Two Arizona Cardinals fans hung their team’s flag in a tree and burned “Go Cards,” “Go Kurt” and “I heart AZ” in Donovan McNabb’s yard with diesel fuel.
[Read](http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3847672&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines “Read the Article”) (ESPN)
The Washington Redskins laid off at least 20 employees at Redskins Park this week and an undetermined number at FedEx Field, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation.
No coaches, trainers or scouts were let go. Cuts included at least one team vice president and members of the legal, marketing, information technology, public relations, cheerleading, game-day operations, Redskins Television staffs, and two members of the football operations staff.
Several of those who were laid off said C.O.O. Mitch Gershman told them the team was laying off approximately 30 employees because of financial difficulties caused by the economy and a decrease in revenue.
Read (Washington Post)
The article said that ticket sales aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Isn’t every Redskins game sold out?
Michael Vick and three co-defendants were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on state charges related to a dogfighting ring operated on Vick’s Virginia property.
The grand jury passed on indicting them on eight counts of animal cruelty, which would have exposed them to as many as 40 years in prison if convicted.
[Read](http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3035692&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines “Read the Story”) (AP via ESPN)
_Mike Vick is to football as Mike Tyson is to boxing._
The NFL has nixed a church’s plans to use a wall projector to show the Colts-Bears Super Bowl game, saying it would violate copyright laws.
NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek, Indiana Baptist Church’s “Super Bowl Bash” on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled.
Initially, the NFL objected to the church’s plan to charge a fee to attend and that the church used the license-protected words “Super Bowl” in its promotions. The Pastor told the NFL his church would not charge anyone and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words.
Then the NFL objected to the church’s plans to use a projector to show the game, because the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.
The church will likely abandon its plans to host a Super Bowl party, and other Indiana churches are deciding whether they should go through with their Super Bowl party plans.
“It just frustrates me that most of the places where crowds are going to gather to watch this game are going to be places that are filled with alcohol and other things that are inappropriate for children,” the pastor said. “We tried to provide an alternative to that and were shut down.”
[Read](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/specials/playoffs/2006/02/01/bc.fbn.superbowl.church.ap/index.html?cnn=yes “Read the Story”)(AP via Sports Illustrated)
Heavy tackles and 300-pound nose guards are common in pro and college football. Now a study shows the trend toward beefier, overweight linemen is emerging at the high school level.
Researchers at [Iowa State University](http://www.iastate.edu/ “Iowa State University Home Page”) found nearly half of the offensive and defensive linemen playing on Iowa high school teams qualify as overweight, and one in 10 meet medical standards for severe obesity.
The study’s researchers began by gathering height and weight data of 3,686 varsity linemen available from rosters from all classes of Iowa high school football teams. They used that data to calculate a body-mass index, the same tool used for the NFL study.
Of the players analyzed, 28 percent were deemed at risk of being overweight and 45 percent fit the standards for being overweight, including 9 percent who met adult severe obesity standards.
[Read](http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=106&sid=1041158 “Read the Story”)(AP via WTOP)
Atlanta Falcons quarterback [Michael Vick](http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5448 “Yahoo’s Player Profile”) was reluctant to throw away his 20-ounce water bottle at a Miami International Airport security checkpoint Wednesday morning.
The reason, police say: The plastic bottle had a secret compartment that, when opened, had a dark residue and a pungent odor of marijuana.
[Read](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16484544.htm “Read the Story”) (Miami Herald)
That wasn’t very smart. Let me guess, it wasn’t his – he just grabbed a bottle of water out of [Marcus](http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/8007 “Yahoo’s Marcus Vick Profile”)’ fridge
A charter plane carrying the Marshall University football team to **a game against East Carolina was evacuated Friday, 11/10**, after smoke was reported in an engine, emergency officials said. No injuries were reported among the 200 people aboard, but the timing was *eerie*.
Almost 36 years ago, **on Nov. 14, 1970, a plane carrying the Marshall football team home from a game against East Carolina** crashed, killing 75 people, including most of the team.
[Read](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2644405 “Read the Story”) (AP via ABC)
I received a call from my wife this morning, and the conservation went something like this:
| J.: | Is there a Virginia Tech game today? |
| Me: | Yes, it’s the first game of the season, and it’s not on TV. Why? |
| J.: | Because Walmart’s full of people who haven’t had baths, wearing Virginia Tech clothing, and buying cheap beer. |
| Me: | Apparently, they listen to Greg Roberts, because as he says numerous times on his show each day, “Walmart is your tailgate connection.” |
| J.: | Goodbye…. |
Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer announced Thursday that redshirt freshman quarterback Ike Whitaker has been suspended from the team indefinitely for a violation of team rules.
Read (AP via Sports Illustrated)
At this rate, maybe the person that wins the starting quarterback spot will be the guy who can stay out of trouble and remain on the team.
A newer type of football helmet that gives more coverage to the side of the head appears to lower players’ risk of concussion.
Read (Reuters)
Virginia Tech’s reputation has been iffy over the years. In fact it hasn’t been that great or several years. That’s the problem with forgiveness: Forgivees take advantage.
That coach Frank Beamer kept quiet his knowledge of Marcus Vick’s latest example of an “I’m a Vick at Tech, deal with it” attitude indicates more of a football factory than many may have thought.
Beamer had to be hacked word got out that Vick’s license was suspended, which Beamer didn’t know because Vick didn’t tell him.
The coach said he was told by his director of football operations – is that lingo anymore for “babysitter” or “negotiator” in college football? – Vick’s license suspension was a “formality, a paperwork issue.” So he didn’t think it would count against Vick’s tally.
Read (The Macon Telegraph)
Frank Beamer is finally starting to catch some heat. Good, he should not come out of this smelling like a rose. Hey, Frank, the Oakland Raiders have an opening.
Marcus Vick has been charged with three counts of brandishing a firearm. The crime happened at a McDonalds in Suffolk, VA Sunday night, 12/9, two days after he was kicked off the Virginia football team.
Read (The Virginian-Pilot)
When he said he was “taking it to the next level baby”, I didn’t think he meant the next criminal level.
Virginia Tech has permanently dismissed Marcus Vick from the football program.
Read (The Virginian-Pilot)
I’m betting Vick makes himself available for the NFL draft, and he’ll get drafted because of his last name. His on and off field antics mean that he should be compatible with the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders. The Denver Broncos like to draft troubled young men, so they are certainly an option if he’s available in one of the later rounds.
In a report filed January 5, Marcus Vick was charged with speeding and driving on a suspended license in Hampton on December 17. What will Virginia Tech do about this one? Here’s what the Tech President said when Vick was reinstated last August:
What is clear is that for his previous problems, Virginia Tech suspended Vick from school and the team for the fall semester and the 2004 season. He returned this season under what Steger called a “last-chance opportunity.”
At that time — August 2004 — Steger added that, “If there is any more trouble, his Virginia Tech career is effectively ended.”
Read (The Virginia-Pilot)
Will Steger be a man of his word this time? Unlike the “no we wouldn’t join the ACC if asked” statement.
And does it normally take 19 days to file a police report?
When Marcus Vick stomped on the knee of Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil, he also came down very hard on the people at Virginia Tech who had put their faith in him. Now Frank Beamer is being portrayed in national circles as a craven coach who places victory ahead of sportsmanship.
In another era, Vick’s expulsion would be a no-brainer. His assault on Dumervil was his fourth or maybe even fifth strike. But some of our college football factories, in case you hadn’t noticed, want it both ways. They preach sportsmanship and class even as they fill their lineups with ticking time bombs.
Read (The Virginian-Pilot)
Enough of Marcus Vick. Enough of his antics both on and off the field. It’s time for Virginia Tech to tell him he’s done playing football at Virginia Tech. If he wants to stay and finish his degree, let him do that, but no football. Let him know now so he can decide if he wants to make himself eligible for the NFL draft. I’ll bet he chooses the draft.
Until a few minutes ago, I’d forgotten that my 5-year-old son came home from school Monday and said that his class got to watch the first half of the game during school. The Vick stomp wasn’t something I’d like my son to see. Look class, this is an excellent example of unsportsmanlike conduct!