Silver Lining in the Vick Case?

On the one hand, I'm not down with a Long Beach, Calif. minor-league baseball team's promotional campaign tomorrow. The campaign, called "Michael Vick Animal Awareness Day," seems to be taking advantage of a heartless act and turning a profit off of it.

But then I read what the promotion's all about, and I think it's one of the funniest and most creative promotional ideas ever.

For those too lazy to click the above link, fans who turn in Vick jerseys or t-shirts will get in for free on Sunday. Those jerseys will be used as pooper-scoopers for the dogs the fans can bring to the game.

In addition, there will be a ceremonial doggie first pitch, a doggie beatury contest, a weiner dog race, skateboarding bulldogs and doggie washes. And fans who donate toys or treats or abandoned and abused dogs will receive tickets to future Long Beach Armada games.

Considering what Vick's accused of doing -- running a dogfighting ring and killing dogs who either lost or weren't fit to fight -- this promotion fits perfectly. It shows support for opposing animal cruelty, it shows just what normal-thinking people think of Vick's alleged actions and it puts a nice twist on what would normally be a simple "Bring Your Dog to the Park" day.

My favorite part? Using Vick's jersey as a pooper-scooper. That right there makes this promotion a winner.

Dan Shannon, a assistant director of campaigns for PETA, calls the promotion "creative." When PETA -- an organization that once launched a "Got Beer?" campaign to claim that milking cows was cruel -- calls your move creative, you know you're on to something.

It's just another in a long line of protests against Vick and his alleged actions. PETA and the Humane Society are protesting; Nike and Reebok have pulled Vick products, as has NLFShop.com. Falcons fans are even turning their back on the embattled QB, and I can't help but wonder how Virginia Tech supporters feel about their beloved son now. Yeah, he made Hokie football nationally relavent, but what about now?

Kudos to the Long Beach Armada of Los Angeles of California of the United States of North America including Barrow, Alaska (no lie, that's the team's official name). The team with such promotional deals as mother-in-law night and bald-guy night have come up with a creative -- if not somewhat in poor taste -- gig to raise awareness.

And just think, even if this is in poor taste, it's still better than electrocuting and drowning your pooch.

Allegedly.