Ya know, when I wonder aloud about where I want to go to have a nice glass of wine ... I usually end up thinking of Michael Vick.

In an effort to diversify his debts, Michael Vick was loaned $1.3 million from Wachovia Bank in order to open Atlantic Wine and Spirits and the adjacent Tasting Room Restaurant. Both are located in the Atlanta area -- slightly north of Buckhead (or, as the official website reads, S.N.O.B.). Now, he needs to pay those loans back.

a summary judgment in favor of Wachovia against Vick was granted in the amount of $1,117,908.85. The figure represents the initial principal balance outstanding ($937,907.61), interest accrued as of Dec. 4, 2007 ($14,596.97), additional interest accruing from Dec. 4, 2007 to May 13, 2008 ($32,507.51 â€" 161 days at $201.91 per day), outstanding fees ($305.83), overdrawn accounts ($34,064.72) and attorneys fees ($98,526.21). Further interest could be accrued.

Vick is currently serving a nearly two year bid for some dogfighting ring or something. Last week, Vick was ordered to pay $2.5 million for a defaulted loan to the Royal Bank of Canada.

My favorite line in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's article was the final one:

Phone numbers for Atlantic Wine and Tasting Room restaurant have been disconnected.

Falcons wide receiver Joe Horn says he wants the team to trade him, based mostly on his belief that he won't get enough playing time In Atlanta. From Steve Wyche of the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

"I want to win a Super Bowl and I want to win a Super Bowl here in Atlanta, but I don't think I can help this team win a Super Bowl sitting on the bench, waiting for third down," Horn said.

There are a few problems with that. For one, Horn says he hasn't yet told the team of his desire to be traded. Huh? If you want to get traded, don't you think the general manager you're hoping will trade you should know about it?

Secondly, the Falcons' receivers stink. If Horn can't get playing time in Atlanta, which team does he think is prepared to make him more than just a guy "sitting on the bench, waiting for third down"?

And finally, Joe: You're a 36-year-old coming off a 27-catch, 243-yard season. How much of a trade market do you think there is for your services?

Falcons general manager Tom Dimitroff says Horn is still in the team's plans. But if Horn isn't happy in Atlanta, cutting him might be the best option for all involved.

Last year, as evidence that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was involved in dog fighting went from circumstantial to overwhelming, Nike remained in Vick's corner.

In fact, Nike still kept its endorsement deal with Vick going even after Vick had been indicted and the NFL had suspended him, even though Nike's deal with Vick specifically stated that the company could get out of it if Vick were charged with a felony. It was only after pressure from groups like the Humane Society intensified that Nike executives finally faced the reality that Vick was costing them a lot more money than he was making for them.

Nike got a PR black eye from the Vick ordeal, but the company hasn't been scared off endorsement deals with Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that new Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has signed a contract with the company.

No financial details of Ryan's contract were reported, but it's fair to say he's making less than the estimated $5 million a year Vick was making from Nike. The apparel maker, which also signed Darren McFadden to an endorsement deal, had a big Vick-oriented marketing campaign planned last year that had to be scrapped. Ryan and McFadden represent the next generation of Nike NFL stars, and I think it's safe to say these deals will represent a better long-term investment.

New coach Mike Smith has the first major challenge of his young head coaching career.

Linebacker Michael Boley, one of the teams few stars, was arrested and charged with battery on Saturday night. No details on exactly what caused him to be charged had come out by Sunday night, but his arrest is the first significant legal troubles for the Falcons since Michael Vick became the best quarterback in the prison football season.

On a normal team, an arrest like this would be something to simply wait out, but the Falcons aren't exactly a normal team. With the Vick conviction still hanging over the team, it will put more pressure on the Falcons to deal harshly with Boley--if he's convicted.

But for now, we're left waiting for the police to release more details. It's something that must sound very familiar to Falcons fans.

This is probably a good idea: after the whole Michael Vick fiasco, the Atlanta Falcons have decided not to feature Matt Ryan as the "face of the franchise."

There were some segments of the internets that considered the Ryan selection a publicity stunt, but, well, that's just silly; the recently deposed face of the franchise is currently incarcerated for first-degree (puppy) murder, and Joey Harrington and Chris Redman aren't exactly guys you can build a team around. That the Ravens were trying to trade up and grab Ryan further suggests that NFL teams in the market for a quarterback considered him worth a top-5 pick (and everybody knows that Baltimore has a keen eye for identifying quarterback talent).

In any case, the Falcons front office will have a new marketing strategy for 2008:

Newly drafted quarterback Matt Ryan will not be a prime player in an advertising campaign planned by the Atlanta Falcons to try to rebuild the team's sagging season-ticket base. ...

"I don't think we're going to sit there and try to harp on one player," said Falcons president Rich McKay, who oversees the team's business operations. "It doesn't mean [Ryan] won't have some appearances or that you won't see him in the community, but I don't think he'll be the focus of our campaign."

For some idea of how bad things were last season, the Falcons saw a steep decline in season-ticket renewals, even though they cut prices. Four wins and myriad off-the-field nuttiness has that effect, Personally, I'm hoping the team builds a marketing strategy around Sam Baker. That guy looks like he can move some season tickets.

For all the things that went wrong with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, the biggest stunner may have been the way head coach Bobby Petrino simply walked out the door one Tuesday morning and was doing the famous "pig sooey" cheer at the Arkansas head coach by Tuesday night.

Petrino never seemed to feel the least bit bothered by leaving the Falcons in the lurch in the middle of the season, and owner Arthur Blank says to this day, Petrino hasn't said a thing to him about it, no apology, no explanation, nothing. And how does that make him feel? He tells Peter King:

"I'm not surprised. But I am disappointed.''

I completely understand why Blank is disappointed, but the lack of surprise is a reminder that Blank really should have seen this coming. Everyone who knows anything about the football coaching business knows that Petrino will leave any job at any time if he thinks there's a better job out there for him. That Blank hired Petrino despite that well-earned reputation is his own fault. Just as it will be Arkansas' own fault if Petrino bolts, which he unquestionably will do if a better program comes calling.

Atlanta Falcons 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (3): Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
Round 1 (21): Sam Baker, OT, Southern California
Round 2 (37): Curtis Lofton, LB, Oklahoma
Round 3 (68): Chevis Jackson, CB, LSU
Round 3 (84): Harry Douglas, WR, Louisville
Round 3 (98): Thomas DeCoud, FS, California
Round 5 (138): Robert James, OLB/S, Arizona State
Round 5 (154): Kroy Bierman, MLB, Montana
Round 6 (172): Thomas Brown, RB, Georgia
Round 7 (212): Wilrey Fontenot, CB, Arizona
Round 7 (232): Keith Zinger, TE, LSU

The Good: With Ryan on board, the questions about Michael Vick will start to fade into the background. Atlanta has its new franchise quarterback, and one who many think will be a long-term star. Rather than sit back and hope that a quality offensive tackle would slip to their second-round picks, Atlanta aggressively moved up to nab Sam Baker. It was a wise choice, as a run on offensive linemen meant there would have been a significant dropoff if the Falcons had taken a tackle in round two. Lofton could allow Keith Brooking to slide back outside to his more natural position and Jackson helps the team's depth at cornerback. Douglas was a productive receiver at Louisville who may eventually allow the Falcons to get rid of Joe Horn.

The Bad: The Falcons have a desperate need for defensive tackle help, but after passing on Glenn Dorsey, they didn't pick any defensive linemen. The free agent market is pretty bare, so Atlanta is looking at heading into the 2008 season with some likely holes in the middle of the defense. Picking up Sam Baker will help the offensive line, but with all the injuries and turnover Atlanta has up front, another offensive lineman would have been more helpful than taking three linebackers.

The Grade: B+. For whatever concerns there in the Falcons Day Two plan, Atlanta added the draft's top quarterback, a polished offensive tackle and a potential starting linebacker. With 11 picks, the Falcons have done a good job of starting the long rebuilding process, although this draft likely won't make much of an impact until 2009 and beyond.

The Washington Redskins traded out of the first round and actually *gasp* picked up some extra picks. The deal goes down like this:

• Redskins deal away their first round pick (#21), third round pick (#84) and fifth round pick (#154)
• Falcons deal away their two second round picks (#34 and #48) and fourth round pick (#103)

That means that Washington gets three second round picks and it may have been a great move. Washington is looking for a big-time receiver and there were ZERO selected in the first round (many mock drafts, including ours) which had them looking in that direction.

UPDATE: Washington selects WR Devin Thomas with that first pick. Outstanding pick! Many people figured he'd be somewhere in the middle to late first round and would have been a nice pick at #21. He's a nice addition to the West Coast Offense (strong, great hands, breaks tackles, turns small catches into big gains).

UPDATE: Washington selects TE Fred Davis with the other second round pick. Eh!?! Dude is a beast but we already have a Pro Bowl tight end in Chris Cooley. Now, Davis is a former running back who was turned into a great pass catching tight end and is another good pickup for a West Coast Offense.

UPDATE: Washington selects WR Malcolm Kelly ... and I am ecstatic! I had Kelly going to the Redskins in the FanHouse mock draft so it is obvious that I love his talent. This is that big receiver with great hands that Washington desperately needs.

It's the move that no mock draft foresaw. There was a lot of talk of the Falcons moving up to snag a quarterback late in the first round, but once they took Matt Ryan, the logical money was on them sitting back and waiting to use their three second-round picks. Instead Atlanta used its surplus of picks to move back into the first round to take offensive tackle Sam Baker.

Depending on which experts you listen to, Baker was predicted to go somewhere between the late first round and the late second round. No one saw him going as early as pick No. 21.

But while the Falcons may get criticized in some parts for reach for Baker, the reality is that he was the last NFL ready tackle left on the board. There was a big dropoff after Baker, so Atlanta decided it couldn't wait to find a protector for new quarterback Matt Ryan. And the cost, two second-round picks and a fourth in exchange for the first, a third and a fifth, wasn't outlandish.

Even though he was projected by many to be a second-rounder, Baker is about as safe a pick as you can find. He may never be an All-Pro, but as a four-year starter as Southern California, he's about as polished as a college player can be. He's faced top flight competition and he could slide into guard if needed.

Before the 2007 college football season, USC offensive tackle Sam Baker was considered a potential Top 10 draft pick. With a so-so senior season and a bad pro day workout, Baker's stock slipped, and some thought he'd fall into the middle of the second round.

Baker fell, but he didn't fall as far as most people expected him to, with the Atlanta Falcons trading back up into the first round, acquiring the Redskins' first-round pick to take Baker 21st overall. The Falcons were widely expected to package some of their extra picks to get back into the 20s, and that's exactly what they did, continuing our run on offensive tackles.

Look for Baker, an enormous man who played in a pro-style offense at USC, to protect Matt Ryan's blind side for years to come.

Previously on FanHouse:
Mock Draft Roundup: It's Going To Be Dorsey
Blank Promises He Won't Interfere
Falcons Won't Draft Ryan
Braves Players Advise Falcons On Draft
Falcons Have Best Haul of Picks
Falcons May Wait For Round Two For QB
Another Reason Not To Draft Ryan
Mock Draft Roundup: Atlanta Falcons Select Glenn Dorsey, DT