Vick's 'Second Chance'

Quarterback Michael Vick speaks of how "everybody deserves a second chance." And the Philadelphia Eagles have given him one.

You might say the Eagles have been down this road before. After he discredited himself in San Francisco, Terrell Owens was given a second chance by the Eagles. He helped Philadelphia finally get to a Super Bowl, but he turned out to be the same clubhouse poison he had been with the 49ers and he moved on to Dallas, where the pattern was repeated and he now finds himself playing for the Buffalo Bills.

Vick, who spent nearly two years in prison after his conviction on felony dogfighting charges, doesn't seem to be the same sort of person that Owens was. He doesn't strike me as a cancerous influence on the team, but it remains to be seen if two years away from the game have robbed him of the talents that impressed pro football fans.

Like Owens, Vick was the beneficiary of the generosity of quarterback Donovan McNabb. And, in many ways, it seems to me McNabb is being even more generous this time. Owens stabbed him in the back when he left the Eagles as his "thank you" — a pattern he repeated when he left Dallas.

McNabb could hardly be blamed for being hesitant to go out on another limb, but he isn't that sort of guy.

For that matter, Vick isn't the same kind of guy as Owens.

Vick seems more humble and, even though he plays the same position as McNabb, he says that "I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for [the] opportunity I have been given."

He won't be allowed to play in regular season games until October. but he says he isn't concerned about playing time right now. And that is probably just fine with McNabb, who, at 32, presumably realizes that age and recent injuries are catching up to him and his career in pro football is finite. Vick, 29, is not that much younger than McNabb, but if his skills are not diminished and he demonstrates that he truly wants to make the most of his second chance, he will be positioned to take over when McNabb's days with the Eagles are finished.

Ross Tucker worries that a quarterback controversy will be brewing in Philadelphia. And it is hard to argue with his logic. He says signing Vick was a mistake.

But Tucker's colleague, SI's Peter King, feels Vick and the Eagles are a near–perfect match, but not everyone in Philadelphia is sold.

"Philadelphia is a city of dog lovers and, most particularly, pit bull lovers," Susan Cosby, the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' chief executive officer, said. "To root for someone who participated in the hanging, drowning, electrocution and shooting of dogs will be impossible for many, no matter how much we would all like to see the Eagles go all the way."

If Vick is wise, he will use the first month of the regular season to work to win over those who see him not as a talented football player but as an animal abuser.

Well, persuading the doubters always was going to be a significant part of his rehabilitation no matter where he went.

College Football Preseason Rankings

SI.com has posted its college football preseason Top 20, along with its rankings of the the rest of Division 1.

And the results are somewhat predictable.

Before I go any farther, here is the Top 20:

1. Florida


2. Texas


3. Oklahoma


4. USC


5. Virginia Tech


6. Ole Miss


7. Oklahoma State


8. Alabama


9. Boise State


10. Ohio State


11. Oregon


12. Georgia Tech


13. LSU


14. Penn State


15. Georgia


16. Florida State


17. TCU


18. Oregon State


19. Utah


20. North Carolina

Now, these rankings aren't entirely predictable. Just certain parts.

And when I say they are predictable, I mean in a hindsight sort of way. Florida, for example, won the national championship last year. And 15 of the other teams in SI.com's Top 20 finished in the Top 20 of last year's final AP Poll. For that matter, the same 16 teams finished in the Top 20 of the USA Today Coaches' Poll. And 14 of these teams were in the Top 20 of the Harris Interactive Poll.

But back to Florida. The Gators also won the national title in 2006. And their quarterback, Tim Tebow, is back for his senior season.

Picking Florida to finish first is not exactly going out on a limb.

Actually, it isn't much of a gamble to pick Texas and Oklahoma for the second and third spots, either. Both programs struggled in the 1990s, but they seem to be back on track. OU won the national title in 2000, Texas won the national title in 2005. And both have been contenders throughout the decade.

Based on the rankings — and SI.com's bowl projections — Texas is the favorite this year.

In fact, the winner of their annual showdown in October is likely to be the odds–on favorite to play for another national title in January. And that is what SI.com is projecting — that Texas will play Florida for the national crown.

Which teams are in SI.com's Top 20 but were not in the Top 20 of those polls at the end of last season? Well, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU and North Carolina were not in the AP poll or the USA Today Coaches' poll. Georgia Tech was in the Harris Interactive Top 20, but Ole Miss, Virginia Tech and Oregon State were not.

It's worth noting, though, that the Harris poll's final rankings came out in early December so the poll didn't take into consideration the facts that Ole Miss, Virginia Tech and Oregon State all won their bowl games.

It is also worth noting that LSU and North Carolina are the only teams in SI.com's Preseason Top 20 that did not appear in the final installations of at least one of those three polls.

But LSU is a pretty easy one to include. The Tigers, after all, won national titles in 2007 and 2003. They're coming off an 8–5 season that included a bowl victory so it isn't much of a longshot to pick LSU to be successful this year. In fact, the only other time this decade in which LSU wasn't ranked at season's end preceded the first of their two national titles in the 21st century.

Now, what about North Carolina? The Tar Heels have more of a reputation as a basketball program than a football program — and they play in a conference that is known more for basketball than football. Well, the Tar Heels have enjoyed some success over the years. They haven't won their conference since 1980, and they've never won a national title. But they also went 8–5 last season. It was the Tar Heels' first winning season since 2001.

So do they deserve to be Number 20 in SI.com's rankings? Apparently so. Armed with "hyperquick" linebackers anchoring a defense that returns nine starters, SI.com says, "It's time to turn the close losses into big wins and step onto the national stage."

We'll see. Boston College and Virginia Tech played for the ACC title last year, with Tech winning. Boston College doesn't have much of a reputation in football, either, but the Eagles have been to bowl games every year since 1999. SI.com ranks Boston College Number 71 heading into the season. Draw from that what you will.

One thing I'm wondering about is how SI.com feels about my alma mater — the University of Arkansas. The Razorbacks have struggled in recent years, and, based on the preseason rankings, they will have their work cut out for them when they play Ole Miss, Alabama and LSU, but SI.com ranks them 37th in the nation and predicts Arkansas will play Clemson in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 27.

That's all the information I've got on the Razorbacks right now. I suppose SI.com will post the Arkansas scouting report later this month — presumably after it appears in print in SI's Aug. 17 issue.

But if the Hogs go back to a bowl game this year, I will be happy. Woo pig sooie!

My Fantasy Football Team

Over the years, fantasy football has grown into a national obsession.

I haven't been immune. In fact, in recent years, I have been signing up for online leagues which will assign you to a league and usually conduct their drafts automatically. You don't have to be online for the draft. All you have to do is list players in your order of preference.

Sometimes you get the players you want. Sometimes you don't.

The other day, I finished my preference list and indicated that I was ready to proceed. The next day, I received an e–mail telling me the draft was complete.

I eagerly looked to see who was on my team (I have named my team the "Pigskins," by the way) — and I must say I'm pretty happy with the squad I got:

• At quarterback, I have Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Cincinnati's Carson Palmer. I've been a Packer fan since I was a child and, despite my initial misgivings, I was rather pleased with Rodgers' performance last year as he took over following the departure of Brett Favre. He'll be my starter at the beginning of the season. If Palmer, who was injured through most of last season, turns out to be a better choice, I will elevate him to starter.


• At wide receiver, I have Carolina's Steve Smith, New England's Wes Welker, St. Louis' Donnie Avery, San Diego's Chris Chambers and Miami's Ted Ginn Jr.
  
  Smith might miss most of the preseason because of a strained shoulder, but he seems likely to be able to play in the regular season opener. He is ranked among the top 25 players in the NFL so I expect to play him a lot. Avery is also dealing with an injury, a stress fracture in his left foot. The expectation is that he will be ready to play when the season begins, but I will need to keep an eye on him. It hasn't been unusual for such an injury to take longer to heal than expected.


• At running back, I have Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, who is widely regarded as the top player in the NFL going into the 2009 season; Green Bay's Ryan Grant, and Arizona's Chris Wells. Grant is 18th among the running backs, according to NFL.com, and Wells is ranked 29th.


• At tight end, I got Houston's Owen Daniels (NFL.com ranks him eighth at that position) and Green Bay's Donald Lee (24th). In my experience, tight ends don't generate that many fantasy points so I feel pretty good about the ones I have.


• My placekicker is New England's Stephen Gostkowski. NFL.com rates him second only to Tennessee's Rob Bironas. Kickers seldom produce a lot of points in fantasy leagues, and NFL.com has no kickers in its Top 100. Kickers tend to produce more points if they kick a lot of field goals, and Gostkowski averaged more than two field goals per game last year.


• At defense, I have the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers. NFL.com ranks the Jets fifth among the league's defenses and Green Bay is 13th. But the Packers made moves in the offseason to improve the defense, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Packers crack the Top 10 before the season is over. Heading into the season, though, both of my defenses are in the top half of the NFL.

Bottom line is that I only have one player in NFL.com's Top 20 (Peterson), but he ranks Number 1 on the list. Smith is 22nd overall. Welker is 32nd, Rodgers is 34th and Grant is 35th, so I have five players in the top 50.

Wells is ranked 55th, Palmer is 70th and Avery is 100th.

So, out of 13 individual players, more than half are ranked in NFL.com's Top 100.

Anyway, I think I'm set now. Let the games begin.

The Wages of Fame

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CNN contributor Bob Greene had an interesting commentary today at CNN.com.

It apparently was inspired by sighting boxing legend Muhammad Ali at a Chicago restaurant.

When this happened isn't mentioned, only that Ali was one of a party of 10 celebrating the birthday of someone named "Marilyn." But it probably doesn't matter.

Ali was the person who drew everyone's attention. As always.

"He may be the only one who remembers his life when it was any other way," Greene wrote in his conclusion.

That is probably so. As hard as it is for me to believe, Ali is 67 years old. And, for most of those years, Ali has been in the public eye — winning the gold medal as an Olympic boxer when he was a teenager, beating aging boxing legend Archie Moore and then winning the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston in his early 20s, coming back from being stripped of his title for refusing to fight in Vietnam and recapturing the title at the age of 32 against the heavily favored George Foreman, losing the title at the age of 36 to 25–year–old Leon Spinks and then recapturing it from Spinks later that year. Especially memorable were his three epic fights with Joe Frazier.

Frazier handed Ali the first of only five defeats in his career, and he lost the last two fights of his career, when he was only a shell of his former self.

He may well possess, as one of the patrons in the restaurant told his children, "the most famous face in the world." When I was a child and Ali was beginning his professional career, such a designation was reserved for presidents and popes, occasionally entertainers like Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe.

It's been many years since Ali was the heavyweight champion of the world. He isn't seen on TV nearly as often as he once was.

But, for many, I'm sure he still has "the most famous face in the world."

I'm equally sure that there are times when he wishes he wasn't as recognizable. But, to hear Greene tell it, he still gives his time to those who approach him.

It is the price he pays for his fame. I guess it is the price he will continue to pay until the day he dies.

Football is Back

Tomorrow night's preseason game between the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans is nothing special — other than the fact that it is the game that is being played for the NFL Hall of Fame's induction weekend and it is a homecoming, of sorts, for Buffalo's Dustin Fox.

But, other than that, it doesn't mean anything. Unless something unexpected happens, it would be surprising if very many people remember much about Hall of Fame weekend by the time the regular season begins.

I expect they will remember it in Buffalo, though. Two of today's six inductees, defensive lineman Bruce Smith and the team's 90–year–old owner Ralph Wilson, played prominent roles in the Bills' glory days.

The other four inductees are Bob Hayes, Randall McDaniel, Derrick Thomas and Rod Woodson.

Obviously, the game won't count in the standings. The players have only been working out as a group for about a week. And what is probably the most intriguing storyline — Terrell Owens and his adjustment to upstate New York — is unlikely to have any additional chapters written tomorrow night. If you see T.O. at all tomorrow night, my guess is he will be on the bench, available only if absolutely necessary.

It will be nothing more than a scrimmage between the backups for two teams. And it may be a bit uncomfortable. Tomorrow's forecast calls for a high of about 90° in Canton, Ohio. With an 8 p.m. (EST) kickoff, much of the first half is likely to be played in daylight and it may be awhile before it really cools off, even after the sun goes down. The forecast low for tomorrow night is 70°, which sounds pretty good here in Dallas but I would expect that the game will be long over by the time the mercury falls to that figure.

The weather isn't as cool as most football fans probably want it to be. And the recognizable players won't be playing.

But it is still football.

I'm more of a college football fan myself. But it is football, and I'm ready to watch some football.

So tee it up and let's go.

The End (?) of the 'Favre-a-palooza'

Minnesota Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe calls it the "Favre–a–palooza."

Well, that's probably as apt a description as any of what appeared, in recent years, to be Brett Favre's annual exercise in ego. But that is too simplistic a summation, it seems to me.

I know many NFL fans have grown weary of this Hamlet in a helmet routine. But I can understand how Favre has felt torn between wanting to play and coming to terms with the fact that his body can't do that kind of thing anymore.

In recent days and weeks, it seemed more and more likely that Favre would take the money, put on the Viking purple and try to lead Minnesota back to the Super Bowl for the first time since Favre was a little boy. And, in the process, possibly give the Vikings their first Super Bowl title in their existence.

Unlike many, I have never been convinced that he was the difference maker, that his presence would put Minnesota in the Super Bowl and save coach Brad Childress. Sure, he got off to a great start in New York last year, but he collapsed in December, which seemed to confirm my suspicion that 39 was really too old for anyone, even someone as talented as Favre, to be starting at quarterback in the NFL.

Now, it seems Favre has reached the same conclusion.

Of course, things may change. Favre may yet throw everyone a curve and change his mind. But, for now, we have to take him at his word.

And, as Judd Zulgad reports for the Minneapolis Star–Tribune, the recently reinstated Michael Vick doesn't appear to be an option the Vikings are considering at quarterback.

So that apparently means that Minnesota will stick with Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels at the quarterback position.

I have to wonder what state of mind those two guys are in, given the fact that their organization has been publicly pursuing Favre this summer. What does that tell them about the franchises's faith in their abilities? Not much, I would guess.

So now begins the really hard part for Childress and his staff — trying to convince Jackson and Rosenfels that the coaches and the players have always had confidence in them.

Sounds like a tough sell to me.

Pennant Races

They played major league baseball's All–Star Game the other day, and now the baseball teams all have resumed their regular schedules following the three–day All–Star break.

How does it look in each division?

Well, let's start with the American League.

• In the Eastern Division, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees could be about to treat baseball fans to one of their epic duels. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by two games — but if the season ended today, New York would clearly win the wild–card spot.


• In the Central Division, the Detroit Tigers have a 1½–game lead over the Chicago White Sox. The Minnesota Twins, 2½ games behind the Tigers, are also in the chase.


• In the Western Division, as I have been predicting all season, the Texas Rangers have fallen behind the Los Angeles Angels by 2½ games. The slumping Rangers are 5–5 in their last 10 games while the Angels are 7–3. And don't look now, but the Seattle Mariners are 4½ games out of first place.

It's probably a little premature for this, but I think fans in Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland, Baltimore and Toronto can probably turn their attention to football season.

The playoff picture seems to be in sharper focus in the National League.

• In the Eastern Division, the world champion Philadelphia Phillies have built a six–game lead over the Florida Marlins. Atlanta is 6½ games out, and the New York Mets are eight games behind.
  
  At 24½ games back (with a winning percentage of .292), I think it's safe to say that the Washington Nationals won't be playing in October. The Nats would need to win about 75% of their remaining games just to finish at .500.


• In the Central Division, the St. Louis Cardinals have been surging lately, thanks in large part to MVP favorite Albert Pujols, who leads the major leagues in home runs and RBIs, and they have taken the division lead. It isn't a done deal, though. Chicago, Houston and Milwaukee are all three games behind, and Cincinnati is hanging in there at 5½ games out.


• The Western Division is the only division in the major leagues that has looked like a lock all season. The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the San Francisco Giants by 6½ games, but the Giants have given the Dodgers some spirited races in the past and could well do so this season. As it is, they are well positioned to take the wild–card slot, But if they falter, the Colorado Rockies are seven games out in the division and next in line in the wild–card standings.

Along with the Nationals, I think it is safe to conclude that Arizona and San Diego are not in the picture. And I am inclined to think that Pittsburgh also has no chance. But all three of those cities have football teams they can get excited about.

We're making our way into the dog days of summer. Baseball's pennant races won't really heat up until the weather starts to cool in the Northeast.

It will take longer before it starts to cool down in this part of the country, but I predict that it won't be long before local attention turns exclusively to the Dallas Cowboys and the approach of football season.

Presidential Pitch

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They played the major league baseball All–Star Game last night.

When I was growing up, it was a rare opportunity to see the best players that baseball had to offer. We didn't have televised games on numerous channels every night of the week because we didn't have cable. We got to see one game a week — two, on rare occasions — via the "Game of the Week" on Saturday afternoons.

It was special because, in those days, you just knew that the players you saw in the All–Star Game would end up in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., some day. Maybe it was because I was a young boy who avidly collected baseball cards and didn't have adult worries, like finding a job or a place to live or being able to put food on the table, but I knew the starting lineups of just about every major league club (there were fewer of them in those days).

Today I know the names of a handful of players in the majors, and the rest of them sound like minor leaguers to me, even though most of them probably aren't.

But, whether the players in the All–Star Game were truly worthy of ending up in Cooperstown or they were just being rewarded for a great season, one thing is certain in my memory. I remember the next–day reports on the game actually being about the game.

Not about whoever threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

That is not the case, apparently, in 2009.

Numerous blogs that I have seen today asserted that, based on his pitching form (and, presumably, the "mom jeans" he wore), Barack Obama "throws like a girl." You can judge for yourself, I guess. I have attached the video of his pitch to this post, but I can't really reach a conclusion from Fox's camera angle.

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The assertion that I would take issue with, though, is Carol Lee's claim at Politico.com that Obama "checked a signature presidential tradition off his list" with his pitch last night.

Throwing out the first pitch at an All–Star Game is hardly a "presidential tradition." Presidents seldom throw out the first pitch at the All–Star Game, as one of Lee's former employers, the New York Times, reported last weekend.

Before last night, Gerald Ford was the last president to throw out the first pitch at an All–Star Game back in 1976, the year of America's Bicentennial. Perhaps in honor of the occasion, Ford threw out two first pitches, one with each hand. Or perhaps it was a way to show how inclusive he believed himself to be. At the time, Ford was involved in a heated campaign for the GOP nomination with Ronald Reagan.

In fact, if there is anything resembling a "presidential tradition" of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game, it is at the season opener. Every president from William Howard Taft to George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a season–opening game. Obama did not do so this year because he was attending the G–8 summit in Europe. Vice President Joe Biden threw out the first pitch instead.

I suspect that, aside from the obvious political differences, much of the negative reaction to Obama's pitching form was more the result of a comparison to George W. Bush's first pitch at the World Series that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That pitch, most observers felt, was a strike.

Oh, and by the way — the American League beat the National League again, 4–3.

Arturo Gatti Is Dead? Who's That?

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There was a time in my life when I followed professional boxing pretty closely. Guys like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were in their primes in those days. Of course, those guys were in the heavyweight division. I didn't pay much attention to the lower weight divisions.

That didn't change much as I got older.

So when I heard — over and over — today that a retired fighter named Arturo Gatti was dead, I couldn't place the name.

I've done a little research this afternoon, and apparently Gatti, whose weight must have been in the 130–pound range (think Barney Fife) through most of his career, fought in 49 fights between 1991 and 2007. He won 40 of them, 31 by knockout.

Four of his fights were dubbed "fight of the year" by Ring Magazine, and two of those fights, in 2002 and 2003, were against Micky Ward. Ward won the first fight, then there apparently was a rematch, which was won by Gatti. Their third fight — and I have attached a video clip from that fight to this post — sounds like it was pretty dramatic. Gatti broke his right hand in the fourth round, but, in spite of fighting pretty much one–handed for several rounds, came back to win the bout.

Entertaining stuff. No wonder he appeared on HBO nearly two dozen times in his career.

And perhaps, as is being suggested, he really was a Canadian legend.

Well, I don't mean to be flippant. The man was only 37, after all. Too young to die — and, apparently, his wife, Amanda Carina Barbosa Rodrigues, is being detained by Brazilian authorities. It appears that she is suspected of strangling him.

But I never heard of him. That doesn't mean he wasn't talented. The clips I've seen this afternoon show an aggressive fighter. But if someone asked me to compare the Ali–Frazier trilogy to the Gatti–Ward trilogy, I'm sorry, but it's no contest.

In my mind, Ali–Frazier will always be one of the classic, legendary rivalries in sports — the standard against which all other boxing rivalries will be judged.

Which reminds me of a wonderful moment from "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

Back in the days when he was still a professional fighter, Ali was a guest on the show. During his conversation with Carson, somehow it came up that Carson had been a boxer when he was in the Navy. Ali observed that Carson "must have been pretty good" because he didn't see any marks or scars on Carson's face.

Carson replied that he couldn't see any marks on Ali's face, either.

Ali smiled and said, "Well, I am pretty good!"

Steve McNair Found Dead

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Of all the sports news stories I might have anticipated on Independence Day weekend, the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair certainly would have been the last one on my list.

The Nashville Tennessean reports that an autopsy has determined that McNair, 36, was murdered. That seems fairly obvious to me. He was shot four times, twice in the head.

His 20–year–old girlfriend apparently died of a gunshot wound to the head. A pistol was found under her body.

Yesterday and earlier today, I heard reports that police were treating it as a "murder–suicide," but the Tennessean is reporting that police have not determined whether she was a murder victim as well or a suicide.

Whatever the truth turns out to be, this is a tragic turn of events for both families.

And there is no disputing McNair's tenacity on the football field. Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean writes that McNair was tough and resilient.

He was tough, all right, tough enough to take the Tennessee Titans to their only Super Bowl appearance, their memorable loss to the St. Louis Rams nearly a decade ago.

And he played through more pain than any of his contemporaries.

But he wasn't resilient enough to shake off four bullets.