Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick (7) scrambles against Washington Redskins in December 2006. (AP)

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Michael Vick was the highest-paid player in the NFL. Now he’s a player without a club, an ex-felon, and an American archetype — a man seeking redemption.

The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, a number-one draft pick, had one of the most dramatic rise-and-fall acts in sports history. He was a human highlight film. His endorsements were through the roof. Then, he was convicted for his role in a dog-fighting ring.

Now he’s done his time, and a new chapter is set to begin — if the league and the public find a place for a man who says he’s changed.

This hour, On Point: The meaning of the Michael Vick story, and what we bring to it.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jacki Lyden, guest host

Tom Ashbrook is on vacation.

Guests:

Joining me now from Smyrna, Georgia is Terence Moore, national correspondent at AOL Fanhouse. He spent 25 years as a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he had a front row seat to Michael Vick’s career with the Atlanta Falcons.

With us from Port Washington, New York is George Vecsey, sports columnist at The New York Times.

And joining us from Austin, Texas is Leonard Moore, professor of history at the University of Texas, where he teaches a popular course on race, sport, and hip-hop.

In this Dec. 12, 1964 file photo, the Boston Celtics' Bill Russell, left, is congratulated by coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach after scoring his 10,000th career point during a basketball game against the Baltimore Bullets at the Boston Garden. (AP)

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NBA basketball legend Bill Russell may be the greatest team player in the history of the sport.

Five-time NBA MVP. Twelve-time All-Star. Center for a basketball dynasty that won 11 NBA championships. Michael Jordan can’t match that.

Bill Russell still has his eye on basketball. He’s been watching the playoffs underway right now — and thinking about his lifelong friendship with the Boston Celtics coach, Red Auerbach, who helped him cross color lines and go for greatness.

This hour, On Point: A conversation on life, friendship, and basketball with all-time great, Bill Russell.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Bill Russell joins us from Seattle, Wash. His new book is “Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend.”  You can read the Prologue and browse inside the book at HarperCollins.com.

From Newton, Mass., we’re joined by Dan Shaughnessy, sports columnist for The Boston Globe. He’s the author of many books, including “Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story.”

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst, senior editor at The Atlantic, native Bostonian and lifelong Celtics fan.

Allonzo Trier, 13, a sixth grader in Federal Way, outside Seattle, is profiled by Michael Sokolove in the March 22 issue of The New York Times Magazine. (Photo: Lauren Greenfield for The New York Times. Courtesy of The New York Times Magazine.)

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Allonzo Trier is one hundred and ten pounds, five-foot-five, 13 years old, and — right behind March Madness and the NBA home stretch — the talk of the American basketball world.

He’s scouted, ranked — number one for his age in the country — is flown all over, has a famous nickname (“Zo”), has his own line of clothing, is spoken of as the next LeBron James or Allen Iverson.

And he is, to repeat, 13.

His story tells us a lot about what’s going on with “must-go-pro” fever at incredibly young ages in elite American basketball.

This hour, On Point: The story of Allonzo Trier.

You can join the conversation. How young is too young to be locked-in on dreams of the NBA? Or is it never too early for hoop dreams?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

From Washington we’re joined by Michael Sokolove, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a big voice on the sociology and culture of sports. His remarkable cover story in Sunday’s issue of the magazine is “Allonzo Trier Is in the Game.” He’s also the author of “Warrior Girls: Protecting Our Daughters Against the Injury Epidemic in Sports.”

From Philadelphia, we’re joined by Phil Martelli, head coach of the St. Joseph’s University men’s basketball team. He was NCAA Coach of the Year in 2004.

Joining us from Louisville, Kentucky, is Clark Francis, editor and publisher of Hoop Scoop Online, which ranks top young basketball prospects.

And later in the hour, we’ll be joined by Tim Layden, senior writer for Sports Illustrated, for an update on how this year’s NCAA tournament is shaping up.

Here’s a YouTube video of Allonzo Trier in action, from HoopsReport:

Last summer we talked with the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch about his basketball documentary “Gunnin’ for that #1 Spot.”

San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Steve Young lays motionless on field after suffering a concussion in the game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 27, 1999, in Tempe, Arizona. (AP)

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When the lights are up and the crowd is roaring, it’s all glorious mayhem in the National Football League. The power, the plays, the crunching hits and tackles.

But when the lights go down, the crowds go home, and careers end, it’s often NFL wives left to pick up the battered pieces.

The toughest wounds to deal with: brain damage from repeated poundings and concussion on the football field. Retired players dealing with depression, memory loss, dementia. Big men reduced to helplessness.

This hour, On Point: NFL wives on the long trail of concussion on the field.

You can join the conversation. What do you think when you hear the crack of helmets on the football field? What about the brains, the men inside those helmets — and their wives?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from New York is Alan Schwarz, staff sports writer for The New York Times. His 2007 series on concussions and other brain injuries suffered by NFL players and other athletes was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  His most recent piece, published last week, is “N.F.L. Meeting Irks Wives of Ill Retirees.”

Joining us from Baltimore is Dr. Eleanor Perfetto, wife of Ralph Wenzel, who played guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers from 1966 to 1973. He suffers from dementia and now lives in an assisted-living facility. She is a senior director in health policy issues at Pfizer.

Also with us from Baltimore is Sylvia Mackey, wife of Pro Football Hall-of-Famer John Mackey, who played for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers from 1963-1972. He now suffers from fronto-temporal dementia and has been at an assisted-living facility since September. She was a leading figure in the development of the NFL’s “88 Plan,” named after John Mackey’s jersey number, which provides money for the care and treatment of former players with dementia.

From Washington, D.C., we’re joined by Harold Henderson, executive vice president for labor relations for the NFL and chairman of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee. He helped develop the NFL’s 88 Plan.

And in our studio we’re joined by Dr. Robert Stern, associate professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine and co-director of BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease clinical and research program. He is also co-director of BU’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. This September, 16 pro athletes, including six former NFL players, agreed to donate their brains to the center for study after their deaths.

Olympic and Chinese flags fly near the portrait of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Aug. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

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What will we remember from the towering spectacle of the Beijing Olympic Games — about sport, about media coverage, about China?

From those massed drummers of the opening ceremony, to the eight medals on swimmer Michael Phelps, to the lightning speed of Jamaican Usain Bolt and Beijing’s eye-popping facilities, everything has seemed larger than life … except perhaps those tiny Chinese gymnasts.

China, NBC, and a whole lot of athletes wanted gold out of Beijing — and there’s a lot to go around. This hour, from sport to media to China’s bottom line, we’re scoring the Olympics.

Have you loved the Games, hated them, been riveted — or not? What image of sports, of China, will stick in your mind? And how about the way we’ve been shown, or not shown, the Games and the host nation by NBC and by China? How do you score these Olympics as a media event? What have you learned, or not learned, about China? You can join the conversation right here. Share your thoughts.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from London is Rob Gifford, NPR’s London bureau chief. He was NPR’s Beijing bureau chief for six years and is the author of “China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power.” He was last in China following the earthquakes in May.

From Washington, we’re joined by Paul Farhi. A staff writer for The Washington Post since 1988, he currently covers popular culture, the media, politics, and other subjects for the Post’s Style section and writes washingtonpost.com’s Olympics blog, “Playback: The Games on TV.”

And from Laurel, Maryland, we’re joined by David Steele, longtime sports columnist for The Baltimore Sun, Michael Phelps’ hometown paper.

Dara Torres at the US Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb., July 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Getting to the Olympics — not to mention winning gold there — takes more than worldclass physical ability. As athletes and coaches know all too well, the competitive edge is as much in the mind.

So are the challenges. How does it feel to be U.S. hopeful Eric Shanteau, postponing cancer treatment to swim 200 meters in Beijing? Or China’s star hurdler, Liu Xiang, with the pride of 1.3 billion people riding on his every step?

The head games can be brutal. What is it like to be U.S. swimmer Dara Torres, staging an Olympic comeback at 41, while her coach is home battling a potentially deadly blood disorder? To be basketball star Yao Ming, Team China’s hope against the U.S., whose injured foot became a Chinese national obsession?

This hour, On Point: The minds of Olympians, and what it takes to get to Beijing.

You can join the conversation. What does it take to go for the gold? To win it? Sheer guts? Good genes? A streak of crazy? Have you done it yourself? Do you know someone who has? Who are you pulling for in Beijing? Tell us what you think.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

* * *

Guests:

Joining us from Beijing is Alex Wolff. He’s a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, covering his fifth Summer Games. He takes a special interest in basketball.

Joining us from Stanford, California, is JoAnn Dahlkoetter. She’s a world-class athlete, winner of the San Francisco marathon in 1980, and a sports psychologist who works with Olympic athletes. She’s the author of “Your Performing Edge: The Total Mind-body Program for Excellence in Sports, Business and Life.” She is currently working with 2008 U.S. Olympic marathoner Magdalena Lewy Boulet, now in Beijing.

And joining us from Mars Hill, North Carolina, is Nancy Hogshead-Makar. A U.S. Olympic swimmer, she won three gold medals and one silver at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. She was a teammate of Dara Torres in the 4×100-meter relay that clinched a team gold in 1984. She’s now a professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law and is a major advocate of gender equity in sports.

Links and Multimedia:

Beijing ‘08 – SI.com
Sports Illustrated’s comprehensive coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

“After the Games”
An interactive multimedia feature from The New York Times’ Play Magazine, in which “eight Olympic legends discuss their greatest athletic moments and life after competition.” Also, “The State Requests That Citizen Liu Win Gold,” looks at the intense pressure on China’s star hurdler Liu Xiang.

Beijing Beat – Newsweek
Newsweek’s Olympic blog keeps an eye on what’s happening beyond the sports.

The Atlantic’s James Fallows
Always worth reading, Fallows is on a long-term assignment for The Atlantic, first in Shanghai and now Beijing, and has been blogging about the run-up to the Olympics.

Beijing 2008
The official site of the 2008 Beijing Games.

Plus, listen back to On Point’s show on China and the Olympics in April, live from Shanghai.

And remember these?  See a YouTube video of some great Olympic Moments:

Yankee Stadium is coming down this year. It’s the last season for the House that Babe Ruth built. First put up in 1923. Got rehabbed in 1976. And now, it’s going down.

The site where Knute Rockne said “Win one for the Gipper.” (Yes, they played football there, too). Where Joe DiMaggio began his 56-game hitting streak. Where Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig made history. Where the pope said Mass, and Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling, and Babe Ruth’s body lay in state.

This hour, On Point: Yankee Stadium, coming down — and what it means for baseball.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

George Vecsey, sports columnist for The New York Times and author of “Baseball: A History of America’s Favorite Game” (2006).

Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College, he is the author of “The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business” (2006).

Philip Bess, professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and a stadium design consultant, he worked to help preserve Fenway Park. He’s author of “City Baseball Magic: Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense About Cities and Baseball Parks” (1989).

John Swansburg, associate editor at Slate magazine, he’s spent five years touring the major league ballparks.

It is now less than six months to the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The Olympic torch has begun its journey. Olympic politics — over Tibet and Darfur and more — are in full gear.

And in pools and on tracks and pommel horses across the country, top American athletes are swinging into the home stretch of their drive for the games.

This hour, On Point: as the politics rage and the calendar rolls, we talk with Olympic hopefuls about what it takes to make the games.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Chellsie Memmell, gymnast. She’s the 2005 All-Around World Champion.

Jarrod Shoemaker, triathlete. He has qualified for Beijing.

Rebecca Soni, swimmer, a junior at the University of Southern California, defending NCAA champion in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Brian Caseneuve, covers the Olympics for Sports Illustrated magazine.

The Mitchell report is out. Names are named. Reputations, careers — for many, an entire national pastime — darkened by the biggest scandal to hit baseball since the 1919 White Sox earned the “Black Sox” tag by throwing the World Series.

Now we have the “steroids era.” Former Senator George Mitchell’s report fingers 89 Major League players, including seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, for using illegal, performance-enhancing drugs, and cites a “collective failure” to face the problem.

This hour, On Point: with a nation looking on, the game of baseball heads for rehab.

-Jane Clayson

Guests:

Shaun Assael, investigative writer with ESPN The Magazine and author of “Steroid Nation.”

Luis Fernando Llosa, senior investigative reporter for Sports Illustrated.

David Steele, sports columnist at the Baltimore Sun.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, Democratic Congressman from Maryland.