TheFletch, edition 10/1/10

With the first month of the football season coming to a close, the airwaves and newspapers have plenty of fodder to keep the listeners and viewers coming back for more everyday. The Atlanta Falcons have been by far the most successful football team in town as Georgia Tech is idling in mediocrity and Georgia is free-falling into the depths of the SEC cellar typically occupied by Vanderbilt. The Atlanta Falcons earned some major kudos from both of the sports radio stations as well as the AJC for going on the road and knocking off the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in overtime. The game was far from primetime, shown regionally on Fox in the first shift of games, but with the game going into OT and Fox not having an afternoon game, the football-watching nation was able to look in on the game’s exciting conclusion. After the game in the AJC, Jeff Schultz wrote a column entitled, “The Falcons just turned into the team we expected last season,” and the team was praised over and over by the local radio stations. On 790 The Zone’s Falcons post-game show, Sam Radin and John Michaels agreed that this game was perhaps the best game for Atlanta since the Matt Ryan-led rally against Chicago two years ago. Then on Mayhem in the AM, Steak, Chris and Nic all were positively pro-Falcons with Steak offering up that this game was the best the Falcons have looked in two years.
The callers and bloggers were even glowing as several callers were saying that Ryan’s arm strength shouldn’t be questioned anymore and others saying they enjoyed Ryan’s fire while calling out the offensive line. Chris Dimino seemed to relish Matty Ice putting a charge into the left tackle Sam Baker, and he admitted that he had never seen Ryan show the emotion he did after the missed field goal by New Orleans in OT. One quick note about some of the local fans calling up the radio stations: several Saints fans called up to “congratulate” the Falcons but then slid in the excuses of “the Saints played their worst game of the year while the Falcons played their best.” JUST GIVE CREDIT WHEN IT IS DUE! BE A GOOD SPORT.
Score Atlanta’s own Brian Jones was glowing in his summation of the game on the Score Atlanta website. Jones wrapped up his thoughts with “To say this was a big win for the Falcons would be an understatement. Not only (does) the win put the Falcons one game above .500, it puts them in first place in the NFC South.” Ricky Dimon of Score Atlanta also broke down the Falcons win on the Score site, crediting Atlanta’s ability to overcome adversity as the biggest reason for the W.

Going from happy to sad in regards to football in the state of Georgia is as easy as 74 miles up 316. The Georgia Bulldogs dropped to 0-3 in SEC play after a dismal showing in Starkville, MS in a loss to the SEC West Bulldogs. The Georgia Bulldogs looked so bad that on Sunday’s Score Atlanta Scoreboard show, we were flooded by callers that wanted to fire head coach Mark Richt. One upset fan had a three-point plan which I cannot repeat here, but it did involve renting a U-Haul and driving to Athens.
The local writers from the AJC and some of the 790 talking heads were a little more lenient towards Richt as Tony Barnhart of both the AJC as well as 790 said in the paper that he believes that Richt should be given a chance to fix the problems, granted with some internal changes. Mark Bradley of the AJC finally admitted that Richt might be in some trouble after he was beating the “Richt is safe” drum for the last two weeks. Said Bradley in the AJC, “Too many SEC programs have caught and passed Georgia, and this has nothing to do with the superpowers in Tuscaloosa and Gainesville….No longer does an opponent tremble at the sight of Georgia approaching.” On 790’s Ford Football Show last Sunday Beau Bock defended Richt but Steak was on him, saying that he is losing the games that Georgia never lost before. And one FM radio station named Richt its weekly “d*******g,” but I’ve never put too much stock into FM stations talking sports because that isn’t what they do. They do music. Leave the sports to SPORTS TALK RADIO.
I must say, as a Georgia alum, that while I am upset with the way the program has fallen, I am tending to fall on the side of Tony Barnhart. I believe Richt should get another season between the hedges based on his track record and his two SEC titles, but some changes must be made on the offensive side of the ball. The play-calling should go back to Richt and the offensive line coach and strength coaches should be held accountable for the offensive o-line this year. If Richt decides to make changes or not, next season will be the one I’d look at if I’m Richt’s boss. Though, if a change IS made, perhaps give Georgia alum Will Muschamp a call in Texas or go radical and have AD Greg McGarity get out his rolodex from his Florida days and see if he still has the Utah number. He and Jeremy Foley had some success when they plucked Urban Meyer from the Utes. Perhaps Foley’s protégé McGarity would have some success if he hired Meyer’s protégé Kyle Whittingham.
One local football team LOVING Georgia’s struggles is the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Jackets are struggling as they try to defend the ACC crown, but the attention and panic isn’t being thrown at Tech simply because the Bulldogs are the bigger story in town. While most Tech fans hate that, the coaching staff that SURELY doesn’t pay attention to the media-wink-probably is relieved that the spotlight isn’t on the defensive struggles.

Can you believe he said that?
Somebody Up There must really like these Atlanta Braves
That was the headline for Mark Bradley’s blog in the AJC about how the Braves, despite dropping two of three to the Washington Nationals and going 1-5 on a crucial road trip. I realize the Braves can still make the playoffs by taking care of business at home and hoping that the Padres and Giants and Rockies cannibalize each other out west, but don’t blow smoke up my butt. The Braves STRUGGLED on that road trip. They face an uphill task in making the playoffs. Don’t spin the trip as a positive. Please. We are smarter than that.