I have put my Falcons season tickets to good use. I have been lucky enough to take my two oldest boys to the two home preseason games. Friday night was special because my oldest son turned 10. So we got a nice birthday game, tailgate, father son(s) throw around in the parking lot, a Falcons win, some beer, and other good stuff.

A week ago against the Colts, Matt Ryan looked shaky at best, going 8-16, 62 yards, and 1 really bad looking interception. Last Friday night against the Titans, Ryan look fairly comfortable. While Ryan missed a couple of reads that could have resulted in TDs (over throws), Ryan was 15-21, 102 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INTs. Most Falcons fans missed Ryan’s debut as a starter, even if it was still the preseason; no way there was more than 30K at the Dome.

It was nice to see Ryan get plenty of cheers when the offense was introduced. The end result? Ryan is now “officially” our starting QB. The Vick era can be officially dead and buried.

I sound be back to a regular rotation this week. Good gaming!

The schedule is just too f’ing hard. I see this year’s schedule as four mini schedules:

• The Georgia Southern (Aug 30) and Central Michigan (Sep 6) home dates are going to be breezes.
• Going on the road to South Carolina (Sep 13) and #15 Arizona State (Sep 20) is going to be rough. Forget the fact that the Fighting Chickens upset Georgia last year; they always play the Dawgs tight. No idea what to expect from the Sun Devils. Georgia does not typically travel out of conference.
• Next up are three difficult home games. #24 Alabama (Sep 27), #18 Tennessee (Oct 11), and Vanderbilt (Oct 18). The Volunteers took Georgia behind the woodshed last year. Alabama will be tough. Vanderbilt has upset Georgia in recent years, and could again if the Dawgs are looking ahead to their next opponent.
• It is extremely unlikely for the Dawgs to make it to 7-0, but if they do, the two most difficult games are up next. On the road against #7 LSU (Oct 25), followed by the World’s Largest Cocktail Party against #5 Florida (Nov 1).
• Follow up the last Tigers and Gators with two more difficult road games, which makes it four in a row on the road. Kentucky (Nov 8th) and #10 Auburn (15).
• The Dawgs finish up their season at home with Georgia Tech (Nov 29). If Georgia enters this game 11-0, Sanford Stadium is going to be nuts.

I think the Dawgs will go 6-1, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0, which will be good for a 9-3 record. Certainly not National Championship material, but not too bad for the brutal schedule in front of them. Hopefully I am wrong, and we are in store for a magical season.

Go Dawgs!

Ah, it’s not all the bad. Some people can not put food on the table or fill up their cars with gas. Or their health sucks. Or maybe their kids are in the Middle East fighting for our freedom (or maybe even gave up their life in our defense).

OK, enough doom and gloom. When I got home from work last night my new Dan Post boots were waiting on me, along with a nice Maker’s Mark, and some Olympic action on NBC. Good times at last!

I hope to get in some more Madden and Head Coach talk over the weekend. Lots of stuff going on, but I am sure Saturday and Sunday will see a post or two.  First Falcons game (vs. Colts) is Saturday night, and I will be in Texas for a few days early next week.

BTW, nice upwards spike in readers this week, mostly checking out my bitching around the NCAA Football 09 patch mess. Thanks to my longtime readers, and hope you new ones stick around for more of the needful.

This patch thing has been a complete goat fuck. First, the need to patch the game. Second, the long wait. Third, the patch was rejected by Sony due to who knows what reasons. With all that said, I am thankful that we are getting patches for this game, but as I have previous said, the next patch (i.e. Patch #2 or the gameplay patch) is the real prize.

Now it should be safe to start a dynasty, but we can always start complaining about the wait for second patch. Let the countdown begin.

Georgia faces a brutal schedule, and luck has to play into a National Championship run. Early signs and injuries are not pointing in a favorable direction.

Go Dawgs!

I could care less about the patch except for a couple of things.  First, I have not started a dynasty because of the promised gameplay fixes in the “gameplay” patch (or patch #2).  Second, I see little chance of getting to the second patch without the first one being released.  As each day passes, the chances for a quick resolution slowly slip away.

Oh well.  At least this year I can have a crap for a running game, and piss poor robo-QBs in my NCAA and NFL football games.  Consistency matters with this type of stuff.

And no, I have not been drinking.  Just one ticked of gamer.

So I open Madden and jump right into the Madden IQ crap. Some of this stuff seems contrived. Let’s just call it down right BS. My IQ sucks; 498.  Funny, this score is actually lower than my demo score.  Somehow I have regressed.

For my first game I have the Saints visit the Georgia Dome. Call me a bitter old man, but this first game does not leave me feeling all that enthused for Madden. There is a reason that I have not really gotten into Madden the last few years. Typical pattern is purchase, play less than two weeks, become disappointed, sell on eBay.

Right out of the box this one just screams typical Madden. No running game and unrealistic pass percent completion numbers. Brees goes 15-19 for 136 yards. I know my Madden IQ sucks, but come on; this is shades of this year’s NCAA Football. WTF? Of course running is the polar opposite. McAllister has 19 yards on 15 attempts, while Turner has 11 yards on 7 attempts. Give the CPU a cookie for at least making 15 rushing attempts.

Adding insult to injury, after my 10-3 loss, my IQ drops 10 points to 489. Ouch. I guess I am getting too old for this crap.

Oh well; getting late for this bitter old man. Will have to take another crack at it tomorrow.

So the good news is that I will use Amazon for all my future purchases, if they are going to continue to offer Prime users release-date service. The bad news is that I bet I get stuck at work, and do not get to partake in Madden right away.

I am not very far into the game. First two gardens are complete, and I have earned two trophies for clearing (rather growing) all seeds on said levels. The game is fun and highly addicting. It is really easy to get in a zone, and just keep plugging along. Good stuff and well worth $9.99.

Redman started, and did not look so hot, going 3/6 for 13 yards. Then Ryan entered, and while he did not knock everyone’s socks off, there is reason to believe (or at least hope) that he will be able to manage a game. Yes, this was a preseason game, but Ryan did get to go up against most of the Jaguars defensive starters.

The Falcons brass may decide to bring Ryan along slowly, but based on last night’s game, I expect that Ryan is going to get a lot of time in the next three games. After all, playing is the only way to learn. Cannot wait for next Saturday against the Colts. Should be fun!

Other players of note, Turner had 22 yards on 5 attempts. I thought Snelling looked great - 32 yards on 4 attempts, and a nice 47 yard pickup on a screen. I hope Thomas Brown makes the team, but he looked so-so on kick returns. On defense, second round pick Curtis Lofton was all over the field.

It’s preseason, and I know the Falcons are not going to be all that good this year, but I am excited to get closer to the start of some football.

Go Falcons!