Friday, November 12, 2010

Panthers and people of Durham County have no one to blame but themselves

In the November 11, 2010 sports section of The News & Observer, writer Caulton Tudor opined what everyone who follows the NFL already knows… the Carolina Panthers are terrible. Titled “Panthers are awful, and no fun to watch: Even worse, there’s not much hope for the future,” Tudor whines about how depressing it is to watch the 1-7 team which appears to be struggling mightily to win. He is especially critical of the Panthers’ quarterbacks, stating that they lack any hint of promise or improvement… and that they are unable to get the ball with an accurate throw to the team’s most exciting player Steve Smith. Mr. Tudor ranks another 1-7 team, the Dallas Cowboys, as being better than Carolina. Even winless Buffalo Bills are placed in a more enviable position than the lackluster Panthers.

Now, there is not much that I disagree with in the Tudor evaluation, including his prediction that Coach John Fox will not be able to retain his position as head coach. Although I will bet dollars to doughnuts that Tudor is equally accurate in his assessment that John Fox will not be at the team’s helm next season, that doesn’t mean I have to like it. It seems that whenever a team goes into a tailspin, the solution all too often is to release the coach. With the Carolina Panthers, it is the owners who are responsible for the dire situation in which they find themselves. First they were too quick to rid themselves of the veteran quarterback (Jake Delhomme) whose play was admittedly streaky at times, with no quarterback of substance to step in immediately and take over the position. Matt Moore and Jim Clausen may very well develop into first rate quarterbacks, but that usually requires experience to back up talent. Secondly, and more importantly, the owners of the Carolina Panthers had the opportunity to pick up, for a song, one of the best and most exciting quarterbacks in the league… Michael Vick. But they didn’t.

After Vick was released from incarceration after serving a two year sentence for his role in a dog-fighting venture, he was available to play for all of the teams in the league. Carolina could have made an offer to Mr. Vick, which I am sure he would have taken. As it was, no team showed any interest in having Michael Vick on their team. Carolina definitely did not. Philadelphia Eagles was the only team willing to give Vick any consideration, and this only after its star quarterback McNabb pleaded with the Eagles to give Vick a chance. So, it was only with reluctance that Michael Vick landed on an NFL team as a backup QB. This is hard to comprehend when one considers the talents of Vick… he has a rifle for an arm, the southpaw is accurate with his throws, he runs like a deer, and he has the ability to escape from a collapsing pocket and turn a big loss into a big gain. Talk about an exciting tandem of Vick and Steve Smith… makes your mouth water. Not only that, but Vick has been playing in the league for years, so he brought with him to Philadelphia on-the-field experience, as well a maturity that was honed in prison.

Panther owners passed on the opportunity to have Michael Vick quarterback the Carolina franchise, and now to make amends for their lack of foresight they will most likely sack their head coach, John Fox. Had the owners made the logical and intelligent decision to immediately pick up Vick the moment he was available, there is little doubt that the Panthers’ record would more likely than not be better than .500. There is no doubt that it would be better than it is currently. An attempt to obtain Vick was not a coaching decision, rather it was a ownership one, and because the ownership messed up by not at least trying to acquire Vick, it appears as though the Panthers, Coach Fox, Panther fans, and Sports commentator Caulton Tudor will suffer.

The reason the Panthers owners did not go after Vick is not a mystery. They were in cahoots with the other owners to blacklist Michael Vick. He was not supposed to be picked up by any NFL team, but the Philadelphia Eagles owner, it seems, would much rather have a chance at bringing home a championship trophy than engaging in a loosely knit cabal to put a premature end to a talented professional’s career. Not so, the Carolina Panthers owners (who needed a quality quarterback much more than Philadelphia which had Hall of Fame-bound quarterback Donovan McNabb at the time), and as a direct result, the Tar Heel state team is now suffering the consequences.

The media has kept quiet about the debacle with NFL teams not pursuing Michael Vick, especially those in need of a quality player in the game’s most important position. Mr. Tudor did not even mention the fact that Carolina passed on the opportunity to obtain Vick. And, of course, since Michael Vick landed with the Eagles, the media has consistently tried to stir up a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia... even after Vick’s spectacular play was interrupted by a rib cartilage injury. I did not buy into the media’s QB controversy hype for a minute because I knew that when Vick recovered that he would be playing… and he would be playing because the Eagles want to win more than they want to punish a man who has served his time with dignity.

As I have stated before, this same sort of blacklisting can be compared to legal events in the cash-strapped city of Durham. Another Michael, former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, represented the finest prosecutor, in my opinion, that the state of North Carolina will ever have the fortune to have. He had nearly three decades of prosecutorial experience under his belt when the Duke Lacrosse case fell into his lap, and he had built a reputation of being a prosecutor who was fair and who had integrity. One thing that set Mr. Nifong apart from other prosecutors is the fact that he was independent in seeing that justice prevailed. Very much like Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckett who defied England’s King Henry II and followed strong-held religious principles much to his detriment, District Attorney Nifong defied the wishes of the Powers-That-Be when he proceeded to prosecute the three Duke Lacrosse defendants based on statements made by an alleged sexual assault African American victim. When the defense attorneys for the Duke Lacrosse defendants filed a motion for prosecutorial discovery, Nifong’s office responded within 24 hours with approximately 1,500 pages of documents, plus CDs and DVDs. The media has never mentioned that Mr. Nifong has always maintained an open file policy when it came to sharing evidence with defense attorneys… doing so 25 years before it became mandated by law. Finally, Mr. Nifong demonstrated his dedication to the principle of acting as a “Minister of Justice” when, after later statements by the alleged accuser did not meet standard for rape, he immediately dropped those charges against the Lacrosse defendants.

The media, egged on the Carpetbagger families of the Duke Lacrosse defendants, flagrantly devoted its energies to destroy Mike Nifong. One outstanding example was the fabrication by MSNBC Legal Analyst Susan Filan that Mr. Nifong requested that his son attend his hearing. Using this false statement, she then lambasted Mr. Nifong for using his son, when she is the one, in fact, who was using Mr. Nifong’s son. Another example of media bias was the rigged Primary Poll sponsored by ABC-11 News in an attempt to establish a pitiful and diabolical motive for Mr. Nifong’s decision to prosecute the Duke boys. Another egregious act by all media was the misleading and false statements that the Duke Lacrosse defendants were exonerated, cleared, and determined to be not guilty… all based on Attorney General Roy Cooper’s April 11, 2007 “Innocent Promulgation.” Although the state persecuted Mr. Nifong, it was the media that crucified him, and turned the unwitting public against him.

In comparison of the cases of the two Michaels, the owners of the Carolina Panthers went along with the overriding consensus of the majority of other NFL owners… only at their detriment when giving up the golden opportunity to have on their roster one of the game’s most exciting and talented players. The people of Durham County, who did not rally behind their unjustly beleaguered district attorney, are the ones who suffer by not having as district attorney the man who epitomizes “equal justice for all.” Furthermore they lack the services of a prosecutor who has the courage to go it alone in truly fulfilling his role as a “Minister of Justice.” Whereas the people of North Carolina should be well aware of the blunder by the Carolina Panther owners, it may take some time before the people of Durham County realize theirs.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems you know less about professional football than you do about law.

I honestly didn't think that was possible.

What next? The atrocious use of the designated hitter by the American League?

Anonymous said...

Of course, Michael Vick admitted his crime, repented, did penance, and has worked to change his life. As a result, I agree with Sid that he merited a second chance, and the Eagles organization acted admirably in providing him that chance.

However, as the very existence of this blog and its companion website prove every minute of every day, Mike Nifong has never admitted his crime (Sid rightly ignores his various faux apologies), never repented, never done penance (a triumphal procession to jail for a 24 hour lockup doesn't count) and hasn't worked to change his life. Rather, we see an embittered, resentful individual making ridiculous accusations and demands through surrogates (including you, Sid) to justify his own misguided sense of injury and self-righteousness.

Mike Nifong is the antethesis of Mike Vick.

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"Of course, Michael Vick admitted his crime, repented, did penance, and has worked to change his life. As a result, I agree with Sid that he merited a second chance, and the Eagles organization acted admirably in providing him that chance.

However, as the very existence of this blog and its companion website prove every minute of every day, Mike Nifong has never admitted his crime (Sid rightly ignores his various faux apologies), never repented, never done penance (a triumphal procession to jail for a 24 hour lockup doesn't count) and hasn't worked to change his life. Rather, we see an embittered, resentful individual making ridiculous accusations and demands through surrogates (including you, Sid) to justify his own misguided sense of injury and self-righteousness.

Mike Nifong is the antethesis of Mike Vick."


Mike Nifong did not admit to any crime because he never committed one. If you're looking for a prosecutor to admit to criminal acts then I'd like to direct you to David Hoke who withheld 17 eyewitness accounts that vindicated a man who was convicted and sentenced to death... Alan Gell. Also, I'd like to direct your attention to Tom Ford, the prosecutor who was more interested in closing a case than solving the murder of Jacquetta Thomas. He made backroom deals with people of questionable character to give perjured testimony to wrongfully convict Greg Taylor... and Ford went after Taylor only because Taylor refused to implicate an innocent black man, Johnny Beck. And, of course, there's Bill Wolfe who put James Arthur Johnson behind bars for 39 months after Johnson solved the senseless and heinous murder of Brittany Willis. Also, there's Michael Parker who held a mentally retarded Floyd Brown in custody for fourteen years without a trial on a murder charge based solely on a trumped up confession that Mr. Brown was incapable of making.

Mr. Nifong, on the other hand, prosecuted Duke Lacrosse players with a history of misbehaving, especially under the influence of alcohol. It was so bad that the President of Duke had to instruct the lacrosse coach to rein in his players. When Mr. Nifong felt that the later statements of the alleged victim and accuser did not warrant a rape charge, he acted as a true "Minister of Justice" and he dropped the charge of rape.

How about asking Prosecutors Hoke, Ford, Wolfe, and Parker to admit to their crimes?

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"It seems you know less about professional football than you do about law.

I honestly didn't think that was possible.

What next? The atrocious use of the designated hitter by the American League?"



I do not profess to be an expert in the sports field or even in professional football, but I think that it is safe to say that Michael Vick is a better quarterback with more experience than Panthers quarterbacks Moore and Clausen, and that if Michael Vick had been playing with the Panthers their record would be a lot better than 1-7.

I'm sure that you would've passed on picking up Michael Vick, too... Right?

Anonymous said...

"Mike Nifong did not admit to any crime because he never committed one"

Well, we KNOW he committed criminal contempt, right Sid? I mean, he was found guilty by a judge and everything.

Oh yeah -- I provided a source for Ms. Filan's comments about Nifong's Son and posted on the other thread. I see you've not commented on it, while you've made several comments here.

Anonymous said...

I copied it below. Sidney is too busy to look at the prior thread.


Mike Nifong is on record stating "I am very proud of my son. I wanted him to be proud of me. And I felt that it was important for him to see this."

Source:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1459913/

It's easy to see how someone could interpret that statement to mean that Nifong asked his son to attend the hearing.

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"I copied it below. Sidney is too busy to look at the prior thread.


Mike Nifong is on record stating 'I am very proud of my son. I wanted him to be proud of me. And I felt that it was important for him to see this.'

Source:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1459913/

It's easy to see how someone could interpret that statement to mean that Nifong asked his son to attend the hearing."


That rationalization makes as much sense as saying that handing out a business card and asking someone to visit your website is "solicitation." As you read in the article, no where did it say that Mr. Nifong requested that his son go to his hearing. Filan fabricated... Period.!


Moving right along, let's take a look at the indepth Investigative Report. Be sure to take the link to the audio with transcript with the interaction between myself and the security guard.

Anonymous said...

As has been explained to you NUMEROUS times, YES -- handing out business cards on Duke Campus without appropriate permission IS A VIOLATION OF THEIR SOLICITATION POLICY.

You don't like it -- I get that. You felt abused -- I get that. You violated their policy because you simply DID NOT FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF with THEIR policies. You state as much in one of the letters you sent. Get over it.

In regards to the hearing, Nifong felt that it was important for his son to be at the hearing. He stated as much.

Answer this question honestly -- There's an event you feel it is important for someone to see. Do you ask them to go see it?

Walt said...

Now Syd, Mike was pursuing an injustice. If any other DA pursues a case where there is no probable cause and no evidence, you are first to claim an injustice. Yet, you won't do the same for the hoax.

Walt-in-Durham