The beginning of the end for Andy Reid in Philly

The Philadelphia Eagles will start Michael Vick at quarterback for the forseeable future. The decision by Andy Reid to pull an about face on what he's said throughout the season and as recently as Monday is to me a bad one. You traded Donovan McNabb because you said Kevin Kolb was ready to be your guy. Then, after one poor half against a really good Packers team that included a concussion you change your mind? What kind of leadership is that? Vick played terrific against Detroit in week 2, and appears to have made major strides with a full year under his belt. We'll see if he can replicate that success against better teams who are preparing for him. There may have been a time during the season to make this move, but I think the way Reid handled it was incredibly poor. If you're a player in that locker room, how can you trust anything the guy says now? Beyond that, Vick's a free agent after this year. How exactly can you turn around and say "Kolb's really ready now" if he leaves? This has the potential to be a major mess.

Had a few drinks while you're out? You have a decision to make: line up a ride, or potentially lose big money and go to jail. Sounds simple, but it's a choice lots of people make incorrectly every day. Braylon Edwards of the New York Jets took it even further as he picked up his DUI though. Despite Edwards and his two teammates riding with him all having been given a number by the Jets to call which would have brought trained security people to get them and their vehicles home, he decided it wasn't worth the time to call. The stupidity of not just hailing one of the umpteen easily accessible NYC cabs boggles the mind as well. The point here is not that DUIs are bad, which I suspect you'd already figured out. It's that these guys have a "nothing's going to touch me" arrogance that overrides any effort at rational analysis. Even with people bending over backward to help them, they refuse to accept it's a bad idea to get in the car with a buddy whose BAC is more than double the legal limit. People regularly wonder how so many guys wind up broke after their playing days - this kind of thinking is why.

Even when an athlete is trying to advocate for responsible driving behavior it can sometimes turn out less than ideal. Dexter McCluster of the Chiefs has a deal with a cel phone company, which had him do an anti-texting while driving PSA. Unfortunately, they decided to have him dance and rap his way through it. Think the rookie will be catching a little grief for this in his locker room? Tupac he's not.

It's no secret radio personalities sometimes display poor taste in their attempts at humor. When you're live working without a net, occasionally an ad lib that doesn't work will happen. Some shows intentionally try and push the boundaries of good taste and go too far. I can understand how that happens. What I can't understand is how someone can be stupid enough to script out a routine (for a filmed video appearing on his radio station's website) making jokes about someone who's still in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. The "joke" was that God was punishing Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio for beating Notre Dame on an overtime field goal by giving him a heart attack. HOHOHO, isn't that hilarious? There are some things which should be left alone, and someone dealing with a serious health issue would be one of them.