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Thursday, July 5, 2007
Reason for optimism over Falcons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Conventional wisdom holds that the Falcons have had a debilitating offseason. From the water bottle in Miami to a dead dog named Kilo to the dogfighting investigation in Virginia, these have surely been eventful months. But will such “events” automatically make for a woeful autumn? Not necessarily. And here, since you asked, are the reasons why:
1. They have a better coach and a better plan. The last staff seemed a cobbled-together contraption, what with Greg Knapp and his West Coast offense, and with Alex Gibbs and his zone blocking, and with nobody who seemed to know how to optimize Michael Vick. The new man relishes the thought of coaching this quarterback. “That’s why we’re here,” Bobby Petrino has said, and he isn’t a guy who’ll let his coordinators hash things out. He knows what he wants and will settle for no less. You won’t be able to say of his team what became painfully apparent about Jim Mora’s: that it had no signature.
2. They had a bountiful draft. The Falcons helped themselves almost everywhere, from the defensive front (Jamaal Anderson and Trey Lewis, Rounds 1 and 6) to the offensive line (Justin Blalock and Doug Datish, Rounds 2 and 6) to the secondary (Chris Houston and David Irons, Rounds 2 and 6) to tight end (Martrez Milner, Round 4) to wide receiver (Laurent Robinson, Round 3) to linebacker (Stephen Nicholas, Round 4). That’s a lot of handy new pieces for this clever new staff to deploy.
3. Grady Jackson sued but didn’t leave. He’s a big man, literally and figuratively, for the Falcons. With Patrick Kerney gone and Rod Coleman hurt and Jonathan Babineaux facing an animal-abuse charge — and with Anderson being a rookie and with John Abraham being his brittle self — the D-line must have an anchor. With the lawsuit settled, Jackson still provides one.
4. Running back Jerious Norwood seems ready for his close-up. He’s one guy Petrino keeps mentioning, and he figures to get nearly as many touches as Warrick Dunn this season. More, if Norwood proves he can catch the ball. And Petrino’s quarterbacks are noted for utilizing every receiver.
5. Vick hasn’t been indicted and/or suspended — yet. If he’s indicted, he’ll be suspended. (Estimates vary, but four games is the most popular guess.) But absolutely nobody knows whether an indictment, which once seemed imminent, will be issued at all. If none is, will Roger Goodell still find cause to sanction Vick? If so, on what grounds? Having the wrong cousin?
6. Even if Vick is suspended, the Falcons have had a summer to prepare for his absence. This isn’t to say Petrino wants to start the season with Joey Harrington as his quarterback. (Would the Falcons have traded Matt Schaub if they had any idea this dogfighting thing was out there? Probably not.) But Petrino is smart enough to have formed a contingency plan by now, and Harrington, while no long-term answer, has at least been an NFL starting quarterback. He could win a game or two.
7. As unsavory as the off-the-field stuff has been, Vick seems to have rededicated himself to football. He has canceled public appearances — and he infamously skipped the breakfast with members of Congress — but the Falcons insist the quarterback has been an attentive student of the new system. And that’s the best news of a news-heavy offseason because, to put it bluntly, Vick hasn’t seemed as detail-oriented since he signed that $130 million contract in December 2004. He seems to believe this is the biggest year of his career, and it is.
Permalink | Comments (121) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Mark Bradley
Reason for optimism over Falcons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Conventional wisdom holds that the Falcons have had a debilitating offseason. From the water bottle in Miami to a dead dog named Kilo to the dogfighting investigation in Virginia, these have surely been eventful months. But will such “events” automatically make for a woeful autumn? Not necessarily. And here, since you asked, are the reasons why:
1. They have a better coach and a better plan. The last staff seemed a cobbled-together contraption, what with Greg Knapp and his West Coast offense and with Alex Gibbs and his zone blocking and with nobody who seemed to know how to optimize Michael Vick. The new man relishes the thought of coaching this quarterback. “That’s why we’re here,” Bobby Petrino has said, and he isn’t a guy who’ll let his coordinators hash things out. He knows what he wants and will settle for no less. You won’t be able to say of his team what became painfully apparent about Jim Mora’s: that it had no signature.
2. They had a bountiful draft. The Falcons helped themselves almost everywhere, from the defensive front (Jamaal Anderson and Trey Lewis, Rounds 1 and 6) to the offensive line (Justin Blalock and Doug Datish, Rounds 2 and 6) to the secondary (Chris Houston and David Irons, Rounds 2 and 6) to tight end (Martrez Milner, Round 4) to wide receiver (Laurent Robinson, Round 3) to linebacker (Stephen Nicholas, Round 4). That’s a lot of handy new pieces for this clever new staff to deploy.
3. Grady Jackson sued but didn’t leave. He’s a big man, literally and figuratively, for the Falcons. With Patrick Kerney gone and Rod Coleman hurt and Jonathan Babineaux facing an animal-abuse charge — and with Anderson being a rookie and with John Abraham being his brittle self — the D-line must have an anchor. With the lawsuit settled, Jackson still provides one.
4. Running back Jerious Norwood seems ready for his close-up. He’s one guy Petrino keeps mentioning, and he figures to get nearly as many touches as Warrick Dunn this season. More, if Norwood proves he can catch the ball. And Petrino’s quarterbacks are noted for utilizing every receiver.
5. Vick hasn’t been indicted and/or suspended — yet. If he’s indicted, he’ll be suspended. (Estimates vary, but four games is the most popular guess.) But absolutely nobody knows whether an indictment, which once seemed imminent, will be issued at all. If none is, will Roger Goodell still find cause to sanction Vick? If so, on what grounds? Having the wrong cousin?
6. Even if Vick is suspended, the Falcons have had a summer to prepare for his absence. This isn’t to say Petrino wants to start the season with Joey Harrington as his quarterback. (Would the Falcons have traded Matt Schaub if they had any idea this dogfighting thing was out there? Probably not.) But Petrino is smart enough to have formed a contingency plan by now, and Harrington, while no long-term answer, has at least been an NFL starting quarterback. He could win a game or two.
7. As unsavory as the off-the-field stuff has been, Vick seems to have rededicated himself to football. He has canceled public appearances — and he infamously skipped the breakfast with members of Congress — but the Falcons insist the quarterback has been an attentive student of the new system. And that’s the best news of a news-heavy offseason because, to put it bluntly, Vick hasn’t seemed as detail-oriented since he signed that $130 million contract in December 2004. He seems to believe this is the biggest year of his career, and it is.
Permalink | Comments (99) | Categories: Falcons / NFL
Hot dog contest is tasteless
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
I ate a hot dog on the Fourth of July. I believe this now makes me a world-class athlete.
A guy ate 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes and was declared world champion on ESPN on the Fourth. ESPN is — or, more precisely, was — a network devoted to sports. This guy’s feat, if you want to call it that, was chronicled breathlessly by the wire services and featured prominently on the major sports Web sites. Every now and then we have the debate over whether figure skating is a real sport. Well, alongside renowned gorger Joey Chesnut, Michelle Kwan is Jim Thorpe.
We’ve known for some time these two basic truths: (1.) That people will do anything to get on TV, and (2.) that TV will show people doing just about anything. But ultimately we have to draw the line:
Eating is not a sport. Poker is not a sport. A spelling bee is not a sport. They’re competitions, yes, but they involve nothing athletic. They’re simply programming for the great beast Television, and for reasons unclear some among us feel compelled to watch this stuff.
At least a spelling bee carries educational content. What’s to be gained from guys eating hot dogs? Not one thing, other than this priceless quote — I’m borrowing from the Associated Press report — from Rich Shea of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Having seen dethroned champ Takeru Kobayashi undergo a “reversal” (meaning: he vomited), Shea said: “Obviously that last bit exited his mouth quite dramatically.”
So here’s what I want to know: If eating is a sport, how long before ESPN brings us the World Series of Puking? And how would you determine the winner? By volume? By distance? By content?
Permalink | Comments (164) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
