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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Predictions you’ll flip over
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Let me just start by saying I had no problem with Michael Vick extending his middle finger last week, although given the way things have gone this season, it might be a good idea to keep all five wrapped around the football.
See, it’s sort of like reading defenses. Young quarterbacks can’t tell where the problems are, and they throw the ball in the direction.
Similarly, the problem is not that Vick gave somebody the symbolic equivalent of, “Hey, you not the man.” He just flipped it in the wrong direction.
Mike, buddy, those people up there help pay your salary, buy your jersey, wear your shoes, kiss your posters, fly your AirTran. Those people pretty much ran over Chris Chandler for you. Although, granted, you were only about reason No. 97 to run over Chris Chandler.
I mean, dude, if you want to extend the finger, there are plenty of creatures to salute.
Your receivers. Your blockers. Your coaches.
Donald Rumsfeld. Donna Shalala. Al Jazeera.
The BCS.
Me. For every time I wrote: “Falcons cover.” Never again.
The Falcons have dropped four straight. It’s their longest losing streak since Vick had a broken leg. You can walk around Flowery Branch these days, point any finger in anybody’s direction and say, “He’s lost it.” The most recent example is the poor maligned receivers coach, George Stewart, who, like the rest of us, was under the misguided assumption that anybody who made it to the NFL shouldn’t have to be taught how to catch a pass.
Addressing the receivers’ drops, Stewart said the other day: “For anything to grow, it has to die.”
I’m sorry. Is he forecasting a resurrection? (Apologies to my rabbi.)
Forget the healing hands. The Falcons are in Washington. The Redskins are favored by two fingers. Read this: ‘Skins cover.
Bowl Appetizers
ACC: Nothing against Georgia Tech or Wake Forest. But when Miami and Virginia Tech joined FSU in the ACC, conference officials envisioned something flashier than “Morticians Convention” on the marquee this week. Empty sections of All-Tel stadium may be converted to picnic areas. And now for something completely different: Tech can win a conference title. I’m banking on no Georgia hangover here. Jackets cover 2 1/2.
SEC: In two previous title games, Arkansas lost to Florida and Georgia by a combined 64-6, give or take a kidney. The Bulldogs led 23-0 in 2002 before the first oink. I hadn’t seen so many depressed Arkansas fans since Golden Corral ran out of cheese sludge. The Gators seldom overwhelm, but it helps that their strength (run defense) counters Arkansas’. On to the Who’s No. 2 debate: Florida covers 2 1/2
Pac-10: Pete Carroll might’ve been a chucklehead in the NFL, but he should be college coach of the year for what he’s done after losing 11 players to the NFL draft last year (including Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart). UCLA, conversely, might’ve been better off if it lost 11 players. Trojans win. But I’ll jump on 13 1/2 in a rivalry game.
Pros and Ex-Cons
Cowboys at Giants: Michael Strahan threw a teammate (Plaxico Burress) under the bus on his radio show, blamed the media for trying to “create” a situation, then said he had cleared the air with Burress, which, of course, was news to Burress. Meanwhile, Eli Manning is back to just being Peyton’s brother. And you thought the Falcons were a mess. Cowboys cover 3 1/2.
Bucs at Steelers: For any Iron City-soused Steelers fan (including my wife) who believed Ben Roethlisberger might get better as the season wore on, chew on this: The Dude has 15 turnovers (12 interceptions, three fumbles) in the past five games. Pitt wins this, but forget covering seven.
Raiders of the Lost Minds: Warren Sapp claims people have tried to poison his room service meals. But judging by the profile, I’m assuming he kept the food down. Oakland covers three against Houston.
Jaguars at Dolphins: Nick Saban says he doesn’t want the Alabama job. Guess he figures after winning four straight games with Joey Harrington, one miracle is enough. Fins cover 1 1/2.
Seahawks at Broncos: Mike Shanahan is the best offensive coach in the league. But a 7-4 team switching quarterbacks (Jake Plummer to Jay Cutler) in Game 12 ranks somewhere between risky and lunacy. Seattle in an upset (but take the gift three).
Boo Chip Indicators
(Talk to our debt consultants about refinancing options.)
Last week: 5-5 straight up, 3-7 against the line.
Bottom line.: 76-43 straight up, 54-63-2 against the line.
(Record against the line reflects adjustment after alert reader Mary noticed I actually went 4-6-1 two weeks ago, not 6-5, as my accounting department indicated. And I’m so grateful to Mary for catching that. Really. Honest. Hey, Mary: Don’t you have to be somewhere?)
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC
Thinking out loud
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Here’s yet another in the occasional series of “I think” things. I think they’re sort of fun. You might think otherwise.
I think Mark McGwire belongs in the Hall of Fame until someone proves — as opposed to suspects — he used steroids. And I doubt anybody ever will. (And yes, I feel the same about Barry Bonds.)
I think Josh Smith needs to distinguish between a shot and a good shot.
I think — actually, I know — I was wrong about Tech beating Georgia. Perhaps one or two of you noticed.
I think Tech will beat Wake Forest.
I think Arkansas will beat Florida.
I think the Falcons will beat Washington. If they don’t, I think Jim Mora had better start polishing the ol’ resume.
I think the thing that bothers me most about the Falcons is that, in a league where seemingly every game comes down to the last minute, they’re not getting beat by a field goal at the gun. They’re getting pounded. Of their six losses, only one has been by single digits. I think that’s a bad, bad sign.
I think the Gator Bowl trying to weasel out of taking Tech is typical bowl behavior.
I think the Braves should never have let Tom Glavine go, which isn’t to say they should sign him now. Two wrongs don’t … well, you know.
I think Michael Vick was utterly sincere in his apology. I don’t claim to know him well, but I’ve been around him for six seasons and I’ve never once thought he was anything but a good guy.
That said, I think I’d like to see him complete more passes.
Speaking of which: I think Rich McKay has gotten a comparative pass in the Falcons’ blame game. He did, after all, draft Roddy White and Michael Jenkins in consecutive Round 1s. And wasn’t Marques Colston, the presumptive NFC rookie of the year, available when the Falcons took Adam Jennings, a wide receiver, in Round 6 last April?
I think Mark Richt proved how good a coach he is by holding this team together and, not incidentally, by allowing Mike Bobo to call plays.
I think I’m all thought out.
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Johnson’s polish makes Hawks’ future brighter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
As historical days go, Aug. 19 has some cachet. The Allies liberated Paris in World War II. News broke of a California gold rush in 1848. The Soviet Union collapsed, which Mikhail Gorbachev learned as he was placed under house arrest in 1991. Morten Anderson was born on Aug. 19, and as we know he would later become a top NFL kicker, forcing the Saints to cut his roommate, Lou Groza.
More recently, it was Aug. 19 of last year when the Hawks completed a sign-and-trade deal with Phoenix for Joe Johnson. Historians will cite this as the moment when the Hawks attempted to rejoin the NBA.
Now, we can’t be certain where this goes. After losing six of their previous seven, the Hawks defeated Charlotte 99-90 on Wednesday night at Philips Arena. They saw a 24-point lead in the third quarter dwindle to three in the fourth. But they held on to beat the only franchise seemingly in the midst of a greater love affair with cap room.
They’re 6-7. That’s not quite the great early-season tease, when they opened 4-1 and members of Atlanta Spirit began to hyperventilate. But when a club has gone seven straight seasons without a playoff game, you take what you can.
The Hawks are not nearly a finished product. They’re like a house that has been framed, and only one room has sheetrock and carpeting. The room’s name is Joe Johnson.
He scored 36 against the Bobcats. He scored 22 points in the second quarter on 9-for-10 shooting, including three straight from three-point range. “I just got into a little zone,” he said.
Who knew Philips Arena even had a zone?
having a career season. He began the night seventh in the league in scoring at 27.1 points per game, nearly double anybody else on the team. After only 13 games, he already has taken 267 shots, 113 more than the next closest teammate (Josh Smith).
“This definitely is the best I’ve played in the league,” he said. “I know that I’ve got a lot more on my table now, and I’m just trying to step up. I’m trying to be more of a leader, on and off the floor. A lot is on my back, but I’m trying to carry the load.”
It forever will be debated whether Johnson was worth what the Hawks sacrificed in salary ($70 million) or trade with Phoenix (two No. 1 picks and Boris Diaw). But there’s little question he has emerged as one of the league’s elite players.
It’s possible the Hawks will act as a sort of cloaking device and Johnson gets snubbed at All-Star time. “I can’t worry about that. If I handle my business, everything will take care of itself,” he said.
Then again, the miracle will be if Johnson is still standing at the All-Star break, with all of the minutes he’s playing. Coach Mike Woodson didn’t want to pull Johnson out of this game, playing him over 42 minutes. “He was on fire,” he said. “You try not to extend his minutes like we were doing. But when a guy gets going like that, you milk him.”
The Hawks went 26-56 last season, which isn’t the way a free agent imagines things when he signs a $70 million contract. But this season Johnson seems to have adjusted and accepted a bigger role.
“The losing has been tough at times,” he said, “but we’re a young team, so I pretty much knew what I was getting into when I came here.”
This team remains a playoff long shot, even in the decrepit East. Notwithstanding Tyronn Lue’s 25 points Wednesday, they still need a point guard. (The good news is you don’t have to whine about the Hawks not drafting Chris Paul anymore. Now you can whine about Deron Williams, who has led Utah to a 12-3 start.)
But the Johnson trade looks like a rare step forward in Hawks history. At least they have one room in the house finished.
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