The Recycle Bin

MLB 12: The Show PS3 – Vita Integration Looks Fantastic

The real question is going to be if I want to spring for $90-100 for a copy of MLB for the PS3 + Vita. The integration between the two versions looks very promising.

I know there’s a lot of interest out there about our PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita integration this year so I wanted to make sure I touched on our Cross-Platform Saves functionality. This feature allows you to take your Franchise, Season, and Road to The Show save files up to the cloud where you can then access those files from either your PS3 or PS Vita. You are limited to one file per mode per PSN user account, which can be overwritten as many times as you’d like.

Now I just have to commit to getting a Vita; I have three different Amazon pre-orders on file, but have yet to order a game. MLB 12: The Show for the Vita looks like the perfect way to waste away time on a portable system, and a 3G Vita, coupled with PS+ auto save updates, sure would come in handy for anytime, anywhere MLB Cloud retrievals.

Falcons Stay 4-3’ish. What About Turner?

As I wrote when the hiring of OC Dirk Koetter was announced, he was not exactly an inspiring choice. The same cannot be said for new DC Mike Nolan. As a longtime Tom Landry and Dan Reeves fan, I think Mike Nolan is going to be a good fit.

Nolan faces three major problems, listed in no particular order.

Key free agents – John Abraham, Curtis Lofton, Brent Grimes, Thomas DeCoud.
Poor secondary play.
Abysmal pass rush.

Normally you would build via the draft, but without a 1st round pick, the Falcons cannot look to rebuild the defensive line or shore up the secondary. The front office can look to build via free agency, but the Falcons cannot afford to overpay (see Dunta Robinson and Ray Edwards).

Should be interesting to see how this turns out, but we will not know the full picture until after the pre training camp salary cap casualties. Yes, the draft will carry a lot of weight as GM Thomas Dimitroff looks to add value picks, but expect the Falcons to plug in a few gaps via salary cap pick-ups.

The Future of Turner
Under the topic of lack of draft picks and salary cap casualties, look for Michael Turner. Speculation is growing that Turner could be shopped or even dropped. It is true that Turner is hitting the magical train wreck for HB known as being 30.

One key point in the Turner discussion that seems to be missing is that losing Ovie Mughelli impacted the Falcons ability (inability) to run effectively. Not to mention poor offensive line play.

The AJC’s Jeff Schultz points out that Turner has a significant cap hit that cannot be overlooked:

Turner is scheduled to make $5 million in salary next season, but has a cap hit of $7.5 million (factoring $2.5 million for his original signing bonus).

True enough and Schultz didn’t weigh in a strong opinion for keeping or moving (or dropping) Turner.

ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas points out that it is unlikely that ATL will get much return (in the way of draft pick compensation) for the aging Turner:

If they went this route, you’d like to see the Falcons get a nice draft pick in return. But, for all the reasons we covered above, I’d have a tough time seeing another team give up an early draft pick for an aging running back. At best, the Falcons might be able to get a middle- or late-round pick for Turner. That team also would have to pick up a contract that would pay Turner $5 million in 2012 and $5.5 million in 2013, so I’d say a late-round pick is a more likely scenario.

Simply cutting Turner isn’t totally out of the question. He’s scheduled to count $7 million against the 2012 salary cap. But I just checked the specifics of his contract. The Falcons would take a $4 million cap hit if they cut Turner. But they’d also free up $3 million in cap space.

I don’t think it is realistic to talk about moving Turner until there is some decision made on Jason Snelling (also a Free Agent). If the Falcons resign Snelling, I think that will point to a Turner move (one way or the other). Of course they resigned Snelling last year, so I could be totally off base.

I just don’t see the Falcons getting anything in return for Turner, and it would be disappointing if they just dropped him, but freeing up $3 million in cap space may allow the Falcons to push for more pressing needs.

Sega Takes Upskirt To Next Level

I love it when mainstream media picks up on videogames. Usually they only do because of blood, sex, and violence. Those crazy Japanese developers are at it again …

The most basic game measures how hard the user can urinate. Others involve the user removing graffiti from a wall and creating wind within the game, that then blows up the skirt of a female character on the screen.

Nothing like being rewarded with an upskirt just for doing your business … and offering up a few Yen.

WTF – Koetter Hire As OC Not Exactly Inspiring

Seriously. WTF were the Falcons thinking hiring Dirk Koetter (former OC for the Jacksonville Jaguars) for their vacant OC position?

The Jaguars have had some obvious personnel deficiencies. The organization was a mess and head coach Jack Del Rio clearly had lost his effectiveness. But it’s safe to conclude Koetter was not viewed as anybody’s “hot” candidate.

Two factors may have played into this hiring: 1) Smith wanted somebody he is comfortable with, and in this case that’s somebody he has worked with; 2) The Falcons’ third straight immediate playoff exit has, for the first time, put some heat on Smith, and that perceived uncertainty sometimes affects a team’s ability to hire a high-profile candidate.

Good Lord and good grief, I hope this turns out well, but at first glance, this hire is not exactly “I will renew my season ticket holder status” inspiring.

Please let me eat my words …

Ding, Dong, Mularkey is Gone …

What is the cause of that joyful noise you hear from Flowery Branch and across Falcons Nation (if there is such a thing)? Why it is the great news that Jacksonville has hired away Falcons Offensive Coordinator Mike Mularkey.

I love this summary from The Falcoholic, which was originally going to be an article centered on why the Falcons must dump their much maligned OC.

…this is the best outcome for the team. They didn’t have to fire Mularkey, but they still jettisoned the offensive coordinator who presided over arguably one of the most embarrassing playoff performance in the team’s tortuous history. That failure was striking, yes, but it was also an indictment of what a Mularkey-led offense had become: Incapable of winning big games. The team can now truly evolve from its days of a ground-heavy focus and short passing game to something more dynamic, which they did only half-heartedly in 2011. That’s the hope, anyways.

…

Give the team credit for having enough class to let Mularkey go get a good job instead of sabotaging him, and kudos to Mularkey for finding a head coaching gig.

Now the Falcons can go full steam ahead into the off season looking for two new coordinators. That is a lot of change to absorb going into 2012, but maybe, just maybe, Coach Mike Smith and GM Thomas Dimitroff will get it right, and hire a couple of bright coordinators that will bring new life into the franchise.

It is a good problem to have. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back winning seasons, with three playoff appearances. Unfortunately, all three playoff games have proven to be disappointments. The Falcons do a solid foundation upon which any OC or DC should be able to build, and hopefully get us over the hump.

Good luck Mularkey. To the Jaguars, you poor gullible bastards, hope it turns out to your liking.

Go Falcons.

NCAA – The Tale of Two Transfers

Why is a 1,000 yard rusher released from his scholarship, allowing Michael Dyer to transfer from Auburn to Arkansas St., however a bench warming center cannot freely transfer from St. Joseph’s to Alabama Birmingham?

O’Brien averaged 1.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.2 minutes last season for Saint Joseph’s. He missed four games while the university investigated his potential role in a teammate’s theft of a computer laptop. That investigation cleared O’Brien of any wrongdoing.

Clearly O’Brien, much like Dyer, had a falling out with his head coach. Unlike Dyer, O’Brien is not all that, but his former school is going to make him sit out a full year. Just because. Why?

I understand that the NCAA is deferring to St. Joseph’s wishes, but this is clearly wrong. Once again the NCAA shows it has its collective head stuck up its ass. Just amazing.

Falcons Coordinator Shakeup

Sort of. I was not expecting DC BVG to be the first ATL coordinator out the door. That was kind of surprising. I always thought that VanGorder a good job of working with what was available. Mind you, I’m not saying BVG is irreplaceable; I think the Falcons should be able to make an improvement. Really depends on how respected Head Coach Mike Smith is among the coaching ranks … about to find out shortly. My guess is that the Falcons will come out better. Everyone likes a shot at stability and that has been the mantra of the Falcons under Smith.

In other news, there is a least one site making the case for Falcons OC Mike Mularkey. LMFAO.

Post-Christmas Shopping – I have an OC deal for you.

Please, please, please Jacksonville or anyone else, take Mularkey.

Contrary to popular belief, not every team loses because of its offensive coordinator. (Or defensive coordinator, depending on the setting.) It is clear, however, that Mike Mularkey isn’t the man to maximize this personnel in the video arcade of neo-football. There’s a chance he’ll be hired away as someone else’s head coach. If he isn’t, it’s time for the Falcons to try somebody new.

It wasn’t Mularkey’s fault. Honest. Never has been. Everyone knows that the buck stops with the Head Coach, and Ryan sucks. Honest. Please take Mularkey … anyone?

Another SEC BCS Title

At least for one more year, the SEC is still the top flight conference on the face of God’s Green Earth. Nice. Too bad the Dawgs failed to participate in the conference stomping activities.

SEC Winners: Arkansas (Cotton), Florida (Gator), Auburn (Chick-fil-A), Mississippi St. (Music City)

SEC Losers: Georgia (Outback), Vanderbilt (Liberty). Let’s face it, Georgia screwed up. It’s really hard to say they got outplayed. They were out coached, but not outplayed.

Vanderbilt was 6-6 (2-6 SEC), so they received a Bowl invite just because someone felt sorry for the Commodores. That or there were not enough teams to fill out the full plate of Bowl match-ups.

BCS: Alabama or LSU. SEC fans always say that SEC schedules forces teams to cannibalize and beat each other up. Case in point, tonight an SEC team will fail to win the Championship at the hands of another SEC team. I know that’s just rubbing salt into the wounds of non-SEC fans. I guess I am not so nice that way.

Wait until next year? Missouri (Independence), and Texas A&M (Texas) may not be SEC stalwarts (honey please; dripping with sarcasm) until next year. Just saying that they also won.

Go Dawgs!

Falcons Embarrassed 24-2

The Giants totally, absolutely, and completely demoralized the Falcons on their way to a 24-2 rout. I have written about it multiple times this year – how can the Falcons not manage a f’ing yard on 3rd and 4th and short?

I don’t think this failure debate should center on Matt Ryan being a 0-3 failure in the playoffs. Of course that will be the hot topic, but really how can the focus not be on getting a new OC?

I can understand real life – Mike Mularkey probably has a family, bills to pay, and feelings. But Good Lord, there has to be some change. Let’s start there.

There are too many grievances to point out, but how about the simple fact that the Falcons were scared at the end of the first half, apparently happy to go in with a 7-2 deficit instead of attempting to get some more points on the board. In a low scoring game, how do you leave 20+ seconds on the table when you have a full slate of timeouts?

Next up – get an o-line that can actually manage a yard. Of course the Falcons went all in on Julio, so no first round pick to bail us out come April. Awful. Not a surprise since it has been the theme all year, but that still does not make it any easier to swallow.

As I write this Tebow just threw a nice 30 yard TD strike; WTF were our 30 yard passes? The “big” story this off season was big play ability, which was the reason for going after Julio. When Ryan did have time, I guess everyone was covered – credit the Giants. Still, why not try something; Harry D in the slot maybe?

I take little solace in being wrong on Matt Bosher. The Falcons won the putting game thanks to the ever improving Bosher who managed 322 total yards on 7 punts, good for a net avg. of 42 yards per punt. Nice; Falcons don’t totally suck.

What a bitter and disappointing way to end the season.

Georgia Has Miserable Outback Bowl

I was too distraught (pissed off would be a better description) after yesterday’s 33-30 3OT debacle to Michigan St. to bother throwing up (literally) and article on the disappointing day.

The game was indicative of everything that has been wrong with Georgia over the last 2-3 years. No, I’m not forgetting the nice little 10 win run, but the book-ends of two losses at the start and end of the season are really hard to swallow. Especially when you consider that things could have been different if the Bulldogs had one ounce of creativity.

And again, playcaller Mike Bobo seemed incapable of adjusting to the realities of what was happening on the field and stubbornly stuck with what wasn’t working.

With the middle of the Spartan’s defensive line as solid as a brick wall, Bobo continually called for runs up the middle — often with delays that turned into tackles for loss since State was getting into the Georgia backfield so quickly. Early on, Georgia was able to have some running success on the outside, but once MSU adjusted to stop that, the Dogs basically were no threat on the ground.

I kept yelling at the TV – run a f’ing pitch, toss, or sweep play. Go side-to-side for gosh sakes, and stop going up the middle because we were getting manhandled. In general the play calling was terrible.

Georgia coach Mark Richt has often been criticized for being too conservative, and it almost cost him, as he ran just two plays after Bacarri Rambo’s interception before sending Walsh out for the 42-yard field goal attempt on Georgia’s first overtime possession. Walsh missed, and Michigan State eventually won in triple overtime … after a Walsh kick that was blocked.

…

For Georgia, this loss will sting for a while. The conservative play calling late and the missed field goal likely will be brought up a lot with this team.

I hope the Dawgs find a running game this offseason, and get creative on offense. One can always hope …

Go Dawgs!

Record Day for Falcons

Hapless Bucs or not, yesterday’s 45-24 destruction of Tampa Bay was a record setting day for the Falcons, and earned ATL the #5 seed in the playoffs. Records broken:

42 first half points; most every in a half.

Ryan single season passing yards pushed Jeff Georgia out of the top spot.

Turner now holds the career rushing TD mark.

Roddy White (another game with a dropped pass) earned the all-time receiving yards record.

Next up, the Giants; NY is currently favored by 3 points (i.e. home field advantage). Depending on which ATL team shows up, the Falcons have a realistic chance of advancing. ATL could be one and done, but I still would rather play the inconsistent Giants than go back to New Orleans for the first game.

Go Falcons!

Falcons Host Buccaneers – Does It Matter?

It will suck for me if I take the 90 minute trip to ATL only to find out that the Lions wrapped up the 5th spot, and the Falcons decide to treat this New Year’s Day game like a 3rd preseason game.

Of course we will enjoy the beautiful weather (60’s with plenty of sunshine), tailgate, delicious adult beverages, and all the general fun that goes into an afternoon of family tailgating.

Landing the 5th or 6th spot is probably equivalent to having to decide [… pick your poison … I was going to make some reference to sisters and fat girls, but decided it wasn’t very funny …] It’s not going to matter if this ATL team has to travel to San Fran or New Orleans. And I doubt that they will make the NFC Championship game, so heading back to Detroit is probably not in the cards either.

Unless Green Bay plays their starters and gives the Falcons a shot at the 5th seed (we will know before our 4PM kickoff), I think ATL is going to rest everyone after the 1st QTR, which means Ryan better get to work quickly …

Erasing Jeff George: Like the Saints, the Falcons also are saying they’ll play their starters. Let’s hope that’s true and let’s hope Matt Ryan at least plays long enough to throw for 73 yards. If he does, he’ll set the franchise record for passing yards in a season. The record is 4,143 yards and it was set by Jeff George in 1995. No team should have George at the top of its record book for 16 years.

Jeff George. What an awful memory.

Go Falcons!

Texas hooks turnovers into Holiday celebration. UGA Escapes Bama in 2012.

That was a nice 21-10 win for Texas Wednesday night over Cal in the Holiday Bowl. By nice I mean, at least Texas won. Unlike the pathetic showing by the Falcons on Monday Night Football …

Yes the Saints are good, but 45-16 is disgraceful. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I suspect that the Falcons’ win percentage is sub 0 when Ryan has to chunk the ball 50+ teims.

Bitch and Moan Session: How can ATL’s D not even bother to show up on third down? Special teams (kickoff and punt return coverage) also completely sucked. Roddy cannot hold onto the freaking rock. Untimely penalties (as if there is every a good time to rack up 7). Last, but certainly not least, the offense still cannot convert a solitary yard on 4th f’ing down.

I digress, back to Texas …

And as Mack Brown said, “There is a huge difference between 8-5 and 7-6.”

Agree. 8 is higher than 7. Hopefully Texas will recruit a Championship caliber QB. I saw screw it; throw ‘em in as a true freshman because I doubt that David Ash (or even Case McCoy) will make some major off season improvements.

“We’re not throwing Gatorade,” he said. “We’re not jumping up and down and screaming.

“But hopefully this is a step forward.”

To illustrate his point, Brown pointed to 2003 and ’07. Texas played in the Holiday Bowl both years. In 2004, Texas was in the Rose Bowl. In 2005, it was in the national title game. The progression was the same in 2008 and ’09. [Source: Same as previous]

The difference was that those teams had a decent QB situation, unlike this current squad. I still say Hook ‘em, but Good Lord, without a decent QB, Coach Brown is going to have a long 2012 campaign.

UGA Skips Out On Bamma …
And LSU, and Arkansas, and anything else worth a lick in the SEC West. If you are a Dwags fan, you have to like the way the 2012 schedule falls.

Back to the here and now. I skipped out on Bowl predictions this year, but I expect UGA to win, covering the 3.5. Love this article from the AJC:

Georgia has had a good week. There has been no news of academic suspensions — fill in name of oft-speculated freshman running back — and I think the Dogs already have clinched the 2012 SEC East title, given Alabama has been dropped from the Hostess-wrapped schedule.

Here’s a nice consolation prize for having their limbs ripped off by LSU: sunshine (Outback Bowl) and Michigan State (good defense but No. 60 offense). And to think, 12 months ago, Georgia was losing to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl.

A season completed in the alternate universe: Dogs cover 3½.

Funny. Any week where players are not suspended is a good week in my book. It’s bad when it comes to keeping score of which players didn’t toke on lefty wacky weed, which ones didn’t get an unnecessary traffic violation, which ones didn’t get a night in the county jail for underage drinking and bar fighting, and so on and so forth.

Go Dawgs!

Vita – To 3G or Wi-Fi?

Speaking of Christmas, I have been having dreams and visions of a Vita dancing in my head. Alas, I am not going to import, so the wait continues for few more weeks. Which version will I get?

I have multiple pre-orders with Amazon. An early edition bundle, Wi-Fi version, and of course the dreaded ‘how much will AT&T screw me over on pricing’ Wi-Fi + 3G version.

If I decide to go with an AT&T 3G contract, I will get the First Edition Bundle, which has the advantage of a memory stick, storage case, and a game. Honestly, I could care less about Little Deviants, but it is nice to get a bundled game. Interesting enough, Amazon no longer shows the memory stick as part of the bundle.

Still time to decide, cancel orders, and watch the Japanese Vita news and updates. Sony will fix Remote Play and support PSOne classics before the U.S. launch, right?