Moving on will be tough for Vick



Long before Michael Vick had arrived at his press conference to announce his return to professional football, he had already been given a taste of what life was going to be like for him in Philadelphia. His picture was spread across three quarters of the front page of the Philadelphia Daily News. Super imposed below his face was a screaming headline that read: "HIDE YOUR DOGS."

Such is life for a guy who two years ago was one of the NFL's marquee players until he was indicted for running an illegal dog-fighting ring. Vick was immediately suspended by the Atlanta Falcons, within months he had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 23-months in prison. Freed from custody last month, Vick was by then bankrupt and forced by a bankruptcy judge to turn over any earnings above US$750,000 (Dh2.7million) if he found employment to pay off his many creditors.

It was unclear for a time if anyone in the NFL would hire him after Commissioner Roger Goodell said he could attend training camp and play in the final two exhibition games but would not assure him that he would be allowed to play this season, a decision Goodell will make by the season's sixth week. But professional football being the violent game it is, the Eagles' back up quarterback Kevin Kolb went down hurt on Monday and by the end of the week Vick was back at work, agreeing to a one-year, $1.6m contract with a team option worth $5.2m for a second year, a bargain if Vick is still Vick.

On his first day at work, Vick drove into the Eagles' complex for a press conference and outside were a number of protesters, one of whom waved a sign "Hide Your Beagles, Vick's An Eagle.'' He acknowledgedthat after not playing for two and a half years he is far from ready to be the quarterback of the Eagles, a job held by Donovan McNabb. That was the theme throughout a half-hour long media grilling. Vick admitted he had "done some terrible things" and said he was working with the Humane Society to publicly fight the kind of animal cruelty he was involved in, which included not only dog fighting but electrocuting and hanging dogs who were reluctant fighters.

"I know playing in the NFL is a privilege not a right," Vick said. "I'm happy to have a second chance. I won't disappoint." He has already disappointed some Eagle fans just by showing up. Local polls were running 2-1 against him and some fans reportedly put their season tickets up for sale on eBay. Vick became the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and led a mediocre Falcon team to the play-offs several times. Now he is trying to make a new start in a place that already has a Pro Bowl quarterback and with a long shadow lingering over him.

Vick said having to tell his children he was going to prison had been "a humbling experience". So too had to have been when he was asked when it first struck him that he had done wrong. "Before the allegations even came out I knew it was wrong," he said. "I was conscious of it. Everything that happened at that point in my life was wrong. For the life of me I can't understand why I was involved in such a pointless activity.

"When I tried to turn the corner it was too late. To this day I have to deal with that shame and that embarrassment. Everyone deserves a second chance but you only get one shot at a second chance. I'm conscious of that." If he was not, there were plenty of people not far away anxious to remind him. rborges@thenational.ae

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'

Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.

“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”

In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.

“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”

Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.

“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”

rpennington@thenational.ae

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

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EXPATS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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Gulf Under 19s final

Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B

Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses

'The worst thing you can eat'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.