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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Petrino deals with perhaps the worst offseason ever
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
In the six months since signing on for “the best job in football,” Bobby Petrino has seen a starting defensive end leave in free agency, four other regulars lost to injuries (one jet-skiing), another sue the team, one get arrested for felony animal abuse — not that guy, the other guy — and the franchise centerpiece turn into a human train wreck, with spectacular crashes from Miami to Capitol Hill and all shadowy barns in between.
On a lesser note, Jimmy Williams is facing misdemeanor marijuana charges. Relatively speaking, this is comic relief and ensures Williams at least will get on a stat sheet this season.
Today, the Falcons open training camp.
So. Everybody feeling all rested up?
Why does it feel like 3-9 in December and going to New England?
If nothing else, the backdrop to today’s practice in Flowery Branch has cast Petrino in an unfamiliar role — that of sympathetic figure. His career has shown him to be a talented, creative and successful coach — on wheels. His resume defines, “Hello, I must be going.” His secret job interviews define deception. But it’s difficult not to feel a little sorry for him.
Two days before training camp, Petrino was forced to attend a news conference 46 miles from the Falcons’ practice facility. He sat with his two bosses, Arthur Blank and Rich McKay, fielding questions on the artist formerly known as Michael Vick. He wore a suit and tie and a look that told you he would be ripping them off the second he got out the door. But he tried to play the role.
Reminded of his best job in football remarks in January, Petrino said, “I said that. I do believe that. I absolutely have no regrets about taking this job. I’m very motivated. This is a big obstacle, there’s no question about that. And only time will tell if what I said really happens, but I do believe this is the best job.”
We are reminded of the Watergate figure, G. Gordon Liddy, who, legend has it, held his hand over a flame until his skin burned. When asked what the trick was, Giddy responded, “The trick is not minding.”
After learning Wednesday that Warrick Dunn underwent surgery for a herniated disc, we can assume Petrino’s entire head is in the flame. If this isn’t the worst offseason in NFL history, it’s at least a cruel joke.
Petrino will mandate tunnel vision — even as the tunnel appears to be crumbling. The Falcons’ success depends on not merely his resiliency but how effectively he commands that from his players.
We know he can design an offense. Now we’ll find out how effectively he can grab the attention of NFL players. Even in the Falcons’ long and mostly inglorious history, we’ve never witnessed a distraction such as this, and one that might linger for months. Even if the Falcons move to put Vick and the dogfighting circus behind them as quickly as possible and release him, it wouldn’t eliminate the lingering odor. The Falcons will have to play through it.
Blank learned about the Vick indictment when a pilot woke him up on the return trip from Africa and handed him a fax. “There are times,” he said, “I wish I was back in Kenya, dealing with the lions and the cheetahs instead of this.”
But they’ll all have to deal with it, even if Vick is in another state. Most pro athletes can compartmentalize well, but this will be a test. It’s different from anything Blank went through at Home Depot, different from even what McKay experienced early with Tampa Bay.
Petrino? Just losing as a head coach would be a new experience. In four seasons at Louisville, he went 41-9, won the Orange Bowl and scored 40-plus points in more than half the games.
Just guessing, but the Falcons don’t have that look right now. They are small on the offensive line, thin on the defensive front and short on positions that make you feel comfortable.
Blank reminded the masses Tuesday that, “It’s not about one player. It’s never been about one player. It’s about a football team. It’s about an organization.”
In an ideal world, he is correct. But when times were good, Vick was so much more than one player. And now he’s so much more than one little obstacle.
Permalink | Comments (84) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Barry bad decision there, Bud
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Bud Selig just blew it — BIG TIME — but not in the way that you think. Instead of agreeing this week to join the Barry Bonds Home Run Chase, the baseball commissioner should have trusted his first instincts to stay away.
This has nothing to do with the ugly steroid allegations surrounding the personality challenged Bonds.
It’s like this: Despite knee-jerk opinions to the contrary, commissioners aren’t obligated to attend record-setting events in their sports. That’s because commissioners famously haven’t done such a thing in the past, and we’re talking about baseball commissioners and otherwise.
We needn’t go further than the NFL, supposedly the most PR savvy of the professional sports. Its equivalent to Bonds sitting on the verge of topping Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record was Emmitt Smith preparing five years ago at home in Dallas to sprint past Walter Payton as the all-time rushing leader.
Paul Tagliabue wasn’t there.
Not only that, when Payton eclipsed the legendary mark of Jim Brown in 1984, guess who wasn’t in Chicago? Pete Rozelle. This was the same commissioner who began the NFL obsession with image.
Consider, too, that given the friendly nature of an NFL schedule, it would have been easy for Tagliabue and Rozelle to plan to witness those record-breaking moments. In contrast, baseball teams play virtually every day and often move from town to town within a given week.
Plus, you can’t predict when somebody is going to hit a home run.
Even so, to hear the Selig bashers tell it, he is obligated to become part of the San Francisco Giants’ traveling team — you know, just in case Bonds goes deep for 754, 755 and then 756.
Ridiculous. The same applied to those who thought Bowie Kuhn SHOULD have been there in 1974 for Aaron’s record-breaker over Babe Ruth. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick wasn’t around in 1961 when Roger Maris broke Ruth’s single-season home run mark.
So go home, Bud. Watch Bonds set the record from your living room in Milwaukee, or just go bowling.
Permalink | Comments (121) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Quick Hit, Terence Moore
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