String of curse words. Lament. Praise of player's on the field exploits. Condemnation of conduct off it. Another string of curse words. Bam! Instant post.

This is what I've been reduced to. Michael Boley is my favorite Falcon, a monster on the field and a guy who has been noted as a pretty good dude off of it. I simply cannot believe that the franchise's biggest defensive star and potential future building block has been arrested and charged with battery. I've got little cartoon birds flying around my head right now. I'm stunned.

As we all know, an arrest is not an indication of guilt. There's nothing to say that Boley isn't totally innocent, but it is a major public relations blow for an owner and franchise that tries way too hard to pull together a happy face. The dude's also angling for a long term contract that's richly deserved for his play, and this probably isn't going to help it get done. The new squeaky clean Falcons aren't likely to smile on a franchise defensive player who gets rung up for a battery charge, even if his guilt won't be established for months to come. The worst part is that this team needs Boley, who is a lineman gobbling were-goblin who helps make up for what promises to be an average at best defensive line.

The best I can say right now is hang tough, fellow Falcons fans. For my part, I gotta say that I'm tired of being disappointed like this.

UPDATE (11:36 a.m.): According to this AJC story, Boley allegedly "got physical" with his wife during an argument. Though we know kind of what he was arrested for, we are no closer to knowing what the hell that means.