An Associated Press article in the News & Observer today told readers that Eagles QB Michael Vick was a no-show for a football camp in Raleigh this weekend but what it didn’t make clear was that Vick has been barred from leaving Pennsylvania by probation officials.

Vick, who is on probation from a 2007 dogfighting conviction, recently held a birthday party and invited some of the bad element that got him in trouble to begin with. As a result, there was a shooting at the June 25 party in Virginia Beach. He was cleared of criminal wrongdoing but he may have violated his supervised release.

He also is in trouble with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell who reinstated Vick to the NFL in 2009 under conditions – conditions he may have violated. It certainly was a bad idea to have the party and it was a worse idea to invite his old friends.

Vick also missed his own celebrity golf tournament as a result of the order to remain in Pennsylvania. The AP reported that Vick was paid a $2,000 deposit of a $4,000 fee to appear at the Raleigh football camp, which was built around his appearance. Campers paid $175 each and were promised packages that included Vick photos and autographs.

Vick should never have been reinstated. We are a country of second chances, true. But it’s disturbing that we crave celebrity from people who get in trouble more than we crave celebrity from people who do it right the first time. People who have lived their lives well from the get-go don’t seem to be as honored or respected as those who do wrong and then “turn their life around.”

Sometimes we should let a person turn his life around without it including stardom and millions of dollars.

LeBron James made national news with his announcement last night that he will take his talents, as he puts it, from Cleveland to South Beach, Miami. But, those of us in North Carolina should perhaps be more interested in the LeBron James Skills Academy which was held this week in Akron, Ohio.

2011 UNC basketball recruit PJ Hairston, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Greensboro, missed the first two days with an ankle injury but he came back the third day to show flashes of his scoring abilities. He is transferring before his senior season from Greensboro Dudley to Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia.

Hairston, who wrongly guessed that James would go to the Knicks, said it had been a media circus at the camp with everyone following James’ every move. “I don’t really have an explanation for it,” he said. “It’s just crazy, what’s going on over a human being.”

The only rising sophomore to attend the camp was Rodney Purvis, a 6-3 shooting guard from Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh. Purvis, who grew up a Carolina fan, is already being compared to John Wall. He has been offered a scholarship from Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. Others pursuing him are UNC, Duke, N.C. State, Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Xavier.

Many of the top players are in Europe competing for Team USA in the FIBA Under-18 national tournament. Still, the state of North Carolina (with eight) had the most players in attendance at the camp.

It’s reported that one of the North Carolina players – Dominique Pointer, a 6-5 guard from Winston-Salem – drilled a three with LeBron James covering him. With retaliation in mind, James called for the ball and blew by Pointer for slam dunk. During five-on-fives, a team that included James and former UNC player Jawad Williams of the Cavaliers lost to a group of high schoolers.

FROM ACC NEWS RELEASE – ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) have reached a 12-year agreement for exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football and men’s basketball game, plus women’s basketball and Olympic sports matchups, and conference championships.

The agreement, which begins in 2011-12 and continues through 2022-23, was announced by George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports, and John Swofford, ACC Commissioner. It will result in approximately 4,800 ACC events over the 12 years on ESPN’s television outlets, digital and mobile platforms, syndication and more.

Among the entities included are: ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, the new ESPN 3D network, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN International, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic and ESPN.com. Numerous events will be produced in high definition across ESPN HD, ABC HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPNU HD.

Additionally, through a new sublicense arrangement with ESPN, Raycom Sports will continue its long-standing position as the syndication home of ACC content for over-the-air and regional cable network distribution in the ACC market and beyond. Raycom Sports will also continue to manage the ACC’s official corporate partner program and the exploitation of its digital assets, including www.theACC.com, the official conference web site.

Joe Corvo, who was traded to Washington late last season, is back with the Carolina Hurricanes, adding experience to a team that has gotten significantly younger.

Corvo, a 33-year-old defenseman, is expected to be paired on the ice with defenseman Tim Gleason.

“My family is really comfortable here, and I’m really comfortable with the coaching staff and what goes on here,” said Corvo, whose family, including two young sons, stayed in Raleigh after he was traded to the Capitals.

He said that he plans to make his home in Raleigh permanent. ”When I first got here we bought a house with that the thought that it was going to be temporary, but we had the talk that we were going to stay here until after I retired,” Corvo said. “You can’t go wrong with the weather, the schools and the golf.”

The Triangle area has become an asset for the Hurricanes in acquiring established veteran players looking to settle down. And while the Hurricanes have some good, young talent, they’ll need older guys like Corvo and his friend Erik Cole, 31.

Games will be played Tuesday through Sunday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary to trim the Collegiate National Team from 39 players to 22.

The best bets for spectators are Wednesday and Friday when the games are played at 6 p.m. as opposed to the 2 p.m. starts the other days (except for the 12 noon start on Sunday). Temperatures are expected in the 90s this week with the heat index putting temps over 100.

Among those players trying to make the squad are pitcher Greg Holt of UNC-Chapel Hill, pitcher Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina, infielder Brad Miller of Clemson, outfielder/pitcher Sean Gilmartin of Florida State and outfielder Jackie Bradley of South Carolina.

Bradley, who helped lead his team to the national championship, was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player last month.

The manager of the club is Bill Kenneberg of Utah. The only local connection among non-players is press officer Malcolm Gray of East Carolina.

Following the trials and training period in Cary, the U.S. will play a five-game series against Korea before squaring off against a Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team in a one-game, international friendship competition in Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium on July 21. From there, the team will travel to Taipei, Taiwan for a four-game series against Chinese Taipei at Tien-Mu Stadium beginning July 25.

Team USA will close its summer season at the FISU World University Championships in Tokyo, Japan, from July 30-Aug. 7. The U.S. has won the last three FISU Worlds (2004, ’06, ’08), while host nation Japan will be looking for its first title.

To see directions and guidelines for attending games at the complex, please click here.

In other USA Baseball news, Dillon Maples, a pitcher out of West End, NC, has made the 20-player 18 and Under National Team announced Saturday.

There has been a lot of talk in the football world that former East Carolina quarterback David Garrard may lose his job as starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After all, the Jags were 7-5 going into the final four games and needed to win two of them to guarantee a playoff spot. They lost all four (including two games by four points and one by six).

I suppose it’s possible that backup Luke McCown could overtake Garrard in training camp but Jaguars’ General Manager Gene Smith told me yesterday without hesitation that Garrard is the No. 1 guy.

I had dinner with Smith and his family (they are friends of my in-laws) and we of course talked football. Smith, who lived in Southern Pines when he was scouting for the Jaguars, started with the team at its inception in 1994 and he worked his way up to General Manager a year ago. While I got some insight from Smith, it was a social occasion and I don’t feel comfortable talking about our conversations, especially in light of the fact that we weren’t talking on the record.

But I am confident that he is confident in Garrard and the offensive abilities of the Jaguars this season. The Jaguars scored only 18 points per game last season, which was 24th in the league. But Jacksonville got some good young talent on the offensive line during Smith’s first draft as the final decision maker on personnel.

This past draft was rated as average by most NFL experts and Smith took a bit of a pounding for his first-round draft pick Tyson Alualu, the defensive end out of Cal, who many called a stretch that early.

Some experts have the Jags going 7-9 again this year while others have them going to the playoffs as a wild card team. If Garrard lives up to expectations and the offensive line improves, the Jaguars should go 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs.

If not, time could be running out for Coach Jack Del Rio and Smith, and possibly the town of Jacksonville as well. Attendance has been dismal and that means TV blackouts. The Jaguars have lowered ticket prices and have an advertising campaign going that stresses the importance of Jaguars’ fans.

Those North Carolinians who have remained Redskins fans tend to have a soft spot for the Jaguars, who came in the league at the same time as the Panthers. Since the Panthers took the Redskins off TV in North Carolina, many Skins fans have wanted the Jags to do better than the Panthers. The Panthers have been to the Super Bowl but the Jaguars hold the edge in head-to-head matchups.

Smith is a nice guy who loves it here in North Carolina. He has fond memories of his time here and is loyal to the friends he made while living in NC. He has a smart and engaging wife and two little girls who are not only sharp but are respectful and mannerly. I wish him and the Jaguars well this season – and a lot of it rides on an ECU guy named David Garrard.

(To jog your memory, Garrard led the Pirates to a 9-3 record in ’99, a season that included a 27-23 come-from-behind thrilling upset of Miami in a game played in Raleigh because of devastation in eastern NC caused by Hurricane Floyd.)

The first day of the NHL’s free agency period saw more comings and goings as the Carolina Hurricanes continue to get younger.

The Hurricanes brought defenseman Anton Babchuk, an effective member of their 2008-09 squad, back to the team following a one-year absence. At the same time, veteran fan-favorite Ray Whitney signed a 2-year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Whitney’s departure became more and more imminent during the run-up to Thursday’s opening of the free-agent market. With the Hurricanes determined to keep payroll on the lower end of the salary-cap spectrum for 2010-11, there wasn’t going to be a place for a 38-year-old left winger.

That’s not to say that Whitney doesn’t have value. His lockerroom presence is immense and he did contribute 21 goals and 37 assists last season. That makes four consecutive seasons he’s notched at least 20 goals.

But the reported $6 million Whitney will receive from Phoenix over the life of his new contract probably exceeds what he will produce in the waning years of his career.

Babcuck, 26, comes back to Carolina after playing in Russia last season. He’ll make $1.4 million for the Hurricanes in 2010-11. He played well during his last stint for the Canes, establishing career highs in goals (16) and assists (19) in the 2008-09 season.