The melee that followed the Hancock Central/Warren County game is certainly a shame and it is shaping up to perhaps be a national story based on the timing. The incident happened just 24 hours before Grantham and Franklin got into it in Nashville and on the same weekend Harbaugh and Schwartz needed to be separated. The Hancock Central/Warren County incident though was far worse as the Warren County coach went to the hospital. After some information trickled out initially from Augusta area news outlets, Score Atlanta and the rest of the Atlanta media jumped on it quickly and hopefully helped to bring light to an awful situation. Score Atlanta was able to speak with Warren County Schools Superintendent Carole Jean Carey early Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after football coach David Daniel was released from the hospital. 790 The Zone had Carey on the next morning for a follow up. Carey is fighting for her coach and she really came across as willing to do whatever it takes to see that justice is served.
It is interesting to hear the two different approaches taken by the two sports talk radio stations here in Atlanta to their broadcast properties. For years 680 The Fan was known as the flagship of the Thrashers and now the Braves and it seemed that Buck “Blue Skies” Belue and Leo Mazzone always talked about how great things were in Braves Country, even when the Braves were choking down the stretch or gagging in all of the series against Washington and Florida. It sounded like everything was always peachy in Blueland despite the fact that the team had just one playoff appearance and on-air personalities would make excuses for the team instead of calling out the ownership and management for poor execution.
On the flip side it sounds as though 790 The Zone is really taking the Falcons to task for a 2-3, now 3-3 start, including ripping the punter on a regular basis. Mayhem in the AM has gone on the record claiming that the Falcons punter will cost the team a game this year and that is a bit of a shock after hearing The Zone’s main competitor always spit-shine its coverage. A refreshing shock, but still a bit of a shock. I thought perhaps it was a bit much following the Seattle game though when the guys were bringing up mistakes despite the team winning. Both stations could go a little closer to the middle.
For the second season in a row Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham made headlines for perhaps the wrong reasons. Last year Grantham was caught on camera giving the Florida punter-turned-placekicker the choke sign before the Gators defeated the Dawgs in overtime. This year Grantham was caught on film dropped a few F-bombs towards the Vanderbilt first-year head coach James Franklin after Franklin had been mouthing off to a Georgia player. Other reports via Twitter had Grantham also saluting the Vanderbilt crowd with his middle finger but that was not confirmed by a major source and you should take Twitter with a grain of salt in most cases. Grantham was defended by Beau Bock on 790 The Zone, but it is tough for me as a Georgia alumnus to really get behind and defend our defensive coordinator. I know he was sticking up for a player. However no one saw Franklin supposedly yelling at the player on camera while Grantham shouting obscenities was seen clear as a bell on television. Aren’t these college coaches supposed to be shaping the lives of these players and setting a good example for for these young men to become respected members of society? I don’t think you do that by trying to fight another grown man on national television.
The Rude Awakening was split on the recent Jim Harbaugh vs. Jim Schwartz Handshake-Gate the day after the San Francisco 49ers head coach upset the Lions head coach by gripping and backslapping a bit too jovially following the 49ers victory. Interestingly enough I seemed to agree the most with Leo as the former Braves pitching coach made the most sense. Mazzone didn’t think the incident should have warranted all of the reaction it did and he is absolutely correct. Schwartz didn’t like the handshake? Come on man. The worst part was that CBS’s Bill Cowher, FOX’s Jimmy Johnson and NBC’s Tony Dungy all took Schwartz’s side, saying that Harbaugh disrespected him. Huh? What? Harbaugh gave a quick handshake and slap on the back before moving on to celebrate with some players. Schwartz was the one that dropped the foul language, then CHASED AFTER Harbaugh to bump him and cause a dustup. Harbaugh was the one in the wrong? I have seen Patriots coach Bill Belichick give less of a handshake with no words exchanged, no eye contact, but this Harbaugh thing is what grinds your gears? Seriously? When as a society did we wuss down to the point that EVERYONE must apologize for EVERYTHING? Why are we demanding an apology from Harbaugh for being happy? Schwartz is sour over losing and not being the golden child of the NFL after his Lions suffered a defeat. You want to be mad Coach Schwartz? Perhaps you should be angry at your quarterback for missing that wide open touchdown early on. Kudos to you Coach Harbaugh for not apologizing and please don’t. One is not needed.
Finally if you haven’t been going to gaprepnews.com or gpb.org/sports much recently, you’ve really missed out on some great interviews conducted by GPB Sports’ Gil Tyree. The voice of Friday Night Football’s Game of the Week has posted some great interviews the last few weeks with players involved in the GPB TV game of the week. Tyree snagged Alvin Kamara and Kenyan Drake recently in a couple of great interviews and the names will only get bigger as the playoffs approach. GPB.org/sports has really stepped up its football coverage this year with its own poll, Southern Conference coverage and fresh blogs nearly every day from Tyree, Jon Nelson and Mark Harmon. It is worth a look no doubt.
Can You Believe He Said That
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
That was Trent Dilfer talking about the Jim Schwartz/Jim Harbaugh ordeal that was called by some analysts as a “black eye for the Shield.” Give me a break please. The fact that fines were discussed over two coaches shaking hands is unbelievable. Don’t require them to do it if you don’t want something like this potentially happening. In the heat of the game one coach was excited over a big win and the other got his feelings hurt the rookie coach didn’t want wisdom imparted. Get over it.
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