The Fletch for this week

Am I spoiling you by giving you TheFletch for free right here so that you don't go an pick up Score Atlanta at a quiktrip or Kroger in the Atlanta area? I hope not. Go pick one up!

ESPN decided to bring the 2010 NFL draft to prime time LIVE from Radio City Music Hall in New York, but the local radio stations kind of missed out on the coverage. In years past, both stations had a crew at a local sports bar, breaking down the picks and giving analysis on the spot. This year, due to the timing of the first round, that wasn’t the case for one. 680 The Fan was instead airing the finale of the Braves/Phillies series even though the station spent the week touting John Kincade, Chuck Oliver and Falcons receiver Brian Finneran’s roundtable discussion. That would have been cool to hear, but I wasn’t able to go out to their location to be a part of the discussion. 790 The Zone meanwhile was in Sandy Springs where Pollack and Bell were able to do their show until the draft started. Then, as much as I respect Brandon Adams and the Soon to be Famous Jon Michaels, the big guns left. 790 has former first round pick David Pollack at the station as well as former NFLer Ryan Stewart, yet the coverage is left to Brandon and Jon. Again, I have great respect for those guys, but why didn’t the station decide to use Pollack in its coverage? The Atlanta Falcons were at least broadcasting a special draft program that allowed patrons of Taco Mac to see live interviews with owner and CEO Arthur Blank, Rich McKay and other Falcons staff. Then fans were treated to an interview with GM Thomas Dimitroff.
The leadup to the draft was actually quite entertaining this season, despite no local player being at the top of the board like last year with Georgia QB Matthew Stafford. Jon Gruden of ESPN provided a great feature on SportsCenter that eventually grew and grew and eventually got its own special the day before the draft. Gruden invited the top four QBs to go over some tape and Gruden was brutally honest during these sessions. It ultimately came off as tough love, and in several cases, Gruden was flat out funny as he put players on the spot. When Gruden sat down with CJ Spiller, just days before the draft, seeing Spiller writing down “Pointer Sisters” as something to look into made me crack up and “CJ’s AL-WAYS IN-JURED!” is sure to be serenaded should the Clemson back get hurt and leave the field during his rookie year.
One final NFL note, the schedule was released and Falcons fans should be feeling good about not only the schedule, but the two national games that Atlanta will play. The slate opens up with the Pittsburgh Steelers, sans Ben Roethlisberger and caps off with a date against the Carolina Panthers in the Georgia Dome in Week 17. In Week 16, Matt Ryan and company will have a HUGE chance to impress when the Falcons host the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the Georgia Dome. ESPN and Monday Night Football will be in town for that one. The other nationally televised game will be on the NFL Network (OK, so not nationally televised if you don’t have the expanded television package on Comcast or Charter…) against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, November 11 in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Hawks are of course in the playoffs and if you live in the Atlanta area, you are clearly seeing the games with our local broadcast crew providing the sound. If though, like me, you were out of town last week during game one against Milwaukee, you were treated to the broadcast on ESPN. The NBA on ESPN team certainly had some nice things to say about the team and coach Mike Woodson, though some wondered if the team would resign Joe Johnson. ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons echoed that thought in his NBA: Think, Know, Prove column. Said Simmons of the Hawks, “I think this spring could be the last stand for the Rejuvenated Atlanta Hawks. And here's why: Joe Johnson is getting max money this summer to play in Chicago, New Jersey, New York, Clipperland or wherever. He's irreplaceable for Atlanta obviously. Assuming Josh Childress returns from his Greek exile, that gives the Hawks Childress, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford, Marvin "I Look Worse As A No. 2 Pick Each Season" Williams, Zaza Pachulia, Zaza Pachulia's bacne and Mike Bibby's chalk outline next season. That's a 42-win team. The window is right now. They can absolutely make the 2010 Eastern finals ... and then get swept, but still. The Eastern finals!”
The AJC’s Jeff Schultz was impressed following the Hawks game two victory. He boasted that Josh Smith, when on, was unstoppable. Schultz quoted all-star forward Al Horford who said that Smith was the X-Factor, even over Johnson. “Josh is the biggest key,” said Horford, and Schultz piggybacked to say that, if Smith plays this way, not even the Lakers could stop him. Maybe a bit much, saying that Smith could beat Orlando, then Cleveland then Los Angeles (aka, Dwight Howard, then LeBron James, then Kobe Bryant), but Schultz is allowed to dream.
Speaking of the AJC, FINALLY, a headline that wasn’t misleading. The Atlanta newspaper’s headline typically takes a page out of yahoo.com by posting misleading headlines to get clicks to its stories, especially when it comes to Georgia Bulldog football news. However, last week the paper decided not to fool the general public when a walk-on punter was arrested. Instead of running a headline like, “ANOTHER GEORGIA BULLDOG ARRESTED, RICHT HAS LOST CONTROL!” the paper instead noted that a walk-on had been arrested. Yellow journalism was popular back in the early 1900s but the AJC was working with Yahoo to bring it back. Has the website seen the light? Doubtful. In fact, they will probably regret that they missed the chance to hookwink readers into potential clicks to the site.
Tony Barnhart did get my click on ajc.com the other day with his opinion on SEC expansion. The Big Ten (or 11) has been rumored to be after Notre Dame and could add as many as five more teams to become a super-conference of 16 teams. USA Today called for the Big Ten (11, really) to give Notre Dame the ultimatum of “join now or never,” as it went up to 16 teams. Barnhart argued that if the Big Ten (11) adds just Notre Dame, it won’t affect the SEC. However, Mr. College Football went on to add that if the Big Ten (11) ends up adding 16 including Notre Dame, the SEC’s hand will be forced and the conference will likely have to raid the Big East, Conference USA and even the ACC and Big 12 for members to become another super-conference. I tend to agree with Barnhart that if Notre Dame joins the Big Ten (11), that won’t really matter. Maybe then Notre Dame games won’t occupy NBC on Saturdays and the Irish will be on the Big Ten Network, which, thankfully, I don’t get and won’t have to watch.


CAN YOU BELIEVE HE JUST SAID THAT?
“Anybody recall Francisco Cabrera, Game 7, 1992 NLCS?” That was Mark Bradley of the AJC, comparing Jason Heyward’s game-winning single with the hit that sent the Braves to the franchise’s second straight World Series in the early 1990s. I realize that the situation Heyward came to the plate with was similar in that the Braves were down one, with two outs and the bases loaded. And the ball was even hit to the left side of the infield. There was one tiny difference though: Cabrera’s hit came in the playoffs whereas Heyward’s hit was in APRIL. MID-APRIL!