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.
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