Sports by Fletch

Christmas presents from SportsbyFletch

2009-12-18T10:38:00.002-05:00

Here at SportsByFletch, we are in the Christmas Spirit. (Sorry, we are pro-Christmas here. I love Hanukkah and all but we're giving away Christmas presents.) We've decided to give some presents out to our favorite celebs and sports stars. Hey, we feel it is better to give rather than receive. And to all of the folks who DIDN'T get a Christmas present from SBF, well then maybe you should be a better boy/girl next year.

With no further ado.......

For Sara from The RUINS, a shred of dignity. Way to let Kenny walk ALL over you on The Ruins and say all of that trash to you just because you have a crush on him. As much as I blushed at what Johnny Bananas said on the reunion how Sara acted like an abused wife but making excuses, he was spot on.

Lauren Conrad: A reset button. Are you still happy with your decision to leave The Hills? I mean I am because the show got 1006X better once you left and Kristin came aboard, but I feel bad that you don't have a TV show anymore.

Tim Tebow: some vagisil. I am assuming you got sand in your vagina and THAT is why you were crying at the end of the SEC Championship game and NOT because you lost. From some of the ladies I've spoken with, sand up there CAN hurt. That's why you were crying, right Tim? And not because you lost and are a poor sport. Right?

Charlie Crist the Governor of Florida: A copy of Todd McShay's mock draft. This way he can see that Tim Tebow ISN'T a first round prospect or even a second round prospect. Or even a third round.....Hey Charlie, you think a back-up QB could save the Jacksonville Jags (who might make the playoffs this season) moreso than using the team's first round pick on someone who MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE AN IMPACT? Moron. How'd you get elected?

Vinny from The Jersey Shore: antiperspirant. Enough said (PS, wasn't it funny last night when all the guys are working out, except for Vinny.)

Pauly D from The Jersey Shore: a sponsorship with Malibu Tans and Aussie Gel. Think how much money he'd save. (I thought Tom aka JWoww's boyfriend making fun of his hair)

Russell from Survivor: A jury that will vote for the best player and not for a former Galu member or because some one needs the money. And how CLUTCH was Russell last night when he pulled the string on the rewards challenge without dropping a coconut? His team was GOING to lose-thanks Jaison!- but he came THROUGH! And for Nat and Brett....the prayer warrior thing didn't help that much did it. NOPE.

Shambo from Survivor: a weedwacker so she can get a haircut. 1986?! Trim the mullet. NOT a good look.

Obama: a Golden Globe nomination. Well he didn't do anything to earn the Nobel Peace Prize, I figured he should get a GG nom for not doing a movie or TV show...Oh, wait, I wouldn't be surprised if he won BEST in an inauguration day performance. Hey, the celebs do love their celeb president.

Friday Night Lights: VIEWERS! This way maybe we could have more than 13 episodes in a season that I cannot watch until AFTER football is over....

Coach Mark Richt: a defensive coordinator. Bud Foster and Kirby have turned him down moreorless by reupping with their current employers. Now it might be Ellis Johnson or Vic Koenning. I think I'd rather go with one of the Up-and-comers over these retreads. I'd rather wake up tomorrow and say "WHO?" opposed to "WHY?" as in Who is this guy opposed to WHY'd we hire him? Get some fresh ideas opposed to a guy that has helped South Carolina to the papajohns.com bowl or a dude that was fired from Klimpsen and just left K-State for Illinois....

BalloonBoy's father: a Television appearance he REALLY wants...on Court TV. Throw this dude's butt in jail for obstruction, child endangerment, misleading police...everything. All he wants is attention? He'll get plenty....in prison...but Boggs and the boys.

Sammi Sweetheart from The Jersey Shore: A new shirt. She wears that one with the slits on the back/side EVERY time they go out. Is that the only shirt you brought?

The Situation from The Jersey Shore: a 4 to come back to the house. The Situation has been this: only 2s. But I guess that is all a meathead who refers to himself in the fourth person can pull in when he lives with his parents.

Derek Lowe: a reality check. Hey DLowe, first off, remember paying BASEBALL IS A BUSINESS. You got paid 15M last year for 15 wins and 8-7 down the stretch. Not good my man. And now your feelings are hurt because the Braves are trying to unload your salary? Grow up dude. Take the ball every fifth day and pitch BETTER and that way the Braves will want to keep you! Posting an ERA under 5 might be a good start...

Mark Fox: The phone numbers to all of the Georgia High School basketball coaches and perhaps a road map to Wheeler and Columbia and Norcross. Start signing this in-state talent Coach. That's how Harrick went to two straight tourneys and would have gone to a third, but the program panicked. Hitting Florida is nice, but get some of this in-state talent please. And Stop letting them go to Tennessee (Knoxville and Memphis!) Start with teaming up with Richt and getting Nick Marshall from Wilcox.

Wendy Williams: ONE Soup episode without Joel McHale mocking her. Wait, that would punish ME. Nevermind.

The Children of the World: Peace knowing that Michael Jackson will never touch them again. (This one was easy to give)

Shirley Franklin aka the Mayor of Atlanta: the door hitting her on the way out. She's gone....thankfully.

Tiger: the penthouse at The Palms Hotel in Vegas. Imagine with his money and all of those women......

Cohutta from the Ruins: a check for SOME money, since he took out about 12 of the champions. A lot of that was REALLY unexpected but I am not ready to put him up on the rushmore of Challenge players. That list right now: Alton (the guy pulled a TRUCK BY HIMSELF!) Evan (The guy is pretty much unstoppable when he is forced to do work. Plus he is mastermind behind everything.) Abram (unstoppable in the Inferno 2, I believe) and Landon (though Landon WAS undone by Brad's throwing of the wire in that one duel.

Finally, Bronne: a lifetime invitation to future challenges. This guy would ROCK in the house and add SO MUCH more entertainment to my Wednesday nights. He would get another chance to introduce himself as "bronne, like the paper towel" and I bet he'd be pretty good in the challenges too.

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial preview

2009-12-17T07:59:00.001-05:00

Be sure to pick up a copy of Score Atlanta at any Atlanta area Quik Trip, Kroger or Blockbuster! Do It.

The Georgia High School football state championships were aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting last weekend and the games re-aired on GPB Knowledge this week. The atmosphere at the Georgia Dome was well captured by the GPB cameras and fans that couldn’t make it to the Dome were treated to some great coverage. Once again the broadcast seemed improved over the previous year’s broadcast and this year’s graphics were near college football on CW or Peachtree TV-level. Replays were quick to come and the multiple camera angles were nice to have for the viewer. Throw in the players of the game features that members of the Atlanta Falcons helped out with and you had a nice segment that was new to the broadcast.
The only thing that could have been tweaked a bit was the color analysis. With all due respect to the color commentators, I think folks a little more familiar with Georgia High School football could have added more to each of the games. The play-by-play men were all outstanding, including Charles Ward, who worked the GPB Friday Night game of the week web cast all season long. Don’t get me wrong, these color analysts knew the game of football, but perhaps if a third person who was truly in the know about the state’s high school football had been added to the booth, the analysis would have been even better. Several options could have been some of the guys from the 680 The Fan Friday Night wrap up show. (680 was broadcasting the games on their family of networks, but maybe a partnership could have been struck up?) Another option would be Jon Michaels or Trey McDaniel from 790 The Zone, as those two guys have called games on Friday nights for The Zone. Regardless, I really enjoyed the games and was thankful that GPB was once again there to bring all of the games to the state.

Tiger Woods announced on his website last week that he would be taking a break from golf to focus on being a better father and better husband. Reports on various ESPN shows, FOX Sports shows and even news print media members have all weighed in and the consensus seems to be that Woods made the right call. I want to know how long he’ll be out. Do you REALLY need to take some time away from golf right now? Is there anything going on in golf right now? No. The PGA, to my knowledge, doesn’t schedule any real events after Thanksgiving, and Tiger rarely plays before Torrey Pines in the early Spring anyways. One of Woods’ endorsement deals has been canceled as Accenture has dropped Woods, saying he is “no longer the right representative.” That likely means that Woods will skip the Accenture event, to be held next spring in Arizona. I highly doubt though that Tiger would skip a Major, with the first one for 2010 being, as always, The Masters. Tiger typically plays a short schedule and rarely in America at this time of year. I’m not sure this announcement carries much weight.
Speaking of Tiger Woods, apparently if you work for CBS, you aren’t allowed to talk about Tiger Woods or his current scandal. Ian Baker-Finch told the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald that he has been gagged by the CBS Sports from talking the drama surrounding Woods, saying, “If I say one word about Tiger, I will get fired.” Baker-Finch joined CBS in 2007 as a golf analyst. He won a British Open in his playing days.
Finally, kudos to Buck Lanford of Fox 5 Atlanta as he is filling in on 680 The Fan’s Rude Awakening. Lanford was brought in as another voice while Christopher Rude is out on medical leave and he has really grown into the show along side Perry Laurentino and Leo Mazzone. Lanford is also now starting to run a little point and giving some teases before the breaks. His opinions are often pro-Atlanta and do well to offer a bit of variety from Laurentino. I have enjoyed hearing those two create a chemistry that, while still behind Buck and Kincade’s and Chuck and Chernoff’s, is one of the best in the city. While I hope Chris Rude recovers and makes it back 100%, I hope the station considers keeping Lanford on board.

Big B's Top ten GHSBB Power Forwards 2009-10

2009-12-16T14:24:00.001-05:00

Well he's at it again. Brian Jones is providing us ONCE AGAIN with a top ten list, this time Score Atlanta's Big B is giving us the best senior Power Forwards hitting the Georgia hoops hardwoods. Enjoy.

10. Ishmael Hollis

9. Victor Bailey

8. Trent Weidman

7. Sam Mike

6. Heath Houston

5. Tawaski King

4. Adrian Hubbard

3. Brandon Mobley

2. Marcus Thornton

1. Donte Williams

PS, be sure to check out gpb.org every Tuesday starting January 5th for Georgia high school girls and boys basketball. Charles Ward and THIS GUY will be on the call once again, bringing that gridiron magic to the hardwoods. The first game is Milton at Walton. Should be fun.

Midweek Entertaiment report 12/16/09

2009-12-16T11:01:00.002-05:00

Cousin Eddie goes on the lam, Elin is leaving the Player of the DECADE, Glee gets recognized by the Golden Globes, and an Atlanta radio guy plans a move to tv.

Ladies and gentlemen, THE MIDWEEK ENTERTAINMENT REPORT!

Apparently Cousin Eddie aka Randy Quaid and his wife failed to show up to a Santa Barbara court on a felony charge of defrauding an innkeeper on a bill of more than $10,000. Apparently they are now being called "felony fugitives" by the DA of Santa Barbara. Quaid's lawyer said that the couple has paid the bill after being arrested on Sept 24 in West Texas for using the invalid credit card at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito. And by skipping out on the court date, they miss out on the $40,000 bail. That is not good, considering I hear Eddie is holding out for a management position. Out of work for seven years and now you miss out on $40,000? Ouch.

Elin Woods aka Mrs. Tiger will be leaving Tiger according to a People Magazine source. The source told the magazine, "She's made up her mind. There's nothing to think about: he's never going to change." Good for her. If she had stayed with him, it would CLEARLY only be for the money and she'd never be able to look herself in the mirror. As for Tiger, just give her $75M and you never have to worry about her again. Just don't get married, stay a stag and smash as many women as you'd like. Dude, you're worth one BILLION dollars and you are the most dominant athlete in the world. (The AP just voted him athlete of the decade) You really cannot lose in this situation if you're Tiger and Elin managed to turn a "failed marriage" into at least $75M. Good for both of them.

How about Glee getting four Golden Globes nominations, huh? Glee is up for best comedy/musical TV show, two newcomers and best supporting actress for Sue aka Jane Lynch. And if you think Glee is getting some love from the Golden Globes, just wait for the Fletcher Globes.........

Finally, Bert from Q99.7's The Bert Show has been approached about going on a reality TV show called Boys Club ATL (thankfully it was not called Boys Club Hotlanta, because he would have boycotted.) He had an on-air debate (according to the ajc) about whether or not to do it and now he tells the ajc that he is 40-50% leaning yes. Ummm, the show hasn't been picked up yet and if it does, are we talking Peachtree TV or Bravo here? No one is really going to watch. Sorry Bert. PS how is Ernie? And in the same ajc.com article, apparently the people from The Real Housewives of Atlanta approached the woman from the Frank and Wanda show to be on it. Would she be the 9th or the 14th housewife? I have NEVER seen some many people grasping at a VERY SMALL slice of TV "fame" before. This is quite sad. and again, some of these folks aren't married. To ME, that should take away the houseWIFE title, which should DQ you from consideration, but oh well. Seriously folks. Please stop trying to be on this show. It is embarrassing to the city.

That's it, enjoy the rest of the week.

Higher ceilings. Vaulted perhaps?

2009-12-15T12:37:00.002-05:00

SBF has been on vacation for a few days, but we're back and we sort of feel the need to defend ourselves since the fine folks at 790 The Zone weren't willing to do so.
On Sunday, Scott Janovitz and myself took over the Falcons postgame coverage for 790, and despite defending the team, we apparently slammed the team and Matt Ryan.
Scott Janovitz had the audicity to say that perhaps Matt Ryan had reached his ceiling as a player (something that Jaws from ESPN hinted at a few weeks back and that Mel Kiper Junior predicted in NFL draft coverage.) and maybe we shouldn't think that he will do much more than what he gave fans last season, ie a playoff-bound season where he was 11-5. Really good at home, struggles a bit on the road, heady but not with a cannon for an arm.
Then apparently after I admitted that I had no dog in the fight as I was a Redskins fan though I like to see Atlanta do well, I said that Matt Stafford, Detroit's rookie QB had a higher ceiling than Ryan does. Scott seemed to agree and we agreed that while Ryan would be better in year one than year four (where he'd be about the same) Stafford, if he progresses as we think he should (and how he did while at Georgia) will be better in his year four than in his year one. I said Stafford is throwing INTs now, just like how he did his freshman year at Georgia, then by his junior year, he had it sorted out. I sort of have history on my side here.

Well apparently when I defended the Falcons to a caller who said they had no heart , that was slamming the Falcons. I then hoped that Ryan and Turner would come back soon because they probably wouldn't go 9-7 without Matt Ryan and Michael Turner, this was slamming the Falcons. Ummm, what?

I understand I shouldn't fire back at message boarders, but I guess I was really more frustrated with a radio station (that I've worked for since 2005) that apparently is willing to throw me under a bus because they didn't listen to what I said and instead went with some emailers. That's cool.

PS, having a higher ceiling isn't an insult. Matt Stafford, when you take into account his arm, DOES HAVE A HIGHER CEILING than Matt Ryan. He does. He can learn and study just like Ryan does and if you equal that study time up, the better arm will prevail.
It is just like saying that Michael Vick has a higher ceiling than Peyton Manning. THAT IS TRUE. If you MAKE MV7 study the playbook and spend the time with the receivers that Manning does, then with Vick's athletic ability, he would be better than Manning. His Ceiling is higher. Though where Vick currently resides (just like where Stafford currently sits) is much lower than Manning (and Ryan). Manning and Ryan are near their ceilings whereas Stafford and Vick are well below their ceilings, and also where PM and MR are right now. It is a FACT. Sorry if you disagree.

Georgia High School football championship preview

2009-12-10T10:31:00.002-05:00

starting tomorrow and continuing Saturday, ten Georgia high school football teams will travel to the Georgia Dome with a shot at a state championship. Wilcox Co, Savannah Christian, Buford, Calhoun, Gainesville, Peach County, Clarke-Central, Sandy Creek, Camden County and Northside all have visions of dancing on the GA Dome floor with a state title in hand and SPORTSBYFLETCH is going to give you a quick breakdown of the top four classification games. (No one cares about Class A. Sorry, but Wilcox wins.)

Class AAAAA. Northside v Camden Co. The Wildcats are the defending champs and they lost at the dome to open up the year against Grayson. We heard from Coach Hood who said they were just going to try and compete this year after losing so many players from the championship team one year ago. Compete? They are one win from back-to-back! I still think that Camden is going to be in for a rude shock when they are forced to pass the ball and find that they cannot. Northside has a fierce defense and throw in Briar Van Brunt (who also has a capable backup on the bench if need be) and the Eagles are my pick. Oh, and I didn't even mention Shaq O'Neal toting the ball. O'Neal was "shut down" last week by Newnan, but that just opened up EVERYTHING for Van Brunt. I think Camden will try and take out Briar (who WILLED his team to a win last week) and the onus will be on Shaq, and I think he delivers. Briar will eventually break free and provide a TD pass for the winning margin. PS, with all due respect to CJ Uzomah, who is just a freak athlete and will probably be the best returning QB in the state, Briar Van Brunt will likely be my preseason Class AAAA player of the year. This guy reminds me a bit of Tebow, BOTH times I've seen him. A real winner. (Hopefully though he doesn't cry if they lose.) PREDICTION: NS 22, Camden 16.

Class AAAA. Sandy Creek v Clarke-Central. Some of the high school football junkies I talk to are trying to talk me into Clarke-Central's defense, but I'm sorry. I've seen Sandy Creek in person and though I haven't seen C-CHS, I can just say, having read all about Clarke-Central, that Sandy Creek will use Rajion Neal to run all over C-CHS. With Ronnie Bell and Jarrett Davis and Lacey Coleman and ...(you get my point here) I think Sandy Creek has too many weapons. Maybe a state championship can get a bigger stadium for them so they can host a playoff game.... PREDICTION: SCHS 27 C-CHS 11.

Class AAA Gainesville v Peach County. This is BY FAR the best game of all of the games this weekend. For a preview, let's go to Fletcher Proctor of Score Atlanta.
Gainesville Red Elephants 14-0
The Gainesville Red Elephants entered the playoffs ranked the No.1 team in Class AAA and the first few rounds seemed to justify that ranking. In the semi-finals, the Red Elephants trailed early to Flowery Branch but thanks to QB Blake Sims, Gainesville rallied back to win late 29-21. Sims returned a kick 96 yards for a TD and threw the ten-yard game-winning pass, one of three fourth quarter touchdowns. Sims for the game was 6-17 for 167 yards with one TD and three INTs but did lead all rushers with 123 yards. Sims, the future Crimson Tider, will have a major weapon to throw to in Notre Dame-bound Tai-ler Jones. Tyson Smith was the running back that caught the game-winner and scored earlier in the game to help Gainesville come back. Coach Bruce Miller can also lean on Teryan Rucker to tote the rock as he did against the Falcons for 99 yards, 126 overall. Gainesville has not been to a state championship game since 1982. Gainesville has allowed just 47 points this postseason.

Peach County Trojans 14-0
The Trojans of Peach County won back-to-back state championships in 2005 and 2006 and now seek its third in five years. Senior QB Patrick Taylor is back after missing most of last season and Taylor made up for lost time. In the semi-finals, the QB was 7-10 for 137 yards and one TD, but the score was a 65-yard strike to Lamar Zanders. The Trojans running game was led last week by Travis Richmond's 62 yards, including a 12-yard game-winning TD with nine minutes to go against Eastside. Richmond was also a major factor on special teams as he leapt up to block a field goal attempt. The Trojans defense has a special player in Octavius Hall who also recovered a blocked punt for a score in the semi-finals. (124). The offense though starts with Taylor, who has been impressive this season. Against Baldwin earlier this season, Taylor was 17-28 for 155 yards, and Peach County averaged 29 points on its way to yet another Region 1-AAA title. Coach Chad Campbell's squad allows just 8 points per game but will be hard pressed to slow Gainesville, who average 44 points.
PREDICTION: Gainesville 38, Peach Co 24

CLASS AA Calhoun v Buford. The Wolves are trying for the school's seventh state title and sixth this decade and third straight and second three-peat of the decade. That is a mouthful. This is ALSO a rematch of last year when Buford crushed Calhoun. This is a MUCH different year though as the Yellow Jackets now have Nash Nance who is oh-so-dangerous with the ball in his hands. He can beat you with his legs and with his arm. And when he wants to do it with his arm, he can throw to the FREAK Da'Rick Rogers. Nash has been able to pick up the offense that Hal Lamb threw at him and he WILL put them over the top here. His ability to move the pocket and buy time for Da'Rick or to burn you with the legs will bring Lamb the title that eluded him last season. On the flip side, I believe Buford left it all on the field last week against Fitzgerald and Coach Jess Simpson was honest when he said that Fitz could move the ball and score pretty much at will and THAT is why he kept going for it on 4th down. He pulled out some magic last week, but the David Copperfield act is over. PREDICTION: Calhoun 24 Buford 17.

There it be. Enjoy the games and tune in to GPTV this week to see my play-by-play partner doing several of the games, only without me. The powers that be picked Jeff Van Note to do the games over me. I understand. The guy is in the Georgia Hall of Fame and has done UK, GT and Falcons radio. I've never made a Hall of Fame (not even Club 124!) and my play-by-play resume consists of Rabun County High School, Apalachee High School, North Springs High School, GPB's games of the week, 790 the Zone's High School High Five and the Corky Kell Classic. I can see a little difference there. Maybe next season.

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial sneak peek

2009-12-10T10:30:00.001-05:00

For more of ME, pick up a copy of Score Atlanta at your local Kroger, Blockbuster, or QuikTrip in the Metro-area. Enjoy!

Did you hear? Michael Vick, now a member of the Eagles, came back to Atlanta over the weekend as Philadelphia visited the Georgia Dome. Before the season started, everyone figured that this game would be all of the talk the week leading up to the contest but strangely, this game seemed to fly under the radar. True ESPN and CBS made a big deal about a game over the weekend in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, but the game drawing the interest was the SEC Championship game between No.2 Alabama and No.1 Florida. The “Vick returns to Atlanta” story angle was really the fifth biggest story of the week on local sports radio the past week as Georgia beating Georgia Tech, Tiger Woods’ crash and subsequent affair revelations, Georgia Tech in the ACC championship and the SEC Championship game all pushed Vick’s return to the backburner. I might dare even say that Willie Martinez’s firing brought in more calls than the return of MV7. So interesting. I would say that people in Atlanta had turned the page until I started watching FOX’s coverage of the Philadelphia/Atlanta game. The FOX cameras did its best job to find ALL of the Vick supporters in the crowd wearing Falcons No.7 jerseys. When Vick entered the game in the first quarter the cameras panned out to show folks holding up signs in support of Vick and going crazy even after he ran for three whole yards. The crowd reaction seemed mixed, half cheering and half booing as he ran back off of the field. The camera crews would mix shots of Vick on the sidelines and the Falcons jersey-wearers throughout the first half and Vick played just two snaps in the first half. FOX seemed to be beating this dead horse into the ground when Vick scored in the second half, then the shots started up again with the crowd shots. As the Eagles went on to the big win, the crowd seemed to be more Pro-Vick as most of the Falcons fans seemingly left. When Vick threw a TD pass in the fourth quarter, the remaining crowd made up of Eagles fans and Vick fans exploded as few boos were heard. Crowd shots showed that most of the Red and Black crowd had left. ESPN.com and CNNSI.com as well as most other news outlet websites had Vick celebrating on the Georgia Dome field after the game. The reaction on the sports talk radio afterwards was mostly about how the Falcons might have blown their playoff chances and not Vick. Despite what FOX and ESPN want the story to be, it seems that Falcons fans have turned the page on the Vick era. The remaining Vick fans in Atlanta on the other hand…

Headline News and Turner Sports have announced the premiere of a new one hour special called With All Due Respect that is set to debut on December 20 at 10 p.m. on HLN. The new show will feature HLN anchor Robin Meade, to be joined by TNT’s Charles Barkley (NBA coverage), TBS’s Dennis Eckersley (MLB) and TNT’s Kyle Petty (NASCAR). This certainly is an interesting collection of personalities here. I’m not certain the extent of Meade’s sports knowledge and I’ve never been that impressed by Eckersley’s work on TBS’s sports coverage. As for Barkley, he is always good for a strong opinion, but I wonder if he is going to mail it in if this show doesn’t get off to a hot start.
Speaking of TBS, the network and Chip Carey decided to part ways after Carey worked the postseason and Sunday games for the network’s national game of the week. Carey is of course the son of former Atlanta broadcaster Skip and grandson of Chicago legend Harry. Carey has also worked the past few seasons with the Braves. He came under fire for a few errors in his calls this past postseason but I though overall he had a smooth call. He was folksy and perhaps TBS overreacted to a New York writer’s opinion on Carey. Either way though Carey will land on his feet with another big time gig.

Finally, the new Georgia Men’s basketball coach Mark Fox will be coming to a TV near you soon. Inside Georgia Basketball with Mark Fox will now air Sunday nights at midnight on WSB. This is the same time slot that the network gave football coach Mark Richt for his show. IGB will run fifteen weeks with Chuck Dowdle hosting. If you cannot stay up that late, catch the re-air on Sundays at 1 and 7 p.m. Sundays on SportSouth.

Midweek entertainment report 12/09/09

2009-12-09T13:00:00.002-05:00

The Guidos are causing trouble for MTV, SYTYCD produces a head scratcher, the AJC is officially up the butt of Tyler Perry (Why? we don't know) and Tom produces YET ANOTHER good looking kid...

Ladies and gentlemen, the RETURN of the midweek entertainment report!

(AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!)

TMZ reported yesterday that two sponsors have pulled advertizing from MTV's The Jersey Shore after just ONE two-hour episode. Dominos and American Family Insurance have said No Mas (or what ever no more is in Italian) after watching the self-proclaimed guidos and guidettes make a mockery of all things Italian-American. This by the way is DOMINOS, which serves Italian food, pulling the plug on some of its own, and American Family, apparently NOT Italian-American Family. I thought that companies would be lining UP to advertise on the FUNNIEST SHOW ON TV. Apparently not? I guess that is the situation. SORRY MIKE! Maybe they can get Pac-Sun Tanning to fill in. Or Johnsonville Brats. Or Aussie hair gel. Dapper Dan, maybe? Or maybe the pizza place where Vinny no doubt works can step up. Guido illustrated?

I haven't been watching So You Think You Can Dance this fall mainly because of my radio show being on Tuesdays, but I tuned in last night and was surprised as to a certain development. Apparently one of the female dancers hurt herself and could not dance, but instead of getting DQ-ed, she was allowed to stay and potentially receive votes. She had her own number for folks to call in and DON'T think that she wasn't potentially in the catbird seat right there. Instead of doing a really crappy job on what could have been foxtrot or russian dancing, she gets the sympathy vote from America. If I was one of the other chicks, I would have been furious. If I went home after dancing my butt off and she got to stay and go to the final without dancing, I'd protest the CRAP out of the situation (no, not Mike).

ajc.com was reporting earlier that Tyler Perry's mother died. Why? Why are we reporting this in the entertainment section? I can understand the obits page, but the entertainment section? Really? Was she Madea? NO, that was HIM in drag. I guess maybe she was the inspiration for Madea but do we really need to know that she died? Does this mean he'll only produce 7 movies the next two weeks instead of the usual 29? The ajc guys need to get their lips off of his bum and give him some privacy at this time.

Finally, Tom Brady and Gisele Bunchden had a baby boy yesterday. I am sure he is going to grow up and be incredibly attractive, probably moreso than Brady's first son, with Bridget Moynahan. The only way Brady has a better looking kid is if he has a baby with Kate Beckinsale. WOW. He is setting his kid up to be the BIGGEST player EVER. Son of Super Bowl winner and Vicky's secret model....WOW. He is going to get so much play it is UNREAL. More than Brody Jenner. I know MTV is ALREADY trying to sign him to a show in 18 years.

That's it. Have a great rest of the week.

An EXTRA early look at the SBF top 11 of 2010-11 seniors

2009-12-08T14:40:00.002-05:00

As the state playoffs come to a close with the state championship games this weekend at the Dome, SBF has decided to take an EXTRA EXTRA EARLY look at the top 11 seniors for next year. Clearly that means they are currently juniors and so many players make a leap in between their JR and SR seasons, but this is my first look at the Extraordinary Eleven as we will call them. Score Atlanta's Brian Jones helped out here in compiling the list, and between both of us, we've seen all of these guys in action so we DO know what we are talking about. ENJOY

RB, Northside, (Don't call them warner robins.) Shaquille O'Neal. I watched this guy pound and pound and pound against Lowndes so he can run between the tackles, but he once got into open field and the dude just ran away from the defense. He has deceptive speed. It will be a huge race between this guy and Isaiah Crowell for top RB honors with NO ONE ELSE even in the ballpark.

RB, Carver, Isaiah Crowell. Speaking of Crowell. This guy might be the best player in the state coming back, prospect-wise. When I saw him face Baldwin, traditionally a tough defensive team, Crowell found a gear I knew never knew existed in high school players. He moved it into 7th gear when everyone else was struggling to find fourth. This kid running the counter...wow. Expect the Gators and the Dawgs to be all over this guy. Auburn couldn't go after him after signing 92 RBs this year, could they?

S/RB, Kell, Brian Randolph. he had 100 tackles...as a sophomore. So silky and he can just hit when necessary or defend when necessary. Quite a player.

DE, TCC Ray Drew. Brian Jones calls him the best junior in the state right now. Big B has seen him in action, I've just youtubed the guy. He looks good. I look forward to seeing him in action.

LB Tucker, James Vaughters. I saw him in action and while my co-host on Score Atlanta's The Official Visit claims he is the best junior in the state right now, I was left lacking. But I am throwing Janovy a bone here. I saw the potential but not the production. Then again all of Tucker this season left me wanting more.

QB, North Gwinnett CJ Uzomah. He will be the BEST returning QB regardless of class next season. He carried his team, sans a running game, to the region title and if you DON'T think that 35-0 whitewashing will motivate him for next season, you're crazy. I've spoken with him a few times, he is a competitor.

OT, Dalton, Watts Dantzler. the big blocker, he could follow his daddy to Georgia, and that would be just fine with me! (Class of '03)

DE/LB, Southwest DeKalb, Terrance Smith. Believe it or not, when I watched the SWD/Tucker game, I couldn't take my eyes off of THIS guy. Not Stripling, not Golightly, not Malcome on the sidelines, but THIS GUY. He was a beast. And he is only going to get bigger, stronger and faster. Scary.

DT, Carver-Columbus. Gabe Wright. A man-child and he's only a junior. This guy was clogging the middle and I am looking forward to seeing him do it without Corey Crawford. I know he'll be able to. 6'2, 260 and you know that is before beefing up at all of the camps over the summer. Yeah, he'll tear it up and maybe take Carver back to the final four.

TE, Valdosta, Jay Rome. Big B sings his praises. I love the big tight ends (hey now) that can get out on a block but then have the soft hands to bring the ball in. 6'7, 215 and is an outstanding basketball player and triple jumper on the T&F circuit. This guy is a freak athlete that Florida must love the idea of and that Georgia should be courting.

LB, Gainesville, AJ Johnson. Tennessee offered this guy the first day they could earlier this year. He is a special player that isn't getting noticed because of three big-time seniors (Sims, Carr and Jones) but will get all of the love next year and might even be the reason Gainesville wins the championship Saturday against PeachCo. If he hassles Pat Taylor enough, the Red Elephants will be dancing on the GA Dome floor. Just saying.....

Others nearly making the cut....Tyler Hunter (LB/QB/RB @ Lowndes), Troy Braswell (RB @ Lowndes), Tanner Botts (LB @ PTR, I think)

Coming up later this week, I'll look at the championship games.

Big B's top GA basketball senior prospects.

2009-12-08T14:30:00.002-05:00

Brian Jones of Score Atlanta fame is BACK only this time he is grading all of the top senior hardwood players in the state of Georgia. How does he do it? I would say magic, but that would tarnish Big B's rep. He is quite simply the man. Tune in next Tuesday to 790 The Zone to hear his next top ten list.
This list is the best PGs and the best shooting guards, FOLLOWED by the best small forwards. Enjoy!

Top Floor generals
10. Keierre Richards –McEachern
9. Sheldon Strickland –Lakeside, DeKalb
8. Jonathan Dabel – Kennesaw Mtn.
7. Corbin Moye- Whitfield Academy
6. Aloys Cabel – Mays
5. LaTerrance Carter – Redan
4. Chris Denson – Shaw
3. Phil Taylor – Wheeler
2. DeVonta White – Centennial
1. Ryan Harrow – Walton

Top Shooting guards
10. Javonte Maynor
9. Chris Grier
8. Adrian Rodgers
7. Trey Bussey
6. Trevis Simpson
5. Jershon Cobb
4. Rion Brown
3. Jeremy Lamb
2. Jordon McRae
1. Trae Golden

Top SF
10. Maalik Reynolds
9. Joey Jerome
8. Jeremy Burgess
7. Tony Davis
6. Pierre Tyson
5. David Mason
4. Javon McKay
3. Trevis Simpson
2. Marcus Thornton
1. Jelan Kendrick

Next week Big B breaks down the best Power Forwards

These people need to be locked up

2009-12-07T15:08:00.002-05:00

I am QUITE sick of seeing the blurbs on yahoo! about the couple that apparently "crashed" the state dinner at the White House. They apparently got in without an invitation and it is now becoming a big security deal and the White House security detail is being investigated.

Two things for me to say here.

No.1, don't elect a celebrity to be president and people won't try and crash his parties.

No.2 they did this because they are trying to be on The Real Housewives of DC. And they are certainly soaking up this attention right now. Probably just as much as the balloon boy and his sicko father as he tried to get a reality TV show.

Here is what you do...Put them in prison. You can put them in there together if you'd like, but put them in JAIL. Let's watch as they get assaulted in the lunch line. Let's watch as a bunch of big old butch women shave the "Housewife's" hair into a mullet. Let's watch as the balloon boy's dad becomes someone's b*tch. He's watch him try and fight off a prisonrape in the shower after he drops the soap.

I'm sure people will want to watch then. AND they'll get their TV show. Sounds good to me.

Idiots.

I know Cake loves him but.....

2009-12-07T14:50:00.003-05:00

I hope Ben Roethlisberger gives Hines Ward a bunch of shite if he misses the Steelers next game due to a bad hamstring. Ward openly questioned Roethlisberger about not coming back from a concussion. Now that Hines' leg hurts, I hope he gets a bunch of static.

Karma stinks Hines. PS loved you at Georgia, (Even though that was before I was a Georgia fan. The FIRST Tim Tebow, FYI...)

PS No.2, Deacon, I think you are WAY hotter than Hines Ward

Are you sure it wasn't an AC Joint injury?

2009-12-07T12:16:00.002-05:00

So Urban Meyer, after getting his butt kicked by 19 points, was admitted into a Florida hospital for dehydration on Saturday night.
Ha.
That's what I have to say. Ha. Do we think perhaps he was dehydrated after swearing at the officials and throwing his headset about four times in the second half?
I actually thought if ANYBODY would have gone to the hospital for dehydration, it would have been Tim Tebow after all of his CRYING.

Seriously, what is up with the crying? That is what I want to know! Umm Tim is the FIRST person to do the Gator chomp is an Alabama player's face when he throws a TD (like he did in the first quarter) but when he loses, he cries? REALLY? And then when Wolfson, instead of interviewing a player from the WINNING TEAM (like Ingram, who may have won himself the Heisman, or McElroy who outplayed Tebow), goes right up to the bawling Tebow and sticks a mic in his face. After waiting about three seconds to whimper one last time, he says how great Alabama was, all while looking at the ground and not allowing me to believe him.
What a poor sport he is. He is the first to dance and clap and jump and skip when they win, but after a loss, he cries. He cried last year after the Ole Miss game and now he is crying again. Poor sport. And don't give me "Oh he is so emotional." Learn to be a good sport.
Wifey told me that she thought he was classy but I had to point out to her that he was lying. He really didn't believe Alabama was so good. If he did, he would have NOT BEEN CRYING and he would have been a man and looked into the camera so I might have believed him.
He is a poor sport when he wins and he is a poor sport when they lose. At least he didn't pull a LeBron by just walking away. Of course, maybe LeBron went to the locker room to go cry. If that was the case, I'm glad Tebow cried in front of America. I also wonder if some one captured all of those tears and took them to a hospital. I saw a sign in Gainesville for Gameday once that said Tebow's tears cure cancer...too bad he's never cried. Umm, he has now. Let's hope that smug jerk with the sign was there to put them in test tubes for distribution.

And Kudos to Paul Johnson for finally winning something at Georgia Tech. I mean, what was the last thing they won at Tech? 1990? (Check out 790thezone.com for the Paul Johnson interview on-demand if you are confused as to the reference.) Clemson/GT was an exciting game to watch and it really did come down to who had the ball last GT did and they won. I mentioned this yesterday on my radio show, what happens when the Chan Gailey athletes depart GT? Can Paul Johnson, with his system, get those athletes like a Jonathan Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt or will CPJ's system turn the average athlete into an "ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR" player? Maybe it will. A Conference title certainly helps things out. And now GT can go into a recruit's home and say "Well we've finally won something in the last 20 years! Of course, in this ACC title year, we couldn't beat a bad Georgia team, but HEY, WE'RE NOW THE TALLEST MIDGET!" That is SURE to get the recruits, especially the defensive ones!

Finally, TCU and Boise State will play in the Fiesta and THANK GOODNESS. Now maybe Orrin Hatch will shut up AND I only don't have to watch ONE bowl game, ie the Fiesta. I wouldn't have watched the Sugar if Florida had to play TCU (but now I get Cincy/UF, which should be great because a tearful Tebow promised that no one will ever work as hard has he will to win a meaningless bowl game.) or Boise State had played GT in the Orange Bowl. Snore. That meant I couldn't have watched TWO of them, but now I can just boycott ONE bowl game. AWESOME. Hey Senator Hatch, how about you work on the ECONOMY or Iraq or unemployment? How about you work on some way for me to KEEP my money instead of the President getting to take all of it and giving it to lazy people. Change? Yeah, that's about all I have left from my paycheck...

Friday picks-Thank GOD I'm not from New Jersey

2009-12-04T09:21:00.003-05:00

Before we begin the final picks blog of the year (except for the Bowl picks, of course,) I MUST comment on last night's premiere of The Jersey Shore on MTV. First off, I always thought Guido was a derogatory expression meant to insult the middle-to-lower class of New York/New Jersey males, typically of Italian descent. But these four fools were embracing the expression, proudly calling themselves and their friends Guidos. I guess Guido is Italian for "unemployed meathead." It seemed to me like these guys just lived at their parents' homes, popped roids and worked out before heading to work at Vinny's Pizza Parlor. Oh, and they also act like they are seven AT ALL TIMES. In arguing with each other, the liberal use of the words slut and whore and even when talking to these sluts and whores, aka the other sex. And the weird thing is, apparently the women (who refer to themselves as Guidettes. wow) seem to GO for these guys. So freaking strange.
Anyways, looking at the cast, you've got Mike aka The Situation. Why is he called "The Situation?" He simply pulls his shirt up and says, "This is the Situation!" He has abs apparently like Rambo. This guy is 29, yet acts like a nine year old. Yeah, only slightly more mature than the rest of the seven year olds.

Vinny, (I'm NOT making that up) lives with his parents because he just graduated from college. "Not all guidos are dumb!" he claims. Sure! Congrats on graduating from refrigerator repair college! Maytag is calling! PS, he got pinkeye in the first episode. Oh, and Vinny also gives a breakdown of how he likes to do the fistpump dance. Literally just pumping your fist. This gets women, if you take your shirt off. COOL!

Ronnie is a meathead douche.
And Pauley D says he takes 40 minutes to do his hair everyday, but it ALWAYS comes out perfect. And if by perfect, you mean greasy looking in a bride of Frankenstein way, then YES. PERFECT. This guy gets women by being a DJ (He calls himself DJ GUIDO. I cannot make this stuff up!) and he tried to hook up with one of his female roommates (Guidettes, sorry) by putting his face about 2 inches away from hers and smiling like a shithead.WOW, Bro, you gotts skillz!

Moving on to the guidettes,
there was Sweetheart Sammi, who says she is attracted to guidos. She is short with a horrible Jersey/New York accent, long dark hair that she sometimes poofs up with lots of hair spray, and wears see-thru clothing that shows off her untoned body, yet she calls herself HOTT.
Angela, who has a guido for a boyfriend, yet says she is going to hook up. She doesn't carah (I think she meant to say care). If I were to describe her, I'd say Sammi's twin
Snot is another one (snozzie or something.) she threw up and the first night then threatened for about 24 hours that she was going to leave, though no one seemed to care. She decided to stick around. Good thing. We'd have to get another guidette. Oh, you want a physical description? Short. Fat. poofy black air, attracted to guidos. A twin of Sammi.
I don't remember the last one's name. But she is just like the other three. I'm not kidding. At first I thought it was four guys and one girl in the same house, until I realized all four girls looked and acted exactly the same.
And boy do those guidettes like to use the expression WHORE. They are insulting their own kind! I think the guidettes are calling other guidettes whores? Cannibals don't eat cannibals. Why are these people doing this to each other?

Anyway, the big drama was The Situation wanted to hook up with Sweetheart Sammi, even holding her hand, but then he was attracted to some other guidettes in the hottub, who decided to get naked in the MTV hottub after hearing these meatheads whistling at them from their roof. Then these guidettes start kissing each other, pissing off the other guidettes, who call them whores, but are just angry that these guidettes are moving in on their guidos. (I was just trying to type guido as many times as I could there.) Anyways, Sammi decides to get back at THE SITUATION by hooking up with his guido-twin Ronnie (I would say that she probably thought it was THE SITUATION because he's just as much of a stroided up meathead, but I think they can tell the difference up there). as for the rest of the two hour episode, Snot threw up then threatened to leave but ultimately stayed because no one was paying attention to her and maybe she was trying to punish them?
Oh, one of the guidettes called her guido boyfriend after she cheated on him and he was at work in a meeting (they have meetings at Vinny's Pizza?) so he couldn't talk. What does she do? She calls him back immediately 8 times. Hmmmm, he isn't picking up. LET'S TRY HIM AGAIN EVEN THOUGH HE TOLD ME HE COULDN'T TALK AS HE WAS IN A MEETING AT WORK! I think this chick then went and hooked up with Pauley D, but again it could have been one of the other guidettes, since they all look the same.
In the scenes for what is coming up, one of the guidos hits one of the guidettes and I think they show the cops arresting just about all of the housemates at one time or another. ROID RAGE will do that! So will being white trash.
I don't want to hear northerners EVER make fun of people living south of the Mason-Dixon line EVER AGAIN. You call some of the natives here rednecks, I'll just point to this show. BALLGAME OVER. I WIN.

Let's move on to the picks,

Thursday's Civil War thoughts.
No.7 Oregon beat No.17 Oregon State. The Ducks beat the beavers and I will say I BELIEVE IT. A duck one bit me and they are birds of prey. A beaver has never bitten me, but I think I'd just kick the little buck-teethed rodent. Chip Kelly, good job rallying after you lost to Boise State (thanks for letting them run the table FYI!), suffered through LeGarrett Blount (way to let him back on the team after suspending him for the entire season!), then beat USC before losing to Stanford. I actually will be rooting for you against ohio state, but I won't be watching. Sorry. Oregon State, meanwhile, Quizz Rogers, DUDE, you should have won this game for your team. I guess you peaked against USC last year.

Saturday's games
No.5 Cincy @ #15 Pitt. The Stache lost last week to West Va because I guess things were going a little too well. Doesn't matter. If he wins, he's in the Orange Bowl against the ACC winner. Odds are, the stache loses this game too. Cincy's coach wants ND to pay thru the NOSE for him, so I am guessing he runs up the score.

No.21 Houston @ ECU. Case Keenum makes his case for the Heisman. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Seriously though, You really want to go with a team coached by a guy named Skip? WHat is this, a Malcolm in the middle movie? Go with Houston.

#23 West VA @ Rutgers. I wonder how many Guidos will be in attendance for this one! PS, the whole Greg Shiano/Eddie Fogler decision might need a new member to that group as in Jon Jancek. The former UGA co-defensive coordinator was a LB coach under Mark Richt when he was offered the DCoor job at South Florida. Richt kept him on board with a bump up to Co-coordinator, even though Willie still called the defense. Jancek is now seeking employment. Take WVA over the Guidos.

FrezNO State @ Illinois. See, Zook, typically you want to face the easy teams at the BEGINNING of the year, that way you can build momentum for the year. Maybe you can try that next season when you are head coach at William & Mary. Zookers win Ronny's last game.

New Mexico State @ #6 Boise State. Boise State wraps up the conference schedule with a real toughie. Take the Broncs. NO SHITE SHERLOCK! (PS, looking forward to that movie, even with the addict playing Holmes.)

Arizona @ #18 USC. Did Pete Carroll really do to UCLA what he got pissed at Stanford for doing to him? I thought so. You stay classy Trojans. I wonder if he'll run the score up on Arizona too, all as he tries to get back at Stanford. Honestly though, if you are going to get mad at folks for doing that stuff to you, don't do it to them. Didn't Confucious say something about that once?

No.1 Florida v No.2 Alabama. I really do think Bama's defense can topple Florida's Tim Tebow. I think Saban is still seething over last season. The Tide's offense is worse than last year, but the defense is better and McElroy makes enough plays along wtih Mark Ingram running for a Heisman to overcome Tim Tebow. I hope Tebow cries after the game. Well, we all know he will, but I hope they are tears of sorrow. Florida has a strong defense, but just like when Bebe dropped the pass, I think the Univserse is starting to come back around for Georgia.

No.19 Cal @ U-Dub. WAY TO GO PAC-10! ANOTHER EXCITING GAME ON THE FINAL WEEKEND OF THE YEAR! Wait, no one is going to watch. Cal

#3 Texas v #22 NEbraska in the Big12 championship game. I love how people are STILL trying to say NU has a chance. STOP IT FOLKS! Colt McCoy wins this game, gets a shot that the BCS Title and wins a Heisman. And he'll win the Heisman because he'll beat a defense that everyone is now thinking is really good! ESPN is making up a conspiracy for him to win! On a Big12 side note, Mangino resigned yesterday. KU lost the big guy probably because of the former players saying he was mean, but come on...The record sucked, the AD didn't like him, and he benched the best player to come through KU in 30 years in a game that he could have won! Idiot. He deserved to go. Now he'll just be an Arby's spokesman. He'll drown his sorrow in Arby's sauce.

#10 GT v Clemson (notice GT wasn't No.7 anymore. Georgia Bulldogs.) Hey ESPN and ABC. way to put two championship games on at the same time! You didn't want GT/Clemson at, say 1pm on ABC? Dumb Dumb Dumb. actually, I'll watch this over Texas/Nebraska, but that is only because I want to watch CJ Spiller and Dabo try and win CJ the Heisman. Maybe Dabo will just yell at him for a while. HA. These two teams played it close on the Flats and so you'd think that Clemson at a neutral site would win a close one, but I am going with the UGA/LSU2003 theory and GT wins. I wonder though if CPJ will put the 30-24 score on these rings. Wait, that's right. That's not that big of a game. And anyways, what has Georgia won since 1980? What has GT won? Half of a national championship given out by an organization that went OOB, probably because they gave GT 1/2 of a national championship in 1990. Yeah, I went there. GT has won half of something since 1980. GO PAUL JOHNSON! Tech wins.....but I can come back with 30-24. and I think most Techies would trade a win here for one last week. Oh, you won the ACC? Cool you are the champion of the 4th best conference in College football! Cool!

Willie has been freed, Will Richt make a Smart move?

2009-12-03T11:38:00.002-05:00

Now that Willie Martinez's contract will not be picked up for next year (along with John Jancek and Jon Fabris), I am right back where I was a few weeks back: HIRE KIRBY SMART!

Now the boys at the AJC believe my reasoning is crazy (though mark bradley more or less said what I've been saying for a while: Saban will ALWAYS get the defensive credit whereever he is. Sorry Kirby. Come make some cash and get all of the credit!), but I still say call Kirby Smart and try and bring him home.
The only bad thing is that Kirby coached under Richt once as a running backs coach. I wonder how that went....Did it end badly?

Please call him and tell him to come home and that he'll get ALL of the credit. Tell Bobo, his former teammate to recruit him. BRING THE MAN HOME. PLEASE.

Other options, the D-Coor from TCU Dick Bumpas or perhaps Mark Stoops (but I doubt he'd want to leave his brother Mike for ANOTHER coordinator gig. He is the leader for Youngstown State's HC job). Anthony Poindexter @ UVa probably is too young to be a DCoor.

I don't really know how I feel about Ellis Johnson coming down from SoCar. Sure he knows the area, but he feels like a retread. I really want more of a younger guy that can come up like BVG did back in 2001. Fresh ideas, fresh schemes, young enough to identify with his charges. Johnson has been at SoCar among other SEC stops and I get the feeling that if he was REALLY good, maybe SoCar wouldn't be 3-5 in the SEC...

Call Smart or go with an unknown. That's this guy's stand. But SBF endorses the hiring of Kirby Smart.

Please.

Sneak peek of Around the Dial from Score Atlanta

2009-12-03T11:36:00.001-05:00

Be sure to pick up a copy of Score Atlanta. Turn to the back page for Around the Dial. I'm like Rick Reilly!

If you thought ESPN’s coverage of Tim Tebow’s concussion was bad, then hopefully the turkey let you sleep through the Thanksgiving Holiday. The self-proclaimed Sports Leader was all over the Tiger Woods auto accident that happened in the early hours of Friday morning. ESPN made sure everyone knew about how Woods allegedly crashed his car into a fire hydrant and then a tree around 2:30 A.M. Friday morning and then was rescued by his wife, who freed Woods from the car with a golf club to the back windshield. During Friday’s football coverage and all day Saturday, the ticker at the bottom of the screen crawled with more and more updates on Tiger and how he had delayed a police interview for three straight days. The circus continued Sunday when Woods released a statement via his website and you had people breaking down the statement on the network.
I guess the intense football rivalries and NFL teams playing for their playoff lives was not drama enough, ESPN has to ratchet up the holiday drama by pounding into our heads all weekend long that Tiger Woods was in an automobile accident and he hasn’t talked yet to police. And the scary part: all of this happened before the boys at Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption could get a hold of it. Just imagine the overkill when Jim Rome breaks it down on Rome is Burning. If we thought the Tebow concussion was bad, I fear we haven’t seen anything yet. And when Tiger does finally talk, ESPN’s talking heads will just beat that into the ground as well. Guys, this isn’t sports. I’ll give you Tebow’s concussion. The drama there was if he would come back to play against the No.4 team in the country. But as for Tiger, the US Open isn’t next week. This is just a money-grab time for PGA players right now. Do we really need to have helicopters hovering over his house, finding shots of the tree and the hydrant? And PS, I wept when ESPN started using the National Enquirer as a source for its sports news.

If you were asleep Thursday night after the turkey was finished or if you don’t get the NFL Network, you missed the Broncos/Giants game and Denver head coach Josh McDaniels’ colorful words of motivation for his team. McDaniels was caught on camera using a profanity in an attempt to motivate his team. Several of the Denver-area newspapers acted as though this was the end of the world, seeking comment from several people at the NFL Network. All were apologetic and none threw McDaniels under the bus. The Pueblo Chieftain though was not as understanding. A columnist from the paper apparently didn’t like McDaniels’ choice of words and blamed him for the NFLN putting the profanity on the air. Coaches say whatever they believe will work and if the NFL Network wants to air the comments, perhaps they shouldn’t do it live. Use a delay or tape it and then edit it out later. But if the network wants live shots, it should be prepared. The network though wasn’t the one that seemed outraged, just the columnist. He might need to get over it. This is the NFL. Sometimes bad words are said. He shouldn’t look at what happens in a huddle…

As much as it pains me to say this, I enjoyed the University of Georgia/Georgia Tech broadcast coverage (and not just because I am a UGA alum and the Dawgs took home the win, 8th in the last nine years). I have several friends from the Detroit area who tell me horror stories about Matt Millen and how he ruined the Lions. I was at Super Bowl XL in Detroit when, in the middle of the game between the Steelers and the Seahawks, a “Fire Millen” chant broke out. I was sitting down to watch the game dreading what Millen would say, but I was surprised. The guy was insightful and pretty funny. He added enough humor that I wanted to keep hearing what he had to say. Millen came off as a guy that I want to invite over to my house on New Years so we can have a beer and watch the football games. I will still curse him in front of my Detroit friends, but underneath it all, I really like the guy as an announcer.

Georgia Public Broadcasting is going to ROCK the Dome!

2009-12-02T14:03:00.001-05:00

Note: this appears in the GHSA program that will be handed out at the Georgia Dome at next week's state championships.

Five teams celebrated state football titles last season and for the first time, those celebrations all occurred on the floor of the Georgia Dome. High school football fans living around the state of Georgia got to share in the celebration in their homes as once again Georgia Public Broadcasting was there to broadcast the GHSA state championship games live from the Georgia Dome. Back in 1992, the GHSA and GPB decided to form a television partnership, and by 1997 GPB was airing state semi-finals and some of the championship games. Last season the GHSA elected to move the state semi-final location from the Dome to home sites while moving the actual title games from the school campuses to the Georgia Dome, normally the home of the Atlanta Falcons and the SEC Championship Game. Despite the move in venue, residents of Georgia were still able to catch all of the action on GPB. According to Tom Vardase of GPB and Prep Sports+, the move of the championship games to the Dome was a good one. “I believe [the games] were a success.”

The finals brought a few new twists opposed to prior years’ coverage of the semi-finals. New graphics were developed by GPB and implemented for the games. “You want the look to be as nice as you can get…but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.” Vardase says that he watches how Ray Com produces its weekly game, and he tries to use similar ideas. “We do our best to be that way (as professional as NFL and NCAA broadcasts).” This season the state title games will look a little different than last year. Some of the graphics were tweaked for last year and have been even more so for this year’s title tilts. The broadcast will feature new internal graphics as well as a new segment for offensive and defensive players of the game. The latter segment also finds GPB working with the Atlanta Falcons to present those awards. Vardase credits two gentlemen who have been with him since Day One thirteen years ago, for the new looks. Doug Furce produces and directs while Tony Robinson serves as Technical Producer. New talent is also one difference folks might see and hear compared to last year. Former Atlanta Falcon and ten-year NFL vet Harper Lebel will work as a color commentator for one of the championship games while Stu Klitenic will call play-by-play for Class A’s title game. Lebel has been working some high school games in the Gainesville area while Klitenic has been involved in Atlanta sports for some time, even co-hosting the Atlanta Braves pregame radio show. Vardase was also proud to announce that Jeff Van Note is coming back to do color analysis for the Class AAAA and AAAAA games. Van Note is a former Falcon who was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. He has appeared as a color commentator on Falcons broadcasts as well as the University of Kentucky and Georgia Tech football broadcasts.

In the weeks that follow the games, GPB will unveil two new innovations that will help keep the broadcasts, “new and refreshing,” according to Vardase. Prep Sports+ will air two recap shows, one on Thursday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m. and the other Sunday, December 20 at 11 a.m. The second show will be Prep Sports+ 400th original show, something that Vardase is quite proud of. That same week, the GPB Knowledge Channel (Comcast channel 246 in Metro-Atlanta) will rebroadcast all of the games, one each night starting on December 14 with Class A at 8 p.m. This will be a first for GPB as the Knowledge channel affords the opportunity of a two or three hour window that GPTV might not normally have to re-air the games.

Football isn’t the only sports programming found on GPB though. In addition to Prep Sports+, basketball fans can tune in this March for the state basketball championships. Georgia Public Broadcasting has done more than 140 basketball games and will be back this year with eleven games. This March 12 and 13, GPB will air all of the girls and boys state title games as well as the wheelchair championship, presented by the American Association of Adapted Sports Program.

Though there are always hurdles, Vardase knows the rewards are always there as well, and people really enjoy GPB and its broadcasts of the high school championships. Vardase recalls in 1997 going to Thomasville and a fans thanking him. According to Vardase, the fan told him, “You guys did one heck of a job.” After thirteen seasons and over 140 games, this fun likely won’t stop anytime soon.

From Eight to Four....

2009-12-02T07:59:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving weekend means Turkey, Mashed potatoes, Gravy, rolls, the Lions losing, the Cowboys playing a weak opponent, Georgia winning its 8th in 9 years over a bitter GaTech (hey CPJ, if it DIDN'T mean anything, why'd you put last year's score on a ring. PS, your 790 interview yesterday sounded like the first chapter of the book Things Losers Say.) and the Georgia High School football playoffs going from the Elite 8 down to the Final Four.

Quarterfinals baby! And boy did Class AAAAA lose ALL of its schools north of the airport. WOW. Let's get right to it.

Newnan knocked off Grayson because of ONE PERSON Alec Ogletree. His pledging to Georgia makes me absolutely giddy. Dude had a one-handed TD grab, 13 tackles (at least) and then he only blocked the potential game-winning field goal attempt with under :10 to play. WOW. This is what Reshad Jones wishes he was. A freak that goes all out and I cannot wait for this guy to team with Bacarri Rambo in the Georgia defensive secondary. WOW. I saw the highlights. WOW. Get on campus NOW Ogletree, and while you are at it, bring your brother Zander because he reminds me of a Tony Taylor-type, the undersized LB that hustles his butt off due to the chip on the shoulder that turns from a 3-star into a 5-star once on campus and in the system. He won't believe his press clippings and he'll want to prove to everyone that he is just as good as his brother.
As for Grayson, I tip my cap to you guys, Ean Pemberton, Kori Gaines, Shawne Green, Terry Williams, Joe Champaign, and Mickey Conn. This was one HECK of a team, completing one heck of a two-year run. I'm not sure Grayson can recover from the loss of all of this talent. But we'll see.

Newnan will now host Northside (in a game you can watch on GPB.org/football, with THIS GUY serving as analyst. For the record) after the Eagles rallied from down 10 to score in the final minutes to force OT. Then another OT. Then ANOTHER OT. Brison Williams, headed to South Carolina had a big Kick Return and outran Vandy-commit Brad Roby for a 65-yard TD reception. Devon Pike made a few FGs to cap the rally and win in the third OT. Williams PS also blocked a PTR FG attempt in the 3rd OT to enable NSWR to win.
That semi-final contest should be a classic with do-it-all Ogletree and do-it-all Williams going head to head likely all night long. Northside was held to -2 rushing yards and that was against the Lions. The Cougs have a better defense so watch out. I won't make a prediction, but if you really pressed me, I think Newnan wins at home.

On the flip side, Colquitt County and Rush Propst knocked off his former OC Chip Lindsey and Lassiter, ending Hutson Mason's high school career. We talked to Hutson on our show this past Monday (go to www.scoreatl.com for the clips of the show), and he said that the defense was strong for the Packers but Lassiter may have shot itself in the foot right before halftime when the Trojans went for it on 4th and goal from the 2. The second half was all Packers as they went on to win 46-17.
Now Colquitt faces....
defending champ Camden. Camden doesn't throw much, but that's OK. They absolutely dominated North Gwinnett. (My neighborhood team.) The champs won 35-0 IN Suwanee which just shocks me. I know in south GA the boys are grown big, but I thought the OLine for the Bulldogs would be able to have its way. CJ Uzomah (Also a guest on The Official Visit this past Monday) was able to throw for ~100 yards and run for 70+, but threw two picks. He'll be back next year as a senior and will have a Blake Sims run. PREDICTION! I'm calling it RIGHT NOW. But Camden was dominating and they are back in the final four, hosting the Packers. Traveling isn't anything for Colquitt though, traveling up to Westlake, then Stephenson and then again the next week to Lassiter. Heading south to Camden Co, shouldn't faze Rush and the boys. I think the second year of Propst ends in the GA DOME.

In Class AAAA, Rajion Neal and the rest of the Fighting Pats were able to go ON THE ROAD to TCC and walk out winners, not a shock there. The Patriots are VERY GOOD and should cruise to a win, except that they face Griffin and their home stadium is not big enough to host, so despite winning the coin toss to host, they must go ON THE ROAD to face Griffin. Griffin just wore out Apalachee and the running game was never able to do anything against the Bears. I am told by some people from the South Atlanta area that Griffin will easily advance to the championship, but ++++GET THIS SANDY CREEK FANS+++++ I'm not sure. In fact, IN AN UPSET, I'm going with Sandy Creek and Rajion Neal. Perhaps he runs through the Bears himself and then accepts the UGA offer. MAYBE! (Or maybe he and Hutson Mason both head to Starkvegas and help Dan Mullen's cause in two years when he visits Athens. Ya Never know)

On the other side of that bracket, Clarke-Central proved it was NO FLUKE when they knocked off SWD by just BLASTING North Clayton and Clarence Jackson 52-13. I must say that C-CHS might have the most impressive resume of all of the remaining teams in class AAAA's final four. They posted 52 points, knocked off SWD and hung a 40 spot in the opening round. Pretty impressive.
They'll face Rockdale in Athens and I think the magical ride of Rockdale County is donezo. Sorry. Nice win though over Westside Macon. I knew WSM would lose eventually. Perhaps Todd Holcomb won't put then in the top 5 preseason next year.... THEY ALWAYS DO THIS!

Moving down to AAA, let's turn to Score Atlanta's own Fletcher Proctor for a breakdown of the two final four games...The Class AAA semifinals feature a regular season rematch on one side of the bracket and a road warrior vs. a former champion on the other side. The Peach County Trojans won back-to-back state championships in 2005 and 2006 but the team is only now in a position to take home another after two down seasons. Patrick Taylor is back as quarterback after missing most of last season and the senior has made up for lost time. Taylor scored a TD in OT last week to help push the Trojans back to the semis, but he's had some help on the ground in the form of Travis Richmond. The running back had 127 yards last week in the 21-14 win over St. Pius.
Meanwhile the Eastside Eagles are on the road again just one week after traveling to Jackson to knock off the Region 4 champion Red Devils. The Eagles churned out a 14-0 victory on the legs of Git Aiken's 163 rushing yards. Greg Griffieth scored on a one-yard touchdown scamper but fumbled once. The Eagles will have to cut down on fumbles if they want to pull off yet another road victory to make it to the Georgia Dome. The defense though seems to be able to bail out any mistakes the offense makes. Against Jackson, the defense intercepted the Red Devils twice, including one for a score. Eastside also showed its steel against Carrollton and Towers, giving up just 13 points to each.
On the other side of the bracket, Gainesville and Flowery Branch will renew acquaintances in a rematch of the 49-17 Red Elephants win in the regular season's final week. Gainesville is led by QB Blake Sims and WR Tai-lor Jones on offense and Daunte Carr on defense. Carr won a state title last year with Buford so he brings big-game experience to Gainesville and has all season. This postseason, Gainesville has given up a playoff-low 26 points defensively. Teryan Rucker (181 yards vs. Cairo) and Tyson Smith (52 yards) provide all of the push the Red Elephants need on the ground, outside of the legs of the QB Sims.
Connor Shaw and the Falcons of Flowery Branch will be on the road for the fourth week in a row. The Falcons were a No.4 seed out of Region 7-AAA and knocked off Ridgeland and Grady before traveling south to take out Carver-Columbus, the Champions out of Region 2. Shaw finished with 307 yards of total offense (235 rushing and 72 passing) and five TDs, four on the ground. Imani Cross had 110 yards rushing in the Elite Eight round and if Shaw wants to put the ball up, Rodney Boudreau is likely to come down with it, as he did on several fourth down plays in the 35-33 win over the Tigers.
THANKS FLETCHER! (Wait, that's me!)

Moving down to Class AA, Calhoun hosts Lovett this weekend and I'm finally starting to pick up some members on the Nash Nance bandwagon. I've been saying all season that his transfer to Calhoun will bring them a title that they missed out on last season and I'm looking more and more like a genius. (Notice how I never mention the predictions that I miss out on?) Nance will outplay Jonathan Carkhuff mainly because of Da'Rick Rogers. Calhoun nearly put 50 on Jefferson Co, after going 39 and 42 the rounds before. Nance stirs the drink and the drink is a strong one right now. I still feel good about my pick of the Yellow Jackets, especially at home and NOT against Charlton Co.

On the other side, Buford travels to Fitzgerald and I think Buford is still trying to play the "NO ONE IS GIVING US A CHANCE!" Card despite being the two-time defending champions. Buford has won 42 of its last 43 games and I think they knock off Fitz but leave too much on the field for the GA Dome rematch of 2008 against Calhoun.

In Class A, Wesleyan LOST! WOW. I guess I'll take Wilcox now, the team that beat Wesleyan. WOW. I cannot believe that. Hmmm. So I've lost Grayson, SWD and now Wesleyan. COME ON RED ELEPHANTS! COME ON CALHOUN! DON'T LET ME LOOK 100% STOOPID.

Once again, log on this Friday as Newnan hosts Northside LIVE on gpb.org/football.

....and you still couldn't beat us.

2009-11-30T12:28:00.002-05:00

That is what I'll be able to say about WHATEVER Georgia Tech does for the rest of the season. Oh you are the Coastal Division champs in the ACC?
you still couldn't beat us (and I say "us" even though I am not on the team. But I went there, graduated from there and send money there. That makes them part mine, IMHO.)
Oh you went 10-2 while we went 7-5?
you still couldn't beat us
Oh you won* the ACC title? (regular season yes, with a chance this weekend in the ACCC v Clemson)
you still couldn't beat us
Oh you beat* Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl? (Maybe...)
you still couldn't beat us

And let's be honest here, Georgia dominated that game. Tech had some life in the third quarter when it score a couple of TDs, but Georgia owned the first, second and fourth quarters (according to Wifey, and who am I to go against her?). Yes Tech had a chance to win at the end, but the Universe owed us one and we cashed in with that dropped pass by BeBe.
Blair Walsh misses his second kick of the season which would have iced the game, but after kicking us in the balls all season long, karma felt bad and decided to pull down the Yellow Jackets pants for once.
You know what? We'll take it.
Another thing I wanted to say about the game was how impressed (and disappointed) I was by the running game. The Dawgs racked up over 300 yards on the ground with Washaun and Caleb slicing through the Jackets smallish front four. Why was I disappointed you ask? Because I thought they should have done this all season long. Bobo kept calling for the run and that was sublime. I loved it. Jam it down their throats. They cannot stop it! The only bad call I have for Bobo was the 3rd and 4 (maybe 7, I forget) on the final drive where he called for a screen. The back was stopped for a loss, forcing Walsh into a longer kick that he missed. That's the only one though. Bobo called for a few long passes that Wooten, Troupe and TKing all dropped, which at least two would have gone for touchdowns. Oh well. Good game plan BooBoo.

I remember a column that Mark Bradley did recently for the AJC where he wondered where Georgia would finish in the ACC and where the Jackets would finish in the SEC. Georgia, Bradley reasoned would finish 5th or so in the ACC. Meanwhile, Tech would be third overall in the SEC, second in the East. I find this interesting because Tech has a small OLine and a small D-Line that couldn't stand up to the 6th best team in the SEC. Yeah, Tech beat Vandy and Miss State, who didn't? When they faced one of the better defenses with better athletes, this is what happened. It was 30-24 ONLY because GATech was able to BOG down Georgia's running game twice in the red zone. Otherwise the score gets nasty quick and the fans once again start to doubt CPJ's offense (which by the way, if it was SOOOO good, then how come more people don't run it? I've been waiting two years to say that!)

In other news, Groh has finally Gone and I know Daddio is happy about that. I actually got to break the news to him as well. A nice moment for me. I think UVa has some competition for Tubs though with Texas A&M, though the Aggies might hang on to Sherman after the effort his squad put up against the Horns.

Tim Tebow won. HIS RUN ON SPORTSCENTER IS ALMOST OVER! And actually, I'm hoping Urban stays at Florida because I want to see if he can do it without Tebow. Or if his system was all around one man. Hmmmmmm. (Maybe I should just hope that he goes to Notre Dame, but then Florida would probably just go out and get Brian Kelly with my luck.

Bobby Bowden might not return next season. Hopefully the Bulldogs hold on to CMR. Anyone who wants him gone is an idiot. Willie can go, but Mark Richt needs to stay. Why are we pushing him out the door?

Finally, I am getting a little sick of EVERYONE saying that Gus Malzahn invented the Wildcat. Ummm, really? You REALLY think this guy invented that? So HE was calling the plays at UGA back in 1997 and 1998 when Jim Donnan was putting Hines Ward in a shotgun and handing off to Champ Bailey on a sweep? And Donnan didn't invent it either for the record. I think "putting the ball into your best player's hands" was invented right after the idea for football came around. Just saying. Sporting News, get a grip guys.

That's it. the rest of the football weekend was kinda lame. Lots of blowouts and of course, Charlie Weis lost and Pete Carroll ran the score up after whining about Stanford doing it to him. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

OH, sorry, one more thing, I read where Michael Vick believes he'll get a standing ovation this week when he returns to Atlanta's Georgia Dome for the Falcons/Eagles game. He says "Atlanta is still [his] city." Well a portion of the city is still his. And sadly he WILL get a standing O from a certain segment of the crowd and I think you know which ones I'm talking about. The kind that never gave Matt Ryan because he looks more like 2% milk than a Reese's Cup. Sad, really.

Picks on a Wednesday? Hey, it's a holiday week

2009-11-25T10:22:00.002-05:00

Adam Lambert kissed a boy and America DIDN'T like it, MJ pulls a Heath Ledger, Donny Osmond finishes what Marie started and Oprah sets a retirement date. Oh yeah, and we have FOOTBALL!

Ladies and gentlemen, the Weekly picks mixed in with a midweek entertainment report!

(CONFUSED CLAPPING. Shot of Marissa in the audience)

Thursday.
#3 Texas @ Texas A&M. I know Detroit plays (without Stafford, they lose) and Dallas plays (hopefully they lose too) and Joey BoD's Giants play (who cares?) but the college game of the night is the Aggies hosting the Horns. Is there anyone that DOESN'T think that Colt McCoy won't put up 6 TDs on these guys in an attempt to stuff the Heisman ballot box? On a side note, Daddio is now freaking out because UVA might miss out on Tuberville as TAMU might come a-callin'.......Won't matter. Tubs will be keeping an eye on the Miami job the entire time he is in either College Station or Charlottesville.

Friday
Rutgers @ Louisville. Is this Krapthorpe's final game? Fulmer to Louisville! Do the Cardinals win one for Steve and carry him off into the sunset? Doubt it. As much as I like to mock Greg Shiano for pulling an Eddie Fogler (now I hear that he turned down Miami because he wants the Penn State job...HA!), he is 200X better than Krapthorpe. That's not saying much about Shiano, more about Krapthorpe.

Illinois @ #5 Cincy. This game at the start of the season is one I might be really interested in. Too bad Ron Zook pulled a 2004 Zook job on this team and messed up a potentially really solid team. Look for Brian Kelly to yet another gold star on his resume as he applies for the Notre Dame gig.

Nebraska @ Colorado. You can bet this game will be on when I head out west to Colorado to visit Wifey's family this weekend. Grandpa Gene is a big Colorado fan. NU has already clinched a spot in the Big12 CG and I love how ABC/ESPN are trying to keep viewers for next week's Big12CG by saying that Bo Pelini's defense could slow down Colt McCoy. Yeah, and I could start for the Chicago Bulls. That COULD happen but in REALITY it won't. Nebraska wins this one, but will be skullcrushed next week.

#9 Pitt @ West Va. TWO TEAMS IN THE TOP 10! The Big East is BACK! Well, no, that's not true. But two teams is sort of impressive. The Pac10 doesn't have that. Big12? Nope. As for this game, the BACKYARD BRAWL if you will. I fear that couches will be burned after the game, but they won't be in celebration of victory. Nope, I think the stache knocks off Bill Stewart for the win.

Nevada @ #6 Boise State. I ONLY put this game on the picks because I just want to show everyone the quality of competition that Boise State plays in conference. OH COURSE BSU WINS, THEY ARE PLAYING NEVADA IN CONFERENCE PLAY. Who else plays Nevada? Notre Dame (First game of the season), Colorado State (tune up in second week) and Mizzou (tune up in third week). Yet Boise State plays them as a coference opponent. Boise State wins. SIGH.

Saturday
#18 Clemson @ South Carolina. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Dabo Sweeney is my favorite coach in the ACC. I listen to Paul Johnson on the radio and I'm not sure if I like him or think he's a prick. He's honest. But Dabo cracks me up. He really does. How is he a coach? "I looked around and I didn't see CJ, then I found him. He was tired from running that kick back." What did you do then? "I just yelled at him for a while." Great. Take the funny coach over the coach that was swarmy and funny back in the late 90s.

#24 UNC @ NCState. The Heels. Did you catch Adam Lambert on the AMAs? I missed it (I was watching Fracture on Charter on-demand.) Apparently he forced a guy down into his crotch, then kissed another dude. And American didn't like it. At least Good Morning America didn't. AL, we get it. you are gay and now you can finally show it when you couldn't on American Idol (not sure why you didn't think you could...) Is this what you are going to be from now on, performer-wise? You've even turned off Sean. Just saying... I know you aren't a babysitter, but let's maybe leave that stuff for your post-Idol tour. Maybe?

Syracuse @ UConn. Maybe this one will go 6 OTs like their Basketball game? That would be the ONLY WAY I'd watch this one, for the record. I think UConn on senior day wins another one for Jazz.

Wake @ Duke. The Blue Devils cannot go bowling. Sorry David Cutcliff. On the other hand, Wake Forest has a new fan in Paul The Deacon Mac. Those two factors have me jumping on Wake's bangwagon for this game. NEVER go against Paul Mac. As a Deacon, he now has God on his side.

#25 Ole Miss @ Mississippi State. The battle for the egg bowl. Houston Nutt has more talent than Dan Mullen, so right now, I've got to go with Ole Miss. And Kudos (I guess?) to Donny Osmond for winning Dancing with the stars, even though I don't watch that one. (I'm not even watching SYTYCD this season. Sorry Cat.) He won after his sister/girlfriend from a few seasons back faked passing out to not get voted out. Ahhhhh C- list celebs, clinging to 6 weeks of "fame." So sad.

#12 Okie State @ OU. If you DON'T think I'm going to give my in-laws crap about the Pokes using an illegal player to beat Georgia, then you clearly don't know me. This game is in Norman, but with Landry Jones at QB, the Sooners are cooked. He might be the only QB in America WORSE than Joe Cox. MAYBE. At least if Okie State goes to the Fiesta Bowl, I can sleep easier at night knowing Georgia lost to a BCS team that it could have beaten if the ILLEGAL player had not played....Wait Bryan Evans played for us. Nevermind. We'd have lost that game anyways.

New Mexico @ #4 TCU. Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Two teams that used New Mexico as target practice. TCU calls them a conference opponent. Take the Horney Toads. And Michael Jackson won four AMAs...I wonder how many he'd have won if he had not died. Did he release any new music? I didn't think so. Way to pull a Heath Ledger there AMAs.

FSU @ #1 Florida. Urban Meyer has now cried at three straight press conferences when the fact is brought up that this is Tim Tebow's final game in the swamp. I like that you are close to your players, but this is a bit scary. Just saying. Or maybe you are crying because you know that he was your meal ticket and you are just Billy Donavon on the gridiron and once your star leaves, you'll be in the Capital One Bowl (a No.4 seed) or Outback bowl (the NIT) for a while. Tebow won't lose his final home game. The refs won't allow it! Sorry SEC commish. You can fine me.

#14 VaTech @ UVa. Ladies and gentlemen, the final game of Al Groh's UVa career. MASS APPLAUSE! Hokies close the curtain with yet ANOTHER win over the Hoos.

#17 Miami @ SoFla. The Hurricanes and the Bulls. Can you really call Tampa "South Florida?" Isn't Miami a little more SOUTH than Tampa? If Miami wins, shouldn't South Florida have to call themselves Middle Florida? Just wondering.

Zona @ Arizona State. I am NOT wearing my Arizona shirt today. I feel that I jinxed them. But don't worry. If Stoops feels he is on the hotseat, he wins this game. I'll have to ask F-i-L if he is. He is the NEW Tommy Bowden. Take the Wildcats.

BC @ Maryland. Speaking of people that will soon be out of work (Ralphie, that was a reference to you!) Oprah announced that she is calling it quits in 2011 so she can focus on her new Oprah Network. Doesn't she already have Oxygen? She needs another one? Wait, what will stay-at-home wives do now? Who will they blindly listen to without question? Oprah? I bet Tyra thinks she is going to step right in. Or will Rosie try and get back in the game? Will Rachel Ray try and squeeze in there? This could get exciting. I know Joel McHale is voting for Wendy Williams. Oh, as for this game, take BC.

Mizzou @ KU. Wasn't Mizzou ranked at one point this season? I think Kansas was too though. Hmmmmm, Oh Yeah, Mizzou doesn't have a HORRIBLE coaching controversy to deal with. I have to give the edge to the Tigers. Less drama. And I think Todd Reesing throws 6 INTs on his 9th senior day (or maybe it just seems like his ninth.)

#21 Utah @ #19 BYU. Hey cool, two ranked teams from the state of Utah. Did they just rank them so Senator Hatch would shut it? YES. YES THEY DID. I like the Mormons in this game. (Crap, that includes both teams.) I'll take the team that Jamal Sniff Anderson didn't play for.

Texas Tech @ Baylor. Mike Leach, I am SO sorry I picked against you last week. Win this one then give the red raiders the finger right to Louisville. OR MAYBE SOUTH BEND? Nah, they'd never do that. But he could do the Louisville thang.

Wazzou @ U-Dub. The Apple Cup. Never I have NOT cared about a state championship more. Well, maybe last year.....U-Dub.

Tennessee @ UK. So Janzen Jackson was reinstated now that he was cleared of charges because he saw what was happening but decided not to get involved. That means he didn't help in the robbery but he didn't exactly stop it or alert police. But I guess because he COULD EVENTUALLY be all-SEC, he's allowed to stick around. UK, I know you guys beat Georgia last week, but Tennessee is going to beat you guys. Sorry Matt. Enjoy the game though.

Notre Dame @ Stanford. Jimmy Clausen gets punched in the face but he's still going to start this Saturday. He just has a black eye. His pride was hurt a long time ago; he's learned to play without it. Stanford lost last week, but if you DON'T think they'll just pound Charlie Weis right into forced retirement, you are out of your mind.

UCLA @ #20 USC. Three losses, two blowouts, and they are still in the top 20. Pete Carroll has everyone snowed. They beat UCLA though. Easy. You know Pete wants to smack Rick and Norm. Right in the face. And he will. HOLIDAY BOWL! USC V OU! YIPPEE!

SIDE DISHES
LOCK OF THE WEEK
#2 Bama @ Auburn. Sorry Joey BagoDonuts, but I cannot see ANY SITUATION where Auburn beats Alabama. Sorry. I really am. The way I see it though, you lost to us and we lost to UK. So you guys REALLY stick. I know it's at home but to top it all off, Ben Tate is crazy and crazy people just don't lead teams to wins, especially over Nick Saban. Just doesn't happen.

UPSET OF THE WEEK
Arkansas @ #15 LSU. The Tigers have a weaker team than they did last year and Arkansas has a better team than last year. And Arkie won last season. I think Ryan Mallet leads Arkie to YET ANOTHER WIN over LSU. Hey Les, HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Local teams involved in Good Clean Old-fashioned Hate.
Georgia @ #7 GT. I heard where there is a cartoon going around that has Buzz driving the Ramblin' Wreck over the dead body of Uga VII. You stay classy Georgia Tech. Bottom line in this game, if Georgia doesn't win, I want Tech to RUN IT UP, because maybe then Willie Martinez will get gone. I will be rooting crazy-like for the Dawgs, but I just don't see it happening, especially with Joe Cox at QB. Final score: GT 41-UGA 34.

Have a great Turkey weekend everybody. Safe travels if you are traveling. Don't worry Dawg fans, the pain is almost over.

Quick review and preview of the Georgia HSFB playoffs

2009-11-24T13:55:00.002-05:00

Let me start by saying WOW, I CANNOT BELIEVE Southwest DeKalb lost in the second freaking round. WOW. That score hit me like I was Jimmy Clausen. And the thing that really spits in my face, Westside Macon made it to the Elite 8. AWESOME. I wasn't just wrong but Karma hocked a big ole loog RIGHT in my Orange Mocha Frappacino of life....or at least my OMF of a bracket. Now to top it all off, North Clayton will face Clarke Central and Clarence Jackson will run all over the Gladiators (That's C-CHS's mascot, right?) We could have seen CJax against Ken Malcome, but NOOOOOOO, Clarke-Central had to go and ruin everything. Just kidding. Kudos to Clarke-Central for turning the clock back to when they dominated and getting a huge win.

Sticking with Class AAAA, Hiram also fell by the wayside and Rockdale County (get your penicillin ready!) now faces Westside Macon. You know the Seminoles LOVE proving me wrong and Robert Brown will be ready to rub it in my face with every win. Did I really smacktalk the Noles on GPB's pregame show last week? Wow, maybe I did. MOTIVATION STATION, the Disrespect train has departed to the western side of the city of Macon. Sorry guys. (But I won't be wrong until you win the state title, so I'll always have THAT to fall back on.)
Griffin now looks like the front runner, especially with the Wildcats of Apalachee next on the schedule. I like Apalachee as a team (I called their games two years ago, so they have a special spot in my heart) but you have to know that the luck is going to run out eventually. They pulled a Les Miles-2007 style against Marist and eventually even Les Miles ran out of luck. (See last week v Ole Miss). Maybe the Lach-key kids can keep it up...but I don't know if I see it.
Finally in AAAA, Sandy Creek has to go TO TCC and I think Sandy Creek wins, setting up the defacto State title game next week against Griffin. Rajion Neal is good. You hear me Fighting Patriot people! HE IS GOOD, GET OFF MY BACK!

Moving on to AAA (We'll save AAAAA for last!), Peach Co wants it third title in five years and while Cole Moon and St. Pius X is a tough Elite8 opponent, I feel that the Trojans are rolling right now. 29-6 over WaCo? Wow. Peach Co has its QB healthy and he is putting on a show in AAA. Jackson at home should roll Eastside (another team I belittled on GPB's pregame show. They only won 20-13 at HOME against Carrollton. I am right about them, even if I'm wrong about WS-M).
On the other side of the bracket, Cairo advanced with a win over Baldwin, albeit a 9-7 win. Cairo's run to a second title ends this weekend against Gainesville. Blake Sims was realitively sharp for 142 plus 1 and 1, but the defense was ohso tough, limiting Dunwoody to 101 yards. Gainesville will blitz Cairo, maybe starting in the third quarter and walk away with a 35-6 win?
Finally, Conner Shaw and the FloBranch Falcons continue a cinderella run through the playoffs but the clock could strike midnight in Columbus against Carver. Why? Isaiah Crowell moreso than Corey Crawford or Devin Burns. Both of those guys are playmakers (on defense and as QB) but Crowell has another gear and is only a JUNIOR running back. Dare I say best in the state? I DARE! And that includes seniors.....
Cannot wait for Crowell and Burns to go against Sims and Jones.

In Class AA, Calhoun, Buford and Fitzgerald all should win home games to move to the F4, but Lovett goes on the road to face Charlton Co. Hmmmmmmmm Charlton may be able to win this game at home, especially since they aren't going head-to-head against Booford. Lovett has crushed East Jackson and Chattooga but Charlton is a different animal. CharCo won a couple of state titles right before Buford began its run, for the record. I know Lovett made it to the title game two years ago and beat Buford earlier this year, but going ON the road....might be tough. I think the home team wins. That means Charlton. Sorry Lovett Lions. Sorry JCarkhuff.

In classA, Wesleyan went to OT with Bowdon? Wiskey Tango Foxtrot? They are at home this weekend, so I believe they'll recover and shake out the funk that maybe got them thinking they could just one-minute-waltz-in-45-seconds right to another state title....but they WILL win the title. They just needed a wake-up call. Consider the giant awake.

Finally we move to Class AAAAA....
I did the Colquitt Co/Stephenson game and the defensive struggle was one, until the middle of the third quarter. Then the offensive floodgates opened. Rush Propst was great to watch on the sidelines: he jumped, he pouted, he fist-pumped. And The Colonel was a pleasure to watch on the first drive. The thing that sticks out to me is, and Scott Janovitz of Score Atlanta agreed with me, if Stephenson had a QB that could play mistake-free, this team would have won the state playoffs. His Pick-6 allowed Colquitt to stay in the game in the first half and his two other INTs gave Colquitt life when the Jags were poised to finish off the game. Stephenson loses some great players (many on defense) but the QB will return next season. Hopefully Coach Gartrell will work with him all spring and summer to get him ready to make amends.

In other action, Peachtree Ridge got a huge night from its defense (mainly Twan Sandridge's 3.5 sacks) to beat Brookwood 21-6. The Lions now get to take Brad Roby and the rest of Suwanee (well, not really...) down to Northside Warner Rob..(Oh, wait, we don't call them that. Just Northside), to face the Eagles and Shaq O'Neal. The last time PTR faced a team from Region 1-aaaaa, it was over in the first 60 seconds. The Lions MUST not beat themselves it they want to pull off another trip to the final four.
I couldn't say all of Suwanee will go down to Warner Rob...Northside because Grayson will host Newnan and the NoGwin Bulldogs will host Camden Co. The latter was a huge flip of the coin because that means the defending champs, just one week after facing Lowndes, have to get on a bus and drive for 7 hours (maybe?) up to the land of Fletcher for a bout with the Bulldogs. CJ Uzomah and that OLine will be ready to bust open holes and I like the Bulldogs in this one, mainly so the Chick-fil-A will continue to keep NGHS on the windows. Seriously though, Lowndes did it on the ground whereas the Bulldogs CAN throw the ball. I think Camden is in trouble.
And moving over to Grayson, the Rams defense will face the Newnan defense (just not at the same time) WOW. First team to score wins? Alec Ogletree is really good (REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD) at safety and can even catch a ball or two as a receiver, but the Rams are JUST as good with multiple players making plays (meaning if one player has a bad game, three others are there to step up) and Ean Pemberton is still a Ram running back. Heart of a GIANT!

Finally, Hutson Mason threw for 8 TDs last week and has a shot to break the state TD single season TD record this week. But the biggest thing will be Chip Lindsey v Rush Propst. Former OC v Former Coach from Hoover High in Bama. Having watched both of these teams, I really don't know which will win. Colquitt has a dominant defense with enough offense to win, but Lassiter could EASILY put 6 TDs up in the first half and end it, good defense or not on the other side. But I've also seen Mason struggle against Walton for moreorless a half of football. WOW. If I HAD to, I'd take Lassiter and think that Mason will have a big game. (PS, he told 680 last week that Miss State, and UVa were looking at him. Al Groh or Al Golden or Tommy Tuberville NEEDS to get this guy up to Charlottesville. DO IT). That should be the GPB game of the week though, and BOY will it be a good one. It's a shame I will be missing it, but I might just watch on gpb.org/football....and you should too!

Have a great Turkey Day and SBF will break all of it down again next week.

Who Punched Jimmy Clausen outside of the South Bend Bar?

2009-11-24T12:27:00.003-05:00

We here at SportsbyFletch have decided to go Sherlock Holmes on this one. We'll get to the bottom of this one.......... (in case you didn't hear, some one punched Jimmy Clausen in the face outside of a South Bend bar after the game on Saturday while Clausen was hanging with some friends and family.)

Let's go to the suspects...
ANYONE in the student body! Honesltly, this guy isn't the golden child everyone thought he'd be
OR
Charlie Weis, because Clausen didn't play well enough to save Weis' job
OR
Matt Stafford who then said, "How DARE you underachieve throughout your college career then likely STILL be a top 5 NFL draft pick! That's my schtick!" (No, couldn't have been him. His shoulder was hurt. Well not that night, but let's move on)
OR
Brian Kelly, aka the next coach of Notre Dame who found out that Clausen might leave if Weis goes. Kelly then decided it didn't matter because he can just try and petition the NCAA to give Ben Mauk a 9th year to play at ND.
OR
Urban Meyer, because if he were to take over at Notre Dame, he wouldn't be right to run the spread the way Tebow could. "You are NO Tebow!" POW!
OR
Golden Tate, because Clausen didn't throw to him in OT, instead opting to go to Michael Floyd
OR
a runaway emu, for stealing his "good looks"
OR
Sean Astin, aka Rudy, because it was guys like Jimmy Clausen that never appreciated Rudy's efforts when he was 5-foot nothing, 100-and nothing, with hardly a spec of athletic ability, yet still hanging with the best football program in the nation for two years....
OR
Dayne Crist, ND backup who tore his ACL and wanted to make Clausen hurt too.
OR
Rick Clausen with Casey Clausen in tow. How DARE you become better than us! No, it couldn't have been Casey Clausen, but I bet he could have done it with his arm tied behind his back.
OR
Phil Fulmer, because if Jimmy had gone to Tennessee, perhaps Fulmer wouldn't have had to play Jonathan Crompton and the Pumpkin would still have his job (doubtful though)
OR
Willie Martinez, because if Clausen had followed his bros to the Vols, then Martinez's defense wouldn't have gotten shredded in 2007 and 2009 and he wouldn't have to move.
OR
JaMarcus Russell, because Oakland has ALREADY said they'd take Clausen with the team's first round pick, thus putting Russell out of a job.

No, it was NONE of those people.

KARMA was the one that punched Clausen in the face, giving him a black eye.

THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SHOW UP ON CAMPUS IN A WHITE LIMO, THINKING YOU ARE THE NEXT BIG THING. Yep. You cannot say you didn't have it coming there Jim. (PS, drop the -my. you are what, 21 now? Jimmy is name for 6-year-olds.)

Score Atlanta's Around The Dial Preview

2009-11-24T11:10:00.002-05:00

It is a short week. I've had to make some sacrifices. Sorry. I'll try and get to a GHSA playoff review and preview, but I can make no promises. Tomorrow I'll combine the picks with the midweek entertainment report as well. Hey, It's Turkey Week, ONLY THE BEST HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR. Sorry.

Enjoy Around the Dial!

The Sporting News released an incredibly early mock draft last week and several local ties appeared in the first round of Russ Lande’s mock draft. Lande pegged the Falcons into the No.19 spot of the first round and had the team selecting CB Patrick Robinson out of Florida State. Said Lande of the pick, “The Falcons have struggled to get consistent cornerback play, and Robinson shows good athleticism, size and intelligence.” USC safety Taylor Mays, predicted by some to have been a top ten pick had he left the Trojans last year, was prognosticated to go No.22 to the Giants. Robinson would certainly be an instant starter in the Falcons defensive secondary and his size would be something that this year’s Falcons are missing. In FSU’s game against Maryland over the weekend, the color analyst spent most of the second half gushing over Robinson, comparing him to former Seminole and Falcon Deion Sanders. Before the season started, I thought the Falcons should JUMP at the chance to get Taylor Mays if he was still on the board when they picked, but after watching last week’s game against New York, it is obvious: the team needs CBs with height. Robinson is that guy. Perfect pick for the Falcons, although I wonder about that spot at No.19. Lande is guessing that the Dirty Birds don’t make the playoffs.
Lande would go on to forecast the San Diego Chargers taking Georgia Tech junior running back Jonathan Dwyer with the No.23 pick. Lande noted, “Running back LaDanian Tomlinson turns 31 in June and Darren Sproles is too small to be a feature back, leaving the Chargers offense often one-dimensional.” Lande feels that Dwyer would solve that problem.

Tony Gonzalez recently appeared on Tim Brando’s radio show. Brando is known for his work with SEC football on CBS, but he stepped up to the NFL level to interview the future Hall of Fame Tight End and Gonzalez told Brando he couldn’t be happier. “I’m just living a dream and enjoying it. We’d like to think we can be a little bit better than [5-5], but that’s just the reality of it.” Gonzalez also noted that he’s taking his career one year at a time. “But this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Gonzalez reassured Falcons fans wondering about his future with the team.

The Sports Business Journal teamed up with Sports Business Daily and The Sporting News to come up with their list of the top 25 sports broadcasters in today’s sports world. Gary Danielson of CBS came in at No.1, beating out NBC’s Cris Collinsworth, the list’s No. 2. Collinsworth’s partner on NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcasts Al Michaels was No.3 while Phil Simms of CBS was No.4. ESPN and ABC college football expert Kirk Herbstreit was No.5 and Troy Aikman of Fox and TSN Radio was No.6. Other top ten notables included Joe Buck of Fox at No.8 for his MLB and NFL coverage and Jim Nantz of CBS at No.10. Nantz does NFL, golf and college basketball for CBS. While I do like Danielson in the No.1 spot, Collinsworth at No.2 I thought was a bit too high. I know he knows his stuff but I don’t believe he’s found his personality just yet. Is he going to be just an X and O guy? Is he going to be a funny guy? It seems to me like he needs to find his footing with Al Michaels. They just have not yet developed chemistry and I think that has hurt Collinsworth. I love Al Michaels and he should be in that No.2 spot as he is the best play-by-play guy out there today. The NFL has not passed this guy by and I don’t believe it ever would. I just hope that NBC has him do the winter Olympics Hockey coverage in 2010, especially if Team USA makes another run at the gold.

Finally, I have to take Peachtree TV to task for the selection of Alabama/UT-Chattanooga over Mississippi State/Arkansas last Saturday. I am not certain how the contracts work with the SEC and maybe PTV didn’t have a choice but since I didn’t hear Dave Neal and Andre Ware calling the Alabama game, perhaps those two were at the Bulldogs/Razorbacks game. Is it because we are in Atlanta, closer to Tuscaloosa than the states of Arkansas and Mississippi that we got that blowout? Why did the network not fight to get the more competitive game? Alabama vs. Chattanooga? Really? Did Alabama fans even care to see that game? I really would have rather seen Dan Mullen vs. Bobby Petrino. I would have rather seen Anthony Dixon vs. Ryan Mallet. But instead I got a game that was over three years ago when it was scheduled.

One more note on NASCAR....

2009-11-23T15:22:00.002-05:00

I read where Yahoo! has named Jimmie Johnson its athlete of the year (even though we still have over a month to go in the year....) and I guess this is how YAHOO! is planning on driving me crazy today. (TYPICALLY it is with they broken email feature. Or the misleading headlines)

REALLY? Jimmie Johnson is the athlete of the year? Does he play golf or basketball on the side? Umm, he DRIVES. No, really that is his job. I drive TO WORK. He drives AS his work.

And before everyone from the "LARGEST SPECTATOR SPORT IN AMERICA....NOT NAMED COLLEGE FOOTBALL" starts yelling at me, saying, "Do you know how hard it is to sit in a car for 8 hours at a time?"
I SAY YES I DO! I drive home for Christmas and to the beach several times a year, and OH YEAH, I DRIVE IN ATLANTA TRAFFIC.

I'd like to see how the Athlete does in THAT gridlock!

Athlete of the year. Unless he can handle Atlanta rush hour like I can, I call BS!

UK, more like WE suck

2009-11-23T12:07:00.002-05:00

Sorry to all of the UK fans out there that may have been offended by UK-More like YOU SUCK. Actually, WE suck. That's right. Georgia is terrible, but that isn't exactly news anymore. (Sadly).
Yep for the second straight season on Senior Day, Georgia gets out front early, only to fumble the second half kickoff and suddenly lose. AWESOME. Loved it. I also loved it when Joe Cox, after throwing two interceptions decided to THROW Washaun Ealey under the bus ("I don't know what he saw, but I turned around and he was too close to me," was more-or-less the quote from the AJC.) Umm Joe, if you saw that he was too close to you, WHY'D YOU PITCH THE BALL YOU BIG DUMMY?! Hand it off or be a man and try and get the ONE yard yourself.

If you wanted to blame Washaun, perhaps you could for not cutting inside on his big run down to the four. If he had cut in instead of going out of bounds to avoid a hit, he finds paydirt.

But how sad is it that AFTER the fumble and the defense gets the ball back, first play....BOOM Joe Cox INT to end the game. His two picks were BAD throws. BAD BAD BAD.

And after we looked so good in the first half.....

with the exception of Jeff Owens, Kade Westin and Geno Atkins, I think this senior class is the one I've been happiest to see leave in all of my time as a Bulldog fan. Cox, Bryan Evans (can I help you guys pack?), Prince Miller (or Toast, as he's been known this year), Michael Moore (thanks for the South Carolina game in 2007!), Grrr.

And the funniest thing about Reshad Jones is that when folks WANT you to leave early for the NFL, that should tell you something. Rennie Curran, you can stick around, but PLEASE Reshad Jones, you can go.

This year has been a disappointment and really the seniors are to blame, namely Joe Cox. (Well and Willie Martinez, though if he is allowed to stick around, C-Note and Justin Houston are going to make him look REALLY smart) At some point, the Seniors needed to STOP yelling at fans (Cox) and pull this team together, even strap the team to their backs and carry them (something Curran and Green did, but no one else ever really did)

That's a shame. Georgia should NEVER EVER EVER be 8-4, much less 6-6. 10-2 should be every year at worst, but with a bad QB with a shaky D-Coor this team was doomed. Thankfully the team IS going to a bowl and Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger should get EVERY snap of the first 13 practices with Cox getting the last two practices in preparation for whomever the team plays in the Independence Bowl....
Find out who is coming back and who is leaving. Play ONLY the ones returning in those practices to get a jump so maybe next year the Dawgs can go 9-3. Crud!

In other college football thoughts, hey Alabama and Florida, was that fun? Hope so. Way to spit in your fans faces the week before Thanksgiving.

Kudos to Klimpsen for winning the Atlantic Division. I knew they'd be better. I hate to tell The Deacon I told him so (that's right, The Body is becoming The Deacon!) BUT I TOLD HIM SO. Believe in Dabo!

Finally, I still say that Michigan would be STOOPID to get rid of RichRod. Tate Forcier is a different story. I might try Denard Robinson a little more. Now, Notre Dame and Charlie Weis, they are cooked. They will NOT turn around and they need new blood there. Just don't hire Kirby Smart as the new Head Coach. He needs to come be Georgia's D-Coor. Just saying......

PS, WHY IN THE WORLD is NASCAR called the largest spectator sport in Amerca? Ummm, ever hear of College football? The Big House holds 115,000+. Knoxville, Columbus, Happy Valley, Athens, Baton Rouge.....But no, I'm sure NASCAR's 36? races a year with 150,000 in attendance is more than 119 teams playing 12 games apiece. Sure......Where do they get these numbers? I think those people are huffing too much paint thinner in their trailers.