TheFletch for thisweek

There is supposed to be a paper this week. If not, here is TheFletch. Enjoy

High school football is the name of the game as Friday nights in Georgia are about to become a lot louder with players hitting and bands marching across the state. High school football has also never been covered like it will be this season. The season starts off this Saturday with the Corky Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome with four Gwinnett County teams squaring off with four teams from Cobb County. 790 The Zone will be sending a pair of broadcast teams to cover the four games all day on Saturday. In the past, the Zone has teamed up John Michaels and Trey McDaniel for game-calling duties on Friday nights and hopefully the duo is together once again for the Corky Kell as McDaniel has a great play-by-play voice while Michaels really has knowledge of the game and uses humor to lighten up various game situations.
After the Kell Classic is over though, the real fun begins when the entire state gets into action the following week. Leading up to the games, Georgia high school fans can tune in to Georgia Public Broadcasting’s system of networks on Wednesday for GPB Sports Central at 7:30 p.m. It is the only weekly high school sports television show in the state. The show will feature stories from around the state as well as local personalities participating in what should be a fascinating spin around the world of high school sports. The show reairs on GPB Friday nights at 11 p.m. with all of the final scores from that night’s games and then again on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
A live webcast will follow the show on Wednesday nights, beginning at 8 p.m. Fletcher Proctor and Mark Harmon will be joined by Alex Ewalt, who will oversee a live interactive webchat during the program. The webcast will interview a coach, a sports writer from around the state as well as a player each week. Check out the web-show starting on Wednesday on gpb.org
Georgia Public Broadcasting is once again the place to turn on Friday nights as Friday night football returns. Charles Ward and myself are both back to call the action as Score Atlanta teams up once again with GPB on the road to the Georgia Dome for the state championships. This season will see a few changes to the web broadcasts. The first notable change will be the expanded pregame show. I will be joined by Bob Houghton for the best pregame show in the state. The coverage will look into all of the big games as well as major storylines from around the state as well as touch on recruiting news. The setup for the pregame show might also be more of a College Game Day set-up opposed to just taking place in a press box announcer’s booth. The other notable change will be an expanded post-game show. Bob and I will be back to wrap the night’s festivities with a complete look at the Score Atlanta scoreboard and a discussion of major upsets or big-time victories in the spotlight games.
Along with gaprepnews.com, GPB and Score Atlanta will be all over the high school scene this football season. Check out both websites for more info on the shows and webcasts as well as a schedule of where GPB will be broadcasting each week.

The AJC released its Super Eleven for the 2010 season, spotlighting the top eleven seniors for this football class. The AJC’s Michael Carvell appeared on Score Atlanta’s The Official Visit earlier this week to discuss the list and he revealed how the list was decided upon and expressed a few regrets over who was left off of the list. Carvell flat out declared that the best eleven were put on the list, regardless of where they were from in the state, however he did note that the five-person committee that came up with the list tried to get a good mixture of players at various positions, not just all defensive ends, like Carvell said they could have easily done with the plethora of players at the position this season. Carvell mentioned two players in particular, East Hall DE Sterling Bailey as well as South Gwinnett QB Kent Rollins as two players he wished could have been included on the list and he said he’s already heard from Colquitt County head coach Rush Propst over the exclusion of offensive lineman Xzavier Ward from the list.
Score Atlanta recently released on The Official Visit on 790 The Zone as well as gaprepnews.com and scoreatl.com its inaugural Score 44 list of the forty-four best seniors in the state as well as the best forty-four in the metro area. The list, unlike the Super 11 of the AJC will be a fluid list where players can move in or out depending on their play on the field. Check out the Wednesday webcast on GPB, The Official Visit on 790 The Zone as well as the Friday night webcast pregame and postgame shows for an updated list each week.

Finally, 790 The Zone listeners last week were as usual treated to Mike Bell and a David on their ride home from work. This Dave was Dave Archer though, as “Arch,” filled for the three-time All-American David Pollack. Arch once again demonstrated chemistry with Bell, getting all of his jokes and following up on Bell’s pop culture references with the next line from the movie or an impression that was delightful as a listener. And once again, zero fake laughter from Arch as the pairing never did seem forced. Arch was also quite useful in breaking down the Falcons’ first preseason game with the Kansas City Chiefs, giving an insight that can only come from a former QB and team color commentator. I hope The Zone continues to keep Arch on the speed-dial when Pollack needs a fill-in as he seems a natural on this format.


Can you believe he said that?
“Here’s an idea: Manny to the Braves. (Kidding. Sort of.)"
That was a headline to a recent Jeff Schultz blog in the AJC. I have to ask, Jeff, why are you kidding? You make a VERY valid point that the Braves needed a bit more firepower even BEFORE Chipper Jones was injured for the season. Yes, Manny would be expensive for the remainder of the year, but he is a free agent-to-be and the addition of his bat to the lineup would actually be the “fear bat” the Braves need to combat the Phillies’ and Cardinals’ pitching staffs in the postseason. Don’t just throw a great idea out there Jeff only to not truly stand behind it. Keep your stance Jeff. If you like Manny out there, stand behind your suggestion.