Whose Fault Is It?

I have spent considerable time to marinate on this latest Atlanta Falcons' folly. The 35 - 27 fall to the New Orleans Saints was, by far, the worst lost of the season.

The Falcons came out hot. They fizzled, crashed and burned near the end of the second quarter. They regrouped, came out on a mission again, a failed once more. It was almost like they fought themselves into losing this game.

The Falcons are having another identity crisis on their hands.

Matt Ryan is an amazing talent and a fearless leader, but he doesn't have to carry the team on his back nor should he as displayed Monday night.

In the aerial attack, Atlanta only has two viable receivers: Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White. That's no secret to the rest of the league. Defenses key in on those two and bring the pressure onto Ryan and what is bound to happen is what did happen, turnovers.

Ryan threw the ball 42 times and only completed 19 of them for 289 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions. That is too many attempts and too few completions. This is also too many turnovers in the red zone as well as too many missed opportunities.

Atlanta also has an all-pro running back in Michael Turner. He probably has not displayed it for the majority of the year, but last night he was at his best. With 20 carries and 151 yards rushing with a touchdown, you can see where the ball should have been going. He ran in dominating fashion and exposed the Saints' weakness. Without Sedrick Ellis, starting defensive tackle, New Orleans had gaping holes in the middle of their defense. Turner was getting to the second and third levels of the defense at will.

And then there was the defense.

The pass rush was ho-hum at best. The defensive backs weren't playing as a unit. There were some good things from the defense though. The defense forced two turnovers. There was an interception and a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown.

But Atlanta could not finish what they would start. In downs one and two there was proficiency. In comes third down and they can't stop the Saints from moving the chains. This was an on-going theme in the game and really didn't slow down until the second half. New Orleans would have draining drives that would milk the clock which lead to touchdowns.

You could see the frustration in costly penalties and mental lapses on the field.

So who is to blame?

Matt Ryan did have his snafus. There was not really a pass rush. Receivers did have there way with the Falcons defensive Backs.

When things roll down hill you have to look at the head coach. In this case it's coach Mike Smith.

Ultimately he is the one making the decisions. He is the one who gave the reins to Ryan and said "go win this game for us". He is the one who left Brent Grimes (a generous 5' 10" listing) on an island with Marques Colston (6'4") for the majority of the game.

It's okay to limit Turner's carries but keep running the football. You have Norwood (sometimes), Snelling, and recently signed Aaron Stecker. Why fix it if it isn't broken. We are a running football team and that is what has brought us notoriety and the clout Atlanta has in the NFL right now.

Matt Ryan will come as evident as his talent and poise. We have seen it numerous times in the past years with different franchises. Pittsburgh, New York Giants, San Diego, the list could go on. Everybody can't have a Peyton Manning start to there career, so give Matt Ryan some time.

If you build it...he will come.

Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together?

In the wake of the sell of the St. Louis Rams, there has been much controversy of the sell to one group in particular. The Checketts group, owners of the St. Louis Blues, is one of the groups bidding for the national football league franchise.

Here is where the controversy comes in.

One of the members of the group was Rush Limbaugh. Yes was. He was ousted out this past Wednesday by the group stating that his presence within the group was hurting there chances of winning the bid for the franchise.

Their main objective is to keep the franchise in the city of St. Louis and it seems that they are willing to do any and everything to do so.

These questions have to come up. Why was Limbaugh even apart of the group in the first place? If they knew who he was and about the comments that he has made in the past, why is he apart of the group? Who is to say that they do not think the same way as Limbaugh? Who is to say that if they do win the bid for the franchise that the Checketts group will not pick him back up?

Roger Goodell has already come out and stated that the comments made by Limbaugh in the past about the NFL are "polarizing" and have no place in the realm of the NFL.

Limbaugh has spoken out against Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and DeMaurice Smith saying that they and the media are the reasons behind him being dropped from the group.

If the group does share some of Limbaugh's views on the league and they do win the bid, how will it reflect upon the league?

Another Dose of Hypocrisy

I thought about the quickest incident of this recent ruling of ineligibility. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State University's top wide receiver, was ruled ineligible for the season on Wednesday. It speaks volumes of how hypocritical the NCAA can be.

Earlier this year Stephen Strasburg, the number one overall pick in the MLB draft this past summer,was profiled on ESPN Outside the Lines. The media portrayed him as the next phenom to come into the league because of his pitching performances at San Diego State University.


What caught my attention is that Strasburg's "advisor" was super sports agent Arn Tellem.

My beef is that the NCAA is suspending Bryant for the same thing that was virtually going on with Strasburg and Tellem. Strasburg conveniently chose Scott Boras as his agent when he entered his name in the draft.

Dez Bryant had lunch with retired NFL player and current NFL network analyst Deion Sanders. The NCAA is saying that Bryant lied about the event and for that he must punished. Even if he did, does the punishment fit the "crime" per say?

No. In fact, there was no crime. Sanders has come out and said that he is a mentor of Bryant. Correct me if I'm wrong but advisor and mentor seems to be pretty similar to me. So why wasn't Strasburg deemed ineligible especially when the Outside the Lines' profile was broadcasted?

The problem is that there are many more instances where the NCAA contradicts itself and for that reason the organization is hypocritical.

Sticks and Stones

Anthony David came out with a song in the middle of last year entitled "Words" on the album titled Acey Duecy. It was a very meaningful song featuring India Arie and the title of the song brings up a familiar saying. "Sticks and Stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me". That is true to some but false to the majority of the public.

A lot of famous athletes and politicians have been really getting underneath the skin of others.

In the wake of the Serena Williams profanity-laced tirade against a line judge, these topics of words have come across my mind. Threats in our society are taken very serious and she is fortunate that the lines judge has not pressed any charges against the 5-time winner at the U.S. Open. The emotions that came from Williams were genuine but the words that came out were as well. With a break in the communication, penality, she ultimately lost the match. An apology was issued the next day. She knew that this would affect her personally as well as financially.

The District Attorney recently dropped the charges against San Diego Chargers' pro-bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman. Before those charges were dropped, the public formed an opinion from the "he say, she say" aspect of the case. His image, already fragile, took another hit and his future with the team was in jeopardy as well as a possible suspension from the NFL commissioner hanging over his head. Merriman has been cleared of these charges, but the damage has already been done.

And finally we get to one Mr. Michael Jeffrey Jordan. "His Airness" was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame recently. Of course it was going to happen sooner or later but with his speech, he has seemed to ruffle a lot people's feathers with his acceptance speech. He brought up Bryon Russell, who he personally crucified on multiple occasions. Russell has actually called out Jordan in the wake of his comments during his induction. A bloggers and writers across America also felt that his comments were petty.

There is potency in words and we have seen that potency in numerous cases when it comes to sports. Even in politics, the South Carolina Senator called President Barack Obama a liar last week in an address to health care. He later apologized but former president Jimmy Carter, in function at Emory University earlier this week, stated that the outburst made by the senator was a result of racism.

Words have their ways of empowerment. They also have there ways of tearing down something that took years to build. Words should be chosen wisely and used carefully. But the reality of this happening is that the majority of the time they won't be.

Will This Be Merriman's last Hoorah?

The only way that Merriman stays a San Diego Charger after this season is that he takes a tremendous paycut. Then again the Chargers could win this years' Super Bowl and he would not have to take less.

A.J. Smith is growing tired of Merriman ending up in these situations where he is bringing negative publicity to the San Diego franchise. The partying that he was doing outside of his rehabilitation of his injury was frustrating to the G.M.

With Merriman missing all but two games last season, we would think that he would probably use better jugdement. Although he is still fairly a young man, he cannot allow himself to be in situations such as this one.

This is also a contract year for For the star outside linebacker. He is a special player on this team, but the extra curricular activities may be overshadowing his first three seasons with the organization.

Larry English was also there first selection this past April. English played phenomonally at Pittsburgh University and was drafted in the middle of the first round. It can be aid that he will be the successor of Merriman if things do not go the defenses' way this season.

Basically Merriman needs to stay out of the limelight and stick to football for the rest of the season. If he does not, this could be a divorce waiting to happen.

Second Chance for Michael Vick

Michael Vick was prepared to face the media with the type of entourage that could have reminded people of the Alpha Dogs. Vick was introduced with Eagles' heavy hitters Joe Banner, Eagles President, Andy Reid, Head Coach, and Tony Dungy, former Head Coach of the Colts. The former Atlanta Falcons QB came off to me as a man who knew he was blessed to have a second chance.

The Eagles know what he was. He was "must-see TV." He was the most electrifying player in the NFL prior to his incarceration. He was a trendsetter. Vick gave opposing head coaches sleep deprivation weeks prior to coming to or welcoming in Atlanta. He was not a great QB but he was pretty good under center.

The question is how will he fit in the offensive scheme of things? The other question is how will he fit in the locker room? The locker room will be stable because he is not an overt person. Beside this episode, he has not caused any rifts in the locker room. As far as his fit, Coach Reid will find ways to fit Vick in the system. Vick is very familiar with the "west coast" offense as he quarterbacked for the Falcons. Even though the Eagles have A.J. Feeley and Kevin Kolb in the fold, I believe that Vick will eventually be the backup QB. I foresee the Wild Cat rearing its head halfway through the season.

This a great move for the team but will the Philadelphia community accept it. On ESPN radio in Philadelphia many fans chimed in and it was more hate than love for the new acquisition. For Vick to have the public embrace him, he has to be a fixture in the community. He is part of the Humane Society and has been speaking to the young people in Metro Atlanta about being part of the solution.

Philadelphia is "The city of Brotherly Love", but this is a very fickle city when it comes to professional sports. Fans booed current QB Donovan McNabb when he was drafted back in 1998. He had to show that he was capable of leading this franchise into the right direction. Once he had success on the field, he was accepted on and off the field.

Vick will not be afforded that same opportunity as he has a different situation. He must perform to keep his job and he has to do extensive work in the community at the same time. Once he does that during the course of the year, we can re-evaluate this situation with the Eagles. The result should be positive.

Trill I Am

Where is the Hate for Big Ben?

In the wake of seeing the new Dick Sporting Goods commercial in which Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is endorsing Nike cleats, I could not help but think, "Where is the hate for Big Ben?"

I watch former Falcons QB Michael Vick try to land a job in the NFL and pay debtors off. I also form another question, "Why isn't Big Ben getting the same treatment as Mike Vick received?"

Well one difference is that the Steelers QB apparently has not been charged with any crime. According to a report on July 20 by NBC Sports Pro Football Talk, a civil suit has been filed against the two-time Super Bowl Winner.

The good thing about what is going on with Roethlisberger is that he has already come out and stated that he will be fighting the suit until he is cleared of any wrong doing. Pittsburgh does not want this to be a distraction during training camp like it was in the 07 season with Atlanta and Vick. The Falcons also were dealing with a lot of other factors including the hiring of former Arkansas Head Coach Bobby Petrino and implementing his new system.

There is not an organization protesting Ben Roethlisberger for the crime he is allegedly being sued for. It is still allegations but it was still allegations for Vick as well. Soon as those allegations came for Vick, so came PETA and the rest is history. To this day Vick still has to deal with PETA, the media, Roger Goodell, and the general public's perception of him.

Leonard Little, defensive end for the St. Louis Rams, had Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to deal with when he killed Susan Gutweiler back in 1998. Even though Little was not a face for the NFL, he became a perennial Pro Bowler. Little did not receive the treatment or scrutiny that Vick has to go through everyday for what he has done. Where is the organization that protest against men who rape women?

This commercial proves to me that various companies will stand behind Big Ben. Dick Sporting Goods released this commercial to the public around the time the civil suit was out. Vick, on the other hand, was not even convicted before he saw a change. He began to see his endorsements fall expeditiously until he did not have any more.

Bankruptcy, prison time, house arrest, probation, and being a convicted felon are Vick's consequences and repercussions. The worst thing that could happen to Roethlisberger is that he would lose the civil suit and he may get suspended.

The truth of the matter is that the public loves a winner. Sports companies love a winner. Franchises love a winner. They all love a winner, unless you are Plaxico Burress, which is another story.