Michael Vick press conference

Michael Vick press conference

Seven random thoughts on No.7 before the Michael Vick press conference starts, which I’ll be monitoring . . .

1.) Does this mean the United Football League is going to fold — and what to do now with all of those No. 7 Florida Tuskers jerseys? (Did anybody really believe that ever was going to happen? Suckers.)

2.) Here’s an idea: Sell the jerseys to Arthur Blank! The Falcons’ owner is trying to make up for some of the cash he lost after the Vick-fueled franchise collapse. But how happy is he today? He now knows he’ll have at least one sellout this season (Dec. 6 vs. Eagles), and if he’s smart he’ll break out all of those Falcons’ No. 7 jerseys that he has in storage and sell them outside the Georgia Dome game week. What do you suppose complete MV7 set of Falcon-Leavenworth-Tusker-Eagle jerseys would go for?

4.) It’s a testament to how well great NFL franchises can keep a secret that word of Philadelphia’s interest in Vick never leaked out, especially in the days of message boards, blogs, blind reader commenting and every third cousin of the equipment manager Twittering. And how must ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, a former AJC comrade, feel? He actually had the Eagles listed as a possible destination for Vick early in the week but removed them after speaking to Reid.

Gina Carano

Gina Carano has a smile that could warm the polar icecap, if it weren't already a little slushy. She steps outside a downtown San Jose hotel looking as if she just stepped out of Vogue. "My looks have caused people not to take me as seriously," Carano said. "I've been laughed at before fights by opponents.

Other sports have their glamour girls - Danica Patrick in auto racing, Maria Sharapova in tennis, Natalie Gulbis in golf, Cal alum Natalie Coughlin in swimming and Tanith Belbin in ice dancing to name a few. None of them makes a living swapping kicks to the head. This is a combat sport that combines kickboxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu, or what the squeamish would call "the dark arts."

Carano, 27, was a standout basketball, volleyball and softball player in high school, as befits the daughter of a former pro athlete. Glenn Carano was the backup quarterback to Roger Staubach and later Danny White on the Dallas Cowboys of the late '70s and early '80s. He had an excellent, and painful, view of "The Catch" by Dwight Clark when Joe Montana worked his magic in January 1982. Anybody who laughs at Carano before getting into a steel cage with her does so at her peril. She has won all seven of her pro MMA fights going into Saturday night's Strikeforce World Championship showdown with Brazilian Cris Cyborg (7-1), a.k.a. Cristiane Santos.

Philadelphia newspaper

Philadelphia newspaper reporters rip Eagles coach Andy Reid and owner Jeffrey Lurie, as writers for the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer did in Friday's editions? Will Vick express enough remorse to satisfy his critics? Will Tony Dungy stick his neck out for Vick? Find out by following along below or following me on Twitter.

A Philadelphia newspaper called The Pennsylvania Mercury contained this item from a correspondent in Shelburne in its issue of September 19th 1789: Michael Vick will make his debut appearance with the Philadelphia Eagles Friday at a press conference at team headquarters, and if you can't watch it live at 11 AM ET, you can follow along with live Twitter updates.

The Town of Shelburne is hotter than McNutt's Island in the summer. The island's summer is foggier and cooler, moderated by the Atlantic. Shelburne is deep inside the inner harbour; the island is on the outer edge of the outer harbour. I would bet that if The Pennsylvania Mercury's correspondent had been reporting from McNutt's instead of from Shelburne he (or she) would have given a high temperature of somewhere in the seventies that day.