Sportsmeat

Is there anything worse than listening to Mike and the Mad Dog when it’s only Mike OR the Mad Dog? My preference is for Dog only, but maybe the drive home today will tip the scales the other way. It’s amazing that two guys who are so entertaining together can be so maddeningly dull when flying solo. September cannot come soon enough.

Another sign that the summer heat is reaching its peak – NFL training camps, accompanied by gems like these:

“As far as explosiveness and continuity, we have here, it's very similar (to St. Louis). Adding Edge to the mix reminds me of what we had in St. Louis when we got Marshall (Faulk). It feels very much the same, but that team was great because we finished. That is what this team is lacking right now. If we do that, we could be really special.”
Kurt Warner, assessing the Cardinals in an interview with the Arizona Republic.

“We are a talented team. We might be more talented than we were when we had T.O. We know the caliber athlete that he was, but again we have to remember that’s one person. … One person doesn’t make a team. A team makes a team.”
Donovan McNabb, talking about his Eagles with PTI sub Dan LeBatard.

“We’ve got a great defense, a great running game. We just need to add a little bit to the passing game. You know, I don’t need to win the games. I’ve just got to play field position in some games, maybe take chances in other games. I’ve got a lot of great people around me.”
Rex Grossman, previewing the Bears’ season on PTI.

"I really feel like this is, as far as talent is concerned, the most talented team that I've been a part of as a whole."
Brett Favre, talking about this year’s Packers in an interview with the Appleton, Wis., Post-Crescent.

“I didn't go out and give it my all, which was disrespectful to my teammates, disrespectful to my coaches, myself and my family. I'll never do that again. I just played to play, going through the motions. But I've matured. I'm bigger than that now.”
Michael Vick in USA Today, atoning for his shortcomings in last season’s finale against Carolina, a 44-11 Falcons loss.

Ah, one of these things is not like the others. The power of positive thinking – or in Favre’s case, delusion – is strong this time of year, particularly among quarterbacks, who are appointed to spread the good vibes in August to the eager scribes. So Vick’s mini-apology hovered like a dark cloud in the perfect periwinkle skies of NFL camp-land. It’s easy to jump all over Vick for taking a breather in a less-than-meaningful game, but let’s be realistic. Have you put your all into every meeting/spreadsheet/report/insert-work-related-item-here that ever popped up your calendar? OK, maybe you’re always on for “game day,” but even the most motivated among us take it easy for the work equivalent of a practice once in a while. Maybe Vick’s apology is a sign that it was more than a one-day thing, or maybe he just needed to get it off his chest. Either way, his quote will soon be forgotten, just like the irrationally rosy comments of his quarterback mates.