Save the Pits

Hate ‘em or love ‘em, you have to admit: Aww.

When the Philadelphia Eagles gave Michael Vick his job back last year, we all kinda wondered: Would this, in some strange way, help the animal rights cause? It’s an impossible thing to quantify, of course, but having someone to hate often brings people together — and the dialogue around dog-fighting sure seems to have increased in Philly in the past few months.

There is at least one concrete animal-rights benefit that’s taken place: In August, in direct response to Vick’s signing, the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) launched the 2nd Chance Dog Campaign. It ended last Sunday, and, according to the SPCA, raised $116,234 — slightly more than its $100,00 goal — and gave 832 pit bulls and pit bull mixes homes or put them “in foster care, with rescue groups or with new adoptive families.”

Erm, thanks, Vick?

RELATED: Could the Eagles signing Vick be good for animal rights in Philly?

News is breaking that Lancaster native Floyd Landis, who won the 2006 Tour de France and was then stripped of his title for testing positive for elevated testosterone levels, has had an arrest warrant issued against him.

According to an AP report, “French judge Thomas Cassuto is seeking to question Landis about computer hacking dating back to September 2006.”

(h/t Jon Solomon)

Chris Buck

I <3 PowerPoint.

I’ve been to Academy of Natural Sciences forums before, so I know that PowerPoint presentations are the norm … but still, was anyone else surprised when David Byrne started clicking off slide after slide?

Last night’s bike lecture, led by the Talking Heads co-founder and author of Bicycle Diaries (Viking, $25.95) — which was only OK, despite what they tell you, and I’m a bike head — began a little late. There was a video montage of bikes in cinema (The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, unidentifiable ’80s movies, etc.) to keep the audience placated, though. Then, at around 6:30, Byrne took to the stage, in a black button-up shirt and loose, comfy-looking black pants, looking as dapper as ever. Byrne hasn’t really aged at all — he looks the same as he did 20 years ago, but with gray hair.

I was only able to stay for an hour, but here’s what I learned: (more…)

The Daily News‘ Stu Bykofsky and I have a little back-and-forth going over the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine, and today I invited (okay, challenged) Stu to take a bike ride with me and CP’s Isaiah Thompson first down a city street without a dedicated bike lane and a city street with one.

Last week, in my editor’s letter, I accused Stu of being a bully. And this morning, Stu sent me an e-mail that read:

“Stu bullies motorists today. Don’t miss it!”

And I’ll hand it to Stu for sticking it to the maniacs who find it acceptable to operate their two-ton steel, glass and vinyl weapons on residential city streets while texting, dialing and/or talking on cell phone.

And though I take issue with his use of statistics in some of his bike lane pieces, he’s got good numerical backup in this morning’s piece:

That cellphone use creates deadly distracted driving is disputed by no (sane) person I could find - and I even looked on the Internet, the corkscrew colony for crackpot contrarians.

Cell-phone use quadruples the risk of an auto accident, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It causes 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths annually, according to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, which estimates the cost at $43 billion.

All age groups use cell phones while driving, but it creates an unusual effect among the young - the least experienced drivers and the most cell-addicted:

“If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone,” says University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer. “It’s like instantly aging a large number of drivers.”

Is it an easy target? Sure. But a very worthwhile one nonetheless. In the piece, Byko makes enforcement suggestions that would be well applied to cyclists as well.

Drivers have been warned, but many continue to roam with phones in hand. Does this come from a misplaced sense of entitlement - or no sense at all?

Why do they persist? Not enough enforcement.

Solution? Blanket enforcement.

For a week, police should stop and ticket every violator they see. They are not hard to find.

Skip a few weeks, then repeat as often as necessary to drive the fear of enforcement - and the $75 fine - through their gooney-bird skulls.

To all the people who complain about scofflaw cyclists — yes, there are cyclists who bend and snap the law. And the reason they do is that there’s next to zero enforcement (and that cyclists are regularly  treated as non-entities by the police and drivers).

Locked in the Cage 2, a Mixed Martial Arts fight featuring pro and amateur cage fights, goes down this Saturday night at the John Perzel Community Center in Northeast Philly.

Locked in the Cage 1 was, by my count, a big success. It was Philly’s first major top-to-bottom local MMA show. (Not all fighters were locals but all local MMA gyms were represented and the promoters honored local interests.) The major selling point of that show was pulling off the co-main events featuring genuine Philly standouts — Wilson Reis, the former Elite XC champ, and Tara LaRosa, the No. 1-ranked 135-pound female in the world.

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phillyist.com

A couple of days ago, I got a rather chipper email from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the region’s largest bicycle advocacy group.

In it, Executive Director Alex Doty wrote the following (emphasis added):

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Bowen	Eskin

We saw, briefly in two games before the first concussion, that a sharp, nonrusty Westbrook could still function very effectively. His left knee did not prevent that.

Also, I’m pretty sure this didn’t come from Westbrook directly, because there is no one in the local media he is really tight with. That’s just the way he is; I’ve never quite understood it, and at this point, I doubt I ever will. But if Brian Westbrook is thinking about hanging it up, he is the most unlikely player on the team to blab that around to anybody.

The report sounded to me like maybe what Eagles management HOPES will happen — though an Eagles spokesman told me Monday that he is unaware of Westbrook seeking medical opinions on his knee, or contemplating retirement. If the Eagles have a role for Westbrook in 2010, it is as a complement to an emerging LeSean McCoy.

There are commenters on the article suggesting that Eskin’s a mouthpiece for the Eagles (and Bowen certainly leaves the door to that interpretaion wide open). And it’s reasonable to think that after last year’s Brian Dawkins debacle, if the Birds again plan on unceremoniously parting ways with their most popular player in the off season, they would do well to plant a few seeds of doubt early (which would be, yes, duplicitous, but also not un-smart from a strategy standpoint).

Then again, Westbrook’s very fair ponderings about his future health after sustaining two concussions do at least give this report the air of believability, though, as Bowen rightly points out, Westbrook had no specific complaints about his knee this season.

Neighborhood Bike Works is taking full advantage of the Martin Luther King holiday and day of service, recruiting volunteers to help spruce up its old and *new* locations.

REI and the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia are sponsoring the event (REI is kicking in a $7,000 grant for an Earn a Bike mountain bike program) and there’s still time to volunteer (today and in the glorious future of 2010). Locations are below.

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Photo | The Dukes of Awesome

Jason Fagone, in the new issue of GQ, lays the deed directly at Harrison’s feet, recreating the scene from interviews, court records and police report. Here’s a taste:

marvin darnell harrison was not supposed to be this guy, the black athlete with a gun. Insecure, obnoxious, prone to acts of catharsis—that was Terrell Owens, Michael Vick. But Marvin?

Marvin drank juice.

He was a worker. Marvin was the guy who never wore his gloves in practice because the gloves were sticky and made catching balls easy, and he wanted to practice the hard way. He was the neat freak who sat with his back to the press at a locker that would make a drill sergeant swoon. Marvin, who juked my repeated requests for an interview, was the perfectionist who evolved an ability to communicate almost telepathically with his quarterback, Peyton Manning, but barely at all with mere English. If he left any trace of his existence in the league, it was only in the record books: second (to Jerry Rice) in all-time receptions, third in all-time one-hundred-yard games, first in receptions in a single season. Through all this, his teammates claimed they didn’t know him in the slightest. “He’s like Batman,” linebacker Cato June told Sports Illustrated.

Think about the discipline it would take to make a living as an elite star of a multi-billion-dollar entertainment juggernaut without ever once being truly seen. In this sense, Harrison’s football career is not only historic; it’s also a sort of miracle. The dude skipped like a flat stone across a rancid pool and emerged, twelve years later, dry as a bone.

The Eagles find themselves with one of those “good problems to have.” Three quarterbacks under contract who have had (varying amounts of) success leading pro football teams.

The candidates:

	Donovan McNabb, the face of the franchise, its best-ever quarterback, he of 10 seasons at the helm, of 7 trips to the playoffs (and 7 exits, stage right, from the post-season), he who’s experienced no discernible deterioration of his skills, but also no discernible amelioration of his weaknesses.
	Kevin Kolb, the heir apparent ever since Andy Reid made him a surprise second-round pick in the 2007 draft. Kolb got his first two regular season starts this year, and he performed admirably.
	Michael Vick, the Mild-Cat, the Sound and the Fury, the Much Ado, the convicted dog killer who parlayed a mountain of hype and righteous fan indignation in to a 6-13, 86 yards line on the season a bonus  24 carries for 95 yards rushing. He of the two biggest plays (a touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin, a botched handoff to Leonard Weaver that led to a Dallas TD) of the Eagles playoff cameo.

Pick ‘em!

There are, of course, no more seats available, but those interested in attending the 6 p.m. reception and 6:30 lecture can sign up to be on the waiting list by hitting davidbyrneusf.eventbrite.com.

What and where is the best bar to watch
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Well, folks, it’s game on: the House is debating the table games bill as we speak (my understanding was that it can’t be voted on until about 5:00 tonight; will report back on that).

I’ll be covering the discussion (or whatever’s left of it) and vote today via Twitter and on the Clog – simultaneously in this case!

My Twitter coverage (PhillyfrScratch) will be streamed below.