Monday, August 27, 2007

I apologize, I was immature, I ask for forgiveness, I take full responsibility, I made a mistake, I found Jesus

Wherein in MS Word, click Tools>Autosummarize>Type of summary>Length of summary


Read Michael Vick's statement. Then see what the autosummarizer does to it.

25% autosummary:
I want to personally apologize to commissioner Goodell, Arthur Blank, coach Bobby Petrino, my Atlanta Falcons teammates, you know, for our - for our previous discussions that we had. I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering Michael Vick the person, not the football player.

I take full responsibility for my actions. For one second will I sit right here - not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done.

I offer my deepest apologies to everybody out in there in the world who was affected by this whole situation. And if I'm more disappointed with myself than anything it's because of all the young people, young kids that I've let down, who look at Michael Vick as a role model.

10% autosummary:
I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering Michael Vick the person, not the football player.

I take full responsibility for my actions. For one second will I sit right here - not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done.

5% autosummary:
I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering Michael Vick the person, not the football player.

I take full responsibility for my actions.


Michael Wilbon On Michael Vick's "mistake":
I thought that Michael Vick's 4 minute-plus statement was a pretty impressive first step. That's all. A first step. I thought it was good he spoke without notes, which would simply have made most of us feel his attorneys or some handlers wrote something that he read. But he didn't do that. I would take major exception with his contention that he made a mistake. Turning the wrong way onto a one-way street and causing a bad accident is a mistake. Vick conducted criminal activity, and according to his sleazy father, has been doing so since the late 1990s. That's not a mistake, that's a pattern of criminal behavior. Still, I thought this is the first note of apology and atonement in what has to be a two-year symphony...If Michael Vick thinks he's going to apologize 10 or 15 times and be done, he's sadly mistaken. He needs to and ought to apologize and find some desperately needed humility from this day forward. But again, I thought he started by sounding the only note we'd want to hear. What would you have him say that he didn't? He owned up to every single accusation, which to tell you the truth, was a pleasant surprise to me.

5 Comments:

Blogger XWL said...

Sounds like if the sentence is less than 2 years, and he continues to make contrite sounding statements, he'll make a comeback (and be allowed to play by the league).

Not until the 2010 season at the earliest, though.

He'd be in his early 30s and not been in an NFL game for 3+ years.

Don't see how fit he'd be after that layoff, even with his physical gifts.

Either way, Go Joey Harrington?!?

(maybe Atlanta could have a surprising season, he might fit the rest of the offense better than Vick, and the defense should be fairly solid, plus having a new coach might bring about more consistency in effort)

That's assuming there aren't other Atlanta players involved, part of a plea deal for Vick might be naming more names, and it'd be hard to believe that Vick's cronies on ATL were totally unaware of his 'hobby'.

8/28/2007 01:59:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

I think the Falcon fans will quickly get over Vick. He's an exciting player and as a starting quarterback his record is *slightly* above .500. But Atlanta has never had back to back winning seasons and the last winning season was 2004.

8/28/2007 10:08:00 AM  
Blogger Icepick said...

Bill, Vick's record is slightly over 50%, but I saw yesterday that number puts him #1 all time for Atlanta QBs.

X, there is no way Vick will ever play in the leauge again, unless Roger Goodell is replaced as commisioner and Pete Rose takes over the job. The gambling angle gives the NFL all the cover it needs to suspend Vick permanently.

Also, comparing Vick to Harrington is a lot of fun. Joey has more completions than Vick, a higher completion percentage than Vick, and more touchdowns than Vick. He's also played one less season than Vick, although just five fewer games. But given that Joey has been benched or a backup while Vick has been injured, this shows that Harrington has (so far) been far more durable than Vick. (Especially impressive given the horrible teams Harrington has played for.) Also, Harrington has taken only half as many sacks, and lost half as much yardage per sack as Vick.

On the plus sides for Vick: better yards per completion, fewer INTs (adjusted per game), higher QB rating, and an incomparable ability to make plays with his feet.

Still, given the dearth of talent that Harrington has been surrounded with, I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't at least a sideways move for Atlanta.

/ devil's advocacy

Actually, I'm more of a fan of Vick on the field than most people I know. He needed an offensive system tailor-made to his abilities, and he never got it. (Think of something similar to what Charlie Ward had at FSU. Or Dr. Z's suggestion of the old single-wing attack.) His coaches either needed to quit trying to plug round peg into a square hole, or cut him and go get a more traditional NFL QB. Of course, that's all a moot point now.

8/28/2007 10:37:00 AM  
Blogger Icepick said...

Oh, I forgot to add the appropriate links to the last post.

Harrington Stats

Vick Stats

8/28/2007 10:38:00 AM  
Blogger Icepick said...

Gah, a horrible mistake in the above: [Harrington has] lost half as much yardage per sack as Vick.

That should be that Harrington has lost only half as many yards to sacks in total, not per sack.

8/28/2007 10:42:00 AM  

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