BIRD CALL, I said BIRD CALL @AtlantaFalcons win…Let’s GOOOOOO, I’m on the airplane 🛩️ & had to leave at halftime after Matt Ryan’s Induction to head to San Francisco…The #Falcons said we got ya HD but it might take OVERTIME…I said BIRD CALL #AirplaneRestroom
The Falcons had just a 0.7% chance of winning with 1:56 left in the 4th quarter, according to the NGS win probability model.
The comeback is the 7th-most improbable win in the NGS era (since 2016).
#ATLvsPHI | @AtlantaFalcons
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After the first two months of the 2022 season, right after the Atlanta #Braves had won the 2021 World Series, they were 23-27 and feeling a World Series hangover.
Manager Brian Snitker told bench coach Walt Weis on the morning of June 1, "I've got to get in front of them." He doesn't like calling team meetings, but Snit thought it was necessary.
Since that meeting on the morning of June 1, 2022, the Braves have played 200 regular season games.
They are 138-62 - a .690 winning percentage.
It is the most incredible run in the history of the Atlanta Braves.
Dads and 90s kids, here's a fact:
We had it so good with SportsCenter and we didn't know it.... How could we?
We didn't know what was on the horizon that would try to take it down: first, league passes and TiVo and DirecTV... then the Internet and social media and YouTube...
During that brief, bright spot in sports media in the 1990s, SportsCenter was the only way to get the day's highlights...
We had black and white photos and box scores and features in the newspaper...
We had brilliant writing and reporting and pictures in Sports Illustrated and Sporting News and ESPN: The Magazine...
But for the day's highlights...
To watch Ken Griffey Jr. make a diving catch or Jordan hit a game winner or Barry Sanders twirl through a defensive line...
If you didn't catch it live, the only way to see it was on SportsCenter (maybe your local news sports show - maybe)...
And into this void stepped Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann and Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen and Craig Kilborn and Linda Cohn and Robin Roberts and crew...
And all the catch phrases every kid in high school and college would repeat: "cool as the other side of the pillow"... Jumanji... En Fuego....
We'd watch SportsCenter at night then again in the morning.
It was a monolith. You'd show up at school and you'd have the same frame of reference for the highlights you saw. It was a shared experience.
It was awesome. And even though the show still exists and works, it's not a cultural touchstone anymore... it can't be... not with every highlight available from 1,000 sources across social media instantly...
And there are bright spots to be sure... My man and Top 10 Randy (@RandyScottESPN) is terrific. So are plenty of others.
But classic SC, man. It was a shared experience. By everyone.
These kids don't know... Sitting there, retweeting highlights, sharing reels, scrolling their feeds... Doing the work to find what they like with no commentary or context.
Times change. I get it. And we always glorify what we grew up on. Maybe that's all this is.
Still, I miss Stu Scott. He ruled.
If you agree, share this and follow me @Jon_Finkel.
Boo-Yah!