Consider the source, but this would be bad.

Kirk Hinrich apparently is not ahead of schedule to return from surgery to remove a cyst from his shoulder, and will miss about another month, according to Hawks VP Dominique Wilkins.

Link: http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NBA&id=933&line=166353&spln=1

Color me concerned. We need to rid the team of the Pargo/Green backcourt and get some defense in there.

Am I the only one concerned with this? I know we have been playing very well, but we can't continue with this band-aid on the bench at PG.

Just a reminder to all who expressed interest in a get together this weekend. We will be staying at the Fairfield Inn And Suites Perimeter. Friday afternoon/evening we will be embarking on a small brewpub/beer bar tour. Saturday morning, we will meet again and be heading to places like the Vortex, Wrecking Bar and Porter Beer Bar. Others may be included on the fly. Saturday evening, there is a cookout in the Fairfield parking lot where Falcons fans cook, drink, and just have a great time. Lots of fantastic beers will be on hand.  Sunday, obviously, is the game.

 

Hope to see some Falcoholics there. Anyone who wants more info, Email me at ed5275@gmail.com. 

 

Edit: To give you an idea of the types of beer that will be there, here is what I am bringing from PA:

BEER UPDATE! Leaving between 1 and 2am tonight. Stopping (hopefully) at Toasted and Tapped in Flowery Branch for a brew before hitting Dunwoody. Here is my updated list of beers I am bringing:

Cigar City - Guava Grove Saison, and Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout
Fegley's Brew Works (PA only) - Devious Imperial Pumpkin
Voodoo Brewing (PA only) - Wynona's Big Brown Ale
Iron Hill (Brewery only) - Great Imperial Pumkin
Troegs - Scratch 41 (Choc Stout) and Scratch 48 (IPA)
Ithaca - Gorges, Thirteen, Cold Front, and Brut
Weyerbacher - Rapture (HUGE brewery exclusive sour), and Romeo

I couldn't find any really good growlers to bring within the past few days (so they can travel). All are 22s or 750s, except the Troegs. 

 

Go Falcons!

I am speechless about the sale. Here is a write-up about the new owner. Pizza anyone?

Story Link

Alex Meruelo: From tuxedo rentals to owning the Atlanta Hawks

10:00 am August 7, 2011, by Mark Bradley

The man who’s buying the Atlanta Hawks played basketball himself — at Don Bosco Technical Institute, a Catholic high school in Rosemead, Calif. Alex Meruelo became a starter for the Tigers as a junior, whereupon vocational opportunity intervened.

“My father gave me the chance to run my own business,” Meruelo said, speaking on a conference call with two AJC writers. “He had a bridal-and-tuxedo business. He leased the tuxedo part to me.”

That was it for his hoops career. (Couldn’t stay for practice when there were groomsmen to be measured.) Thirty-two years later, it’s no longer an either/or consideration. Alex Meruelo has made a bunch of money, having gone from renting out cummerbunds to building a chain of Southern California eateries — La Pizza Loca — to owning a TV station in Los Angeles to buying a hotel and casino in Reno. And now the entrepreneur is about to diversify into basketball.

“This is more than a dream for me,” Meruelo said. “It’s like when you think, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice?’ ”

Those four words — “Wouldn’t it be nice?” — were the title of the opening track on the greatest album (”Pet Sounds”) released by that California success story we know as the Beach Boys. Alex Meruelo has his own California story, and it’s downright harmonic, too. The son of Cuban immigrants, he stands to be the first Hispanic owner of an NBA franchise.

“I’m a person who doesn’t give up,” Meruelo said. “I want to bring a championship to the city of Atlanta.”

To date, Meruelo has had only a passing relationship with our town. (”I’ve been through the airport a couple of times,” he said.) Should the NBA approve this sale, that stands to change. His teenage children have checked out Atlanta houses via the Internet. He won’t abandon Los Angeles — the Meruelo Group is too rooted for that — but he and his family will commute.

We cannot know whether Meruelo will be an upgrade on the current ownership, but we can say this: He’s not apt to wind up suing himself. Although some of the men who comprise the many-headed Atlanta Spirit will remain as minority partners, Meruelo leaves no doubt as to the buck’s point of stoppage. “I will be in complete control of the team,” he said.

Beyond that, Meruelo can’t say much about his plans for the Hawks. The NBA doesn’t allow prospective owners to comment on personnel, and even if it did the lockout has imposed a league-wide silence. Throughout the half-hour conference call, Ruben Gonzalez, the Meruelo Group’s vice president for external affairs, would gently interrupt with reminders that a particular subject was “beyond the scope of our discussion.”

What did come though was Meruelo’s enthusiasm. He claims to love basketball without being a wonk: “I couldn’t name every single player on every single team.” He didn’t grow up a Hawks’ fan. (Born in New York, he followed the Knicks and the Jets and the Mets even after the family moved to California.) He goes to Angels games but prefers basketball. He has inquired — so discreetly as to have called no attention to himself — about buying other NBA teams.

Regarding the Hawks, he knows whispers of a Mystery Buyer have been circulating. The mystery at its end, Meruelo said: “I wasn’t trying to be coy. I just didn’t want my name to circulate until I had something certain.”

Here he said to his audience of two: “You guys know Atlanta and cover Atlanta. I wanted to talk to you. I owe you that respect.”

An owner who respects his constituency? That’s a concept this city should embrace. It has worked for Arthur Blank and his Falcons. Liberty Media, by way of conspicuous contrast, has made no effort to endear its Colorado-based self to the folks who actually buy Braves tickets. But you don’t turn one La Pizza Loca into a string of 50 by ignoring your customers, and the hope/guess is that Meruelo will connect with those who’ve soured on what has become, on the record, a pretty good NBA club.

If you check Meruelo’s Facebook page, you’ll find a list of the teams he follows. The Angels are there, and so is the soccer L.A. Galaxy. (So, too, are the Philadelphia Eagles — Meruelo likes DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick.) Also mentioned is the team he’s poised to buy. “I’m 1,000 percent an Atlanta Hawks fan,” he said.

Soon enough, Alex Meruelo won’t just be following the Hawks. He’ll be leading them. And if you’re asking if he should be taken seriously … well, he wants this team badly enough to buy it when the league is locked out. Takes some guts, wouldn’t you say?

WARNING: Some very salty and just plain profane (albeit hilarious and awesome) language will be included in the quotes in this post!!

Anyone read the online AJC Sports section this morning? If you did, you may have come across this article. In it, DOL hypothesizes that Brent Grimes may be thumbing his nose at $2.61 million...yadda, yadda, yadda. He also took a small (what I consider) shot at Grimes' Pro Bowl visit last year. Maybe I am wrong, but go and read it for yourselves because we have bigger fish to fry here.

Apparently Brent wasn't really happy about the tone of the article and went to everyone's favorite soapbox: Twitter. Here is what he had to say:

"@AJCFalcons stop trying to paint me in a negative light... I can't practice until the 4th, you don't know what I have going on right now"

@AJCFalcons like I said you dont know wht i have going on. Just dont try & make me out as not appreciating wht the Falcons have offered me

Innocent enough in my book. Beat writer gets under a player's skin a little, player gets miffed, speaks his piece, and that's that. He pretty much went to "Shark Week" and baby poop commercial posts after that. Brent gets over it, moves on and DOL lives to fight another day....UNTIL...

Remember the time when suckas and hatas blatantly forgot about Dre? Well DOL could never have expected what was about to happen. DOL made a critical error...he forgot about MIKO.

For those not in the know, Miko is Brent Grimes' wife/manager. And anyone familiar with her Tweets knows that there ain't no future in your frontin' and there CERTAINLY ain't no shame in her game. The Twitter fury that was unleashed by Miko was like watching a Chuck E Cheese girl fight give birth to a 2 Live Crew album. Cover your ears if you feel the need, because this just went from "mild beef" to "INCREDIBLE ROUND-HOUSE FACE PUNCH OF AWESOME".

Initially, Miko had expressed mild displeasure with the article:

@iHeartMiko: I cant WAIT to get in the house & on my computer! Im about to light a fuckin match under Bedwetter's ASS! U fucked ...

@iHeartMiko: I let hella shit slide in the past but u fucked up this time! U dont know SHIT but ur raggedy ass mouth is always open!

DOL...U fucked. And as Brent's manager (!), Miko wanted to make sure that DOL knew their finances are under control and Brent is happy with a 1st round tender (an unusual leverage ploy):

@iHeartMiko: Ayo bitchass @ajcfalcons u better listen up and listen good u fucking idiot! My husband is NOT holding out! If he were ID REPORT IT, not u!

@iHeartMiko: my husband is VERY appreciative of a 1st rd tender! As his wife, I want him to get a contract extension but he just wants 2 play

At this time, she felt that DOL needed to know that she remembers last year:

@iHeartMiko: @ajcfalcons i let u slide last yr when u tried to said Smitty blamed him for bad D b/c i thought u were retarted & didnt know any better.

And then IT GOT REAL:

@iHeartMiko: @ajcfalcons All the people that did sign their 1 year deal or whatever they got are bored or jacking off like YOU DO every night u LOSER!

@iHeartMiko: @ajcfalcons I cant wait for him to report to camp because Im gonna find your stupid ass and tell u exactly what i think of you TO YOUR FACE!

Then it got laughably ironic:

@iHeartMiko: @ajcfalcons how the fuck did you get your job anyway? you're illiterate! you have a speech impediment! your UGLY! and your DUMB as hell! SMH

@iHeartMiko @Ajcfalcons they need to give me YOUR DAMN JOB! Id be better at it and I wouldnt report LIES or shit I had no clue about, unlike YOU!

Then it got manic:

@iHeartMiko: #AnywayDoe... How is everybody doing today? :)

@iHeartMiko: @Shantigo Lol yes, me and @LilBGrimes20 are doing well thanks for asking! :)

This was the eye of the storm. Everything was steady on the waters until DOL decided to respond. Bad move.

@AJCFalcons: is standing TALL in the pocket! Ignoring the foolishness.

Oh god...

@iHeartMiko: then ignore yourself u fucking IDIOT! report the TRUTH u bitch! RT @AJCFalcons is standing TALL in the pocket! Ignoring the foolishness.

@iHeart Miko: Funny thing is...i REALLY let this bitch @ajcfalcons slide so many times last year. Not this year! Im on your ASS u BITCHASS MF'er!!

@iHeartMiko: and @ajcfalcons knows EXACTLY who i am too and u better run fat boy! And dont try speaking to my son anymore! He dont fuck with u either!

@iHeartMiko: @ATLFalCANsChick yeah with his hand in his pocket jackin that little ass dick!

And Finally, THIS happened:

@iHeartMiko: I just called in to @2livestews and me and hubby are about to be on LIVE and put all this BULLSHIT to REST! Suck It Easy @ajcfalcons

Yes. She and Brent actually went on the Two Live Stews and lost very little steam in giving the unlistenable duo a curse-free recap of the day's Twitter events and just continuing to blast poor DOL. In keeping with the theme, Brent was toned down and level headed. Miko was, well Miko.

So this morning, ESPN printed an NFL Blog piece about this fancy new QB rating system. The idea for this is simple: the old system is neato, but it ignores too many good things a QB does besides lobbing TDs and having gaudy yards. Here is what goes into it:

The QBR formula takes into account down, distance, field position, time remaining, rushing, passing sacks, fumbles, interceptions, how far each pass travels in the air, from where on the field the ball was thrown, yards after the catch, dropped balls, defensed balls, whether the quarterback was hit, whether he threw away the ball to avoid a sack, whether the pass was thrown accurately, etc. Each play carries "clutch weight" based on its importance to game outcome, as determined by analyzing those 60,000 plays since 2008. The stats adjust for quarterbacks facing an unusually high number of these situations.

Well hey, that's pretty sweet. I love the idea. Now let's see how this list sorted the NFL's best and worst:

Top tier: Brady, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Michael Vick, Rodgers and Drew Brees.

Well above average: Josh Freeman, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.

Above average: Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub, David Garrard and Kerry Collins.

Around average: Matt Cassel, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer, Colt McCoy, Kyle Orton and Jon Kitna.

Below average: Shaun Hill, Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, Matt Hasselbeck, Chad Henne, Donovan McNabb, Sam Bradford and Alex Smith.

Poor: Derek Anderson, Brett Favre and Jimmy Clausen.

 

 

Uh oh. Here is where people lost their freaking minds. The comments section and certain Message Boards lost all ability to look at this list from the math incorporated in it and the torches were lit. Said one butt-hurt (probably New Orleans) fan:

These rankings are ridiculous. Matt Ryan, who doesn't even have a playoff win, is in the top tier, ahead of Superbowl-winning QBs Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning? Come on.

But isn't that failing to look at the list objectively? You know...like as if it was a mathematical equation? First off, the rankings are from last season. Regular season at that. Secondly, going by the most decorated is null because a lot of guys ride a great defense to a Lombardi Trophy.

Numbers don't lie. The experts and Ph.D's have spoken: Matt Ryan is a top tier NFL QB. It will be explained August 5th at 8pm on a Sportscenter Special.

What? Who? Trent Dilfer helped create it? Oh then forget I said anything. This list sucks now.

Article Link

I mentioned this in passing in the Friday Night Open Thread, but wanted to post this out in the open to see if there is any interest.

Every year since 2000 or 2001 the members of the Atlanta Falcons Message Board have arranged a weekend to gather, have some fun, and attend a Falcons game. This season (and we are assuming this game is happening) we selected the Panthers at Falcons (Oct 16) as the game to build around. We have already contacted the hotel and the ticket office to arrange some group rates, so all that work is done.

What we typically put together goes a little something like this:

Friday - Beer/Brewpub bar crawl, dinner.

Saturday - Beer/Brewpub crawl #2, cookout in the hotel parking lot with beer, food, music, etc.

Sunday - Gameday. Tailgating optional.

Every year has been a blast. We've had people in from Australia, UK and Canada. I'll be making the trek from PA yet again. I felt this was a good opportunity to invite some Falcoholics to join in the festivities. Check out the hotel and ticket info at these links:

Hotel Info

Ticket Info

Hope this is OK to post here, and hope to see some new faces to hoist some beers with!

If you have any questions, let me know.

The off-season sucks. We all know it. This one looks like it will be sucking far longer than most with a lockout looming. Hell, we even lost the Summer League. Not cool. However, there has been one big, bright star shining down upon us NBA nuts in the form of NBATV showing "Classic NBA Drafts". I'm DVRing them. Seriously. Every bad suit (Anthony Avent), every horrible sentence (Avent again), every bust pick (Avent sweep!)...it's all been amazing and hilarious at the same time.

So, as I am watching this, I see Kenny Anderson's name get called. As chance would have it, I Googled him to see what his career stats were and as I looked down the list I saw it there staring back at me...Kenny Anderson was a Hawk?? He sure was. Not much of one, either. Well that got me to thinking: Who else of note came and went from the Hawks without so much as a whimper? I began to research and what I found was shocking. There are a ton of notable guys that put on a Hawks uniform for a brief moment in time and were swiftly forgotten. So I decided to document that list of awesomeness.

Continue reading this post »

Not only is Josh being taught to shoot more, people are encouraging it.  Bonus: Josh's motivation is making an All-Star team.

Continue reading this post »

                       

(ed. note: I found out Duff Man was headed to Cleavland and I asked if he would not filling a report from behind enemy lines. He did, and now I owe this man a beer for his fine work. Speaking of which, grab yourself one, sit back, read, and enjoy. This recap almost makes this game seem enjoyable. Thanks Duff Man!)

For those of you who don't already know, I currently live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I am 2 hours from New York, an hour and a half from D.C., an hour from Baltimore, and an hour from Philly. I have worn Falcons, Hawks and Braves gear into the toughest arenas and stadiums in the U.S. (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, Philly) and lived to tell about it. So imagine my delight when I was offered an opportunity to hit yet another "tough town" in Cleveland to support my beloved Hawks. Would the bite be as bad as the bark? Or would the Cavs fans turn out to be just another misunderstood fanbase? How would I, Duff Man, aka Ed be received as a Hawks fan? More importantly, how drunk could we get? Hit the jump for a recap of the night's events...

Continue reading this post »