Michael Vick - The "Anti-Vick" team list

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After much discussion, polling, and commenting, Michael Vick's back in the NFL. As I mention in my video created two day ago, he has to wait six games (which I called a suspension but as it turns out, it's not). Rather than blast another post about Vick's return, I took a look at the results of my poll (still a small majority favored Vick's return to the NFL this season, including me), and waited for more information. During that time, several NFL teams openly expressed their lack of desire to have the double-threat quarterback join them, but it took my friend Mike Florio of ProFootballtalk.com (the "TMZ.com" of the NFL) to make an "anti-Vick" team list. He updates the list periodically; here's what it looks like as of this writing, and Mike has notes explaining if the teams made their views known before or after Vick was invited back to the NFL by Commissioner Roger Goodell:

Atlanta Falcons
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Pre-reinstatement)
Detroit Lions (Pre-reinstatement)
New York Jets (Pre-reinstatement and last week)
New York Giants (Recently)
San Francisco 49ers (Pre-reinstatement and post-reinstatement)
St. Louis Rams (Pre-reinstatement, and possibly post-reinstatement)
Dallas Cowboys (Pre-reinstatement and recently)
Washington Redskins (Pre-reinstatement and recently)
Houston Texans (Pre-reinstatement)
Indianapolis Colts (Pre-reinstatement)
Seattle Seahawks (Pre-reinstatement)
Buffalo Bills (Post-reinstatement)
Cincinnati Bengals (Post-reinstatement)
Miami Dolphins (Post-reinstatement)
Kansas City Chiefs (Pre-reinstatement and post-reinstatement)
Philadelphia Eagles (Post-reinstatement)

Here are the teams that to my knowledge have not made a statement (if you have new information, please let me know:


Oakland Raiders
Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans
Chicago Bears
Minnesota Vikings (Didn't say "no," but did not say "yes either)
St. Louis Rams

No statement from the Raiders

Now before you scream "The Raiders have said they will pass on Vick", no they didn't say that, a San Francisco Examiner columnist speculated they would do that, and it showed up in Google News. Offically, the Silver and Black have said nothing. Moreover, it's in the Raiders history to give a player like Vick a chance and if he's still able to run as he did two years ago, could give a defense fits in a kind of "Wildcat" formation with running backs Michael Bush and Darren McFadden.

Coach Tony Dungy is Vick's NFL-appointed mentor

Tony Dungy, the legendary Super Bowl-winning former coach of the Indianapolis Colts, is Vick's NFL-appointed mentor. Commissioner Goodell himself asked Dungy to help in this role and he could not have made a better choice. Dungy has taken his time to counsel men in prison and many players and former players look to him for advice. Based on what Dungy wrote, Vick may not be in a hurry to play football In his blog, Dungy explained:

I believe it (allowing Vick to return to the NFL) was the right call and I am glad that Michael is going to get a chance to re-start his football career. But, more than that, I’m happy with the position Michael has taken. I’ve met with him twice and spoken with him on the phone a few other times and I believe he is really focused on putting his life back together. Sure, he would love to play football in the NFL again, but I think he has other priorities. He has missed his family and looks to get those relationships going again, especially with his three children. I think he realizes not only how important they are to him, but also how important he is to their development. He has missed 18 months of that development and he wants his whole family together again.

With that, look for Vick to keep a low public profile and catch up with his family. Football's there but what we all forget is he's been away from society for two long years. He's got a lot of catching up to do. Heck, he's not even on Twitter!

Erin Andrews peephole tape draws Bill O'Reilly, Michelle Beisner

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The search trend that will not die, "Erin Andrews peephole tape" just drew in its latest mainstream media victim of the drug of titillation, Bill O'Reilly, then for good measure, Jason Witlock of the Kansas City Star unwittingly throws Michelle Beisner into the mix.

Now, Michelle Beisner's the top search on Google Trends because of the Erin Andrews peep show video scandal, Witlock digging up that story, and the male desire to see her, too, (90 percent of my 34,000 video viewers - as of this writing - on this matter are men) and Bill O'Reilly has the nerve to bring two more blondes on his show to talk about a blonde, Erin Andrews, who's privacy was violated, and show the offending video mainly because CBS decided to do it first within the mainstream media camp! Oh brother.

Plus, what we have is a great case of racial profiling.

My video on this matter (which has one very cool photo of Erin Andrews just being the normal person she is and using an Apple MacBook) of the CBS action stands:



And regarding, Bill O'Reilly, I will add more. First, I did not embed the video of Bill's show for obvious reasons, but for those who feel I should at least reference it, here it is - LINK - within a great blog post by Will Brinson at FanHouse, who takes the popular conservative hothead to task for his segment. Second, I'll go a few steps beyond where he went.

What Bill O'Reilly does is add sauce to the "Erin goose" by inviting Fox News.com correspondent Courtney Friel and Fox News assignment editor and blogger Jane Skinner on, both blonde and famous for errors of a titillating nature. In Skinner's case, she's known for mistakenly saying "top cock" rather than "top cop" twice in a Fox News broadcast, leading to a yet another viral video on YouTube. Friel's claim to fame is posing in a bikini for the soft-porn magazine Maxim. Gawker discovered the photos after Friel removed them from her website.  Then, Gawker's Ryan Tate (who's now the editor of Valleywag) wrote a new post about her pictures, calling her a "bonehead" in the process.

Bonehead? Bonehead? That is racial profiling, folks, piling on the classic "dumb blonde" image, but more on that later; O'Reilly uses titillation to talk about, well, titillation.  What was done shows the primal genius of Fox News and explains why their ratings are so high.  Bill's 100 percent correct that what was done to Erin - and I stand corrected that it was in a hotel room and not an athletic club as I reported - is cyberstalking.

But given that the audience for this news is male, Bill should have had Fox News male anchors on his show talking about the matter, and not Jane Skinner and Courtney Friel.  Why?  Because first, it would send a message that men in media have a level of respect for their female collegues, second, the obvious question given the backgrounds of Frier and Skinner is "Have you been cyberstalked?" but Bill didn't even go in that direction and thus had the wrong guests on.  He focused squarely on the view that a crime was committed - and he's right - and that's it.  But in fashioning the segment O'Reilly caused a "snails tail" relationship: we talk about the blonde with blondes who have the same level of Internet popularity as the blonde, just like Michelle Beisner. 

Who?

Michelle Beisner's described by Witlock as "former Denver Broncos cheerleader and aspiring D-list Hollywood actress-type. Blonde. White Woman" (but forgot to note, or perhaps didn't care to discover, or didn't see it as important that Beisner's an NFL Network correspondent) who's innocent reply to a text sent by ESPN's star anchor Stuart Scott (who's black) was picked up by an over-the-shoulder peering Al Daulerio - a sports blogger and editor with Gawker media product Deadspin - at a Super Bowl party, then was repeated by Daulerio in Deadspin.

The result was to imply that Scott and Beisner were having an affair as opposed to what commonly happens in the days leading up to a Super Bowl (I've been to seven of 'em): the late night search for a way to get into the next party and go all night long.  I'd bet even money that's what the text was about; Beisner may have contacted her friend, the well-connected Scott, who's married, regarding help getting into another party.

Deadspin has never appologized for the blog post.

While Witlock is correct in bring up how Deadspin poorly handled that story as well as  how Deadspin started reporting on the Andrews video, Witlock's depiction of Andrews and Beisner (Andrews as "Barbie" and Beisner as "D-list...Blonde. White Woman" rather than NFL Network correspondent) is tasteless and smacks of the same racial profiling we complain about as African Americans. (And I will follow up later, on regarding what happened to Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates at the hands of the Cambridge Police.)

No one wants to be placed in a box where they're expected to be a certain way because of their race and sex.  Just because someone's white and blonde doesn't mean they don't know anything; in my experience, perhaps as a reaction to society, it's the reverse.  I had a long tearful talk a while back with a friend of mine who's in San Francisco real estate (and blonde, and tall, and attractive, and smart) about this because she'd had it with people at the time and went on a drinking binge.  (She's fine now.)

It doens't matter if the person's white and blonde, or black and male, we as a World industrial society must stop placing them in a box assuming that they're dumb or dangerous.  Bill O'Reilly did this, Jason Witlock really did it, the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" (to quote President Obama), and Erin Andrews and Professor Gates have been the victims of it.

Enough, already.

What should Michael Vick do? A poll

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On YouTube.com

On Monday July 20th, Michael Vick becomes a free man, released entirely from Federal custody after being found guilty of harming dogs as part of a dog fighting business, the former Atlanta Falcons star has his life ahead of him after two years in jail. But what should he do, or more to the point, what should Vick be allowed to do? With the idea of getting an answer to that question, I created this poll:

More on pollsb.com

As you can see, it has five choices one can make. Play in the NFL? Play in the new UFL football league after a one-year suspension? Not be allowed to play football at all? Play in the NFL after a one-year suspension? Be a special councelor to NFL rookie players?

I voted for the first choice: play in the NFL. Look, he's done his time and seems to have learned the error of his ways. But there's a weird double standard at play here that just bugs me. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal, has called Vick all kinds of names regarding this matter, even saying that Vick's brain may be tuned to violence, or words to that effect, and asking for a brain scan.

Wild.

But what really bugs me about PETA is that they would, ok, dog Vick, and even get after President Obama for swatting a fly, but PETA turns a blind-eye to the dog racing activities of the Rooney Family, which owns the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dog racing has the same kill-to-weed-out-the-weak process that dog fighting is known for and PETA knows it. But did they say anything about the Rooneys when the Steelers ownership was up for review by the NFL, thus turning a public spotlight on them?

No.

I tried to get a statement from PETA's PR rep on this, and she just sent me the statement they issued about Vick! I have that already! So with that I lost a lot of respect for PETA and chose the "play in the NFL" option. It seems that if one's black and high profile, PETA has no problem aiming its PR machine at you, but if you're white, as is the case for the Rooney Family, you get a pass from PETA. PETA has issued no statement regarding the Rooney Family's involvement in dog racing.

Vick as mentor

But of all the choices, I also like the last one listed in my poll: be a special counselor to NFL rookie players. Vick can be really valuable here as an example of how one can go from rags to riches to rags and yet have a fighting chance to regain his life and to not repeat his mistakes.

Poll can't be gamed

So try my poll. One can't "game" it to get a particular answer outcome. Sorry. If you click on the link "view full results" it asks for your name and photo only once, so it weeds out the double count in the final result.

Terrell Owens to consider acting after football

According to Mike Florio at Profootballtalk.com, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens has gotten the acting bug after his stint in a Flavor Flav sitcom. I think it's a good idea for him to have his second career planned out as that's perfect because he will not lose the love from the crowd he enjoys.

CDFL Draft Live on the Football Reporters Show

www.blogtalkradio.com/Football-Reporters will Broadcast the CDFL draft Live tonight at 7pm eastern. Tune in!!

Steve McNair's girlfriend Sahel Kazemi killed him

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According to a story by TMZ.com, Tennessee assistant medical examiner Dr. Feng Li said an examination of the crime scene, police interviews, autopsy results, and lab analysis revealed that Sahel Kazemi did indeed murder former NFL Quarterback Steve McNair with multiple gun shots last Saturday.

Both were found dead in his Nashville condominium.

Many reports speculated that McNair was to divorce his wife, but TMZ also learned that the couple planned to purchase a new home. So with this, we can figure out that Sahel Kazemi didn't want McNair to go back to his wife and settled the issue with a tragic action. After purchasing a gun, she shot McNair four times - twice in his body and then in the head - and turned the gun on herself.

This is the timeline presented by TMZ which is to be commended for its work on the McNair story:

- Kazemi was pulled over for DUI Thursday morning between 1-1:30 AM. McNair was a passenger but was allowed to leave the scene via taxi with another person. Kazemi admitted to being high.

-Thursday night, Kazemi purchased a semi-automatic pistol. Police will not say who she got the gun from.

- Early Saturday morning, McNair meets Kazemi at his Nashville condo.

- 1:30 PM Saturday, 911 call is made alerting police of the shootings. Police believe bodies were actually discovered before 1 PM -- cops are "concerned" about the time lapse.

What's interesting is there's no indication Kazemi was arrested by police but that McNair was allowed to leave the scene without her. If the police did take her in if only for a few hours to sober up, she may have felt abandoned by McNair, and that coupled with the fact that he was not getting a divorce, may have pushed her over the edge.

Regardless of the details, it's a terrible end to the life of one of the NFL's most popular stars. I prefer to remember him as I saw him in the 2000 Super Bowl:

Remembering Steve McNair: The 2000 Super Bowl v. The Rams

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On YouTube.com

The passing via murder of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair is really hard to take.  It's hard because McNair was a major player in my first Super Bowl: Super Bowl 38 (or XXXVIII) in Atlanta to open the new century in 2000. I was their as a guest of the NFL as I was working to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. (We eventually lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl.)

McNair's Titans weren't favored to win that game agains the "Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams.  The Rams were blowing-out and steam-rollering opponents that year and there was no indication that wasn't going to be the case in The Super Bowl.

But someone forgot to tell that to the Titans, led by a stalwart defense and Steve McNair.  With the Alcorn State legends fancy footwork, laser passing, and quick decision-making, the Titans stayed within scoring distance of the Rams, then came to one (Titans WR) Kevin Dyson-almost-touchdown-pass of tying the game.  After that who knows who would have won? (Come to think of it, what if Rams WR Issac Bruce had dropped that dramatic 73-yard touchdown catch and run?  It would have been a new game with the Titans having the momentum.) 

What I loved most about McNair was that he was such a leader, such a powerful presence, few reffered to him as a "black quarterback".  No.  McNair was just the quarterback of The Tennessee Titans, and an undispurted leader.  When the Titans drafted Texas QB Vince Young, I thought it was excellent because then McNair would be his teacher, but then he was traded to Baltimore and with that a great pairing for the future came to an end.

Off the field, I assumed McNair was a quiet man who grew up in the South and did not want to make waves. He and former Green Bay Packers QB Brett Farve were the kind of friends who'd go hunting in what I once heard Farve call their three-piece suits: suspenders and overalls.   In fact, I'm very surprised Farve hasn't issued a statement at this time, not even on his website.

McNair will be missed by everyone.  A sad moment in time.

“Q” for Quintessential – Remembering Steve McNair

“Q” for Quintessential – Remembering Steve McNair

By Michael – Louis Ingram

BASN/FRO



PHILADELPHIA (BASN): News out of Nashville, Tennessee report that on or about 1:30 P.M. on July 4, 2009, former National Football League MVP and three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Steve McNair was shot several times and killed in a downtown condominium.

A female, who as of this writing has yet to be identified, was also shot and killed.

McNair, born in Mount Olive, Mississippi, set passing records at Alcorn State and won the Walter Payton Award for best 1-AA college player in 1994; McNair would become the first round draft choice of the Houston Oilers the following year.

After a year on the Oilers’ sidelines, McNair became a starter, and the team’s most valuable player as the Oilers left Houston to become the Tennessee Titans.

McNair would go on to play for 13 seasons, appearing in Super Bowl XXXIV against the St. Louis Rams, where he rallied the Titans on their fateful game-tying drive, falling a yard short after a completed slant pattern to WR Kevin Dyson at the Rams’ six-inch line.

Traded to the Baltimore Ravens in 2006, McNair would appear sparingly due to injuries, and retired in 2008.

Now that’s the factual stuff. Forgive me if I stray slightly off target, but this is where my senses and sensibilities have hit the saturation point:

It’s bad enough when someone dies; and it is always a “someone” – someone’s father, someone’s son, someone’s husband, someone’s lover, someone’s partner.



What makes it worse is that only in death does anyone become a “someone” regardless of what they were before.

Only in death do we all become human.

But the actions in how the story gets out hits at the heart of what we here at BASN endeavor to do in getting the story right.

One particular site (which was so disgusting I will not dignify by giving credit) was so irresponsible in their presentation of the information; first by saying McNair was the victim of a murder-suicide along with his wife approximately three hours after the story hit.

They eventually retracted the information in an update – but left the original info in plain sight – even after requests to take it down!

This is indicative of the downward spiral the mainstream media has helped enable – by lowering the standards; and implying that anyone who can operate a computer automatically qualifies as a journalist.

While there will be more coming out regarding the death of Steve McNair, BASN plans to celebrate McNair’s life with a special edition of Tony McClean’s “The Weekend Sports Rap’ today(Sunday 7-5-09) at noon EST. Featured as guests are BASN’s Lloyd Vance, L.A. Batchelor and myself; along with Dr. Bill Chachkes and Ralph Garcia from the sites Football Reporters Online & the Gridiron Draft Guide.

The broadcast can heard on www.blogtalkradio.com/Tony-McClean



michaelingram@blackathlete.com
mike@footballreportersonline.com
mingram@suavvmagazine.com

Steve McNair found shot dead

News Flash: Steve McNair shot dead.

Special Radio show tomorrow at 12 Noon Eastern on Blog talk radio's weekend Sports Rap with Black Athlete's Tony McClean

Listen to Tony Mcclean on Blog Talk Radio

Tonight on The Football Reporters Online Show

Tonight on the Football Reporters Online Show-AFC North Division Preview, Plus Special Guest at 9pm Eastern: Peter Schwartz of Sirius radio's "this week in the AFL" , who is also the play by play voice of the NY Dragons discusses the UFL, When the AFL will return, and his take on other football news of the day. Listen at:

Still no plea deal: Burress lawyer says gun case to be delayed until Septembe

Still no plea deal: Burress lawyer says gun case to be delayed until September

By Associated Press
4:40 PM EDT, June 12, 2009
NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress will have to wait a while longer before he knows the legal consequences of accidentally shooting himself with an unlicensed pistol.

Defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman said Burress will appear in court Monday for a brief hearing. Brafman said Burress and prosecutors have yet to agree on a plea deal and the case will be adjourned until September.

Burress shot himself in the thigh on Nov. 29 in a Manhattan nightclub. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and faces up to 3½ years in prison. Burress has pleaded not guilty and is free on $100,000 bail.

Burress caught the game-winning touchdown for the Giants in the 2008 Super Bowl. He is a free agent after the team released him on April 3.

NFL Insider: Philadelphia Eagles

From CBS: Are the Eagles and Donovan McNabb primed for another run through the playoffs? Jason Horowitz and NFL.com analyst Pat Kirwan take an in depth look at the Philadelphia Eagles.