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by: Randy Waters | 11Alive Sports
Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:12:00 PDT
Matt Ryan's first regular season professional pass went for a 62 yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins. That's a statistical fact. Here's an observation that went largely unnoticed at the Georgia Dome. When Jenkins got to the end zone, then went through all the way through the back of the end zone to celebrate with the crowd, the first fan to high five Jenkins was a guy wearing a number 7 jersey. Remember number 7? I'll bet you do. There are any number of different thoughts that come to mind. The fan, by wearing that jersey, might have been expressing support for Michael Vick. Maybe he didn't have the time or want to spend the money to buy a new jersey. Maybe the thought never crossed his mind. Maybe he just grabbed the first thing that said "Falcons" and headed for the Georgia Dome Sunday. Whatever the case, at that moment, there was no holding on to the past, no criticism or praise for the organization for the way they handled the unprecedented scenario brought upon them last year. There was just this: the home team scored a touchdown on its first possession of the new season. The fan didn't care if Matt Ryan or Michael Vick or the ghost of Christmas past threw the pass. He didn't care if Michael Jenkins or Michael Phelps caught the ball and then ran, or swam, for the 62 yard score. He didn't care if Ryan was white, red, pink, green or purple. Likewise regarding Jenkins, he could've care less if the receiver had been Brian Finneran, or Harry Douglas, or if Alfred Jenkins had made the comeback of comebacks and scored. Glancing at the number 7, I couldn't help but reflect for a moment on the goings on the past few months. It made me sad to think about all the pain everyone went through from the animals abused to the human beings affected. Then, because it was my job at that moment as a sideline reporter for the Falcons radio network, I refocused and concentrated on the play, the game, the impact of the score. But frankly, the job was only part of the reason. It was simply much more pleasant to shove the past aside and to stay in the moment. I think I had a lot of company Sunday afternoon at the Georgia Dome.
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by: Sam Crenshaw | 11Alive Sports
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:40:00 PDT
Welcome to week two of Operation Football, as once again the 11 Alive crew will canvas our area and bring you the very best coverage of Friday night's high school footabll action.. Some of the peach state's top ranked teams will playing in our area this week.. Join us for highlights from North Hall at Buford, in a showdown of teams who had fantastic seasons in 2007. Also on the northside, North Gwinnett will call on Brookwood, while St. Pius will visit Greater Atlanta Christian. The Marietta Blue Devils will open their season at Northview ,while Unbeaten Hillgrove will host Rome. There are big games in Douglasville where Newnan comes to Chapel Hill, and Douglas County entertains Carrollton.. We will go south to Henry County where the Warhawks welcome Decatur and Stockbridge battles Union Grove in grudge match.Defending state champion Carver-Columbus will be at Tri-Cities, plus much, much more. Fred Kalil will have the Fredcam,plus the Cheerleaders, and Bands that make Friday night complete.. Watch for something new this year, our "Fan of the Week", will show you some of the wildest high school football fans in our area. So be sure to join us for Operation Football powered by High School Sports.net, Friday at 11:15 on 11alive and at 11alive.com
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by: Fred Kalil | 11Alive Sports
Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:45:00 PDT
JUST A QUICK BLOG TO ANSWER THOSE WHO DON'T LEAVE A RETURN ADDRESS. THE "STOP YELLING", SORRY THIS IS HOW WE TYPE EVERY DAY AT WORK, ALL CAPS. IT'S NOT YELLING TO US. AS TO WHY ESPN HAD ALL ACCESS AND COVERAGE, THEY PAY A TON OF MONEY IN RIGHTS FEES EVERY YEAR. NOT A SINGLE STORY, WHAT? WE RAN HIGHLIGHTS THAT NIGHT AND HAD INTERVIEWS ON THE NEXT DAY. WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SHOW HIGHLIGHTS ON THE WEBSITE. WE WANT TO COVER GEORGIA TECH, I AM NOT TRYING TO BASH THEIR FOOTBALL TEAM. WE JUST WANT TO BE GIVEN A LITTLE ACCESS. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?
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by: Fred Kalil | 11Alive Sports
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:09:00 PDT
IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON AND ONCE AGAIN HERE IN THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT WE WILL GET PHONE CALLS FROM IRATE TECH FANS WHO INVARIABLY COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT GETTING EQUAL COVERAGE ON SPORTSCASTS AND IN PRINT. TECH FANS, YOU'RE COMPLAINING TO THE WRONG PEOPLE! JUST TONIGHT, WE'RE TRYING TO DO OUR SPORTSCAST LIVE FROM GRANT FIELD TO PROMOTE COACH PAUL JOHNSON'S FIRST GAME AS TECH COACH. GUESS WHAT? OUR LIVE TRUCK OPERATOR/ENGINEER IS HAVING TROUBLE. IT SEEMS HE "CAN'T" PARK ANYWHERE. IT'S THE SAME OLD STORY AT GEORGIA TECH, WE TRY TO COVER THE TEAM AND THEY FIND MORE AND MORE WAYS TO KEEP US AWAY. COACH PAUL JOHNSON REFUSES TO HAVE PLAYERS APPEAR AT THE WEEKLY MEDIA LUNCHEON, HE ONLY ALLOWS PLAYER INTERVIEWS AFTER PRACTICE WHICH WE CANNOT ( AND I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THIS) SHOOT. IT'S FUNNY THAT AT GEORGIA, THE NUMBER 1 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY SEEMS TO ALWAYS GO THE EXTRA MILE TO ACCOMODATE THE MEDIA. THEIR LONGTIME MEDIA RELATIONS DIRECTOR, NOW ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR, CLAUDE FELTON GOES OUT OF HIS WAY TO MAKE THE PRESS FEEL WELCOME. IT SEEMS GEORGIA TECH JUST DOES THE OPPOSITE. TECH FANS PLEASE KNOW THAT WE ARE TRYING TO COVER YOUR TEAM. I HAVE SPOKEN TO THE OTHER STATIONS WHO ARE HAVING THE SAME TROUBLE TONIGHT.
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by: Sam Crenshaw | 11Alive Sports
Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:43:00 PDT
Rain forced the Falcons indoors for the second half of their Monday practice.. Center Todd McClure says the offensive line is doing a good job of bonding with Rookie Quarterback Matt Ryan.
"He communicates", says McClure," he goes out of his way to talk to each of us before we went into a series running the no huddle offense". Meanwhile, DJ Shockley is slated to get his turn to work with the first team offense this week at Baltimore.. Shockley says he expects to take over after starter Matt Ryan, who may just play the first two series against the Ravens, as he has been named the opening day starter.
Shockley knows that this is the week we roster decisions will be made but says," right now I can't concern myself with what happens at the end of the week. I just have to go out and make plays".
You can see the Falcons battle the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore Thursday night at 7pm on MYATL36.
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