TheFletch for ThisWeek

Don't let this stop you from going out and getting your copy of Score Atlanta...or visiting www.scoreatl.com Do IT! And watch me tonight on gpb.org/sports the GAME OF THE WEEK! Tomorrow as well at 9:25 AM on 790 The Zone

After Brandon Adams left 790 The Zone last month to step away from full-time on-air work, the Zone has been using the Midday Buffet with a rotation of hosts to get through the 11-1 time slot formerly held by Brandon & Woolvey. No more. The station announced last week that Tony Barnhart and Wes Durham would be joining the station full-time and co-hosting Barnhart and Durham every weekday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The duo had been appearing Thursdays during the football season on a southern football show along with Chris Dimino, but now the two are by themselves on a permanent basis. Barnhart of course is known for his work in the AJC as well as for ESPN, CSS and CBS Sports. He also hosts his own show on CBS College Sports South. Durham meanwhile serves as the voice of the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who both call 790 The Zone their sports radio flagship. With these other obligations, the two will miss some time during the football season with Barnhart out Tuesdays and Durham working only a partial day. If one or the other needs to travel, say for a Georgia Tech game on a Thursday, the station announced that it will use fill-ins. The new show will take one hour from Mayhem in the AM, shifting that show to 6-10.
I personally think this is a GREAT move for the station as both Barnhart and Durham are incredible sources of knowledge and both have prior radio experience. The duo has also been working together, so their chemistry is something that won’t have to be created as it has already been established. Plus both are true professionals with some serious contacts that can bring some big names to the Zone and help the station win the late-morning ratings war with 680 The Fan’s Colin Cowherd, a national show. As much as I enjoyed Brandon & Woolvey, Barnhart & Durham just kicked it up a notch and was a huge move for The Zone.

Speaking of 680 The Fan though, the station has decided to bring on Georgia legend Fran Tarkenton Fridays during the college football season, and I must admit that I am a bit scared of how this will go. Several years ago he appeared on 790 for a few interviews and played the, “back in my day card,” to the point that I remember screaming at the radio, “I get it! You once played in the NFL!” but hopefully he will stick to talking about college. I had the opportunity to work with Fran’s nephew Chip at a Richmond, Virginia television station and Chip was, of course, quite complimentary of Fran’s football knowledge. I am a bit cautious over the “I’ve played this game before and if you haven’t, you shouldn’t be talking,” card that I hope he does play on a regular basis. Some listeners enjoy hearing about the good ole days, but I am betting that a majority will roll their eyes if that drum is beaten too many segments in a row. And he isn’t off to a hot start after predicting in his first appearance that Aaron Murray would struggle mightily in his first game for Georgia. Murray had a very nice debut for Georgia, throwing for three scores and running for one as well.

College football kicked off in a hurry last week and a local radio co-host went national thanks to ESPNU. David Pollack, former three-time All-American at the University of Georgia and current co-host of 790 The Zone’s Pollack & Bell, was featured on a, ESPNU college football roundtable entitled, “The Experts.” While I thought the title “Experts,” might have been a little generous in some cases, the three-hour show certainly had its moments. Perhaps if the panel had been cut down from six to maybe four, the flow would have been better but it seemed as though EVERYONE had to weigh in on EVERY subject, and in several cases, the last few folks to offer an opinion were simply repeating the other “Experts’” opinions. I wish the guys in editing had gone to work a bit more on the show to take out some of the, “yeah, that’s exactly right.”
Pollack, or Davey as he was being called on “The Experts,” then appeared Saturday on ESPNU’s broadcast of the FSU/Samford game. While he had a few rough patches Pollack managed to provide some insight from his playing days without coming off as a pompous jerk that some former players tend to become on those broadcasts. As Pollack continues his on-the-job training he will likely get better, just as he did with his on-the-air training he went through with 790. One measure ESPN might want to consider to help ease his transition to color commentating is to put him on the ESPN SEC games on Peachtree TV. Replace Andre Ware, a former quarterback with the University of Houston, with Pollack, who was a SEC legend. It makes more sense. Plus Dave Neal might also help Pollack opposed to Rob Stone from ESPN. Neal is a smooth-as-silk play-by-play man while Stone made his bones as a sideline reporter who was kicked up/promoted to the box but is still learning himself.

Finally, I found it interesting the two sides of a college football debate that waged earlier this week between 680 The Fan’s Perry Laurentino and ESPN’s Colin Cowherd. On The Herd on Monday, Cowherd was arguing that we shouldn’t put stock into the struggles of Oklahoma and Florida because, despite the week one performance, we know they will be fast and be good. Cowherd said anyone writing off Florida at this point is just wrong. The next morning on The Rude Awakening, Laurentino objected to Cowherd’s opinion, saying that Florida’s struggles were indicative of what will be and week one struggles SHOULD be taken into great account. While I can see Cowherd’s argument, I will have to agree with Laurentino on this one. Struggles in week one or struggles in week seven, it doesn’t matter. If a team that is normally incredible loses, it is a loss. Done. Cannot undo it. It doesn’t matter if the losing team would win nine times out of ten, if it struggles that day and loses, it is a problem. If Florida continues to struggle like it did in week one, and honestly, the way the Gators struggled it looks like they will, then week one’s struggles CERTAINLY will matter.


Can you believe he said that?
“My belief is that Bobby Cox is the best manager I’ve ever seen and the best I’ll ever see.” That was Mark Bradley of the AJC who apparently has never been to a game managed by Joe Torre and his four World Series rings or by Tony La Russa, who is third all-time on the managerial wins list and is one of just two managers with a World Series title in both the American League and the National League. I really respect Bobby Cox as a manager and he is the greatest manager in Braves history, but the best ever? Even a homer like myself cannot say that.