mattlanta

Hey guys, new skin and all, it feels like I need a new look too. If anyone knows how to make sigs, I'd appreciate it if you can make me an Acie Law sig. Preferably in the color blue because I want it to kind of match the layout of Hawksquawk v.2. Thanks, I appreciate it.

I don't understand, the new skin is working fine for me.

Wow, this was a great forum before the skin change, and now, it's just a sexy great forum. I'm lovin the new look. Thanks!

graymule, can you please post in paragraphs and sentences instead of poetry form?

You seemed like a troll for a second there...

I'm in a horrible situation right now. I'm without Hawks TV. I can only watch them when they face either the Celtics or the Nets, because I live in Connecticut. What do you guys do when you can't watch a Hawks game? If it's not exactly meant for the soft ears, just PM it to me. I just need to find out a way to watch this young group of players grow as a team... it enrages me when I hear Player A had a good game and then Player B does this or that because I can't even see one clip of it!

The coin flip will be held on the NFL Combine day. Either day one or day two. The Combine begins on February 20. Here's to hoping Atlanta gets the third or fifth pick so we can trade down/draft Run DMC in the third or get Ellis in the fifth.

Congrats, Emmitt Thomas!

34-27 Patriots Brady MVP

Quote: Quote: Then only thing I can say is that one good game means little in the grand scheme of things. What did people want from them tonight? If they lose they extend their losing streak and lose an entire game on a team they are fighting to make the playoffs over. They win convincingly snapping the losing streak and people are still complaining. If they beat the Sixers I bet people will still complain. Hell would they have to beat the Sixers, Lakers w/ Gasol, and the Cavs for people just to avoid bashing? That's the wonder of fanhood. There will always be complainers who [censored] about the stupidest things even when their organization is winning. Hell, the Patriots fan base must be exploding with trolls now that the 'truth' has come out on the 2002 Super Bowl.

Quote: Smith doesn't have an attitude problem at all, did you see those behind the scenes video's I posted a few weeks ago? He is obviously good friends with the entire team. I did not see it, can you please show me?

It was in their part of the NBA section towards the back of the magazine. They brought the concern up that Smith might have attitude problems and will most likely not stay if Woodson isn't fired by next year. They mentioned we offered Smith $45 Mil/5 years towards the draft, and he rejected. What do you guys really think of "J-Smoov" and his possible character issues? And do you guys think we will really re-sign him or not? Just thought it was interesting when I was sitting on the toilet reading this what you guys would think.

I rethought it out and I can't edit my post so I will just say it I changed it by picking up Joe Flacco with our second second round pick, dropped Rice a round, and swapped T. Blake with D. Jackson.

Sorry for the BB Code, it was meant for forums like vBulletin and Invision Power Boards. I hope you guys can ignore them.

Thought you guys would like this. [Whoever watches Atlanta Falcons]. I wrote it for a couple of the forums I posted in, but I decided to post it here anyway. So here it is... 2008 Atlanta Falcons (Pre-Combine) Mock Offseason by Matt Libid January 25, 2008 It has been a while since I've done one of these things. I'm only forcing myself to do this because I promised you guys I would post a mock offseason once we hired a new head coach. Well, it seems like you want to know what I think of Mike Smith. Was he the best candidate on my list? I don't think so. I was looking for Spagnuolo. We waited this long to hire a head coach, why can't we just wait a week and a half longer? The scouting is mostly done by your scouting company anyways. However, I'm still happy about the hiring. At the date of this write-up, it looks like Mularkey will be our offensive coordinator and VanGordor has been hired as our defensive coordinator. I'd be all for Mularkey being our offensive coordinator, but can VanGordor really coordinate and call plays for this defense? He struggled in college, what makes Dimitroff think he will succeed in the NFL? Oh well, enough negatives. Now I will post my mock offseason. This was done in roughly one and a half days. The mock draft isn't the most detailed like my previous ones, but I tried my best to do as much as I can with a limited schedule and free time. I also didn't add the cut/resign part and my free agency has only one key signing because I didn't have time to think the contracts out. So if a player isn't on my depth chart, consider that player cut and released. That would mean you as well, Ookie Dookie, Ron Mexico, and Michael VIck. Anyways, without further ado... KEY SIGNING -OG Alan Faneca FR/Pittsburgh This makes the most sense to sign out of any of the free agents. Faneca is on a franchise tag from Pittsburgh and wants to get out of there as quickly as possible. We'll have enough money won from Michael Vick's contract to make a big splash through the free agency, and I think this is the 'splash' we'll all be looking forward to. Mike Smith and Mularkey share the same offensive gameplan with each other, and that is 'Smashmouth Offense'. To those who don't know what that means, it means we will be running the ball... a LOT. We'll have to solidify the entire offensive line this offseason if Mularkey wants to run the ball up the middle any time soon. Faneca is the right man, and he's not too old nor too young. DRAFT (1st Round [5]) DT - Sedrick Ellis - U.S.C. I'm just guessing we lose the coin toss and end up with the fifth overall pick behind Miami, St. Louis, Oakland, and Kansas. I see these players going in order: Dorsey, C. Long, McFadden, J. Long. That leaves us with no one to draft except... Sedrick Ellis! This defensive tackle from U.S.C. is the kind of defensive tackle that Mike Smith would want in his defense. Mike Smith's emphasized a big man in the defensive line when someone asked him about the draft in his introductory press conference. He wanted a man to 'stop the run' and 'rush the passer'. Ellis is one huge chunk of meat, and the picture alone can show you why he'd be a perfect nose tackle for us. (2nd Round [5]) OT - Chris Williams - Vanderbilt We missed Jake Long in the previous round because Kansas took him. Oh well, we take the next best valued offensive tackle that we can get in Chris Williams. He's a dominant left tackle who can block for the running game very well. Again I will emphasize our gameplan will most likely always going to be RUN THE BALL. Williams is the third best run blocker in this draft behind Jake Long and Jeff Otah IMO. He's yet to prove himself to be a valued first round pick, so he will fall to us relatively early in the second round. We don't pass up on him here having a big hole in left tackle. (2nd Round FR/Houston [18]) RB - Ray Rice - Rutgers Ray Rice decided to declare this year. Although he wanted to get to the NFL early, I think it was a pretty bad decision for him because he would end up being maybe in the second or third round. Luckily in this mock draft, Atlanta drafted him. The Falcons would be very lucky to grab a solid running back like Rice at this point of the draft. He's proved that he can be an NFL running back in the last game of his NCAA career. Rice is a great selection that I think would almost be perfect with Jerious Norwood and occasionally Jason Snelling. (3rd Round [5]) QB - Erik Ainge - Tennessee Matt Ryan wasn't worth our fifth overall pick. We will have to find our signal caller later in the draft in the second day. Erik Ainge is the kind of quarterback Tom Dimitroff has shown interest in. Some people like Henne and Booty more than Ainge, but I don't understand why. They say Henne is the best leader quarterback out of the 'later round QBs', but if he was such a great leader, how come Michigan did so bad this year? When Michigan was showing leadership, it was mostly coming from Mike Hart- their running back. Booty has durability issues in which I have no interest to take part in. Joe Flacco, if no one has really noticed, runs in a shotgun offense just like Brennan does. Although Delaware's version of the shotgun offense differs from Hawaii's, I would call it unfair for people to criticize Colt Brennan for being in an offense that buffs his stats or being in an offense that rarely makes him drop back. Joe Flacco runs in an offense that would give him the same negatives that Brennan is in except he's got the better body and slightly better arm. We'll be looking to draft here for a franchise signal caller that can stay durable and can turn out to be a solid quarterback. 3rd Round [COMPENSATORY] ILB - Beau Bell - U.N.L.V. Beau Bell's stock has fallen a tad bit because of his underachieving performances in the Senior Bowl practices and his minor injury during them. I don't think they're really huge, but team scouts will look for every little negative they can think of and bring the other inside linebackers higher in their draft board because of how close all the inside linebackers seem to be in this draft. Beau Bell is a huge linebacker (240 pounds), and Smith has said that that's the kind of linebacker that he wants. Beau Bell is one of the biggest linebackers we would be able to get in this draft, and he's very stout against the run. This would be a great valued draft pick for Atlanta if we draft Bell. (4th Round [5]) S - Tom Zbikowski - Notre Dame Despite a horrible senior season, I'm still ready to take all the hits I would need to if I say that Zbikowski is one of the best Notre Dame defenders ever. Zbikowski has 'leader' written all over him. If I were to choose a successor for Lawyer Milloy, it would be Zbikowski. He's a very versatile safety who makes solid hits and reads the offense very well. His draft stock has had to take its number of hits this year. However, I am still ready to say that Zbikowski is probably the most under-rated safety in this draft. This is my sleeper pick of the draft by the way. (5th Round [5]) DE - Tommy Blake - T.C.U. Defensive line was one of the least durable positions last year. John Abraham hasn't exactly been the most durable player in his career. I'm surprised he was able to play every game last season without having to suffer a serious injury. Although he should be applauded for such a feat for a player like him, I still think we can't trust Abraham to stay healthy. Blake is very much like Abraham, and he can be a solid back up for quite a while. I think he will be well liked in Atlanta because of his mixed speed, pass rush technique, and awareness of the field. (6th Round [5]) K - Art Carmody - Louisville We passed on Mason Crosby last year in the fifth round. We had the pick right after Green Bays' three consecutive sixth round draft selections and RIGHT before we drafted, Green Bay selected Mason Crosby from Colorado the pick exactly one pick before us. That greatly infuriated me when that happened. It got me even more annoyed when I saw how well Crosby has played for Green Bay. He is now the next best kicker in the NFL. Art Carmody is the best kicker for us in this draft. We certainly need someone to replace Morten Andersen. Carmody's the most accurate and consistent kicker in this draft, and that's the kind of kicker that we will need for a while now. Enough of the free agent kickers that we always have to bring and then cut in the preseason. A kicker is as important as any other position on the team, if not, more important. Think of the kicker as a closer for a major league baseball team. We will need someone who can kick at clutch moments, and I'd want 'Art-O-Matic' more than any other kicker. (7th Round [5]) WR - Dexter Jackson - Appalachian St. Every thing that Appalachian State has been through this year has been nothing short of incredible and amazing. Dexter Jackson's stock has skyrocketed ever since his punt and kick returns for Appalachian State. Jackson was going to be my sleeper pick of the draft, but I decided to add Zibby in the fourth round, and there goes that. However, I'm still ready to say that Jackson will end up being more important to us than anyone will expect because of his special teams contribution. Jackson's stock will go higher once he shows off his skills and displays them in the Senior Bowl, but I think he still has a shot at falling to us with an early seventh rounder. (7th Round FR/Pittsburgh [23]) FB - Jehuu Caulcrick - Michigan St. I hate to admit it, but Mughelli hasn't proved he was worth those free agent cash that we paid him in the past offseason. I would still give Mughelli the benefit of the doubt and let him start, but we've still got to think of the future, and I don't think Mughelli will be included in it. He's been almost invisible this year, and I think we need to bring someone in to compete for that starting job. Jehuu Caulcrick is a great blocker. He's just a pure blocker though, and I don't think he can run nor catch too well. This is a very late seventh round pick, so the boom-or-bust factor should not even be accounted for. DEPTH CHART -OFFENSE QB: Redman | Ainge | Leftwich RB: Norwood | Rice | Dunn | Snelling FB: Mughelli | Caulcrick | Snelling TE: Crumpler | Blakely | Milner WRy: White | Robinson | Jennings WRz: Jenkins | Horn | Jackson LT: Williams | Foster LG: Blalock | Batiste C: McClure | Datish RG: Faneca | Clabo RT: Weiner | Foster | Clabo Analysis: Obviously, for the quarterback position, we won't be starting Ainge until the EARLIEST Week 8. However, that's unlikely, and he will most likely sit out the entire year just learning the offensive playbook. I've stuck with Leftwich because of his connections with Mike Smith. Norwood and Rice will be our 1, 2, Punch combination this year, and Dunn will just be an occasional type of running back. He will mostly be tutoring and mentoring the young running backs like Rice and Snelling. Mughelli will stay fullback, but I can see Caulcrick be our starting fullback once his contract runs up. I've kept Snelling at both of his respectable positions because I still believe in him. I think he'll bust out next year, and we will become a better rushing team because of Mularkey's playcalling too. With his returning responsibilites taken away, I think Jennings can be a pretty solid wide receiver. For offensive line, Williams will obviously start because he won't need to sit anything out at all. Renardo Foster will be a very good back up. I'd like to keep Datish and see if he can become our starting center by Week 8. I'd still consider him a rookie this year considering he got a season-ending injury last year during training camp and didn't really get the chance to prove anything. However, before Doug Datish was injured, people were talking about him competing for the starting job against McClure, and that definitely shows a lot of heart IMO. I would love nothing more for Datish to start for us when he is ready. Clabo is an offensive guard, but in the past year, due to the serious number of injuries on our offensive line, we were forced to move him to the right tackle, and he did decently. However, I think his true position is at guard, but he still gives us valuable depth on our offensive line which is important to any team looking to solidify their offensive line and prevent injuries from plagueing the team. Weiner is an underrated tackle IMO, and he did well against Carolina's Julius Peppers and Seattle's Patrick Kerney. I think he deserves to stay on this team for just one year at least. -DEFENSE RDE: Abraham | Blake UT: Coleman | Babineaux NT: Ellis | Lewis LDE: Anderson | Davis SLB: Boley | Wilkins ILB: Brooking | Bell WLB: Williams | Nicholas LCB: Hall | Sanders | Grimes RCB: Houston | Irons SS: Milloy | Zbikowski | Stone FS: Williams | Stone Analysis: John Abraham bringing pressure from the right side of the defensive line, Coleman and Ellis stuffing the middle, and Anderson consistently being that run-stopping left defensive end that he is, I think this defensive line can go places. Our anchor lineman will obviously be John Abraham because without him, our defensive line will have no pressure to apply upon the quarterback. Blake will still not be ready enough to take over Abraham's duties until he's a second or third year player. Boley should be re-signed, and I can guarantee you that we will resign him. Beau Bell will sit out a year behind Brooking and will be shown the ropes in the NFL. The following year, Beau Bell will become the starter because I predict Brooking will retire. As for safety, I think Zibby gets the nod at the successor of Lawyer Milloy. However, Stone will still be able to play an important role in the defense as Jimmy William's back up and as the special teams' main gunner. I see Daren Stone as our future special teams warrior, and he's shown what he can do in special teams this year. I think our safety position will have a lot of value once we add Tom Zbikowski who has leadership. -SPECIAL TEAMS PK: Carmody H: Koenen P: Koenen KO: Koenen | Carmody KR: Jackson | Jennings PR: Jackson | Zbikowski S: Schneck Analysis: Nothing too special to see here. Carmody will place kick, Koenen will hold and punt, and Schneck will snap the ball. Dexter Jackson will be our new returner now, and he and Zbikowski will share the punt returning duties. Zibby didn't do bad in college returning for Notre Dame, so I think we should take advanntage of that value and make him return some kicks/punts. There you have it. I hope you guys enjoy, and I'd appreciate any feedback at all. I'm sorry if you disagree, but keep in mind that this is MY mock offseason, and if you want to draft or sign anyone else, make your own respectable topic. I appreciate all the readers. Reply with your opinion as soon as possible. This will be my final mock draft before the NFL Combine. Expect a new one a while after the Combine- maybe a week or two before the NFL Draft.

For some reason we always have to be hovering below the .500 winning percentage. One of our players has to step up in order for this team to even think about going to the playoffs.

That movie is so old now. Still funny, but still old.

Quote: Quote: I don't buy DVDs. I want to get into the habit of collecting them, but I'm too cheap and I rent movies from Blockbuster or have them deliver it to me. Are you retarded? I'm just poking fun here, but it's waay cheaper to buy them. Blockbuster usually has a 4 for 20 deal. Most pawn shops sell them even cheaper. I rarely buy new movies. They go down in price by 80% after a few months. And when the idea is to collect, a few months wait is really nothing. Why do you think I called myself cheap?

Here's a biography from AtlantaFalcons.com: Quote: The Atlanta Falcons named Thomas Dimitroff the club’s new General Manager on January 13, 2008. Dimitroff directs all aspects of football operations and, working with the new head coach of the Falcons, has final authority over all personnel decisions related to the signing of free agents, the selection of players in the NFL Draft, trades, terminations, and related decisions. He also handles coordinating other football-related activities with the head coach. Dimitroff reports to club President Rich McKay. “Thomas is a really bright football mind who comes out of the most successful franchise in sports today,” McKay said. “He has an excellent track record of evaluating players, and I certainly look forward to working with him.” An 18-year player personnel veteran, Dimitroff comes to Atlanta from the New England Patriots where he spent six seasons in total, and the last five as Director of College Scouting. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing area scouts who evaluate all of the nation’s college prospects while tracking the development and availability of drafted players. Many of the players responsible for New England’s NFL-best 17-0 record, following last night’s 31-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in an AFC Divisional Playoff game, were scouted, evaluated, and later drafted at Dimitroff’s recommendation. Some of those players include: CB Asante Samuel, S Brandon Merriweather, G Logan Mankins, C Dan Koppen, RB Laurence Maroney, TE Ben Watson, CB Ellis Hobbs III, DE Ty Warren, and NT Vince Willfork. During his five years as the Director of College Scouting, the Patriots had a 75-17 record, and they won the Super Bowl in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. For nine seasons prior to his tenure with New England, Dimitroff served in the scouting departments of three different NFL teams. His first NFL personnel opportunity came with the Kansas City Chiefs as a part-time scout in 1993. One year later, he was given a full-time opportunity as an area scout for the Detroit Lions where he served until 1997. Before being hired by the Patriots, Dimitroff worked in the scouting department of the Cleveland Browns from 1998-2001. Dimitroff can credit the beginning of his scouting experience to the Canadian Football League where he worked during the 1990 and 1991 seasons. In 1992, he moved to the World League where he scouted all NFL, CFL and World League rosters while tracking player transactions. He also served two seasons as the scouting coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Dimitroff played football throughout college and captained his team at the University of Guelph (Canada) from 1987-1989. He was born in Barberton, Ohio, and is the son of Tom Dimitroff, who was a long-time personnel scout for the Cleveland Browns and an original member of the Boston Patriots in 1960. Is it just me or does this guy look really easy to bully around? http://www.atlantafalcons.com/~/media/2371...88F5C46848.ashx (Can't seem to post a pic)

Quote: Quote: Quote: The Falcons (IMO) need smart leadership and stability. The #1 goal for the Falcons should NOT be a flashy draft pick and dreams of a superbowl - it should be to have 2 consecutive winning seasons...then build on that. Well, in order to have consecutive winning seasons, you would have to have a flashy draft pick. The same goes for dreaming of a super bowl. You can't just build through the free agency and expect it to last forever. The Pats knew that, but look at their linebackers next year. The heart and soul of that defense would have a combined age of 2,452,421 years. They'll have to pay the consequences next year even if they bring in young linebackers because of the amount of reliability they put on their linebackers. Are you saying that somehow the Patriots run of Super Bowl wins and general dominance of the NFL wasn't worth it because their LB's are getting old and may not be able to continue to produce? Really? They could not win another game for 2 years and it would have all been worth it. Also, that thing above is just some blogger's opinion, right? Sounds like nobody really knows about Dimitroff. I never said anything about their Super Bowl runs not being worth it. I was only justifying the statement DJ made about not having a flashy draft pick. The Patriots have had flashy draft picks for quite a while now, and that's why they've been as good as they have this year. And if it's not a flashy draft pick one year, it's a flashy trade-off, and in this case, it's the trade Pats made with San Fransisco earning them a Top 10 pick in this year's draft. It just goes to show you that you have to build through the draft one way or the other. And yes, it was from a blog, but it wasn't really his opinion. He heard from team officials that knew Dimitroff and McKay personally, and he only added his thought on it.

Congrats on the Wii. They're nice, cheap (in relation to the other next gen systems), and they don't have the red rings of death or have stupid disc reading errors like my XBox 360 was having.

I don't buy DVDs. I want to get into the habit of collecting them, but I'm too cheap and I rent movies from Blockbuster or have them deliver it to me.

Quote: The Falcons (IMO) need smart leadership and stability. The #1 goal for the Falcons should NOT be a flashy draft pick and dreams of a superbowl - it should be to have 2 consecutive winning seasons...then build on that. Well, in order to have consecutive winning seasons, you would have to have a flashy draft pick. The same goes for dreaming of a super bowl. You can't just build through the free agency and expect it to last forever. The Pats knew that, but look at their linebackers next year. The heart and soul of that defense would have a combined age of 2,452,421 years. They'll have to pay the consequences next year even if they bring in young linebackers because of the amount of reliability they put on their linebackers.

According to Pro Football Talk's sources, Dimitroff is someone Rich McKay can manipulate. Quote: FALCONS SCREWED THE POOCH, AGAIN? Posted by Mike Florio on January 13, 2008, 11:28 a.m. We’re picking up some reactions to the decision of the Falcons to hire Pats director of college scouting Tom Dimitroff, who’ll be the new G.M. in Atlanta. The consensus thus far is that deposed G.M. Rich McKay got his way, bringing in a guy whom McKay thinks he will be able to control. “McKay has to be ecstatic,” one league source opined. “He got someone he can manipulate. [Eagles G.M. Tom] Heckert would have been more combative. Dimitroff is like a yellow lab. His tail always wags. Heckert has some bite. McKay is dancing right now.” And we still can’t understand why the Falcons wouldn’t have targeted Dimitroff’s boss, Pats V.P. of player personnel Scott Pioli. Though some league observers think that owner Bob Kraft would put up a fight if someone were to pursue Pioli, the reality is that he doesn’t have final say over personnel or the coaching staff in New England. If someone else were to offer it to him, he would be able to leave. If nothing else, a run by the Falcons or the Bills (more on them later) at Pioli would have given coach Bill Belichick something else to worry about while pursuing 19-0. Surely, every other NFL franchise would like to see Belichick and the Pats fail in their quest for 19-0. As one media source opined, teams might not be pursuing Pioli because they presume he won’t leave New England. Regarding Heckert, there’s now a question as to how things will go for him in Philly. There are whispers of strain between Heckert and team president Joe Banner. As we hear it, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie recommended Heckert to the Falcons — and the fact that Heckert’s current team would try t0 help him leave might have spooked Falcons owner Arthur Blank. With Dimitroff in place, the Falcons will now pursue a new head coach. As Chris Mortensen of ESPN points out, the arrival of Dimitroff in Atlanta could put Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back in play.

Too bad I live in Connecticut, not anywhere near Atlanta.