No More Vick-tory

The sorry saga of Michael Vick is finally near its conclusion.

In short, Police found dog breeding and mating devices (something called a "rape stand", among others) in a property owned by Vick, the Atlanta Falcons star quarterback. Disturbingly, dog carcasses have also been found in the property, with evidence suggesting that some of the dogs that have been especially bred for an underground and illegal dog-fighting ring, allegedly sponsored by Vick, have been executed in an inhumane manner (i.e., by hanging or drowning).

While vehemently denying his involvement at first, Vick saw his situation becoming bleaker and bleaker when a number of his "friends" decided to turn against him and entered into plea agreement with the authorities.

Seeing nowhere to go to, Vick finally and belatedly decided to enter a guilty plea to some of the lesser charges, and promised to co-operate fully with the authorities by revealing everything he knows about any offences committed (not limited to the offences above). His next destination? Possible jail time of one to two years, which will be decided in December by the trial judge who has a reputation of being "tough but fair."

A star athlete facing a long jail term? It's simply unheard of.

Vick has no one but himself to blame for his fall from grace. His initial denial shows how much he has underestimated the seriousness of the situation. His decision not to enter into a plea agreement with the authorities as early as possible is even more mind-boggling. Instead, he foolishly believed that his friends wouldn't turn against him and thus, unfortunately, became the easy prey for others involved and now has nowhere to go.

Good decision-making is arguably the most important quality of a successful quarterback. Judging by this incident alone, you just can't trust Vick as a leader for your team on the field anymore.

Not to say he can't be trusted as an honourable person either.

What's worse, Vick has been asked to return a huge portion of the signing bonuses to the Falcons, and has lost all his major sponsors.

While he might have won some big money from the dog-fighting ring, he now stands to lose somewhere close to $100 million thanks to his poor judgment, arrogance and stupidity.

Not to say this could also mean that his once-promising football career is over.

His Father, Who Art in the Pitlane

It's a nightmare no one wants to have.

Imagine you are leading a car race by miles, and look certain to extend your lead in the championship.

Then with the win literally in sight, your teammate, a 20-year-old hothead, comes out of nowhere and collides with you. While you are lucky enough to survive the crash to continue, your car has sustained damage which makes it simply undriveable. You literally have to limp home and are overtaken by your main rival, who takes over the championship lead as a result.

Now if that is not bad enough, how about this? You simply can't vent your anger at that hothead. You just dare not touch, spank, hit or even yell at him.

Because he isn't just any no-name driver.

He is also the son of your team boss.

And spanking is best reserved for his father at home.

Dario Franchitti (also known as the husband of Hollywood star Ashley Judd) was looking to extend his minimal lead in the Indy Car Series at the Infineon Raceway with around 10 laps to go when teammate Marco Andretti, son of team boss Michael, exited the pitlane and refused to give way at the tight and twisty first and second corners. Franchitti had nowhere to go and could only slam the brake hard, and the resulting collision sent Marco out of the race.

Although Franchitti was able to continue, his front wing was damaged and he was never able to regain his pre-collision pace. Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves both overtook him, but thanks to the unselfish team play by his two other teammates Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick, Franchitti was able to hang on to third place, but the brouhaha has cost him the lead in the championship to Dixon.

Next time you sign up for a team, Dario, remember to check whether the owner's son will be your teammate first.

A Style-less Act

I am a huge Liverpool fan, and I hate anything bad happening to them.

So after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Chelsea, where referee Rob Styles awarded a penalty to the Blues for an innocuous "collision" on Florent Malouda to the surprise of everyone (including to the Blues players, to be fair), and apparently booked Michael Essien twice but not sending him off, I have only the following thing to say:

Fire Rob Styles and suspend him indefinitely.

Players who do not play well will lose their place in the starting line-up or even be released by the team (but somehow Titus Bramble is still plying his trade in the Premier League and, most amazingly, Jean-Alain Boumsong is starting for Juventus). But how about referees who have a bad game? They are only "suspended" for a week, and thereafter nothing will ever happen to them.

Please, Styles deserves his marching order. The below-par referees often steal the headlines where the players should rightfully belong.

Fire him now.

Becks in the Press

Normally I am not a literary critic. I'm just a guy who writes (albeit with great difficulties) on what I think, and seldom criticise other's writing.

But somehow I find ESPN's report, courtesy of the Associated Press, on David Beckham's first start for the Los Angeles Galaxy extremely amusing.

I'm going to quote it in its entirety here, with bold type and comments in brackets added by me:

"Beckham Starts and Scores First Goal for Galaxy

The English superstar started his first game for the Galaxy, scored his first goal on a free kick in the 27th minute and Los Angeles beat D.C. United 2-0 in the SuperLiga semifinals.

Beckham also notched his first assist on the Galaxy's second goal. He sent a long pass to a streaking Landon Donovan, who scored on a breakaway in the 47th minute for a 2-0 lead.

The Galaxy advanced to the Aug. 29 tournament final in Carson against Mexican club team Pachuca, which tied Houston 2-2, but won 4-3 on penalty kicks.

The winning team earns $1 million, which the Galaxy could put toward paying Beckham's $6.5 million yearly salary.

(Okay, it's still doing fine here.)

Beckham also earned his first yellow card after fouling United's Jaime Moreno in the 18th minute. Beckham got fouled once in the first half, when he also took two corner kicks.

(Now counting the number of cautions and fouls of a player is okay. But come on, you even count the number of corner kicks Beckham has taken? What's next? The number of times he's spit?)

Fans cheered and women screamed as Beckham prepared to take a 26-yard free kick. After he connected inside the left post, he was mobbed by teammates. Goalkeeper Joe Cannon even scampered across more than half the field to join the celebration.

(Well this is beginning to get ridiculous. Why spend 41 words and an entire paragraph to write something on cheering, screaming and mobbing by fans and teammates? And a "26-yard free kick?" That's really new to me.)

Beckham waved to the crowd a couple times while blue, gold and white confetti fluttered through the air, reminiscent of the scene when he was introduced amid much fanfare July 13.

(So why not tell us how many times the crowd waved at him?)

He was stopped on a 28-yard free kick in the 58th minute, when United goalkeeper Troy Perkins leaped to the left and caught the ball.

(Now we even have a 28-yarder!)

In all, Beckham played 63 minutes. He clapped his hands above his head while turning in a circle to acknowledge the cheers before putting the captain's armband on Donovan and heading to the bench.

(Nice gesture. But again, can you tell us something we neither know nor expect?)

Beckham had played just 37 minutes in two previous games because of a nagging left ankle injury that didn't allow him to practice with the Galaxy for the first time until Tuesday.

The victory avenged the Galaxy's 1-0 loss to United last week in Major League Soccer action, when Beckham made his league debut on the road.

He was named captain for Wednesday's match, a title previously held by Donovan. Beckham actively urged on his teammates, talking to them and waving his arms during play.

(Now you're telling me something I don't know. Why don't you tell us that he bent over and adjusted his socks, stood up, and showed a broad smile on his face?)

As the halftime whistle blew, Beckham bent over and adjusted his socks, then stood up, a broad smile on his face as he waved and walked off the field.

(Oops, I spoke too soon ...)

The game, which wasn't part of the Galaxy season ticket package, attracted an announced crowd of 17,223 in the 27,000-capacity stadium.

Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones, who is returning from a hip injury, entered in the 71st minute. The team was without defender Ante Jazic, midfielder Kelly Gray and forward Alan Gordon, who were all suspended after receiving yellow cards in each of their two previous SuperLiga games."

Well, the only thing I can say is, many could have written it much better than what the normally reliable AP offers us on this occasion.

Ref, You've Got a Problem

We all agree that the "elderly" has so much more experience that we have to respect them.

We all agree that we should consult the "elderly" when we have to make important decisions.

We all agree that we should love the "elderly."

But doesn't it annoy you when the fate of your favourite (fill in the blank here) team depends on some old and pot-belly guys with poor physique and eyesight?

Have you ever been disgusted by the clumsiness of these guys who are often too arrogant to listen to differing views?

Why are these guys always old enough to be our grandfathers?

Why isn't anyone in the same age as the players hired as a referee or umpire?

Rumblings and Bumblings

Some early thoughts on the new Premiership season:

- West Ham's Bobby Zamora is a hard-working player. But that's about the only positive thing that I can say about him. This guy seems to panic whenever an opposing player is five feet away from him, and I just couldn't count the number of times he has given possession (as well as fouls) away. And he was the culprit who, for the umpteenth time in the game, gave away possession and allowed Manchester City's new signing Geovanni to put the icing on the cake for a 2-0 victory.

- The same can be said for Liverpool's Momo Sissoko. For some reason he always forgot his job was thwarting the opposition's attack instead of joining the attack. And his foolish decision to take a free-kick quickly in the dying seconds of the team's 2-1 victory at Aston Villa almost cost the Reds dear.

- Finally, there is a transfer that I am dying to see. Blackburn Rovers OUGHT TO sell Matt Derbyshire to the newly-promoted Derby County. The reason? Joining the Rams would make Derbyshire the first (and probably the only ever) player to have his name both at the back and front of his jersey.

Seven Filthy Six

Click here to witness the darkest moment in Major League Baseball's history.

Hungaroring-Gate

Fernando and Ron, cut the BS please.

That is the only thing I can say about the qualifying incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix involving Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Anyone with a right and clear mind who has watched the incident unfold live on TV will know that Hamilton was the victim of a selfish act by Alonso (and possibly his engineer), while Ron Dennis' explanation was simply far too weak to cover Alonso's backside, given his usually savvy PR skills.

And I am appalled to have witnessed the transformation of Alonso into yet another Michael Schumacher.

If Three is a Crowd, How about 18?

More thoughts on the Kevin Garnett trade:

Last time I checked, there are 18 players on the roster of the Minnesota Timberwolves (thanks to the addition of five players from the Boston Celtics). If I were Kevin McHale, the team's much-maligned General Manager, I would have been feverishly working on the phone at this very moment, trying to package some of the young and promising players for one or two disgruntled but proven veterans. (Read: Pau Gasol or Andrei Kirilenko?)

But the problem is, McHale seems to be having troubles making deals with anyone but the Celtics' Danny Ainge, his former teammate.

And it is going to be interesting to see how McHale deals with the biggest roster in the NBA right now.

Perhaps I Can See the Future

On June 29, I wrote:

"With the addition of Allen, and Paul Pierce still with the team, will the Boston Celtics become attractive enough for Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves? For a while the Phoenix Suns have been mentioned as the most likely destination for Garnett, who has said that he doesn't want to play for the Celtics. But that was before the addition of Allen. If I were Garnett, I would seriously re-consider my stance as with the line-up of Allen, Garnett and Pierce, the Celtics would have finally become a serious contender for the first time in ages, especially in the weaker Eastern Conference."

On July 31, Garnett was indeed traded to the Celtics for Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff and two first-round draft picks.

And just like that, I have nailed it. For the first time ever, my prediction has come true.

It is time to celebrate for the Celtics, and for me too.