AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2005 > September > 01
Thursday, September 1, 2005
Just another exhibition of gullibility
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Miami � All Michael Vick did was hand off to his right and to his left, and then he vanished into the warmth of the South Florida breezes. The starting defenders were around for a series. Warrick Dunn never played. Neither did Alge Crumpler.
So, courtesy of the Falcons, those slew of suckers who paid full price Thursday night for one of these silly exhibition games at Dolphins Stadium got a steady dose of nobody worth mentioning.
Good. Then again, this could have been bad (really, really bad) for the Falcons, which brings us to this: Unless they plan to secede from the NFL someday, they should tell somebody (his name is Rich McKay, a guru of their organization and of the league) that even playing three of these exhibition games is too many. Playing a couple would be fine, especially given all of the minicamps and offseason conditioning programs in today’s game, and the Falcons just played a fifth exhibition game.
Not only that, the Falcons did so along the impromptu Everglades disguised as the floor of Dolphins Stadium after one of those absolutely brutal thunderstorms that happen around here.
“This bothers you in the sense that you don’t ever like to expose players to injury,� said McKay, whose Falcons once lost Vick for most of a season after he broke his leg during an exhibition game, and that was under the ideal conditions of the Georgia Dome.
Anyway, just when I thought McKay was in my little corner of the world regarding this exhibition game thing, he flew in the direction of Mars with a “but.� It’s the same “but� you hear from those who believe slicing exhibition games from a team’s schedule would rank with selling the babies of NFL players to gypsies.
“But,� said McKay, a co-chair of the league’s mighty competition committee when he isn’t operating as the Falcons’ general manager, “you can say that playing this game [Thursday night] is a positive in that we have a lot of guys here that are trying to make our team or somebody else’s team if they can’t make ours. You know what they get? They get on tape. All these teams get this tape. They look at it. They watch these players against NFL players, and they make decisions.�
Not impressed. Neither were those among the gullible few inside a place that was less than half full. They often booed the ugliness of their Dolphins, but those among the gullible few have nobody to blame but themselves for shelling out regular-season dollars ($37, $51, $67, $69, $70) for preseason slop.
Such free spending by fans for exhibition games has been the norm around the NFL since its marketing folks discovered years ago that you actually have a gullible many for anything involving their league.
None of this matters to the Falcons’ coaching staff or that of any other NFL team with other things to consider regarding exhibition games. It’s about survival and saving as many of your best players as possible for another day � like Sept. 12, for instance, when the Falcons open on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles.
And get this: Now NFL teams have 16 regular-season games and four exhibition games. Prior to the 1978 season, they had six exhibition games and 14 regular-season games. There also was 1973, when the defending world champion Dolphins had a seventh exhibition game because they were required to play a bunch of college all-stars that season.
“Just look at this,� said Bob Griese, glancing at a Dolphins media guide. He’s now a television announcer for the team after serving as its star quarterback during the 1970s. “We played preseason games back then at Rochester. We were at Akron. We played in Memphis and in Charleston. Wow. We did that during those old days because the preseason tickets were separate from those of the regular season. Now you have to pay for the whole package.�
How much did Griese play during those exhibition seasons?
“I’d say no more than 25 percent of the time, which is about the same as players do now,� said Griese, confirming what we already knew: The NFL had a bunch of suckers then, too.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
Weekend predictions are back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
(The following program is not affiliated with the NCAA, the people who thought it was bad to have teams named after Native Americans, the people who suddenly changed their minds after being threatened by lawsuits, the BCS, the Harris poll, the people who decided the Harris poll takes a village of 114 voters, most of whom are breathing, some of whom have jobs, two of whom painted my house last week and none of whom are Native American.)
Still with me? Then this fiscal season should be a snap.
Hello. I am back.
Isn’t it nice to know that with all of the products on the market today, there are some stains you just can’t get rid of? Wait. That didn’t come out right.
Weekend Predictions started in 1993 when the AJC advertising department mandated that editorial provide some copy for page 11 to go with the “spa” ads. We have grown through the years, but each pick remains 100 percent natural and free of additives (like facts).
Here’s how it works: Every week, I give you the winners. It’s your job to find them. Occasional “losing picks” are inserted to throw off competing tip sheets. In time, you should be able to tell the real picks from the phony ones. If not, that’s your problem.
This season, Weekend Predictions divides and mutates.
Friday’s forecasts will be limited to college games only. Guaranteed NFL picks will appear Sundays.
Please remember to use Weekend Predictions responsibly. Do not mix with alcohol or prescription medicines. Everyday hallucinogens are OK. Below is our early fall blowout.
(Buy three selections and win a copy of Maurice Clarett’s new autobiography, “How to go from BMOC to Would-You-Like-Fries-With-That in Roughly a Week.�)
Boise State at Neverland It has been a difficult summer for coach Mark Richt on the Island of Lost Boys. Between the suspensions, arrests and summer school picture-phone wrestling matches, there’s been little time to put in a new offense. A nice kid like D.J. Shockley shouldn’t have to pay the price for all this. Fortunately, here comes Boise State, which isn’t nearly the wrecking machine everybody has built it up to be. Wrecking machines don’t give up 42 points to Tulsa, 31 to UTEP and 49 to San Jose State. Doggies cover the seven.
Tech at Auburn: Chan Gailey has won two of his three season openers. That sounds better than saying he beat Samford and Vanderbilt. See, I can spin. Gailey’s future is somewhat in Reggie Ball’s hands, and you just never know what those hands are going to do. The Bees should be fine on defense, especially against an Auburn offense that has lost, like, everybody. Unlike last year, Auburn is beatable. Just not in this opener. Tigers win, cover the TD.
UAB at Tennessee: Vowels coach Phil Fulmer says he will rotate two quarterbacks this season. That should be interesting, considering he usually has problems finessing a game plan with just one quarterback. Tennessee wins, but I’m not giving anybody 23 1/2. Take UAB and the bundle.
Miami at Florida State: Miami lost three games last year. After a 5-4 vote by the city council, coach Larry Coker was allowed to retain all of his limbs. Good move. Canes cover the deuce in Tallahassee.
Duke at East Carolina: Kidding.
Southern Cal at Hawaii: June Jones hired Jerry Glanville to coach his defense. Now Hawaii is considering banning beer sales at home games. Look, if you’re going to make the first move, you can’t make the second without violating several human rights laws. USC by 34 1/2? Why not.
Wyoming at Florida: Last year with Utah, Urban Meyer’s team dumped Wyoming 45-28. What’s he going to do with better players? The 23 is covered.
Middle Tennessee State at Alabama: Mike Shula: Year three. Now there’s something you never would have expected. But if Brodie Croyle stays healthy, Bammie fans could have something to look forward to other than probation winding down. Tide wins. But 22? No. Take MTS and the pts.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC, UGA / SEC
Feeling like a selfish jerk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
I admit it. I got caught up in the gas hype Wednesday afternoon. (What is it about seeing other people in line that compels us to join the line? Stupidity, I guess.)
I topped off for the low, low price of $3.09 a gallon and got impatient at having to wait and started thinking of all I had to do this weekend — drive to Columbia, where gameday traffic is always lousy, for the South Carolina opener tonight; drive home on Friday; drive to Auburn, where traffic is just as bad, on Saturday for the Georgia Tech game. All on Labor Day weekend, no less.
With gas prices going through the figurative roof.
And then I thought: Whoa.
When last I looked, I still have a house. And it still has an actual roof.
The pictures from New Orleans are sobering in the same way the pictures were from Ground Zero, except that Ground Zero was a product of a willful act of evil and Hurricane Katrina simply… happened. New Orleans is a place I’ve come to know rather well, having been there a dozen times and having stayed often at the Hyatt Regency that overlooks the Superdome. That’s the same Superdome that has become a refugee center, the same Hyatt that lost all its windows and is lucky to still be standing.
People along the Gulf Coast are homeless and all but hopeless, and there I was feeling put out at having to buy gas so I could cover two football games in three days. Yeah, I’m a selfish jerk.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
