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
polly anna
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
A tad bit inconsistent on the part of the offense, but overall a good showing.
Michael
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
Pitiful and embarrassing! Mr. Blank…..sorry you wasted your money on this enterprise.
ab initio
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
The only difference between Matt Ryan & Matt Leinart is the hairstyle.
JSS
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
Chris Miller won a playoff game!!!
Leeman
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
OC of the Year.
nique
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
Horrible play calling. Roddy White dropping passes (at least 5-6 of them). Poor tackling. These are the things that cost Falcons this game and several other games this season.
R.A.H.
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
Dan Reeves gets to Super Bowl, Jim Mora won playoff games. What about it Mike Smith. Maybe it is time to find a new coach. I didn’t think I would be saying this after today’s game.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
January 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
JSS
January 8th, 2012
4:28 pm
You people have outright nasty to that blogger, and you ask him to keep it “civil?” @ MCR… You’re a better man than I!
________________________________________________________________
When you let people you have never met get under your skin, you have lost.
The things they say are just an assembly of alpabets – nothing more
Coach Smith
January 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
I have a meeting with Chris Chandler scheduled for Monday…..
ryan
January 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
So depressing being a Georgia sports i am actually pulling for the Saints and LSU .
John
January 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
Tvshooter….Roddy White & Jenkins already broke the record for most dropped passes in a NFL season during Vick’s tenure. Look it up, it’s true…..so no excuses for Matt Ryan.
EuroFalcon
January 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
You can buy players but you cannot buy HEART!!! This is all coaching and nothing else. Our talent is immense, our motivation is ZERO. If there is a backbone in Arthur Blank, we would start with coaching search tomorrow morning. That is the only statement that will earn us any respect back as a team…
JSS
January 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
ab initio
January 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
“The only difference between Matt Ryan & Matt Leinart is the hairstyle.”
Ha ha ha ha!!!
Pmc
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
Soft team. Bunch of sad sack choirboys.
Brent
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
@casual fan
I am NOT a casual fan, but I have to agree. Very sad day.
zeke
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
falcons should be ashamed; ryan and offense a bust…with all those pieces and so impotent
GulfwavesGary
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
Arthur Blank you have tried. your best, but winning seasons and blowout playoff losses must make your heart ready to stop beating. Don’t know the answer, but today was a HORRIBLE FALCON FAN EXPERIENCE. Cannot wear my Falcons shirts in public because people will laugh in my face.
scfalcon
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
How is the Falcon Filter working out?
TN Jeff
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
I really need to find a team I can pull for that is NOT cursed by mental midgetry or no guts philosophy. Between the choking of the Braves, Falcons, and Dogs – I’ve seen enough.
casual fan
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
To At Least I Don’t Live in New Orleans: exactly what do you mean by “we still have college football”? That doesn’t make any sense, assuming are referring to UGA and/or Tech.
DawgDad
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
Pathetic offensive showing, simply pathetic. Is there ONE offensive lineman in the bunch playing at a playoff level? This team isn’t going anywhere in the playoffs next year, and I doubt they even make it. Just think – if Denver/Tebow score at all on offense today they’ve out-performed the Falcons.
Fire Mularkey, don’t wait for him to leave. Far too much play-calling theatrics at the line of scrimmage and not enough execution.
They need to focus on revamping the o-line and the defensive line, shore up at safety (DeCoud/Sanders get burned far too often, Moore can’t stay on the field), and get a running/receiving threat in there at running back. That isn’t going to happen in this draft and would appear to be too much to sign in free agency. Need to turn over some of these veterans for some quality picks and cap room.
JSS
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
Actually, Leinart has been a winning NFL locker room after a playoff game!
Mo
January 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
Seriously guys did we really expect anything other than an embarrassing butt kicking in the playoffs? Matt Ryan is a good QB but he will never be a great QB and in this day and age of aerial offensive domination he will never will a Superbowl. Matt Ryan’s style of play is from an era that has passed with the rules being changed to suit QB’s with big arms. With no 1st rd pick next season and way too many guys up for free agency don’t expect any major positive changes in the roster either. If Authur Blank does not fire someone on this coaching staff or front office this week at the latest you will know without a doubt this organization either does not know what it’s next step should be or is not interested in taking it. Don’t get me wrong the current staff is good, good enough to get teams to the playoffs good enough to get winning records but it is not a championship caliber coaching staff or front office. These coaches are learning on the job while the window of opportunity quickly closes for some of the players on this team that actually deserve to win rings. By the time this team gets it together and wins a ring…if they ever win one, it will not be with the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Michael Turner, John Abraham and maybe even Mat Ryan. Some big name coach with a proven track record is gonna have to come to Atlanta and break this cycle.
Coach Smith
January 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
Monday morning I assure you we are going to work to fix it by next Sunday…oops…force of habit…I mean by next Fall…
Pmc
January 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
Every coach in this state in every sport should probably be fired. Georgia sucks at everything.
Chaos
January 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
We have as much talent as any team out there we just keep getting out couched!
Leeman
January 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
Falcons in first place to become this decades worst playoff team.
ijonathan
January 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
JSS, didn’t you bid adieu to the bloglodytes about 30 minutes ago?
Can’t get enough I see.
rjt
January 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
LOL..LOL..I had to listen to local sports talk radio all week about how the Falcons were going to pound the Giants D!! LOL…Falcons suck!
Michael
January 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
I want Tebow!
FIRE MIKE SMITH NOW !!!!!!!!
January 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
NO PAYCHECKS TO THIS TEAM OR STAFF.
MattNC
January 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
Fred Astaire was in “Singin’ in the Rain”??? Must have missed him in that one.
BTW, Blank’s team got blanked.
stendek
January 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
Two points huh? Can see why Matthew Ryan, Roddy White and Julio Jones are paid all that $$$$! Wait. That averages out to less than a point per player. What? The D scored the points? Hmm.
bob jordan`
January 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
all right you guys, the partys is over, 24-2 over. Time to fess up. . . NYG played a better game. But . . . I think Atlanta was a good team this year, and i try not to kick a team when they have just lost (bad form). . . and the the Giants were smart not to overate themselves.
Leeman
January 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
Can we greet the heroes at the airport?
Casper
January 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
It is what it is. The writing has been on the wall all year: Two losses to saints, one a blowout two weeks ago; Texans; Bucs once; Bears; and so on and so on. This team is more glitz than glamour. They can pack the roster but can’t deliver when it comes down to handling their business on the field. This team is seriously overrated. These are things most shrewd sportscasters have taken notice of all year long. And yet, us fans have been in denial about it. Until now.
I’m totally disgusted with this team as are many other fans today. Its not just losing badly–its the lack of coercive effort.
Somebody mentioned something about being second fiddle in the South. Think third fiddle; expect the Panthers to be a contender next year against the Saints.
ugafan13
January 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
The Falcon’s are a bunch of posers that can’t and don’t win against the top teams! I guess on the bright side we avoided going to Green Bay and getting stomped and belittled!
Reality
January 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
It’s clear. Mike Smith is a good coach. he is not a great coach. He can’t and won’t take us to the next level.
Joe
January 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
The Falcons BLOW for one and only ONE reason …. Mike Smith. Mr. Constipated Face needs to be FIRED TOMORROW!!!
katherine
January 8th, 2012
4:39 pm
bob jordan`
January 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
all right you guys, the partys is over, 24-2 over. Time to fess up. . . NYG played a better game. But . . . I think Atlanta was a good team this year, and i try not to kick a team when they have just lost (bad form). . . and the the Giants were smart not to overate themselves.
agreed…… now I hope the pittsburgh/denver game is entertaining
Paul Jounson
January 8th, 2012
4:39 pm
Gary – then just punch em in the mouth!
Take two pills and call me
January 8th, 2012
4:39 pm
Wonderfull Game Falcons get ball run three plays nothin..Matt Ryan not around only when screwin up again0-3…Time for wholesale changes to staff n front office GM must Go and be fired now!No fire again coach Smith look like a Man about be Fired ..Look for that by next week Coach was fired from Team after lost and we Try get Bill Cowher here next!
jrich
January 8th, 2012
4:39 pm
Still and always be a Falcons fan since the day of Bartkowski, Hebert, Miller,Chandler, Vick and now Ryan so all of you bandwagon jumpers please exit stage left
Billya
January 8th, 2012
4:39 pm
We saw our future in the last game against New Orleans. Coach made sure the team got good rest time over the holiday. All the intellectual “true fans” said that game meant nut’n. Hah! It meant nothing..
…and this game meant nothing, right?
Time for a full-scale house cleaning. These guys don’t gel.
Leeman
January 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
Marty Ice.
McFly!
DAMON
January 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
Just think, we have all this to blame on the coach that jumped ship during the night…….what’s his name???? Something to do with a hog…….. I just had a Rick Perry moment
ab initio
January 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
This team needs a new direction: I suggest North and West.
JoeBrave
January 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
Only a true welfare MORON would want Vick back…. this downfall started with his acquisition! never in a million years do you trade Tim Dwight, Drew Brees, and Ladanian Tomlinson for a dumbass like Vick!
curt moore
January 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
post game insulting to have me waste my sunday pm watching a team play so ineptly. The coaching sux. How many times do we have to try and gain 6 inches and lose 12. Our O line is pathetic.
smitty
January 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
–cowboys trade herschel walker to the vikings for 5 players and six draft picks……..the 90’s were dominated by the cowboys…….minnesota did what?
–dikta trades away 8 Saints draft picks to move up for ricky williams…..to this day known as the worst trades ever
–falcons’ dimitroff trades away 5 draft picks to the browns to move up for jones…….
dimitroff joins the club