A quitter, liar, coward, and a cancer

After spending the evening at the Georgia Dome watching their Monday night debacle against the New Orleans Saints, I thought the Atlanta Falcons may have reached rock bottom. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I was floored to check the AJC this morning and read that head coach Bobby Petrino had quit the Atlanta Falcons mid-season and had been named the head coach at the University of Arkansas just before midnight Tuesday evening.

I then watched the Arkansas press conference in disgust as Bobby Petrino and his wife Becky had the Razorback cheerleaders join them on stage and do the "Wooo, Pig, Sooie" cheer. He looked like the ass he is. Good riddance. Here's hoping that Arthur Blank and Rich McKay don't botch the hiring of their 3rd head coach in just 4 years.

Some quotes from Atlanta Falcons players and others...

"He preached team. He preached family. And then he quit on us. That's not what a man does." -Joey Harrington, quarterback

"It's a selfish act by a guy who has no class... who only thinks about himself." -Warrick Dunn, running back

"I think he's a quitter and a fraud. And I've been a supporter of Bobby Petrino... He'll throw water in your face and tell you it's raining. That's Bobby Petrino." -Sean Salisbury, ESPN

"I don't have any respect for him." -DeAngelo Hall, cornerback

"Disloyal." -Jamal Anderson, defensive end and Arkansas alumnus

"He allowed us to be embarrassed on national television while he's cutting a deal... We didn't realize we had a cancer on our team in the form of a head coach." -Lawyer Milloy, safety

"If you're going to preach being a team player, you have to be a team player." -Roddy White, wide receiver

"I feel betrayed with the decision that he made." -Keith Brooking, linebacker

"It just shows his true color, like a coward with a yellow stripe down his back." -Grady Jackson, former defensive tackle with the Falcons who was cut on 10/23 by Petrino (and signed by Jacksonville a week later)

"I think the timing of Bobby's decision was wrong. It was wrong for the coaches. It was wrong for the families depending on him, that he brought here that had invested in him and invested in this team. It's also letting our players down— the players I've heard him tell consistently to play all four quarters. All four quarters does not equal, in my opinion, 13 games." -Arthur Blank, Owner and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons

Second chances

It's hard being a Falcons fan this year.

The first sucker-punch to the gut happened when the Falcons traded its best quarterback, Matt Schaub, to the Houston Texans in late March. In the event they're not already aware, the Falcons will realize they traded the wrong quarterback when they get their jocks handed to them September 30 when the Texans visit Atlanta to play the Falcons.

The second hit was when the Falcons signed Joey Harrington to a 2-year contract to back up Michael Vick. Harrington is more known for interceptions than touchdowns, having thrown 79 of the former and only 72 of the latter.

And everyone knows the Michael Vick saga, whose illicit activities came to light back in April.

With a record of 0-2, last night the Atlanta Falcons' season began its turnaround by cutting the inaccurate Matt Prater (only making 1 of 4 field goals) and signing Morten Andersen as its placekicker for the 2nd time in as many years. At 47, #5 will be the oldest active player in the NFL. Playing for the Falcons last year, Morten Anderson hit 20 of 23 field goal attempts and made all 27 PATs. In addition, Morten became the greatest scorer in the history of the NFL last year with 2,445 points.

Hopefully the Falcons' next step will be to sign former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich to the roster.

Meanwhile, Falcons tickets are readily available (and cheap) for this weekend's game against the Carolina Panthers.

How to buy Super Bowl tickets

Some day I may want to see the Super Bowl live, but until then, I'll continue submitting my request to purchase tickets for the ultimate arbitrage opportunity. The NFL does not sell tickets to travel agents or ticket brokers; the way they get their tickets is by purchasing them from individuals. And one such individual sold his pair of tickets for $9,200 for this last Super Bowl in Miami.

To have the opportunity to purchase Super Bowl tickets at face value, follow these instructions from the NFL website:

Entries for the random drawing are accepted between Feb. 1 and June 1 of the year preceding the game in question. All ticket requests must be sent via certified or registered mail. Those selected in the random drawing will have the opportunity to purchase two tickets.

Requests for Super Bowl XLII, to be played Feb. 3, 2008 in Glendale, Ariz., will be accepted beginning Feb. 1, 2007. They should be sent to:

Super Bowl Random Drawing
P.O. Box 49140
Strongsville, OH 44149-0140

Please note that only one request per address is accepted. All duplicate requests will be disregarded.

If your name is drawn, you'll need to pony up the estimated $700 per ticket, but you'll easily be able to double your money. For an interesting article on the secondary market for Super Bowl tickets, read Howard Bloom's "Countdown to Kickoff".

Michael Vick's Legacy

Michael Vick is many things to many people--for one thing, he's a great rusher. After Sunday's loss to the Saints, Vick is ranked #11 in the NFL for rushing yards this season, racking up 870... and ranked #12 is Warrick Dunn, Atlanta's running back, with 865 yards. And therein lies the problem.

For all of the positives, the biggest negative about Vick is that he's not a quarterback. His QB rating of 72.1 is in the bottom third of quarterbacks in the NFL.

With all of the pre-season hype about the Atlanta Falcons making it into playoffs this year, a four game losing streak (which included losses to two of the perennially worst teams in football--the Lions and Browns) is quite a surprise to us fans.

Vick's contract pays him $130 million over 10 years, which comes to around $800,000 per regular-season game. As the quarterback, and thus the team leader, Vick is not earning his pay this year.

And with all of that context, Vick and the Falcons were justifiably "booed" as they exited the field on Sunday after getting spanked 31-13 by the New Orleans Saints. So how does the team leader... the face of this franchise respond to the deserved criticism? It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case it is.

Man of class vs. Man of shame

I'm not much of a golfer, but when I lived in Dallas/Fort Worth, I always attended the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament. In fact, I took my wife on our first date to the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament... along with my Dad! We had a great spot just off the green on #17 where we spent most of our time. The highlight was when Tiger Woods birdied the hole and passed within a couple of feet of us on his way to the 18th hole where he won the tournament.

So I was saddened to read that the golf legend, Byron Nelson, for whom the Byron Nelson Championship is named, died yesterday at his home near Fort Worth, Texas, at the well-lived age of 94.

Also on my Yahoo sports page is the story about Dallas/Fort Worth's most shameful athlete--the perennial embarrassment, Terrell Eldorado Owens, who reportedly attempted suicide yesterday. I have compassion on people who show the humility necessary to admit they have problems, but Mr. Owens has never been one to exhibit this. He obviously has some serious issues that need professional help, but don't expect any sympathy from Dorkydad.

Are you ready for some football?

I love this time of year when summer winds down and hints of fall begin to appear like this Friday night when I get to tear off and use the first of my 10 season tickets to see the Atlanta Falcons play the New England Patriots. It's been WAY too long!

Though Brian Finneran is out for the season, there's still hope for the receiving corps. And while I prefer Matt Schaub to Michael Vick, maybe this is the season Vick makes me a believer. The Falcons have a healthy and upgraded defense. Is this the year for Atlanta? All I know is that every team is a Super Bowl contender at the start of the season, and right now hopes run high.

Interested in Super Bowl tickets?

Super Bowl XLI will be played February 4, 2007 in Miami, FL, and unless you're well-connected or are swimming in money, the only way to get tickets is through a random drawing held by the NFL.

I always forget to do it, but not this year--I've got my letter ready to mail out.

In case you're interested, here's how to get in on the random drawing:

Entries for the random drawing are accepted between Feb. 1 and June 1 of the year preceding the game in question. All entries must include name, address, phone number and email address. You will be notified by mail in October or November if your name is drawn, making you eligible to purchase two (2) Super Bowl tickets to the next Super Bowl. All ticket requests must be sent via certified or registered mail. Requests should be mailed to:

Super Bowl Random Drawing
P.O. Box 49140
Strongsville, OH 44149-0140

Please note that only one request per address is accepted. All duplicate requests will be disregarded.

Bad officiating robs Seahawks of the Lombardi Trophy

I'm a Falcons fan so some may perceive me as having an NFC bias, but I really was completely indifferent as to who would win Super Bowl XL though I would have liked to see a fair game. Instead, given its importance, it was the worst-officiated game I've ever seen in my life.

Seattle had two touchdowns negated by bad calls from the officials. I didn't expect any critical analysis from the wonder-twins, Al Michaels and John Madden, but they made several comments about the bad calls throughout the game. And then Steve Young at halftime said, "That was a touchdown," of the Darrell Jackson pass interference call. The traditional press' response was slow, but Michael Smith from ESPN.com and the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock addressed the officiating problems. Kudos go to The Miami Herald for carrying Whitlock's story. As a followup, I've since found these other stories related to the poor officiating:

• Michael Wilbon from The Washington Post
• Los Angeles Times had problems with the zebras
  
• Houston Chronicle
• Another story from The Washington Post
• San Jose Mercury News
• USA Today
  
• Sports Illustrated
• CBS Sportsline
• and another one from USA Today
• Chicago Sports Review
• The Arizona Republic
• Redskins' blog
• Courier News
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Fox Sports
• and Fox Sports again

These blogs from The New Unit and radaractive also address the issue of bad officiating in this Super Bowl. One other bad call that hasn't been addressed happened in the 4th quarter when Roethlisberger called a time out after the play clock had expired and after the ball had been snapped... it was pretty blatant. Pittsburgh should have been charged with delay of game, but it was obvious who these officials wanted to win.

Dave FM responds

I normally "check out" during commericals on the radio, but my wife brought to my attention the fact that Dave FM was actually congratulating the Atlanta Falcons on their season. I finally heard it, and as a season ticket holder, the clips were insulting.

I sent the following note to the Promotions/Marketing department of Dave FM through their website:

Every time I hear one of your clips congratulating the Falcons on their season, I change channels. As a season ticket holder I'm a big Falcons fan, but let's call a spade a spade--they sucked this year & despite his comments otherwise, Jim Mora disappointed his fans and extended the Falcons' 40-year tradition of NEVER having back-to-back winning seasons. The aforementioned radio clip reminds me of the infamous, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!" When the team goes to the NFC Championship with an 11-5 record to 8-8 this year, they shouldn't be congratulated.

... and my first response was this:

**MAIL FAILURE**
tim.andrews@infinitybroadcasting.com is not recognized

...so I followed up and sent a note to the Program Director. She finally responded:

I appreciate your note and feel your pain. It was a frustrating season, and we all wish we were in the playoffs...nobody more than the Falcons themselves. I understand your concern and can see and feel where you are coming from. That promo ends today, and we prepare for the next football season.

As the Flagship station, we support the Falcons as if they were Barnes or Mara...they are our family. When they hurt we hurt....when they win, we win.

I appreciate the time you took to write the email, and I appreciate your listening.

Cheers,
michelle engel
director of programming
929 dave fm
infinity broadcasting

No QB turnovers? Michael Vick must not be playing...

Let me be the first to say that Atlanta needs to bench Michael Vick and start Matt Schaub.

I've been a fan of Atlanta Falcons backup quarterback Matt Schaub since the 2004 pre-season when he led the NFL in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns. Since then he's been relegated to the bench except when Vick goes out for an injury.

Despite Atlanta's loss to New England yesterday at the Georgia Dome, it was the best home game I've ever seen the Falcons play. As quarterback, Matt Schaub gave the Falcons the best opportunity to win, but our defense let us down.

Yesterday Matt Schaub showed his true colors and why he, rather than Michael Vick, should be the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. With the exception of Atlanta's blowout against Minnesota, Vick has thrown an interception or fumbled the ball in every game so far this year. Compare this to Schaub, who, playing against the defending Super Bowl champs threw NO interceptions and didn't fumble the ball once.

Matt Schaub is listed as being 6' 5" whereas Michael Vick is listed at 6' 0" (though Schaub looks more than 5" taller than Vick when standing side-by-side). Perhaps it's his height advantage, perhaps it's his accuracy, but Schaub is a much better west coast quarterback than Vick. Understandably you can't rate a quarterback on just one game, but what would it hurt to sit Vick out for another week so his hamstring and sprained knee can fully recover while giving Schaub another opportunity to show what he can do? If numbers don't lie, then I'll let their quarterback ratings do all the talking...

Matt Schaub = 90.3 QB rating
Michael Vick = 83 QB rating

Where is Sunshine?

One of the many bright spots in the Atlanta Falcons' receiving corps during training camp was Cole Magner, nicknamed "Sunshine" because of his long blond hair

After the preseason game against Baltimore, Michael Vick said, "He's a guy who goes out and catches the ball with no gloves on, straight hands, so you have to respect that. He's a playmaker. I've been watching him the last month and a half and critiquing him. I think he's going to make this football team." Several days later when asked about Magner again, Vick added, "The kid hasn't dropped a ball since he's been here. I'm not trying to jinx him, but he hasn't dropped a ball. You see him make the tough grabs and the 'Wow' catches that Jim is looking for. He does it all."

After the Falcons beat the Ravens in preseason, Coach Jim Mora even named Magner as special teams player of the game for returning 2 punts for 43 yards.

Magner's only mistake in a preseason game was in the 3rd quarter against Jacksonville where he fumbled a punt return with Jacksonville recovering.

Unfortunately Magner was a victim of the Falcons' final roster cut on September 3.

Probably because of his strong showing against Baltimore, the Ravens signed Magner to their practice squad on September 6. But on September 20, the Baltimore Ravens terminated his contract.

Aside from Finneran and possibly Jenkins, I think the Falcons still are weak in the wide receiver position. Of course I'd like to see Magner back on the Falcons' roster, but if we don't pick him up I hope he finds a place somewhere in the league.