Man, when it comes to Vick, there are just so many damn questions. See...?
Here are the facts. Three weeks have passed in the 2007 NFL regular season. The Atlanta Falcons have played three games, without their starting quarterback of the last five seasons, and lost all three games. In comparison, the 2006 Falcons, with Vick at the reigns, started with two wins and one loss.
Joey Harrington, the starting quarterback of the Falcons, has filled in admirably for Vick. After three losses, Harrington's quarterback rating stands at formidable 90.6, which currently ranks him 15th among this season's active quarterbacks. This time a year ago Vick's quarterback rating stood at a lesser 75.7, yet they had two wins. Through three games this year, the Falcons are averaging 10 points a games, which ranks them 30th among 32 teams, and have managed to put up 318 yards of offense per game, good for the 20th spot. This time a year ago, they were averaging 10 points a game and boasting 284 yards of offense per game.
An interpretive perspective (from http://www.angryt.com/)...
Though I have no real way of proving this, I have thought that the Falcons ticket sales have severely decreased on account of Vick's indictment and subsequent guilty plea. Offering one perspective on the possible plummeting of ticket sales, here is a quote taken from Jeff Schultz's web page: “Dude, there are people selling season tickets on the lower level, 50-yard line for below face value,” said Daniels, who had been on a waiting list for tickets for three years. “That’s unheard of in any market.”
I previously stated that I have no evidence of proving that a decrease in ticket sales has occurred because of Vick's legal troubles. But there is statistical evidence that ticket sales have dropped since Vick's indictment and plea. The first home game of 2006 drew a paid attendance of 70,828, while the first home game of the 2007 season garnered a crowd of 68,175. I think that Vick, who was undoubtedly the most popular and innovative Falcon player I've experienced since I've been following football, even of all time perhaps, gives the life to the Falcons' fan base. However, the offensive production and the drop off in season opener attendance (a marginal 2,653 people marginal) between this year and last, pose the question: Are the Falcons really any worse without Vick? I think not, but time will tell.
I didn't intend to have an answer to the title question I asked. Rather, I wanted to examine some statistical evidence and mill over some hypothetical situations. The Falcons have their first nationally televised game on October 15th, the Monday Night game. It will be interesting to see if viewership increases or decreases compared to previous weeks.
6 comments:
The world is better off without him. That f*%$#@ is a sick, sick man. I don't understand people like him and I know I never will. All I can figure out is that he has a serious blip in his brain. I have spent much of my time volunteering with animals from dogs and cats to elephants. When it comes to dogs it is all about how they are raised. Very few dogs are naturally born to be vicious. It is the owners who make them that way. We are blessed to have animals here on this earth. It is guaranteed that you can have unconditional love from a pet. How many people can you say that about?
I commend you for attempting to figure out this problem. He should never be allowed to play in the NFL again, and I don't think he will. I hope he receives the maximum sentence possible. He should also be forced to donate all his money to the SPCA.
Well that is my vent. I get sick just thinking about him, so I'm glad there are people out there discussing it!!!
I think Vick's career is over. I'm not a fan of football and I never followed this case but it's interesting to read your analysis on it. Have you heard about the scandal now with rapper DMX? Authorities found 12 dogs neglected and three dead and buried in his back yard, one of which sustained massive bite wounds. They are saying that it was no Michael Vick case but after reading that article I am disgusted. How can you treat animals like that? It makes me so sad.
I think that the Falcons can make a beautiful comeback. It seemed as though many people were just interested in the team because of what a great athlete Vick was...however, as you mentioned it looks as though Harrington will be able to fill his shoes. Now that the world knows what a twisted person Vick is I hope his career is done for. I also hope that the Falcons can bounce back from all of this drama. There was an interesting article about a month ago on Yahoo that brought attention to what this issue would do to the team both on and off the field. They made a good point of showing that the Falcons will be saving about $6 million a year by not paying Vick. Maybe that money could go towards something useful in helping the teams image?
You know, even though the mnumber of people actually going to the game has fallen, I don't think that people have stopped watching the Falcons because he's gone. If anything, knowing how society reacts when a star is in legal trouble, I speculate that more people are tuning in at home just to see what happens to the team now that he is gone. I heard on the news today that he has pled guilty but that there is a new charge that could cost him more time in jail. I also just read that he has tested positive for marijuana. What is this guy thinking? Hes already in trouble and now he's doin drugs? That makes alot of sense...
Superb blogging this week. You've taken a careful and considered stance toward the question posed, and done some thorough thinking-through and articulating your conclusions.
You also did a nice job of interpreting those numbers and stats in a way a layperson can understand -- good technical writing there. It's nice to see it broken down like that, as opposed to a huge list of numbers for their own sake. Interesting rating-formula link, too -- I had no idea so much math was involved in sports!
A few bugs:
Use : after Jeff Schultz's web page (instead of comma)
...pose the question: Are the Falcons really any worse without Vick? (colon, capital A, question mark)
"see in viewership increases" (change to "if")
To SBC, in the Starsky & Hutch clip I linked to, the singer at the Bat-Mitzvah declares that he's ready to make L-O-V-E-T-O-Y-O-U in various places, one of them being in the middle of a putting green.
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