As a football fan, I want to see Michael Vick play.   I watch football for fun.  I watch football to root for the Detroit Lions.  I watch football so that, for 3 hours, I can pretend nothing is more important than that game.  I watch football to escape.   When he was in his prime, Vick was the most exiting player on the field.  I want to see if he can do it again.

Maybe I’m selfish, but I’m not thinking about what affect he has on our kids.  I’m not worried about whether he served enough time.  What he did was awful and despicable, but that’s a debate for somewhere else.

The NFL’s responsibility is to entertain it’s customers.  When I spend $100 on an NFL ticket, $40 dollars on food and drinks, and $20 on parking, I do it to enjoy the sport. 

Does every player on the field deserve the privilege of playing in the NFL?  Sorry to say, I don’t care.   I just want to watch football. 

And, for $160, I think the NFL owes me that.

As the 24-hour news cycle attacks this story, it has been somewhat difficult for us in the sports department for one main reason: nothing is changing.

Sure, Mike will now serve out his sentence from home.  But, that does nothing to clear up his NFL future.  The commissioner, Roger Goodell refuses to say anything new until Vick’s sentence is fully up.  Of course, individual NFL teams are not commenting on their interest in Vick.  From a sports angle, nothing is different now than it was 19 months ago.  When nothing is new, it’s hard to make news.

But we do, mostly with speculation.   Outside of maybe, possibly, and if, there’s not much more we can add.  Will the NFL  let Vick come back? Probably.  Could Jerry Jones take a chance on him? Maybe.  What about the Steelers? Possibly.   Other than that, we can’t add much.

The silver lining for us is that soon, everything will change.  After his release, he will be reinstated.  The Falcons will be forced to trade or cut him.  Then, Vick will start negotiating with teams.  He will receive offers.  Vick will fly around to different camps.  Finally, he will pick a team.  Then, he’ll try to make that team.  Vick will suit up in a game.  And so on.  Then we will have some actual sports news to talk about.

Please, get here soon.

Now, I’m looking at the rest of it and wondering, “How bad can this get?”  I have Gonzaga in the final four, beating UNC on their way.  I broke my own final four rule (you must know at least one player on your final four team).  I’m starting to think I had some sort of medical issue when I was filling this out last night. 

As I type, Cal is down by 10 to Maryland.  Of course, I picked Cal.  Berkley.  Cal Berkley.  This is terrible.

What’s worse is, this is my job.  I’m supposed to know not to pick Gonzaga, and BYU and Cal Berkley. I hope my boss is not reading this.

Anyway, I guess this is what makes the tournament fun.  Nobody knows, or at least I don’t know what’s going to happen.   Time to start rooting really REALLY hard for Pittsburgh.  Because, everyone knows, it’s all about picking the champion.  Everything else is just kids stuff, right?

I just got back from PA.  Talked with Darnell Dozier, their head coach.  He seems to think his team has a pretty good shot (shocker, right).  Their opponent has a good outside game, but PA should be too strong inside.

Haven’t talked with coach Josh Worrell at King’s Fork, but I’d imagine they’re pretty confident as well.  The thing about the Bulldogs is that they have a lot of size.  You hear a lot about JaQuan Parker, their guard, but inside is where they dominate.  That’s what they were able to do against Booker T. Washington in the Eastern Region championship game.

I do not know enough about the teams they are playing to give a prediction that is worth anything.  In fact, most of my predictions are worth nothing anyway.  But, I’m not betting against either team.

Btw, good luck to Syracuse tonight.  They’re going to need it against UCONN.  And it’s back to the dance for the Michigan Wolverines.  Can I hear a WOOT!

I would call this an average year for Hampton Roads recruits.  And, that’s still very very good.  We had our big recruits like Tajh Boyd going to Clemson.  Three guys going to West Virignia.  Two Oscar Smith players headed to Virginia.  Only 3 local kids are headed to Blacksburg. 

I used to work in Lansing, Michigan.  It’s thought of as a pretty good place for football talent.  But, we never had anything like this when I worked there.  At most we would have 2 kids sign with D-1 schools.

It’s pretty amazing what this area pumps out each year. 

Next year will be just as good.  I have been talking up Oscar Smith quarterback Phillip Sims to anyone who will listen.  This kid is legit.  And, I’m calling it right now.  I think he will be a top 10 national recruit next year.  I think he’ll be the #1 quarterback recruit in the nation and the #1 overall recruit in Virginia.  This kid has the strongest arm I’ve seen from a high school athlete.  He’s not a mobile quarterback, more out of the pro-style mold.  I hear he wants to go to the SEC and play ball there.  He pretty much has his pick of any school in the nation.  He will be the main story next year around this time.

Holmes told HU that he was going to interview for some NFL jobs at this year’s Senior Bowl.  HU was not cool with it.  When he interviewed anyway, they fired him. 

HU says the timing was the issue.  Other schools were telling recruits not to go to Hampton because their coach may not be around.

Maybe I just don’t get it, but why can’t you tell that same recruit that Holmes is interested in NFL jobs and the NFL is interested in him.  He could go if the job is right.  If it’s not, he will stay and teach these young kids how to one day get to the NFL.  Every college athlete hopes to improve enough to play professionally.  Jerry Holmes knows what it takes to do that.  But Hampton didn’t want him.

I just don’t get it.  You fire Jerry Holmes and promote an assistant.  How is that any different than keeping Holmes?  You have basically the same staff, except now you don’t have a guy who is NFL qualify.

I hope it works out for Hampton.  Their new coach is a Norfolk guy and seems motivated to put the Pirates back in the playoffs.  I just don’t think high aspirations is a fireable offense.

I’ve known Coach Dee for three years now.  A super nice and accessible guy in the off-season.  Key words “in the off-season.”  But, that’s what made him so good.  When it was time for football, it was not time for anything else.  Including interviews with his players.  If we didn’t get there by Tuesday, it was too late and too close to gametime.

So, you can see why a job that was “just football” would appeal to Coach Dee.  I’m sure he enjoyed his time at Pheobus, but now he can just focus on football. 

He’ll go down as one of the greatest coaches in Virginia high school history.  In any sport.

Good luck to Bill Dee.  A new opportunity.  I know it wasn’t easy.  He told us today the hardest part was saying goodbye to his kids.  They will miss him.

Anyway, here’s what I think.  Percy should go.  And I think that is the consensus outside of Gainsville.  Harvin is projected to be a mid to late first rounder.  However, his stock could go up after the NFL combine.  He has amazing talent and will “wow” the scouts with some of his numbers.

This is the time to take the money.  Esepcially because the money may not be there next year.  You see, the NFL is considering capping rookie pay.  The pay for rookies in the NFL has gotten out of hand.  After being the number 1 pick last year, Miami’s Jake Long instantly became the NFL’s highest paid lineman.  Fair?  Probably not.  Commissioner Roger Goodell could cap rookie pay as early as next year.  So, that means if you want to get paid, you better come out now.

Also, there are injury concerns with Percy.  In two seasons, Harvin has missed some time with various bumps and bruises.  That’s even more reason to take the money now and not let another chance injury end your career before it starts.

Harvin is only 3 classes short of graduation.   He was planning to spend just 3 years at Florida from the start.  And, as of right now, I see no reason for him to change his mind.  He has two national championship trophies.  Now, it’s time to get an NFL one.

This could be a problem going forward for ODU.  Gerald Lee is usually able to give the Monarchs some easy points down low, but if they other team is packing the inside, ODU needs to hit some shots.  Darius James has a pretty decent shot, but he doesn’t look for the outside shot that often.  Jonathan Adams can knock them down, but he’s also streaky.  Keyon Carter actually made a few against William & Mary, but couldn’t consistently find his stroke against JMU.

Blaine Taylor was, once again, surprisingly upbeat after the game.  He seemed to be pleased with the fact that his team was able to overcome a 20 point deficit.  Blaine blamed the defense just as much as the offense.  Basically, he thought JMU just played better.  They did.

ODU will need to find it’s outside shot more consistently if it wants to win more consistently.  Marsharee Neeley, Adams, James, and Carter will all have to be able to step up at different times.   Can they do it?

Watch WAVY 10 News to find out

This week, the NFL layed off 150 employees.  That’s about 14% of their total workforce.  MLB, the NBA, and NASCAR have also announced layoffs this year.  NASCAR has actually been hit the hardest because of the high cost of competing.  It costs about $20 million to run a race team.   That’s not even a successful race team.  Congrats to NASCAR for cutting testing this coming year.  That should save each team about $3 million.

Just like most companies, each sports league will make it through.  They will just need to be leaner and meaner during this time. 

Will any team face bankrupcy?  Well, it could happen.  There have been a handful of NHL teams that have filed for bankrupcy in the past.  If a team is going to file for bankrupcy now, it will probably be in the NHL.  However, if the auto industry continues to lay off more and more workers, any team in Detroit could really feel the pinch.  With rising ticket prices, it’s not about fans being willing to pay to watch.  The question would become fans even being ABLE to pay to watch.

Television has also been hit with declining advertising revenue.  WAVY TV has been looking for ways to become more cost efficient.  But, overall, I do believe television stands to make some profit during this time.  While more and more fans decide to stay home and watch the games on their new HD televisions, ratings should go up.  Will it offset the drop in ad dollars?  Who knows. 

Uncertainty.  That is the key word to this whole situation.  At some point, things will get better.  The question is just how bad will it get until then.