Poll time: Which Atlanta team is closest to a title?

Good matter to think about, Jeff. I really don’t know what I would say to that. I feel like this is a city where anything could happen in a given year. For example, in ‘98, when the Braves won their 7th division title in a row, and then the Falcons went to the Super Bowl. Nobody could’ve picked that….

But I know you want that beer on game days.

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None of the male teams, they all have such massive flaws in either team chemistry or personnel (the Hawks). The Falcons lack both personnel, talent depth, or the drive to outclass their conference rivals. Someone will always be better than them. The Braves will always be exposed in a best of seven series. By the time you get to the playoffs, player overuse, Bobby Cox, and lack of the will to win (doing that one little thing) which has limited their championships. The Thrashers need to take baby steps, signing Pettersen is a good start. Get a solid coach and bench assistant’ and protect Evander and Zach from becoming basket cases like Dany and Ilya became…

Now for the caveat, there is one team that is darn close to being a champion due to the nature of their league. They have a owner that cares, is smart, and has in one off season put together the best organization in this City. No overstretching like the ASG. She has not alienated 65% of the populous like Arthur Blank. She has supported her Coach/GM in getting rid of a flawed player (Holdsclaw). The team has a legitimate superstar in the making in Angel McCoughtry (wait till London 2012). Her sidekick, the Brazilian DeSouza is a workhouse. The Hawks would drool to have that consistency. Oh yeah, they have a freakin’ bench! It is just too bad that this town won’t get behind the one team that might win their league title. That team is the Atlanta Dream… Bash away, but you know it is true too!

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The Atlanta Dream is the closest followed by the Falcons and Braves.

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Women’s basketball doesn’t count.

My list would resemble yours Mark. I think the Falcons are probably only two years away from being good enough to bring the Lombardi trophy to Atlanta.

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The Falcons are the closest to bringing a title to the city. They are finally a well run organization. A good, young, talented team that will be very competitive for years to come.

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They get a paycheck, they are professionals… If you have a “problem” with women professional sports, so be it… Too funny, but that is the nature of the culture around this region…

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Do they still have a pro-women basketball league?

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ATLANTA DREAM GETTIN THAT RING!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Enter your comments here

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Dang, I’m just testy this morning!!!

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aw women’s basketball, I rather have a pro midget team.

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Why do they still have a pro-womens basketball league?

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i like that DREAM THE RING thing. do your dreams bring you anywhere… say like denver? anyway, keep dreamin!

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more ancient history- at least the atl. public school system teaches something

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Coons and Braves both get it done this year…BEER! HOLLER!

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All it takes is the Braves to be hot in august and sept………….they have the pitching for a seven game series and all is needed is for things to fall in place….like hot summer hitting and red hot relief pitching….also good starts of 3 or less runs allowed…alot less than the Falcons need and especially less than the Hawks….now if the Hawks sign Wade and Johnson….things could be different….but that is 1000 to 1 longshot….The Thrashers…….Good luck or as one says…not a chance in Hell.

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Schultzie:

I concur in that order. Also I’d stick Tech below all of them.

HT

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5:00am Jeff, Really, 0500. Anyway, I agree wholeheartedly that the Falcons are much closer than the other franchises. The defense will be better with the two draft picks from 2009 being healthy and adding Robinson and the ‘Spoon. Falcons, could win it this year if they catch some breaks, which is what happens for every Super Bowl champion.

The Braves are next. I think that they are two years away from being consistently great. They have great pitching in the minors. They have holes in the hitting in the minors.

The Hawks are still improving. The question is, can they find that missing piece? If Teague improves under Larry Drew they can compete with the elites. They lack speed at point guard and a solid scorer at the small forward position. They can address the small forward position with very little money.

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I will keep my beer for myself Jeff from now on!

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But the Falcons won’t need any help from the zebras.

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The Atlanta Dream….oh and “hiramsaint” have you checked out the Ain’ts silly used car salesman owner lately.

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What about the chick bball team. They are closest.

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You only won one with Maddox, Glavine, Smoltz, Avery, Mercker…. etc… etc…
Good luck with that Hudson, Juirgens, Medlen, KK, Lowe, and Hanson rotation and riding that to a Series championship!

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You’ll ruin Bryant like you ruined future Hall of Famer Jason Elam…

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@ V…
Call 4 of your cousins and put it on Public access and let me know what time you’re going to tip it off!

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@ JSS–i like your CUTTING edge style. keep it up

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The Atlanta Dream is the Best as of now. I hope the “Dream” do win the Championship asp. If you have not watched them play you have missed a treat.

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Hope you mean Football at GT because GT Basketball under the Leadership of Paul Bewitt will not win crap. Bewitt is disgustful.
Buzz29, Go GT!

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I put Falcons first- maybe Braves a distant second. If this were open to all athletics in the state of Georgia- i would go with UGA in FB, possibly GT in BB.

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I don’t reference GT bball anymore. They are to me what sugar is to a diabetic. So yeah, I was talking about football.

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Sorry Jeff, but there are over 30 starting centers in the NBA. Al Horford was one of only four chosen to the All Star game while the other 26 NBA caliber centers fell short. So if our PF, who’s playing C, is better than 24-27 other starting centers, I don’t see how he falls short of being a NBA caliber center, especially when he was putting up his averages and career numbers against true 7 footers. With our undersized front court, the Hawks still managed to out rebound majority of the teams they played, and were always one of the top teams in rebounding.

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“No legitimate NBA Center.” What? Was I dreaming or did Al Horford go to the All-Star Game this year? Weird…wake up Jeff, also I take offense to your disrespecting frat guys offering you a beer on game day. IT’S GAME DAY!! Stop being such a doofus.

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hiramsaint i think youve been drinking too much of that oil water again, or maybe its the ammonia coming from the lovely smell of pee in the street youve been inhaling again… anyway there is 0 chance the AINTS repeat this year. by the way why do you find your way to a falcons and atl sport blog all the time. you have nothing better to do over the summer huh. i pity you dude, and just remember when you start talking your trash that 8-8 and 13-3 werent that far apart. i respect the saints as a fun rival to hate and a good football team as of late. expect more from your rivals this year and RESPECTFULLY shut the **** up

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Falcons are presently the most likely, I think

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i agree with you that the chance is small for the saints to repeat but our team has a chance of repeating whereas the falcons have no chance of repeating since they DID NOT win it last year, or any other year. i’ll give you props for having been there though. actually i live here now, and it would really pi$$ you off if you knew how i made a living, so the only thing i smell is that creek you call a river. since your atl. public school education is rearing it’s ugly head again , allow me to educate you. the oil leak is in the gulf of mexico. south fo n.o. the city gets it’s drinking water from the miss. river which flows from north to south. that means it flows many miles south into the gulf which is also south. therefore due to the laws of physics [ i know- thats greek to you] the oil has no chance of going up river against the flow to contaminate the drinking water there. go to your teacher and let her know you learned something today other than how to build a crakpipe

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As of June 17. The Braves are the closest to a title. October comes before January.

This year Atlanta goes for the Double!

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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by . said: [...]

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I don’t see a championship in the future for any of those franchises, but the Braves are the closest. The Hawks were close, but they moved some steps back due to letting Mike Woodson go and replacing him with his assistant. That move guarantees Joe Johnson’s departure and that no real strong free agent will want to play for the Hawks.

The Falcons won’t win a championship with Matt Ryan at quarterback. He has some good instincts, but he’s skittish and easy to read on defense. Michael Turner can mask his shortcomings pretty well, but he’s injury-prone. I think Matt Ryan is going to wear out his welcome in 2 years.

The Braves has the best chance because all things are clicking at one time. There’s a perfect balance of youth and experience. The Braves pitching looks good. There’s a good shot there. The only problem is that we have a dinosaur as our closer and that the Braves aren’t going to spend the money to get the pieces to win in the postseason. We need an explosive closer to win in the postseason and we have Billy Wagner.

Thrashers? Really?

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Braves and Falcons both have excellent chances to win it all THIS year!

The Braves finally have a roster built for October success instead of April thru September success. A 5 man rotation does nothing for you in October since only three of them will ever see the mound in the postseason. So a rotation of Hudson, Hanson and Jurjenns (if healthy) is as good a rotation as you’ll see in October. The team is also not built around power hitting like it was in the late 90’s, power hitting is inconsistent in October, contact hitting is what gets the job done and the Braves are built that way this year. Lots of questions and if’s so far this year, but they’re in first place with little contribution from McCann and Escobar, a good second half from those two and the Braves are in great shape.

The Falcons have grown into a remarkably consistent team, which truly is remarkable given their history. With no lucky breaks or fortunate bounces, most difficult schedule in the league and lots of injuries, the team still stayed in the playoff hunt and finished with a winning record. With health and an easier schedule, it’s not that much of a stretch for the Falcons to win the division and get a home game or two in the playoffs.

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World Series…. Super Bowl. We’ve got a great shot this year at both.

Still need some pass rush and a kicker and general team health in football and consistant hitting in baseball but It’s June the Braves are in First and the Falcons are in as good a shape as an organization as they have ever been.

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You have to crawl before you can walk.

Until the Falcons get a quarterback with an NFL arm that can stretch the field, there will be no playoff success or even make the playoffs for that matter.

It has been 6 years since the Falcons have won a playoff game. How can someone label a player elite when they only have 13 more tds than PICKS and has no playoff wins or pro bowl selections?

The Hawks by far is the superior franchise in the city, with 3 straight trips to the playoffs and for that effort, the coach gets fired, yet they hang onto a baseball owner who hasn’t come close to a title since Grissom, McGriff, Justice, Pendleton, which is ironic in itself considering that there has only been a small handful of African American players on the roster since. Now they turn to Heyward to be the savior – anothe big irony.

Now you have a football coach who has more temper than substance and likes to attack other team’s players, because he is so frustrated with his CHOKE of a quarterback, he wants to take his anger out on someone else.

The Falcons are a JOKE and their quarterback is a CHOKE.

The Jets and Ravens seemed to get it right in the draft, as both of their rookie qbs and head coaches went to the championship game in their rookie seasons.

No more excuses for the CHOKE, he is a 72 million dollar failure. He is a 2nd string qb at best and the sooner the Falcons realize that, the sooner they can reach another championship game, but they are FAR from a title.

The Ravens were in the same situation that they were in in 2007 and now the Ravens are superbowl picks and the Falcons are talking about a 3rd straight winning season.

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The Hawks were the closest to the title UNTIL THEY QUIT PLAYING in the playoffs and threw in the white flag and literally gave up. The Hawks had the talent this year to win the NBA championship. The Hawks could have beaten both the teams who are remainding in this years finals. I’ll prove it. The Hawks record against the Celtics this season was 4-0. The Hawks record the last time they faced the Lakers was 1-0. The Hawks should have won the title because they have showed clear dominance over the two teams who are left standing. It doesnt matter because the season will be over tonight anyway and I dont care who wins it.

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Just A Reminder

June 17th, 2010
10:50 am
Please Do Not Feed The Trolls.

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Then why are you here?

HA HA HA

Remember crack kills!

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To win the Division with Cox managing, the Braves would have to be at least 10 games better than the other teams. Pitching is the name of the game, and the Braves pitching is good enough to win – but probably not with Cox managing. Absurd things that he has done this season has probably already cost the Braves at least 5 games, probably more.

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The future is bright for the Falcons because they have a solid head coach and a great GM.
The defense will be better this year, but I’m not sure Michael Turner can ever repeat the success he had in his first season as a Falcon.

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Everyone remember to vote out the pond scum in Congress this year. Two years from now, let’s get Jimmy Carter out of office with a resounding HELL NO vote.

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Mark Fox will a championship before Paul Hewitt

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oops – Mark Fox will WIN a championship before Paul Hewitt

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the atlanta dream is the only team close to winning a title.

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We own Hewitt’s Team. Please keep CPH because he’s outfoxed by the Fox!

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You win Alejandro!!!!!!!U are the tallest midget.

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GT Alum

June 17th, 2010
11:33 am
I offer the following reading for all the Matt Ryan haters. Enjoy!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=5292216

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Does that include this:

http://www.ridgefantasysports.com/cardinals-beat-falcons

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Jeff, I dont follow football and basketball, but, the unfortunate thing is, of the teams you posted, the Hawks probably were, personnel wise, the closest of either the Braves and Hawks to a title. Now, I’m not so sure.

As for the Braves, I still keep waiting for the Phillies to find themselves, and overtake us. The Mets have played well, but I’m not sold on their success yet.

My feeling is, realistically, is that the Phillies will find themselves at some point, and probably win the NL East, but, the Braves definitely should have a good shot at the wild card, at least.

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Yes, THRASHERS!!!
In giving Dudley the GM spot and clearing the team of it’s coaching staff and Kovalchuk, the Thrashers are wide open to actually sitting down and finding an identity for the first time in 10 years. next season will be fun to watch as the boys in blue field what will most likely be a young energetic team. If they can gel together quickly I see them making a good run into the playoffs the next year, and as Philly showed, once you get there, anything is possible.

Hawks have too much turmoil, even though they made it 3 years in a row, they didn’t have what it took to play to that next level needed in the playoffs.

Braves are perennial should have beens, and need a fresh identity to help shed that title.

Falcons have brought back excitement for the NFL to the city, but can they make the next step…..depends on if Ryan can continue to develop into the QB they want him to be.

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Until Mike Smith shows he can’t win in the playoffs, (playoff losses with rookie QB’s on the road don’t count) I’ll go with the Falcons. I’d love to think Bobby will get his head out of his nether regions if we get in the playoffs but he has proved time and again he has no feel for how to manage in a 7 game series. For instance, you can count on Bobby playing subs in a game 5 with the series tied 2-2, because of Lefty vs. Righty rules. Or more likely bringing in Moylan instead of Venters in a tight late game situation for the same reason. One thing in the Braves favor this year is we FINALLY have 2 power pitchers ( if JJ comes back healthy) and a resurgent Hudson, that can go late into games with dominant stuff. Nobody should be able to run out more dominant pitching against us every night.

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Nice one, Choke. That doesn’t even make any sense. Are you the guy who wouldn’t stop smoking crack while he was arrested?

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Choke, yeah, the Falcons lost one playoff game with Ryan at QB. And to the team that ended up going to the Super Bowl. It’s not like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Mike Vick, Peyton Manning, Brett Farve and whoever else you decide to bring up have never lost a playoff game.

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My early Ravens vs Falcons prediction (MARK IT DOWN)

Ravens 45
Falcons 9

Flacco 20-27 375 yards, 3 tds 0 picks
CHOKE 14-30 117 yards 0 tds 4 picks

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Georgia State Football.

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The Falcons

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If the Braves add one more bat they jump over the Falcons. That said these are my teams and my teams except for the Thrashers because hockey isn’t a sport. My teams never win. I am 35 years old and in my life I have witnessed 1 lone championship. The 95 Braves. There was the 80 Bulldogs and the 90 Yellow Jackets football teams but nothing beats winning a World Championship.

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and yet here you are gracing the peasants with your knowledge and wit. better hope van and buffy at the club don’t find out or you may be blackballed. usually if one speaks of their wealth on a blog then in reality they don’t have it. now hurry along GT, that load of manure needs to be in conyers before 5

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THE DREAM YOU DOUCHE

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@ Hiram Saint…
How did you come through the weather last night? I’m retired from ripping Falcons fans, I let delude themselves. Until I see a Lombardi Trophy on City Hall step, they are in a show me state with me…

We disagree on a lot of things, but I’ll give it to you on the Saints… They won it on the field and has that N.O. DB still stopped running yet from picking off Golden Boy Peyton yet?

What does John Clayton know, he still Jay Cutler is going to an elite QB!

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i know it sounds 007ish but it really isn’t but due to cretain contracts i can’t talk about it. the reason i’m on here so much today is because i’m required to be in the office 3 days a month doing various admin. things- ie-this. the rest of my time is out in the city and surrounding areas

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Unless the Braves can compete financially, they will always be short. The are the Hawks, enough said. The Falcons are so close now, you wonder if the planets align, another trip to the super bowl could be in their future. You can tell a lot about the teams quality, but how far they drop after they achieve a high level, and the Falcons dropped less than the other two. Injuries have as much to do with these scenarios as anything. The Hawks will always be cursed by drafting Paul Gasol and immediately trading him for who knows what. It may not be the Bambino trade, but the effect is the same.

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@ frank bobby ? out of 16 qb’s that started 30 or more games in the last 2 seasons your matty slush ranked #15

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hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
12:58 pm

@ frank bobby ? out of 16 qb’s that started 30 or more games in the last 2 seasons your matty slush ranked #15
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Ranked 15th in what category? Random numbers you can pull from your butt?

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#1,
a chance of winning what exactly? one of the token bowls they give to every college that doesn’t play for #1, and if they do win #1, it isn’t a playoff format anyway…….so go back to yelling at your UGA counterparts about who can get drunker at the tailgate party it’ll be OK

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completion percentage and whats with your fascination with other mens butts?

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@ CHOKE– sometimes i feel sorry for these guys that try and sucker you in then get blasted. but then i think ‘they bring it on themselves by supporting the hapless falcons’

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hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
1:14 pm

@ CHOKE– sometimes i feel sorry for these guys that try and sucker you in then get blasted. but then i think ‘they bring it on themselves by supporting the hapless falcons’
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Choke at least sometimes backs his stuff up with stats. Though sometimes he’s just an idiot and claims a QB is better because he came to a team that already had the #6 rated defense.

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Enter your comments here

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the falcons would have a better D if ryan would quit throwing picks and int.’s. they are worn out being on the field so much by the 2nd qtr. that they become ineffective and their ranking drops. pretty simple is it not . did you read the espn profile yet?????????????

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ooooooh you called me a tool. did that change the stats on matty slush ? no, i didn’t think so

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hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
1:22 pm

the falcons would have a better D if ryan would quit throwing picks and int.’s. they are worn out being on the field so much by the 2nd qtr. that they become ineffective and their ranking drops. pretty simple is it not . did you read the espn profile yet?????????????
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Matt Ryan career INTs: 25 (in 30 games)
Joe Flacco career INTs: 24 (in 32 games)
Falcons average defensive rank under Ryan: 23/32
Ravens average defensive rank under Flacco: 2.5/32

Would you like to try again hiramtool?

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Matt “Choke” Ryan
June 17th, 2010
1:28 pm

CHOKE’s last 3 seasons of football has yielded 37 PICKS – should that be a warning sign?

The dude is just not NFL starting material.

I know you guys want him to make the town forget about the old regime, but stinking up the place only makes a bad smell gets even more fowl.

HA HA HA.
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And Joey boy’s last 3 seasons have yielded 29 (35 including playoffs). Guess he shouldn’t be starting either, huh?

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Falcons may have the best organization, but the Braves have the best shot to win a championship. It is a franchise with a very strong winning history (over the past 20 seasons), and they have already won a World Series. It is so much harder to get over that hump the first time, in any sport, especially when you have the ignominious history that the Falcons do.

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doncha know all the Ryan haters are just Vick lovers who can’t get a crip on life.

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If the question was “title in 10 years,” then I’d most likely say none of the above. But I’m a pessimist. The Braves, right now, June 17th, could win a 5 and 7 game series against Philly, LA, Cincy, StL, whoever and take 4 of 7 from the Rays. But come October? I wouldn’t bet on this tear continuing. And in coming years, who knows?
Now the NFL is practically a lottery at this point (I should say building and maintaining a championship team) , so I’d say Falcons will be next.

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Matt Ryan 2009 stats
http://www.nfl.com/players/mattryan/profile?id=RYA238179
Falcons
http://www.nfl.com/teams/roster?team=ATL
See the boxes in the top right hand corner for the team’s offensive rankings

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The falcons are our of touch with the league. They don’t have enough receivers to scare anyone. Running every play never got Ledamian or Ricky a championship. We can’t tell if MCR is correct because we have only two options to pass to. The saints have 7-8, the colts have 4-5.

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not looking at any information on flacco i would GUESS that his completion % is higher allowing for longer sustained drives. again i’m only guessing for i’m not to interested in flacco or the ravens though in the upcoming post-season i probably will be

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You do realize the Flacco threw less INT’s while playing two more games and attempting 50 more passes?

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Flacco stats…
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=11252

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Thrashers win a championship. OMG. LOL. That the funniest thing I have EVER heard. The Thrashers are EASILY the worst team in all of professional sports. Period.

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The bottomline is that CHOKE cost the Falcons 42 more million than the Ravens coughed up for Joe Flacco. That alone should not even give CHOKE a leg to stand in in comparison, because if you make 42 million more than another player, you should be playing at a WAY HIGHER level.

He should be playing TWICE as well as Flacco, otherwise he is vastly overpaid.

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I had no idea we had a lady basketball team in town till just now. Where do they play and who do they play? Is this their first year? Do they draw any fans to their games? Maybe they should advertise! Fill me in here, ok!

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Matt “Choke” Ryan
June 17th, 2010
2:40 pm

The bottomline is that CHOKE cost the Falcons 42 more million than the Ravens coughed up for Joe Flacco. That alone should not even give CHOKE a leg to stand in in comparison, because if you make 42 million more than another player, you should be playing at a WAY HIGHER level.

He should be playing TWICE as well as Flacco, otherwise he is vastly overpaid.
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You do, of course realize that the Ravens actually tried to trade picks with the Falcons to pick Ryan, right?

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/News/Articles/2008/04/Around_the_Web-_Draft_Grades.aspx

Flacco was seen as the second best QB in the draft, and so far he and Ryan are putting up nearly identical numbers. I’ll even admit that I wanted the Falcons to trade back and get Flacco. However, to suggest that Flacco being in Atlanta and Ryan in Baltimore would have meant the Falcons won more games is ludicrous. The Ravens have the one thing the Falcons need to build: A top tier defense. You may hate Ryan (mainly cause he’s in Atlanta), but with the Ravens’ defense it’s pretty obvious he would have led that team to even more wins.

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CHOKE is not even better than Henne for the Dolphins, so he is nowhere near the value of Flacco, who only cost the Ravens 30 million instead of 72 million.

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Oh and BTW, “Choke”, Flacco can’t hold Ryans jock strap. Flacco certainly wasn’t the reason they beat the Patriots and he got totally sifled by an average Colt defense. 20-3 ring a bell? O Touchdowns, 1 int.
If Ryan had the Ravens defense there is no doubt he would have won a Championship in 2009 if not last year. I have no delusions that the Falcons are not a championship caliber team YET…but its not because of Matt Ryan, its because they don’t have the pieces necessary on defense to consistently stop opposing offenses.

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Trolling the Troll

June 17th, 2010
3:05 pm
Matt “Choke” Ryan
June 17th, 2010
2:55 pm

Trolling the Troll

June 17th, 2010
2:51 pm
Matt “Choke” Ryan
June 17th, 2010
2:40 pm

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Wrong again – the starting qb was going to be Troy Smith, who also is way better than CHOKE.

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The fact is there are wannabe’s and there are winners.

Until CHOKE gets a few playoff wins under his belt, he is just OVERRATED.

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Its not Frank, its Bobby

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Located that pro bowl that the CHOKE played in yet or you still holding his jock strap?………….. ha ha ha.

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he can’t see the screen to well with it pulled over his hesd

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My vote went to the Braves, because the World Series is before the Superbowl. Both Braves and Falcons win it all this year!

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4th Place SEC East Dawg – Come on.

Watch a game. Be original.

The Thrashers aren’t even the worst team in their own division. There are several teams that would love to have their young core. Their are even more that would love to build a team around Evander Kane, his guts and his leadership. I know they don’t deserve any more chances but… this is the first time this team is built around a core of hardworking, young players. This will be the first time (since the franchises infant years) that a Thrasher team NOT built around an overpaid, over-hyped, overrated, momentum-killing, coach-killing, non hardworking, floating, non-defending diva… will take to the ice. Have just a smidgeon of faith please.

Of course, you’re probably just a hockey hater anyway.

Evander Kane will Captain The Thrashers into a perennial playoff team. I would not be so presumptuous as to predict a Stanley Cup victory.

To answer the question… The Braves could win it all this season. If, big if of course, but if JJ comes back strong this pitching staff could be something special.

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Matt “Choke” Ryan
June 17th, 2010
3:21 pm

What has CHOKE done that no other Raven qb on the roster in 2008 has not?

Regardless who was the qb, CHOKE would only start for the hopeless Falcons
___________________________

Reverting to this statement proves that you have no argument. What has he done? Hmm, well he’s started more than 3 games, so there goes Troy Smith, John Beck, and Cleo Lemon. Hmm, he’ss also never lost more than 2 games in a row, which Flacco has done. Twice.

Face facts, if the Falcons had traded down and picked Flacco, allowing the Ravens to take Ryan, history would be nearly identical, except the Ravens might have won a few more games and you would be sitting here saying the Falcons should have drafted Ryan instead of Flacco.

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the falcons have serious issues

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It would be nice if the choke artist (the blog idiot, not Matt Ryan) did. Soon.

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This is a joke question, right? hehehehehe

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The 3 facts of life:

- Death

- Taxes

- Excuses for CHOKE’s failures

HA HA HA

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You forgot about the Atlanta Dream! It’s time to give the ladies R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

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Dr. Phil

June 17th, 2010
4:04 pm
hiramsaint… Most of what I’m reading is Football people are picking the Falcons to win the division…not the aints!

———————————-

You should stop reading “The National Inquirer”!

The Falcons will never be successful with old NOODLE ARM behind center.

DUMP THE POODLE WITH THE ARM MADE OF NOODLE

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I think the Braves have a good shot to win it this year. We are already in first place in the tough NL East division. Plus, JJ will be back which is similar to a big mid-season free agent signing (don’t forget Matt-the-bat-Diaz is coming off the DL too). Furthermore, the Braves have cash available to sign a big-time free agent.
Great pitching, hot bats, and money to spend; a very good combination for the first place Braves.

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@ the dr.– solomin wilcots just said on nfl network that the saints with their returning coaching staff and almost the entire team- minus a few who should not impact them at all.should go deep into the playoffs. the FOOTBALL PEOPLE are who? some scrubs that write sports commentary for local newspapers. they said the same things last year and the year before and on and on. look at their record over the years and you will have very little faith in what they say as i do . lets just wai and see what happens during the season . that should give the falcon nation time to pool up new ideas for excuses as to why it happened again this year

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@ Everyone…
The 2008 Baltimore Ravens QB job was open. Troy Smith had started the final 2 games of the previous season after Boller’s concussions. Harbaugh named the Boller the starter during the pre-season; however during pre-season game 2 vs. the Vikings, he suffered a shoulder injury. Flacco outperformed Smith and earned the starting spot. Boller was placed on the IR on Sept. 3rd. The rest is history…

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yep thats me a hocky fan
never going to happen for the thrashers
i will just drink more beer

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PLEASE take your meds

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@ What?…
You won’t be facing an over the hill Orel Hershiser and Dennis Martinez this year… And saw what happened the following year…

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This is going to sound wierd, but since none of them have a Championship calibur roster (not saying Braves, Hawks & Falcons aren’t goor to very good) that can come close to stacking up against the teams they’d have to beat to win it all – I’m going with the Thrashers.

Reason being – a #7 seed just went to the Cup finals. Granted, the ASG will have to eventually give a crap – but if they ever do – it’s easier to turn around a hockey team and ride a hot streak thru the playoffs than any other sport. Not that it can be done with smoke and mirrors, but the NHL provides that potential much better than the other 3.

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Trolling the Troll

June 17th, 2010
4:24 pm
Oh Choke, how I love how you never try to make any new arguments. All you do is say the Falcons should “dump” Ryan. But there’s a problem with that, Ryan has the highest winning percentage of any starter in Falcons history. So what you really want is for the Falcons to get rid of a proven winner.

————————————————

No – Michael Turner has the highest winning percentage……….. ha ha ha

With Turner 11-5 and in playoffs

Without Turner 9-7 out of playoffs

With Dilfer the Falcons would have won the superbowl in 2008.

HA HA HA

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Gwinnett Fred, Gutsy call. Especially given the intense apathy shown the Thrashers by fans and ownership alike.

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They let “Choke” out of jail again?

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Whatever happened to the 3 strikes and your out law?

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i think y’all hate hearing the truth

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hiramsaint…Who goes on other teams blogs & rants about their quarterback. What’s that song ” Too Much Time on My Hands” Definetly ” Pent Up Anger”

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Dr. Phil

June 17th, 2010
5:19 pm
hiramsaint…Who goes on other teams blogs & rants about their quarterback. What’s that song ” Too Much Time on My Hands” Definetly ” Pent Up Anger”

————————————————–

Are you still upset that Dr. Oz has better ratings?…… ha ha ha

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i do …whats your point? CHOKE does so what about it. i don’t think “pent up anger ” was the band. you falcants fans have a hard time getting anyhting right

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Gotta go with the Braves since their the only team playing.

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An interesting quote I read……………………

“That probably about as wrong as you can get. I dislike Ryan also, but I’m not illogical. The kid has everything he needs to be elite and seems to have the work ethic. The problem is, that a lot of QBs have had these traits also. There is a good chance that he may reach his potential and there’s a chance that he may not. I think saying he will never get better when he’s only been in the league two years is just flat out crazy.

With that said, I’ll never call him elite as long as he is on a run-first team. Even in his “great, but not so great” rookie season, he leaned upon his running game. Last year, when he was suppose to have a breakout year his RB got hurt and he had a down year. When Turner went down, he didn’t step up to the plate and put the team on his shoulders. That could have been a defining moment for him. Right now, he’s an above average QB. Look at the consensus top 3 QBs in the NFL, Brees, Brady, and Manning. All of them have done it without a running game. An elite QB is the focus of an offense and it flows through him. Ryan, in his current state is FAR from that.

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Damn it must suck that other people outside of AJC that knows CHOKE is just average and a game manager……………

HA HA HA

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girls basketball doesn’t count – no one cares, and no one watches it – I’ve seen the numbers

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“choke” I think I hear your mother calling you for dinner, “come on up outta the basement, Honey, your fish sticks are getting cold”

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Nacho Daddy

June 17th, 2010
6:29 pm
“choke” I think I hear your mother calling you for dinner, “come on up outta the basement, Honey, your fish sticks are getting cold”

———————————————————

Yeah I think we are having NOODLES and CHOKE knows all about NOODLES………

HA HA HA

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It’s been a long time since I bothered to read comments below an AJC article, and now I know why. This site is full of trolls (the ‘Choke ha ha ha’ guy for instance) and people who know nothing about the subject (again, the ‘Choke ha ha ha’ guy for instance.)
An example of this is the comment I read earlier from someone claiming that nothing is standing in the the way of the Braves winning the World Series, except the manager, or some bs. Seriously, there are a lot of good teams in MLB that are standing in their way, and many of them simply have more talent than the Braves. It’s been a long time since the Braves could compete monetarily with the the bigger market teams, and despite what we may like to think, this is very important. The way that the Braves have constructed a good club with their financial limitations is admirable, but it’s wrong to think that they ’should’ win the World Series or anything, especially given the number of strong clubs to contend with and the variance that exists in any short series.
As for Matt Ryan, he’s done a fine job in the NFL and will only get better as time goes on, but it takes a lot for an NFL team to win a Super Bowl. The Falcons could contend for a title any given season and they seem to be the closest Atlanta team to a title, but there’s no way of knowing how things will change, and whether or not a strong Falcons team will even be the 1 team out of 32 to win in any given year.
As for the Hawks and Thrashers, there’s no way to know how either will look in a even a couple of years, but I think it’s safe to say that neither one is a title contender in the near future.
[/logic]

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[...] ♦ Poll time: Which Atlanta team is closest to a title? [...]

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Looks like you shut down hiramsaint.

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This blog is full of idiotic MORONS. Have you people forgotten that Matt Ryan has played TWO seasons in the NFL? And he was hurt last year. How can you idiots possibly make all these RIDICULOUS comments about him being a choke artist? He did win 11 games in his ROOKIE SEASON afterall. And I recall the defense being the main reason for that playoff loss to Arizona.

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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ajc sports editor, Jeff Schultz. Jeff Schultz said: Poll time! Closer to a title in Atlanta: Falcons, Braves (or nobody). Click and vote. http://bit.ly/9RKu5V [...]

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I wish I didn’t have so much time on my hands!

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[...] ♦ Poll time: Which Atlanta team is closest to a title? [...]

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“Choke”….at least you are getting to spend your time as a free man.
For now.

”
c

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Really don’t see either one of the Pro organization winning any kind of championship in my life time. Atlanta Professional Teams will always watch other teams celebrate championships because of fact they don’t want to pay top of line players, hired outstanding coaches, get rid of the good ole’ boy system, & draft highly talented players. Look what the saints did on their first crack @ it. The ring they got was ugly but they have one. They will get atleast 2 more before Alanta Pro Teams will get one.

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Kev

June 17th, 2010
11:44 pm
This blog is full of idiotic MORONS. Have you people forgotten that Matt Ryan has played TWO seasons in the NFL? And he was hurt last year. How can you idiots possibly make all these RIDICULOUS comments about him being a choke artist? He did win 11 games in his ROOKIE SEASON afterall. And I recall the defense being the main reason for that playoff loss to Arizona.

————————————————

Did the defense throw 2 PICKS, a fumble and a safety?

When was the last time a quarterback had a safety in the playoffs or in a regular season game for that matter?

Dude is a chump, loser and CHOKE.

Stop making excuses, because I recall another Falcon quarterback in his 1st season as the starter (2nd season in league) who led the Falcons to the playoffs, 1st to beat the Packers in Green Bay in the playoffs, make the pro bowl and finish 2nd in the MVP voting.

Please stop the excuse train and get onboard the reality train.

Dump the CHUMP.

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KEV

You are too hard on yourself. You may be delusional, but calling yourself a moron is a little over the top – but that’s your call.

Now was it the defense that threw 2 PICKS, a fumble and a safefty in the endzone?

When was the last time a quarterback threw a pick in the endzone?

Dude is a chump, bust and CHOKE.

That still young excuse is way too old. I still remember a 22 year old quarterback lead the Falcons to the playoffs, land Green Bay their 1st home playoff lost, make the pro bowl and finish 2nd in the MVP voting.

No more excuses, because if he sucks, he sucks, nobody else’s fault.

“DUMP THE CHUMP”

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[...] ♦ Poll time: Which Atlanta team is closest to a title? [...]

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MORE EVIDENCE DIMITROFF CAN’T DRAFT:

Behrens responds: The argument on behalf of Flacco is easily made, because we’ve all actually seen him play — not in cameo appearances, but over full NFL seasons. We have tape, we have data. We’ve all witnessed his development over 32 regular season games, plus five playoff contests. There’s no need for hypotheticals here. Instead, we can discuss facts. Flacco is entering his third year as Baltimore’s starting quarterback, and he’s coming off an excellent season: 3,613 yards, 21 TDs, 12 INTs, 63.1 completion percentage.

There are several reasons why the Ravens are among the preseason favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and Flacco is one of them. He’s an accurate passer with ideal arm strength, and he hasn’t missed a game due to injury in college or the pros. This year, for the first time in his NFL career, Flacco has an elite receiver at his disposal (Boldin) in addition to Ray Rice(notes) and Derrick Mason(notes). These are not exactly the Dilfer Era Ravens. Baltimore’s offense is loaded, and Flacco has both the skills and experience to direct it successfully. If you can’t imagine a 4,000-yard season, then … well, then you must be a Steelers fan. Flacco made a nice statistical leap from his first year to his second, and there’s another jump upcoming.

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Matt “Choke” Ryan
June 18th, 2010
3:44 pm

MORE EVIDENCE DIMITROFF CAN’T DRAFT:

Behrens responds: The argument on behalf of Flacco is easily made, because we’ve all actually seen him play — not in cameo appearances, but over full NFL seasons. We have tape, we have data. We’ve all witnessed his development over 32 regular season games, plus five playoff contests. There’s no need for hypotheticals here. Instead, we can discuss facts. Flacco is entering his third year as Baltimore’s starting quarterback, and he’s coming off an excellent season: 3,613 yards, 21 TDs, 12 INTs, 63.1 completion percentage.

There are several reasons why the Ravens are among the preseason favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and Flacco is one of them. He’s an accurate passer with ideal arm strength, and he hasn’t missed a game due to injury in college or the pros. This year, for the first time in his NFL career, Flacco has an elite receiver at his disposal (Boldin) in addition to Ray Rice(notes) and Derrick Mason(notes). These are not exactly the Dilfer Era Ravens. Baltimore’s offense is loaded, and Flacco has both the skills and experience to direct it successfully. If you can’t imagine a 4,000-yard season, then … well, then you must be a Steelers fan. Flacco made a nice statistical leap from his first year to his second, and there’s another jump upcoming.
__________________________

Evidence
Noun
1 a : an outward sign : indication b : something that furnishes proof : testimony; specifically : something legally submitted to a tribunal to ascertain the truth of a matter
2 : one who bears witness; especially : one who voluntarily confesses a crime and testifies for the prosecution against his accomplices
– in evidence 1 : to be seen : conspicuous
2 : as evidence

Opinion
Noun
1 a : a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter b : approval, esteem
2 a : belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge b : a generally held view
3 a : a formal expression of judgment or advice by an expert b : the formal expression (as by a judge, court, or referee) of the legal reasons and principles upon which a legal decision is based.

Evidence vs. Opinion. Nice try, keep them coming.

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EVEN MORE EVIDENCE ABOUT THE GREAT CHOKE:

Matt Ryan is entering his 3rd full year as a starter for the Atlanta Falcons.
His first year as a starter he led the Falcons to the first round of the playoffs against the then-to-be NFC Superbowl rep team Cardinals. While Ryan played a decent game they did lose the first game going one and down in the playoffs.

Second year starter as the teams QB, he had another decent year leading the Falcons to back to back winning seasons finishing with a 9-7 record. However, this record while positive, wasn’t high enough to be able to make the playoffs.

So for 2 years starting he is 0-1 in the playoffs and missed completly the second year.
A lot of similar winning and season stats compared to Romo.

However, I never hear a thing about Matt Ryan. Ever. I’m just curious, if the Falcons where to miss the playoffs again this year are any of us going to start hearing the word “choker” “can’t win the big games” crap about him that we so often hear about Romo?

They are playing in a tough division and both the Saints and the Panthers are going to put up a good fight.

So back to the question, will we start to hear the same negative vibes thrown at Matt Ryan as we do Tony Romo, or is Romo on an island himself stuck with the stigma of being the quaterback for the Dallas Cowboys?

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Latest Super Bowl odds for Green Bay Packers: 11-1
June 18, 2010

Comments (0) Recommend Print this page E-mail this article Share Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine Buzz up!
Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A BroBurySports.com has released its early Super Bowl odds and compared them to where each team was when last season ended.

The Green Bay Packers come in No. 6 with 11-1 odds, actually a little better than the 12-1 after last season.

Indy No. 1 is no surprise with 6-1. Steelers went from 12-1 to 10-1, a little surprise considering the Big Ben situation. Philly dropped to 18-1 from 12-1, I’d guess that’s what happens when you trade Donovan McNabb to run out Kevin Kolb. On the flip side of that coin, Washington goes from 50-1 to 20-1. Chicago improves from 40-1 to 25-1. Arizona in a free-fall from 30-1 to 50-1, can you say Kurt Warner…

Bills, Browns, Lions, Chiefs, Raiders, Rams, Bucs at the bottom of the barrel at 100-1

Indianapolis Colts 6/1 (previously 6/1)

San Diego Chargers 8/1 (8/1)

New Orleans Saints 9/1 (10/1)

New England Patriots 10/1 (10/1)

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1 (12/1)

Green Bay Packers 11/1 (12/1)

Dallas Cowboys 12/1 (12/1)

Minnesota Vikings 12/1 (12/1)

Baltimore Ravens 15/1 (15/1)

New York Jets 15/1 (15/1)

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1 (12/1)

New York Giants 20/1 (30/1)

Washington Redskins 20/1 (50/1)

Atlanta Falcons 30/1 (30/1)

Chicago Bears 25/1 (40/1)

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Dang Falcons, you are near the bottom, even below the Redskins and right about the Bears………….

HA HA HA

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The Braves. I would bet money that the Braves not only win one World Series this decade but two. What was the main weakness of the Braves post season teams of the 90″s? Lack of power pitching outside of Smoltz. Look at what’s in the minors playing at Myrtle Beach, SC right now, 4 legit power arms that throw nasty stuff up there. Combine that with Tommy Hanson and Mike Minor, who is in double A leading the minors in strike outs and that’s a lot of power pitching that the Braves have never had before. Even if only two of those 4 really good pitching prospects turns out to be good, combine that with Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlin and that is a sick rotation. Not to mention Jason Heyward getting older and more experienced and then add in Freedie Freeman and Mycal Jones coming up in the next couple years to go with our other veterans. The Braves are about to go on a really good run.

I think the Falcons have a really good shot at winning the super bowl in the next couple of years as well. I think both franchises win a championship within the next 5 years.

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JSS,

MLB is a 6 billion dollar a year industry. When the WNBA gets over 20 million people watching each of it’s games in the World Series come talk to me. Hell close to 20 million people watch the MLB All Star game every summer. I follow ratings and track them for a living Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN draws higher than most NBA non finals games. They average over 5 million fans a game when they have the Yankees or Red Sox. They also average several million fans when teams like the Dodgers, Braves, Cardinals, Phillies, and Mets are on. Major League Baseball on average outdraws the other leagues not named the NFL.

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If anyone thinks it will be the falcons, your dreaming !!!!! The falcons never have and never will be a championship team. I pick the Braves or Bulldogs.

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Jeff, just ban “choke” and anybody who types in all caps and get it over with. Guys like hiramsaint who are instigating some talk because of a rivalry are fine. Trolls who spend all their time beating a one-note drum ad nauseum get pretty tiresome. He reminds me of a vuvuzela…a droning noise that loses its charm after about 30 seconds.
Kill the noise so there can be a real discussion.

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@ Rekingball…
There was nothing undercover about what I and others did concerning that silliness of the 16th and 17th. Each person bears a responsibility for what they do here, this is not an anonymous environment, just anonymous user names. A better statement may have been: “Be careful who hitch your wagon to, they may just carry you over the cliff too…”

@ ScottBravesfan…
I cited Saturday afternoon MLB telecast in comparison to comparable professional sports telecasts and programming airing in those time slots. By the way, if the #1 and #5 markets in the US can’t draw a viewership on the wasteland that is Sunday night (2nd only to Friday nights low viewer mobility) with a natural 85 year rivalry. Then you can’t draw market share whether it be in timeshifted viewing behavior or cable penetration, then pay-to-play (cable) has misspent its money.

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drmondo

June 20th, 2010
12:39 pm
Jeff, just ban “choke” and anybody who types in all caps and get it over with. Guys like hiramsaint who are instigating some talk because of a rivalry are fine. Trolls who spend all their time beating a one-note drum ad nauseum get pretty tiresome. He reminds me of a vuvuzela…a droning noise that loses its charm after about 30 seconds.
Kill the noise so there can be a real discussion.

———————————-

BOO HOO HOO

Mommie I need my diapie changed…………….

HA HA HA

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Both the Falcons and the Braves have the best chance.

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Katrina was a terrorist attack. Just check out the book Katrina Nights. Or go to http://hurricanekatrinakaif.com

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