and get caught.
Yes, we do have writers here. Yes, some of them watch sports on occasion. Yes, we've fallen off our game. But you know what? I've had shit to do. What are you doing right now? Looking at random blogs? Real fucking busy you are. Get off my ass.
Ok, if you're looking for more Eddy Curry hate, you won't find it here. We now have a moratorium on Eddy Curry. The dude has been the butt of so much hate this year, that it's just about time to take a chill pill and let him sort through his own problems for his own good. Shake the haters off, Eddy.
So none of you sorry sacks of shit have probably noticed, but we are looking at a serious NBA season. Serious. Big time. The players are playing, the teams are hitting.
Go ahead, think about the best five teams in your head right now. Don't worry, I'll wait.
OMG! FUNK!
Did you think of the top five teams? If you thought of Phoenix, you should jump out of a window. If you thought of Miami, you are really behind the times (but at least Dwyane Wade is balling out of control).
Essentially, the West's hegemony is done. It was probably done last year, but fuck it. The top three East teams (Cleveland, Boston, Orlando) are wrecking shop. Top to bottom, the West's playoff teams have a slight edge, but the learning curve ends there. Minny, the Oaktown Globetrotters, Memphis, the Clipshow, Sactown, and the OKC are pitiful. Ugly. JV. I can't say enough about how bad they are. Put it this way, the only team in the East that's worse than any of the aforementioned Westerners are the Washington Wizards. The same team that shares (with OKC) the dubious distinction of being the worst team in the League.
So it breaks down like this. Every superstar in the L is playing like they deserve the MVP. Every theory about NBA players getting worn out and not playing as well with an Olympic hangover has officially been debunked. Every night LeBron puts up a triple-double, Chris Paul does it the next night. Kobe's personal numbers are down, but his team is the best in the world. And they've started grabbing their nuts in-game.
The Celtics keep balling, and the Spurs are there normal quiet selves. At this point, I can't really see anyone coming out of the East other than the Celtics. LeBron is the shit, but he's still a one-man show. Anderson "Sideshow" Varejao has been playing like he should've last year (which is good), but nobody besides Bron on that team is going to beat you. He almost took it to the Cs last year, but didn't. Orlando's wrecking shop, and Dwight Howard is doing much for his MVP campaign, but he's still too raw, and the team actually runs pretty much on Jameer Nelson. Basically, the Magic are going to shit themselves sometimes in early May, the Celtics and the Cleveland LeBrons are going to throw down in late May, and the Lord will be pleased. As for the West, the Lakers are untouchable. The next best team is the Spurs, and while it is folly to sleep on the men from San Antone in odd-numbered years, it could be that the swan song for Mexican Azzurri has already happened. Case in point, the Spurs beat the Lakeshow with a wacky Roger Mason three-point play a couple of weeks ago. This W took the Spurs getting all the calls, and the Lakers being without Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, and some other fools. Last night the Lakers whomped the Spurs.
So as for the playoffs, it breaks down like this.
In the West, Houston seems safe at the 5th seed, but I don't see them keeping a comfortable lead over Portland, Phoenix, Dallas, or Utah (who's on the outside looking in, and very shorthanded at the time). It will really be a dogfight for the bottom half of the West's playoff seeds between those five teams, with someone getting left out.
The East gets a little crazier. Right now it's Detroit (5), Miami (6), Philadelphia (7), and Milwaukee (8). Detroit still hasn't gotten it together, and is even considering shopping Allen Iverson (WHAT?!). Miami is riding Flash, but they've got their own lineup problems, and is thinking of trying to deal Shawn Marion (no surprise). Philadelphia has put together a nice little run to get to .500, but they've been doing so by running the fuck out of teams behind Louis Williams and Andre Iguodala, taking advantage of the fact that Elton Brand is out of the lineup. The problem being that when he comes back, he can't keep up with the others, and they could end up looking like a poor man's Phoenix, except without Shaq, they have Elton Brand, without Amare Stoudemire, they have Samuel Dalembert, and... you get the picture. Milwaukee is clinging with their fingernails to that bottom spot, but they just lost Michael Redd for the season. Unless there's some chemistry between Richard Jefferson and Andrew Bogut that I'm not seeing (there isn't), the Bucks will plummet, opening up the bottom two to four spots for everybody except the Wizards.
Naturally, there are months left in the season, and anything can happen between now and then.
"I think it's clear he's paid a price, but to a large extent he's going to have to demonstrate to the larger community — not just to the NFL community and to me — that he has remorse for what he did and that he recognizes mistakes that he made."
it's a safe bet that there are more than a handful of teams who would be willing to fork over the extra money to install some fire-hoses to ward of the PeTA protesters who would surely bombard their respective stadium.
And he's going to have to mean it.
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