Thursday, December 17, 2009

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial preview

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

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

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

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