Paying college players has taken center stage the last few weeks ever since HBO Real Sports raised the topic with one of its “special reports.” Barnhart & Durham, the 2 Live Stews, the Rude Awakening and other shows have given their opinion and The Official Visit was bombarded with phone calls on the subject this past Monday. In a seven minute segment, eight people called in and all wanted pay for players. While I disagree with those callers, it will be interesting to see the NCAA tapdance around this subject over the next few months.
Michael Carvell of AJC wonders if Norcross alum and UConn freshman Jeremy Lamb will jump to the NBA now that his Huskies have won the NCAA title. Said Carvell, “I don’t see it happening — as in Lamb making an early departure to the NBA, at least not this season. However, it remains extremely inspiring to see how far someone has risen in such a short amount of time. Anything is possible.”
Carvell took a section of USA Today’s David Leon Moore’s recent piece discussing Lamb’s potential decision to jump and Moore didn’t rule out the leap. “Suddenly, the notion of Lamb as a first-round pick doesn’t seem so crazy.” Lamb turned his game on about midway through the season and UConn suddenly made its run. While Kemba Walker was the centerpiece of the team, the Huskies wouldn’t have won without Lamb.
The AJC ran the Parade All-American team and interestingly enough only one Georgian made the national squad and the name might surprise you. Five star and Georgia-bound Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wasn’t that name and fellow McDonald’s All-American Shannon Scott, headed to Ohio State was not the name either. In case you were thinking it was Julian Royal, Malcolm Brogdon or Kevin Ware, keep guessing. The lone Peach Stater was Fayette County’s Adam Smith. His inclusion on the team isn’t much of a surprise as he was a member of the Score 44 after leading his team to the Class 4A semi-finals while averaging over 26 points per game, but what was surprising was that he was the only player. Next season Georgia figures to have several players on the Parade team including Miller Grove’s Tony Parker, who was named the South’s MVP of the inaugural All-American Championship during last week’s Final Four weekend festivities, and Evan Nolte.
The three biggest entities in the Atlanta sports radio market are the rights to the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Bulldogs. 680 The Fan now holds the rights to two of those entities, sort of, after it was announced last week that The Fan is the new “official sports talk radio station” of the Georgia Bulldogs. AM750 WSB will still air the football and basketball play-by-play, but according to Tim Tucker of the AJC, 680 will air the Mark Richt weekly news conferences during the football season as well as a Bulldog “roundtable-type show.” which would air three times a week. As part of the deal, 680 The Fan’s Marietta sister station AM1230 The Fan 2 will air Georgia baseball games beginning this May. The Fan became the official flagship station of the Atlanta Braves before the 2010 season and now will be the sports talk station of the Georgia Bulldogs, giving the station even more access to the Athens program than Buck Belue was giving as part of the afternoon drive show Buck & Kincade. 790 The Zone recently acquired the rights to the Atlanta Falcons but 680 seemed to counter that with this announcement. The Fan won’t be doing the games but to be able to attach your station with that brand, it simply pushes The Fan a bit farther ahead of The Zone in the competition between the rival stations.
I tuned in to catch four straight days of the 2 Live Stews last week. Would it be possible to get those four days of my life back? Don’t get me wrong, I used to be a fan of the Stews back when they were Atlanta-centered, but now they are certainly more national since going syndicated across the country and joining Sporting News Radio. I realize that was something they needed to do, but you get the feeling that they turned their back on their loyal listeners from Atlanta that made them who they were. The craziness that they used to encourage and embrace has been replaced by a sense of Hollywood. “We made it and now we HAVE to be different.” Not necessarily. You guys can still “blast” phone calls, though it is no longer the “people’s show.” You guys made it, yes, but just remember about how you got there and don’t forget that you have legions of fans in Atlanta that would like to simply be remembered every now and then.
Have you listened to the Braves postgame show yet this season? Just like last year, if you turn to 680 after the game, the Fan is employing the Energizer Bunny strategy of “On and On and On and On.” Mike Bell is right when he says that Chris Dimino’s appearance on Pollack & Bell is just enough and all you need. Loyal Braves fans might want a bit more than just seven minutes, but the Braves fan is likely turning off HOUR THREE of the postgame show. As far as the new talent on the postgame show, Jay Howell? So he was a Brave for one season. That is cool that they are going out and getting former players involved, assuming those players offer something. John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, this guy is not. I am glad they told me he is a former Brave and not a relative of a radio higher-up because that is what I thought at first. Yesh. I tried to keep an open mind after hearing him during the spring but the first few postgames of the regular season…On the plus side though, now that the Braves season has started on 680 The Fan, at least the listeners get a bit of a breather. Why? Leo Mazzone isn’t on the Rude Awakening as much anymore since he is involved in the baseball programming. Silver lining!!!!
Can You Believe He Said That
“You look in the stands and there are ten people there.”
That was Perry Laurentino of 680 The Fan’s The Rude Awakening, talking about women’s college basketball. He read a stat that revealed the average big six conference school is losing $2M a year on its women’s basketball program. While I believe he was misguided saying the money should go to pay the football players, SOMETHING must be done to turn the loss of money around, otherwise do away with the program.
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