Busy Day in Atlanta

Wow, a lot going on in Atlanta sports. I'm just going to recap with quick links (my thoughts in italics below each:

- The Falcons trade up (way up) to nab Alabama receiver Julio Jones with the 6th overall pick in the NFL draft. (We gave up 5 picks over this draft and next to acquire a #2 receiver? Unlike previous moves by Dimitroff, who has earned my respect since he arrived in Atlanta but may end up regretting this move.)

- The Hawks eliminate Orlando 4 games to 2 to move into the second round of the NBA playoffs. Special thanks to Mike Bianchi for firing up the boys! (Chicago looked pretty vulnerable in Round 1 - at least until Game 5 - so the Hawks should have a chance to snag a game or two, and maybe more if things ALL break right for us.)

- Derek Lowe gets arrested for a DUI. (Off days in the major leagues are always trouble, it seems. The last thing this team needs coming off a strong road trip is an off-field distraction. And they already had one, which was...)

- Roger McDowell did...something. Oh, wait - Gloria Allred shows us (at the 1:55 mark, at least)! (My guess is that the original altercation between the fans and McDowell was no more than some good-natured ribbing - no pun intended. But the escalation described by the father is unsettling if true - although Allred's involvement makes it seem a lot more attention-seeking than trauma.)

- The Thrashers' talks to move to Winnipeg may be more serious than first thought. (If it's not this one, it'll be the next one. The Thrashers aren't committed to winning, which means the fans aren't committed to attending. Hard to keep hockey out of Canada where it will definitely be supported.)

Please comment below. There's a LOT to talk about!!

Don Sutton: Where's the energy?

The Braves picked up a great win Sunday, defeating the San Francisco Giants 9-6 in 10 innings to get their first sweep in that town since 1998. Traditionally light-hitting Nate McLouth was the hero, lacing a two-out single to center on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded off Giants closer Brian Wilson for the game-winner. But to hear Don Sutton call it on the Braves radio network, McLouth apparently did nothing of consequence. I wish I had a recording I could link for you, but trust me when I say that Mr. Sutton needs to learn a thing or two about letting his voice reflect the emotion and size of the moment. Seriously - Sutton sounded like he was describing a golfer choosing to lay up on a par 5. On the 6th hole. On a Thursday. On the Nationwide Tour.

Even worse than this. (first video)

Braves - Time For a Wake-up Call

Last night, the Braves lost to the Marlins 6-5, securing their third consecutive series loss and the first to the Marlins at home in what feels like forever. While the offense appears to be showing some signs of life, it has definitely shown a lot of inconsistency over the first two weeks of the season. Wednesday, the team was a 9th inning homer from Chipper Jones away from being shut out for the third time already this season. While it's far too early to be panicking, it's never too early to tweak the lineup, and that's where my frustration with new manager Fredi Gonzalez is starting to grow.


Gonzalez was a great hire, in my estimation, because he brought with him a sense of continuity. As one of Bobby Cox's former assistant coaches, Gonzalez would theoretically extend Bobby's penchant for loose clubhouses, an even-keeled demeanor and the one-day-at-a-time approach to the game. However, he seems to have also inherited one of Cox's most frustrating traits: a stubborn refusal to break with his lineup or with previous player assessments (think Keith Lockhart).


Bobby Cox is a legendary manager. Players loved to play for him and his record speaks for itself. While we as fans may have complained about his lineup choices, we at least had to acknowledge that he'd earned the right to make a few questionable decisions and trust that he knew what he was doing. Gonzalez has earned no such right. A new manager has to be willing to tinker with things until he gets the mixture just right. Anything less is a disservice to the fans and even the players themselves.


Steve Berthiaume and Curt Schilling discussed the Braves' lineup after the loss on Baseball Tonight. Schilling - a likely Hall of Famer - said he's reluctant to criticize managers, but that if he were pitching now, he'd love the fact that Jason Heyward was batting sixth in the Braves' order. Berthiaume went on to explain that at their current rate, Nate McLouth will have almost 75 more plate appearances than Heyward. That concept should unsettle any true Braves fan, especially in a season in which the Braves already have their work cut out for them and figure to be in a tight race with the Phillies in the National League East. Here's hoping that Fredi recognizes the potential that he's missing in this lineup and adjusts accordingly. Otherwise, the bloom is dangerously close to falling from the rose.


At least there's some hope, though. The Mets come to town tonight.

USA 1, Argentina 1

Amid all the March Madness, USA Soccer played an important friendly in East Rutherford, New Jersey today. Against a team many now consider the most talented on the planet, the American squad managed a 1-1 draw. While the notion of ties as a positive result is foreign to many in this country, in reality this had to be a confidence-boosting result for the team. It also gave many Americans their first look at 18-year-old Juan Agudelo, who tallied the US squad's only goal of the night. Agudelo's energy was tangible upon his entry into the game in the second half. If the US continues to generate (or attract) more players of his caliber, the future of soccer here may be bright after all.

Three Years Later...

I'm giving it another go! I've missed the freedom and the enjoyment that blogging provides, and when someone asked me a couple of days ago why I don't do it anymore, I didn't have a very good answer. So just in time for baseball season, I'm jumping back in with both feet. Should be fun!

Top Braves Prospect Suspended for HGH

Even though Major League Baseball doesn't have a perfected testing system for identifying HGH usage, they've apparently found that the Braves' Jordan Schafer is guilty of taking HGH, and have suspended him for 50 games. Schafer ranks as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, and was thought to have a shot at being called up to play some center field this summer. This obviously throws those plans into serious jeopardy. One can only hope that other prospects and high school kids are taking notice of these incidents and avoiding going down the same path. As always, I remain skeptical that such will be the case. Everyone is looking for an edge, and until the threat of permanent removal from the sport is upon them, many players will continue to flout the rules that have been set forth. It's a sad spectacle, but not that much different from what we see in society as a whole.

Hawks In Good Shape; Thrashers Not So Much

So back on Valentine's Day, I made my "bold" predictions of how the Hawks and Thrashers would fare the rest of the way. The gist:

Projected finish:

Hawks: 13-20, for a final record of 34-48
Thrashers: 25 points, for a total of 85
[...]
My final predictions: The Hawks have about a 30% chance of making the postseason, and the Thrashers I'd put at 45%. If the Thrashers do deal Marian Hossa, and depending on what they get for him, those numbers will obviously change some.

Well, the Thrashers DID make the deal to move Hossa, but they were heading down the drain before the move. They currently sit at 70 points for the year, eliminated from playoff contention, and mathematically incapable of reaching my 85-point prediction. At least I gave them short playoff odds.

The Hawks, on the other hand, now sit at 31-40, winners of two straight, 6 of their last 10, and currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. If they can avoid a 3-8 finish (cross your fingers, it could happen), they'll beat my prediction. If they can go 6-5 down the stretch, they're probably into the playoffs, where they'll face the top-seeded Boston Celtics.

So basically, I was a horrible prognosticator for these teams. But I'm glad that one of the local winter teams looks like it is a playoff participant this year.

I'll have my Braves/MLB predictions up this weekend.

Alternate Plans for March Madness

First of all, everyone should know that I absolutely love March Madness. It's one of my favorite times of the sports calendar. But there seems to be more discussion than usual this year of expansion, even some that are saying to expand the field to 128. For those with less bracket experience, that would only mean one additional round, so it's not as bad as it sounds. But I have a hard time thinking that 128 teams have a feasible shot at a national title. The problem lies in the 30 automatic bids that are assigned to conference tournament winners. No plan for changing or expanding the tournament can "mess with" the small conference champs; they're the Cinderellas.

So I have an alternative. Since there's already one play-in game between the 64th and 65th teams into the field, why not expand on this idea? Take the 16 worst conference tournament champions and have them each play a "play-in" game against each other. Then take the winners of these 8 games and place them against the 1 and 2 seeds from each region. This would allow an extra 8 teams "on the bubble" to be placed into the tournament, while still allowing each of the 16 small-conference teams to play a tournament game.

For example, this year's 16 bottom conference champs might look like this:
- Maryland-Baltimore County - Mt. St. Mary's
- Belmont - Austin Peay
- Portland State - American
- CS Fullerton - Georgia
- George Mason - Oral Roberts
- Cornell - Mississippi Valley St.
- Siena - Boise State
- Coppin State - Texas-Arlington

Are you going to tell me it wouldn't be a high-quality tournament from the get-go if we cut that list down to 8 teams by the round of 64, and replaced them with 8 teams with nice resumes that just missed the cut? I think that would be incredible. So much so that I created my OWN bracket, which you can see here (I assumed that the 15-16 seeds won their first-round games for ease of creating this bracket):

NCAA New Bracket

Please note the difference in the opponents for the 3-5 seeds. There's suddenly a whole new level of games being played there. I think this would go a long way toward improving the overall quality of the event.

Georgia Wins SEC Title

In a stunning conclusion to a bizarre weekend, the bottom-seeded Georgia Bulldogs won as many conference games in four days as they had all season to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Many congratulations are to be extended, chiefly to head coach Dennis Felton, who likely saved his job with this unexpected run. Having backed Felton in the past, I'm glad to see him make a run like this, even if it came at the expense of my beloved Mississippi State Bulldogs.

As a follow-up, the Georgia Bulldogs now get a 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will face a tough Xavier squad in the first round.

I'll be back later to post my bracket and predictions for the Dance, but in the meantime, here are some responses to Georgia's run from around the blogosphere:

Steve at Seventh Inning Stretch:

Realistically, I would have to say Georgia is a long shot to win a game in the thing . . . at best.

But hey, it’s a bright spot in an otherwise dismal UGA basketball season. I’m not going to rule out a Cinderella story.

Razorback Expats:

First things first: Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs. That was an incredible tournament run. What a story. They certainly deserve all of the attention and praise they are getting tonight. (And being surrounded by Georgia fans here in Atlanta, that’s not the easiest thing for me to say.)

Canes Rising:

Georgia's achievement over the last four days far exceeds anything I have seen in a power conference in the last 25 or so years. The Bulldogs have been reduced to seven scholarship players for most of the season, have a coach in Dennis Felton that was about to be fired and had to play four straight games against teams either that made the NCAAs or just missed. Add to that the storm that ripped apart the Georgia Dome, the two games against two NCAA bound teams that had both gone 12-4 a few hours apart on the same day, and the fact that the last place Dawgs were forced to play on their biggest rivals home court for the re-scheduled games. Dickie V may go on about Jimmy V's 1983 and 1987 ACC Tourney runs with NC State but the reality is this: In those days the ACC had 8 teams and NC State was essentially an NCAA bubble team entering both tournaments. Georgia was a last place team with injuries and scholarship limitations because of NCAA probation due to Jim Harrick. This Bulldog Championship is the most improbable in the recent history of a power conference.

A Winning Night in Atlanta

It's true, I haven't blogged in a while. The main reason is that the Atlanta sports scene has become increasingly depressing. But last night, a brief beacon of light shone out: Georgia Tech and Georgia both won their opening conference tournament games, and the Thrashers won at Philips. I haven't had time to do the research, but I'm fairly confident those three teams haven't all won on the same night in quite a while.

It's way too late for any of these teams, short of a miracle run of some kind, but a win always takes the edge off. Anyway, this is just to tide me over until the Braves start in a few weeks.