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Falcons Offseason Report.

Unlike last year when the Falcons made an immediate splash by signing Turner, Atlanta has been very quiet in the 2009 Free Agency signing period. They have mostly concentrated on filling the depth chart. The only two noteworthy additions have been former Jaguars LB Mike Peterson and former Rams C Brett Romberg. Neither makes Falcons fans stand up and cheer.

Mike Peterson (LB)

“2008 Statistics – Games/Starts: 15/10; Tackles: 84; Sacks: 1”

Peterson will be reunited with Falcons head coach Mike Smith, who previously served as defensive coordinator in Jacksonville from 2003 to 2007. Peterson, 32, played the last six seasons with the Jaguars after starting his 10-year NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts.

Peterson looks to be a minor upgrade over the departed town favorite Keith Brooking.

Brett Romberg (C)

“ Free-agent center Brett Romberg, who started six games for the St. Louis Rams in 2008, has signed with the Atlanta Falcons.

Romberg, 29, played in 33 games, including 18 starts, for the Rams the last three years. He started nine games in 2007.

With the Falcons, Romberg is expected to compete for playing time behind Todd McClure.”

Solid backup caliber player, which for the most part is all Atlanta has done in the off season; shore up their depth chart.

I doubt signing Peterson and Romberg will change the opinion of SportingNews.com – they called the Falcons losers in Free Agency.

“They must replace Boley, Foxworth and Keith Brooking (Cowboys), a fixture at linebacker for more than a decade.”

I would not go so far as to call Falcons losers. Michael Boley (LB), signed with the Giants. For whatever reason, last year he completely fell out of favor with Atlanta’s coaching staff. Keith Brooking (LB) departing to the Cowboys helps the Falcons; they no longer have to contend with a fan favorite that has lost at least three steps.

Loosing Dominique Foxworth (CB; signed with the Ravens) hurts a little because he played very well last year, and the Falcons gave up this year’s 7th round selection to Denver to get Foxworth via trade last year. Maybe the NFL will deem him worthy of a compensatory pick, which would allow Atlanta to continue to build through the draft.

The Falcons have also lost Grady Jackson (DT) to the Lions and Lawyer Milloy (S) remains unsigned, with little chance of returning to Atlanta. Both of these players played key roles with the Falcons last year, but are expendable, past their prime veterans. In other words, the Falcons will get younger, faster, and of course cheaper.

Of all the Free Agency losses, Foxworth is most concerning. Not because he was great, but because I am not all that excited about Chris Houston, Von Hutchins (if he returns from injury), Brent Grimes and Chevis Jackson secondary. Maybe the Falcons are waiting for another trade, June roster cuts, and of course there is the draft.

Falcons 2009 Draft Selections
1st Round (No. 24 overall)
2nd Round (No. 23; No. 55 overall)
3rd Round (No. 26; No. 90 overall)
4th Round (No. 25)
5th Round (No. 7; from Oakland)
5th Round (No. 24)
6th Round (No. 23)

Compensatory draft picks will be awarded in April. They are added at the bottoms of rounds three through seven and affect the overall number of picks.

Team USA struggles and Alabama Rolls.

It is not like I have been watching this year’s World Baseball Classic, but how the heck does Team USA get beat via a Little League like mercy rule? Un-f’ing real. I have been watching a little of tonight’s game against the Netherlands. Good thing Team USA is up 3-0 in the 4th, because it would suck monkey balls if we were already eliminated. Too bad Chipper is on the down and out (more Braves updates later).

Speaking of being down and out, so much for that #1 Georgia ranking. The Bulldogs quickly went down 0-2 in SEC play against Alabama. Well, at least I had something to write about for a couple of days.

Bring on Monday!

Weekend birding observations.

Lots of rain yesterday afternoon and it has been continuously raining today. Yesterday’s observations are from the afternoon (let’s call it 2-5 PM), while today’s are for a few minutes this morning (around 11:30). I may update today’s observations, time permitting, if any interesting birds show up.

Highlights? A pair of Carolina Chickadees, several Dark-Eyed Juncos feeding in and around puddles, and a surprising number of House Finches (~10 at times).

I picked up some black-oil sunflower seed earlier in the week, and loaded up three of the feeders with the stuff yesterday morning. It did not take long for the birds to dig in, and one opportunistic raider also wanted to take a nibble.

03-15-2009
Blue Jay*
Cardinal (male and female)
Dark-Eyed Junco (male and female)
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male)*
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird*
Tufted Titmouse*
White-throated Sparrow*

* Observed in the afternoon; added after article was posted.

03-14-2009
Cardinal (male and female)
Carolina Chickadee
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male)
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird
White-throated Sparrow

Westmoreland on stimulus waste.

Representative Lynn Westmoreland (3rd District of Georgia), is watching how your stimulus tax dollars are being spent, in most cases wasted. From his latest news letter:

There’s a reason why detractors refer to the Democrats’ “stimulus” bill as the “porkulus.” Lynn of course opposed the $789 billion monstrosity as a blank check for a left-wing wish list that will grow the debt, grow the government — while doing little to stimulate the economy or create jobs.

This two and a half minute Westmoreland video has some eye openers of how wasteful our government really is when we put our worst foot forward. Thankfully some of Georgia’s elected officials actually care about pointing out this sort of garbage.

Beeman R1 Carbine Varmint Deterrent

I have not done much lately in the way of varmint patrolling, however I did take one misbegotten shot at a raider taking advantage of my generosity in one of the feeders. Black oil sunflower seed attracts all short of adventuresome types, so varmints are a foregone conclusion, however it does not mean that one must put up with the side effects of trying to attract song birds. The raider had a bad day, and while he ended up being a runner, it was not really the fault of the R1 .20 Carbine. As I said, the shot was really ill-conceived, and I forgot to hold over one mildot to account for the short distance. Still, there is a certain satisfaction knowing that a raider shall not return again to steal some seed.

Last weekend was some beautiful weather; sunny, upper 70s. The perfect weather was the stuff of spring legend, which was really a nice change from the dreary snow from the previous week. I used the break in the weather for an opportunity to give my R1s a go. I took some target practice from ~37 yards (sitting; using my knee as a rest), and while the shots are not all that remarkable, there is plenty of potential if I ever decided to get serious or use a bench rest.

Beeman R1 .22

Beeman R1 .22

From bottom left, clockwise: RWS Super Dome, Napier Power Hunter, RWS Superpoint Extra, RWS Meisterkugeln. The scan is not that great, but the RWS Superpoint Extra pellets won the day, hitting 7 shots in a quarter area. The Napier Power Hunter pellets also did pretty well. Considering that the cheat Center Point scope is usually sighted for ~17-20 yards, I thought I did decent. Beeman R1 Carbine .20

Beeman R1 Carbine .20

From bottom left, clockwise: Beeman H&N Match, Beeman Kodiak Double Gold, Benjamin Cylindrical, Beeman FTS Double Gold. Results were fairly mixed, but it was my last shooting session, and I just switched from contacts to glasses. By a wide margin I prefer contacts when shooting. The Kodiak Double Gold pellets have potential if I tuned my Carbine to their pleasure, but the FTS Double Gold had a couple of really nice groups, and I suspect that the Benjamin Cylindrical pellets have a ton of potential.

If I could figure out how to pull it off, I would love to try a R1 Carbine .22 Ram. Now that would be an interesting gun!

Bulldogs #1 (at least in baseball).

Following up on my note from Sunday, the Bulldogs are now 12-0 and ranked number one in the land! I read a couple of stories that this is their first number one ranking since they won the National Championship in 1990. Way to go Bulldogs!

Of course SEC play does not even start until Friday, the season is still young, and I am sure Georgia is taking it one game at a time. Whatever; hopefully they will keep up the momentum.

First week of March observations.

You can tell spring is in the air, or at least only twelve days away. One of my backyard feeders is out of seed, another is down to the last feeding hole, and the third one is running pretty low. The low seed supply has not deterred the birds from enjoying the backyard. In fact, this weekend there has been a
smorgasbord of observations to report.

American Robin
Blue Jay
Carolina Wren
Dark-Eyed Junco (male)
Downy Woodpecker (male and female)*
European Starling
House Finch (male and female)
House Sparrow (male and female)
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal (female)
Northern Mockingbird
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse

*Possibly a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers instead of Downy Woodpeckers, but the size of the birds and beak point to Downy Woodpeckers.

I also saw a couple of American Crows at the soccer field, so I guess that is also something different. Every once in a while I see them flying over the neighborhood, but not while I was putting together a report.

I need to pick up some more seed and another feeder or two; would like to see if I can attract something different. Most of the birds that visit are fairly typical, nothing special. More feeding opportunities via different feeder varieties may bring in more visitors.

Sunday Stuffs Springs Back!

First, I hate springing forward. The only good thing about setting the clock forward an hour is that my kids have no idea the time has changed. For one morning this year they will actually sleep until 7:30AM. Joy. OK, the grumps are now out of me; onto the stuffs!

Facebook takes over the world.
Or damn near close. I guess I must be the last man standing when even Representative Lynn Westmoreland (Georgia, 3rd District) has a Facebook page – “Congressman Lynn Westmoreland” Interesting, but not interesting enough to get me to bump CG from the map.

Georgia Baseball
Would you believe that last week the Georgia baseball Bulldogs were #3 in the land? It is true. Georgia is off to a rip roaring start; 11-0, which easily surpasses their previous best start of 9-0 years and years ago. Nineteen naught nine or some such. Like I said, Georgia has never started this well. SEC play opens this Friday in Tuscaloosa.

Georgia Basketball
Thank goodness the regular season is over, because it has been a downright dreadful season. It is not like anyone thought the Bulldogs were going to storm through the SEC, but did anyone think it would be this pitiful? Last night, in their home final, Georgia stunk up the join, getting slammed by the Fighting Chickens 68-51. The Bulldogs now get to limp into the SEC Tourney for one last embarrassing game before closing the books on a dreadful 12-19 season (3-13 in SEC play). No 4-0 Tournament run this year. Moving on …

Other stuffs
I actually have a lot more stuff (err … stuffs) to write about, but I am going to wrap up this post. Should have a couple of entries on airgunning, bird watching, and of course more Falcons off season news. Maybe later today. Depends on the weather.

Mock Draft Take 2.

Today’s featured mock draft is from J. Michael Moore from the FalconsLIFE site. Sure, homer type musings are at play, but it gives me something to write about on this foggy Saturday morning.

Moore’s take on a mock draft does not really contain any surprises; i.e. fairly predictable, and no complete head scratchers, but we are still in the realm of guess work. With the 24th pick, he has the Falcons taking Alphonso Smith (CB, Wake Forest):

“He’s a smart, athletic and aggressive cornerback that leaves Wake Forest as the ACC’s all-time interception leader. Of course, cornerback is just one position of need in Atlanta and the No. 24 pick allows the Birds to take the best defensive player on the board, whoever that may be.”

I am of the mindset that the Falcons are in desperate need of some up front defensive linemen. A big piece of meat that can put pressure on opposing QBs will instantly make Atlanta’s suspect secondary look creditable. The only problem is that all the first round caliber d-linemen may be gone by the time the Falcons pick. No need to make a reach pick (i.e. Sam Baker) when there should be decent 2nd and 3rd talent that can contribute to the cause.

Hold your thirst until Monday.

Or get your fill of beer on Saturday, because once again our backwards Georgia representatives have decided that thou shall not buy beer on Sunday. According to ajc.com, Sunday alcohol sales are not going to happen anytime soon.

“The sponsor of legislation allowing voters the chance to vote on Sunday alcohol sales at stores withdrew his bill when he realized he could not get it passed out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee Wednesday.

The committee was supposed to vote on the bill Wednesday, but supporters knew by the time the meeting began that they wouldn’t have enough votes to pass it.

It marked the third consecutive year the bill to allow Sunday sales has stalled in the Senate.

Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland), said he would bring the bill back up in the future and supporters hinted they would make it a campaign issue next year.”

Think I am alone in looking at the stupidity of prohibited Sunday alcohol sales? Look at the comments under the ajc article; in general, most reasonable folks agree that this stupid law has run its course.

Mock Draft Take 1.

It is always fun taking a look at the various mock drafts that pop up all over the place after the NFL Combine. At this point, if a team has a pretty good scouting department, they should know where players stand regardless of their workouts. Still, it is fun to overanalyze every drill because it gives the so called experts something to do. Hey, give ’em something to talk about. Of course I am paying particular attention to the Falcons intentions and what they will do to build off a successful first year draft under new, superior leadership.

Pat Kirwan, Senior Analyst at nfl.com put together his mock draft that is fairly conservative, with little risk taking at the top. Kirwan has the Falcons taking Peria Jerry DT, Mississippi, with the 24th selection:

The Falcons have to beef up the middle of their defense with solid young run stoppers. Jerry is a 300-pound run stuffer who will not be available later in the draft. His 32 tackles for a loss in the last two years at Mississippi tells you the kind of inside force he can be.

It is not a surprise to me that UGA’s Matthew Stafford is the top QB (whether he deserves that honor is a different post), but it is surprising that he slips all the way to the Jaguars with the 8th selection. I do not disagree with the Lions taking an offensive tackle (Jason Smith, Baylor) with the top pick. Building inside out is the way to go. Besides the Lions have two first round picks, they need help across the board, and they are pretty much snake-bitten with their top selections. Go ultra conservative. A simple and safe approach should make for better Thanksgiving Day football.

Kansas City needs a QB, so maybe they are just posturing if they have Kirwan convinced that they are going to go LB (Aaron Curry, Wake Forest) with their first pick, number three overall.

I am not sure when the last time a running back was taken this late in the draft, but UGA’s Knowshon Moreno could be a steal if he actually slips to New England (24th selection).

OK, back to the Falcons. If they can get pressure up front, they will be able to somewhat hide an exposed secondary. Maybe. The Falcons are going to have to address the defensive line and secondary with their first two picks, so the order needs to be most likely to be successful, not necessarily the best talent on the board.

Go Falcons!

Lawyer is gone. Is Brooking next?

It looks like the Falcons are going to let Lawyer Milloy explore his options via Free Agency, and Keith Brooking could be next.

First up is Lawyer. He has been a solid safety over the last three years, but he is 35 and has lost several steps. His on the field leadership is second to none, but it really is time for him to move on. If he cannot find greener pastures, I could see him returning to the Falcons on a one year deal to add some depth to the team, and provide some leadership and training to his drafted replacement.

Now to Brooking. Despite being selected to the Pro Bowl five times, Brooking has never been among the league’s elite players. Others would say vastly over rated, and while I will not go that far, it is time for him to part ways. I will never forget him aimlessly running down the field during the St. Louis game as the play was going on behind him. Pat him on the back. Tell him thanks for the memories. Move on.

Me thinks the draft will be fun to watch this year as the Falcons look to overhaul their secondary, find a serviceable TE that can act as Ryan’s safety net, and of course figure out what to do with the defensive line.

As if Vick as not done us enough favors …

I had no idea that Vick was still taking up space on the Falcons’ salary cap. According to the ajc

“The Falcons have announced their intentions to trade his rights. If the Falcons can’t find a trade party and they release Vick once he is reinstated, they would take a $15.430 million salary cap hit in 2009. He is also due a $680,000 bonus in 2010.”

So let me get this straight. Vick goes to prison, which has to be some sort of breach of contract. At a minimum it has to be a violation of the NFL Code of Conduct. But, when all is said and done, Vick still could cost the Falcons in excess of $15 million against the 2009 salary cap?

Un’fing believable that the league would allow this to happen.

2009 National Signing Day treats Georgia well.

Once again, Georgia has pulled in another decent recruiting class. Of course getting Top 10 signing class does not guarantee success, but it certainly does not hurt the Dawgs chances.

I do not remember reading about a lot of headliners, but ajc.com thinks Georgia did pretty darn good.

Georgia had one its best-ever classes. But it didn’t appear that way because the majority of recruits committed by the end of the summer. Aaron Murray of Tampa and Oconee County’s Zach Mettenberger are two of the nation’s top quarterbacks, and Booker T. Washington defensive back Branden Smith was the state’s consensus No. 1 prospect, barely ahead of Northside-Warner Robins defensive tackle Abry Jones.

It will be interesting to see how many of these guys are able to get on the field right away and make an immediate impact. Unlike the NFL draft, I never get too excited about National Signing Day. The reality is that these are kids, and you can never be too sure how they are going to react away from home. Ask me again about the 2009 class in 3-4 years.

Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (Last Hour Fun)

The last hour of this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona was absolutely phenomenal. Talking about balls to the wall racing; I really thought Montoya was going to somehow, someway, retake Donohue for first place. Instead, JMP and his Lexus Chip Ganassi Racing prototype had to settle for second place.

The last hour of the race was about the best racing I have seen in recent memory. Four cars were on the lead lap, and while JMP was holding the fort for a while, he just did not have enough car to win the race. This was serious fun and great racing action right until the last lap.