From the Journal:

According to researchers, his face is almost perfectly symmetrical-a trait that shows a strong correlation to a person's perceived attractiveness. While the average person's face is somewhere around 90% symmetrical, Mr. Ryan scored a 99.8%, which puts him in elite territory. Ursinus College professor Jennifer VanGilder and former student Lisle O'Neill, who conducted the study in conjunction with Southern Utah University economist David Berri, said Mr. Ryan isn't the only NFL signal-caller with a nicely balanced face. In fact, every starter in the league scored above 96%.

The Journal's Reed Albergotti suggests that, at some point in their football lives, "good-looking kids are steered toward the glamour position." (For those scoring at home, Brett Favre checks in at No. 2, at 99.78 percent; Ben Roethlisberger, No. 6, at 99.43 percent; Tom Brady, No. 8; Mark Sanchez, No. 20; Tony Romo, No. 23.) Now, in an alleged meritocracy like the NFL, this might seem inconsequential. It isn't: Attractive quarterbacks actually earn a larger salary. Science says so.

A separate study — also by Berri and VanGilder, along with fellow economist Rob Simmons — of 121 quarterbacks who played from 1995 to 2006 found that "an increase of one standard deviation in facial symmetry led to a nearly 8 percent increase in pay." Berri writes (scroll down):

To put this result in perspective, we found that a "good-looking" quarterback like Kerry Collins or Charlie Frye earned approximately $300,000 more per year than his stats and other pay factors would predict. Meanwhile, quarterbacks like Jeff George and Neil O'Donnell, who, sadly, were not found to have very symmetrical faces, suffered an equivalent penalty.

I have no idea what stats Berri is using and how this study might stand up to rigorous scrutiny. I'd like to believe it's at least partly true. The NFL is so much more interesting if we think of NFL owners less as a collection of tight-fisted geriatrics than as a sort of Chippendales bachelorette party, with everyone whooping and shrieking and stuffing dollar bills into the tight pockets of very handsome men.

Cute Quarterbacks? There's a Stat for That, Too [Wall Street Journal]
Do Pretty-Boy Quarterbacks Make More Money? [Play Magazine]
A Different Way to Look at Quarterbacks (in Play Magazine) [Wages of Wins]

Not likely, thanks to Real Clear Sports, which keeps track of such things in its annual Top 10 Erroneous Columns post. We mentioned this in Morning Blogdome, but think it needs to be emphasized. Moore's little gem, which appeared on April 26, came in at No. 4 (applause), and also included the graph: Matt Ryan? Not a brutal pick for the Falcons at No. 3 overall in the NFL draft on Saturday, but it was far from brilliant. Mediocre comes to mind, and so does this thought: If Michael Vick wasn’t officially gone before as the face of the Falcons, he is now.

Ha. We also have Scoop Jackson at No. 7, with his immortal "Kobe Bryant will not win the MVP," Ashley Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer at No. 6 for "McNabb's Reign In Philly Is Likely Over," and one of my all-time favorites, at No. 3, from Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post:

"It would be a hell of a story, the Rays finishing ahead of the Red Sox, ahead of the Yankees. A hell of a baseball story. A hell of a Cinderella story. Too bad it isn't going to happen ... It's just not logical to assume they can keep it up for eight more weeks while fighting off these two teams. It's not practical ... They are a good story. Easy to root for. And...just a week or two away from seeing a couple of blurs zip by them in the passing lane."

No. 2 is the most hilarious of all, and the author of No. 1 will not surprise you, being that it's Jay Mariotti.

Writers go out on limb like this, of course, because it makes them sound smart and decisive, and they figure no one is going to keep the paper around long enough to check on their accuracy. But then along came the Internets, and hilarity ensued. One of my favorite tragic columnist predictions actually occurred on the radio, however. It was November of 1995, when the 49ers were about to play the Cowboys in Irving. Steve Young was out with multiple bruisings, which meant that the estimable Elvis Grbac would be starting at quarterback for the 49ers.

That Friday, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ira Miller was a guest on KNBR radio, and when asked what the Niners' chances were of winning, replied, "Zero." Host Ralph Barbieri wondered how an NFL team could be given no chance. "How about one percent?" he asked. "No," replied Miller, emphatically. "They have absolutely no chance of winning this game. None."

Of course the 49ers led 31-7 at halftime and won, 38-20. And I so I learned never to predict anything in any form other than smoke signals or disappearing ink. The SI cover below is for you, Ira, wherever you are.

Top 10 Erroneous Column Predictions Of 2008 [Real Clear Sports]

But now, with the resurgence of the Falcons thanks to a rookie quarterback — a white one — some of the Vick fans are finally letting go of the ghost. Some, however, are not.

“We miss Vick,” said Timothy Chambers, a tailgater before the Nov. 16 home game against the Denver Broncos, shouting over the sounds of the Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob blasting from parking-lot speakers. “It’s not the same as it was.”

Chambers said his circle of season-ticket holder friends contracted from about 30 to 18 last season, partly explaining their diminished enthusiasm on Vick’s absence.

“There’s more white people in the crowd now. When Vick was in there, it was almost totally black,” Chambers said, exaggerating to illustrate his point.

Chambers added that he was coming around on Vick, though, and ex-Falcon linebacker Jesse Tuggle is doing a hard sell on some of the former ticket holders who dropped the team once Mike got the boot. It's working, apparently, as more and more black people are returning to the Georgia Dome to root on the team. And here's a fantastic, ridiculous kicker to the piece that goes a little overboard to show the progress being made:

After an impressive play by Ryan at a recent game , an African-American fan seated near her belted out the highest form of praise: “Go, Vanilla Vick!”

And that's how a nickname is born...

Ryan and Falcons Are Winning Back Fans Who Left With Vick [NYT]

And just in case you didn't see all the black people in the stands at the Georgia Dome, Deadspin commenter Pedro Cuatro Cinco, who's counted and circled them for us in the Times' photo.

• The shocking Mel Kiper-Todd McShay follicle swap [The Sports Hernia]
  
• A glimpse of Manning wedding elegance [Loser With Socks]
  
• Matt Ryan: Draft Expert [One Droo Hill]
  
• Scoring worse than Terry Bradshaw on the Wonderlic? That's a-paddlin'. [The Wizard of Odds]
  
• Jannero Pargo is a hobbit. [Best of New Orleans Blog]
  
• Max Kellerman, Simmons thief. [The Smittblog]
  
• C.C. Sabathia is handy with a razor. [Screwballs]

Zorning in America: It seems the new Redskins coach has some interesting designs on the offense, taking two receivers and a tight end with Washington's three second round picks. Country cousin Jason Campbell must be thrilled to get a receiver taller than 5' 3".

Icy Draft: A lot of analysts had nice things to say about the Falcons' choice of Matt Ryan at no. 3. Less pleased are Falcons fans themselves, who have far fewer plaudits for the pick. Some Titans fans are similarly bemused with their team's stubborn refusal to take anyone to help the passing game.

Homerism alert: It's a day later and I'm still confounded by the Steelers first round choice of Rashard Mendenhall. A lot of Steelers fans never came around on Fast Willie Parker, preferring the power back model of old. Parker's propensity to fumble didn't help matters either, but Mendenhall hasn't fared any better in that regard. Parker's season-ended injury late last year wasn't expected to have any lasting repercussions and they had at least an adequate back-up in Najeh Davenport. With more pressing needs (say, offensive and defensive lines) it's hard to understand a pick that might have been inspired from two torchings by the tandem of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew.

Now, they finally have someone to namedrop during television promos (Sunday, Reggie Bush, Drew Brees and the Saints take on um ... um ... um ... the Falcons!). Ryan is more than a quarterback. He is one of America's greatest heroes. He fought terrorists, taught at the naval academy, helped capture a Soviet submarine captained by a defecting Russian officer with a strange Scottish accent, and even became president of the United States.

Oops, that was Jack Ryan.

Matt Ryan's just a quarterback from Boston College. Golden Eagle quarterbacks come in all shapes and sizes. Some are tall, like Ryan (a strapping 6-4 plus change). Some are short, like Doug Flutie (but with scrappiness to spare!) Some are bald, like Matt Hasselbeck. Some are married to cute-yet-shrewish succubae, like Tim Hasselbeck. Some, like Brian St. Pierre, just are.

And Ryan is a better prospect than any of them, better than Flutie, better than Hasselbeck the non-Elizabeth Encumbered. He isn't getting the superstar treatment some top quarterback prospects earn, in part because he broke his foot in his junior year and has a Favrish tendency to throw interceptions right into defender's chests. But Mike Mayock (who knows a little something about this stuff) points out that Ryan had no one to throw to at BC and often had to force passes just to generate offense. And once the foot healed last year, we saw that he had mobility to match his arm and decisiveness. Ryan is ready to play right away.

And I'm told that Ryan simply loves animals.