"Goodell and Vick"

[achebeautiful]

"Goodell changing the rules"
~ Mark Kriegel



The other night, Bud Selig showed up to watch his Brewers play the Giants in Miller Park. Considering the confluence of circumstances — Hank Aaron's glorious history in Milwaukee, and Barry Bonds being just two home runs shy of Aaron's record — this had long been anticipated as baseball's Perfect Storm.

Still, the commissioner sought to minimize the occasion, declining even his broadcast partners' request for an on-camera interview. Instead, he held an informal eight-minute press conference, managing to not use the words "Barry" or "Bonds." He spent the rest of the time behind tinted glass.
It seems to me that this episode epitomizes Selig's greatest talent: ignoring the obvious. It's also an example of what a commissioner should not do — after all, ignoring the steroid problem for years only made it that much worse.

One imagines these lessons have not been lost on Roger Goodell, who ordered Michael Vick to stay away from Falcons training camp. The story — first reported by FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer — makes you wonder how Vick will ever play this season. He's not Roger Clemens. A team needs its starting quarterback to be in camp.

Then again, that had to be exactly what Goodell had in mind. I don't know if it's right, certainly not after the Duke lacrosse players charged with sexual assault were exonerated. But that's the way it is. For better or worse, Goodell is changing the rules.

There has never been a worse time to be a commissioner of a major American sport. Baseball has its steroid scandal. Basketball has its scandalous referee (let us assume, at least for now, that Tim Donaghy acted alone). And football, which for years has gone easy on some of its worst guys, now has Michael Vick.

Vick, who was supposed to be the face of pro football, is a huge problem for the Falcons and the league. The outrage incited by dogfighting runs very, very deep. The PETA people love a good protest. Still more complicated and potentially divisive is the idea — raised best over the weekend in an excellent ESPN piece — that attitudes on Vick may divide along racial lines. But no one will be able to accuse Goodell of doing too little too late. No one can say he took a pass.

Unlike Selig, who might have convened a blue ribbon panel to study dogfighting, Goodell understands that scandals are born in the waiting. So he didn't wait on the union. He didn't wait on a verdict. Rather, he seized an opportunity to draw a distinction between right and privilege.

In a letter to the quarterback, he explained that due process is a constitutional right for the accused, not a privilege accorded to those with a roster spot: "While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football league to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy."

Pacman Jones, who keeps getting arrested before he can even go to trial, no longer seems an anomaly. Goodell is less concerned with individual rights than the greater good, the league's image. At least he's consistent. The message is clear: conviction is no prerequisite to punishment. The guys in your crew aren't an excuse anymore. Bad behavior won't be ignored.

[achebeautiful]

Goodell is right on the money in how he is handling this situation. What remains to be seen is whether or not he will continue to be this way toward all NFL players, all the time.

Atlanta was prepared to hand Vick a four game suspension for all of this, but Goodell called that decision off, saying that Vick should not appear at training camp until an investigation of this situation was concluded. My guess is that Goodell has very good reason to believe that Vick is guilty, and wants to take a step by step process to be sure that the NFL and its player's union handles this situation perfectly. If the Falcons give Vick a four game suspension, he then has "served his time" and can again play. Furthermore, the four game suspension does not keep him from being in training camp. But a careful, step by step procedure will ensure that Vick does not play again, at least this year.

I love it that Goodell is handling this situation in the manner in which he is doing so. I'm sure he will come under heavy criticism for judging Vick prematurely (that one is innocent until proven guilty). Who cares? People with Vick's money get lots of "innocence" even if in truth they are guilty.

I have no problem with raising the price of being innocent to those who think they are invincible; for those who think they can treat life with disregard and carelessness.

Vick is as innocent as OJ Simpson.

[achebeautiful]

Falcons heeding NFL, holding off on suspending Vick
~ July 24, 2007
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports


ATLANTA -- Horrified by the dogfighting allegations against their star player, the Atlanta Falcons planned to suspend quarterback Michael Vick for four games until the NFL asked them to hold off while it conducted its own investigation.

What remains unclear: Has Vick played his final game for Atlanta?

"This sort of behavior is really horrific," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Tuesday, the team's first public comment since Vick was indicted last week. "This is certainly not the player or the person that I knew the last six years."

The Falcons said they have discussed cutting Vick and seemed to signal he will miss at least a fourth of the season even if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't impose his own punishment against the quarterback, indicted on federal charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation.

Most tellingly, Blank said he would encourage Vick to give up any thoughts of playing while the case is pending -- even if it means sitting out the entire season. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Richmond, Va., on Thursday, the same day the Falcons open training camp.

"This is not about playing football in 2007," said Blank, who was joined at a news conference by general manager Rich McKay and new coach Bobby Petrino. "This is a very difficult process he'll be going through over the next couple of months. It's very difficult to do that and focus on football at the same time."


Owner Arthur Blank and general manger Rich McKay explain the Falcons' position. (AP)
Goodell weighed in on Vick's case during a news conference with NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw in Washington, where the two discussed an alliance to help former players.

"Let me make it very clear that the National Football League is very disappointed that Michael put himself in this position," Goodell said. "In no way do we think that dogfighting or anything related to dogfighting is acceptable. We think it's despicable, frankly."

As for why he blocked an immediate suspension against Vick, Goodell said the league needed more time to study an indictment that is just a week old.

"We're looking at this from the long term," he said. "We understand how our fans are reacting to this. It is very emotional for all of us. But we have to remember that we are still at a state where these are charges. These are allegations."

Under the league's collective bargaining agreement, a team can impose a four-game suspension for detrimental conduct. The league's new conduct policy allows Goodell to hand down a stiffer penalty.

"Prior to this, we were pursuing the maximum discipline, which is a four-game suspension," Blank said. "We had gone so far as to draft the letter. But the commissioner asked us not to take action until they completed their review."

Clearly, the Falcons did not want to begin training camp with a quarterback who was under federal indictment, even though he led them to the NFC championship game during the 2004 season and last year became the first quarterback in league history to rush for 1,000 yards

[lapayin]

Interesting story Mark.

My opinion is, it's about time the sports world holds their atheletes responsible for their actions. Kudos to Goodell for doing his job - it's about time that someone did.

[achebeautiful]

"Embattled Vick to start legal process in federal court Thursday"
~ July 26, 2007
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports


RICHMOND, Va. -- Michael Vick was due in federal court Thursday to start a legal process that jeopardizes not only his career, but also his freedom.

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback was expected to appear at a bond hearing and enter a plea on dogfighting conspiracy charges. Vick is accused with three others of conspiracy involving competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines. Federal prosecutors allege the operation -- known as Bad Newz Kennels -- operated on Vick's property in rural Surry County.

They all face up to six years in prison, $350,000 in fines and restitution if convicted of both charges.

The grisly allegations detailed in an 18-page indictment sparked protests by animal rights groups at the headquarters of the NFL and the Falcons, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has barred Vick from training camp while the league investigates.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the team wanted to suspend Vick for four games, the maximum penalty a team can assess a player, but the NFL asked him to wait. Instead, Blank has told his embattled player to focus on his legal problems, not football.

The case began April 25 when investigators conducting a drug search at the home found 66 dogs, including 55 pit bulls, and equipment typically used in dogfighting. Items such as a "rape stand" that holds aggressive dogs in place for mating and a "breakstick" used to pry open a dog's mouth in a fight were seized.

Vick contended he knew nothing about a dogfighting operation at the home, where one of his cousins lived, and said he rarely visited. He has since declined comment, citing his attorney's advice.

Attorney Lawrence Woodward of Virginia Beach, who has also represented Allen Iverson and Vick's younger brother, Marcus, has not returned several phone messages.

Animal rights organizations have seized on the case as an opportunity to raise awareness of the largely underground and always gruesome world of dogfighting, where dogs are trained to fight to the death.

Five hours before Vick's scheduled arraignment, animal rights activists, supporters of the athlete and the media gathered early Thursday outside the federal courthouse. About 40 people began lining up for a seat in the courtroom or an overflow courtroom.

Some members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals dressed in dog costumes and carried signs, including one with the image of a battered pit bull and the words "Dogfighting Victim."

A trio of supporters from Boston wearing Vick's No. 7 jersey and Atlanta Falcons' hats made the nine-hour trip south to support Vick.

According to the indictment filed July 17, dogs not killed in the fighting pit were often shot, hanged, drowned or, in one case, slammed to the ground. The document alleges that Vick was consulted before one losing dog was wet down and electrocuted.

It alleges that the dogfighting operation began in 2001, not long after Vick parlayed a dazzling two-year run as the quarterback at Virginia Tech into the first overall selection in the NFL Draft. His first contract was for $62 million.

In 2004, he signed a 10-year, $130 million deal, then the richest in league history.

The indictment alleges the fights offered purses as high as $26,000, and Vick once paid $23,000 to the owner of two pit bulls that had beaten Bad Newz Kennels dogs.