Michael Vick in playing gear? Say it ain't so!

Michael Vick leaves federal court after a meeting with his parole officer in Norfolk, VA, Friday, May 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Actually, the above hasn’t yet come true. Rather, it’s a potential nightmare headline of the future, now that Vick has left prison and has only a couple of months’ house arrest left to serve.

The first step hasn’t even been taken to grant Michael Vick an official NFL pardon for torturing and murdering all those poor little canines. But if it turns out that forcing innocent dogs to fight, maim, and kill each other and call it a sport isn’t absolute grounds for a lifetime ban from playing professional sports, then why the hell are they still keeping poor Pete Rose out of the Baseball Hall of Fame for the victimless crime of gambling on his own team--to win?!

I guess the standards for mortal sins differ between baseball and football. As witness, consider the following excerpt from a column by CBSSports.com National Columnist Michael Freeman:

The Vick question, even two years after he was shown to be a dog-abusing son of anarchy, still breaks down into two sub-questions. Should Vick be allowed back into football and, if he is, should teams sign him?

The answer to the first question is simple: Yes. He should be allowed back and the reason why is just two words: Leonard Little. The St. Louis defensive lineman killed a woman while driving drunk. How can a league re-admit someone who killed a human being but keep Vick out? It makes no sense.

The second question: Should a team sign Vick? The answer: Of course not.

They are separate issues. Goodell should reinstate Vick because the league has reinstated killers and in some cases the dregs of society, but any team that signed him would be courting trouble. Major trouble.

Winston Churchill once described American diplomacy as a bull that carried his own china shop with him. Vick doesn't carry a china shop, he carries an entire chain of them. He has always been selfish and irresponsible and there's no reason to believe that behavior will change. Vick expanded his empire from petty stupidity to a felonious criminal enterprise. That's quite an accomplishment.

Vick's always demonstrated a certain nifty perversity in his nature. It's as predictable as a lunar eclipse.

Nevertheless, I think Vick will be back. Teams increasingly believe he will be playing in the NFL next season and I think they know something about the commissioner's plans the rest of us don't. It's just a hunch.

It's risky business allowing Vick to return, but it seems some teams are ready to flirt with serious danger.

So, killing a woman in a drunk-driving incident. Killing dogs. Pro football can be very forgiving. But as far as Major League Baseball is concerned, even though "Shoeless" Joe Jackson has been all but proven innocent of taking a bribe and throwing games in the 1919 World Series, he’s still not eligible for the ultimate honor he more than earned during his 12-year playing career.

Neither Jackson nor Rose took any lives, human or otherwise. They didn’t use drugs. No human growth hormone or other banned substance. But they’re banned from baseball for life. No awards. No titles. Definitely no Hall of Fame, even though they hold some of the most impressive hitting records. No, the unforgivable sin in pro sports is to enrich oneself on the foibles of the game. It certainly isn’t murder.

Maybe if they’d beat up someone, like maybe their mothers-in-law, then it would have been okay. Ah, well.