Live from Falcons-Giants: We’re a lousy sports city, are we?
"If I give you two dimes and a nickel, will you give me a quarter back?" (AP photo)
East Rutherford, N.J. – Here’s a fun little nugget that was posted on the New York Post’s web site yesterday: As of Friday night, the Giants-Falcons playoff game was not sold out.
If said game were being staged at the Georgia Dome, we Atlantans would be hearing yet again how lousy a sports town we are. But this is New York, where millions live and where sports are, we’re constantly reminded, a point of strutting metropolitan pride.
Let the record reflect that an attempt to find available tickets this morning via Ticketmaster was unavailing, so we can assume that the game finally has sold out. Still, the thought of a Giants’ home postseason game with available seats not 30 hours before kickoff would surely come as a revelation to those New Yorkers who love to poke fun at us dumb ol’ Southerners for our indifference/inattention.
But I digress. The Falcons arrive with a point to prove, and the belief here is that they’ll prove it. The belief here is that they’ll win because they are, top to bottom, the better team. The tabloids have been full of Matt Ryan stuff this week, the thrust being that he still hasn’t proven anything in the postseason. (He hasn’t, but I’d suggest two games in his first three NFL seasons isn’t quite a true sample.)
I remember another day in Ryan’s pro career, a Sunday here in November 2009 when he overrode a second-half deficit to force overtime. The Giants won the toss and scored in the bonus canto, but that remains, at least to this dumb Southern observer, one of the shining performances of a very good career.
If you can do it here once, you should be able to do it again. And if you can make it here, the song has it, you can make it anywhere. I think Matty Ice will author his playoff breakthrough today, but maybe you disagree.
Which is why we have these little live chats — for you to interact with a dumb Southern writer like yours truly. I invite your comments. And I thank you, as ever, in advance.
By Mark Bradley
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4,613 comments Add your comment
Mr. Falcon
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
See you all next year…………….
phil
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Any questions?
whodat70816
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Ryan on the ground!
Tim
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
The end is near…
JSS
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
And that’s why you can’t no-huddle on the road!
J.J.M.
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
*yawns* not looking good
Frank B
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Now they will get the ball back and score before the half. Call to’s giants
FHZ
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Turn the channel now… they lost their stool..
Falcons4Eva
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Told you….
The strings are about to get unravelled
this dawg want hunt!!
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Ryan&Murray, great stats, but now wins in big games. Same old same old for falcons and UGA. I think Bobo is calling plays for the falcons, Q.B. sneak on 4th and inches, when he has a 240 lb T.B, you have got to be kidding me. Falcons look just like UGA in redzone. Pathetic!!!
Tommy B
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Here we goooooooooooooo
sonofdawg
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
There they go….
ijonathan
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Mike Smith = goat
Mark Bradley
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Sack. Could feel it coming
stendek
January 8th, 2012
2:08 pm
Maathew Ryan chokes again! What a damn worthless piece of gutter trash.
Time to rise up in the big apple!
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Our O-line sux, big time.
Franklyspeaking
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Making NY look like champs instead of chumps. WTF?
LILBURN DAWG
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
The defense can’t tackle worth a damn. Looks like a high school team out there. Our d-backs won’t hit anybody. And Dominique gets beat again. The Giants give us 2 and then take 7. Wonder if Smith is taking notes. Giants coach: showing emotion, getting pissed off, yelling at players, actively engaged. Falcons coach: deer-in-the- headlights look, passive emotion, looking worried, playing not to lose.
bigdave
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
look @ the Saints o line and take a look at ours.. just look at the builds..
Tomahawkin
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
This Team Cannot Play in Loud Crowds Against a Good Defense!
We Saw That in the Game against the Texans
RB
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Ryan is not a Playoff QB
Frank B
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Yay run it with turner! One yard!! He’s so great! God why do they keep this loser
J.J.M.
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
giants bout to get the ball back with great position to score again
SnuFalcon
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Our line shouldn’t look this tired after such a long rest
Mark Bradley
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Giants call TO with 2:05 remaining. Falcons face third and 21.
Another draw, I say.
Red
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
2nd and 23 and we run up the middle – ggeeesshhh!!!
Isthaturbesteffort....roflmao
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
omg, 2 and 23 and we run a draw…..LOL.
AIGHT MATTY ICE
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
MATT RYAN IS OVERRATED,GAME OVER PEOPLE
Falcons4Eva
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Giants about to undo us
Sid
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
if you want respectability you’ve got it…Mike Smith and Mularky……if you want championships better go shopping.
tmc
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Hawley (61) sucks. We need huge upgrade at right guard!
(thanks for not resigning H. Dahl… that decision was WRONG!)
Tommy B
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Hate Malarky
gadawginDC
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
this team is pathetic…..one of the worst offenses i have seen…unreal..so dang vanilla..i hope mularkey is hired away…arthur blank can keep his apologies to the fans to
falconsrus
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
just dont throw pick 6
80sFalcon
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
I think this is where the wheels come off.
TN Jeff
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Giants call a timeout cause they want a chance to score again. Hey, that’s no fair – they’re playing to win!
Matty Iced
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Better to lay a big egg in this game, than go to Lambeau Field and get crushed. At least in this game we could make it close
FHZ
January 8th, 2012
2:09 pm
Get Turner out of there…It’s not his game anymore…Falcons need yards in big chunks..
ijonathan
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Can you fire a successful regular season coach because of horrible in-game “strategy” and no stones in the playoffs?
I sure hope so.
Falcons 2012
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
How many millions is Mike Smith making to fail in the playoffs again and again?
It’s not over but we had a chance to get up on them and the coaches choked.
stendek
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Glad Mike Bobo is calling the offensive plays now! Will these guys PLEASE relocate? I hear Winnipeg is shopping around for a semi pro football team. Falcons not quite that good but…
Frank B
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Gonna be 14-2 in a game that should have been at least 12-0. But our inept coaching and pathetic playing leads to this. Screw this team.
Draft RGIII
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Ryan is not a franchise QB. Now 0-3 in playoffs. Time to move on.
WTF?
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
It doesn’t take much to knock the wind out of Atlanta’s sails. Actually hard to watch how one play can make Atlanta just forget how to play. They need new coaching, a new running back, and most importantly a quarterback that isn’t afraid to get hit
Ace8
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
The Falcons must not give the ball back to the Giants this quarter. We need to step on the gas and never let up. I like the way Mike Smith is calling the game so far. I think he’s taken the play calling out of the hands of M.M. Run the ball and don’t get off track.
Mr. Falcon
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Time to re-think Matt Ryan!
CONservative Johnson
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Meltdown begins? Hope not, but it looks like it . . .
keepinitreal
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Zero offensive points in the first half. Way to audition for those head coaching jobs, Mularkey!
Yo Vince
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
Why do we fall for the Matt hype every year, and the same thing happens in the playoffs?
No more excuses folks.
phil
January 8th, 2012
2:10 pm
katherine
January 8th, 2012
2:07 pm
if you all hate the falcons so much, why are you here? why dont you let those of us who want to enjoy the game and cheer for our team do that without constant attack?
Stop attacking those of us who disagree with your rosy bs….
You ask for it, bonehead.