Comments on: Matt Ryan Or Michael Vick: For the Fans, Is It All About Black and White?

By: John

John — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:44:48 +0000

Please excuse my typos and spelling mistakes. in the blog above < I didn’t edit my blog. But I think you’ll get the gist of where I’m at

By: John

John — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:37:41 +0000

The bias expressed by a lot of people on the site is preetty sad.
I like Ryan because he plays for BC where my dad played. I also
know that he is hard-working
and driven and doesn’t go aroung bragging about himself. I went to a Jesuit school (Fordham) and we were taught to be humble. We are also proud to help out our team, country etc just as much as Southerners are. I myself lived in Texas for a year and liked the people a lot- black and white but that doesn’t mean >I loved veryone. I don’t judge people by their color, height, weight, religion or team preference (though I want Atlanta to win and I’d like to see Matt Ryan do welll. I also hope Vick comes back and is successful whereevr he ends up. He probably was just
pushed into the dog thing because hid friends persuded him
(Human beings are NOT MY judge- God and my personal conscienec are
I Ryan were black and played QB at BC I’d orobably even support him more because I like my black African friends a lot. (I’m a white Catholic by the way and I wouldn’t be surprised if some white protestants are wary of a northeastern elitist leading their team.
so it isn’t only Afro-Americans who protested.
Anyway, most of the Atlanta fans have been great sports (certiainy Atlanta’s running backs and receivers are doing their part without letting bis stand in the way. So lets all hope - black, white, eskimos, what have you- that Atlanta and Matt does well does well and that VIck gets a QB job somewhere (even Atlanta) and he doesn’t let his friends convince him todo
any dumb stuff again. By the way, I’ve done some dumb things myself and it was Jesus who said: “He who is without sin, let he be the one to cast the first ston.” John Burke

By: Friday Fire: Is Black Sports Writing Gone Forever? | The Starting Five

Friday Fire: Is Black Sports Writing Gone Forever? | The Starting Five — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:36:59 +0000

[...] Michael Vick is in jail so the model of his athleticism and powerful arm are behind bars with him? [...]

By: Mizzo

Mizzo — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:37:30 +0000

True fans root for teams? So the players don’t drive the sport? Really? The actual team logos do?

Who the heck made you the authority to write a statement so absolute?

What about the fans in Philly who left when Iverson, Barkley or Erving left? Or the fans in Boston when their original big three retired? Sacramento and Webber? Miami and Marino?

Do you want me to go on because I can?

Dude brought up one example of die hard fans in a state where every store says milk, eggs, beer cheese to make a point?

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:14:58 +0000

Yep…..per the AJC he was booked for battery, happened at his home - they already have the mugshot up!…..somebody better go check on King Arthur.

By: Co Co

Co Co — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:05:38 +0000

No way!!! That’s not a good look at all Miranda. Good thing I’m not a Falcons fan!

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:04:15 +0000

CoCo,
Talk about bad mojo…..how bout Michael Boley got arrested a little while ago…..assault charges.

By: Co Co

Co Co — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:59:18 +0000

Aint a damn thing to do in Green Bay besides root for the Packers! LOL
It is very possible to root for a player but not root for the team. Especially if you play fantasy sports! (I tried it last season and it ruined football for me so never again) anyway… Manny Ramirez is one of my favorite players, but as a Yankee fan I damn sure don’t root for the Sox. I do want Manny to do well, just not against us.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:58:22 +0000

I think the Packers fans have nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon other than root for the Packers…its not like that in Atlanta….like I said, Falcons fans will still be rooting for the Falcons on Sundays…that hasn’t changed. You’re obvioulsy misled by the actual number of Falcons fans. Its a good 30,000 -and that hasn’t changed.

By: Friedman

Friedman — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:21:36 +0000

True fans root for TEAMS, not players — and you certainly don’t root for players simply based on race.

You think Packers fans — the best in the entire league — are going to stop showing up for games and stop rooting for their team because their hero Favre retired? Nope. Every game will still be sold out regardless.

If you are rooting for a team because you happen to like a certain player, then you are certainly not a fan. Ergo, based on the scenario you described, Atlanta has terrible (and not that many, apparently) fans.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:11:27 +0000

How is that indicative of “worst fans”? I just explained who they were “fans” of….its not a matter of Atlanta having the “worst fans”, its a matter of just not having MANY fans. No one is obligated to be a fan of a team by virtue of geography.

By: Mizzo

Mizzo — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:09:28 +0000

Friedman when are you going to write something instead of coming here consistently to disrupt threads?

By: Friedman

Friedman — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:04:40 +0000

“67% of the African American season ticket holders didn’t renew their tickets…that answers for itself. They weren’t really Falcons fans, so they aren’t obligated to give “fair shots”.”

And this is precisely why Atlanta is known to have the absolute WORST fans in all of sports. Falcons, Braves, Hawks — I’m surprised none of those teams have packed up and left the city.

By: origin

origin — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:45:54 +0000

Great points sista Miranda.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:02:52 +0000

Yes, and in this case, the negative connotations are on the people of metro Atlanta. Basically, the media will call it “not giving Ryan a fair shot”, when every home game is blacked out by Fox due to NFL rules. The media will call it “not giving Ryan a fair shot” when he simply doesn’t resonate into every teen running out and buying up his jersey and looping Lenox mall three times at his first autograph signing.

My point is, the “not giving him a fair shot” is really about something other than the football field here. Coco is correct that African American Falcons fans will root for Ryan just as they would Mike Vick…..the problem is there were far more African American Vick fans than Falcons fans to start with - and I think there is some confusion that they’re the same - nope, they ain’t…..and no amount of the media being mad that this is so, will make it NOT so. If the “fair shot” is, will Ryan get the same amount of love that Mike Vick got from African American season ticket holders before he took his first snap right up until his last? Then, please…hell naw…67% of the African American season ticket holders didn’t renew their tickets…that answers for itself. They weren’t really Falcons fans, so they aren’t obligated to give “fair shots”.

By: Mizzo

Mizzo — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:26:10 +0000

Media term sista. So many negative connotations involved in such a term huh?

By: Miranda

Miranda — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:20:10 +0000

Eb,
There will be the same roughly 30,000 folks or their heirs sitting in the Georgia Dome that transferred over from Fulton County Stadium (the original home of the Falcons). Tis a shame that the Dome actually seats 70,000 though.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:17:38 +0000

Could someone please tell me what a “fair shot” is?

By: Eb the Celeb

Eb the Celeb — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:25:33 +0000

Most definitely… that’s why its going to be harder than ever for DJ to get the gig… Personally I think that would be the best bet for them… when he gets backs at 100% to give him a shot at it… The georgia fans love him, he is the hometown boy… PR wise he has the squeaky clean image that can get fans back into the Falcons mix, white or black. I think trying to change the falcons demo is a huge mistake… I mean dont african americans make up the majority of the atlanta population… if they alienate them… who will comes to the games?

By: michelle

michelle — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:23:41 +0000

I know the Atlanta fans want Mike back. He’s the only qb in his era that has been able to do so much with so little. A young qb will have a terrible time in Atlanta. They just don’t have enough talent to help him out.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:12:57 +0000

I could almost buy your legend refrence to Vick, however the guy only went to 2 NFC title game and no farther. Never led the Falcons to back to back winning seasons. Now if that is what legendary QB’s are to the Falcons then you are correct. I do think Ryan will get a fair shot. But will he be a great Qb who knows. Even with what the Giants did with their defense and winning the Super Bowl, when they had the #4 pick in 2004 they drafted Rivers then traded him for Manning. So building up the offensive and defensive lines is way more easier than finding a potential franchise QB.

By: GrandNubian

GrandNubian — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:18:11 +0000

DMac,

The defensive line aint in tact like you might think. Remember, the defense lost Grady Jackson AND Rod Coleman. Grady was the run stuffer and Coleman put pressure up the middle. They had a promising replacement for Grady (Tommy Jackson), but unless i’m mistaken, i don’t think they kept him around. John Abraham had a solid year last season but can he have another injury-free year (for the most part)? And Jamaal Anderson didn’t have a sack (if i’m not mistaken), so there’s reason for concern on “D”.

Lastly, regarding Turner, i believe that he is a quality RB but i would rather see it for 16 games, which would remove all doubt. And you may be right — he may have a great career here. But we’ll just have to wait it out and see what happens.

By: DavidMac

DavidMac — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:06:23 +0000

I understand what you are saying about ATL’s D. But I believe a solid football team is created with the lines. Now ATL lost a lot of LBs and DBs, but their line for the most part is in tact. They’re O-line is nothing, there is absolutely nothing in their O-Line to build off of , and with this draft they had more than 1 O-lineman you could have built off of and they missed the boat. Jaime Dukes said it best, why buy fine China if you don’t have anything to protect it.

Michael Turner is a quality RB, I don’t buy into the backup/starter argument. If you can run on 3rd downs you can run on 1st and 2nds. To split the load they have a nice change of pace back in Norwood. Like I said we are just going to have to disagree on this point about Norwood and his ability to break tackles.

By: GrandNubian

GrandNubian — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:59:30 +0000

DMac,

I understand your point about the O-Line, but as I said, the Falcons lost too much in the offseason on defense:

1. DT - Rod Coleman is gone
2. OLB - DeMerrio WIlliams
3. MLB - Brookings is still there but he’s not the same player and is also playing out of postion
4. CB - D-Hall is now in Oakland
5. FS - Chris Crocker is gone and Jimmy Williams hasn’t proved he can play the position
6. SS - Lawyer Milloy is not the same guy and will probably retire in a few years

As i said, we’ve needed an O-Line for over a decade but if you can’t stop anyone, why even take the field? I agree w/ CoCo…..i’d much rather focus on and build a great defense at this point. That is not to say that the O-Line is not important b/c it is.

Michael Turner has proved he is a quality “back-up”, not a starter. IF/WHEN he goes through a full-season as a starter and break the 1,000 yard barrier with at least 7 TDs, THEN he’ll have proven himself. Up until this point, the only thing he HAS proven is that he is a great “BACK-UP”.

Dude, there are dependability issues w/ Norwood because he is not a “run-thru-the-tackles” back, which is why WHEN they use him, it’s either to the outside or on screen passes. The issue is is not that they never use him….the problem is they don’t know HOW to use him. I think that’s probably what you’re saying as well.

During his two seasons of play, i’ve seen Norwood get the ball and is pretty much an arm tackle away from taking it to the house. The problem is he doesn’t have the lower body strength to withstand hit after hit, which is why he relies mostly on his speed. That’s why they went out and got Micheal Turner.

As for McFadden, I acknowleged that they don’t REALLY need him, but i think if they want to put people back in the dome, they’re going to need another big name to do it and McFadden would’ve been that guy i think.

By: DavidMac

DavidMac — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:48:21 +0000

Temple- I was refering to this post, which was made after I said I don’t think it is neccessary to include going into free agency.

# thebrotherreport Says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:26 pm

The free agent process doesn’t matter? How so? What backups became great, and what do you define as great.
————

TBR: Yeah, Bush broke his leg the first game of his senior season.