Delaying the inevitable

As a free man, shouldn't Michael Vick be treated fairly? I'm not sure why the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has yet to be reinstated, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is taking his sweet time on a decision.

Goodell knows Vick will eventually be reinstated and he surely knows a firestorm will occur when that happens. He can't keep Vick out forever, even if he'd like to.

Goodell needs to bite the bullet and let Vick have a chance to regain his life by reinstating him as soon as possible. No matter when the reinstatement occurs, the media is going to blitz the issue until Vick's career expires.

I don't condone dogfighting, but I'm all for second chances.

What division holds the No. 2 rank?

It's pretty clear to me that the best division in football belongs to the NFC East. With Dallas, New York, Philadelphia and Washington all .500 or better clubs, the BEast all but controls the NFC.

Is it the AFC East (New England, Miami, New York and Buffalo), the AFC South (Indianapolis, Houston, Tennessee and Jacksonville) or the NFC South (New Orleans, Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay)?

I think you have to hand it to the AFC East. With Tom Brady returning, the Patriots are my Super Bowl reps for the AFC. Buffolo and New York improved considerably, while Miami is just an all-around tough team.

I like the NFC South, as well, but I think Carolina didn't do much to improve its conference hold and Tampa Bay dismantled its entire roster.

A season of Holliday's (Halladay's)

The St. Louis Cardinals vastly improved themselves over the week when it acquired Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Holliday. The 29-year-old is a lifetime .317 hitter and has postseason experience after helping the Colorado Rockies reach the World Series in 2007.

As I look up and down the Cardinals roster, I realize it's difficult to not believe this is the team to beat as October crawls toward us. With two nasty starting pitchers in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, a monster in Albert Pujols surrounded by a deep lineup are my favorites to win the National League pennant.

At the start of the season, I believed the New York Mets were going to overcome its yearly September blowup. I didn't expect them to have nearly half of their opening day lineup to be traded or spend significant time on the DL. Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield have missed a combined 195 games this season. Pitchers John Maine and J.J. Putz have missed considerable time, as well.

The NL owns a handful of serious World Series contenders in St. Louis, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. All three clubs are loaded with offense, but the Cards have the edge with their elite starting pitching.

—If there was one thing the Phillies need before their turn comes to defend their World Series title, it's another starting pitcher. Lucky for Philadelphia, there's a really, really good pitcher named Roy Halladay who wouldn't mind trading in his Canadian passport for a shot at the postseason. The Toronto Bluejays own the rights to Halladay and gave the Phillies a wishlist that they would like to receive in return.

I'm still stunned that Philadelphia turned down a run at Halladay. By not handing over a couple prospects for a more secure shot at a repeat World Series, the Phillies management might be looking for a Double-A Minor League championship, too.

The dunk that nobody cares about

Thanks to the kind folks at ebaumnation.com, the world was finally introduced to the dunk that could change the way we look at basketball forever.

Only kidding.

On July 22, ebaumnation.com released the famously mysterious tape of LeBron James being posterized by a teenager. As we've all heard from every sports outlet in the world, Nike—who sponsored James' basketball camp—did its best impersonation of the Gestapo and seized the tapes before anybody released it to the mass media.

Not sure how ebaumnation got their hands on it, but it sure made this the most over-hyped story since Susan Boyle (God forbid a person is both hideous AND talented).

I'm sorry for not buying into James being dunked on because I highly doubt James was playing at the same level of an NBA game. I can't imagine LBJ walking on a court with lowly college players wanting to impress them all immensely.

My congratulations goes out to Jordan Crawford. No doubt Crawford has been praying every night before bed that this video some way surfaces.