There won't be a hard copy of Score Atlanta tomorrow, so I am going to go ahead and throw up TheFletch right here. PS, good stuff from 790 The Zone's Brandon Adams and PD Matt Edgar. Rodney Ho can kiss my grits.
680 The Fan did something last weekend that surprised me in a good way. As I was riding in my car last Saturday morning listening to sports talk radio, 790 The Zone’s Brandon & Woolvey went to commercial, so I flipped it over to 680, thinking I’d suffer through some ESPN national talk. When the dial stopped at 680 though, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Perry Laurentino and Jerry Elinger discussing why no NBA free agents had Atlanta on their lists of possible destinations. The topic isn’t what I was excited to hear about, but rather the fact that Jerry Elinger was on the air and 680 was going local opposed to turning the weekends over to ESPN. I miss the days of driving to the gym while listening to (Steve) West and Elinger on 680 with Brandon & Woolvey on 790. No disrespect to ESPN and SNR but who better to talk about Atlanta sports than folks living in Atlanta who know the situation. Typically when ESPN or Sporting News Radio talk about Atlanta, it is to mock the low crowds at Hawks/Braves/Thrashers/Falcons games or to drudge up Michael Vick dogfighting talk or to knock the Braves for winning just one World Series title during the magical 15-year run. The hosts are outsiders and I’d rather they just stuck to what they are experts in and not try and discuss what they don’t know. They just skim the stereotypical stories of a town and run with it. Give me local guys discussing the city they live in. And I don’t need cheerleader, rah-rah guys that only say good things about the city; you can be critical of the city’s sports teams. But I ask that you know what is going on. I hope 680 The Fan keeps Elinger and brings back West on Saturdays.
Laurentino and Elinger were live at the Atlanta Tennis Championships for their broadcast, but the event was truly captured by Score Atlanta. Kudos to Ricky Dimon, who covered the event and had pictures as well as quotes from the players on www.scoreatl.com throughout the weekend. After listening the 680’s coverage and reading Dimon’s work, I really started to wonder, “Is this it?” Why doesn’t Atlanta have a stop on the ATP? Why doesn’t the WTA have a tournament in Atlanta? Are you telling me that the Olympic complex up in Stone Mountain couldn’t host an event? The ATC was held in Johns Creek at the Atlanta Athletic Club and the event looked like it was a success. John Isner and Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick are nice folks to have in town, but I want Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer too. I want Serena and Venus and Maria to grace our city with a stop on the women’s tour. I find it hard to believe that Atlanta cannot get into the (tennis) game and a city like Cincinnati can host the biggest event on American soil leading up to the US Open. This city and surround area clearly loves tennis. On Score Atlanta’s Sports Sunday last week on 790 The Zone, we had multiple callers say that they loved the event and were ALTA players themselves. I believe that this city could definitely support a regular stop on the tour and it is time that the ATP takes notice and sends its big stars here.
Big news came down earlier in the week from 790 The Zone. Last Monday on Brandon & Woolvey, Brandon Adams announced that he was leaving the station to go back into education, his career before coming on full-time at The Zone. In an email to Score Atlanta Adams announced, “I think it's best to focus on some things outside of radio.”
Programming Director Matt Edgar confirmed to Score Atlanta that Adams was leaving the station. Said Edgar in an email to Score Atlanta, “He will not do anything, including football, in the foreseeable future. That is his decision as he wants to concentrate on his new endeavor.” Adams said that he has not ruled out an eventual return to radio for a weekend show down the line. Edgar confirmed that Adams’ long-time on-air partner Jeff Woolverton will stay on in the pair’s time slot from 11-1 weekdays, and the station is searching for his replacement, though one has not been decided upon as of press deadline. In recent weeks, Woolvey had been running point, possibly getting ready for life after BA.
Last week both radio stations were in Hoover, AL for SEC media days and I must say that at the end of the day, the interview “war” turned out to be a draw. Pollack & Bell managed to grab Georgia head coach Mark Richt for an interview, along with punter Drew Butler, standout wideout AJ Green and fullback Shaun Chapas but so did 680’s Chuck & Chernoff. Both stations had former Chamblee runningback and current Vanderbilt sensation Warren Norman and both secured several players from other schools. 790 was able to nab Heisman winner Mark Ingram from Alabama as well as the AJC’s Tony Barnhart, which was a very informative interview. Chuck and Chernoff meanwhile sat down with Gary Stokan of the Atlanta Sports Council and the SEC Commish Mike Slive. The edge for coaches other than Mark Richt went to 680 as The King was able to interview the head Auburn Tiger Gene Chizik as well as Ole Miss’ Houston Nutt. 790 settled for Vanderbilt’s new man Robbie Caldwell and Miss State’s Dan Mullen. The latter was a nice interview but I was hoping that Bell could have gotten a piece of Arkansas Bobby Petrino after all that he has said about the former Falcons coach. I would have liked to see Bell go after Petrino, because unlike some personalities that huff and puff before the interview then buckle when the guest actually appears, Bell pulls no punches. It was an opportunity missed by The Zone. (However I doubt Petrino would have even agreed to an interview with an Atlanta station anyway.)
Can you believe he said that?
“With Dwyer gone, it simply doesn’t have a guy who can come close to filling his shoes.” That was “Husker Fan” on The Bleacher Report after he ranked Georgia Tech Quarterback Joshua Nesbitt No.3 on his list of overrated players in college football. The AJC’s Georgia Tech beat writer Doug Roberson linked to the story online but I am not sure how Nesbitt is overrated as the list didn’t have any particular criteria for basing Nesbitt as overrated. Perhaps “Husker Fan” also doesn’t realize that Nesbitt is a quarterback and “Jon” Dwyer was a running back at Tech. The article made zero sense whatsoever.
No comments:
Post a Comment