Atlanta, Boise St. headed in opposite directions

Jared Putnam

I spent much of my time off over the holidays watching sports. With a mix of high school basketball, college bowls, and pro football, it was a nice buffet of athletics.

2006 didn’t end so well for the Falcons, but cutting Mora loose on New Year’s Day was the right move.

Mora is not in any way the sole reason the Falcons are underachieving, but his lack of leadership and constant

struggle to keep his foot out of his mouth are not helping the team.

More than that, it seems like he lives in the past, spending most of recent weeks defending his record, even listing his accomplishments in his going-away conference.

Who wants a coach who is proud as a peacock that he has the fourth most wins in the NFC during his tenure, or led his “star” quarterback to a career high total of 20 passing touchdowns.

Woo-hoo.

Coaches have a right to be proud of their accomplishments, but it seems like even the legends don’t focus

on what they have done in the past, but rather, are always looking ahead to winning that next game.

Mora, on the other hand, seems like given half the chance, he would gladly hop in the Delorian with Doc and Marty and head on back to 1985.

But like I said, Mora is by no means the only problem the Falcons have. Aside from overpaying for injury prone defenders like Hartwell and Abraham, employing three firstround pick wideouts who often struggle to even catch the ball, and proving that they can’t even muster enough heart to stop Chris Weinke, the Falcons biggest problem wears number seven.

I’m starting to accept the sad reality that Michael Vick will never be a great NFLquarterback, maybe not even a very good one.

But the Falcons have too much money in Vick, and he oozes the one thing that has gotten him so far: potential. With his arm, speed, and elusiveness, he could dominate the league.

That is, if he had any accuracy or judgement to go along with it. Vick will probably be the second coming of Andruw Jones, someone who is good enough to always leave you hoping he can turn the corner and beat the face of the sport.

But like Jones, who never turned into the triple crown threat that the Braves hoped for, or even managed to learn how to bat above the .260’s, Vick does not seem to have the most basic skills that an NFLquarterback needs.

Going back to baseball gives me the best analogy I can think

of for him. He is like a highly touted pitcher who can field well, hit well, and throw hard, but who has an ERA of 5.00.

The thing is, fielding and hitting well are not requirements, they are just nice extras. But no one cares if an ace can do that if they have an ERA of 2.50. Likewise, Vick’s speed and elusiveness are not requirements for a quarterback, they are nice extras. After all, Peyton Manning and Dan Marino seem to have gotten along just fine without them. Like the pitcher that throws hard, Vick’s arm strength is equally nice, but means nothing without accuracy or touch.

Maybe the Falcons will find a coach who can turn Vick into an elite player, but at this point he’s still a lot more hype than substance. On the flip side we have

Boise St. Forget overhyped, money-hungry pro athletes for a minute, this was a group of college kids that did something very special. After going unbeaten this season, many still expected the Broncos to get drilled by Oklahoma. After all, prior to the Fiesta Bowl the team was more famous for playing on blue artificial surface [nicknamed Smurf Turf] than for their outstanding play.

But rather than roll over, the Broncos took a 28-10 lead over the Sooners, before letting it slip away late in the game. Oklahoma intercepted the ball and ran it back for the touchdown with less than 90 seconds remaining, appearing to seal the game. But the Broncos tied the game with a spectacular catch and lateral with 7 seconds on the clock, sending it into overtime.

In the extra period they had the guts to execute a two point conversion, in a do or die, last ditch effort that won the game. It was probably the greatest college football game I’ve ever seen.

On a final note, I would like to point out the fact that their quarterback is named Jared. He not only threw three touchdowns, he was also the MVP of the game. Coincidentally, the Broncos also have a tight end whose last name is Putnam. I don’t remember him catching any passes, but I’m sure he had some very key blocks or something.

Now I’m not saying that any of this was the main reason they won the game, but I think it added some pretty good karma. Though maybe I’m a little bit biased.”