Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Midweek Entertainment report 9/30/09

Kristin makes the Hills 20X better, The City changes its cast, Lamar Odom marries one of the Kardashians and Speidi is barely having sex.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the MIDWEEK ENTERTAINMENT REPORT

I was thinking about it last night while watching the Hills, LC's leaving the show and Kristin coming in as a replacement is AWESOME. Not only is Kristin hotter (she has grown up a bit. NICE. And she seems to be caring about her looks opposed to LC who mailed it in over the last few seasons), but she has fresh story lines and seems willing to be involved in the writers' plotlines. LC seemed like she was refusing to get involved in some of the storylines (probably because they had gotten lame over the last few seasons, but perhaps that was because she didn't want to expand her character.) LC's decision to leave now seems like Shelley Long/Diane's decision from Cheers. What was she thinking. And Kirstie Alley was better anyways in my opinion on the show. I think Shelley Long thought the show wouldn't be able to make it without her and she was wrong. Same thing happened on NYPD Blue and even The OC. (I know that after Marissa left the show went off the air, but Taylor Townsend/Autumn Reeser was the better lead actress and foil for Ryan. And if Mischa had stuck around, the show still would have been cancelled.) The Hills will likely get better because of fresh storylines and a new lead that seems to love the controversy, unlike LC who seemed to dread the spotlight.
Hey, what was up with Justin Bobby's beard? Is he trying out for a 9/11 movie role? It was a crazy beard. And Kristin Cavallari would be attracted to that beard if it wasn't in the script? Good to see that some of the writing hasn't changed.
I also thought it was funny that Steph and Audrina (in what HAD to be a meeting of the minds) agreed that NO ONE's BOYFRIEND in LA was safe. Where did they think KC was living? In Tyler, Texas? She's ALWAYS been in LA girls.

In a related story, it seems that Speidi isn't having much sex. Heidi apparently wants to spawn and Spencer (wisely) is refraining from sex because at 26 he doesn't think he's old enough for kids. WOW. See, he REALLY IS smart. But he claims that they don't need a baby right now. he's right. They are so popular right now with the Hills and HELP ME... I imagine they'll wait until The Hills goes off of the air and they start to slip from the spotlight. THEN you'll see Spencer's sex drive kick in. Also, look for Heidi to take the fertility drugs that Jon&Kate and the Octomom took. I bet Spencer is going to try for a batch of 9.

The City premiered last night as well and gone is Erin (hot except for when she had bangs) and Jay and the other douchebag dude, and inserted is Roxy. Apparently Whitney had a friend in high school that wasn't really her friend but is now sleeping on her couch. Shockingly they had a party where a bunch of randoms showed up even though I didn't think Roxy knew anyone....And Olivia has a new job at Elle (I didn't realize Elle was hurting that much and needed a free plug like that...) and she is clashing with her quasi-boss. Olivia got some comeuppance at the end of the episode and you get the feeling it will continue. I don't get Olivia's character. What are the writers doing with her? I just don't know. Is she Heidi? I don't understand her yet. And where is her cousin the PC/ChuckBass wannabe? I miss him.

Lamar Odom and one of the Kardashians (sorry, I cannot tell the difference between the two that aren't Kim, and I couldn't pick Kim out of a lineup. Having sex with Brandy's brother doesn't make you famous in my book) got married and they did it after only dating for a few months. The ceremony was filmed to be aired on the E! Kardashian show. Poor Lamar Odom. I know he isn't that smart, but getting involved with Klohe or Karen or whatever her name is....that's pretty f-ing stupid.


Finally, The Ruins debuts tonight and I am excited. From the previews it looks like Wes hits Kenny, and that would be a shame to see Wes leave so early. I think Wes is crazy enough and strong enough (do you remember The Gauntlet Exile?) that he could have taken down the top guys like JB and Kenny. I Love the Crazy Underdog that singlehanded tries to take down the prior-to-the-event-organized alliance. They never win, but when they DO take out one or two of the members, it makes me happy.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Georgia high school football review and preview 9/29

A major shakeup at the top of Class AAAA history doing a little bit of repeating. The Tucker Tigers lost to Marist yet again in the regular season, this time 32-7 after a 38-0 beatdown last season. Once again the precision of the War Eagles overcame the sheer talent of the Tucker Tigers and the defending champs are hoping that history goes on to repeat itself with the Tigers meeting up with Marist again in the state playoffs. That worked out well for Tucker last year.
Wow though, that region 6-AAAA has 3 teams in the top 7 of this week's rankings with Tucker at #7, Marist at #6 and SWD at No.3 behind Griffin (Unknown at this time as to how good they REALLY ARE) and Westside Macon (overrated last season and it looks like again this season). SWD lost to ML King and is somehow being penalized for that. True Perhaps WSM should be ahead because they beat Bainbridge for in all essence the Region1 title on Friday, but SWD is the best team in Class AAAA and I'll say it every week just like I said every week last year that Tucker was the best, rankings be darned.

Let's move up to Class AAAAA. Grayson took Parkview's best punch at the Big Orange Jungle and still came out 33-27 winners. Grayson is showing me that they can win with a running game AND with defense. The Rams can go 10-0 or 33-27. Perhaps though they should be imposing their will on more teams? I say boo, win anyway you can Coach Conn. And PS, SOME ACC or SEC SCHOOL, would you PLEASE GIVE EAN PEMBERTON a scholarship?

Lowndes and Northside (Warner Robins) both won potential look-past games and now will face each other this Friday with Fletcher and GPB calling the action. I cannot wait to see Khary Franklin and Ed Christian and all of the other bigtime senior prospects in this one. Throw in Conrad Nix as N-WR coach and you have potentially the best game until the state championship. I will refrain from picking a winner like Kirk does on Gameday.

Newnan looked pretty strong with the 34-6 win over Creekside and Alec Ogletree was impressive to watch on CSS replay. Georgia has a great one I do believe. But then Bacarri Rambo looked pretty good too on Saturday. That duo would be nice to have for a few seasons in Athens.

North Gwinnett powered its way to a 30-3 win. That O-Line is just dominating. JuWuan James, PLEASE come to Georgia.

Lastly in AAAAA, Charles Perkins may have nearly fumbled away a Collins Hill victory, but CHHS held on to bail him out. Perkins I still say is better than Mack Brown and Storm Johnson. I haven't seen the North Clayton kid, but Perkins and Rajaan Bennett are top three for me.

In Class AAA, Blake Sims and the Red Elephants of Gainesville nearly got GPB's game of the week status, but we jumped on the LC/NWR game instead. That's a shame. I would have liked to have seen all of the talent in Gainesville. Jones, Carr and Sims...those guys should be penciled in for a F4 run. I'd love to see Peach Co, FloBranch, Gainesville, and Carver-Columbus in the F4.

Buford shut out Decatur 28-0 and next travels to Avondale. I watched the Blue Devils beat Blessed Trinity on Friday and Avondale's starters are pretty good. They've got two good RBs and one of those also plays CB. Their WR/CB/KR is also pretty good and Buford just doesn't appear to have its usual killer instinct. Could Avondale squeeze another win out? Doubtful in this game, but don't look for a 50-0 rout like in years past.

Finally, Calhoun hosts Gordon-Central this week. GPB was also thinking about highlighting that game but once Lowndes/Northside (WR) opened up, Da'Rick Rodgers and Nash Nance were moved to the back burner. I would have enjoyed watching Da'Rick but that's OK. I'll get to watch him Between The Hedges next season.

If you are bored on Friday, log on to gpb.org/football for the Lowndes/Northside game, called by myself and Charles Ward. It should be a great one!

Monday, September 28, 2009

another close call, but another win

Whew. That's all I can say about that game. Whew. Georgia blew its 14-3 lead thanks to two second half turnovers and had to get two field goals from Blair Walsh to win 20-17. ASU was never really in the game except when Georgia let them. The defense played well and made the proper stands when necessary.
AJ Green is a beast though I fear that Joe Cox is leaning on him a little too much. Ole Joe will need to hit some other receivers like he did against Arkie if this team is going to knock off LSU this weekend. Rantavious Wooten is a good start. Get the ball in his hands and stand back. He can make some things happen it looks like.
And Justin Houston has looked pretty galldang good thus far. My source was correct that calls him marcushowardlite.
The turnovers nearly cost us yet again (they cost us the Okie State game now I'm sure of it!) but Georgia got the W. 3-1 and 2-0 in conference play. I like it. Bring on #4 LSU, a bit overrated if you ask me.

Other thoughts from the weekend of football.....
Tim Tebow going to the freaking hospital? Are you joking me? A LITTLE overdramatic much? That really wasn't necessary and all of the ESPN coverage was a bit over the top. Come on guys. He had a concussion. And to the dozen Florida fans that stood in the rain outside of the hospital, GET A LIFE. Tebow will be FINE. He's freaking Tim Tebow. I DO think his rep takes a bit of a hit over this, but ESPN and Urban will play it off like, "He JUST had a concussion yet he's out there against LSU. WHAT A WARRIOR!" Allow ME to vomit, JUST LIKE TEBOW DID. WHY? BECAUSE HE HAD A CONCUSSION!
Hey John Brantley, you thought the Dawg Walk was funny? I think the ambulance ride was funny.

GT looked to be back and moving that offense again. I think it is funny that the coaches poll refused to rank them. HA

LSU held on to beat Miss State. Yet somehow the Tigers are No.4 in the country? REALLY? Don't worry. Georgia will solve that on Saturday. And PS, the slotting system is dumb. You proved back in 2007 that it doesn't HAVE to go that way when #1 and #2 lost yet UGA stayed at #3 and you jumped some people over the Dawgs. Just because #4,5,6 lose, DOESN'T mean #7 automatically has to move up. ESPECIALLY if the team doesn't deserve it.....

UVa didn't lose over the weekend! They were off, but the Hoos didn't lose! That is almost like a win!

The Falcons got robbed on that offensive pass interference call on Michael Jenkins. The arms getting tangled up happens on EVERY PLAY (and how come MJ was penalized and the CBs whose arms were right there too didn't?) and the DB fell down in what should earn him a Daytime Emmy award (he's better than most of the soap stars out there!) and he gets the homecooking call. The play would have put atlanta in the lead. But they were screwed. Sorry PMac

The Redskins lost to the Lions. There is good news for me here though...Matt Stafford was 21-36 for 241 with 1TD. Go Dawgs. And this could be the end for Jason Campbell and Jim Zorn. Bring on Sam Bradford and Bill Cowher!

Finally, Michael Vick...what a big pile of NOTHING he contributed yesterday. 0-2 and 1 run for 7 yards. Wildcat? More like Mildcat! HA! Yet I'm sure that a large portion of the Atlanta population would have said that he would have beaten the Pats yesterday.

PS, Did I call Washington losing to Stanford or WHAT? I'm gifted. I know...

Friday, September 25, 2009

Weekly Friday Picks 9/25/09

Well Paul Mac was right again. Alabama will win the west because Ole Miss was incredibly overrated. I was high on the Ole Miss bandwagon entering the summer but slowly Paul broke me down and I became a Yellahammer convert. Now? Alabama may be the best team in the country. That SEC championship game is going to be huge when the Tide faces Georgia. (Ah, just seeing if anyone was paying attention.) Ole Miss lost last night and looked lost against South Carolina's D that Georgia rolled up 41 points on. After watching three of SoCar's games, I'm thinking that their defense is pretty good and Georgia's offense is just better than we all thought it would be. (Well, I knew we had the playmakers. Probably better receivers than Stafford ever had. Let's move on. I'm sick of patting myself on the back)
Ole Miss likely has the Bama loss, plus maybe even Arkansas and LSU on its schedule. The Rebels WILL make it to Atlanta in December....at the end of the month for the Chick-fil-A bowl....against GT.

Let's get to the picks!

#7LSU @ Miss State. I read where the Missstate fans are already talking about their stupid cowbells and how loud it is going to be for LSU. Hey Douchebags, leave the cowbells at home. You're going to lose. Save your eardrums in the process.

SoFla @ #18 FSU. Matt Groethe (or however you spell it) will miss the rest of the season, but that's OK since he's been at South Florida for 19 years. It is about time he moves on. Unless he somehow gets a 28th season of eligibility. Go with Christian Ponder and the Seminoles in this one. The Noles fans will probably be full of themselves for beating No.8 BYU but I think it is sad if they are. YOU GUYS USED TO BE FLORIDA STATE WHO WOULD CRUSH BYU WITHOUT BATTING AN EYE. YOU SHOULD HAVE WON THAT GAME!

Indiana @ #23 Michigan. This game is on ESPN2? Michigan will win but why is this game on ESPN2? Isn't this why the Big10 Network was invented?
Minnesota @ Northwestern. Oh. The Big10 Network was taken. I wonder, does Pam Ward moonlight with the Big10 network? She knows all of its teams. When her (his?) contract runs out with ESPN, she should look into moving to the Big10 network. Oh, go with Minnesota.

Michigan State @ Wisco. Wow, Sparty has lost two straight, both to crappy schools (CMU, Notre Dame) and now they face a third crappy team. Wisco might need this one to save Bret's job. MSU's coach isn't going anywhere. The fear of the Badgers wins it.

Wake @ BC. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to go on the road in the ACC and win a gam...nevermind. Riley Skinner and the Deacs win this one no prob.

UTEP @ #2 Texas. Isn't UTEP where Mike Price ended up after never coaching a game at Alabama? Is he still there? Well if there are strip clubs in El Paso, you can bet he stuck around. Horns hook em!

Arkie @ #3 Bama. Paul Mac's Crimson Tide (he picked them, so I call them his boys. He didn't go there thank goodness. If he had, we couldn't be friends) should roll all over Arkansas, use them as a Tampon as if a Crisom Tide really was coming. Petrino pushed most, if not all of his chips in last week and he lost the bet. It is like on ESPN2 in the WSOP when the guy thinks he has the cards and bets big but his flush got beaten out by a straight flush. Poor guy. Now he's got barely enough chips to cover the small blind and he is going head-to-head against Johnny Chan from the mid-90s. Hey Petrino, if you can't spot the sucker, then you Are the sucker.

#6 Cal @ Oregon. Oregon got a BIG win last week over one of the cruddy mid-majors and that's all I really need from them. Cal and Jahvid Best run all over the Ducks because, come on. A Bear would beat a duck, HOWEVER PLUCKY, in a fight. Dominance scale wins EVERY TIME

#9 miami @ #11 VaTech. I love how after one big home win over Georgia Tech, suddenly that swagger is back with THE U. The de-coor was talking smack about the Tech offense and the QB is wearing designer sunglasses to do interviews. They'll win again in VaTech and you'll see Miami up in the top 7 by monday. VaTech, EXTREMELY overrated. I was wrong about them. I thought they'd lose to Bama then run the table in conference play. They lose here to prove me wrong. I still think VaTech beats GaTech in a few weeks, but they lose at home to the Canes. And John Michaels rejoices.

Illinois @ #13 Ohio State. Two years ago Juice and Co upset duh Ohio State in the Shoe but Ohio State still went to the BCS CG. Can Juice do it again? NO. The defense sees a Juice-like player everyday in practice in Pryor. They're ready for him. And Ron Zook never outcoached anyone, so I've got to give it to Tressel. And for the record, everyone saying that Pete Carroll is just like Tressel because CJT loses to the big guys and CPC loses to a Pac-10 every year....the comparison is not valid AT ALL. If CJT lost to Indiana it would be the same, but he doesn't. He just cannot be the BIG team. CPC CAN beat the big teams, he just cannot motivate his players against the little guy. I'd still want Carroll coaching my team in the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl or the BCSCG. Not Tressel, who chokes against Top 5 opponents outside of the Big11. (unless the game is rigged and handed to him.)

#15 TCU @ Clemson. I will count on the Tigers to do what the Wahoos could not: eliminate the Horny Toads from BCS consideration. I think the crew from Howard's Rock can do it. Kyle Parker and Co. should have beaten GT. They'll finish their drill against TCU, and another fly will leave the ointment.

Rutgers @ Maryland. WOW. Two teams that, if they fell off the face of the earth, I wouldn't mind and would actually be excited. Greg Shiano I bet wishes he could have a do-over with that miami offer to him. Hey, you're in New Jersey! You could be in South Beach, making more money. Way to blunder that one up. FOGLER! Take the Terps just to pile on.

UCF @ ECU. Remember when Skip and his Pirates made that run last season? Yeah, a LONG time ago. UCF wins this one. Where is East Carolina? In the Atlantic somewhere?

Pitt @ NCState. This is a game I wouldn't mind watching to be quite honest with you. Two middling teams in the two worst BCS conferences. Might be interesting though to see Russell Wilson go against Wanny's mustache. Wait, am I turning into The King? (Self-proclaimed btw. Tony Barnhart is way more King than you sir. But you were always kind to me, so I will not say anything more negative about you. But drop the King act, bro.) Take Pitt.

Grambling State @ #16 Okie State. Hey Pokes, how about you guys NOT LOSE THIS ONE EITHER. WAY TO MAKE GEORGIA'S LOSS TO YOU LOOK WORSE AND WORSE EVERY WEEK! YOU LOST TO HOUSTON! Pray that the Cowboys win this one. HOW DID WE LOSE TO YOU GUYS?

Ohio @ Tennessee. I must say, I loved Kiffin's response to Urban Cryer about using the "we're sick" excuse. LOVED IT. For the first time, I was a mini-fan of Lane Kiffin. It has passed, but I was a fan. Maybe the Vols suffer a bit of a letdown this week and Lane has to use the excuse this week. You never know. Vols win

Iowa @ #5 Penn State. Kate's boys will host Iowa and if the Jewel kid was healthy, I'd have this as my upset of the week, but Iowa cannot win it. My darkhorse pick was derailed before the season even began. Like Barbaro if you will. I will be watching this game with Paul and Cake, so I'd better pick Penn State.

Zona @ Oregon State. PAC-10 FOOTBALL! ONLY ON Fox Sports NET! (or is it Vs?) Who cares? Take the Beavers since Zona's TE is out.

Notre Dame @ Purdue. Will Jimmy Clausen go or will his toe keep him out? DOESN'T MATTER! THE IRISH ARE PLAYING PURDON'T! Not many games can the Irish go ahead and chalk up as a win, but this is one of them. Didn't you see Rudy? He was playing DE for THE Purdue on the scout team. That's about the resistance that Fupa's boys will face. A bunch of 5-foot nothin' 100-and-nothin' plays.

Wazzou @ USC. The men of Troy should have Matt Barkley back at QB and let's hope he doesn't go down with injury because I don't think Aaron Corp can go out there after sustaining injuries this week. What injuries you ask? Well I'm sure there are some broken bones after Pete Carroll threw him under the bus for the loss. USC would win this game with MITCH MUSTAIN playing QB. (How funny is it that he's the backup punter? I LMFAOd when I heard that.

Texas Tech @ #17Houston. Think much offense will be played in this game? Doubtful. Take the Cougars since the game is at Houston's stadium. Tech put up a bit of a fight last week but the real question is "why are the Red Raiders going to Houston?" In fact, why did UVA go to Southern Miss last week? Why did Oregon go to Boise State earlier this year? Why did FSU go to BYU? Why are the BCS schools going to these mid-major school's home stadium? You are ASKING to be upset. If you are Mike Leach, you say, "You want to play me? Fine, you're coming here. you want me to go to Houston?" Wait, if you live in Lubbuck, maybe you DO want to go to Houston. Nevermind.

Weekly Blue plate specials.
Lock of the week
#1 Florida @ UK. Tim Tebow is going TO Lexington and my cousin will surely be in attendance, drunk and yelling....but it won't matter. Why? Because you will never see anyone work harder than Mr. Tebow. Actually, I'm sure ditchdigger and people with GreenPeace work harder Tim. I've never done it, but I'm sure cleaning oil off baby otters is harder work than facing the Vanderbilt pass rush. JUST SAYING.

Upset of the week
#25 Washington @ Stanford. So just two weeks after owning a 15-game losing streak and just one week after knocking off USC at home, Washington is now the 25th best team in the country? I hate GT, but they would beat Washington. Just saying. Stanford puts the Huskies back in their place with a win in Palo Alto, home of Felicity. Just saying. She is from there.

Grown men playing a child's game for money.
Atlanta @ New England. There's the Falcons defense I was expecting. Right there against carolina. Now this week Atlanta gets to head to play a pissed off Tom Brady and the Pats, maybe without Wes Welker. Atlanta had better score some points if they want to beat New england, but the thing is, the team is playing with House Money. They are ALREADY 2-0 and will enter the bye week next week maybe 2-1 or possibly 3-0. Everyone thought they'd be 2-1 or maybe even 1-2 so they cannot lose this weekend. They can't. If they lose, well they were going to anyways. If they can continue to rattle Brady (his mind is making him freak out over that leg and likely will for the rest of the season) and actually WIN, then the team is 3-0 and can sit back and relax for a while. Good for Atlanta for taking care and winning two games that they SHOULD have won but still. Two games over defending division champs. Gotsta like that. Take New England, but root hard for Matty Ice.

Local rooting interest.
#22 UNC @ GT. This was one before the season started that I thought would be GT's first loss of the year. Butch Davis coaches defenses up, did it in Miami and did it last year at UNC. UNC lost a bunch of receivers, but that defense is fast and they'll play their assignments. I thought GT would be 3-1 after this game. Maybe they still will be, but I think they'll drop to 2-2 and I'll be happy again.

Arizona State @ #21 Georgia. The Dogs have fallen behind in all three games but rallied the last two weeks. Hopefully the defense can shock the ZonaState QB's shell early (in his first road start) and this can turn into a rout early in favor of Georgia. Look for both running backs to make an impact for Georgia and if AJ Green gets some space with the safeties having to help cover other receivers, look for him to have a repeat of last season when he exploded onto the national scene in front of Herbie and Muffburger. I say Georgia's defense CAN get pressure on the ZonaState offense and at least for one game, look good. CWM is safe for one afternoon, but I still think Jancek is going to be calling the defense after the bye week.

Have a great weekend of football and log on to gpb.org/football tonight as I'll be doing the Avondale @ Blessed Trinity game. I'll be watching golf tomorrow at East Lake so expect a blog about it Monday.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Score Atlanta preview of Around the Dial.

Just because you get it here first doesn't mean you shouldn't still stop by your local Kroger, Quicktrip or Blockbuster tomorrow and pick up your copy of Score Atlanta. Come on. DO IT! As always, my thoughts on the media from this past week.

Between the Yellow Jacket of Georgia Tech, the Atlanta Falcons and the University of Georgia Bulldogs, football is alive and well in Atlanta. And plenty of people are talking about it which makes football fans all over the state happy. Georgia Tech however might not like Thursday night games much after last week. The Yellow Jackets appeared on ESPN’s Thursday night telecasts now two straight weeks and while it is great for exposure, sometimes that exposure is not necessarily wanted. Georgia Tech was blown out in Miami last week and the entire nation witnessed the event take place. National recruits that might have considered Georgia Tech possibly have crossed the Jackets off of the list because they saw a tired team (three games in 13 days) and one that didn’t seem able to pass the ball. Whenever a team goes on ESPN on a Thursday night, yes the school gets a little extra cash and yes the school gets the extra attention. But be careful what you wish for. Sometimes that attention is not the kind you want. The national stage is fun when you win, but when you lose, sometimes you fall a bit farther than you would have otherwise.

The Georgia Bulldogs won on ESPN last week, the second straight night game for the Dawgs. Georgia has another night game this week, this time on ESPNU. If you have Comcast, you should get ESPNU as part of the sports package on Digital cable however if you have Charter, be sure to head out to your local sports bar as it is ESPNUnavailable. The males in the Georgia student section will likely miss out on Erin Andrews though as she does the ESPN night games. Last week in Fayetteville, Andrews tried to “professionalize it up” with her attire following the recent internet scandal. She wore a suit jacket, glasses and pulled her hair back. As I watched the game with a buddy he quickly pointed out how she resembled Miss Davis from Varsity Blues and sure enough, every time she appeared on screen after that, I kept waiting for her to pull the ponytail out as Hot For Teacher came on over the speakers. Ms. Andrews just cannot seem to win.

Following Georgia’s win over Arkansas, Georgia head coach Mark Richt was interviewed and for the second straight week, Richt hinted that he might not be pleased with the defensive play calling. Richt defended co-defensive coordinator Willie Martinez last season and over the off-season as the Georgia faithful was calling for his head, but Richt then promoted John Jancek to co-defensive coordinator. Could this have been a safety net for Richt in the event that Martinez didn’t turn the ship around, Richt could easily transfer the play calling duties to Jancek? If the defense doesn’t shape up and more comments are made by Richt, the pressure could get even bigger.

A sad realization hit me last Sunday in regards to the Georgia game. No it wasn’t that Ryan Mallet had just thrown for ANOTHER touchdown, it was that the Sunday sports section of the AJC isn’t what it used to be. I used to love to head to a gas station on Sunday to pick up the Sunday Paper to read the special pullout the AJC usually provided on the Saturday that was in college football as well as the other special section on the Falcons game that day. Well because of the economy and forced cutbacks, that special ritual is now not needed. Georgia used to receive three pages plus a color photo (as did Georgia Tech) in the special section but now it is just one article plus two other pieces that it appears the AJC borrowed from writers in Arkansas. I don’t want to read about Mallet’s big day by an Arkansas beat writer. I wanted something on Caleb King’s return or how the defense really stood its ground in the fourth quarter. Instead I got two pieces extra pieces that were more about Arkansas. I know the AJC is hurting but if that is all I’m going to get from now on, I’m not buying the paper.

Florida State took down No.7 BYU last week and the game aired on the Vs. network. I was not aware that Vs. aired football. I thought the network’s only venture into sports was the Tour de France, the NHL and the ever-so-terrible show Sports Soup. I am hoping that the network has the rights to the MWC and not the ACC because if the ACC signed on with it, that is not a good sign for the league.

Finally, tennis’ newest star and Marietta-native Melanie Oudin has made the rounds lately. After appearing on Conan O’Brien’s show, Oudin threw out the first pitch recently at a Braves game then received a special No.1 jersey from Arthur Blank at last week’s Falcons/Panthers game.

Brian Jones' Top Juniors in GAHSFB

Brian Jones of Score Atlanta Fame has released his list of the top juniors in the state of Georgia. True these guys won't be signing with a school until February 2011, but you can still get out there and watch them tear up the gridiron this fall. Isn't it fun watching a junior come into his own and dominate the upperclassmen? Big B can be heard Mondays on Sports Radio 790 The Zone from 8-10pm or you can read him anytime on www.scoreatl.com


10. Quan Bray (Callaway) – Running Back. 5-10. 175. Bray is a running back that has good speed but is better at changing direction. Has run for over 1000 yards as a freshmen and sophomore. Has gotten offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida and Virginia Tech.

9. Brian Randolph (Kell) – Safety. 5-11. 180. Randolph as good size to play corner but will more likely play safety. He had a stellar 2008 with over 100 tackles and three interceptions. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee have offered the junior.

8. A.J. Johnson (Gainesville) – Linebacker. 6-3. 218. Johnson can read and react as good as any linebacker in the state. In his first game of the 2009, he led the defense with 15 tackles in a win over Chestatee. He is considering Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and NC State.

7. Jay Rome (Valdosta) – Tight End. 6-5. 210. Rome has great hands and can always find an an open part of the field. He is also a great run blocker. Has gotten offers from California, Georgia, Michigan and Notre Dame.

6. Gabe Wright (Caver) – Defensive Tackle. 6-2. 265. Wright plays the DT position they way it should be played. He plays his gap well and never gets blown off the ball. Auburn, Georgia, FSU and South Carolina have all offered.

5. Watts Dantzler (Dalton) – Offensive tackle. 6-7. 280. A huge athlete that just runs over defenders. He is the son of Danny Dantzler who played at UGA. Some of the schools that have offered are Miami, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and North Carolina.

4. Isaiah Crowell (Carver) – Running back. 5-11. 190. Crowell has lightning speed and has good vision. He can take it to the house at any given point of a ball game. California, Georgia, Florida and Miami have offered the speedster.

3. C.J. Uzomah (North Gwinnett) – Quarterback. 6-5. 210. Uzomah is a first-year starter, but looks nothing like it. He led the Bulldogs to a big win over Prattville (AL) in his first game of the 2009 season. LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Tennessee have offered.

2. James Vaughters (Tucker) – Linebacker. 6-3. 220. Has good speed and can play sideline to sideline. Is also a very talented tight end as he was named All-Region second team. Has been offered by Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and Notre Dame.

1. Ray Drew (Thomas County Central) – Defensive end. 6-5. 266. Drew is getting a lot of attention as he could be one of the most athletic defensive players in the state. Had two sacks in the game against Thomasville and can run a 4.6 forty. Alabama, Florida, FSU and Georgia have offered.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Paul Mac says FINISH THE G-D DRILL!

Though Paul Mac went to Berry College, he is still quite passionate about the Georgia Bulldogs. Not as much as the Falcons, but still, pretty into the Dawgs. Here he gives his thoughts about ole Willie Martinez, the Dawgs D-Coordinator

No one in the atl media is breaking the Martinez situation down correctly and Mark Richt shares a big part of the blame for this defense not being able to apply any pressure on the QB's even when blitzing.
They did get some DE's last year in recruiting... but Derrick Lott is a bad pickup period. For the University of Georgia to have ONE quality pass rusher the last 2 years is a joke.
People keep harping on the secondary. That's not remotely the issue other than that the scheme sucks. They can't get a dime of pressure on the QB; part of this is that Jeff Owens isn't the same player. Geno Atkins hasn't done much yet.
They have DT's out the building though... are there no pass rushers in the nation that want to come to Georgia? Abry Jones can't play end at all? D Tyson? Willie knows he has this issue, and they haven't changed a thing.
They have already thrown out the defensive scheme at GT and are changing it back to reflect the skills of the personnel they have. Georgia plods along with these same guys year after year expecting something different. The numbers are skewed on defense now because they have played 3 real opponents to begin the year rather than nobodies... but they aren't THAT skewed. The turnover TD's are bothersome... but it's the profound lack of turnover's created that bothers me. They aren't opportunistic. They don't have good techniques. It's not so much the players as it is HOW they are being asked to play, HOW they are being coached. Mark Richt HAS TO KNOW HE CAN DO BETTER THAN WILLIE MARTINEZ. There are no injuries to blame this year on. They are flat out garbage on the defensive line. Whether they play freshman and give them an opportunity or what fires have to be lit under these underachievers....and I'm not even a freaking Georgia Grad... it bothers me.

This is the school of Richard Seymour and Charles Johnson and Quintin Moses and David Pollack...Marcus Stroud... etc etc.... who are these puscatores wearing this uniform?

FINISH THE GD DRILL!!!!

Thanks Paul. As for me, I think this is why Richt gave LB Coach John Jancek co-coordinator honors. Just in case CWM douched it up again. I bet CWM has until the bye week. I wouldn't be surprised if UGA came out of the bye week with Jancek calling the plays on defense. That would mess with Fla, right?

Midweek Entertainment report 9/23/09

Amanda returns to Melrose Place, House returns to the outside, Mackenzie reveals a secret, and Angela Lansbury returns to SBF's "people that are alive list"

Ladies and gentlemen, the midweek entertainment report

Clapping and murmuring (oh he's going with a bit of a theme here...)

Heather Locklear has agreed to join the New Melrose Place cast for several episodes. She will reprise her role as Amanda Woodward, a role she played in the original series. Haven't heard much from her lately, so she's probably loving the fact that the show is back so she can get some work. Somehow Charlie Sheen was able to get work after Spin City, but she fell victim to the Spin City curse that no one else (save for Connie Britton aka Mrs. Coach from FNL) has really gotten a j-o-b. And I used to like that show...well until MJ Fox left.

House returned with a two-hour season premiere on Monday and I must say, the hair cut was a smart move there Housey. You are going bald, so you were proactive. Nice work. I got the typical goosebumps from some of the scenes but Wifey is hoping that House doesn't turn into a nice guy and stays snarky otherwise she will stop watching. I'm just glad that I'm LOOKING FORWARD to the shows again. Season 3 and 4 had moments but I think I'm hooked again. Now that Cameron and Chase are back with the team, hopefully we can get the season 1 synergy back going again.

Mackenzie Phillips wrote a book and in it she admits that she had a sexual relationship with her father of Mamas and the Papas fame. Apparently this Macekenzie was on "One Day At A Time" whatever that is. She admits that she had sex with her dad the night before her wedding. she "woke up from a blackout to find [herself] having sex" with her father. Whaaaaaaaaaat? Who is this woman and why is she writing a book? Is she from Arkansas? If so, how can she write?

Finally, Catherine Zeta-Jones will appear on Broadway in "A Little Night Music" with 5-time tony award winner Angela Lansbury. Sportsbyfletch thought Jessica Fletcher was dead, so it is good to know that she is still alive. Oops on that one. Good to know that she can still fall and not get up!

Thanks and have a great rest of the week.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

GaHSFootball review/preview 9/22/09

A head scratcher in Columbus, a rally for NoGwin and an exhale from Grayson. Yep, it was quite a weekend for Georgia High School football. I was in Columbus for the Carver v Baldwin contest. I must say that the Braves QB started off the game heckbent on trying to throw the ball instead of using his legs along with his arm to beat the preseason No.1 Tigers. Milline never looked comfortable and Carver picked him off once and should have had three more. The Tigers took the early lead but in the second quarter it seemed Baldwin decided, "OK Milline, run it." Once he started, the entire offense opened up and Baldwin looked like they were going to take Grandma MO all the way to a big road victory. But Isaiah Crowell fumbled into the endzone and it turned out to be the worst thing to EVER happen to Baldwin. Why? He merely shedded three would-be tacklers en route to a 24-yard TD then found his 5th, 6th and 7th gear on a 78-yard TD run several drives later. Crowell will be a Super11 player next year when he is a senior and he should be player of the year next certain certainly. Carver is dangerous with him out there motivated. Devin Burns-enh. Didn't do much for me and he will be a safety or WR at Maryland. But Crowell is flippin' good.
-North Gwinnett rallied to take down Norcross on Friday after the Blue Devils took an early 10-0 lead. CJ Uzomah ran 11 times for 87 yards +1td and threw for another score with 170 yards to lead the Bulldogs back. With Cordero Dixon catching and Uzomah throwing behind this OLine...wow. Grayson might meet a little competition on its way to Lowndes in the state title game.
-Speaking of Grayson, the shutout streak is over but the Rams took a great team's best shot offensively and shut them down. South Gwinnett took the lead briefly over the Rams before a penalty wiped away the score and then Grayson seized control of the game. Ean Pemberton continues to play well and his size continues to scare off bigtime schools. Hey guys, ever heard of Brandon James? Just asking. Quizz Rodgers? The defense for Grayson is legit. I would LOVE a F4 of Lowndes, North Gwinnett, Newnan, and Grayson.
-McEachern struggled a bit with East Paulding, but the Indians pulled another one out, just like last week. Bennett is talented. SEC, show him some love!
-Speaking of Rajions....Neal of Sandy Creek had a nice day as his team won. I hope I don't get any Pro-Neal people feeling that I'm not giving him his due. I think he's better than Mack Brown. There I said it. Charles Perkins of Collins is right up there for me too.
-Another great RB plays for Apalachee in Jon Lee but he wasnt't the story, Christian Hoard was as the Wildcats beat Clarke-Central, the AJC's No.8 team in AAAA. Apalachee is legit and they've got enough weapons in that wing-T to make some noise in the plays. Plus having Jon Lee helps. The dude is a big play waiting to happen. I think South Carolina might be after him as they signed his teammate last year Chaun Gresham. Hoard's older brother Tony was a FB/LB when I called their games two years ago and Christian was just a sophomore, but he got some totes too. He can get in there and bowlingball it too.
-Flowery Branch responded after getting upset last week with a win over Chestatee. Connor Shaw got some help from Imani Cross, a soph TB. The kid had 138 yards and 3TDs. Lee Shaw just found his next big recruit to eventually send down to Georgia Tech...

As for the preview portion of our program,
Grayson heads to Parkview, not an easy place to play even if Parkview is down. Which the Panthers are. Grayson shouldn't overlook Parkview though as this would make the Panthers season, knocking off Grayson.
Tucker host Marist, the team that crushed them in the regular season last year. The Tigers got revenge, but you know the Tucker coaches don't want a repeat of that drubbing this year to force them to do a deja vu again.
Westside Macon hosts Bainbridge in the Region1-AAAA de facto championship game. Ed Pilcher has his team ready to play just two seasons into his tenure there.
Apalachee will also need to avoid a letdown AT Rockdale County.
Creekview plays North Hall, a North Hall team that has disappointed me this season. I thought they'd put up more of a fight against Buford and Gainesville.

Finally, be sure to log on to gpb.org/football this friday as I will be doing the Blessed Trinity/Avondale game. Thanks and have a great rest of the week.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Let me get this straight....

49ers first round draft pick Michael Crabtree has still not signed with the team because the team is ONLY offering him $20M with 16M guaranteed, which is less than the top receiver taken (No.7) and less than the No.8 player got but more than what No.11 got....
His cousin says that Crabtree would probably hold out and re-enter the draft next year so he can get the money he feels he deserves.
Ummm, could someone hand Crabtree the memo that he WASN'T A TOP FIVE DRAFT PICK AND HE WASN'T THE TOP RECEIVER TAKEN!?!?!?!

Sorry Mikey, but you just weren't either of those two cases.

Why in the WORLD would you risk your career (sorry, but you're going to fall off the radar if you don't play this season and ask Mike Williams if it is a good idea to skip a season and just try and "train to stay in shape") to go back and try to get drafted higher? Do you think honestly you'd be taken in the top ten again? Really?

You might be the top receiver taken (MIGHT be) but do you think you'll be a top ten pick after a YEAR OFF? Bradford, McCoy, Okie State LT, Nebraska DT, Gerald McCoy, Eric Berry, Taylor Mays, Greg Hardy, Sergio Kindle would put you at #10 again.

I just don't get the point of this holdout. Remember JaMarcus Russell? Dude. SIGN ALREADY! Quit being an idiot. You are ONLY hurting yourself at this point.

Cox roasts the Hogs

Another typical Matt Stafford weekend we just experienced: 3 INTS, 1 TD and a loss. Only this time, UGA wasn't the team he screwed over. Nope that would be the Lions. Joe Cox meanwhile threw for 375 yards on 18-25 passes and 5TDs, with 1 int. Cox tied the school record for TD passes (Greene, Shockley and Stafford also threw for 5TDs. Interesting that no Georgia QB until 2004 had ever thrown for 5 scores. WOW) and did it on the road when he needed to.
I said this on my radio show yesterday and I'll say it again. GA OC Mike Bobo trusts Cox more than he ever trusted Stafford and you can see that he does by the plays he calls. Stafford has 10X the arm Cox does, but Bobo called for deep ball after deep ball because Cox can COMPLETE it whereas Stafford would have thrown it over the receiver's head or into double coverage. There is a reason that Stafford seemed to only run about 8 plays whereas Cox can seemingly run the entire playbook.
Cox might not make it to the Sugar Bowl this season (Bama/Fla loser likely will get the Sugar Bowl with the winner going to play for BCS title) but he could still go 10-2 and then 11-2 with a CapitalOne Bowl win. Cox has shown he is far closer to Shockley than JoeT3 and the Georgia fans should embrace him finally. Aaron Murray can wait a year and learn and be READY for 2010. This is Cox's team and that is exciting if he can keep playing this well. Two straight games, two pretty daggone solid performances. He should get No.3 this week against Arizona State.
Speaking of Arizona State, the Sun Devils should give some confidence to this pass rush. The guys got after Mallet in the 4th, but the DBs gave up too many big plays early in the game. HEY WILLIE MARTINEZ, AFTER A TURNOVER, BOBBY PETRINO WILL GO DEEP ON THE FIRST PLAY. ALWAYS. Yet just like the week before with the screen, CWM couldn't pick up on it. Oh well. Mark Richt gave a veiled shot at Martinez during the postgame. This season could be CWM's last at Georgia.
Finally, Richard Samuel needs to learn to HOLD ON TO THE BALL! Either that, or switch to LB like Petey in Remember the Titans. He can play LB because he owned it in High School. Caleb didn't look so terrible. Perhaps he's ready to take over as RB. I like Dick Samuel, but enough with the fumbles. PLEASE!

In other CFB, Tennessee played like a bunch of p*ssies in terms of not giving themselves a chance to win. They KNEW they were going to lose and they played gutless keepaway so Florida wouldn't run up the score. I wouldn't be PROUD of my team if I was a Vol because it was ONLY a ten point loss. I'd yell at my coach for seemingly throwing in the towel.

And USC lost to Washington. WOW. Well I said last week, if you were going to "get" USC, this was the year. Pete clearly has been passed by both Urban AND Saban because of games like last Saturday.

uva...COME ON! Just fire Groh RIGHT NOW!

And Thank you to Oregon and FSU for knocking out Utah and BYU from the BCS discussion. Now if someone would just beat Boise State and TCU (hey Clemson, you've got a shot to take down TCU this Saturday. Do IT!), we could have a REAL BCS slate...except that Ohio State and Notre Dame might both sneak it. CRUD!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday Picks....get em while they're hot!

"We just didn't play Georgia Tech football tonight." That was a quote from some Georgia Tech footballer last night following the Yellow Jackets' 33-17 loss to Miami. I find it quite funny when a player on a second or third tier team says this line. "That's just not Auburn Basketball." Heard that one last season.
How about you guys establish a tradition and then it can be ___ football or ___ basketball. I think last night Tech should have tried to play USC or Florida football. Then maybe they'd have won.
In fact sir, you DID play Georgia Tech football last night. You ran a gimmicky offense that against a skilled team where the players play their assignments, you will lose every time. JUST SAYING. That IS Georgia Tech Football.

And with that, let's move on to THE PICKS!

No.10 Boise State @ FrezNO State. I thought the Frez could pull off the upset against Wisco and they blew it. They HAD IT and they blew it. I am tempted to pick the Bulldogs again this week, but since that Hout guy is PLAYING (you know, the guy that instigated the LaGarrett Blount situation) I've got to go with the Broncos, ONLY because my crystal ball is showing me that BSU will make it to the Sugar Bowl where Georgia will beat them and get no credit for it.

Temple @ #5 Penn State. Hey JOEPA, no WONDER you are the winningest coach of all time (sorry Ed Robinson). You play Temple and Akron two weeks apart. How did Villanova avoid the schedule? Take the SpreadHD.

#8 Cal @ Minnesota. A finalist for the upset of the week, I decided to go ahead and take Jahvid Best and the Golden Bears. I wonder, Ryan Atwood said he played safety in PeeWee football during Season 3 of The OC. If you take into account the show went off the air in 2007, which would have been his freshman year, but he took the year off, and you KNOW he was lifting weights while training for Cage Fighting....He would have returned to Cal 2008 as a walk-on and you KNOW he'd have been hitting the crap out of the pansy 1st team offense (they play in the Pac-10 after all), so You'd think Tedford would have at least given him a look as a sophomore. It probably didn't help that he played soccer in high school instead of football, but hey, he has aggression. I say he would be starting on special teams right now. The Gophers return team wouldn't stand a chance against Atwood. A bit undersized though....

#11 Ohio State @ Toledo. Didn't the Rockets beat Michigan last season? And after losing to Purdon't the team rocked Colorado. If Ohio State is still in a miserable fog....., nah. Toledo won't win this one. Ohio State will rally on the road in the closing minutes, but it WILL be a nailbiter. Ohio State really isn't that strong if you think about it. Even in their national title year, they had to rally to be CINCINNATI back when the Bearcats weren't what they are today, that is CHAMPION OF THE BIG EAST! (but who COULDN'T win that? Oh wait, Rutgers. That's who!)

Duke @ #22 KU. WHAT A GREAT BASKETBALL MATCHUP! Cannot wait to see these two teams hit the hardwood for this....wait, this is a basketball game? Oh, then go with Todd Reesing and the Rock Chalk Jayhawks. Just like you would in basketball... Hey Cutcliff, bet you wished you had Greg Paulus on your team now? Wait, you don't? You don't care because you have a guy that was once busted for plagiarism running your show. Good move there Cutty! No wonder Ole Miss could never win with Eli running the show. HE only won a Super Bowl....

ECU @ #24 UNC. I know where North Carolina is. I know where South Carolina is. Where is East Carolina? In the Atlantic somewhere? The Non-state loses. Go with the Heels

Louisville @ UK. Steve Crap-thorpe needs this one to maybe save his job. He won't get it. But PLEASE I hope this isn't the game where UK realizes Randall Cobb is their best QB. I hope they discover it AFTER the Georgia game. If Joker Phillips is reading this blog, disregard EVERYTHING I just said. Randall Cobb should ONLY return pooch punts....

BC @ Clemson. WOW, two years ago, how big was this game? Now that BC decided to fire Coach Jags who just took them to back-to-back ACCCGs, and Klimpsen has Dabo in charge, this game doesn't even deserve the Raycom coverage it will likely get. Take the Tigers though because Dabo IS my favorite ACC coach.

Wofford @ Wisco. I don't think the Kickin' Jimmys have a chance, but I wanted to give a shoutout to Jimmy Miner, recent inductee to the Terrier HoF. Good work. Badgers burrow to a win.

North Texas @ #4 Bama. Was THIS the team that Kathy Ireland kicked for in that bad Sinbad movie? And PS how come whenever a girl wants to be on a football team she always tries out as kicker (At Colorado and Duke?) Why doesn't she try to be a punter? I kicker I would think would get hasseled more over missed kicks opposed to a punter. What ever happens to a punter? And think, she could TOTALLY take a dive when the rush is on and the refs would totally buy it. Just saying....Bama wins.

Furman @ Mizzou. I think the Tigers are vulnerable and if Furman still had White Lightning Josh Cole running routes for them, I'd say FU pulls off the upset. Alas the days of #80 roaming the field are finished. Go with the Tigers.

#3 USC @ U-Dub. Washington FINALLY WON A GAME LAST WEEK! YEA! They won't make it two in a row. Men of Troy behind Aaron Corp win. Might we see Mitch Mustain? Doubtful, unless they show a sideline shot of Mustain getting someone water. HA!

Tulsa @ #12 Oklahoma. Sam Bradford is OUT and Tulsa can pile up the points. Could Tulsa pull off the unthinkable? No. Otherwise this would be the upset of the week. Come on. Think guys!

#19 Nebraska @ #13 VaTech. Usually this game would be played at night, where the atmosphere at Lane Stadium is "electric" but it is a 3:30 day game. Might be an advantage for the Huskers. But I doubt it. VaTech's two RBs get the best of the blackshirt defense and Tyrod Taylor does his best HokieVick impression to get the win for Beamer.

Michigan State @ ND. Sparty has OWNED Notre Dame in South Bend. But they lost to CMU last week and ND barely lost to Michigan, only losing because of poor clock management by the Fupa-master. I say Fupa does a better job of clock management and gets ND back in the running for a BCS bowl game. ACTUALLY I hope ND plays UGA in the Sugar, then Georgia could whoop that arse! But my luck would have ND playing Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, a game NO ONE outside of Columbus, Chicago and New Jersey would watch.

uva @ Southern Miss. UVA deserves the lower case because of the loss to William and Mary. Now they go ON THE ROAD to play SoMiss? Groh must GO and he will after the season. After this game, he'll be 0-3.

Zona @ Iowa. The Hawkeyes were my darkhorse pick for the Big11 title until the Jewel guy was ruled out for the season. Enh, they still beat Zona and Mike Stoops who has NO QB and NO REASON to still be the Arizona coach. This guy is like Al Groh. Expect Brother Bob to rehire him however and OU might be a good defensive team again....

#17 Cincy @ Oregon State. I WANTED to take Quizz and the Beavers to dam up the Bearcats, but Tony Pike has impressed me. I haven't watched or anything, just seen stats from TSNdaily email. He has impressive numbers and we know the Pac-10 doesn't play defense. Take the Bearcats.

FSU @ #7 BYU. Dadgum it, take the Stormin' Mormons in this one. FSU barely beat Jax State last week and Max Hall is truly a Man amongst Boys. He is 38 I think. Just kidding. Hey, I've never watched Big Love, but my girl Ginnifer Goodwin is in it, so I might have to netflix it. Loved her in He's Just Not That Into You. I'm sure she's just as good. Right? Take the Cougars in their Den.

Northwestern @ Syracuse. It might not be a good game (heck, Greg Paulus is a QB for one of the teams) but BY GOOD the stories Sunday morning about it will be TERRIFIC! Ummm take Paulus at home.

Miss State @ Vandy. It is SO hard to go on the road in the SEC....unless you go to Vandy. I am tempted to say Dan Mullen gets his first SEC win, but I cannot go against Bobby Johnson. Take the Dores.

West Va @ Auburn. This was the game last season where Tommy Tuberville lost his mind. His team was destroyed by Pat White and he was so mad he refused to let them wear jackets or use the heaters. Who is this guy? Nathan R Jessup from A Few Good Men? Coach, no wonder you got Firet! [sic] Though I know uva would LOVE to have you and after last night, I don't think Miami will be looking for a new coach for a while. (The Bill Stewart syndrome) West Va is good, but Auburn wins with Gus calling the plays and with Bill Stewart on the other sideline.

Texas Tech @ 2 Texas. Perhaps only Florida has more motivation than the Longhorns do for a game this week. Texas had TWO shots to win this game last season and play for the national title, but a dropped interception (the ball was IN HIS HANDS) and a missed tackle led to the Red Raiders being elevated to No.1. Too bad they then promptly lost to OU by 900 points. TTU lost their weapons and though Mike Leach loves pirates, I don't think that is enough. The Horns HOOK the Red Raidahs.

K-State @ UCLA. Will Ricky Boy's team have a fall-off after knocking off the Vols in Rocky Top? Probably. But that will still put them on about 8 levels higher than K-State. Sorry Bill Snyder, you lost this one.

Pro-fess-ci-ahh-nal action.
Atlanta v Carolina. Turn-back-the-clock unis for the Falcons as Matt Ryan and Co will wear 1966 jerseys. Was Charlotte even a city back then or just a stop on the NASCAR circuit? Jewel of the south, GIVE ME A BREAK. Atlanta wins this NOT ONLY because they have a better team (and Paul Mac will be there) but because Charlotte is trying to steal "Capital of the South" from Atlanta. TAKE THAT! (Though I do like how their airport has rocking chairs.)

Weekly Bluelight specials...
Lock of the week.
Tennessee @ #1 Florida. Hey Lane, too late with all of the praise. Urban remembers and knows it is just a matter of time before you start slamming him again. Dude, this guy was mad at UGA for celebrating a touchdown. YOU CALLED HIM A CHEATER. Good luck. Florida couldn't score 70 against Troy or Charleston Southern, but look for them to break 90 against the Vols.

Upset special.
#18 Utah @ Oregon. I am giving the Ducks ONE MORE CHANCE at knocking off one of the flies in the Ointment. So far OU and Oregon have failed me with BYU and Boise State, but I think the Ducks rally around each other and take out the Utes. No Blount, no problem! Drugs are bad anyways. The QB wins it for Oregon.

Local rooting interest
Thoughts from Miami's 33-17 win over GT last night. I thought Paul Johnson would outcoach Randy Shannon, and he MAY have x&o-wise, CRS had emotion going for his team. I got the feeling watching this game that it was JUST like the UGA/Okie State game in that Miami pushed their chips in, taking a big gamble on this game and they won. NO WAY they were losing it. GT will live to play another day, but it is yet another game where we see what happens when this offense goes against pure talent that plays their assignments. LSU stomped them and now so did Miami. Clemson should have won, but the defense wasn't as talented. Georgia last season didn't play assignments (ellerbe and jones, I'm looking at BOTH OF YOU!). CPJ will soon realize that if he goes against a talented team that sticks to the plan, he'll lose 8 out of 10 times. But not everyone will stick and that's how he'll win 8 per season. Hey, he's Chan Gailey!

#23 Georgia travels to Arkansas. Georgia showed last week that if they are going to win, Rennie Curran must play his butt off on Defense (which he always does) and playmakers must make plays on offense. PS Georgia has a bunch of playmakers on offense so that shouldn't be a problem. At least ONE will make at least ONE play. AJ Green, Branden Smith, TKing, Orson Charles, Dick Samuel and now Caleb King. Throw in Prince Miller on PR and Brandon Boykin on KR and you have playmakers. Joe Cox played well against SoCar, save for his channeling Matt Stafford there in the 4th qtr and he just has to steady the ship. Justin Houston's return has me giddy and I think the playmakers are the difference in this one.

Enoy the weekend and if you are bored tonight, head over to www.gpb.org/football and check out ME doing the Carver-Columbus/Baldwin game tonight. OR tune to 790 The Zone Sunday from 1-4 for the Score Atlanta Scoreboard show. Good fun. We celebrate Roomie's Birthday tomorrow, as it was on Tuesday. Happy Belated, but I DID text you, so THERE!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thursday entertainment report 9/17/09

Everybody hates Jonna, Luke picks a fat chick, Glee is dropping off, Kayne loses his mind...again, and let's pour one out for Pat.

Ladies and gentlemen, you've waited an extra day for it....THE MIDWEEK ENTERTAINMENT REPORT!

Clapping....some one yells out "It's about time!"

(Sorry, I was sick yesterday. cut me some slack)

The Cancun cast of The Real World reunited last night and after Emilee "stormed off the stage" after seeing a clip of her drunk ass being stupid and all of her roommates telling as much, SOMEHOW Emilee was able to return to the set. (Um, MTV probably told her they wouldn't pay her if she left and she scurried back since she just like the rest of her roomies DON'T HAVE JOBS! Well Derek and Jonna are bartenders and Bronne is a student, but Ayiiiiiiiiiia openly admitted she was happy not doing anything. WAY TO GO!) The shocking thing about the entire reunion was everyone turning on Jonna about how she stabbed Jasmine in the back (um, Pat didn't like you. He liked Jonna, he shouldn't be punished over some stupid girl code.), about how she "led on Ayiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiia" which she admitted to (why? why would you lead Ayiiiiiiiiiiia on? To be mean?) and how she treated her Boyfriend.
I thought the being to Jonna was humorous and Emilee's STORMING OFF THE SET was LMFAO. Bronne cemented himself in the pantheon of Greatest Real Worlders EVER with the S#!t they should have shown and the Reunion show did nothing to knock him out. Overall, I'm hooked again. See Brooklyn, THAT'S HOW IT IS DONE!

On More To Love Luke dissed MAlissa and I am guessing picked Tali. I don't know, I was watching it on mute while watching West Wing on my main TV. After he sent MAlissa packing because his "heart belongs to someone else," (KFC perhaps?) I switched it over to Tommy Hanson and the Braves, assuming Luke would choose Tali as his Shoney's All You Can Eat Buffet partner. I'm just glad MAlissa didn't win.

GLEE really fell off last night for me. After the excellent Pilot and last week's EVEN FUNNIER second show, the third show was just enh. The side comedy wasn't there and I am getting tired of the main teacher and the OCD redhead NOT being together. Just hook up already! I'm still going to watch, but the show needs to pick it back up, especially if Rick E Hart is going to continue to watch.

So Kayne West.....dude, what's up? You know the MTV VMAs are just a bunch of crap, right? They aren't the grammys. Why do you keep getting upset over these things? I remember a few years back when you "spent one million dollars" on the Touch The Sky Video and you stormed the stage. Now you are DRizzunk on the red carpet and you ruin Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, saying Beyonce's video was the best ever? Huh? Beyonce looked mortified that you would go up there on her behalf. And THEN you go on to say MTV and Britney Spears (not sure where she comes in on this) are racist.
WOW. Even Obama called you a jackass. FOR ONCE I AGREE WITH HIM! (PS, for this, Roomie, Drink!) Last time I checked, Stronger was cool and Golddigger was amazing, but as good as Heartless was, KRIS ALLEN'S VERSION WAS BETTER. Dude, the American Idol was better than you. Too bad Kayne. Maybe you should focus a little more on getting back to the top than arguing for Beyonce. And maybe you should get Jamie Foxx back involved because it seems HE was the one that got you on the map.

Finally, Patrick Swayze passed away at the tender age of 57 from cancer. That's a shame. I wonder how soon you can rewatch Dirty Dancing, point break, roadhouse and listen to She's Like The Wind. You know, out of respect for the dead.

Coming next week, thoughts on Survivor, House and MTV bringing back The Hills, The City and the Ruins. Exciting Stuff.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

GAHigh School football review/preview 9/15/09

Three words. All you would need to describe the past weekend of Georgia High School football is just three words: Buford goes down. Yep, the Lovett Lions behind senior QB Jonathan Carkhuff ended the Wolves streak at 32 straight and 49 straight regular season games. After not scoring a point since 2006 against Buford, the Lions got on the board just 37 seconds in and Carkhuff had 2 TD passes and one rushing score for the game. Buford tried to rally, but the Lions had leads of 14-7, 21-7 and then 28-14. The Wolves got to within 28-21 but could get no closer. The Lions are now No.3 in the state, but I say put them at No.1 in Class AA, if nothing more so the rematch in the state playoffs will be juicier...
I was at a GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat game on Friday, Woodstock hosting McEachern and it was a classic. (to watch it, go to ghsa.tv and click on the Woodstock/McEachern game) Woodstock was up 16-0 at the break and had what its coach called the "best defense the Wolverine have had since [he's] been at Woodstock." Well too bad the offense didn't put more on the board for that defense because in the second half, Rajaan Bennett scored twice and the Indians found the endzone with just :08 left and a TimTebow-jump pass for 2pts tied the game at 31 entering OT. Bennett scored his third TD of the game and the WOlverines couldn't score to extend the game. Final: 37-31. Bennett was a bit overshadowed in the first half by Woodstock's Carlos Davis, a HUGE fullback that seemed to wear down as the game continued. Oh well. Davis was a beast that turned into a victim of his small OLine. Woodstock needs to just cut down on the turnovers and if so, that offense will allow that defense to shine. The Wolverines just ran into one of the top undiscovered talents in the state. Bennett should be getting more heat from the ACC and SEC schools.

Other games of note: ClassA No.1 Wesleyan slapped No.10 Holy Innocents and Wesleyan should run the table to 15-0. Yawn. Way to pull a Buford there Wesleyan. Pretty soon, we'll all be rooting against you too. No.2 Wilkinson Co edged Wilcox Co 25-21 in what had to be a great game. But it is class a, so enh.

If we want to go to the best of the best, Class AAAAA (at least the biggest, I should say) Grayson shut out Dacula 44-0. Shawne Green and Joe Champaign and Kori Gaines all pitched in and Ean Pemberton's 24 yard TD was enough. This Rams team might be better than last season mainly because of the defense. The QB situation hasn't been a situation and Pemberton runs hard and has some help this season. Throw in Mickey Conn as the best coach in the Region and you have the recipe for a long run in the state playoffs....
Where the Rams might meet the Vikings. WOW, can you imagine Khary Franklin and Co. going up against Grayson's defense? I shudder to think about it. The Vikings shut out the Gators of Ware Co 41-0 and it was never close. And Lowndes has some of the best JRs. in the state on the offense and defense. They just reload.
Speaking of reloading, Bob Sphire did just that at the QB spot when Mikey Tamburo graduated to Boise State, insert CJ Uzomah, who is probably better. CJ is 6'5 210 and can throw it for days. Already the best junior QB in the state, he might be pushing for best QB in the state as well (sorry Connor Shaw). Uzomah is being recruited as an athlete and he has the OLine to help him out as well as the receivers, and in that spread offense, he is just a force. Look for the Bulldogs to take the Region (sorry PTree Ridge, but the Bulldogs have ya this year) and make a serious play for the final four.
He spells it differently, but Shaq O'Neill is just as dominant over his competition for N-WR. Maybe not "just as" but he is pretty good. he had 2TDs in the first half and finished with 105 yards as the Eagles knocked off Carver-Columbus 21-12. Devin Burns and Isaiah Crowell tried, but alas, the Eagles took down the Tigers. Tune in to GPB.org/football this week though as Carver-Columbus tries to bounce back with a matchup against Baldwin.

Speaking of Baldwin, Peach County owned them last week 17-7. That high-flying offense for the Braves never got going and the Trojans, behind their Senior QB took out the Braves. Speaking of senior QBs, Hillgrove and Synjyn Days dispatched Sequoyah rather easily if you ask me. I thought that would be MUCH closer, but the Chiefs couldn't stop Days. Tech is getting a good one there.

And for the Rajion Neal fanclub out there, HEY, SANDY CREEK WON 41-0. Congrats.

Looking ahead to this Friday, besides the classic Baldwin/Carver-Columbus game on gpb.org/football (shameless self-promotion. sorry), you've got Apalachee hosting Clarke-Central. No.7 vs. No.8 so it should be a great game. Jon Lee has some help with the Haney and Hoard. Look for the Wildcats to take an important one at home. And also remember, Paul and Fletcher take all credit for this guy. Just remember...

And the Comets of South Gwinnett, currently averaging 49 ppg shoot over to Grayson for an important tilt Friday. The Rams will win but the Comets will take more out of the game as it is a measuring stick for what they need to do to get up to the next level. I feel good about my SoGwinn pick for the playoffs.

Enjoy the week and remember....gpb.org/football or ghsa.tv. SHAMELESS, I know.

Monday, September 14, 2009

That gave me a headache...

My head physically hurt. That was my reaction after Rennie Curran tipped away the 4th down pass into the endzone from Stephen Garcia to preserve a Georgia victory over South Carolina. I am guessing that my jaw was clinched so tight after the ball was snapped over the head of the Georgia punter (Ole Frix got excited was Mark Richt's explanation. Ole Frix!?) then the subsequent field goal and then Pick-6 (did Matthew Stafford sneak into Joe Cox's jersey?) to nearly tie the game. Kudos to a pair of Sophomores for being studs (well three, because AJ Green's catch was sick). DeAngelo Tyson's block of the extra point turned out to be the big difference (if he doesn't block it, SoCar can just kick a field goal to send the game to OT) and thumbs up Blair Walsh. After a less-than-stellar freshman season, the kicker nailed a 50+ yarder last week in Stillwater and then booted two on Saturday, including one that was HAVE-TO-HAVE at the end of the game. While UGA was up 1 before the kick, it was the game-winner. Throw in Brandon Boykin's 100-yard KRTD and INT and the sophomores OWNED the game.
Good for those four guys though. And as far as Georgia not having an identity, I must disagree. Throw out the Oklahoma State game and just look at the South Carolina game. The identity of this Bulldogs team will be "Who will make the big play?" Branden Smith took that reverse and went 60-yards. AJ Green, did you SEE that catch? Richard Samuel ran harder and didn't let the ground tackle him. Brandon Boykin can FLY on kick returns and he is an athlete on the defensive side of the ball. It is up to Joe Cox to simply get the ball into the hands of these playmakers. They are GOING to make plays and that is the identity of this team. PLAYMAKERS. BIG PLAYS. Will the offense be as "GET UP AND GO" as Florida, probably not, but this isn't a spread. The players will still make plays however. This offense still allows for that, DON'T WORRY.
And with the return of Justin Houston, expect more sacks and fumbles. From everything I've read and heard about from Spring practice, Houston is the next Marcus Howard, and Howard only led the SEC in sacks back in 2007. Let's hope that my source is accurate on that one.
Bottom line, if a true freshman doesn't drop a key pass in Stillwater, and a sophore TE making his first start, adjusts to a ball in the air, or if Brandon Boykin doesn't make a STUPID block in the back on a PR to the 2 yard line or if a the CBs don't drop two potential INTs, or Carlton Thomas doesn't fumble on his own 8....(you get the idea. Georgia giftwrapped a game to the OKIE STATE Cowboys, who promptly lost to HOUSTON on Saturday), Georgia is 2-0 and No.8 in the country right now.
The real Georgia I believe will be more like the one we saw last Saturday against South Carolina: an offense that can put up some points with big plays, and a defense that will allow some points but can also make big plays when it needs to...sometimes. I still feel good about 10-2. Not GREAT, but hey, I'm a Georgia fan. What can I say?

As for the rest of my thoughts on the weekend that was football.....

If you are going to beat USC, you'd better do it this season with a true freshman at QB and a young defense, because next season and the one after, this team is going to be STACKED. It isn't out of the question to think that these guys MIGHT JUST WIN back-to-back titles under Barkley and that could be as a sop and junior and then he goes pro. Just putting that out there.

PS, the NEXT BIG GAME Tressel wins without aid of the officials will be his first.

I'm not sure why Michigan fans are trying to run RichRod out of town. Don't they realize (after watching Ohio State lose yet again) that once RichRod gets his players in there, they will OWN the Big10 aka the big slow conference? OWN IT. Illinois could do that, but Zook sucks too much as a coach. RichRod will OWN the Big10, unless the idiot michigan boosters fire him first. But at 2-0, including an upset win over Notre Dame, it is getting hard to fire him now. And PS#2, if you are RichRod and the lazy Lloyd Carr players that turned you in, don't you just want to SIT ALL juniors and seniors and play only your guys? I might think about it if this season turns south.

Maybe my prediction of FSU winning the ACC was a bad one. 19-9 over Jax State. Come on Bobby.

I still say that in two years, Auburn/Miss State is going to be a great game. I scored a pair of Tix to the UGA/Auburn game for this year, and I am getting a little scared about that one......

Lastly, UVa, when does basketball season start? Sorry Daddio, but HEY, at least Al Groh gets fired. GO AFTER Tuberville! Or try and get Coach London from Richmond. He has Virginia connections. Would you go back and get Al Golden from Temple? Hmmmm, not sure on that one. I say London.

This week should be a great one in terms of college football. We get to see Urban beat down Laney Boggs Kiffin and UGA has Falcons fans across the board cheering for it to smear Bobby Petrino across the pavement. GT plays Thursday in Miami and we'll get to see just how bad of a coach Randy Shannon is and if Whipple (not the character from DOUG, the OC) can call enough plays to overcome Shannon. Should be a great weekend.

Tomorrow we'll have the high school review/preview and tune in tonight from 8-10 on Sports Radio 790 The Zone for The Official Visit!

Brian Jones' top ten uncommitted GAHS Seniors

Score Atlanta's Brian Jones is a busy man these days. Not ONLY is Big B covering the Falcons for Score Atlanta and calling in to Score Atlanta Sunday Scoreboard (Sundays 1-4 during Falcons games) and following the racin' scene for www.scoreatl.com as well, but Brian is also still putting out those top ten lists now that High school football season is upon us. Here he breaks down the top ten uncommitted Georgia Seniors. Note, this list is from last week and does not take into consideration the fact that Juwaun James, the HUGE OT from North Gwinnett just decommitted from Alabama over the weekend. BigB had James at the top of his board for OUT-OF-STATE commits so James would certainly lead this list as well.
For more from Brian, tune in to Sports Radio 790 The Zone TONIGHT from 8-10 for Score Atlanta's Official Visit.

10. Martez Eastland (Ringgold) – 5-11. 233. Not the fasters running back, but he does has a lot of power. Rushed for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns last year. Has been offered by South Carolina, Tennessee, UAB and Auburn.

9. Delino DeSheilds (Woodward) – 5-foot-9. 185. He is the only back on this list to excel in football and baseball. He is consider an athlete but has played the majority of his career at the running back position. Georgia Tech, Central Florida, Ole Miss and Stanford have made offers.

8. Hutson Mason (Lassiter) – 6-2. 190. Mason is probably the best in the state when it comes to running the spread offense. Threw for over 3,700 yards and 28 touchdowns last season. Iowa, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Georgia Southern have made offers.

7. Max Garcia (Norcross) – 6-5. 280. Garcia has been on Vanderbilt’s top 10 board for a while. He is a guy that is good at getting to the second level of defenders which opens holes for running backs. NC State , South Carolina and Wake Forest have offered.

6. Michael Carlisle (Jonesboro) – 6-0. 205. Carlisle is a very explosive player that uses his speed and agility to get after the quarterback and running back. Has been offered by Mississippi State, Toledo and Middle Tenessee.

5. Jeffery Whitaker (Warner Robbins) – 6-4. 310. Whitaker maintains his gaps and never gets blown off the ball. He had 40 tackles, 15 tackles for loss last season. Offers range from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Georgia Tech.

4. Michael Thornton (Stephenson) – 6-1. 273. Thornton is very strong and uses his hand to get a strong push on offensive guards and centers to rush the passer. Offers are coming from Alabama Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami and Louisville.

3. Storm Johnson (Loganville) 6-foot-1. 217. Johnson was a piece of the Buford team that won a state title last year. Some say he is the best big back in the state because of his strength, physicality and his speed. LSU leads the race, but Florida, FSU, Penn State and Tennessee are also interested.

2. Ean Pemberton (Grayson) – 5-4. 144. Is not the biggest and is not the fastest. But all this kid does is make plays. Pemberton rushed for over 1,900 yards and was a key to Grayson’s success last year. He has not had any offers, but has visited schools such as the Citadel and Georgia Southern.

1. Rajan Bennett (McEachern) – 6 foot. 211. Bennett can be a speed back or a power back. Over the spring he has worked hard to get faster and stronger. Kentucky has offered as well as East Carolina. Bennett has interest in Georgia and Georgia Tech.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Weekly picks 9/11/09

Instead of a witty intro (an an attempt at a witty intro) I will use this space to take a moment of silence for the 8th anniversary of 9/11. I still remember being in my Greek Lit class taking a quiz when the whispers started. Then I remember getting on the UGA bus and having the bus driver tell us that our afternoon classes were cancelled. I had a sociology exam that was postponed. I got home to find two of my four roommates glued to the TV and I quickly was glued as well. Then I had the sinking sensation in my stomach when I remembered that my father was in New York, staying at a hotel 8 blocks from the towers. It took about 4 hours, but I finally heard from my cousin who had spoken to him. He was fine. The cab he was in was covered in debris and smoke, but he was fine. He took a train home the next day. I cried when I found out he was OK.

Let's move on to the picks.
Syracuse @ #7 Penn State. Greg Paulus looked alright last week against Minnesota, until he threw that pick in OT. I don't know if that means Da Cuse will be better than everyone thought this season of if Minny will be worse. Paulus gets a reality check against Penn State. Paulus is probably thinking, "Penn State must stink because I cannot remember the last time they made the Big Dance." Ummm Greg, that's because all of their athletes play on the gridiron, not the hardwood.

No.19 UNC @ UConn. UConn lost a bit when Donald Brown left for the NFL. UNC lost more with the WR crew departing, but UNC had more talent and still does. So it is IN Storrs...big whoop. Take Paul Mac's Heels! It's his 30th B-day tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BODY!

CMU @ MSU. Central Michigan against Michigan State in a battle for the state championship. Sorry Michigan, but BOTH of these teams are better than you. Go with Sparty at home over Dan LeFevour and the Chippewahs. I loved it when FSN tried to call LeFevour (and the prescription is more cowbell) Tim Tebow-lite. HA!

Stanford @ Wake. Smarty pants vs. Smarty Pants. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Well maybe Wake isn't that smart of a school. And Baylor just came in and beat them. This game is at Noon, which is 9am Stanford time, but that shouldn't affect the Cardinal since they don't party, they study. Take Stanford to send Riley Skinner to 0-2 in his senior season. (It IS his senior season right? He's been there FOR-EV-ER!)

Fresno State @ Wisco. FrezNO is always good for one upset per season, though I'm not sure this could be considered an upset. Wisco is hurting right now and Bret might be lifted after the season if he doesn't go to a GOOD bowl. Take Pat Hill and CO.

Troy @ No.1 Florida. Way to battle the BIG BOYS there Gators. Good work. You couldn't convince Charleston Southern to come back for a rematch? Gimmie a break. Go Gators in this one. PS, I STILL agree with JCole who says that Tim Tebow drinks Wine Coolers.

#2 Texas @ Wyoming. Let me get this straight, the Longhorns are LEAVING Austin to go to WYOMING? What a let down. Austin is a top 4 city in America and you have to go to Wyoming? Yesh. Gives me the willies. Cold Shiver......Take the Horns to hook the Cowboys. PS, this totally goes against EVERY I believe in in terms of the dominance scale, but a cow will beat a human. If you remember, cows are pretty far down the list on the dominance scale. This would be like if BYU somehow beat OU a Cow Beating a Human. But then remember, I am discussing mascots.

Houston @ #5 Okie State. The Fighting Pierces got the best of the Dawgs last week. Good for them. The Pokes benefitted from Mike Bobo deciding "Hey the running game is WORKING. Let's get away from it!" They also were talented enough to overcome those two INTs that Georgia managed to snare on that one drive. Wait, that's right. Georgia DROPPED BOTH OF THOSE potential INTs only to watch Dez Bryant catch a 49-yd TD pass two plays later. And the three turnovers UGA's offense committed certainly didn't help. I doubt T Boone's stadium is that crowded today, but they won't need all of that emotion. They crush Bobby Labortino's Cougars. And PS, I give Oklahoma State all of the credit. They beat Georgia straight up. I think if they played again, Georgia could win, but last Saturday, The Pokes were the better team inside of the stadium at 3:30-7.

No.18 Notre Dame @ Michigan. Tenuta certainly had that defense cooking last week against Nevada, didn't he? Just remember how good Tenuta was with that GT defense? I mean he NEVER let a true freshman QB take his team down the field in the fourth quarter....but he certainly never let that true frosh convert the two point version.... well he'll certainly have more talent on his side of the ball to go against Michigan and their still learning offense. Sorry Hugh Jackman, but your squad loses to the Irish and I'm sure Lou Holtz will immediately campaign for them to be moved up to No.2.

UCLA @ Tennessee. So Lane is 1-0. Good for him. Hey, remember last year with Rickyboy did moreorless the same thing to Pistol Pete at USC with the billboard and the newspaper ad....What Ricky did is JUST what Lane did. So now we get to see two egos go at it with very little talent. Hmmmmm Ricky has Norm Chow but Lane has his dad. WOW. Let's go with Tennessee at home, just so Lane has a smile on his face when Urban cuts his balls off.

Miss State @ Auburn. Last year this game was 3-2. Snore. No WONDER both coaches were shown the door. Auburn has more talent so they'll win but I might really be interested in this one because it could secretly be entertaining with the two spread offenses. Too bad Chris Todd is running one and a freshman is running the other. Look out for this one in two years.

Northern Arizona @ Zona. A quick story about Northern Arizona University. I was in Flagstaff over the summer walking around the campus and I came to a student parking lot which had a friendly reminder to "Buckle Up, NAU!" Clearly NAU is Northern Arizona University, but all I could think of is how is also reads as NOW. I repeated Buckle up NAU! about 30 times over the next ten minutes, running ANY potential comedy into the ground (hey, it's what I do). Wifey got a chuckle out of it. My work here is done. Take the Cats.

SPECIAL PICKS
LOCK OF THE WEEK... #3 USC @ #8 Ohio State. Jim Tressel in big games is turrbull. He cannot win it unless the officials conspire to let him win. USC meanwhile is excellent in the big games...unless Vince Young is on the field. While TPryor is good, he is NO VINCE YOUNG. USC wins in that "hostile environment" up at the Shoe. I wonder how soon the Sweatervestclones turn on the team when the Men of Troy start laying it on thick? 3rd quarter when USC is up 21? 4th when USC is up 31? Hmmmmmmmm.

Upset of the week. #16 TCU @ UVa. Daddio told me that UVA was terrible last week and that "hotshot Corner they have should be nicknamed TOAST." He wasn't impressed with any of the three QBs. yesh. But My entire family went there and I say they pull out this one to go 1-1 after two home games, which is what I thought they'd do....only with the results being in the opposite game (a win over W&M and a loss to the Horny Toads.)

The Pro Game.
Miami @ ATL. The Falcons open up the season LOADED on offense and YOUNG on defense. Not that last season's defense was a great unit, but this unit is just young. They'll make youthful mistakes, but I think they pick up the win over Miami because Matty Ice doesn't lose at home. The Dolphins will put pressure on Ryan with Jason Taylor and Joey Porter, but No.2 can get it done with his weapons. 31-27 victory for the Falcons as a belated B-Day present to Paul Mac.

Loco local interest.
GT beats Klimpsen. I must say that Dabo's comments on 680 the Fan make him my favorite coach in the ACC. Spiller ran the opening kick back against MTSU and then the next offensive series Spiller wasn't in the game b/c he was winded, Dabo said that he was overhyped and the situation could up with him and he couldn't catch his breath.
Oliver said, "Coach what do you do there? Hand him a paper bag?"
Dabo responded, "I just yelled at him for a while!"
Meanwhile, Paul Mac said of the game, No Tommy B coached team ever came back like that from such a crushing start. It looks like Clemson's talent is beginning to gel on defense. I'm not sure I understand why they were so angry with Kyle Parker early when butterfingers 89 was the guy that caused the interception. GT got the big lead, blew it, but rallied. Good for them. I'm not sure they make it thru the next few weeks unscathed, but they'll be an entertaining team to watch.

SoCar @ #21 Georgia. I don't think Georgia should even be ranked. Let me start by saying that. But, the team does have talent. If Georgia is going to win against the Gamecocks, the OLine will have to gel in a hurry with Vance in at LT and Cordy Glenn switching over to LG. The GA coaches have done it before and they'll do it again, ie patching up the line. Hopefully Dick Samuel can keep his feet against SoCar and the receivers can snag the ball (Charles and Aron White, I'm talking to you!) TKing is good (told ya so) and Moore looked strong last week. I'm not worried about the defense, but the offense needs to get better, go back to what was working on that first drive in Stillwater. Run hard and eliminate the turnovers and Georgia can win this game.

Tune in to www.gpb.org/football tonight to see this guy out at Woodstock as the Wolverines host the McEachern Indians. Also remember, Score Atlanta Sunday returns this Sunday from 1-4. Tune in to 790 the Zone!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Three Questions for Will Leitch...

SportsbyFletch was recently honored to exchange emails with Deadspin.com's founding editor Will Leitch. I was working on an article for next month's Hooters Magazine which goes into detail on the rise of Sports Blogs and how they give an alternative for covering sports. Leitch was gracious enough to answer a few questions to help me out with my article. Check out the magazine next month at Hooters!

SBF: How did you come up with the idea for a full time sports blog (did you friends say, "MAN you are funny, you should share this with the world!"? or were you working for a newspaper and you couldn't get your opinions out the way you wanted to?)

Will Leitch: It was actually neither: I think the reason that Deadspin succeeded was because it wasn't about me at all. I wanted to start a site that talked about sports the way that people actually talked about sports, not the way that media people reported sports to readers. The strength was the audience. I was more a ringleader than a comedian.


SBF: Did you ever think Deadspin would grow to be as big as it is now?

WL: Well, I knew people wanted something like Deadspin, and if someone figured out how to do a site like that the right way, they had a chance of reaching a larger audience. But I didn't know if Deadspin would be fortunate enough to be that site. I was lucky, and caught a break that it turned out to be.


SBF: Do you think that sports blog will last or will something new come along that will make the "blog" obsolete?

WL: I think everything is coming to make everything someday obsolete. Someday future generations will wonder why we spent so much time communicating with "words."

Be sure to check out the article next month in Hooters magazine! For more from Mr. Leitch, check out The Sporting News for his column.

SBF & Score Atlanta's Media Column 9/10/09

This column appears on the back page of this week's Score Atlanta. But you get it one day early! Lucky you! Still, stop by your local Kroger, Blockbuster or QT to pick up a hard copy. www.scoreatl.com

College football is back and the coverage was confusing to say the least the first week of the season. Between outrage over a punch, Dr. Lou returning and an ABC color analyst just “Millen Around,” a fan could forget that football was even being played. On college football’s opening night, ESPN played up the SEC vs. the ACC and while the South Carolina/NC State game turned out to be an offensive dud with the Gamecocks taking the contest, the network promised plenty of fireworks in the second half of the double-header between Boise State and Oregon. The network just didn’t say that the fireworks would come after the game, which was a bit of an offensive dud itself. Following an off-season’s worth of trash-talking from Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount, the Ducks could barely make any first downs all night and only a muchtoolate rally in the fourth quarter made the score respectable. However after the game, Boise State defensive end Byron Hout decided he’d let the Ducks running back Blout hear about it. While on camera Hout approached Blout, shouted something at him and mockingly slapped him on the shoulder. Before the Broncos coaches could get Hout out of there, Blout punched Hout square on the jaw and sent the DE to his knees. After the punch, Blout appeared to want to fight some of his teammates who tried to pull him back then appeared to want to crawl into the crowd to fight a fan.
This was of course met with all of the outrage that the Ron Artest incident created several years back. ESPN commentator Bob Davie was “outraged” and railed on Blount in the postgame wrapup and even posted a column on ESPN.com that following day, calling for Blount to be banned from college football. The Punch was shown over and over all morning, afternoon, night Friday, and the following day on Gameday, the topic was broached yet again by Chris, Lee, Kirk and Desmond. Naturally the punch was aired on Sunday as well and the clip was finally beaten into the ground Monday before the Miami/Florida State game kicked off. Expect the clip to make several more appearances this weekend before Oregon’s next game and plenty more throughout the season. However for everyone going on and on about how wrong this was, let’s remember that this kid made a mistake right after the heat of battle. His pregame words came back to bite him following a game where he did not play particularly well. While he should not have taken a swing at the Boise State player, perhaps the player should not have gone up and provoked him. The Bronco defensive end in essence poked the angry dog with a stick and was then surprised when the dog bit back. Blount was suspended for the rest of his senior season and likely cost himself his being drafted this season. ESPN’s Todd McShay had him pegged as the No.56 player available. The signing bonus money and the contract he’ll lose, coupled with the suspension is enough punishment. He immediately apologized to the press after the incident happened. It is time to let him go. Perhaps Boise’s Hout should have received more than just “internal discipline” for his role in the event. The fan in Detroit that threw the beer on Artest was banned from Pistons games. Hout probably had to run some steps. While he didn’t throw any punches, he couldn’t let sleeping dogs lie. Did he deserve to get punched? No, but he didn’t act like he had been there before. Most mid-majors don’t though. Boise State is no exception.

During the Georgia/Oklahoma State game, viewers were probably confused to see ABC commentator Matt Millen’s new segment “Millen Around” during the third quarter of the Cowboys win. Millen rode a tractor in a very confusing sequence that appears as though it will become a regular spot on the network’s coverage. Millen was very good broadcasting NFL games before his stint with Detroit but he just could not quite pull this piece off; it seemed campy. ESPN and ABC has had some success with commentators going out and eating and seeing local sights where the game is being played, but this was just weird.

Finally, Melaine Oudin continues to rally her way through the US Open and the national media is loving it some Oudin-mania. ESPN, CNNSI and the AJC are all jumping on the Oudin bandwagon, giving the 17-year-old Marietta native national and local exposure. Perhaps they all should have simply read Score Atlanta in August 2008, when our paper was the first to interview not only Oudin, but also her coach Brian de Villiers. Score Atlanta continues to follow Ms. Oudin in her run to a Grand Slam title.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Midweek entertainment report 9/9/09

One fatty down and one more to go, Pitch pipes ready?, queue the music, Barney Fife and Tila Tequila?, and can someone STOP the Jacksons?

Ladies and gentlemen, the 9/9/09 midweek entertainment report!

shrieks of pleasure!

Wow, not sure I deserved a Beatles like welcome, though remember to stop by and pick up RockBand/GuitarHero (same thing) with the Beatles music. Not sure why...they were never much of the hard rock types. Don't know that it would be that hard to "videogame-play" their music. OH, I have a better idea. Get a REAL GUITAR and learn the band's music FOR REAL! That will REALLY impress girls at college. Let me break it to you. The chicks in college don't think your ability to play guitar hero is that impressive. JUST SAYING!

Moving on to More to Love. Fat Luke cut Fay Mandy last night after telling the 25-year-old he could see himself married to her. APPARENTLY NOT. I also thought it was funny that he told Tali that he found himself encompassed by her whenever he was around her. Well, as they say, "When your mom sits around the house, she sits AROUND the house!" I also had to laugh when Fat Luke took all of the girls to his room for dessert and Tali clearly wanted sex, Fat MAlissa looked a bit offended like perhaps she was ONLY in the game to win and not for love so she barely kissed him and prolly got out of there when he went to go BM. Finally, Mandy and Fat Luke went on a boat and I was afraid we'd have the a scene from 20,000 Leagues under the sea when the squid takes over the boat. Eventually, Fat Luke keeps MAlissa, who doesn't really like him and cuts obsessive Mandy. Probably a good move, as long as he picks Tali, because she actually likes him. On a side note, Wifey and I were able to correctly predict 78% of the episode's dialogue and we were considering applying to write the next season of the show.

GLEE returns tonight. VERY EXCITING. a freaking show about show choir?! Are you kidding me? I am PUMPED about that show. I might even break out the white pants I wore when I was in my high school's show choir. Very excited.

So You Think you Can Dance is also back, and quickly I may add. I guess you can never get too much Cat Deeley. Hey Cat, let's just try not to wear ugly outfits this season. Please? And if we could just forget that Joshua ever won season4, that would be great too!

I almost fell off of my hotel bed when I heard that LIGHTS OUT Shawne Merriman, likely in a fit of roid rage, reportedly choked and contained Tila Tequila over the weekend and she had him Citizens Arrested. That's the part that made me laugh. Well that and the fact taht Shawne Merriman is having Jersey's sloppy 9849ths. LMFAO, if you will. But Merriman's camp is saying that he was trying to prevent her from leaving while she was drunk. I say he should have let her leave and get in a car and then Citizens Arrest HER for DUI. Seriously, she had him citizens arrested? Are you kidding me? You are 270lbs. She weighs, what 93? He couldn't outrun her or just LEAVE when she tried to citizens arrest him. (Sorry, but I just HAVE to use that as a verb or a jerund/gerund however you spell it) Shawne, I hate to say that you brought this on yourself, but you know how crazy those MTV/VH1 love show girls can be. Look at that New York chick. CRAZY!

Finally, hey Jacksons, if you REALLY wanted your privacy, you would have told the media to F-off right after MJ died, had your funeral and not told the press or TMZ or MTV or E! ANY OF IT. But you LOVE the spotlight. You guys know you do. You cannot live without it. That's why the father made the kids go into business at that young of an age. They NEED the attention. You want the press to stay out of it? Take measures to make certain it does. Don't let E! into your private memorial service. Don't have 19 different services. It is easy. Just admit you guys are media whores and quit pretending you don't want to attention.

That's it. Have a great rest of the week and look out for my thoughts on the Atlanta Sports Media tomorrow!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

GA HSFootball review of week2 and Preview of week3

College football got underway last weekend and while most people Friday night were talking about what would happen on Saturday, plenty of high school ball was played.
Hillgrove went on the road and knocked off Rome 14-3 behind a very impressive performance from Synjyn Days. If GT switches this guy to defensive back, that's fine as he will make plays, but they should AT LEAST give him a look at QB. My co-host Scott Janovitz believes he WILL BE GT's QB before he leaves the flats and he might just be right. Days is impressive.
Speaking of QBs that might get switched at the next level, Blake Sims shook off an early fumble to record 3 TDs in Gainesville's 41-0 win over Franklin. I'm still feeling good about my pick fo the Red Elephants to do some serious damage to the Class AAA bracket.
We called it here last week saying that Baldwin had better not look past Troup to the big matchup this weekend against Peach. The Braves pulled it out 20-13 but the offense, which will be the calling card of the BRaves this season wasn't sharp.
How about Charles Perkins of Collins Hill? The GT-bound RB had 131 total yards of offense and 2tds as his team pulled out a 19-13 victory. He WILL carry Collins Hill this season and watch out Techies, he might get a better offer to a bigger school...

Roswell nipped Centennial in a game that might determine who gets the 3rd or 4th playoff spot (or who even gets in!) out of that region. Centennial looked great against Northview, but I guess that isn't hard. The OLine needs to step up for the Knights.

Newnan shut out Chapel Hill. Alec Ogletree is the best player in the state. DONE

Parkview beats Chattahoochee to stop the bleeding. This will certainly help them as they try to squeak into the playoffs.

Walton continues its nice start with a win over Kell. PS ScoreATL's IJ Rosenberg predicted Kell would win its region. They are 0-2.

Lowndes was up 14-0 on Peachtree Ridge after 32 seconds. Factor in Khary Franklin's 124 yards and 3 TD on 9 carries, and the PTR squad didn't have a chance. You just hope they learn from it and use it if the teams square off again in the playoffs. (Grayson would be the only team with a shot against the Vikings though IMHO)

Speaking of Grayson, the Rams shut out Warner Robins 10-0. DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE for Mickey Conn's boys. Ean Pemberton was used as a decoy on the game's only TD. Smart move Mick!

North Gwinnett takes out Brookwood (ye-ouch Broncos!) and McEachern levels Etowah, the defending region champ. i was beginning to rethink my exclusion of Etowah for the playoffs (what was I thinking putting KMHS over Etowah?) but I really wasn't impressed at the Kell Classic and this just confirms my suspicions. McEachern won 49-10 thanks to Rajaan Bennett's 99 yards and 2TDs on 18 carries (a BEAST in the pistol. COME ON KENTUCKY, GIVE THIS GUY A SCHOLARSHIP! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?-thanks Jen Love Hewitt!) Also Demarius Matthews had a pair of 79-yard punting plays for scores, one a return and one a fake. McEachern is well coached and will be a tough out in the playoffs this season!

On to the preview....
Five big games go down the weekend of September 11 and 12, one of which features both teams going outside of their classification for an exciting match-up. Northside Warner Robins, ranked No.7 in AAAAA hosts the Tigers of Carver-Columbus, the No.1 team in AAA. Last season Dell McGee’s Tigers lost a heartbreaker to the Eagles 7-6. This season however the Eagles may be living off of reputation as the team lost RB Xavier Bacon and QB Joe Scott. Briar VanBrunt did show in the team’s 42-10 win over Perry that he has a capable arm as well as the legs to find first downs and the end zone. As far as replacing Bacon, Shaquille O’Neil scampered for 119 yards and a score against the Panthers but the offense must cut down on the fumbles as the team lost four last week. The defense will look to lock up Devin Burns and company with CB Brison Williams and DT Greg Clark. The Tigers meanwhile are led by the Maryland-bound quarterback Burns and the workhorse tailback Isaiah Crowell. Crowell routinely racks up 100+ yard games. The defense has stalwart DE Corey Crawford and his bookend Brandon Smith.

In a game that could feature an exploding scoreboard Sequoyah travels to Hillgrove. The Hawks go as far as QB Synjyn Days takes them and last week he sparked Phil Ironside’s offense to 325 yards in the first half alone. Days was just 4-5 passing for 129 yards but he tossed for two scores. The big-play offense can score at any time and posted four touchdown scores of 49+ yards. Sophomore halfback Kenyon Drake also returned a kick for a score and had two other plays of 75+ yards. Meanwhile Dalton Trevino paced Sequoyah to a 33-7 win and will look to improve on his 146 rushing yards thus far this season. Trevino also reached pay dirt three times in his team’s week one win. The defense can and will force turnovers as it forced four against Cherokee. Opposing defenses cannot key solely in on Trevino however as the Ben Rogers-to-Tucker Adams combo is lethal.

Peach County meets the Braves of Baldwin and the Trojans may be hard pressed to match the passing success it had against Macon County. Trojans QB Patrick Turner in his first game back from injury threw for 245 yards and two scores, connecting with Lamar Zanders for one of the touchdowns. Luke Crowell notched a touchdown reception and a rushing score as well. Peach County will have to cut down on the mental mistakes as Turner threw two picks, the team committed far too many penalties for Coach Chad Campbell’s liking and the team botched a punt. The Braves defense is led from the secondary by FS Dennie Milline. The offense is led by another Milline, sophomore QB Roshaun who led the team to a 36-12 win against Glenn Hills last week. Expect Javonte Edwards to get a healthy dose of action against the Trojans defense. The offensive line might be the best in all of Class AAA, led by Jadarius Dean.

Week three features a rematch of the 2007 Class AA state championship game when Buford faces Lovett. The Lions are hoping for a different result in a game that could decide Region 6-AA in the third week of the season. Lovett QB Jonathan Carkhuff passed for over 2100 yards last season and he will have an easier go at the Wolves defense with Daunte Carr now in Gainesville. The Lions offense also features Max Williams, Taylor Mack and Zach Boden in the running game though Williams also hauls in some of Carkhuff’s passes. Buford meanwhile will make due with a dominating offensive line, led by Kolton Houston and Vadal Alexander. Those two open up holes for FB Jessel Curry and QB Alex Ross. While Buford was hit with two big-time transfers in Carr and Storm Johnson (Loganville), the Wolves didn’t show it week one with a 51-0 thumping of Class AAA Grovetown. If Buford wants to win a third straight state title, taking out No.7 Lovett twice might be necessary.

Finally, Class AAAAA No.1 Lowndes travels nearly to the border to face Ware County. Ed Dudley has moved from Walton down to Waycross to coach a Gators team just two years removed from an appearance in the Class AAAA state title game. Dudley’s Gators rallied from down 13-0 to win 17-13 last week. Lowndes did not need a rally at all as the Vikings piled up 560 yards en route to crushing Woodland 75-14. Tailback Troy Braswell tallied 101 yards on just ten carries. Khary Franklin likely will be splitting carries with Braswell as Franklin moved to the TB position in his senior season and Cole Parker has taken over the QB position. Parker was 6-7 for 107 yards and a score in the season opener. The three operate behind a line headlined by FSU-bound Ed Christian and Layne Grant. Those two should blow holes open all season long for Randy McPherson’s squad.