It is a short week. I've had to make some sacrifices. Sorry. I'll try and get to a GHSA playoff review and preview, but I can make no promises. Tomorrow I'll combine the picks with the midweek entertainment report as well. Hey, It's Turkey Week, ONLY THE BEST HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR. Sorry.
Enjoy Around the Dial!
The Sporting News released an incredibly early mock draft last week and several local ties appeared in the first round of Russ Lande’s mock draft. Lande pegged the Falcons into the No.19 spot of the first round and had the team selecting CB Patrick Robinson out of Florida State. Said Lande of the pick, “The Falcons have struggled to get consistent cornerback play, and Robinson shows good athleticism, size and intelligence.” USC safety Taylor Mays, predicted by some to have been a top ten pick had he left the Trojans last year, was prognosticated to go No.22 to the Giants. Robinson would certainly be an instant starter in the Falcons defensive secondary and his size would be something that this year’s Falcons are missing. In FSU’s game against Maryland over the weekend, the color analyst spent most of the second half gushing over Robinson, comparing him to former Seminole and Falcon Deion Sanders. Before the season started, I thought the Falcons should JUMP at the chance to get Taylor Mays if he was still on the board when they picked, but after watching last week’s game against New York, it is obvious: the team needs CBs with height. Robinson is that guy. Perfect pick for the Falcons, although I wonder about that spot at No.19. Lande is guessing that the Dirty Birds don’t make the playoffs.
Lande would go on to forecast the San Diego Chargers taking Georgia Tech junior running back Jonathan Dwyer with the No.23 pick. Lande noted, “Running back LaDanian Tomlinson turns 31 in June and Darren Sproles is too small to be a feature back, leaving the Chargers offense often one-dimensional.” Lande feels that Dwyer would solve that problem.
Tony Gonzalez recently appeared on Tim Brando’s radio show. Brando is known for his work with SEC football on CBS, but he stepped up to the NFL level to interview the future Hall of Fame Tight End and Gonzalez told Brando he couldn’t be happier. “I’m just living a dream and enjoying it. We’d like to think we can be a little bit better than [5-5], but that’s just the reality of it.” Gonzalez also noted that he’s taking his career one year at a time. “But this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Gonzalez reassured Falcons fans wondering about his future with the team.
The Sports Business Journal teamed up with Sports Business Daily and The Sporting News to come up with their list of the top 25 sports broadcasters in today’s sports world. Gary Danielson of CBS came in at No.1, beating out NBC’s Cris Collinsworth, the list’s No. 2. Collinsworth’s partner on NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcasts Al Michaels was No.3 while Phil Simms of CBS was No.4. ESPN and ABC college football expert Kirk Herbstreit was No.5 and Troy Aikman of Fox and TSN Radio was No.6. Other top ten notables included Joe Buck of Fox at No.8 for his MLB and NFL coverage and Jim Nantz of CBS at No.10. Nantz does NFL, golf and college basketball for CBS. While I do like Danielson in the No.1 spot, Collinsworth at No.2 I thought was a bit too high. I know he knows his stuff but I don’t believe he’s found his personality just yet. Is he going to be just an X and O guy? Is he going to be a funny guy? It seems to me like he needs to find his footing with Al Michaels. They just have not yet developed chemistry and I think that has hurt Collinsworth. I love Al Michaels and he should be in that No.2 spot as he is the best play-by-play guy out there today. The NFL has not passed this guy by and I don’t believe it ever would. I just hope that NBC has him do the winter Olympics Hockey coverage in 2010, especially if Team USA makes another run at the gold.
Finally, I have to take Peachtree TV to task for the selection of Alabama/UT-Chattanooga over Mississippi State/Arkansas last Saturday. I am not certain how the contracts work with the SEC and maybe PTV didn’t have a choice but since I didn’t hear Dave Neal and Andre Ware calling the Alabama game, perhaps those two were at the Bulldogs/Razorbacks game. Is it because we are in Atlanta, closer to Tuscaloosa than the states of Arkansas and Mississippi that we got that blowout? Why did the network not fight to get the more competitive game? Alabama vs. Chattanooga? Really? Did Alabama fans even care to see that game? I really would have rather seen Dan Mullen vs. Bobby Petrino. I would have rather seen Anthony Dixon vs. Ryan Mallet. But instead I got a game that was over three years ago when it was scheduled.
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