Dimitroff Awarded, Coleman Released
This week after the Super Bowl has been a rather quiet week for all concerned at Flowery Branch (the town where the Falcons are head quartered). There was and is of course the Bon Jovi rumor floating around, but it remains just that, a rumor, and a rumor Arthur Blank refuses on which to comment. Most importantly, there seems to be no movement at all in choosing/hiring someone to come in and be Matt Ryan’s QB Coach, which is puzzling considering just how important that position is to fill. Mike Smith and Mike Mularkey need to get a move-on in making their choice, regardless of lack of movement in labor negotiation talks.
In this vacuum of information, there is some Falcons news of note. First off, General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has been named Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year, and since there is no AP equivalent for this award, it is largely recognized as the official award for NFL executives, so of course, congratulations must be made to Mr. Dimitroff. Obviously, this is a regular season award, as are all of the NFL awards. If it were a postseason award, the natural winner would have been Ted Thompson of the Green Bay Packers. As it is, although the Falcons spectacularly failed in the post-season, that was more a failure of non-aggressive and play-not-to-lose coaching than a failure of the team that was put together by Mr. Dimitroff, so the award was well-given for the man who put together a 13-3 team that was the NFC's top-seeded playoff team, and should be well-received.
In the unfortunate news column for the week, the Falcons released popular locker room fixture Erik Coleman this week. Coleman has been a fixture at safety for the team the last three years, but lost his starting spot to William Moore this season after sustaining a knee injury, and also because of his declining play at the position. The Falcons rightly couldn’t justify paying a back-up safety over three million dollars a year, so Coleman, who is universally respected and well liked by his teammates, had to go. Also complicating matters for the Falcons’ brass was that before he was released, Coleman dropped his agent and signed on with Drew Rosenhaus, an agent with whom the Falcons have largely refused to work (there is not a single Rosenhaus client on the team). Coleman, always the class act, took to twitter this week to thank the fans and the Falcons’ organization for his time in Atlanta, and the fans and his teammates will miss him and his presence on the team. Good luck in your wherever you end up, Erik Coleman!
Gameday Predictions (Lockout Edition)
This is where I’d usually write my predictions for the week’s slate of games, but since the games are over, I’ll instead write my predictions on when the coming Lockout will be over. This Friday, I’ll do the odds based on the Lockout ending nearest to these upcoming holidays.
St. Patrick’s Day: 150-1 Odds.
Easter: 20-1 Odds.
Memorial Day: 15-1 Odds
4th of July: 10-1 Odds.
Labor Day: 3-2 Odds
Halloween: 50-1 Odds
Thanksgiving: 250-1 Odds
Christmas Day: 500-1 Odds
New Years Day: 1,000-1 Odds
Basically, I don’t see the Lockout ending in the first few weeks (St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and the odds getting better the longer it gets into summer, with Labor Day being the closest Holiday to the end of the Lockout, and then after that, the odds get exponentially bigger, because I just don’t see the Player’s Union staying strong while missing that many checks.
If the owners can make it until Labor Day, the Union will break if any game checks are missed. Guaranteed.
Today In History
On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from prison after being held for 27 years, first at the infamous Robben Island, then Victor Verser Prison outside Cape Town.
After his release, Mandela again assumed a leadership position with the African National Congress and worked with the ruling Afrikaner population to end apartheid once and for all, helping to implement the first free election in South African history in 1994. The ANC swept to victory, and Mandela was elected as South Africa’s first black President.
The Jukebox
Yesterday was the birthday of noted film and television composer Jerry Goldsmith, who would’ve been 82 years old had he still been with us. Jerry Goldsmith is an Oscar-winning composer (for his work on The Omen) and was the writer of some of film’s most iconic and well-known scores.
(I know some of y’all reading this could probably give a rat’s butt about film scoring, but understand this historical allegory: if film is to the masses in the modern era what opera was 400 years ago, then men like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, and Ennio Morricone are like Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Rossini. Imagine Star Wars or The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly without their iconic music… it’s simply not the same.)
Goldsmith was known for pushing the envelope with new technologies and being evocative with his use of non-contemporary instruments in his work. He is probably best known in film circles for his work on Star Trek, composing the scores for five of the pre-JJ Abrams films, including the sweeping score for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, whose main theme was reused for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Goldsmith also wrote the iconic score for Patton, the percussion-laden score for Planet of the Apes, and the tense music for Ridley Scott’s Alien.
My favorite Goldsmith score, fittingly, is for the sports movie classic, Rudy. It is Jerry’s sweeping music that catches our emotions and sends them soaring when Sean Astin, playing Rudy, reads his Notre Dame acceptance letter, when he begins spring practice, when he leads the team out on the field, or most memorably, when he is carried off of it. As Rudy is one of a handful of films that can create a dusty atmosphere for men as they watch it, Jerry Goldsmith’s music has just as much to do with creating that atmosphere as anything else in Rudy.
Happy birthday, Jerry Goldsmith! Film score lovers miss you!
Smart Quote
Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.
Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico, Book III, Chapter XVIII
Roughly translated from the Latin, it says:
Men (or Man) willingly believe what they wish.
This is another of way of saying that our perceptions and desires are, or largely influence, our reality. A crafty politician as smart as Caesar knew this well, using this knowledge to secure his own popularity with the plebeian mob even at the cost of alienating the patrician Senate.
Hey, Check This Out!
In honor of Jerry Goldsmith and my favorite score of his, here is my favorite scene (both musically, and action-wise) from Rudy, the spring practice montage. Watch it, and try to pay attention to the score, how is fuels the exciting action on the screen as well as taps into our emotions as observers. Just a great movie moment.
And while you're at it, follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller... thanks!
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