The Atlanta Falcons Are Bad For Atlanta Sports

You read the title right, it's not some teaser.... and No, I am not drinking. I think the Atlanta Falcons franchise, more specifically, this Blank person and Dimitroff have totally ruined Atlanta. I hope we run them out of town... well, maybe that's a bit too far.

How did I arrive here?

Let's reminisce a little bit.

Authur Blank buys the Falcons, we get all excited. An owner who can spend money and an exciting player. During that time the Braves were still making runs into the playoffs and never winning.

Year before last: All 4 franchises suck and the worst one of all was the Falcons.

Now, what I am upset about is that this Blank character goes off and hires some surfer dude to come into Atlanta with a real plan. Then they hire a Coach that gets "it." The Falcons have a great year, Dimitroff makes more moves and now the expectations are even higher.

That's all well and good, the NFL is very competitive... it's only natural that people root for their team to get to the superbowl, even if they have no shot at it all *cough* Raiders *cough*.

However, in the NBA, it's pretty much decided. In fact, in some cases, even injuries don't play a role.

Let's get to the point. The Hawks dominated talk radio today. I really pity the hosts and the callers. I realize that the real evil is that the Atlanta Falcons organization has raised the bar for every one. To think that people talked about moves the Hawks could make to get to the next level, is ridiculous.

IT"S THE HAWKS, PEOPLE! THE FACT THEY HAVE A WINNING PERCENTAGE OVER .500 IS NEWS ENOUGH.

Now the people of Atlanta want to move pieces to get even further in the playoffs. HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE?!?!

PLAYOFFS (in Mora voice) ?! Really. Let's just be happy that we had a winning season and try not to mess up a good thing.

Ultimately I think the Atlanta public would be just fine if the Hawks made the playoffs as an 8 seed every year and failed to make the championship. Rattle off a few years like that and you can then harold the franchise as one of the most storied of all time.... then again, we already have a franchise like that - The Braves.

So yes, the Atlanta Falcons are bad for Atlanta Sports because they've raised our expectations on all the franchises in Atlanta. Shame on them.

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Cardinal Sin...

Well the Falcons are in the playoffs and it scares me.. it really does. Now is the time to act because we may only get one shot at this. We have beat the Cardinals, and then Carolina then the Giants most likely to get to play the Colts, Steelers or Titans. My money is on the Steelers or Colts.

In any case, I already see sportswriters writing off the Cardinals, which sends chills down my spine. We SHOULD win. Heck, the Giants are the only team that we SHOULDN'T beat, but we've got a lot of work cut out for us. Fudge played big this week, but we need Malloy back there vs the Cardinals.

Just my 2 pennies.

Always a Falcon Fan and never a band wagon jumper... Either way... welcome aboard!

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A Year Ago...

The Atlanta Falcons have come a long way, but there are some unsung heroes of the team and some stories you might have missed. One year ago (actually some of these go MANY years back)....

• Michael Jenkins was a bust and the Falcons receiving core was a disaster.
  
• The offensive line couldn't block... well, me even. As one analyst says, "they were a turnstile."
• Last Year, the offensive line had Wiener and McClure and a bunch of no-names.
  
• Lawyer Malloy & Keith Brooking were already wondering who stole their food from the retirement home. Their play on the field looked "OLD"
• With no offensive line, Warrick Dunn couldn't make the moves that he had left.
• Our Kicker was older than most of the owners in the NFL
• Every game required the obligatory MV reference.
• It was tough to be a Falcon fan... Falcon Fans got sympathy
  

THIS YEAR...

• The Falcons are near the league leaders in caught balls (or dead last in Dropped passes)
• Roddy is a pro-bowler and Michael Jenkins has turned into an excellent deep threat and possession receiver.
• The offensive line is nasty and frankly almost a strength.
  
• The offensive line has Wiener and McClure and a bunch of no names.
  
• Lawyer Malloy is playing very well and Keith Brooking is not back to probowl form, but definitely making his presence felt.
• Michael Turner doesn't need to juke, he just runs over the defense.
• Our kicker is now only older than everyone on the team
• Every game almost requires MV - P discussions for Michael Turner and Matt Ryan
• It's great to be a Falcon Fan!
  

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The Best Gift Ever - From GT Alumni Association

Loved this e-mail but hate the execution. This could have been an AWESOME viral campaign, but as it stands, it's just the best E-card I've ever gotten.

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Divisional Winners With A Little Louisiana Help

If Carolina Loses to New Orleans, and the Falcons take care of business, we'd win our division!

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Playoffs!!!!! Falcons Defeat The Vikings

In what is possibly the second worst performance of the year by young Matt Ryan, he showed why he has that special "it" factor. He didn't fill up the stat sheet. He didn't do anything spectacular. No, he just was a MAN and lead a team. He also didn't make any mistakes. He played as if the game was just a game.

Compare that to the opposing team and you're getting an opposite response. I'm so excited we're in the playoffs that instead of finishing this post, I'm going to point out a few things I really liked about the broadcast.

• Brian Billick does a great job! I didn't like him as a coach, but as a commentator he's excellent. The next John Madden... shhh, don't tell anyone.
• Matt Ryan is the Alternate for the NFC - WOOT! I didn't know.
  
• Falcons are 4th overall in 3rd down conversions.
• Coming into the game the Falcons were giving the ball up way too much. I think we're in the plus column now.
  
• Playoffs!? - So much for rebuilding. Too bad a certain tight end isn't still here. Here's hoping we get to meet him early next year. Wink, Wink!
  

Lawyer Malloy is playing like a stud and had a great argument for Matt Ryan to be MVP! I may write about it this week.

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Great Write Up On Dimitroff

Yahoo has a great write up on Dimitroff.

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