2nd time around (week 3)

Lions roared to victory during the first regular season match against the Eskimos. I was disappointed with how the esks performed. Being in training camp until the final cut, I know the team has more potential. Helplessly I watch the game, knowing I can no longer contribute. One thing I am happy about is that Calvin McCarty got in this week. He is such a nice offensive weapon and needs to be utilized more. As the offense continues to improve, I'm sure you'll see more from the rest of the players.

Next week will be a huge game for the team as they go into Mosiac stadium to face Coach Hall's former team. I wish the team the best of luck in preparation for this week.


A tackle is a tackle, is a tackle! The curled up fetal position when making a tackle isn't exactly in the books, but its a tackle none the less. Yes it hurt, but he didn't get into the end zone and that's what is most important. In my two pre-season games I made all my tackles, whether they looked good or not. Football isn't about vanity, it's about doing what it takes to win.

GEORGE DOHRMANN'S OPPOSING VIEW ON VICK

My wife has a huge heart when it comes to animals, dogs in particular. She has given our 11-year-old German Shepherd so many belly rubs that it rolls onto its side when it sees her coming. On hot days she'll put large chunks of ice into Ruby's water pan, and at dinner she'll mix in grilled steak or baked chicken because, in her opinion, dry kibble just isn't good enough by itself.

My wife also is among those who believe Michael Vick should get a second chance in the NFL now that his 23-month prison sentence for bankrolling an illegal dog-fighting operation is over. "Ban him from owning a dog," she told me last weekend. "But let the man earn a living."

Can I get an amen?

The debate about whether Vick's indefinite suspension should be lifted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is as tiresome as the speculation about whether Brett Favre will return for another season. Vick has done his time, lost most of his money and been publicly disgraced. His name has been indelibly stained by the admission that he tortured and killed dogs.

Enough is enough. It's time for him to have an opportunity to return to work. Notice I said opportunity.

If Vick knocks on the office door of each of the league's 32 owners and, one by one, is turned away, so be it. He has no one to blame but himself. But to unilaterally prevent the former star quarterback from playing because of fears about how fans or sponsors might react would be hypocritical at best, shameful at worst.

If the NFL can give second chances to gamblers (Art Schlichter), drug traffickers (Tamarick Vanover and Bam Morris) and those who commit vechicular homicide while driving drunk (Leonard Little) -- yes, I consider killing someone while driving drunk to be murder, even if the law doesn't -- it should give Vick the opportunity to resume his career. It's true that none of the aforementioned transgressions took place on Goodell's watch, but it's also accurate that none of those players, prior to reinstatement, was punished as severely as Vick.

The argument that Vick's return would cause a loss of fans or sponsors is laughable. The NFL is the Gulliver of professional sports leagues. Its game is bigger than any one individual, including Vick. The vast majority of fans just want to be entertained, as we've seen time after time when crowds have cheered wildly when a fallen star has returned and played at an elite level.

Vick isn't the first player to participate in dog-fighting and he won't be the last; I'm told there are active players still attending these despicable events. And yet there seems to be this push to make an example out of him. Where was this type of outrage when former members of Congress admitted to being members of a group that committed the same heinous acts on African-Americans that Vick did on some of his dogs?

Vick's actions were repulsive and worthy of strong punishment. However, if he truly has accepted that what he did was wrong, Goodell should heed the words President Bush said in his 2004 State of the Union address while discussing legislation to help convicted criminals re-enter society.

"America," he said, "is the land of the second chance." At last check Vick is still an American.

WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD HAPPEN TO VICK?

Sammy Okpro: I do not condone Mike Vick's actions. The mistreatment of animals is distasteful and should be punished. However, I think he has put enough time in and should be reinstated to the league. Vick has a very explosive style of play which is great to watch in the NFL. Given that other players have committed worse acts and are still permitted to play, I do not feel he should be treated any differently. Everyone deserves a second chance.