ED GRANEY: Vick can be boon for UFL, Las Vegas - Sports

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Jun. 12, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

ED GRANEY: Vick can be boon for UFL, Las Vegas

ED GRANEY
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The United Football League will announce logos and colors and nicknames and sponsorship deals for its four franchises in the coming weeks, another step in the process of selling the new venture to whatever fan base is created by more football in the fall.

What the UFL should do: Pursue signing Michael Vick with abandon and assign him to the Las Vegas team.

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The fledgling league on Thursday presented a $25,000 check to the Clark County School District in an effort to counteract budget cuts that killed the annual Hall of Fame prep games that allowed schools a 10-game football schedule over a nine-gamer.

It was notable gesture by an outfit that, while run by intelligent people with profound NFL experience, must convince strapped consumers its product is worth paying to see amid the usual fall blitz of high school, college and NFL games.

As public relations moves in a market go, the donation was a local hit.

Vick would be a national one.

The negatives are obvious. There will be a segment of the population that forever remains unforgiving of Vick's cruel and gutless acts in relation to dogfighting. He didn't make a mistake. He made a heinous, despicable choice. There always will be those quick to picket and protest, and that is their right.

Vick also paid for his crimes by serving 19 months in federal prison.

Some team is going to sign him. He's going to play football again and should be afforded the right to work once he pays his debt.

Vick completes his 23-month sentence on July 20, when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he would address the quarterback's possible reinstatement.

But even if Goodell opens the door for Vick -- and many are guessing he won't for the 2009 season -- the number of NFL teams willing to annoy loyal fan bases by signing Vick once the Atlanta Falcons officially sever ties with him are seemingly few.

Of course Vick rather would play in the NFL, where the potential for a large income would be vital in his federal bankruptcy case. But if that option isn't immediately available, the UFL and Las Vegas make the most sense.

"No question, it would be a feather in our cap," UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue said. "Our league is about exciting players and Michael Vick is one of the most exciting in the game. But we can't look at it in a vacuum. We have to recognize he comes with baggage.

"You don't want to turn it into a show or take away from the product, which is family orientated. But we've looked very closely at this. We've done our due diligence and would continue to do so if we got closer to making a final decision."

It's not a big pie from which to choose a slice, but it appears Las Vegas today is the league's premier city of the seven that will host games once the season begins Oct. 8. The championship will be played here Nov. 27. The interest level has been higher here on several fronts, from potential season-ticket buyers to responses from a question posed on the league's Web site regarding Vick playing in the UFL.

(The results, of which, were overwhelmingly positive).

Huyghue won't step on any NFL toes pursuing Vick. He won't ambush the league from which he will try and sign practice squad players and castoffs for his own teams. But a six-game UFL season might be exactly what Vick needs to sharpen skills undoubtedly lessened by incarceration while allowing NFL teams tangible proof how much game he has left.

UFL founder Bill Hambrecht on Thursday called Vick "probably the best football player in America." He isn't close to that, especially now. But he is the name a new league could build its first season around. He is the draw that might push interest beyond a semi-curious level.

"Maybe our league would be best for him to start. Maybe it would be better to go right to the NFL. I don't know," said Jim Fassel, who will coach the Las Vegas team. "He's a great athlete, so some of that part will come back quickly.

"But you can't discount a quarterback not playing games for so long. You lose some of the intuitiveness, the instinctiveness, the timing. It won't be easy for him no matter where he goes, but he's a professional football player by trade who paid his debt to society and who deserves a second chance."

Michael Vick did some terrible things. That part will never change. Many will never get past it. It is their right.

So, too, is it Vick's right to seek employment in pro football come July 20.

Someone is going to sign him. He's going to play.

Why not here?

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. karma wrote on June 17, 2009 04:57 PM: The biggest joke in all this is Huyghue! He's ran every business he's owned into the ground - check his agency... His departure from the Jags was less than amicable and he's screwed a lot of good people along the way. What ever happened to fact based journalism?? Do your homework Graney! Bob wrote on June 14, 2009 08:53 AM: OH FOR GOD'S SAKE. REVIEW-JOURNAL PLEASE GET A NEW SPORTSWRITER ALREADY. NOT ONLY IS GRAINEY WAY BEHIND THE TIMES WITH HIS IGNORANCE AND AVOIDANCE OF THE FACT THAT OUR HOME-TOWN SPORTS FRANCHISE IS THE UFC, (AND GRAINEY BELIEVES HE NEEDS TO CONTINUE BEING THE CHAMPION OF THE DYING SPORT OF BOXING), NOW HE IS ALSO TOTALLY POLITICALLY INCORRECT WITH HIS IDIOTIC PROPOSAL OF MAKING THE DOG TORTURER PART OF LAS VEGAS. GRAINEY HAS TO GO!!! Paul wrote on June 12, 2009 08:38 PM: What is wrong with dog-fighting is not the pain the dogs experience. Instead, it is the fact that humans are enjoying seeing that pain. al harrison wrote on June 12, 2009 06:36 PM: cont.... there is so much to say ken, i am not perfect but i KNOW i am not the epitome of what is wrong with society(there you go judging, KEN!) what society finds repugnant is murder, rape, and sex offenders.... animals are beasts, dirty beasts of burden, used to feed the masses, as entertainment, but one thing i know they arent are HUMANS.... i could go on, you have been called out, and i cant waste my time on you no longer.... i want to see you protest hunting animals, animals used for sport-racing, animals used for chemical testing, etc.... and you better not be eating meat brother, especially pigs, everyone knows they are smarter than dogs, ken... i know what vick did, and he didnt murder any humans or commit any sex offenses, thats that! whats funny is you saying all that, he WILL get another chance whether in the NFL, UFL or both, but i will think about you when he scores his next touchdown, smarty pants!!! al harrison wrote on June 12, 2009 06:26 PM: "it could be my mother and if she did what that disgusting excuse for a human did to dogs I would want her to hang too." huh?! what?! ken, you are a bonehead, and your mom didnt raise you right.... everyone makes mistakes, you wouldnt give your own MOM a second chance(huh?! wtf?!?)... and I AM whats wrong with society today?!? my mom raised me to respect human life, love my family, work hard for mines....i dont know who needs a wakeup call/slap in the face more, you or your mom!!! everyone has made mistakes in their life, you too ken, no one is perfect, perfect you are not ken... so YOU dont care if it is in the lab or for sport, i hope you dont use/eat anything that was slaughtered(eatin a hotdog or steak sandwhich while throwin a baseball/football around), lets hear your campaign on animal abuse/slaughter, you can sit there on a little podium and condemn an individual, where you at on all of the other situations of animal abuse?! hunting animals is grotesque, whats up ken?! you can bash vick, but eat some bacon and other animals that were alive, use toiletries that were tested on animals, wear/use leather products, ken-get a life!!! """...you are willing to overlook what the rest of society finds repugnant....""" judges, teachers, firemen, cops, politicians, countless other professions partake in dogfighting everyday, you probably know someone who goes to or has been to a dogfight, vick wasnt the first, and definitely wont be the last, and he is paying for his crime... what society finds repugnant-he didnt murder a human, he isnt a sex offender.... vick isnt scum, just a man/son/father/brother who made a mistake, you are scum for being hateful and judgemental....continued Ken wrote on June 12, 2009 03:39 PM: You, al harrison, are the epitome of what is wrong with society today. You so want your football fix and so want a named individual that you are willing to overlook what the rest of society finds repugnant just to make sure you get to watch a pro player in this town. Vick is scum. Anyone who abuses an animal is scum. I personally do not care if it is in a lab or for sport; it is reprehensible and anyone convicted of it (as Vick was) should not be allowed in this league. Oh and to answer your question -- it could be my mother and if she did what that disgusting excuse for a human did to dogs I would want her to hang too. NO ONE deserves a second chance for that sort of behavior. Do you even know what he did, al or were you too busy drooling over the Michael Vick poster in your bedroom? al harrison wrote on June 12, 2009 02:47 PM: in charge of what?! im replying to ignant opinions... lets think about what we write before we waste time, you too.... vick should be put in a ring with 10 pitbulls?! youd cosign that?! youd cosign naming a team las vegas pitbulls with a bloodied dog as the insignia?! is it really classy to ban athletes for killing dogs?! theres way worse things going on this world, im not condoning dog fighting, but he was in prison next to REAL criminals, rapists and murderers, get real pal, i do believe the stuff im writing, senseless killings of animals happens every hour all over the world and 95 percent of it doesnt even get talked about, its vick that makes the headlines... where are these people when it comes to killing deer, bear, elk, moose, and birds?! they dont care, but they care about vick and his plight?! thats outstanding!!! when a horse doesnt make money at a track, it gets sold for slaughter and these people dont care about that, yet theyll say vick needs to get in a ring with 10 pitbulls?!? nice!! you just wasted time too, and i wont ever get it back, i should be in charge of you-how bout that genious?! and how did the nfl get started?! there wasnt all-of-the-sudden 32 multi-million dollar teams, they started small, and worked their way up, clue-dart.... next time, just save your 22 words for your boyfriend blanket statement wrote on June 12, 2009 02:31 PM: al harrison: we all have opinions and options. who died and left you in charge? Do you really believe the stuff your writing? Wow! A whopping four team franchise. Do you really think that one athlete will be the cause of the league being solvent in Las Vegas? NOT al harrison wrote on June 12, 2009 01:45 PM: i was planning on season tickets, if vick plays for Vega$, season tickets WILL be a MUST! vick the athlete is electric, and a sportscenter cut is a play away.... vick the person is paying his debt to society and really there wont be anything you can do about it when he is free and about to play your favorite sport again, only god can judge, remember that.... all you have is an opinion, and it probably isnt even worth hearing(blanket statement for all vick haters) al harrison wrote on June 12, 2009 01:23 PM: only god can judge, if that had happened to any one of your relatives or son or brother, you would be saying they deserve a second chance, mike vick deserves that.... he has paid for what he did, he has been ashamed, humiliated, and then he cant do what he is best at in life, he has paid for what he has done... everyone of you losers who left a hate message on vick, you aint picketing hunting licenses, its okay to shoot deer everyday?!?! you aint at the dogtracks and horsetracks, they shoot and dispose of unfit animals everyday!!! wtf, get a life, you just want to talk a little smack cuz of jealousy, there is too much more for me to type, but mike vick DESERVES and WILL get another chance to play professional football, AND will probably be pretty good again too!!! go down to the animal shelters and picket, my mom had to adopt a pregnant rott, if she didnt they were going to kill it and the 9 pups inside, lets picket the animal shelters for needless killing of pets...dont use any sports equipment either, footballs and baseballs are made of hides of animals, i bet you that wrote a hate letter has thrown one of those recently!!! had any steak or chicken or hot dogs lately?!?! guess what? those were animals that didnt have to be killed, but you dont write hate mail to the farms that slaughter, do you?!? you are all hypocrites, and need to stop pro-creating, adding to the gene-pool, wasting other peoples time..... 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