Categories
Atlanta Falcons

Odds and Ends: Michael Vick loves animals



Vick has a message for dog lovers

Michael Vick’s publicist might just jump off a bridge. The latest incident involves a search of a property in Virginia owned by Vick because authorities believed that dogs were being trained there for illegal fights. Vick doesn’t live at the house but his nephew does.


Early reports indicate as many as 70 dogs on the property, including 60 pit bulls with wounds that appear to be consistent with dog-fighting. Authorities have allegedly uncovered extensive dog-fighting paraphernalia, including rape stands (used to allow fighting dogs to breed while preventing them from attacking each other), equipment used to build strength and endurance in fighting dogs, and controlled substances frequently used in dog-fighting.

Now, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the extent that Vick was involved… oh what the hell, let’s just jump to conclusions. How the hell do you now know what your nephew is doing on a property that you own? This is just another example of Vick’s ability to win friends and influence people. Let’s just hope that nobody was pumping the dogs with steroids.

In other news…

[SC]: The Falcons now lead the league in animal cruelty

[Philly.com]: Meet Brian Westbrook’s brother, Byron. No, that’s not confusing at all.

[The Offside]: Croatian Footballer Given a Sheep for Every Goal he Scores. What he does with it is up to him.

[The Big Picture]: What movie sporting event would you have liked to attend in person?

[Our Book of Scrap]: Tony Stewart says NASCAR is fixed

And finally, if you have a lot of time to waste, you can watch cheddar as it ripens. Seriously. Or like us, you can sit around and wonder, “hey whatever happened to Bridget Fonda?” and “why does Nic Cage suck so much?”

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

Michael Vick is a cheap bastard


It’s all over the newsfeeds today: Michael Vick is donating $10k to families of the victims of his alumni, Virginia Tech. If Vick thought this was good publicity, he is wrong. Remember, this is a guy who signed a $130M contract and is the highest paid player in NFL history. And he can only muster up 10k? With wonderful gestures such as the Nationals donning VT caps and Curtis Granderson’s tribute to “his biggest fan”, a VT student killed on Monday, Vick’s piddly donation seems shallow and lacking.

Of course, in moments like this, I always wonder if *I* am the dick, so I got Flash Warner‘s take on this as well:

Sportscolumn: Did you see Michael Vick is donating $10k to assist families of the VT tragedy?
Is it wrong that I think that’s cheap as hell?

The rest of this conversation after the jump.

Categories
Denver Nuggets

Melo continues the trend of disrespect between athletes and fans



Don’t let the nice smile
fool ya.

When did being a professional athlete become so stressful and difficult that a common response to their fans has become one of bitterness and violence? We’re not too sure when the exact point in time was, but it has become obvious that a disrespect of fans is now quite common.

The most recent example of this involves Carmelo Anthony’s hoodlum buddy who punched one of Melo’s fans after he asked for an autograph in front of a Denver 7-11 last month. Sure, the guy was totally out of line to get pissed because of the denial but when you’re the face of a franchise there are some things that players just have to let roll of their backs. First off, Anthony has to expect that people are going to walk up to him and ask for a picture or autograph if he’s just walking down the street. Is it really too hard to just take five seconds out of your freaking day to oblige the fan. He’ll probably rush out and buy your jersey and poster if you do.

But it’s not just Melo. Other basketball players like Zach Randolph have been flipping the bird to the crowd at rival stadiums and even an NBA referee was busted giving the one finger salute to an arena full of fans. Michael Vick showed Atlanta fans his personal interpretation of the “dirty bird” last season after being booed for a piss poor performance. Pitchers Randy Johnson and Kenny Rogers both attacked members of the media when they didn’t want to bothered. And soccer fans and players seem to have a mutual disrespect issue of their own.

Part of the job description when it comes to making a living as a professional athlete involves the ability to take criticism. Whether from the fans or the media, the majority of today’s athletes are simply not equipped with the people skills necessary to handle the pressures that come along with being permanently forced into the spotlight. Either that or there are just a lot of jerks who happen to be gifted in sports.

Links:

[RockyMountainNews.com]: Friend of Nugget Anthony ticketed in fight with fan
[TheDenverChannel.com]: Carmelo: Witness to crime?

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

I suppose you can tell me of a better place to keep my bling?


Michael Vick finally spoke publicly for the first time since his suspicious bottle incident at the Miami International Airport two months ago, and frankly his story doesn’t hold water. Vick says that the bottle which was confiscated for having a secret compartment that stunk of the sticky-icky-icky was actually a jewelry box. OK, Mike, we believe you. It was a jewelry box that you hid your marijuana in.

We went through all of this because there was a little water at the top,” Vick said. “I told them it was my stash box for jewelry. That is what I told everybody, but that wasn’t written.” He then went on to say that, “As for the smell and where that came from, I sat in the airport for another hour and 30 minutes. If there was something wrong, we could have handled the situation on the spot.

Vick also said that he’s been doing this for years but he’s never run into any trouble before.

I have had that bottle for years, for a long time,” said Vick. “If you had seen the bottle, you would have never known there was any jewelry in there,” he said. “I have had things stolen out of hotels. But I had never checked it through the airport.

Oh, now it’s all making sense. So, the smell came from your expensive weed scented jewelry that you keep in an Aquafina water bottle jewelry box that you’ve been using for years. Rumor has it that Levi Jones is using the same security system.

Links:

[AJC.com]: Vick: Water Bottle Place to Keep Jewerly
[The Smoking Gun]: Vick in Airport Water Bottle Incident

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

It Was Either This Or A Head Shop



Why is everyone always checking
out what I’m drinking?

We all know how much Michael Vick loves to smoke pot, so it only makes sense that the Falcons’ quarterback would open his own restaurant to handle his frequent late night munchies. On Wednesday, The Tasting Room became a reality; opening in suburban Atlanta and for profits sake Vick had better pray that Falcons fans have forgotten about the dirty bird that No. 7 dropped on them after getting booed off the field following a 31-13 home loss to the Saints in November.

Maybe this will offset some of that attention I’ve been getting, whether positive or negative. It’s good for people to see that I’m giving back to the community, where people can see me trying to do something that’s positive. There’s a lot of people speculating about things I do that are not so positive.

You mean like trying to sneak a MacGuyveresque homemade bottle meant for smuggling dope on to an airplane? It’s not speculation after you get caught.

Links:

[11Alive.com]: VICK OPENS EATERY, MUM ON PROBLEMS
[AJC.com]: RESTAURANT OPEN, BUT VICK NOT

Categories
General Sports

Odds and Ends: More on the SI Swimsuit Issue


We thought SI was trying too hard and making a mistake by putting Beyonce on the cover. Now we see they are trying to even harder with this new Swimsuit photos in 3-D business. By layering pictures, they are creating a 3-D effect. Hot models in 3-D? Sign us up! But the technology is really poorly done. All that happens is the reader just ends up with a moving blurring photograph that sucks. Stick to the basics, SI, that’s what got you $35M in ad revenue for the swimsuit issue in the first place. Check out Slate’s Intellectual History of the Swimsuit Issue. (Oh by the way, nice ipod.)

In other news…

[Charlotte.com]: Bobby Petrino gives Michael Vick more rope to hang himself responsibility

[Toronto Star]: Grey Cup naming rights to be sold

[The Big Lead]: Sacramento State Girls Know How to Party (Well, the Soccer Team Does)

[Can’t Stop the Bleeding]: Toronto still loves Vince Carter

[Knickerblogger.net]: All Star “Snubs” – An Exercise in Intellectual Laziness

And finally, we have two wrestling stories. First is a good one about a wrestler with no legs who is kicking ass in Missouri. The second… well, just watch the clip below. (We don’t know what the hell is up with the audio.)

Categories
Atlanta Hawks

In today’s marijuana news…


We’ve got a trio of drug related news for you today folks. First up is Michael “Don’t Criticize Me” Vick. Vick has been cleared by Miami police of any wrongdoing because the super secret spy water bottle he tried to bring aboard a plane at Miami International did not contain any pot. Vick certainly dodged a bullet there but what kind of moron refuses to surrender a water bottle with NOTHING IN IT? Vick’s last contract was for $130M… the water bottle costs $20. That Michael Vick ain’t too smart.

Second up is yet another Bengals arrest. This time cornerback Johnathan Joseph was arrested for pot possession after a car in which he was the passenger was pulled over. Police smelled marijuana and searched a Super Bowl XL backpack and found the pot. Good thing that swag is going to good use. This marks the 4,397th arrest for the Bengals this year.

Finally, Mike Tyson has plead not guilty to drug charges even though he admitted to being an addict in an interview with police and was busted with cocaine. His lawyer said, “Drug addiction is a victimless crime. We believe this is the kind of crime where you shouldn’t go to prison.” So doesn’t this mean he’s guilty but wants a lighter sentence? Ahh the good ole justice system. He’ll get a slap on the wrist and some community service.

Links:
[Miami Herald]: There was no pot in Vick’s bottle, police confirm
[Cincinnati Enquirer]: Bengals’ Joseph arrested
[AZ Central]: Tyson pleads not guilty to drug charges

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

Michael Vick has a message for the fans


That love affair Atlanta has with Michael Vick might be coming to an end soon. You can pretty much do anything you want as a professional athlete as long as it doesn’t involve a live boy or a dead girl. Murder accessory to murder of two people? Use your cell phone to sell some drugs? Kill someone while driving drunk? Fans are willing to forget all that. But you cannot flip the fans off.

Fans can call your mother a whore and your wife a disease infested stripper (she probably is a stripper anyway), but you cannot retaliate. So when Michael Vick flipped the bird to some hecklers on his way off the field (after Atlanta’s fourth loss in a row, by the way), he got himself into a whole mess of trouble. Now, Atlanta isn’t the most passionate of sports towns but we have to imagine that running this photo over and over won’t help Vick’s current on the field struggles.

Vick did issue a statement apologizing to the fans:


First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my inappropriate actions with fans today. I was frustrated and upset at how the game was going for my team, and that frustration came out the wrong way. That’s not what I’m about. That’s not what the Atlanta Falcons are about. I simply lost my cool in the heat of the moment. I apologize and look forward to putting this incident behind me.

“That’s not what I’m about”? Hmmm… and Kramer isn’t a racist. We always knew Michael Vick was overrated, we just didn’t know he was a punk too.

Links:
[AJC.com]: Vick apologizes for obscene gesture

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

Michael Vick needs some Herpicin-L



Herpes simplex 7

We don’t know who MediaTakeOut.com is but they have an “exclusive” photo of Michael Vick “embracing” a blunt and what appears to be a herpes cold sore on his mouth. (First, “embracing a blunt”? Second, how exclusive can it be if they got the photo from a myspace profile page. Then they put their website address on it. Jesus guys, we know you want more traffic but myspace is only read by 60 trillion people. If that’s exclusive, then so is Paris Hilton’s cooch. That site is absolutely worthless but since they found the photo, we’ll follow the blogging rules. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

We find this story to be hilarious not because of the blunt in his hand but because of the cold sore. We always knew the story of Ron Mexico was true but here’s actual proof. We gotta say this about Michael Vick, a little cold sore doesn’t keep him from partying, unlike, say, those guys from Spinal Tap.

God bless Michael Vick. Everytime we see the Valtrex commercials on TV, we start thinking about Vick looking confused in the pocket as Paul McGuire continues to talk about how great he is and we always have a good laugh.

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

Ron Mexico settles out of court


Sonya Elliot, the woman who sued Michael Vick for giving her herpes simplex II (much milder than the dreaded herpes simple ten) has settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

This woman is one of the unsung heroes of modern sports pop culture. Without her, we would never have Ron Mexico. Without her, thousands of fans wouldn’t be able to throw tubes of Herpecin-L and make outbreak jokes at Michael Vick. What? No one throws tubes of herpecin at Ron Mexico? That’s just a wasted opportunity.

Links:
[Atlanta Journal Constitution]: Attorney: Vick suit resolved