This week's TheFletch

If you missed TheFletch in last week's issue of Score Atlanta, never fear, you can read it here on SBF. Just look for it on the ToC to the right. This week's TheFletch is right here and is guaranteed to be in this week's issue. And for everyone that is visiting us for the first time because of our pop in Score Atlanta, welcome.

If you have never listened to 680 The Fan’s morning show The Rude Awakening, you wouldn’t know that one of the co-host Perry Laurentino is an “any front-runner other than Atlanta” fan. Perry “roots” for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Mets and the USC Trojans. (He doesn’t appear to have an NBA or NHL team, probably because the show doesn’t address basketball or hockey enough for him to try to incite the fans by cheering for a major rival or front-runner.) Recently when his alma mater USC was smacked around by the NCAA, Perry went off, not on his school for doing wrong, but on everyone else. First he bashed the NCAA for coming down too hard. Then he bashed ALL of the school presidents, likening them to pimps doing anything for money. After this failed deflection, he openly wished for Reggie Bush to have been able to “do it again!” Said the Trojan fan, “Go for $400,000 instead of $300,000. Go for more next time!” I will say this that I am sure this was tongue-in-cheek as Perry wasn’t using his interview/commercial voice which is his “serious” voice. Instead he was in “quasi-scream with disbelief” mode.
He made me laugh as well (which might have been his goal the entire time?) when he said for everyone to wait three years when USC is preseason No. 3. His logic? “You think Alabama would have suffered on probation with Saban as coach? No they had Shula!”
Wait, did he just compare Lane Kiffin to Nick Saban? The latter has two national titles. The new USC coach lost by 23 points in his last game. I am not thinking that Saban would lose by 23 points these days…Nice comparison there Perry. Like comparing Spud Webb to Shaq.

Speaking of 680 The Fan, Chuck Oliver was by himself last week as Matt Chernoff was out and while Friday became Paul Finebaum-East, that was OK! On Friday, Kang took consecutive calls that would make Finebaum, a popular Alabama radio host that is known for inciting college football fans with crazy, unfounded rumors and generally talking college football all year long, proud. The first caller asked about Alabama’s offensive line before the classic “I’ll hang up and listen,” line, then the next caller asked about new South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore, but he hung up and listened. Kang is certainly at his best when he is dishing on college football. True he knows plenty about the other sports he talks about, but he is the King of College Football for a reason. The guy knows his stuff. He devours all of the magazines and talks to the right people through his connections with CSS and Auburn. His discussions on college football put to shame when anyone else on Atlanta radio tries to go solo on the topic, including Buck Belue at his own station as well as if anyone from 790 tried to do it, which I cannot recall anyone since Chuck even trying. Please, as a college football fan, give us more Kang talking college football. We want more!

The AJC’s Jeff Schultz came to the defense of Atlanta Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton in a recent blog, noting how it seems Braves fans don’t have much to complain about recently since the offense is leading the National League in several categories. Schultz is clearly remarking about how talk shows and postgame shows and local radio personalities have been calling for Pendleton’s head due to recent seasons’ offensive struggles and the well-documented Jeff Francoeur trip to see the Texas Rangers hitting coach opposed to his own. Here is the thing though, and Sports Illustrated pointed this out as well in an issue a few weeks back: the reason the Braves offense has come around has been due to an increase in walks and OBP. The SI piece interviewed Pendleton, asking him if he made it a point to emphasize the higher OBP approach, and he said it was not his idea. Interesting. TP, who won an MVP in his day as a player and spent time with the Braves during his career before becoming the hitting instructor, didn’t preach the take, take, take approach. So, sorry Jeff, it doesn’t appear that he deserves all of the credit in this situation. It appears that the players, possibly with the lead of rookie Jason Heyward as well as new vets Troy Glaus and Eric Hinske, have started taking pitches. Earlier this season it was Bobby Cox and Pendleton that wanted Heyward to be more aggressive, going away from the strategy that seemed to be working. No, I cannot heap praise upon him just yet. He has earned a reprieve from all of the “Let’s Fire Terry” talk, but let’s not give the man a huge raise just yet. Remember, Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are not having their typical seasons and Yunel Escobar is just now starting to come around. Hey, how is your work going with McLouth these days? There are still too many negatives, especially historically, for me to pull a Mark Bradley and be the first to flipflop and jump on the Terry is Great bandwagon. I just cannot do it.

Finally, Georgia Tech fans will be able to commiserate with University of Virginia and Oklahoma college baseball fans as Pam Ward was on the play-by-play call for the first game of the two teams’ Super Regional contest last weekend. As you may remember, ESPN’s Ward was calling the GT/Wake Forest football game that went into overtime last Fall when she was surprised that, after winning the coin toss, Tech elected to go on defense first. After her partner explained to her why Tech would do that, she seemed to be fine with the decision. 790 The Zone’s Mike Bell ripped her, with good reason, for that the next Monday. Could some one get Bell on the line again, because she managed to butcher the Super Regional between UVA and OU. It seems like perhaps she thought the baseball game would end after seven innings, maybe like softball does?, and she seemed surprised to be calling an eighth inning. Other times she just didn’t talk while her two color commentators took us through the action. ESPNU deserves some fault by loading up the booth with two analysts, but why is Pam Ward calling baseball? Honestly? Call me sexist, but come on. There isn’t someone that understands the game a little better that could do the call? Hey ESPN, if you REALLY need help, hit me up at fproctor@scoreatl.com.


Can you believe he said that?
“A couple of more years of (Troy) Glaus would sound mighty good.” The AJC’s Mark Bradley. Yep, the same Mark Bradley that wanted Glaus run out of town on a rail earlier this off-season now wants Frank Wren, a guy he slammed for signing Glaus to a one-year deal, to sign the aforementioned Glaus to a multi-year deal to take over for Chipper Jones. Tell me Mark, you haven’t twisted an ankle jumping on and off and on again the Frank Wren and Troy Glaus bandwagons, have you? Could you still type about how Mark Richt is on the hotseat with a twisted ankle? of cture where