On the Fourth of July, Uggla was hitting .173/.241/.327. Over the remainder of the season, he hit .301/.386/.596. Uggla’s massive hot streak, highlighted by a 33-game hitting streak, helped keep the Braves afloat while some other guys were struggling, and brought his season numbers up to a respectable level (.233/.311/.453), even though it was still the worst year of his career and not really what the Braves expected.
That being said, he led the team in homers, RBI, and runs scored. In large part, this is because he led the team in games played, missing only one. Given the injury problems of some of the Braves’ bellweather players, Uggla’s ability to stay in the lineup is a big help.
He’s a bad second baseman; the Braves took a pretty big hit replacing Martin Prado with Uggla. You might be willing to take the poor range if he offered something else, or was at least one of those “makes the plays he should” guys, but he fielded .980; the league average at the position was .985.
I wonder if lifestyle issues contributed to his early struggles. New hometown, newly divorced, rumors of trysts, et al. Can’t be proven, obviously, but I find the notion of a lack of restfulness throwing off a batter’s fine tuning somewhat compelling. Think about it…did Melky Cabrera need to get his fat ass to the Midwest to concentrate on baseball? Was it an accident that Matt Kemp was terrible in 2010, when he and Rihanna were an item? For that matter, do you ever EVER bet against the Hawks in a Sunday home game that starts before 2 PM? (hint — no, you do not)
@1
There is a human element to the game that a lot of people don’t take into consideration
Can the Braves afford to have a questionable defensive SS along with Chipper and Uggla? Here is the runs saved for 2011 by position.
http://www.draysbay.com/2011/11/10/2550842/team-runs-saved-by-position
There is a rumor floating around today that the Braves and Angels were close to an Izturis/Lisp swap, but the Braves wanted the Angels to eat $2 mil of Izturis $4 mil contract.
Dont think Im buying that one or Liberty Media really has put the clamps down on the budget. Next year is going to be a scary offseason if Liberty is still the owner. Im sure when they see $40 mil coming off the books that they may want to allocate those funds into a different investment and they may cut payroll.
@3 Should I beleive the chart or my eyes that watch my TV scene?
I’d say that any chart that reveals Mark Reynolds and Derek Jeter as the two worst full-time position holders on defense at least passes the sniff-from-a-mile-away test.
Mark Reynolds would have been a sabermetric darling 25 years ago, due to the walks and power. But now it can be told…you can have those two attributes, and still be kinda lousy.
But I probably shouldn’t be talking this way in the context of a Dan Uggla comment thread….
Im not a saber guy, so I dont know if you put more stock into the runs saved or the UZR type defensive stats. I thought AAG had a down year defensively, but this suggest otherwise. According to this chart it would be scary going from AAG saving 12 runs to Theriot losing 19.
Not sold on defensive metrics. Any methodology that says Freddie is a below average defensive first baseman is inadequate on its face.
Give me last year’s defensive Dan Uggla anytime (assuming he produces offensively as he did in the second half). Certainly not great, but adequate and a complete win when you factor in his power.
Please tell me it isn’t true that $2 million was enough to keep us from obtaining Izturis. I hate Liberty Media.
————-
Saw “V for Vendetta” for the first time last night. Fascinating. Paranoid and delusional, but fascinating.
Here’s why I should be the Falcons’ GM:
We need to trade Matty Brain Freeze for as much O-Line help as we can get and sign the soon-to-be-released Peyton Manning.
Super Bowl here we come.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
You have to give to get, but I would miss the Lisp.
Martinez for Izturis would be a good move both ways, assuming the Angels think Trumbo would be successful at third. Then Callaspo and Izturis have roughly the same role on the team, and it makes sense to flip Izturis for relief help.
The Angels probably won’t take on any of the salary, though. There are plenty of teams who could use an Izturis.
@4
That twitter guy, Scott Swaim, reported that scenario 2 days ago. His info still might be bogus, but he sure is getting to a ton of rumors before the other guys.
Of all the crazy Braves trade rumors this offseason, this makes the most sense. With Medlen back, it’s flopping a surplus for a need on both ends. They just have to get the money right.
#11 – Yeah, Izturis is worth a $4 mil salary and I dont know why they would eat any of that contract. We’ve cut Nate, KK, Linebrink, Cheryl, and $5 mil of Lowe’s salary off the books and now we cant cover a $4 mil SS salary? Tough times…
Uggla’s defensive shortcomings didn’t seem to really hurt the team that much. Of course,you can never know what games they might have won with better defense.
The Braves seem to me a pretty odd team. They aren’t particularly athletic–to the extent that means much, they are slow for the most part, and not particularly good defensively. And they don’t score a lot of runs. How have they managed to win 91 and 89 games the last two years? I guess pitching is the answer but this is a hard team to figure out.
The Falcons would have been better off getting shut out than scoring a safety. At least, they wouldn’t have been unique in being the only team in playoff history (I think I heard)to have a score of two.
The only reason they might pay some of it is because Martinez is pre-arb. Even with the $2 million, both sides come out ahead. The only question is if the Angels can get more for him elsewhere.
Braves’ official site headline:
“Big moves by Nats, Marlins put heat on Phillies”
It seems that the team’s own website has to report on the happenings of the NL East as a whole, because the Braves aren’t really doing anything.
@15
One hidden key to their success in 2010 was hitting doubles. Doubles are a routinely overlooked aspect of power hitting, and the Braves led the league with 312. They were also the first team in history to have 15 players hit 11 or more doubles.
In and of itself, athleticism isn’t a huge deal in building a baseball team. Obviously, you want athletic guys playing defense up the middle, but other than that, I think it’s pretty much fine to go with John Kruk types: “Lady, I ain’t an athlete, I’m a ballplayer.”
Are we talking Maicer? Is he a a good fielder? His offense looks positively Aaronian compared to AGon.
Let’s go Fra-ank *clap*clap**clapclapclap*
Please, add someone, release someone, something.
#20 – Yes, he’d be an upgrade over what we had offensively last year and will be an upgrade over Pastornicky. He’s worth LISP or Varvaro, with us paying his full salary.
Falcons lost a good one today. Brian Vangorder hired as Auburn DC. Good hire for Auburn.
HOF – Larkin
Larkin 86.4
Morris 66.7
Bagwell 56.0
Smith 50.6
Raines 48.7
Trammell 36.8
Martinez 36.5
McGriff 23.9
McGwire 19.5
Mattingly 17.8
Murphy 14.5
@23
Huge get for Auburn. It looks like Tennessee may have me to be D Coordinator. Not sure I want the job.
I guess the Falcons were so mad at Matt Ryan that the fired their Defensive Coordinator. Sheesh.
I have no idea why Mr. Blank let Malarkey board the plane home.
@26 Agreed, Malarky has got to go.
I’m so relieved Auburn made a good hire.
Can’t believe Bagwell isn’t in the HOF yet.
A lot of things went wrong for the Falcons yesterday, from the top down.
FWIW, it’s obvious that the Falcons are not an elite team, but it is somewhat alarming that (for the past 2 seasons, at least) they picked the playoffs to play their worst game of the season.
Last year, they made crippling mistakes (like Ryan’s end-of-half INT), but reality says they were probably not going to win that game (because they never stopped Green Bay). This year, it was a much closer matchup. Bottom line: They couldn’t make their little plays & couldn’t stop the Giants’ big ones.
Predictions for tonight? I’ll go Bama 13-10 & a lot of pissed-off people.
Is this the game where Bad Jordan shows up?
LSU 22-Bama 13
Bama 21-17
3-2 Not sure who gets the FG
I know many have mentioned next year’s ballot, but there are going to be some good candidates left off ballot because of the vote for 10 max rule.
My ballot would probably be:
Bonds
Clemens
Piazza
Bagwell
Raines
McGwire
Edgar
Biggio
Trammell
Schilling
Which leaves off these that I’d consider voting for:
Sosa
McGriff
Lofton
Murphy
Palmeiro
And gives me no room to even consider:
Bernie
Mattingly
Morris
Smith
Wells, David
I predict we lose Palmeiro and Bernie.
LSU 17-14
If Hall voters were thinking ahead, they would have gone ahead and elected Raines and Bagwell, who will get in eventually, to clear space for the log jam of the next couple of years.
Warming up to the idea(s) of trading JJ for prospects, trading extra bullpen piece for Izturis, keeping Prado, and signing Cody Ross.
That’s good, there are some healthy jumps for a lot of guys I like.
Alan Trammell: 24.3% to 36.8%
Tim Raines: 37.5% to 46.8%
Jeff Bagwell: 41.7% to 56%
Much more modest gains for Edgar Martinez, who climbed from 32.9% to 36.5%. He reached 36.2% in 2009, his first year on the ballot, so he’s stayed really flat, and he’ll need some major help. But Raines and Bagwell are definitely going to make it, and if Trammell can keep his forward momentum he’ll have a great shot, too.
@37 I don’t understand why the HOF voters punish Edgar for being a DH. The DH rule exists, he performed the function of the DH amazingly well, and he needs to be recognized for it. You can’t punish him for not playing in the field because he was put in a position where he didn’t have to.
@1 – Totally agree about Hawks Sunday games. My friends and I call it Magic City Sweat. As in “LeBron just went 2 for 17 that half because he’s building up that Magic City Sweat.”
LOL I’m definitely stealing that one, DJ.
How not to read the tea leaves: I put money on LSU when the line first came out. It was LSU -1, and I had to pay extra juice to get it. It is now Alabama -2.5. Since it’s the natl championship game, this can’t be solely due to the Alabama effect that Mac has described….
Today’s search request highlight: “proctors spiral of futility”.
@38
Though I’m an NL guy through and through, I have a tough time believing the greatest DH in history shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. You can’t just pretend the position doesn’t exist.
14-10 Bama. Alabama will win only because of the outrage it would cause.
Vinny Castilla received 6 HOF votes.
@42 – I don’t even know where to begin with that. That’s a good name for a band? What does the guy with the worst job at the SAT’s do? What’s the name of the camp where Tim Tebow learned his mechanics? Something to do with Proctor? (no, too hideous to consider…)
Pretending the DH doesn’t exist and valuing it differently than a position player are different arguments.
Edgar very well may be electable, but I don’t think he’s a slam dunk.
I agree, he’s not a slam dunk. In fact, my guess is he won’t get in. But he should be a slam dunk. I mean, why are there any catchers in the HOF? No catcher has good enough numbers to be in if position weren’t taken into account. DH is a position.
@48-
I think the key is, positional effects usually mitigate weaknesses in a HOF candidate’s claim; but in the case of a DH, they exacerbate them (in Edgar’s case, durability, I suppose).
Well, this is snorefest 2.0.
@46 – Hahaha that was great, Rusty.
Pulling for Alabama for Mac
…and to delegitimize the bcs.
Please don’t even say “Honeybadger don’t care” again Brent Mussberger.
Please.
Please don’t ever say “Honeybadger don’t care” again Brent Mussberger.
Please.
What a riveting game.
Whoever started this “gunner” meme should be killed.
Les deserves to be fired if he puts Jefferson back out there. That’s an exaggeration, but damn.
Jefferson is doing just fine Bethany.
@57 Well you guys do love your NCs when there’s no opposing QB 😛
Shut up with the gunner thing already!
Mussberger is making my ears bleed.
I have to say, this is an amazing performance by the Alabama defense. Really something. I don’t think anyone could have gotten much against them tonight.
Split championship my ass.
Congratulations. Mac.
I’ll always remember Nick Saban as the guy who chose Daunte Culpepper instead of Drew Brees.
Well that worked out well for everyone but the Dolphins, and I hate the Dolphins.
#64 – Ha. Ill remember him for these two NC’s. I hope he retires at Bama, but if he doesnt then I’ll thank him for what he’s done. Best coach in College Football.
Roll Tide!
Chipper feels the same way…”To Frank (Wren’s) credit, he has stood fast. I guess really the only deal I’ve heard of all offseason was Adam Jones (whom the Orioles reportedly wanted to package for Prado, Jair Jurrjens and two premium prospects), and that was just flat out ridiculous, what they were asking for him.”
@64 I will always remember the Falcons could have both Brees and Tomlinson instead of Vick.
@62 Congrats. Now the Braves can go on to win the World Series.
Well just read the Q & A with Chipper over on AJC .. his kneee is already hurting and we will be stuck with a limping 100 game player who shoulda gave it up 2 years ago .. again preventing us from getting some offense while he brings down his 15 mil cause he cant relaize the braves would be better off if he retired …
Congrats Mac and other Bama fans. That was a dominating performance.
Reading the Q & A from Bowman and when he talks about Chipper’s decision to keep playing he mentions this little nugget:
“Dating back to June 15, 2010, the day he opted to delay potential retirement, Jones has led the Braves in batting average (.283) and slugging percentage (.483). His .355 on-base percentage during this span ranks second to the .358 mark Brian McCann has posted.”
We don’t have one guy with an OBP over .360 over than timeframe. This is the problem with this team, they don’t value the right things. Just to beat a dead horse, Yunel last year had a .369 for Toronto.
The guy that I’ve been following on twitter that is unconfirmed Latin American source says that he thinks the Garza trade goes down today with serious prospects coming from Detroit.
He also says that the Orioles are now officially out on Jurrjens.
@70
Not necessarily a fair observation as the Braves led the league in OBP in 2010, canned their hitting coach after an unsuccessful 2011, and hired 2 new hitting coaches to fix ’10’s problems.
Honestly, I’d just assume they keep JJ at least to start the year and see how the injuries play out. Could also build some more value for JJ as he’s had a couple of hot starts in his career and would give more seasoning time for Teheran and Delgado, not to mention possibly delaying the arb clock on one or both of them. Always liked JJ anyway.
I want this team to be upgraded, but every trade offer thats been reported shows Wren isnt getting good offers for Prado or JJ. Keep em both, but sign Ross and find a SS.
Ted Roof to Penn St as DC
I wondered when The Mule-Headed Hatter would pay the price for playing Jordan Jefferson. Looked more like George Jefferson.
Oh well, now he can devote full time to being a shoe model.
————————
Dusty – good find. There will come a day when the Chipper detractors are finally correct. But today is not that day. Thank goodness he decided to keep playing.
I find it odd that the criticism of the offense on Sunday is falling on Matt Ryan, when it was the one game where (due to crowd noise) Matt Ryan never got to run the no-huddle and call his own plays.
You fire Mike Mularkey and replace Michael Turner with a back who can get two inches on fourth down.
@76
So, replace Michael Turner because of 2 inches, yet not blame Matt Ryan for a whole game’s worth of incompetence? How does that make sense? I’m not saying either is to blame, however it seems like both statements are highly irrational
I think the criticism is justified and its not based on this one game. He’s been in 3 playoff games now and never put up a QB rating higher than a 79, he’s never thrown for more than 200 yards in any of these games either.
3 Playoff Games
70 of 110, 584 yards 3TD 4INT
Blame should be spread around, but he deserves his share.
And how is it that Bama never put that cocky LSU punter on his ass?
And how is it that the cocky LSU punter was allowed to play in college after playing (I assume) professionally in Australia? And don’t tell me it’s a different game.
#79 – 21-0. Making him trot out on the field 9 times was good enough.
@77
Turner is three years into the “featured back” role and started late. He’s at the tail end of an NFL running back’s lifespan. And over the course of the season it was pretty clear he’s lost a step. If he has a hole, he can rumble through it. But if he doesn’t have five or six steps to build up a head of steam he’s not going to do any damage.
Matt Ryan isn’t an elite NFL QB (yet,) but he has the skills and if given the time he can hit the short and medium routes well enough. And he can hit a bomb every so often as well, again, given protection. He gets happy feet instead of moving in the pocket, which makes him a non-elite guy to date, but he can learn.
The problem is with the offensive game planning that builds around Turner as if he’s a featured back still and tries to pound out time-of-possession wins. With Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones and Gonzalez and Jacquizz Rogers as possession dump down options, the Falcons should be pass first all the time. That’s on Mularkey.
@81
I tend to agree with you when it comes to football, and it’s no different here. Matt Ryan is a step below elite, but he’s 26 and has shown some real improvement in each of the past two years. Three playoff games are only three games, after all, and in football, unlike in baseball, it’s very difficult to disentangle a single player’s performance from the larger scheme and his teammates’ play. I also saw some awful drops on Sunday, and thought, as usual, that the gameplan was uncreative and predictable. The second sneak was a horrorshow of incompetence all around.
I’m eager to see how Ryan looks in a new offense. I’m also hopeful that they bring back Douglas and include both him and Rogers more forcefully in whatever that new scheme is. I just don’t think, however, that the Falcons will be able to address the RB situation before dealing with their many free agents–Lofton, Abraham, McClure, Grimes, DeCoud, Douglas, Snelling, etc.–so it may well be that 2013, not 2012, is the year we see Turner replaced.
81 & 82 – I was preparing to post something very similar until I saw these comments.
Suffice it to say, “I agree.”
http://memegenerator.net/Hipster-Greg-Maddux
I’m not a Falcons’ fan and I can honestly say that I’ve probably watched 2 Falcons’ games this year, but I don’t understand the complaint on Turner. He averages 4.5 ypc, he rarely fumbles, and he stays on the field. What’s not to like? It sounds as though the Falcons should look for a change of speed back to add to Turner, not to replace Turner. They had no real running threat on the team other than Turner.
No one is saying Ryan should be replaced; they are pointing out that he’s played very poorly in his 3 playoff games.
83—I join you three.
And Matt Ryan was not near the top of the list of problems from this past Sunday.
It’s hard to play well as a QB when you’re constantly in 3rd and long because you’ve been stuffed on early runs that everyone knew were coming, and Tuck and Pierre have their ears pinned back against a weak offensive line.
@85
I agree, a good change of pace back would be great. This would be a perfect role for Reggie Bush.
The O-Line was terrible.
I’ve always found the back and forth on Ryan a little bit silly. Is he one of the very best quarterbacks in the game right now? No. Could he be one day? Maybe. Is he, at worst, perfectly adequate? Yes. Is it possible to win a Super Bowl with him? Yes. How many positions are a bigger question mark than quarterback right now, either in the short or long term? Almost all of them. Maybe not wide receiver, linebacker or punter, but that’s about it, and for linebacker to not be, we need to re-sign Lofton.
The implication for people who are complaining about Ryan more than with just an idle gripe here or there (and I feel that bringing it up two days after a playoff loss is more than just idly griping) is that he should be replaced. Otherwise, why even mention it? Everybody has seen and knows that he has had three mediocre-to-bad playoff games. There’s no point in bringing it up constantly if you’re not trying to imply that we should take a look at replacing him at some point.
And if you think he should be replaced, that’s fine. It is possible to find a better NFL quarterback than Matt Ryan. It’s just incredibly unlikely. Above average NFL quarterbacks do not grow on trees. If we made the short-sighted decision to give up on Ryan and start over, not only would we torpedo the team for the short-term, but it is highly likely that whatever quarterback we drafted or brought in would be noticeably worse than Matt Ryan. At least two-thirds of the current starting quarterbacks in the league are worse, after all. And we don’t have a first-round draft pick this year. And signing a free-agent quarterback is a really bad idea, especially with all the other positions of need we have.
So I guess that was a really long way of saying that I wish people would direct their griping towards positions that are actually a problem and stop bemoaning the fact that our quarterback is not Johnny Unitas. He doesn’t have to be, and you should probably find out how he operates under a different offensive coordinator before deciding that he sucks, and anyone who thinks that he does even right now is severely overreacting anyway.
@90 Well the Falcons have to get a real OC first :-/
Can anyone remember a time when the Falcons had a decent O-line? It seems all my life I have seen good QBs playing for the Falcons destroyed because there is never any protection for them. Look at Brees and Rodgers; they have an O-line that most of the time cannot be penetrated. Get Ryan an O-line and he will probably be fine. Oh, and replace Mularkey.
@91
Pretty sure we will have at least a different OC (TBD whether or not he’s “real”, obviously) next year. And if we’re stupid and bring Mularkey back, that’s hardly Ryan’s fault, either.
Matt Ryan sucks. The only thing the Falcons need to get back to the Super Bowl is Chris Chandler.
Obviously.
#92
It’s been awhile, but there was a time when the Falcons had Jeff Van Note, RC Thielemann, Mike Kenn, Warren Bryant & Co.
Last year’s O-line was among the best in the league.
Matt Ryan, whether your stat of choice is QBR or passer rating, is one of the top-5 to top-8 quarterbacks in the league. The ones ahead of him all have much more experience than him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan turns in to Rodgers a couple of years down the road. He isn’t the problem.
The loss of Harvey Dahl was huge for this team. They went from Dahl, who was top of the league for O-line, to Sam Baker and Will Svitek. That’s a hole.
Really? Id be very surprised if Matt Ryan turned into the NFL’s top QB.
In Aaron Rodgers 25 year old season, his first as a starter, he went 6-10.
In his 26 year old season he went 11-5 and lost the first round of the playoffs
In his 27 year old season he went 10-5, but become a much different (and elite) QB in the last four games of the season. His team won the Superbowl.
Peyton Manning went five years before he won his first playoff game in 2003. He was 27.
Matt Ryan turns 27 next year.
The problem is not Matt Ryan.
98,
I know, it’s hard to believe. But look at Tom Brady’s numbers from his age 26 season (the year the Patriots won the Super Bowl):
60.2% Completion
3620 Yards Passing
28-14 TD-INT
85.9 Rating
6.9 Yards/Attempt
Manning, Age 26
66.3% Completion
4200 Yards
27-19 TD-INT
88.8 Rating
7.1 Yards/Attempt
Drew Brees, Age 26
64.6% Completion
3576 Yards
24-15 TD-INT
89.2 Rating
7.2 Yards/Attempt
Matt Ryan, Age 26
61.3% Completion
4177 Yards
29-12 TD-INT
92.2 Rating
7.4 Yards/Attempt
I think it can be argued that Matt had the best age 26 season out of all of these QBs.
There are two main problems:
Ryan started playing at a much, much earlier age than most quarterbacks in the league. The majority of QBs are on the bench their first and second years, learning the playbook, etc., and then are put on the field later. This way, when they post ‘above-average’ numbers when they’re 25 or 26, they get lauded for their achievements. Matt is a 26 year old QB that is posting historically great numbers.
Second, related to the first, there are a very few QBs that are called ‘elite’ before they are 28 or 29. Matt has been playing for a while, but give him some time before saying that he never going to become one of the best. I would say that among all QBs, only Peyton Manning has had a better start to his career than Matt Ryan.
@100 Just wait till Cam Newton is 26 😛
Ryan had a very good second half of the season. Like, very good. After the bye week (and I’m including the playoff game in this total), he threw 20 touchdown passes to four interceptions. His passer rating during that period was 106. He went over 300 yards four times in the period to two prior to the bye, and he went over 100 on his passer rating six times during the period compared to once before. He didn’t throw an interception after December 4.
His detractors are kind of either ignoring that this happened or blaming it on the poor teams he faced during that stretch, and that second explanation is possible, but isn’t it equally possible that he genuinely is starting to figure it out? We’ll know more next year, obviously.
-104
That was nice and easy and very, very good. Is that a part out of a longer concert film or something?
I like Matt Ryan. He is clearly an above-average quarterback, and probably one of the 10 best starters in the league. I just wish that we would stop calling him “Matty Ice” when he has a knack for having his worst game of the season when the chips are down. He deserves all the credit in the world for making the Falcons a perennial playoff team. But right now he’s Steve Smith: a decent enough player who’s just good enough to lead us to a first-round loss.
Remember that Ryan’s 2011 numbers were posted in a year that saw 4 out of the top 6 season passing yards totals in history. He has a lot of positive attributes, but he doesn’t make plays with his feet, and his results on deep throws lag far behind the elite QBs. Those things aren’t likely to get better, and will probably keep him from being a top six QB. Am I a detractor if I know this and still like him? Teams have certainly won Super Bowls with lesser QBs than Ryan. He just needs help in the form of a better OL and a feature back who can catch the ball, and who doesn’t need a fullback to create holes for him.
I don’t know, Zig. I hope so.
I would like to see how he works with a new offensive coordinator before I jump into any conclusion on Ryan. It seems to me that Mike Mularkey is too conservative on how to use Matty. Maybe he knows Matty’s limitations and considers that’s the best way to utilize Ryan, but I wouldn’t know which is true at least until Ryan works with another coordinator.
Mike Mularkey is leaving. Thank goodness and good luck to the Jaguars!!!
http://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-falcons/2012/1/10/2698467/mike-mularkey-jacksonville-jaguars-coach
107,
I think that’s missing the fact. The reason behind the passing explosion in 2011 was historically great QB play by (in my opinion) three HOF locks: Brees, Brady, and Rodgers, and a Matt Stafford team with no running game to speak of that threw the ball an amazing 663 times (tops in the league). Saying that Matt’s stats should be valued less just because they occurred in a year where some upper-HOF pantheon QBs also had historic stats is an argument that does not make sense to me.
I agree with you that he’s not an elite QB yet. I don’t agree that his footwork and deep passes cannot get better. I’m saying, if I have to pick one guy in the league to enter the category of ‘elite’ QBs in the next couple of years, I’m going with Ryan. (Or maybe Newton)
110,
This day is as blessed as the day Francouer was traded.
Tomorrow, I head off to Philly for three days. I’ll check in from the hotel (I presume it has wi-fi) tomorrow night. Main stuff is in Thursday, but should be mostly routine.
@110
*confetti!*
To make my standpoint clear, I like Ryan a lot and I’m very glad he’s our QB, we’re lucky to have him.
@112 I’ll be thinking about you Mac, hope all goes well.
Godspeed, Mac.
Don’t take it personally if they boo you up there, Mac. It’s just their way.
(and good luck)
@112 All the best Mac.
Wishing you the best, Mac.
I don’t know if it means much when sad sacks like us lurkers and commenters at BravesJournal say that you’re in our prayers, but my 4-year-old son prays for your health (unprovoked) at family prayer. Just want you to know that we’re pulling for you.
@117, That is the sweetest thing this freethinker has heard in a while.
Best wishes, mac.
Love these writeups Mac. Thanks for doing them as always. Continued best wishes with your health, I hope you gain some comfort in all the people you have pulling for you.
Haven’t had much to post about this offseason, so I haven’t, but one thing from a previous thread I think is worthy of further discussion.
If the TV deals for both networks are done at the end of the year or the end of next year, and Liberty Media has no plans to sell the team, why wouldn’t they create some sort of Regional Sports Network to feature Braves programming? It is my understanding that they are in fact, a media company, and this would stand to make them a lot more money, which as far as I can tell is the only thing that Liberty Media cares about. It would seem like a natural fit for them to either create a Braves-centric channel, or continue the Root Sports brand that they/DirecTV own, perhaps a Root Sports Atlanta. Maybe I’m just dreaming, because this seems like the only hope that the payroll is going to be raised during the next decade is if a new revenue stream falls out of the sky.
Best to you, Mac, and here’s to a big road win in Philly.
Hey Mac, if you have any time or energy outside of the procedures give me a buzz. I’m in PHL through Thursday around noon.
He just needs help in the form of a better OL and a feature back who can catch the ball, and who doesn’t need a fullback to create holes for him.
This. I know the free agent situations will pretty much ensure that Turner is the featured back in 2012, but they need to pass first and run off of the pass rather than the Mularkey play-action sets up the pass system. All of Turner’s big runs, and all of his piled up yardage that makes his yard per carry average look good, were picked up on big holes in games the passing game had the linebackers on their heels. He can’t create his own holes (which he admitted when he asked for a leading fullback to block down for him.)
I’d like to see more of Rogers next year, because at least you can treat him as a fourth receiver out of the backfield.
New post.