I should start this angry rant by saying that I do have a sense of humor. I understand that some articles are meant to be funny or sarcastic, and every now and then my stony heart cracks enough for me to actually laugh at them.
Steve Hummer's article, however, is nowhere near that funny.
The basic idea was dumb enough to begin with. He's comparing the Georgia Force with the Atlanta Falcons. I should explain for any of you who don't get ESPN in your cave that Arena Football is currently being actively pushed by a number of sports outlets. The AFL is a whole ton of fun to watch, but I've seen no reason to believe the talent level is comparable so far. If you think of the NFL as Major League Baseball, the AFL would be an independent league. The quality of play--and the rules--is a very different thing, and it's kind of irresponsible to even compare the two.
Enter the AJC's Steve Hummer. He's decided to write a "funny" article where he stacks key aspects of each team together and adds a one line punch at the Falcons for each one. Take this example:
* Falcons: The Georgia Dome, a 15-year-old building considered teetering on the edge of obsolescence by its chief tenant. Even as stadiums acquire the shelf life of yogurt, the Dome perseveres.
I'm fairly sure that this is meant to insult Blank and the Falcons, but I can't be sure. I've read this twice and haven't found anything I consider even vaguely amusing. I think the problem with trying to make this kind of comparison is that it's too easy to take someone seriously, and even more difficult to make it funny. Let's try another one:
* Falcons: Last season, tickets for either conference championship sold for between $130 and $410. Regular-season single-game tickets for the Falcons, which will go on sale later this month, range from $43 to $114.
You know why? Because the Falcons can demand more money. Because, you know, they're an established NFL team with way more fans than the Georgia Force. I realize the Force have done very well this year, and I can honestly say I'm proud of them. You like to see them do well, and I'm not knocking the players. Anyone who doesn't realize that the Falcons and the Force are several stratospheres apart, on the other hand, I don't feel too bad about knocking.
Rather than continue to mock the article, I'm just going to chock it up to a bad choice. What do you all think about it?