Your first look at THEFLETCH

I know, I know, the title is weird. I didn't come up with it. Make sure you pick up a copy of Score Atlanta tomorrow at your local quiktrip! DO IT!

Last weekend, the Final Four dominated the airwaves and rightfully so. It wasn’t just the games though that I’m talking about. All of the local sports radio stations were of course waist-deep in coverage leading up to last weekend as well as wrapping up and discussing the championship game last Monday. 790 The Zone and CBS Atlanta came together for a show last Saturday entitled Crowning a Champion. Mayhem in the AM’s Nick Cellini, and Steak Shapiro and Jeff Woolverton of Brandon and Woolvey appeared on the show, and while it was clear that Cellini is comfortable on camera from his time with CSS, one other member looked at ease while the third looked less than smooth. Woolvey looked like he was born to be on camera, moving from camera to camera and coming off well-prepared while Steak seemed less than ready. The ringleader of Mayhem in the AM came off a bit goofy following a campy Bruger King spot, and it seemed to be a bit of a problem for Steak when it came to finding the correct camera. This was odd considering his long time in the business. Woolvey on the other hand, could have a future as a sports anchor of a smaller market ABC or CBS affiliate, if he wanted it.
Earlier that Saturday on Brandon and Woolvey, Brandon Adams came across an interesting column from CNNSI’s Stewart Mandel that discussed why hating Duke was “so 2006!” Adams used the piece for a good three quality segments in the 45 minutes that I listened, and Adams came up with several reasonable ideas why Duke is so hated. He surmised that people dislike the rat-king Coach K’s antics on the coach, with the constant F-bombs and the berating and working of officials. Adams suggested that people dislike the Cameron Crazies, and he put out that people potentially are tired of the media (read: Dickie V) bowing down to the program. Finally Adams began to address the racial issue, wondering why so many white males hated this collection of mostly white player over the past two decades. This last point is part of the reason I actually dislike Duke. As I explained on last week’s Score Atlanta Sports Sunday on 790 The Zone (tune in this Sunday from 2-5 p.m.) when I think of Duke, I think of Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, Chris Collins, Wojo, Cherokee Parks, JJ Redick, Mike Dunleavy Jr., etc. With the exception of Parks and Laettner (who both tower over me), the rest of the guys are just like me: guard-sized with no jump-out-of-the-arena ability that can shoot. The difference is that those guys worked really hard in middle school and high school, eschewing other sports to focus on shooting, ditching dating to work on dribbling, dropping the French club to work on free throw shooting. So I am jealous of Duke’s players, not so much their program. I wish that had been me. That’s why I dislike Duke, my own self-hatred. I’m just kidding about the last part. Much like TO once said, “I love me some me!”


With the Atlanta Thrashers falling twice last week, 680 The Fan may now stop sweating out what could have been a very tough decision. 680 is the new flagship of the Atlanta Braves and have been running promos crowing as much since last autumn. One of the promos though says, “hear every pitch of the 2010 season on 680 The Fan!” and it was this promo in particular that got me thinking: what if the Thrashers make the playoffs? Would they be sent to the “minor leagues” ie, one of The Fan’s sister stations so that the Braves would be on 680? Could you put playoff hockey on a smaller station with a smaller listening area for a team that has made the postseason just once in its history? Or would you move the Braves to the smaller station in the team’s first month on your station after you spent how many hours promoting The Fan as the flagship? 680’s Assistant Programming Director Scott McFarlane addressed this potential decision with Score Atlanta last week before the Thrashers lost to Washington and Pittsburgh.
“The Thrashers would take precedence on 680 The Fan over the Braves as we have been partners with the Thrashers and the Spirit for the last five years and would honor our contract with them.” McFarlane noted that the Braves would have been moved to one of The Fan’s sister stations, either ESPN Radio 1230 The Fan 2 or 1340 The Fan 3, Fox Sports Radio. For anyone who could not get those two could clearly always just tune to Rock 100.5 FM, where the games will also be found all season. McFarlane continued, “We definitely hope and are pulling for the Thrashers to make the playoffs and are very excited about the Braves getting started, having three full time sports station stations and a great FM simulcast partner in Rock 100.5 makes it easy to clear great Atlanta sports content.” The recent rash of losses though likely mean that the Thrashers won’t make the postseason, but the franchise’s run towards the playoffs surely led to some anxious meetings.


Jason Boral, Score Atlanta’s beat writer for the Atlanta NHL franchise appeared on Score Atlanta Sports Sunday and besides being all over everything that was hockey, not just with the Thrashers but the rest of the NHL as well, Boral handled himself quite well during the interview. He sounded like a true professional that was calling in to Mike & Mike, and it may just be a matter of time before Score Atlanta loses him to NHL.com or another hockey-based town’s radio coverage of the team. The Thrashers would be well-served to give Boral a look at potentially coming to work for the team’s website and perhaps even having him appear on a podcast for the team. We are lucky to have him at Score Atlanta.



CAN YOU BELIVE HE JUST SAID THAT!?!?
“I’m just not sure landing on the moon is that big of a deal…I mean if Louis Armstrong didn’t do it first, somebody else would have.” That was 790 The Zone’s David Pollack. So did the trumpet do INSIDE the suit or did he open that visor? Pollack was a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia, and now we know none of those were Academic All-American awards. I honestly hope Pollack was kidding. I really hope so. As a Georgia grad, I REALLY hope so.