NEWTON'S LAWS

So I've been holding back my opinon on Auburn QB phenom Cam Newton all year, but after watching him on the sidelines during the SEC Championship game and seeing the interview he just did with Chris Fowler for ESPN today, I just have to spout off. 

I've said before that it's important not to be too hard on college athletes. They're young and inexperienced when it comes to the spotlight, the media, and their athletic prowess, so they're bound to slip up here and there and we should all treat them with a lower level of scrutiny than the pros that get paid to do what they do. 

All that said, this kid is really starting to wear on my nerves. 

There is no question in my mind that he's the best player in college football right now and that he is deserving of the Heisman Trophy, which he will undoubtedly win in a landslide on Saturday night in New York. The kid is doing things on the field that no one else is capable of right now (and yes, as an OSU fan and Terrelle Pryor apologist, that is hard to say), and the fact that his team is in the National Championship game with an undefeated record is testament to that.

What I don't like about Newton, and what I can't help but criticize the kid for, is his attitude. Everyone has heard the stories (and allegations) by now: he was caught buying a stolen laptop and then throwing it out the window when the cops showed up while playing for Florida, he had to high tail it out of Gainesville because he may or may not have cheated his way through school, his father openly shopped his services to schools like Mississippi State (and probably Auburn too) to the tune of $200,000 after Newton spent a year in Junior College.

That's a lot of heat on a guy who is barely old enough to drink a beer and is only in his Junior year of college. It's especially eyebrow-raising considering the size of his star on the football field and the profile that comes with being on one of the best teams in college football. Now, if it were me, and I was facing all of this media attention and was the subject of allegation after allegation about things that happened off the field, I think I would have a little bit of perspective. Even at that young age, I think I would realize that I needed to keep my head down and be as humble and as unassuming as possible for the duration of my career as a college quarterback. 

Cam doesn't seem to feel the same way. He's been playing to the crowd all year after Auburn victories, strutting around the field and hamming it up for the student section (and cameras) with the whole world watching. That's all well and good I suppose, but "Cammy Cam Juice"? Come on dood. If you aren't familiar, that's a little concoction that Cam made on the sidelines during Auburn's rout of South Carolina in the SEC championship game. I guess it was some blend of Gatorade flavors. You know, the kind ten year old kids make when Mom leaves them alone at home with their buddies. Not only will Tracy Wolfson never live that one down, but it's also extremely lame, and nothing short of arrogant and attention grabbing. 

Then there's the aforementioned interview with Fowler on ESPN, in which Newton repeatedly refers to himself in the third person and seems completely out of tune with the way folks are looking at him right now. Psst...Cam! Uh, it turns out you're in deep shit bro, so you might want to look up "contrite" in the old dictionary and see if you can act more like a man facing a laundry list of allegations and less an egomaniac who walks between the raindrops.

I'm sure he's being coached on what to say and more importantly, what not to, but he comes off like a guy who doesn't think he's done anything wrong and will never face any repercussions for the money his father was trying to squeeze out of Mississippi State (and who knows what other schools) during his second recruitment. Newton might be innocent, but I just can't believe that he had no knowledge of what was going on as far as the pay-for-play stuff. He had to have known something, if not everything, and if that's the case I would once again encourage a low profile. That means not talking about yourself in the third person and making "Cammy Cam Juice" on the sidelines. Ugh. 

All of this amid the backdrop of what just happened to USC and Reggie Bush, who were stripped of a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy respectively for the gifts that Bush and his family received while he was playing at Southern Cal. Newton, the alleged $200,000 man, seems either to not have seen what happened to Bush, or not to care, and that just irks me to no end. It's possible he knows that he isn't coming back to play out his Senior season at Auburn next year and therefore doesn't give a rat's ass what happens once he's playing in the NFL, but that again points to a dizzying level of arrogance and an unabashed ambivalence towards the fate of the Auburn football program that are both equally galling.

As Bush could (and perhaps should) tell young Cam, it's not what happens to you, but the lasting damage you can do to your school when the dust finally settles and all of the wrongdoing comes to light. There are kids playing for USC right now that don't get to compete for a National Championship or go to a bowl, and they were playing high school football when Bush was taking money from agents and getting his parents set up in a cushy new house in southern California. At the end of the day, it is exactly this kind of disregard for the fate and feelings of others that I see in Cam Newton's actions that really grinds my gears. 

Newton is a fantastic college quarterback and one helluva a fine athlete, but he seems to fall very short of what I would call an upstanding young man. He's cocky, brash, and bold, and while that might be all well and good for the country's best player under normal circumstances, in the wake of all the smoke that continues to build around his tenure in college, I think it's a bad M.O. to carry. The fires of controversy only seem to get warmer with each passing day for Cam, and he only seems to grow more defiant. I don't care if the NCAA has given him a bogus bill of good health as far as his eligibility is concerned, I flat out don't like the way he carries himself and I had to let the world (or at least the handful of folks who read this blog) know about it.

VICK, VICK, VICK-ADELPHIA

When the Washington Redskins played the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday, the storyline was supposed to be all about Donovan McNabb returning to the city to play against the team that traded him away in the off season. McNabb was dealt to the Redskins because the Eagles were confident in his back up, Kevin Kolb, and because they obviously thought his skills were diminishing in the latter part of his career. While it's a long season and we won't know for a while how good McNabb still is (especially on a team that isn't exactly setting the league on fire), a lot of the headlines that would have been focused on his return were shared with the fact that Michael Vick, and not the aforementioned Kolb, is actually the starting QB for the Eagles now. Not only that, but he's been really, really good at his job the last three weeks.

Kolb was concussed in the opening game of the season, and Vick stepped into the role of starter. The two large ironies about this new role are that Philadelphia gave Vick his second chance in the NFL because of the urging of McNabb while he was still in Philly and that Vick himself was subsequently injured early in Sunday's game and replaced by Kolb. All the featured players in the Vick comeback saga were on the field Sunday, and it made for a truly interesting storyline by the end of the day. The Skins beat the Eagles and McNabb found some revenge, but the shuffling at the QB position for Philadelphia is just getting to be too much to follow.

To (try and) sum it up:

A year ago McNabb urges Philly to sign Vick as a third string QB, Philly then trades McNabb to allow Kevin Kolb, the second stringer, to become the starting QB in the off season. Next, Kolb gets hurt allowing Vick to be the starting QB, and then Vick gets hurt to give the job back to Kolb three games later--that last step in a game played between McNabb's old team and his new one. If you're a little lost, you're not the only one, Vick's return to the field has been anything but typical.

Up until week two this season, Vick hadn't started at QB since returning to the NFL after his prison sentence (you may remember something involving an illegal dog-fighting operation?) and the way he's played in the first three games has blown just about everybody away. He looks like himself again, only better. He's more comfortable in the pocket and knows how to use his game-changing quickness and running ability only when he has to. Up until his injury on Sunday, he was once again a starting quarterback for an NFL franchise and off to what can only be called an impressive start through the first three weeks of play.

Vick is a lightning rod, there's no two ways about it. Everybody's got an opinion on the former Hokie now that he's done his time in the pokey and is back playing like (if not better than) he used to when he was under center for the Atlanta Falcons. I've brought the topic of Vick up when surrounded by sports fans and non-sports fans alike, and it only lends more credence to my thought that the guy is the most fascinating topic of discussion in the sporting world since Mike Tyson.

Like Tyson, who served a jail sentence for raping a beauty queen, Vick's crime is heinous and without justification. He bank rolled a dog-fighting ring and did the time for his truly gut-wrenching crime. The reason Vick is so debated and hated and stuck up for all at the same time is due to a lot of intersecting factors, which I'd like to explore even though the story has lost some luster now that Vick's ribs appear to be in pieces after a literally bone-crunching hit early in Sunday's game.

I get in trouble with a lot of my pals for sticking up for Vick, something I don't do with unequivocal pride, but with the belief that second chances are as American as apple pie. I wrote in a previous post about the demise of Roger Clemens' public image, and about how the Rocket was going through a familiar cycle that many celebrities have taken a trip around. He was built up to hero status, only to be torn down as a cheater and a liar. The third step in this celebrity scandal process for a lot of transgressors is to be built back up again by the public that has both loved and scorned them. It's that last step that I want nothing to do with when it comes to Clemens, but something I am willing to do for Michael Vick.

Vick's crimes are absolutely beyond the pale. Torturing animals for personal entertainment is one of the worst things I can possibly imagine a person can do, and it's why so many people will never, ever give Vick the time of day again. In a lot of people's eyes, the man is evil incarnate and shouldn't be on the street today, let alone on a football field throwing touchdown passes in front of sold out crowds and millions of viewers at home. It sickens a lot of people that the guy is making around $4 million this year when he did what he did (though with all of the folks that he owes money, and the ins and outs of contract negotiation, he ain't gonna see nearly that much, but that's beside the point).

I get all that. I do. But I just think that Vick deserves that second chance that I won't give Roger Clemens. For one, he did his time. He went to a federal penitentiary for almost two years, where not only the glory of the football field was taken from him, but his freedom. I've never seen the inside of a jail cell, but I can imagine that going from NFL superstar to federal inmate for a year or so has an affect on the way you look at the world. I think that Vick came out of prison apologetic, repentant, and focused.

I think he looks at life through a lens that few of us who criticize him can understand, and I don't think that being convicted and then punished for his crimes means that he doesn't get to do his job anymore now that his freedom has been restored. I have absolutely no beef with the guy being allowed to play quarterback in the NFL again, because while that profession is indeed a privilege and not a right, he happens to play the sport that is one of the world's only true meritocracies. If you're good, you play. If you're the best at your position on the team, you start. If you're head and shoulders above the rest of the guys that play your position, you're a superstar. It's that simple.

It's the reason that Vick would never have been black-listed by the NFL, and I think it will end up helping him become a much better person at the end of the day. The guy is a creep, okay, I get that, but I certainly don't wish a wasted life upon anyone, considering how lucky everybody on this planet is to be able to live one out. Moments are precious, and I bet if you ask Vick if he now knows that, he wouldn't be able to get the "yes sir" out of his mouth fast enough.

Let's be honest, no matter how much or little jail time he did, it wasn't going to erase the fact that he murdered animals and funded a dog-fighting ring. Nothing is ever going to get that stain off of Vick and there is absolutely no way around that. So what are we to do, as a society? We've jailed him, scorned him in the public eye and belittled him in every way. Guess what? He's still here. He's still a person and one that happens to be blessed with freakish athletic talents that have never been seen at the position he plays on the field.

The real reason I like Vick as a redemption story so much is that he seems to be genuinely appreciative of his second chance at life and more importantly, because he has learned so much from his mistakes (something this writer struggles with doing on a daily basis). It's hard to recognize your faults and have the will to make changes that will correct them. If you watched the interview Vick sat down for on Fox NFL Sunday or this one, where he talks to his former coach Jim Mora, you cannot deny his authenticity or his commitment to change. His outlook has completely shifted and he is using his second act in the NFL to redirect the public gaze away from his talents as a quarterback and towards positive avenues off the field.

With the support of the Humane Society, Vick now uses his celebrity status and his tenure as dog-fighting ringmaster and federal inmate to try and show kids what not to do and the public in general why dog-fighting must be eradicated. Sure, the second part seems like common sense, but it is obviously a fight that must be had, because Michael Vick isn't the only guy in the country that has pit animal against animal for their own entertainment. The problem continues in many parts of the country, especially the southern United States, and he is now doing everything he can to help animal rights groups make it a thing of the past.

So if you want to hate Vick, go ahead and hate him, I'm just not coming along for the ride. I for one admire a man that can sink so low and pull himself back up a changed person and a positive influence. I've always enjoyed watching him on the football field, but now I can also enjoy his story as a tale of a man redeemed by his own failures. I'm not going to forgive him for what he did, but I'm not going to make him suffer for trying to make it right either.

THE END OF AN ARA

As a native of Ohio, it might seem odd that for the second consecutive post I'm choosing to focus on the state to our direct north, but after watching tonight's Notre Dame v. Michigan State game, I can't help but pour some more words on the state shaped like a mitten. And as an Ohio State fan, it also pains me to have to talk about Notre Dame, but the fact that they lost this heart-stopping contest will sure help alleviate some of those concerns.

The game in question is part of a near-annual affair. MSU and Notre Dame have played each other over 70 times, with the first contest coming in 1897. There have certainly been some incredible games throughout the rivalry's long history, but last night's showdown will surely live on as one of the greatest in their time on the field together, not only because of the frantic back-and-forth point scoring and overtime drama, but more importantly because MSU head coach Mark Dantonio has balls of solid brass.

While this game, which Michigan State won 34-31 in overtime, may not be the most talked-about in the series, it was certainly the most amazing one I've seen between the two sides and featured one of the most daring play calls I've seen in my 20 some odd years of watching college and pro football. It makes Sean Payton's decision to pull an onside kick to start the second half of last year's Superbowl look like the choice between paper and plastic. Seriously, I'm still in shock at what happened last night in East Lansing and it reaffirms my belief that college football is the best thing going in American sports.

The most famous match-up between MSU and Notre Dame is undoubtedly what some have dubbed "The Game of the Century", which took place in 1966. Coming into the game ND was No. 1 and MSU was No. 2. The game ended in a 10-10 tie, which ironically, can no longer happen in college football because of the implementation of overtime, which led to the incredible way that last night's game ended, but I digress...

To this day the game is surrounded by a shroud of controversy because of Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian's decision to run out the clock instead of trying to win the game in the final minutes. Parseghian knew that if the two teams tied and ND went on to beat USC the following weekend (an almost absolute certainty that was confirmed by an eventual 51-0 victory), the Irish would most likely win the 1966 National Championship. He was proved right, but the game nonetheless lives on in countless debates involving coaching strategy, gamesmanship, and differing philosophical approaches to sports in general.

Don't just take my word for it though. Parseghian's decision to live to fight another day against the Trojans the following weekend is so infamous that acclaimed author Denis Johnson made it one of the central metaphors of his National Book Award winning novel, Tree of Smoke (a tome that was an earth-shattering read for this writer, check it out if you haven't already). The novel is about the Vietnam War and the game is used by the book's own version of Colonel Kurtz, Colonel Francis Sands, to illustrate his view that the United States could not accept anything but victory in it's campaign in southeast Asia. Needless to say, Sparty was most definitely picking up what Col. Sands was laying down last night.

I know what you're thinking. A tie isn't possible anymore, so this year's MSU squad wasn't facing the same kind of ultimatum that the '66 ND squad was. Plus, that was a No. 1 v. No. 2 showdown near the end of the season, this was just a week three game in a long year with a lot of games left to play at much lower stakes.

While these are both accurate arguments and I have taken them into account, I must bring up the '66 game because it involves the same two teams and stands in stark contrast to the way last night's game ended. It also allows for discussion of the philosophical approach to sports that I mentioned a few lines back, in this case the approach that says when the win is there for the taking, you reach out and grab it. You don't hope for another opportunity to bring home a victory, no matter how big or small the stakes may be.

All that said, last night's game saw regulation end with the two teams knotted at 28-28 after a hard fought, back and forth contest. MSU won the coin toss in OT and chose to let Notre Dame get the ball first, which is a common practice in college football overtime games, where both teams get the ball at least once, each starting from the opponent's twenty-five yard line.

If you win the toss at the start of OT, the logic is that you want to let the other team go first, then see what you're up against when you get the ball at their twenty-five. It's a cool little piece of strategy that the NFL cannot claim because their OT rules force a period of sudden-death action where the first team to score wins. Last night, Notre Dame was unable to score a touchdown on their possession and instead kicked a field goal, putting them up by three and giving MSU a chance to win, lose, or tie as they took over on offense.

MSU started from the ND twenty-five knowing that they could score a touchdown and win the game, end up kicking a field goal and force double OT, or fail to do either and endure a heartbreaking home loss to the Irish. The Spartans attempt at a touchdown drive sputtered out quickly and quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked on third down, leaving MSU with a 46 yard field goal try to tie the game and continue on into a second overtime period. Kicker Dan Conroy trotted out and lined up his kick looking like he had the requisite amount of pressure bearing down on upon him. If he nailed the kick, he's a hero on his way to a night of fanfare and worship (and likely an admiring coed if he played his cards right), if he missed the kick his options may have been limited to finding a hole somewhere to wallow in.

All the drama was there. Conroy was looking the outcome of the game dead in the face and the only thing I could imagine were images of Scott Norwood dancing through his head. He's young, inexperienced, and facing a long kick to win an overtime game against the team that worships at the alter of Touchdown Jesus. The only problem with my assumption that the kid was a ball of nerves is that Spartan head coach Mark Dantonio had already decided that Conroy was off the hook.

The pressure instead fell to the guy that was the would-be holder of that game deciding kick, senior punter Aaron Bates. The Spartans faked the field goal and Bates, instead of placing the ball on the ground for Conroy to kick, lofted it into the waiting arms of tight end Charlie Gantt, who trotted into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

Dantonio should be given (and will be given) all the praise that exists in the sporting world for calling in the fake field goal. The guy apprenticed under Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel as an assistant before being hired as head coach at Cincinnati then Michigan State, which takes the call from "wow, what a gutsy thing to do" all the way up to "no, I mean seriously, what did he just do?". Tressel is known as one of the most conservative (if not the most conservative) coaches in the college game and I guarantee his jaw dropped to the floor harder than any in the country as he watched a fake field goal turned touchdown pass decide an overtime game between Michigan State and Notre Dame.

After the game, Dantonio justified his play call ("Little Giants" is it's name, if you were curious) by pointing out his kicker's inexperience and the not-so-minuscule distance of the kick, but the truth is that not just Tressel, but 99.99% of the coaches in America would have tried for the tie and gone with the field goal, especially at home where the capacity crowd is on your side. But as staggering as it is, Dantonio decided to polish his brass balls in front of a national TV audience in the final moments of the latest game in a rivalry that started when William McKinley was president.

His decision to go for the win instead of the tie is so far removed from Ara Parseghian's option to live to fight another day in '66 that the two calls can't even be called polar opposites. Dantonio's bravery isn't just the venturous north to Parseghian's pragmatic south, it's the matter to Parseghian's anti-matter. The two calls obliterate each other on impact.

What a call and what a game. Man I love college football.