Petrino Literally Phones It In, Leaves Falcons For Arkansas

After only 13 games as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, much like his teams performance, Bobby Petrino phoned it in. His resignation, that is. No word on whether he actually talked to someone or, you know, just left a message. Although I imagine either way it was pretty awkward.

Less than 6 hours later* Petrino was announced as the new head coach for Arkansas. He signed on for 5 years at $2.85 million a season, which means, in case you were wondering just what a person might do to disavow themselves from the fiasco that is the Atlanta Falcons organization, it's take about a $2 million a season pay cut.

The short stay was Petrino's attempt to transition from the college football scene into the NFL. Injury, free agency, retirement, maybe even a suspension or two, these are the obstacles an organization is expected to deal with. But after his star quarterback was sentenced to 23 months on dog-fighting charges and his players seemed more interested in wardrobe attempts to free the said criminal, one can't really blame Petrino for packing it in early.

In Atlanta the Falcons have scheduled a press conference this afternoon where they are expected to announce just which lucky assistant coach will become the interm head coach for the remaining 3 games of the season.

*If I've done the whole time zone difference math thing right

Vick Sentenced to 23 Months

The word has come from a courthouse in Virginia, and a District Judge has sentenced Michael Vick to 23 months in jail. Early speculation put Vick's sentence time at around a year, but when his co-defendants, who appeared to be more forthcoming with prosecutors, received 18 and 21 months, it became clear that the Judge was sentencing on the higher end of the range.

Vick, who was found guilty of federal dog fight charges, elected to start serving his sentence early, voluntarily surrendering on the 19th of November. Apparently he's not a big fan of Thanksgiving.

It seems as if Vick didn't do himself any favors during the legal process. It definitely factors into the sentencing when you lie about using drugs and then test positive, or claim to have never actually killed a dog, only to have his co-defendants and partners testify otherwise.

On the steps of the courthouse Vick's representative Billy Martin suggests that Vick could get out early, around 18 months, for good behavior. But if the past is any representative for the future, I imagine Vick will serve every day of the sentence.