понедельник, 17 сентября 2012 г.

Prepare your eyes, and ears, for Vick's return to atlanta.(Sports) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

A few things . . .

You do realize where all this is headed right?

Sunday, Jan. 23, 3 p.m. in the Georgia Dome. The Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC championship and a Super Bowl berth.

Michael Vick, back where it all came crashing down.

My oh my. Pad your walls. Find your ear plugs. Prepare now for every sonic Tweet, commentary and media roar - present company very much included - that will bombard your world if this transpires, because it's going to get noisy.

The din already enveloping Vick and his combustible Eagles (10-4) hides the fact that Atlanta (12-2) is one win from locking up top seed in the NFC and home field through the postseason. The Falcons are 6-0 in their dome this season, 19-3 there the last three seasons.

Usually, I disrespect teams that play the 'disrespect' card, but the overlooked Falcons might have a case. They've lost only to the Steelers, 15-9 in the opener, and the Eagles, 31-17 in Philly in October, but don't get nearly the media credit or attention merited by a 12-2 club.

The path's not been the toughest: Atlanta has beaten five teams with winning records, including 8-6 Tampa Bay twice. Then again, same for the Eagles; five victories over winners, though two fewer overall.

Know what? Nobody's going to care about any of that if these guys are still standing in a month. So clear that afternoon to be ready. You have been warned.

An ensuing drama with Vick is the richness of his next price. He can be a free agent, but at worst, the Eagles will lock him up with their 'franchise' tag - or what passes for that status depending on the NFL's labor talks. But there's little question that Vick, potentially the league's offensive Player of the Year, will stay an Eagle or that he wants to stay, as he's said, because they offered him his chance when he was toxic.

A source familiar with Vick's contract plans, who requested confidentiality, told me weeks ago Vick would aim for the $15 million-a-year range. One would presume that number's higher now. As a handy reference, the four-year extension signed this season by New England's Tom Brady, another MVP contender, was for $18 million per, with $48.5 million guaranteed.

To be sure, this season's soundtrack for Vick, who's emerging from bankruptcy and has countless debtors, is one note, played on an endless loop: ch-ching ch-ching ch-ching.

Yes, I still think it was needless for Redskins coach Mike Shanahan to defrock Donovan McNabb the way he did. But all Rex Grossman's decent-but-losing effort Sunday against the Cowboys confirmed was what we already knew: He can be a serviceable backup, or maybe even a (very) interim starter in a rebuilding season should the Redskins draft and nurse a young quarterback next year, a plan that should be paramount.

Dear Geno Auriemma: Shut up shut up shut up. Your shameless snark is wrong and beyond aggravating. Sarcastically claiming evil factions of the media want to see your Connecticut women's basketball players back in the kitchen 'where they belong' loses you serious credibility.

Let's be real: UConn's 88-game winning streak is a fantastic achievement. But to say the run matches the UCLA men's 88-game streak, or that UConn is about to break a men's record, is politically correct fawning.

UConn is setting an amazing standard for women's basketball, not for any other sport. If there's any way possible, please let that mute your staggering self-righteousness.

Today's one-minute movie review: You're not sitting down to a boxing film or some 'Rocky' wanna-be when you sit down to 'The Fighter.' You're sitting down to a bizarre family drama centered around junior welterweight Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) that, from everything I've read, is spot-on to his real life.

The tortured humanity rivals, oddly enough, 'The Wrestler' from 2008. But the characters in 'The Fighter' are more indelible, none more than Ward's half-brother (Christian Bale) and tyrannic mother/manager (Melissa Leo).

Interestingly, it also casts a wide spotlight onto a common plague across sports: the suffocating negative energy of hangers on, entourages and posses.

I recommend.

Then again, I recommended the Redskins not start Grossman.

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518,tom.robinson@pilotonline.com