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The Butterfly Effect and how Mike
Florio Changed the NFL
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by
Bill
Chuang, Head
Columnist, 8/2/07
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The Butterfly
Effect refers to a phenomenon in which a small change somewhere can
effect a much larger change elsewhere. It’s also the title of a
fairly decent Ashton Kutcher movie. Is that an
oxymoron? The classic example is that a butterfly flapping
its wings can cause tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately
cause a tornado. This is essentially what happened to
Michael Vick last week.
If you’re a major sports fan, you’re probably already aware of a
website called profootballtalk.com. Run by a lawyer/football fan
named
Mike Florio, its main draw is a feature called the Rumor Mill. In
it,
Florio presents links to other NFL articles via snide, usually
humorous, sometimes offensive comments.
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With inside information from
his cadre of informants, he also presents rumors and innuendos which,
more often than not, turn out to be true. Since these are rumors, he
can scoop the major sporting news sources by eliminating the time
needed to verify them. As an example, this website was the first
to report about the halftime blowup between Marvin Lewis and Chad
Johnson during the 2006 AFC wildcard game between the Bengals and
Steelers. Lewis and the Bengals initially denied this occurrence,
but later admitted that it was true. This website was also the
one of the first to report about the dogfighting allegedly happening on
Michael Vick’s property. This started off as a small backpage
type story, not worthy of mention by the mainstream networks and
websites. Perhaps due to the lack of any real football news after
the draft, or perhaps because Florio felt actual indignation by the
nature of this story, he doggedly stayed on this story, even after most
had forgotten about it. He challenged the local prosecutor to
bring charges, and questioned his inaction. Being a lawyer, he
explained to us the legal ramifications and complications of this
case. He even set up a separate link within his site devoted
soley to this case. Through it all, I personally had lost
interest. I didn’t think Michael Vick would ever face any serious
consequences. These feelings were validated several weeks ago
when Len Pasquarelli from ESPN announced that it was highly unlikely
that Vick would ever be indicted for his alleged involvement in
dogfighting. Even after the federal authorities took charge of
the case, this remained a minor story but began to gain some traction
with mention on the major networks and mainstream sites. It was
also an occasional topic of conversation on the NFL network and Sirius
NFL radio.
This all changed last week when Michael Vick was indicted on federal
dogfighting charges. Suddenly, everyone, including the non
sporting news sights were talking about this case. There was
continuous speculation about what the Falcons and the NFL would
do. The answers finally came when Bobby Petrino announced that
Joey Harrington would be the Falcons’ starting quarterback this
season. The NFL also told Vick to stay away from Falcon’s
camp. Further punishment from the NFL and the Falcons is likely
to follow. There is speculation that Vick may already have played
his final game for the Falcons and even in the NFL.
Though his performance may not warrant it, Vick is probably one of the
top five personalities in the league along with Peyton Manning, Tom
Brady, TO and LT. In my opinion, the fact that Michael Vick
observed, bet on, or maybe even played an active role in dog fighting
pales in magnitude to Barry Bonds’ or Mark McGwire’s use of steroids or
to referee Tim Donaghy’s gambling on NBA games that he himself
officiated. After all, Vick’s crime does not affect the integrity
of the game. This is a new era in the NFL, though. Roger
Goodell, through his actions, has stated clearly that he will not
tolerate any behavior out of the bounds of normal, decent society, and
this falls into that category. His punishment from the league
will likely be harsh. Bobby Petrino essentially had no choice but
to name Harrington as his starter. To bring Vick to camp would
have invited a media circus, and Vick may have had to be in court to
defend himself making him unavailable for parts of the season.
Arthur Blank, owner of the Falcons as well as founder of Home Depot,
may be painted into a corner by this situation. PETA, which has
already picketed the NFL offices, may call for a boycott of Home Depot
if he allows Vick to continue with the Falcons.
That this could happen to one of the major stars in the NFL is
downright shocking. Pacman Jones and Chris Henry, who
were both also suspended for multiple infractions, are relative small
fries compared to Michael Vick. The Titans and Bengals will have
minor effect in the win/loss without these players. Michael Vick
was essentially the team in Atlanta. No matter what we may think
of Michael Vick’s performances, the entire Atlanta offense was built
around Vick. His loss will immediate, and adversely impact
the Falcons. The specter of Michael Vick’s fate will strip away
the armor of invincibility that today’s pro athletes feel. If it
could happen to Vick, it could happen to them too. We may finally
see an end to the posse’s and accompanying thuggery which have come to
symbolize players in the NFL and NBA.
Inadvertantly or by design, Florio, through his crusade against Vick
and his alleged dogfighting, raised the public awareness of this crime
which eventually led to the federal indictments. The NFL will
never be the same.
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