Sports by Fletch

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial and a Falcons debate

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:10:00 +0000

The following is this week's Around the Dial, followed by Paul Mac's thoughts on the Falcons 9-7 season, with my rebuttal. Enjoy!

The football season has officially come to a close for the 2009-10 season in the state of Georgia and one team is happy, one team is thinking it is happy and one team is hoping that a new defensive coordinator will make its fans happy. While Georgia still searches for a defensive coordinator (as of Wednesday 1/06/10 the team had not filled the position), the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hope to carry over the momentum of an ACC Championship as well as a berth in the Orange Bowl into the 2010-11 season. The Jackets faced off against the Iowa Hawkeyes in a bowl game broadcasted on two local radio stations including the flagship of Georgia Tech, Sports Radio 790 The Zone as well as one of 680 The Fan’s smaller stations west of the city. 680 made a big push with Georgia Tech coaches, players and even the AD late in the game to try and steal some listeners away from The Zone’s coverage, which is weird, considering usually 680 is mostly talking about the University of Georgia with former Dawg QB Buck Belue in the afternoon. I understand that the station is jumping on what is hot and what folks are talking about but people are smart enough to see through a bangwagon jump, especially when the flagship station is the main rival. If anything, tell people to watch the game on TV instead of listening to the radio, but to try and say, “Oh listen to the game on our sister station as we’re the EXCLUSIVE HOME of the BCS bowls!” Come on. That’s not true. The Zone had the Orange Bowl, so I guess 680 isn’t the exclusive home, especially since you pawn it off on a sister station.

FOX’s coverage of the BCS Bowls has been interesting to say the least. For the Sugar Bowl, color man Brian Billick openly admitted that this was his first ever college game in the broadcast booth. Meanwhile his play-by-play partner Thom Brennaman was slurping the Tim Tebow kool-aid for the entire game and actually seemed irked when Billick broke down film of Tebow to show his long throwing motion and analyzed that, as of RIGHT NOW Tim Tebow would have trouble adjusting to the quarterback position in the NFL. It was interesting to hear how Brennaman was questioning a man that directed one of the top offenses in NFL history with the Vikings. Brennaman was saying that the Super Bowl winning coach didn’t know what to look for in a potential NFL QB? Really? Tebow did do wonders though for FOX as the ratings for the Sugar Bowl between Tebow’s Florida Gators and the Cincinnati Bearcats received a 8.5 rating and a 15 share, up 9% from last year’s Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Utah. The New Years night game was also up 57% from 2009’s New Years night game between Virginia Tech and Cincy in the Orange Bowl. Ahhhh the power of Tebow and the Urban Meyer drama.

Hey did you catch the Fiesta Bowl? Oh, don’t worry. No one else did either.

I like the stance that the Falcons brass is taking on this past season. 790 The Zone was able to grab Thomas Dimitroff for a recap last week and, while he was pleased with a winning record, you could tell he wanted more and was chomping at the bit to get to the combine and to the draft. Falcons coach Mike Smith shot down some of the praise from 680’s morning show, instead insisting the foundation was there to do better things. I like that the brass isn’t happy with just a 9-7 record and back-to-back winning seasons. This team missed the playoffs and that is why you play the games. I heard too many people on the radio, both callers and hosts, who seemed thrilled about the Falcons simply getting off of the back-to-back schnide. Oh, congrats, you’re better than the Texans. You play to win championships. Let’s stop celebrating this small victory. The Falcons brass has its eyes on the big prize. As fans, we should too.

The late Braves broadcaster Skip Caray has been named a finalist for the Ford C Frick Award for baseball broadcasting excellence. Caray, who passed away during the 2008 Braves season, is one of 10 finalists for the award. The winner will be announced February 1 and will be honored this July during the Hall of Fame weekend.

Finally, kudos should be sent out to a few local Ultimate Frisbee teams. The Inman Middle School team finished the season 6-0 and won the inaugural metro-middle school tournament held recently at the Paideia School’s Pyton Park. The tournament also featured the Galloway School, Sutton and Henderson. Head coach Paddi White said that this was her best team since the school started the program three years ago. And the Atlanta men’s team Chain Lightning took home the 2009 Ultimate Players Association National Championship. The four-day tournament took place in Sarasota, Florida late in 2009.

if you're over 12 and reading comic books...

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:03:00 +0000

You're a loser. Seriously.

If you are still reading comic books like Superman/Batman/Spiderman then you might want to reexamine yourself. And the "graphic novels" you are reading, odds are they are about a "hero" who is a nerd in real life but he gets super powers. Basically, he becomes a big tough guy, kind of like what the nerd READING the comic book wants to be in real life. He WANTS to be good in sports and good at getting girls, but he isn't. He wishes he WAS the hero and was athletic and could get the girls. But he cannot, so he reads about someone that can.

Honestly, you probably really do like sports but you pretend that you don't because that would give your secret that you really want to be more like the cool athletic rest of us. You really want to be like Superman, why? Because he is really athletic and could dominate football. Batman would eat it up on a basketball team. Spiderman would be quite a hockey player.

I'm on to you all. Comic Con, interesting how that is held in San Diego, home of the NFL's hottest team. Interesting.....

The envelope please....The winners of the 4th annual FGs

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:34:00 +0000

I was able to pull a few strings and get some big time presenters to announce the awards. Thanks to EVERYONE that voted! (PS, to see Roomie's Votes see the comments at the end! We think that Layla helped her with some of the voting...)
With no further ado the winners of the fourth annual Fletcher Globes!

MOVIES

Best Movie
Sherlock Holmes
New Moon
(500) Days of Summer
The Blindside
He's Just Not That Into You
The Hangover

The Hot chick from Lie to Me and the hot chick from Mental to present.....

and the winner is....... The Blindside. Sappy, yes, but it was quasi-sports and Sandy Bullock was smokin' in it. Plus, anytime Phil Fulmer can be in a movie, it HAS to win. And if you ACTUALLY though New Moon had a chance, you were SORELY mistaken.

Actor
Robert Downey Jr, Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,(500) Days
Brad Pitt, Inglorious Basterds
Bradley Cooper, The Hangover
Justin Long, He's Just Not That Into You

Neve Campbell to present. And the winner is....Robert Downey Jr. His mustache was better than Pitt's and I cannot stand Bradley Cooper.

Actress
Kristin Stewart, New Moon
Amy Adams, Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock, The Blindside
Ginnifer Goodwin, HJNTIY

Patrick Dempsey to present. And the winner is...Sandra Bullock. Let's be honest. the woman is in her 40s and she was flat out SMOKIN' in The Blindside. She nailed the accent and the "mom" from the book. Kudos to her for her best role ever, narrowly beating out her appearance in Speed2. Joking.

Supporting Actor
Jude Law, Holmes
Matt Damon, Invictus
Ben Affleck, HJNTIY
Ed Helmes, The Hangover

Mischa Barton and Ben McKenzie to present. And the winner is....Ed Helmes! The NARD DOG in an upset! Jude Law storms off and Mischa Barton passes out. Ed Helmes sings a little bit while thanking his fellow a capella singers. Anyone that sacrifices a tooth to make a movie, they win a Fletcher Globe!

Supporting Actress
Zoey Deschanel, (500) Days
Fergie Ferg, Nine
Scarlett Johansson, HJNTIY
Jennifer Aniston, HJNTIY

Harrison Ford to present. And the winner is....Zoey Deschanel. I considered her a supporting actress in this film because, while she was the love interest, this movie was really about the dude chasing her. Though the object of his affection and the semi-title character, it was about him. And she played it REALLY well too. I want to go back and rewatch the movie because of how the movie played out. I won't ruin if you haven't seen it. PS, if you haven't go netflix it! But at first I almost fell in love with her (despite the fact that my wife was sitting beside me while watching...) and by the end, I hated her (Summer, not my wife)

Breakthrough Actor
Quinton Aaron, The Blindside
Taylor Kitsch, Wolverine
Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover

Guy who played Donkeylips on Salute your shorts to present. And the winner is...Zach Galifianakis. Sorry Quinton Aaron, but I'm not sure you are going to go on to big time movie fame. Zach will. And while I didn't think The Hangover was the GREATEST MOVIE EVER, it WAS really funny. He was a big reason for it.

Breakthru Actress
Kim Dickens, The Blindside
Zoe Saldana, Avatar, Star Trek
Malin Akerman, Watchman & Couples Retreat

Duncan Sheik (is that how you spell the Barely Breathing guy's name?) to present. And the winner is....Malin Akerman. Not only was she HOT in Watchman AS WELL AS Couples Retreat, but if you saw the Esquire Spread.....Good. Lord. Nuff Said. PS Zoe Saldana, Broke out in Centerstage and Drumline....

TELEVISION

Best Show-Comedy
The Office
Community
Glee
Family Guy
Cleveland Show

Vinny, Snooki and Pauley D from Jersey Shore to present. And the winner is...The Office. Joel McHale is PISSED! Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson accept the award in character. Honestly, while The Office isn't as funny as it once was, I still watch it EVERY Thursday night and wouldn't miss it. The fact that Michael Scott hasn't left yet and Dwight is still funny, throw in the Nard Dawg and you've got what is still a great show. VERY well written.

Best Show-Drama
Friday Night Lights
House
Lie to Me
Mad Men
The Tudors

Justin Bobby and Audrina to present. And the winner is.......Friday Night Lights. Kyle Chandler and Taylor Kitsch accept the award and why shouldn't they? The two best characters on the show. After falling off the map with the second season and freaking me out to the point where I questioned whether the show SHOULD come back, the writers went and TOTALLY traded the shaggin'wagon for a moped! IE they TOTALLY redeemed themselves. This past season was vintage stuff and while I'm sad that Matt and Riggins and Lyla graduated, I'm almost looking forward to seeing where the writers take the new storylines. Cannot WAIT for the season to open up on NBC. Any show that keeps me in on a Friday night is a great show (because I am SUCH a night owl on the weekends, fyi!)

Best Show-Reality
Jersey Shore
The Soup
The Hills
Survivor-Samoa

Bob Barker to present. And the winner is..........Survivor Samoa. I was tempted to pick Jersey Shore, but this season of Survivor was AWESOME with Russell kicking arse and the fact that the underdogs ended up making it to the very end, despite Yooge odds against them. The twists the turns and several hot chicks make this season a WINNER. Best Survivor in a LONG while.

Actor-Comedy
Steve Carell, The Office
Joel McHale, Community
Matthew Morrison, Glee

Billy Baldwin to present. And the winner is....MICHAEL SCOTT! Take that Alec Baldwin. Not even nominated! Boo Yah! Carell is funny. Maybe not in movies, but on The Office...the show would collapse without him. (Well, maybe with Ricky Gervais..)

Actor-Drama
Hugh Laurie, House
Kyle Chandler, FNL
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors
Tim Roth, Lie to Me

Dennis Rodman to present. And the winner is...Tim Roth. Sorry House, but I am kind of growing a bit tired of you. Hook up with Cuddy and you'll win next season. But Cal Lightman is a fascinating character these days. Kind of like what House was when it first started.

Actor-reality
JT,Survivor
Russell, Survivor
The Situation, Jersey Shore
Joey-Real, World Cancun
Adam Lambert, American Idol

Evan, Johnny Bananas and Kenny from the Ruins to present. And the winner is...Russell. Hands down the BEST Survivor player EVER. He didn't win? The jury was just mad/jealous/wetodddid. Russell, I hope this makes up for your not winning Survivor.

Actress-comedy
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Jenna Fischer, The Office
Courtney Cox, Cougartown
Lea Michele, Glee

Eriq La Salle (yes we were able to FIND HIM. After ER...boy what a GREAT career move THAT was, leaving the show.) to present. And the winner is....Courtney Cox. TAKE THAT TINA FEY! Cox is back from Dirt and FRIENDS with another shot and in the three episodes I've seen, she is passable. I guess I like the idea more than the actual show. Glee girl would have been second. That chick can SING (plus I think she's on a car billboard here in Atlanta)

Actress-Drama
Emily Deschanel, Bones
January Jones, Mad Men
Glenn Close, Damages
Connie Britton, FNL
Leighton Meester, Gossip Girl

Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus to present. (They are people from the WWE, folks) and the winner is...January Jones. Betty Draper really made a movie this past season to more than just idle housewife. She had an affair and a baby and her father died. The writers really used her. I would say that I felt sorry for her, but she is doing to Don the very thing that she hates him for doing. Hmmm, maybe we'll find out what's going on in her head this season....

Actress-Reality
Kristin, The Hills
Whitney, The City
Natalie, Survivor-Samoa
Sara, RW-Brooklyn, The Ruins

Chad and Rob Lowe to present. And the winner is.....Kristin. She brought the Hills BACK! Much better lead character than LC was the previous three seasons. A little bitchy and certainly Hot. Wifey hates her man voice though. I know my man Janovitz is on this one though.

Supporting Actor-Comedy
Jim from The Office
Dwight from The Office
Finn from Glee
Chevy Chase from Community

Actor who played Bobby Brady to present. (Hey, he needed work. We here at SBF do plenty of charity. what can we say?) And the winner is...Dwight. Of COURSE it is Dwight. Who did you think was going to win? Tracy Morgan? No, it isn't a drinking and driving contest. Dwight is ACTUALLY funny.

Supporting Actor-Drama
Tim Riggins, FNL
John Lithgow, Dexter
Henry Cavill, The Tudors
Wilson, House

Kara Wolters (the former UConn basketball player. what ever happened to her?) to present. And the winner is...Tim Riggins. Like there was ANY doubt. He is the coolest Canadian on TV right now. (Sorry to all of the other canadians out there. Alex Trebek, I apologize). He is just plain a badass yet what a soft and caring heart. Not only does he kick your butt, but he wins the girl with his true character. PLUS any guy that can get Lyla Garrity to find him more attractive than Jesus, they win a Fletcher Globe.

Supporting Actor-Reality
Spencer, The Hills
Justin Bobby, The Hills
Brody, The Hills
Tyson, Survivor
Bronne, Real World

C&C Music Factory to present. And the winner is...Bronne! He might be my favorite secondary Real Worlder EVER. Comic relief is all he was, yet he OWNED every scene he was in. Zombies are the ONLY thing that could take Bronne down. Oh, you kick him out of the ME!, he comes BACK! That's right. You can't stop him Mexico! Plus, he's like the paper towel, just spelled differently.

Supporting Actress-Drama
Rose Byrne, Damages
Lisa Edlestein, House
Minka Kelly, FNL
Roma Maffia, Nip/Tuck
Blake Lively, Gossip Girl

Sarah Wayne Callies to present. And the winner is...Roma Maffia. A little love for Liz, who's character got some play on Nip/Tuck, in the form of Christian. That's right. The Lezbinen turned straight for a while. Then she offered up some advice to Kimber in Season 6-Part1. About time the writers take advantage of her.

Supporting Actress-Comedy
Jane Lynch, Glee
Angela, The Office
Blonde Chick, 30 Rock (she won't win)

Peter Krause and Josh Charles (Casey McCall and Dan Rydell from SportsNight) to present. And the winner is...Jane Lynch. The David Guest moviestar stole EVERY scene of Glee she was in and offered some credibility to enable the show to take off. I really believe she brought the Guest movie folks to watch and tell their friends and then the show just blew up. SHE is responsible for the success and getting people to see all of the other talented young-uns in the cast. And THAT is how Sue sees it.

Supporting Actress-Reality
Audrina, The Hills
Heidi, The Hills
Erin, The City
Susie, The Ruins

Reba McIntyre to present. And the winner is Heidi. I hate that she won, but she was the best of the choices.

Writing
Friday Night Lights
The Office
Mad Men
Gossip Girl

Ted Danson to present. And the winner is....Friday Night Lights. After having Landry kill someone and then Tyra falling in love with him, the writers snapped to their senses, had Riggins and Lyla hook up and get Matt's mom involved. Then the writers brought another QB to challenge Matt, leading to a few Matt & Coach moments. Throw in the drama with Coach headed to another school and you've got a great storyline heading into next year. LOVE IT.

Breakthru Actor
Chace Crawford, Gossip Girl
Danny Pudi, Community

Fat gay guy from Chelsea Lately to present. And the winner is Danny Pudi. He's sort of funny.

Breakthru Actress
Kelli Williams, Lie to Me
Alison Brie, Mad Men & Community

Portia de Rossi to present. And the winner is....Kelli Williams. Foster is fun to look at AND ... well that's really the only criteria for this category.

Series
Jersey Shore
Cleveland Show
Glee
Royal Pains
Vampire Diaries

Chi McBride to present. And the winner is....Glee. And with McBride's apparent Fox lifetime contract, he'll probably appear on it at some point. But seriously, this is the best NEW show on TV. Looking forward to seeing Mr. Shu hook up with Miss Pillsbury. Looking forward to seeing if Puck and Quin have the baby together...lots of fun subplots here.

Re-emergence Actor
Tim Roth, Lie to Me
Joshua Jackson, Fringe
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Mark Feurstein, Royal Pains

Janel Moloney to present. and the winner is....Tim Roth. Mr. Orange wins the award because, quite honestly, his accent is cool and he's the new House.

Re-emergence actress
Kristin, The Hills
Rose McGowan, Nip/Tuck
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Frankie Muniz to present. And the winner is...Julianna Margulies. After leaving ER (it worked for Clooney and apparently NO ONE ELSE) she reappeared for 3 episodes of The Grid, appeared in a bit part on the Sopranos before finally (Knock on wood) making it back with The Good Wife. Hopefully she'll stick around. She is my favorite Italian-American actress. (umm, I feel pretty good about saying that. Wait, Maria Bello? hmm.)

Re-emergence series
Friday Night Lights
House
Nip/Tuck

Mary Murphy and Cat Deeley to present. And the winner is... Friday Night Lights. Was there ever any doubt? Might be even farther back than it originally was. That first season was pretty dadgum good but season three nearly matched it. I also like that they lost the final game. I like twists every now and then.

Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Martin Sheen presents....Aaron Sorkin. The best TV writer of our generation. West Wing. SportsNight. Studio Sixty. Throw in The American President, Malice, Charlie Wilson's War, A Few Good Men and the soon to be released Moneyball and the guy can seriously write movies too. I think this guy could write a TV show based on two pieces of poo being flushed down a toilet and I'd get goosebumps. Great writer. In one episode of The West Wing, some one asks Sam who his favorite writer is. He answers, "Toby." In that vein, when someone asks me, I say "Aaron Sorkin."

Thanks for coming out yet again to another Fletcher Globes and we hope we'll still be here next year!

Keep the votes coming in!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:42:00 +0000

We'll hold off on announcing the winners until tomorrow so you can get your votes in!

Hurry though! Fletcher Globes winners announced tomorrow!!!!!!!!!1

4th annual Fletcher Globe nominees.....

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Sportsbyfletch has done this for a few years now (and my old blog had a year of it as well) and since the calendar flipped, it's time for another batch of the Fletcher Globes. Why? Because everyone else gets to give awards, why not us? (AND PS, Jimmy, just because you are leaving, that doesn't excuse you from continuing to read Sportsbyfletch. You are still expected to follow us here! I mean, if you stop reading, we lose 17% of our readership.......)

MOVIES

Best Movie
Sherlock Holmes
New Moon
(500) Days of Summer
The Blindside
He's Just Not That Into You
The Hangover

Actor
Robert Downey Jr, Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,(500) Days
Brad Pitt, Inglorious Basterds
Bradley Cooper, The Hangover
Justin Long, He's Just Not That Into You

Actress
Kristin Stewart, New Moon
Amy Adams, Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock, The Blindside
Ginnifer Goodwin, HJNTIY

Supporting Actor
Jude Law, Holmes
Matt Damon, Invictus
Ben Affleck, HJNTIY
Ed Helmes, The Hangover

Supporting Actress
Zoey Deschanel, (500) Days
Fergie Ferg, Nine
Scarlett Johansson, HJNTIY
Jennifer Aniston, HJNTIY

Breakthrough Actor
Quinton Aaron, The Blindside
Taylor Kitsch, Wolverine
Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover

Breakthru Actress
Kim Dickens, The Blindside
Zoe Saldana, Avatar, Star Trek
Malin Akerman, Watchman & Couples Retreat

TELEVISION
Best Show-Comedy
The Office
Community
Glee
Family Guy
Cleveland Show

Best Show-Drama
Friday Night Lights
Houst
Lie to Me
Mad Men
The Tudors

Best Show-Reality
Jersey Shore
The Soup
The Hills
Survivor-Samoa

Actor-Comedy
Steve Carroll, The Office
Joel McHale, Community
Matthew Morrison, Glee

Actor-Drama
Hugh Laurie, House
Kyle Chandler, FNL
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors
Tim Roth, Lie to Me

Actor-reality
JT,Survivor
Russell, Survivor
The Situation, Jersey Shore
Joey-Real, World Cancun
Adam Lambert, American Idol

Actress-comedy
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Jenna Fischer, The Office
Courtney Cox, Cougartown
Lea Michele, Glee

Actress-Drama
Emily Deschanel, Bones
January Jones, Mad Men
Glenn Close, Damages
Connie Britton, FNL
Leighton Meester, Gossip Girl

Actress-Reality
Kristin, The Hills
Whitney, The City
Natalie, Survivor-Samoa
Sara, RW-Brooklyn, The Ruins

Supporting Actor-Comedy
Jim from The Office
Dwight from The Office
Finn from Glee
Chevy Chase from Community

Supporting Actor-Drama
Tim Riggins, FNL
John Lithgow, Dexter
Henry Cavill, The Tudors
Wilson, House

Supporting Actor-Reality
Spencer, The Hills
Justin Bobby, The Hills
Brody, The Hills
Tyson, Survivor
Bronne, Real World

Supporting Actress-Drama
Rose Byrne, Damages
Lisa Edlestein, House
Minka Kelly, FNL
Roma Maffia, Nip/Tuck
Blake Lively, Gossip Girl

Supporting Actress-Comedy
Jane Lynch, Glee
Angela, The Office
Blonde Chick, 30 Rock (she won't win)

Supporting Actress-Reality
Audrina, The Hills
Heidi, The Hills
Erin, The City
Susie, The Ruins

Writing
Friday Night Lights
The Office
Mad Men
Gossip Girl

Breakthru Actor
Chace Crawford, Gossip Girl
Danny Pudi, Community

Breakthru Actress
Kelli Williams, Lie to Me
Alison Brie, Mad Men & Community

Series
Jersey Shore
Cleveland Show
Glee
Royal Pains
Vampire Diaries

Re-emergence Actor
Tim Roth, Lie to Me
Joshua Jackson, Fringe
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Mark Feurstein, Royal Pains

Re-emergence actress
Kristin, The Hills
Rose McGowan, Nip/Tuck
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Re-emergence series
Friday Night Lights
House
Nip/Tuck

Lifetime Achievement Award winner announced

Results tomorrow! get ready and GET EXCITED!

(And log on to gpb.org/basketball tonight for Milton/Walton as THIS GUY has the call!)

Big B's Top Centers for GHSA Basketball class of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:14:00 +0000

Brian Jones of Score Atlanta fame is BACK with another one of his famous top ten lists (David Letterman WHO?). this time he's breaking down the top senior centers in Georgia high school basketball. Enjoy and for more, listen to Score Atlanta's The Official Visit or tune in this Sunday to 790 The Zone from 1-4 as Big B will be in attendance as I will be O-O-T.

10) Daniel Coursey,
9) Tawaski King,
8) Tony Jacob,
7) James Ellis,
6) Chad Lang,
5) Martaveous Smith,
4) Brandon Mobley,
3) Dominique Elliot,
2) Donte Williams,
1) Jaleel Roberts

Thoughts on 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:44:00 +0000

I know this is cliched and all, but I wanted to look back at the year that was in 2009.

I guess you really cannot talk about the year of 2009 without first bringing up the B-man. That's right. Bronne. He introduced himself to all of his Cancun roomies as Bronne, like the paper towel, but spelled differently. You really cannot top that. Seriously. The guy was into Zombies, pranks and he got kicked out of the hotel because he threw a fire extinguisher off of the balcony. Then he called his two beyotch roomies Hitler and Stalin. FINALLY someone told Ayiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiia what she was. (PS, I CERTAINLY hope Ayiiiiiiiiia doesn't decide to join the Challenges. PLEASE NO!) The season started out with me thinking that Joey would be the coolest Real Worlder ever and then Bronne TOTALLY stole the show. Amazing comeback. He was like JT last season on Survivor when everyone thought Tyson would rule, but after being voted out (or kicked out like Joey was) JT started rolling and quickly became everyone's Fav. Bronne showed his chops late like JT (in yelling at Ayiiiii like JT when he won the challenges) did and Bronne ended up winning my adoration like JT did.

Oh, you thought I meant Obama. Well 2009 will certainly be remembered for him too.
Let's move on before a random reader thinks that I am bashing the prez by talking about Georgia Public Broadcasting. (Hey LOSER, if you are reading this again, stop. Thanks)

Chris Brown made news this year when he beat up Rihanna. Good work there Doublemint gum dude. At least your song made it onto the Office. I will NEVER watch another one of the OC episodes from Season 4 with you in it again!

Speaking of people getting the crap beaten out of them, Tiger Woods.....COME ON DOWN! Elin hit you, reportedly with a 9-iron after she found your phone with a few texts on it. You made a quick trip over to Troy/McNamara's Phoenix branch and now your face is back to normal so you're hitting up club scenes with who-ah No.1. Really? Dude you are about to lose more than the $75M I suggested you give Elin if you keep this up. Write your wife a check and get her the heck to Europe. Just wait for the divorce to be official. The ink doesn't have to be dry, just official. All I'm saying. For the kids..........

New Moon came out in theaters and my crazy tween-apparently wife decided to go a see it on opening weekend. Awesome. PS, she's on Team Edward.
Speaking of Wifey, she also joined Facebook and had her photo as one with Nick Sparks aka the guy that wrote the Notebook and its 6 sequels under the pretended notion that they are different books, BUT THEY ARE THE SAME BOOK! Girl meets boy, they fall in love, something separates them, they get back together somehow, someone gets sick and they are separated forever but they will ALWAYS love each other. WE GET IT! NEW PLOT PLEASE

George Clooney and Matt Damon made the same movie and Clooney then decided to make 6 others and is nominated for a Golden Globe, even though the movie isn't out yet and no one has seen it. But, let's believe his agent. Word is, he isn't donating one of the movies' salary to solve the Darfur crisis. He'd rather just yell at me to do so.

99X is BACK! Sweet. And without a morning show, so I get MUSIC all day. Nice to have Weezer, Cake and White Stipes back-to-back-to-back on a random Monday Morning.

Evan was a beast on the challenges. He won over 200Gs this year by being on MTV and winning the Ruins and The Duel2. So interesting that a person can win that much money these days by hanging with TJ Lavin. I should have majored in THAT at Georgia. But also, hats off to Cahutta for lasting as long as he did and taking out the roided out Wes. Also, Sara and Kellyanne both look like they'll be beasts for females in the future. If they remain on the challengers, it will take a Ev or Ruthie or Kina to knock them out

Now we get to the best show currently on TV. No, not Mad Men (which seems to be getting a little better. That show was great, then after it won all of the awards and people started watching, it changed for the worse as the writers/producers maybe tried to scare off everyone new to keep the core audience? Maybe) but Jersey Shore. Awesome awesome awesome. Cannot get enough of this show. Vinny, Pauly D, Ronnie, Sammi Sweetheart, Snooki, JWoww and of course...THE SITUATION. (Jolie, but she left. What a douche. She couldn't be without her guido, I guess) These guys are SOOOO flipping unfunny and they don't get it either. Or maybe they do and just don't care because of the skin cancer (from the tanning beds that they own) and the goop in their hair have seeped into their brains. Or maybe it is just the roids that prevent them from seeing how big of jokes they all are. Live it up though kids and I'd LOVE to see The Situation in some of the challenges. He'd get ROCKED by CT or Johnny Bananas or even the Pussy that IS Dunbar. And Jwow v Kimberly. HA.

In 2009 we lost some big names, Michael Jackson being the biggest name I believe. Wifey and I were trying to think about it, and on a global scale, that's probably the biggest death since Lady Di (Sorry Heath, but MJ and Lady Di are on a WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL than you.) What is so weird is that NO ONE wanted to talk about his "relationship" with children late in his life. Dude hadn't made any real music since the kiddielove stuff began yet people only wanted to discuss thriller. I just think that SOME of the coverage should have talked about his love of Kevin McCallister. Just saying.

As for sports, the Yankees won again (whatev), the Lakers won again (whatev), UNC won as did Florida and the Steelers. Roger Federer broke Sampras's record while Tiger didn't win anything. The US won the Presidents Cup (no real surprise there) and soccer STILL isn't popular in America. Not much has changed since 2001.

Dennis Felton was shown the door at Georgia, which is AWESOME and Joe Cox, Bryan Evans and Prince Miller have graduated while Reshad Jones might leave early, which bodes well for the Georgia football program. With Richt(a woken up CMR) and Fox (determined to move the basketball meter) in charge I KNOW 2010 will be better than 2009 for Georgia Sports. Throw in that it will be an even year and the Diamond Dawgs will be in the College World Series and maybe just maybe the GymDawgs will keep rolling without SusieY.

2009 had its highs and lows. Here is hoping that 2010 has higher highs and fewer lows. Happy New Year everybody from SportsbyFletch and we'll see you next year!

Real World DC is On like Donkey Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:43:00 +0000

If you want my thoughts, check out my twitter (not meant to sound dirty) on the link to the right.

Shameless self-promotion. Sorry

Around the Dial preview

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:33:00 +0000

Be sure and pick up your copy of Score Atlanta TODAY!

Wait, this just in: Urban Meyer is back OUT as head coach of Florida because the wind shifted. The Florida Gators head coach announced last weekend over the Christmas weekend that he was resigning as head football coach and ESPN, predictably, went off of the deep end. Announcers of bowl games stopped calling the games (Pitt and UNC fans were probably peeved that the Meineke Car Care Bowl wasn’t getting its just due) and the studio guys were of course up in arms over the decision. Slowly Saturday night during the Emerald Bowl between USC and BC, updates were leaking in on the crawl at the bottom of the screen to where perhaps the Emerald Bowl might just have been the biggest, ratings-wise, to date. Chris Mortensen was revealing that Meyer had a problem with a heart valve and a reporter in Houston somehow got a quote from the family that they were happy to have Meyer back as a member of the family. Meyer himself said that he needed to step away to focus on his family and his faith, not to mention his health.

In less than 24 hours, all of that changed. Apparently after a “spirited practice,” the coach was sitting with his strength and conditioning coach, looking at the championship banners (and probably reading reports that high school commits were thinking about decommitting) and Meyer pulled a hokey-pokey. In his best Billy Donovan impression, Meyer decided that he could NOT step away permanently and scaled back his situation to just a leave of absence. Meyer said that he couldn’t possibly think of the Florida Gator program taking a step back and the school not doing things “The Urban Meyer Way.” (PS, this just in, Meyer found $20 in a pair of pants he hadn’t worn in 6 months and he’s decided to return!) ESPN likely exhaled a huge sigh of relief and immediately started reporting this over its NFL coverage and of course all throughout the pregame for the Music City Bowl.

Several of the media types have gone against the grain and tried to take Meyer to task for the flipflop, which, knowing Meyer, means they won’t be welcome to cover Florida and instead sit with Shane Matthews in Section 34F. CNNSI.com’s Stewart Mandel wondered in a Monday column if Meyer is pulling a Coach K from the 1994-95 season when the coach missed the season to have back surgery. The missing season also just so happened to coincide with the Blue Devils worst season since he arrived in Durham. With Tebow leaving as well as likely multiple defections to the pros from the defense AND his defensive coordinator bolting for the Louisville head job, could Meyer have been using the heart valve as an excuse for a potential rebuilding year? Probably not, but after saying family was important why is the man going back on that to return to the profession that has caused him all of the stress that put him in the hospital multiple times since the SEC Championship game? ESPN’s Adam Schefter, filling in on Mike and Mike in the Mornings, wondered the same thing, and even compared Meyer to Brett Favre with the “will-he-or-won’t-he” only on a WAY more serious level.

I hope Meyer is healthy and if he is, please return. It just seems strange how one practice can get you to switch your course of action from resigning to be with your family to all of a sudden go back into the stress pit of coaching. But the publicity has certainly given the Gators the spotlight this bowl season. I bet Lane Kiffin is thinking about pulling the stunt next.

Oh, this just in: Urban is back out as coach because he the maid in his New Orleans hotel didn’t offer turndown service. Wait, Breaking News…Meyer is back in after getting a BOGO at Payless.

Finally, how funny is it that most of the folks calling for the Colts to rest Peyton Manning and the rest of the starters are now leading the charge now that the coaches pulled the weapons against the Jets and the team ended up losing 29-15? Colts coach Jim Caldwell was darned it he did and then again even if he didn’t. Manning and the rest of the offense was pulled with about 5 minutes to go in the third quarter last week against the Jets and the Colts saw a 15-10 lead quickly turn into a 29-15 loss. Monday morning, people were ripping the Colts, several people who over the last few weeks were calling for Indy to rest Peyton for fear on injury. These experts need to realize that fans are smart enough to remember their stance from just 10 days ago and we can call them on it. You wanted Peyton to rest to avoid injury, so Caldwell did that and now you are killing him for it? I hope you are judged in the same vein boys.

Wait, Urban is out again after his dry cleaning was not ready in one hour. Oh, no, he’s back in now after finding a Pepsi vending machine in the hotel lobby.

Last Midweek Entertainment report for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Soaps are SO hot right now (apparently), Idol is coming back...without Simon, Chaz Sheen hates his wife and Jon Gosselin is living is a bad section of town.

Ladies and gentlemen, the MIDWEEK ENTERTAINMENT REPORT!

Clapclapclapclapclap with some tears (as it is the last one of 2009)

First James Franco decides to give up making movies to appear on General Hospital then Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Eva La Rue decide to return to All My Children. Man, Soap operas are HOT right now. Well not really. James Franco's going to GH is curious but perhaps his stint from SNL recently shows why he isn't getting any comedy offers (aka he ISN'T funny) and I guess you can only play a gay dude so many times (right Jake?). Is this all that's left for James Franco because James Dean and Harry from Spiderman both were killed off? Poor Franco. As for Ripa and La Rue (from CSI:Miami) they are just returning along with Consuelos because it is ALC's 40th anniversary. But really, what is COnsuelos doing, other than being Ripa's husband? I guess he doesn't NEED to do much.

American Idol and FOX have apparently agreed to another three seasons, lasting through 2014, but word is, Simon will leave the show to focus on X-Factor after this coming season. But I guess it is all good, since Ellen has joined the judges. My question: who will be the realist on the show from now on? They could go out and try and get a hardass, but people will just see him as a copycat and if he is TOO harsh, people will say, "Oh he's just trying to be EXTRA Simon." This is NOT a Marissa decision here. He IS the show and Idol will suffer for it. Fox should consider going after that X-Factor because of Simon, but I hope jugglers aren't involved in that show. PLEASE! NO CLOWNS!

Charlie Sheen as we all know was arrest over the Christmas Holiday in Aspen, Colorado and today his wife comes out and says that he threatened to kill her. WOW. The guy from the Haynes commercials? I guess he doesn't want to be like Mike as much as like OJ. (Ohhhhhhhhhh, bad joke.)

Finally, Jon Gosselin's apartment was vandalized (or was it?) recently. Why are we still talking about this guy? I only mention this to ask why we're still talking about this douche? This guy left his beyotch of wife and their 8 kids. I don't know if I'd call him a deadbeat dad because he gave up his career for the family, especially after his media-whore wife decided that she wanted to be a TV mom. I think maybe things could have worked out if the TV cameras hadn't been there, but we'll never know because these TWO decided to take the money and exploit their kids. Do I feel bad? No. He probably faked it anyways to attention. Once you get your 15 minutes, sometimes you'll do anything for a 16th minute, I guess.

Have a great and Safe New Year's Eve and we'll have more thoughts on the celebs NEXT YEAR!
Tomorrow, the LAST Blog of 2009.

Before we get TOO excited over a 24-point win...

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Let's remember this was the FRIGGIN' INDEPENDENCE BOWL. Yes, the University of Georgia won 44-20 last night (and could have won by 25, if the backup kicker had made the XP...) but come on. It was an overmatched Texas A&M in the INDEPENDENCE BOWL. Let's not get TOO TOO excited over this BIG WIN.

I mean, after all, it gave us 8 wins on the season. NOT something to write home about.

And PS, what was up with people dumping Gatorade on the coaches? Were they really going to dump gatorade on CMR's head after a win in the Advocare V100 Independence Bowl? Jeff Owens needs to get out more. (PS#2, the advocare commercials with Drew Brees....poor drew brees. And I feel like Advocare is the energy drink for C-list celebs. Let me go get some at my local Kroger! Wait, they don't have it. Crap.)

I will say that Beamerball is dead and should now be called Richtball. The special teams played VERY WELL. And I'm not just talking about the 81-KR-TD and the blocked punt. The defense tackled the punt on the high snap. The Kick coverage never gave up a big run or didn't add any yardage on with a facemask.

The penalties were fewer (a false start once and maybe one hold?) and the defense bent but never really broke in the second half. A TD to open up the half was made up for with two INTs in the redzone and Branden Smith should have had a Pick-6, but he dropped the pass.

Overall I was happy with the game and Joe Cox was able to go out with a nice game.

As far as looking ahead to next season, I am thinking that I want the season to start tomorrow. The offense will return 10 starters, with the 11th being NOT JOE COX, so I like that. Caleb King and Washaun Ealey (not early!), though it took a while to get started, are returning and AJ Green will have an entire 6 months to get healthy. Add in Aron White, Artie Lynch and OH YEAH, Orson Charles and the TE position looks strong. The Fullbacks will be back (I like that) and the OLine will get some new faces in Long and Burnette. (And Vince Vance is leaving. SWEET!)
And I love the story that Aaron Murray is the hardest working QB that Richt has ever been around. Let him take ALL of the reps (sorry Logan Gray. Welcome to Wideout!) and get him ready for a MUCH easier schedule than the last two seasons. 9 with a 10th in a bowl isn't out of the question for the redshirt QB next year.

Over on defense, we'll lose the middle of our line but C-Note and Justin Houston are returning on the ends. Hopefully Toby Jackson can finally qualify and DeAngelo Tyson can get some help from the kids on the inside (Abry Jones, Lott, Montez Robinson-if he's let back on the team, Demarcus Dobbs, Brandon Wood, Crawford). The LBs (Gamble and Dent and Curran) are all juniors (and Marcus Dowtin is a rising Junior) and Rennie Curran should get it through his head that undersized LBs....maybe not that high of a demand in the pros. Just saying. I was a bit puzzled by Curran's failure to show up for a morning punishment run and thus his missing the 1st quarter last night. I said to Wifey last night that that could mean that he's already thrown in the towel on his college career. I hope not. If he DOES go though, Chase Vasser, Gillard (stoopid face mask penalty v Florida) and Christian Robinson could probably step in though. Just saying. He'll be missed but he can be replaced by sheer numbers. In the defensive secondary, Vance Cuff, BSmith and Boykin should slide right in at CB with multiple options at backup-nickleback (Jordan Love, a redshirt frosh; Sanders Commings, will be a sophomore). And at safety, Bacarri Rambo has more or less earned a starting spot and Nick Williams (if he is switched from LB to safety) or Shawne Williams or Makiri Pugh could see the action at free safety. Whomever CMR hires as the new D-Coor will have PLENTY of talent with which to work. Very exciting...

We're set a kicker and punter and PR and KR.

Throw in a top-five recruiting class..........

Maybe it is just because I am a kool-aid drinker, but I cannot WAIT for the 2010 season. Bring on the Georgia Boy-draft. This guy is PUMPED!

Now the REAL Bowls can begin. Jump on in! (or out)

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Before we get to the Bowl picks (the REAL bowls, you know, since Christmas has passed. PS, I hope everybody had a great Christmas break. SBF certainly did), we here at SportsbyFletch have some breaking news: Urban Meyer's dry cleaning was not ready in one hour and he's decided to resign.

Wait, he just found a Pepsi Machine and bought a caffeine-free Diet Pepsi. He's back as head coach for 2010.

I was waiting to do the Bowl picks until after Christmas since I don't really count the ones prior to Feliz Navidad as real. I missed out on giving my picks of Clemson over UK, USC over BC and Pitt over UNC (as well as Marshall over Ohio) so you'll just have to take my word that I really did pick those results. With no further ado, the Bowl picks. (Wait, this just in....Urban Meyer's cab was cut off on the way to the practice field today. He's decided to resign.)

(And for more of my Urban musings, as well as my take on it, I'll post that tomorrow as I went all out on it for Score Atlanta.)

Independence Bowl: TAMU v Georgia. OK OK, I'm a homer. But come on. Did Georgia really deserve to go to the Independence Bowl? No. (Well, you might argue that they did because the team lost AT HOME to Kentucky.) Texas A&M doesn't deserve to be on the same field as Georgia. That said, TAMU will give the Dawgs a game because Joe Cox and company don't feel like they should be in Northern Lousisana just a few days after Christmas. But if Georgia just runs the ball like it did against GT (and after watching several of TAMU's games this season, their defense isn't one.) the Dawgs should cruise to a boring win. Georgia fans are now just counting down the calendar until the second week of January when a De-Coor is hired. PS, I'm a little bummed that Urban is coming back. I heard that he was walking down the street and found a dime on the ground. He decided to return!

EagleBank: UCLA V Temple. Al Golden's Owls are excited to be here. You know the fellas at UCLA are a little disappointed. Is this what Rickie Neu meant when he said he was going to take UCLA to new places? The EagleBank Bowl? I have to think that Golden will want this one to add to the resume so he can eventually take over the Penn State job. "Temple's first bowl win since Jimmy Carter" might look pretty impressive.

BREAKING NEWS: URBAN MEYER HAS A HEAD ACHE. He is OUT as coach of Florida.

Champs: 15 miami v 25 Wisconsin. Did I read that correctly? Wisconsin is ranked? The team that eeked by Northern Illinois and then needed OT to dispatch Frezno!? The team that fell to Northwestern? Ladies and gentlemen, Badger football! How the mediocre have fallen. I'll take Miami in this one because Randy Shannon will want to prove that he's the third best coach in the state of Florida (behind Jimbo and O'Leary and Leavitt but ahead of the two F_U schools). Wait, make that fourth best. Urban decided to return because Smoothie King now has Peanut Power Plus in chocolate flavor!

Blue Turf Bowl: Bowling Green v Idaho. SBF will be honest here: we don't know much about either of these two teams. Wait, I DO know that Idaho had the slutty cheerleading outfits a few seasons back. And wasn't Idaho ranked at one point this season? Let's go with the Vandals here. Because of slutty cheerleader outfits.

Holiday Bowl: 20 Arizona v 22 Nebraska. Arizona's stud QB Nick Foles is apparently over his broken hand. As important as that is, did you see what Suh did to Colt McCoy? Yeah, you don't think he won't do that to Arizona's offense too? I'm taking Nebraska in this one. You have to wonder though, if Suh was that dominant against Texas, how come he didn't do that the rest of the year? And why didn't get any help from the rest of the defense or the offense and Nebraska have a better finish? I'm still on the Huskers train here though.

Armed Forces Bowl: AFA v Houston. Nothing says ARMED FORCES quite like the Houston Cougars. Seriously though, you have the Air Force (who run the ball a lot. Ground attack for the Air Force? Huh?) against the Air attack of Case Keenum. I like the Cougars here as they knocked off Okie State, back when the Pokes were using the illegal player.

BREAKING NEWS! SBF is now reporting that Urban Meyer is re-resigning because he's upset that the Subway Melt is NOT included in the $5 footlong deal.

Sun Bowl: Oklahoma v 21 Stanford. No Andy Luck, but Toby Gerhart IS playing, which means he'll do to the Sooner defense what he did to USC, Oregon, Notre Dame, etc. The return of the white running back. Wow. Brett Millican would be happy. I'm going with the Cardinal (not the Cardinals, Pollack. The Cardinal. The mascot isn't a bird)

Texas Bowl: Navy v Mizzou. The Midshipmen are coming off a big win over Army AND they beat Notre Dame and took Ohio State to the wire. Mizzou meanwhile DOESN'T have Chase Daniel anymore (I wonder if he sits in a one bedroom apartment with a six pack of beer every Saturday morning and yells at GameDay, I'm here. You can interview me! The cartoon animals around him get scared....) Go with Navy.

Insight Bowl: Iowa State v Minnesota. So was Gene Chizik THAT bad of a coach that Paul Rhodes came in and immediately took them to a bowl or did he just get the cupboard ready for Rhodes? Either way, Iowa State loses to Minnesota.

BREAKING NEWS: Urban Meyer is reportedly headed back to Florida because he had a change of heart after opening up his latest issue of Esquire and liking the scent of the Cool Water cologne ad. He applied the ad to his neck and then announced his return.

Chick-Fil-A: VaTech v Tennessee. Lane Kiffin must be stewing in Knoxvegas that his Orange Ladies aren't the talk of the pregame shows. He is now thinking about potentially resigning. The only thing is, if he DOES, it isn't a lock that Tennessee will let him back into his old job. As for this game, take VaTech. Beamerball wins this one. And can someone ask Jabari Davis if he is doing color commentary for the Vols Radio Network during this game?

Outback Bowl: Northwestern v Auburn. AUBURN IS IN THIS GAME? OVER GEORGIA? Well, if the Dawgs had just beaten UK, I'd be waking up in Arizona at 8:45 for this game. Oh well. Now I can sleep in and miss this barnburner. And by barnburner I mean THE MOST BORING GAME OF THE ENTIRE BOWL SEASON. I'm taking Northwestern because Auburn isn't very good. Even Joey Bagodonuts admits as much.

CapitalOne Bowl: 13Penn State v 12 LSU. Penn State gets an early TD because Les Miles didn't manage the pregame meal correctly and the team is 45 seconds late, allowing Penn State to score first. Seriously though, LSU is without Charles Scott (wish he had missed the last 4 minutes in Athens!) and they barely knocked off Arkie. Do I REALLY think they beat Penn State? Because I DON'T want the wrath of Cake, I'll go with PSU. (Even though I think LSU wins.)

Gator Bowl. 16 West Va v FSU. Bobby Bowden's final game. You think FSU is going to lose this one? Seriously? Even if some one with an IQ higher than a rubber plant was on the sidelines I'd give this to the Noles. But Bill Stewart is calling the shots for the Neers, West Va is screwed.

Rose: 8 Ohio State v 7 Oregon. I am rooting for Ohio State because Buckeye fans are unreal and I don't want to hear them calling for the heads of Pryor and/or Tressel after this one (don't they realize how good they have it? Tressel ALWAYS beats Michigan and ALWAYS has them in a BCS Bowl. What more do you want?) But Oregon wins this one because they are athletic and like an SEC team. We know how tOSU does against the SEC........

Sugar: 3 Cincy v #5 Florida. Interim coach for Cincy v Tim Tebow in his final game with Urban Meyer who has decided BECAUSE HE LOVES THESE KIDS (more than his own, apparently), he is returning. Anyway Florida loses this one? Not a CHANCE. Prediction: Tebow cries afterwards and Urban shares a LONG embrace with Tebow...to the point that Jake Gyllenhaal screams copyright infringement!

International Bowl: SoFla v Northern Illi. Really? Toronto needs a bowl? With THESE two teams? Um, take the team whose coach BEATS his players.

Cotton Bowl: 19 Okie State v Ole Miss. Okie State had such high expectations, but then they cheated and karma bit them in the backside. TAKE THAT POKES! Illegal players will cost ya! I'm taking Ole Miss and Jevan Snead back in his home state.

Breaking News: Urban is back OUT as coach due to the fact that he saw litter on the side of the road and decided to devote his life to picking up trash.

Papajohns.com bowl: SoCar v UConn. South Carolina will run and run and run with its stable of back and Eric Norwood will earn a first round selection with a big game against an overmatched UConn. Huskies fans will take heart in the fact that it is Women's basketball season.

BREAKING NEWS: Urban is BACK IN as coach after he was inspired by watching Eric Taylor's halftime speech in the season finale of FNL Season one.

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas v ECU. Bobby Petrino will try to sneak out during halftime to take the Florida job only to realize that Urban never left. Crap. Now he is denying and Mallet says "Screw this. I'm going to the pros." He will be taken in the first round...by Carolina. Hogs win.

Alamo Bowl: Michigan State v Texas Tech. Sparty is missing 87 players apparently. Texas Tech still has Mike Leach. DONE. Red Raiders.

Fiesta Bowl: 6 Boise State v 4 TCU. I LOVE that the BCS people gave the finger to the mid-majors and pitted these two against each other. LOVE IT! In fact, to show my appreciation for the BCS for doing this, I won't pick this game. No one will be watching anyways.

Orange Bowl: 10 Iowa v 9 GT. I remember the last time a TALENTED team had over a month to prepare for this offense. LSU crushed the Yellow Jackets. LSU has FAR more talent than Iowa and was able to OUTAthlete Tech. Iowa meanwhile probably doesn't have as good players as Tech, but they play disciplined assignment football and that will be enough. Iowa WILL have Stanzi back too, so I like the Hawkeyes. But maybe I'm biased.

oooooooooooooooppps, Breaking News: Urban Meyer didn't like the flavor of soup offered in the lunch buffet line and he's decided to re-resign from the Gators.

GMAC Bowl: Troy v Central Michigan. CMU is without its coach, who took the Cincy job, but the REAL question about this game is: Why isn't it being played at the Georgia Dome? I know CMU has a campus right off 285 near Chamblee-Dunwoody Road and Troy has a Sandy Spring campus. Are those students eligible? Will the winner face the University of Phoenix? I'm taking Troy

CBS Title Game: 2 Texas v 1 Bama. After watching the Tide ROLL Florida and Colt McCoy eek out a win over Nebraska, really? I know the underdog usually does well, but COME ON. The SEC v the Big12...we saw this last year. This year we'll see Julio Jones, Trent Richardson, Greg McElroy, Rolando McClain, Mount Cody and OH YEAH, Heisman winner Mark Ingram take apart Mack Brown's Longhorns. Sorry Hook-em fans. The Tide is High. Bama will win. (PS, if McCoy though Suh was a beast, meet T Cody...)

There it is. Have a great holiday week and SBF will be here until Thursday! PS, we are hearing that Urban will RETURN to the Gators after he received a new pair of comfy socks from Santa in his stocking!

Big Bat coming to first for Braves?

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:06:00 +0000

The Atlanta Braves, just one day after finding an outfielder, seemed to have checked two more items off of the 2010 season checklist after reportedly signing Troy Glaus to a one-year contract. Glaus is coming off shoulder surgery that forced him to miss most of the 2009 season after hitting 27 home runs for St. Louis in 2008. Glaus has played just a handful of games at first base after spending most of his career as a third baseman. In 2002, Glaus won the World Series MVP award with the Angels as he hit three home runs to help beat the Giants for a title.

The addition of Glaus, a career .255 hitter with 304 home runs and 879 RBI over twelve seasons, means that the Braves lineup might be able to slug away with some of the other teams in the National League. Health will be a key with both corner infield spots, but if Chipper and Glaus can stay healthy, expect each to provide 20-25 home runs apiece for the Braves from the 3 and 4 spots in the lineup. The one-year deal also allows the future first baseman Freddie Freeman another season to marinate at Class-AAA Gwinnett and take over in 2011

Final thoughts on the Javy Vazquez deal.

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:46:00 +0000

Note: this column appears in this week's Score Atlanta as I fill in for IJ in the "From the Cheap Seats" section in the front of the paper. Pick it up this Thursday!

Near the end of A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson’s character Col. Nathan Jessep screams at Tom Cruise, “You just weakened a country today. I hope you’re happy.” Braves Nation was certainly weakened this week as the team sent its best starting pitcher Javier Vazquez, along with Boone Logan, to the New York Yankees in exchange for outfielder Melky Cabrera, reliever Michael Dunn and minor league pitching phenom Arodys Vizcaino. Though he spent just one season in Atlanta, Vazquez endeared himself to the Braves locker room and the fans by simply serving as the team’s best starting pitcher. Derek Lowe was signed prior to the 2009 season to a huge contract and was expected to be the team’s ace, but it was Vazquez, acquired before the season in a trade with the Chicago White Sox, that became the team’s rock. Vazquez was just 15-10 but easily could have added a few more wins to that total if he had received something resembling even a hint of run support. The powerhouse right-hander posted a 2.87 ERA and tossed three complete games while striking out 238 hitters in over 200 innings pitched. Vazquez leaves the Braves with one year remaining on his deal and perhaps this is why he is starting his second tour of duty in the Bronx. Maybe Braves GM Frank Wren was afraid Vazquez would pitch himself out of Atlanta’s price range. Vazquez was 14-10 in his first stint with the Yankees in the 2004 season and was a favorite of Yankees GM Brian Cashman.

Or maybe Wren knew he was going to do this all off-season long and the dance with dangling Derek Lowe was just to drive up the bounty on any trade involving Vazquez. Lowe’s deal still has three years left and nearly $45M left that the Braves owe him guaranteed. Lowe has shown a history of being a big game pitcher but his first season with Atlanta was a disappointing one, especially when compared to Vazquez’s year with the team. Lowe could certainly turn things around but he must put aside any ill feelings he harbors against the team over the trade rumors. He is a professional and he should realize that this is a business.

And the reality is that because of Vazquez’s success last season as well as his contract status, his haul was greater than anything Lowe could have brought back to Atlanta. Getting a twenty-five year old ready to start everyday in the outfield as well as one of the top pitchers in the minors was a coup for Wren, who seems to have an eye for picking out prospects in other team’s minor league systems. Melky Cabrera comes to Atlanta a career .269 hitter though last season he averaged .274 with 13 home runs and 28 doubles while splitting time in centerfield. Cabrera will be given every chance to start everyday in likely leftfield and could be the power that Atlanta needs from the corner outfield spot. His home run totals have steadily gone up and he could surpass his career high in RBI (73) easily in Atlanta as he faces National League pitching. Cabrera has a higher on-base percentage than former Brave Andruw Jones at the age of 25, with whom many will compare the young Cabrera, fair or not.

The minor leaguer Arodys Vizcaino comes to the Braves with much fanfare as he was ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees No.3 overall prospect and the top prospect in the club’s farm system. Says Greg Fertel of The Bleacher Report, Vizcaino is a heralded pitching prospect that “has shown tremendous polish and stuff, giving him a very high ceiling.” If Vizcaino continues on his rise through the minor leagues (he is just 19 years old) he could team with another 19-year-old in Julio Teheran to give the Braves a starting rotation of Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens (another prized young arm acquired by Wren for an aging, expiring contract), Teheran and Vizcaino that might one day rival the Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine-Avery rotation of the early 90s. Wren does his homework on picking out jewel pitchers, and Vizcaino might one day make everyone forget about Vazquez.

But for now that will be tough to do. For so many years Atlanta was always on the receiving end of getting a pitcher like Vazquez for young unknowns. Greg Maddux was a free agent signing but Denny Neagle, Andy Ashby, Mike Hampton, Tim Hudson and even Vazquez last season were all pitchers brought into Atlanta. It feels odd to be on the other side of a trade like this, but thanks to Hudson’s return from injury, the Braves had one too many pitchers in the starting rotation. The dealing away of an ace is something that the folks of Cleveland, Milwaukee, Oakland and Pittsburgh have gotten used to that Atlanta must now deal with. Does this move signal the white flag for Atlanta for the 2010 season? It does not. The rotation is still loaded with Lowe, Jurrjens, Hanson, Hudson and Kawakami, and now the team has a leftfielder that it was seeking and one that could stick around with no baggage that other trades might have brought in. Cabrera can easily slide over to leftfield and brings a decent glove that Garrett Anderson could never promise as he stumbled around Turner Field’s outfield. Cabrera’s addition immediately gives the Braves a better outfield than anything it trotted out in 2009.

While the loss of Vazquez hurts right now, the total impact of the loss should not be judged until this team breaks from spring training. If we see Kawakami struggling or Hudson not able to return to pre-Tommy John surgery form or if Hanson suffers the sophomore slump then Braves fans will throw up their arms and call for Wren’s head. However Cabrera with a full-time job and the rise of Vizcaino could end up being yet another feather in the cap of Frank Wren. Only time will tell.

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial preview

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Keep reading, I channel my inner-Andy Rooney!

Lots and lots and lots of sports and most I cannot watch! I don’t know about anyone else (or maybe I’m just too cheap to upgrade to the extended sports package on my monthly cable service) but I’m getting a little tired of missing great football stories and now local basketball games. Last week the NFL’s only two undefeated teams were in action and I could not watch because I don’t get the NFL Network. Yes, I guess I could have gone to a sports bar to watch Peyton Manning duel it out with the Jacksonville Jaguars but I just don’t feel like I should have to do that. Shouldn’t the NFL work with Charter Cable to get me the NFL Network free of charge? Apparently I missed a really good game after I checked out the highlights on ESPN. Oh well. Then I missed another great game on Saturday night when the Dallas Cowboys jumped out to an early lead on the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints then had to hold on when Drew Brees nearly rallied the Saints all the way back. And I missed it all because I haven’t upgraded my cable service. I guess I’m in the minority here but I think all of the NFL should be on basic cable. The NFLN play-by-play crew is NOT very good (I have seen them in action) so folks cannot point to me that I should get it for the professional crew.
Then Saturday night, while I was also NOT watching the Saints/Cowboys, I had to follow the University of Georgia Bulldogs basketball team take on Illinois on the internet in thirty second spurts because ESPNU to me stands for ESPNUnavailable. I guess I could have made the venture down to Duluth for the game at Gwinnett Arena, but I was hoping to catch the game on television. Nope. That wasn’t happening. Kudos though to Mark Fox for getting a big-time win over a previously ranked Illini team in a surprisingly hostile environment.
Perhaps next year I will spring for the NFL Red Zone package. I have heard rave reviews from friends and family, and now I have one of the writers from Sports Illustrated singing its praises to me. The NFL Red Zone is in essence one guy sitting in a room with all of the games in front of him and he is giving you commentary on what is going on in them and then he sends you to a game if a team is about to score or just completed a big play. He also turns over the sound to the local play-by-play crew. It sounds pretty cool and perhaps next year I’ll purchase that (mainly so I don’t get any commercials) while I try and follow all of the games.

Speaking on NFL coverage, with Dallas’ win over New Orleans last Saturday, the Atlanta Falcons playoff chances ended. I guess FOX sensed this might happen so I guess Atlanta got the D-team assignment. It was nice to see Laura Okmin again though. I used to enjoy her work on the Braves postgame show on Fox Sports Net. Okmin has moved on to the big time with FOX as she has also been involved in the network’s college football BCS coverage.

The University of Georgia is still searching for a new defensive coordinator and the AJC is all over it, sort of. Seemingly everyday a columnist or beat writer has thrown out a name to be included in head coach Mark Richt’s search. Last week Mark Bradley nominated Manny Diaz of Middle Tennessee State AND UNC’s Everett Withers. This is AFTER he wanted Ellis Johnson from South Carolina or Kirby Smart of Alabama. Then we had the drama of Vic Koenning possibly leaving Illinois before ever coaching a game, and the back-and-forth updates were given to us by Tim Tucker. In one of his updates, Tucker uses Twitter as a source. Umm, guys, I know you are trying to bring us the story, but Coach Mark Richt said that the search would last until January, so how about we stop digging for stuff, especially when scanning Twitter posts or Tweets for info and just wait on the man? I guess it is just weird to live in a world where Twitter is now a news outlet. Crud, did I just sound like Andy Rooney? Scratch what I just said!

Braves trade Javier Vazquez. Crud...

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:46:00 +0000

One and done is how the story will read on Javier Vazquez’s career with the Atlanta Braves. According to the New York Daily News and ESPN, the Atlanta Braves traded the powerhouse righty to the Yankees along with reliever Boone Logan in exchange for outfielder Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn and another minor leaguer to be named later. Vazquez leaves the Braves after just one year and with one year left on his contract. In his year with the Braves, Vazquez was 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA with three complete games and over 200 innings pitched. He struck out 238 hitters, his fifth season with 200+ strikeouts. He returns to the Yankees where he went 14-10 in 2004, his only season in the Bronx.

The Braves meanwhile get a leftfielder that the team was seeking in Cabrera. The twenty-five year old hit .391 in the 2009 ALCS against the Angels and played in four games in the World Series against Philadelphia. Cabrera is a career .269 hitter though last season he hit .274 with 13 home runs and 28 doubles.

While Carbrera isn’t the No.4 hole hitter that the Braves lack, he possesses some speed as he had 10 stolen bases last season, playing from the bottom of the lineup on most nights. Manager Bobby Cox could probably slide Cabrera into the No.7 spot. A potential lineup would be McLouth, Prado, Jones, McCann, Escobar, Diaz, Cabrera, Infante though that could chance if/when the team signs a first baseman and/or gives the youngster Jason Heyward a shot in right.

The good news also is that the rotation is finally set though ace Derek Lowe must get over the hurt feelings he suffered when his name was floated in trade rumors. Lowe was signed to be the team’s ace and he’ll need a bounce back season to help offset the loss of Vazquez.

PS-Editor's note. Here is what Greg Fertel of The Bleacher Report says of the trade in terms of the players the Braves are getting.
In return, the Yankees gave up a few useful pieces and an unknown prospect. Melky Cabrera has become a fan favorite over his time in pinstripes, but was always mentioned on the trading block and I believe that Brian Cashman dealt him at the right time.

As Melky gets further along in arbitration, his value continues to decrease as his salary increases. Cabrera is the type of player who is great to have around when he's very cheap, but is perfect trade fodder when he begins to make real money.

Michael Dunn is a converted outfielder who throws tremendously hard with his left hand, but is extremely lacking in control. He has a ton of upside as a reliever if he can cut his walks down, but there is no guarantee that he can do that. If he continues to walk nearly a batter every inning, he won't have a place in the majors.

It appears that the third player given up will be a highly heralded pitching prospect, Arodys Vizcaino. This is probably the hardest part of the deal to swallow. He has shown tremendous polish and stuff, giving him a very high ceiling. Baseball America recently ranked him the Yankees' third best prospect and best pitching prospect overall.

Russell was robbed.

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:15:00 +0000

No doubt about it. I was watching the Survivor Samoa finale last night with Wifey and we were PUMPED when Russell mastermined the elimination of Brett and Jaison then win the final jury questioning when he laid out his plan and how he accomplished it. Really he won the questioning when Natalie forgot to point out that she was the one that started the Galu downfall by talking the rest of Galu into voting out the strongest male in Erik.
Yep Russell, who was LOYAL to Nat and Mick (something that Galu forgot about when they called him a backstabber and unfaithful), who found three immunity idols (including two without clues), who won the final immunity challenge to ensure that the final three was all Foa Foa, who used up Shambo to get his mission accomplished and then threw her out like a tissue just like he did with Johnny and Dave, who played perhaps TOO good of a game because everyone was pissed at him for doing so.
Yep, I feel that the Galu jury was angry that their Russell passed out and was taken from the game while Foa's Russell took the odds from down 8-4 and came out up 4-1 then 3-0. I get the feeling that the Galu's final measure of revenge was to decide before the vote that Erik, Kelly, Laura, Dave, Monica and Brett would all vote for Natalie to moreorless screw over Russell. Shambo and Jaison gave Russell their votes (likely) and with that, the undeserving Natalie beat the dominating Russell.

Now Wifey will argue that the correct person won because whomever wins played the best game, but I disagree. Those folks that play these games are bitter about losing and take things WAY too personally. If they had stepped back, like America did, they could have seen that Russell was the player of the season and should have taken home the title of Sole Survivor. Wifey argued that Nat played the Social game better and I think that is crap. Nat probably did, but the no one has EVER played a better strategic game than the one that Russell did and if the outplayed and outwitted and outlasted could have put aside the fact that they WERE outplayed and outwitted then Russell would have won.

I liken it to the way Tim Tebow should have left Florida with three Heisman trophies. (Or Herschel Walker, though when he was playing, I was either NOT born or an infant) Tebow was a part-time player in 2006 when, WITHOUT him, his team doesn't win the BCS title, then as a sophomore, he DOES win the Heisman as MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER in COLLEGE FOOTBALL. As a junior, he received the most votes, but people in the southwest decided to screw him over by putting him third or fourth on their ballots even though he PROVED he was better than Bradford when the two played. This year, are you REALLY telling me that Mark Ingram was better than Tebow? Even with the injury, Tebow was disgustingly good all throughout his college career and easily the most dominating and outstanding (and this is a Georgia guy saying this).

Tebow didn't win the Heisman though because of fatigue; Russell didn't win because of jealousy. The Galu jury was jealous that he outplayed them all, made all of the moves they didn't and overall was the BEST PLAYER IN SURVIVOR history.

Perhaps Russell will get his revenge in Survivor 20: Villains v Heroes. I remember in the last All-Star Survivor, Colby, (who I would say was the greatest Survivor player ever before Russell came along. He was unstoppable in the challenges) was blindsided early because everyone knew he'd be a threat. Russell, if he's in the game, and he SHOULD BE, will have to have eyes in the back of his head to win it. The thing with Russell though, I wouldn't be surprised to see if he doesn't evolve his game and takes the All-Star game home. In my opinion (as I've said before) he's already the greatest Survivor player ever, but if he takes home the next season, it is time to put him up there in the Hall of Fame for ALL of Reality TV stars.

Christmas presents from SportsbyFletch

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:38:00 +0000

Here at SportsByFletch, we are in the Christmas Spirit. (Sorry, we are pro-Christmas here. I love Hanukkah and all but we're giving away Christmas presents.) We've decided to give some presents out to our favorite celebs and sports stars. Hey, we feel it is better to give rather than receive. And to all of the folks who DIDN'T get a Christmas present from SBF, well then maybe you should be a better boy/girl next year.

With no further ado.......

For Sara from The RUINS, a shred of dignity. Way to let Kenny walk ALL over you on The Ruins and say all of that trash to you just because you have a crush on him. As much as I blushed at what Johnny Bananas said on the reunion how Sara acted like an abused wife but making excuses, he was spot on.

Lauren Conrad: A reset button. Are you still happy with your decision to leave The Hills? I mean I am because the show got 1006X better once you left and Kristin came aboard, but I feel bad that you don't have a TV show anymore.

Tim Tebow: some vagisil. I am assuming you got sand in your vagina and THAT is why you were crying at the end of the SEC Championship game and NOT because you lost. From some of the ladies I've spoken with, sand up there CAN hurt. That's why you were crying, right Tim? And not because you lost and are a poor sport. Right?

Charlie Crist the Governor of Florida: A copy of Todd McShay's mock draft. This way he can see that Tim Tebow ISN'T a first round prospect or even a second round prospect. Or even a third round.....Hey Charlie, you think a back-up QB could save the Jacksonville Jags (who might make the playoffs this season) moreso than using the team's first round pick on someone who MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE AN IMPACT? Moron. How'd you get elected?

Vinny from The Jersey Shore: antiperspirant. Enough said (PS, wasn't it funny last night when all the guys are working out, except for Vinny.)

Pauly D from The Jersey Shore: a sponsorship with Malibu Tans and Aussie Gel. Think how much money he'd save. (I thought Tom aka JWoww's boyfriend making fun of his hair)

Russell from Survivor: A jury that will vote for the best player and not for a former Galu member or because some one needs the money. And how CLUTCH was Russell last night when he pulled the string on the rewards challenge without dropping a coconut? His team was GOING to lose-thanks Jaison!- but he came THROUGH! And for Nat and Brett....the prayer warrior thing didn't help that much did it. NOPE.

Shambo from Survivor: a weedwacker so she can get a haircut. 1986?! Trim the mullet. NOT a good look.

Obama: a Golden Globe nomination. Well he didn't do anything to earn the Nobel Peace Prize, I figured he should get a GG nom for not doing a movie or TV show...Oh, wait, I wouldn't be surprised if he won BEST in an inauguration day performance. Hey, the celebs do love their celeb president.

Friday Night Lights: VIEWERS! This way maybe we could have more than 13 episodes in a season that I cannot watch until AFTER football is over....

Coach Mark Richt: a defensive coordinator. Bud Foster and Kirby have turned him down moreorless by reupping with their current employers. Now it might be Ellis Johnson or Vic Koenning. I think I'd rather go with one of the Up-and-comers over these retreads. I'd rather wake up tomorrow and say "WHO?" opposed to "WHY?" as in Who is this guy opposed to WHY'd we hire him? Get some fresh ideas opposed to a guy that has helped South Carolina to the papajohns.com bowl or a dude that was fired from Klimpsen and just left K-State for Illinois....

BalloonBoy's father: a Television appearance he REALLY wants...on Court TV. Throw this dude's butt in jail for obstruction, child endangerment, misleading police...everything. All he wants is attention? He'll get plenty....in prison...but Boggs and the boys.

Sammi Sweetheart from The Jersey Shore: A new shirt. She wears that one with the slits on the back/side EVERY time they go out. Is that the only shirt you brought?

The Situation from The Jersey Shore: a 4 to come back to the house. The Situation has been this: only 2s. But I guess that is all a meathead who refers to himself in the fourth person can pull in when he lives with his parents.

Derek Lowe: a reality check. Hey DLowe, first off, remember paying BASEBALL IS A BUSINESS. You got paid 15M last year for 15 wins and 8-7 down the stretch. Not good my man. And now your feelings are hurt because the Braves are trying to unload your salary? Grow up dude. Take the ball every fifth day and pitch BETTER and that way the Braves will want to keep you! Posting an ERA under 5 might be a good start...

Mark Fox: The phone numbers to all of the Georgia High School basketball coaches and perhaps a road map to Wheeler and Columbia and Norcross. Start signing this in-state talent Coach. That's how Harrick went to two straight tourneys and would have gone to a third, but the program panicked. Hitting Florida is nice, but get some of this in-state talent please. And Stop letting them go to Tennessee (Knoxville and Memphis!) Start with teaming up with Richt and getting Nick Marshall from Wilcox.

Wendy Williams: ONE Soup episode without Joel McHale mocking her. Wait, that would punish ME. Nevermind.

The Children of the World: Peace knowing that Michael Jackson will never touch them again. (This one was easy to give)

Shirley Franklin aka the Mayor of Atlanta: the door hitting her on the way out. She's gone....thankfully.

Tiger: the penthouse at The Palms Hotel in Vegas. Imagine with his money and all of those women......

Cohutta from the Ruins: a check for SOME money, since he took out about 12 of the champions. A lot of that was REALLY unexpected but I am not ready to put him up on the rushmore of Challenge players. That list right now: Alton (the guy pulled a TRUCK BY HIMSELF!) Evan (The guy is pretty much unstoppable when he is forced to do work. Plus he is mastermind behind everything.) Abram (unstoppable in the Inferno 2, I believe) and Landon (though Landon WAS undone by Brad's throwing of the wire in that one duel.

Finally, Bronne: a lifetime invitation to future challenges. This guy would ROCK in the house and add SO MUCH more entertainment to my Wednesday nights. He would get another chance to introduce himself as "bronne, like the paper towel" and I bet he'd be pretty good in the challenges too.

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial preview

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Be sure to pick up a copy of Score Atlanta at any Atlanta area Quik Trip, Kroger or Blockbuster! Do It.

The Georgia High School football state championships were aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting last weekend and the games re-aired on GPB Knowledge this week. The atmosphere at the Georgia Dome was well captured by the GPB cameras and fans that couldn’t make it to the Dome were treated to some great coverage. Once again the broadcast seemed improved over the previous year’s broadcast and this year’s graphics were near college football on CW or Peachtree TV-level. Replays were quick to come and the multiple camera angles were nice to have for the viewer. Throw in the players of the game features that members of the Atlanta Falcons helped out with and you had a nice segment that was new to the broadcast.
The only thing that could have been tweaked a bit was the color analysis. With all due respect to the color commentators, I think folks a little more familiar with Georgia High School football could have added more to each of the games. The play-by-play men were all outstanding, including Charles Ward, who worked the GPB Friday Night game of the week web cast all season long. Don’t get me wrong, these color analysts knew the game of football, but perhaps if a third person who was truly in the know about the state’s high school football had been added to the booth, the analysis would have been even better. Several options could have been some of the guys from the 680 The Fan Friday Night wrap up show. (680 was broadcasting the games on their family of networks, but maybe a partnership could have been struck up?) Another option would be Jon Michaels or Trey McDaniel from 790 The Zone, as those two guys have called games on Friday nights for The Zone. Regardless, I really enjoyed the games and was thankful that GPB was once again there to bring all of the games to the state.

Tiger Woods announced on his website last week that he would be taking a break from golf to focus on being a better father and better husband. Reports on various ESPN shows, FOX Sports shows and even news print media members have all weighed in and the consensus seems to be that Woods made the right call. I want to know how long he’ll be out. Do you REALLY need to take some time away from golf right now? Is there anything going on in golf right now? No. The PGA, to my knowledge, doesn’t schedule any real events after Thanksgiving, and Tiger rarely plays before Torrey Pines in the early Spring anyways. One of Woods’ endorsement deals has been canceled as Accenture has dropped Woods, saying he is “no longer the right representative.” That likely means that Woods will skip the Accenture event, to be held next spring in Arizona. I highly doubt though that Tiger would skip a Major, with the first one for 2010 being, as always, The Masters. Tiger typically plays a short schedule and rarely in America at this time of year. I’m not sure this announcement carries much weight.
Speaking of Tiger Woods, apparently if you work for CBS, you aren’t allowed to talk about Tiger Woods or his current scandal. Ian Baker-Finch told the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald that he has been gagged by the CBS Sports from talking the drama surrounding Woods, saying, “If I say one word about Tiger, I will get fired.” Baker-Finch joined CBS in 2007 as a golf analyst. He won a British Open in his playing days.
Finally, kudos to Buck Lanford of Fox 5 Atlanta as he is filling in on 680 The Fan’s Rude Awakening. Lanford was brought in as another voice while Christopher Rude is out on medical leave and he has really grown into the show along side Perry Laurentino and Leo Mazzone. Lanford is also now starting to run a little point and giving some teases before the breaks. His opinions are often pro-Atlanta and do well to offer a bit of variety from Laurentino. I have enjoyed hearing those two create a chemistry that, while still behind Buck and Kincade’s and Chuck and Chernoff’s, is one of the best in the city. While I hope Chris Rude recovers and makes it back 100%, I hope the station considers keeping Lanford on board.

Big B's Top ten GHSBB Power Forwards 2009-10

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Well he's at it again. Brian Jones is providing us ONCE AGAIN with a top ten list, this time Score Atlanta's Big B is giving us the best senior Power Forwards hitting the Georgia hoops hardwoods. Enjoy.

10. Ishmael Hollis

9. Victor Bailey

8. Trent Weidman

7. Sam Mike

6. Heath Houston

5. Tawaski King

4. Adrian Hubbard

3. Brandon Mobley

2. Marcus Thornton

1. Donte Williams

PS, be sure to check out gpb.org every Tuesday starting January 5th for Georgia high school girls and boys basketball. Charles Ward and THIS GUY will be on the call once again, bringing that gridiron magic to the hardwoods. The first game is Milton at Walton. Should be fun.

Midweek Entertaiment report 12/16/09

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Cousin Eddie goes on the lam, Elin is leaving the Player of the DECADE, Glee gets recognized by the Golden Globes, and an Atlanta radio guy plans a move to tv.

Ladies and gentlemen, THE MIDWEEK ENTERTAINMENT REPORT!

Apparently Cousin Eddie aka Randy Quaid and his wife failed to show up to a Santa Barbara court on a felony charge of defrauding an innkeeper on a bill of more than $10,000. Apparently they are now being called "felony fugitives" by the DA of Santa Barbara. Quaid's lawyer said that the couple has paid the bill after being arrested on Sept 24 in West Texas for using the invalid credit card at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito. And by skipping out on the court date, they miss out on the $40,000 bail. That is not good, considering I hear Eddie is holding out for a management position. Out of work for seven years and now you miss out on $40,000? Ouch.

Elin Woods aka Mrs. Tiger will be leaving Tiger according to a People Magazine source. The source told the magazine, "She's made up her mind. There's nothing to think about: he's never going to change." Good for her. If she had stayed with him, it would CLEARLY only be for the money and she'd never be able to look herself in the mirror. As for Tiger, just give her $75M and you never have to worry about her again. Just don't get married, stay a stag and smash as many women as you'd like. Dude, you're worth one BILLION dollars and you are the most dominant athlete in the world. (The AP just voted him athlete of the decade) You really cannot lose in this situation if you're Tiger and Elin managed to turn a "failed marriage" into at least $75M. Good for both of them.

How about Glee getting four Golden Globes nominations, huh? Glee is up for best comedy/musical TV show, two newcomers and best supporting actress for Sue aka Jane Lynch. And if you think Glee is getting some love from the Golden Globes, just wait for the Fletcher Globes.........

Finally, Bert from Q99.7's The Bert Show has been approached about going on a reality TV show called Boys Club ATL (thankfully it was not called Boys Club Hotlanta, because he would have boycotted.) He had an on-air debate (according to the ajc) about whether or not to do it and now he tells the ajc that he is 40-50% leaning yes. Ummm, the show hasn't been picked up yet and if it does, are we talking Peachtree TV or Bravo here? No one is really going to watch. Sorry Bert. PS how is Ernie? And in the same ajc.com article, apparently the people from The Real Housewives of Atlanta approached the woman from the Frank and Wanda show to be on it. Would she be the 9th or the 14th housewife? I have NEVER seen some many people grasping at a VERY SMALL slice of TV "fame" before. This is quite sad. and again, some of these folks aren't married. To ME, that should take away the houseWIFE title, which should DQ you from consideration, but oh well. Seriously folks. Please stop trying to be on this show. It is embarrassing to the city.

That's it, enjoy the rest of the week.

Higher ceilings. Vaulted perhaps?

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:37:00 +0000

SBF has been on vacation for a few days, but we're back and we sort of feel the need to defend ourselves since the fine folks at 790 The Zone weren't willing to do so.
On Sunday, Scott Janovitz and myself took over the Falcons postgame coverage for 790, and despite defending the team, we apparently slammed the team and Matt Ryan.
Scott Janovitz had the audicity to say that perhaps Matt Ryan had reached his ceiling as a player (something that Jaws from ESPN hinted at a few weeks back and that Mel Kiper Junior predicted in NFL draft coverage.) and maybe we shouldn't think that he will do much more than what he gave fans last season, ie a playoff-bound season where he was 11-5. Really good at home, struggles a bit on the road, heady but not with a cannon for an arm.
Then apparently after I admitted that I had no dog in the fight as I was a Redskins fan though I like to see Atlanta do well, I said that Matt Stafford, Detroit's rookie QB had a higher ceiling than Ryan does. Scott seemed to agree and we agreed that while Ryan would be better in year one than year four (where he'd be about the same) Stafford, if he progresses as we think he should (and how he did while at Georgia) will be better in his year four than in his year one. I said Stafford is throwing INTs now, just like how he did his freshman year at Georgia, then by his junior year, he had it sorted out. I sort of have history on my side here.

Well apparently when I defended the Falcons to a caller who said they had no heart , that was slamming the Falcons. I then hoped that Ryan and Turner would come back soon because they probably wouldn't go 9-7 without Matt Ryan and Michael Turner, this was slamming the Falcons. Ummm, what?

I understand I shouldn't fire back at message boarders, but I guess I was really more frustrated with a radio station (that I've worked for since 2005) that apparently is willing to throw me under a bus because they didn't listen to what I said and instead went with some emailers. That's cool.

PS, having a higher ceiling isn't an insult. Matt Stafford, when you take into account his arm, DOES HAVE A HIGHER CEILING than Matt Ryan. He does. He can learn and study just like Ryan does and if you equal that study time up, the better arm will prevail.
It is just like saying that Michael Vick has a higher ceiling than Peyton Manning. THAT IS TRUE. If you MAKE MV7 study the playbook and spend the time with the receivers that Manning does, then with Vick's athletic ability, he would be better than Manning. His Ceiling is higher. Though where Vick currently resides (just like where Stafford currently sits) is much lower than Manning (and Ryan). Manning and Ryan are near their ceilings whereas Stafford and Vick are well below their ceilings, and also where PM and MR are right now. It is a FACT. Sorry if you disagree.

Georgia High School football championship preview

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:31:00 +0000

starting tomorrow and continuing Saturday, ten Georgia high school football teams will travel to the Georgia Dome with a shot at a state championship. Wilcox Co, Savannah Christian, Buford, Calhoun, Gainesville, Peach County, Clarke-Central, Sandy Creek, Camden County and Northside all have visions of dancing on the GA Dome floor with a state title in hand and SPORTSBYFLETCH is going to give you a quick breakdown of the top four classification games. (No one cares about Class A. Sorry, but Wilcox wins.)

Class AAAAA. Northside v Camden Co. The Wildcats are the defending champs and they lost at the dome to open up the year against Grayson. We heard from Coach Hood who said they were just going to try and compete this year after losing so many players from the championship team one year ago. Compete? They are one win from back-to-back! I still think that Camden is going to be in for a rude shock when they are forced to pass the ball and find that they cannot. Northside has a fierce defense and throw in Briar Van Brunt (who also has a capable backup on the bench if need be) and the Eagles are my pick. Oh, and I didn't even mention Shaq O'Neal toting the ball. O'Neal was "shut down" last week by Newnan, but that just opened up EVERYTHING for Van Brunt. I think Camden will try and take out Briar (who WILLED his team to a win last week) and the onus will be on Shaq, and I think he delivers. Briar will eventually break free and provide a TD pass for the winning margin. PS, with all due respect to CJ Uzomah, who is just a freak athlete and will probably be the best returning QB in the state, Briar Van Brunt will likely be my preseason Class AAAA player of the year. This guy reminds me a bit of Tebow, BOTH times I've seen him. A real winner. (Hopefully though he doesn't cry if they lose.) PREDICTION: NS 22, Camden 16.

Class AAAA. Sandy Creek v Clarke-Central. Some of the high school football junkies I talk to are trying to talk me into Clarke-Central's defense, but I'm sorry. I've seen Sandy Creek in person and though I haven't seen C-CHS, I can just say, having read all about Clarke-Central, that Sandy Creek will use Rajion Neal to run all over C-CHS. With Ronnie Bell and Jarrett Davis and Lacey Coleman and ...(you get my point here) I think Sandy Creek has too many weapons. Maybe a state championship can get a bigger stadium for them so they can host a playoff game.... PREDICTION: SCHS 27 C-CHS 11.

Class AAA Gainesville v Peach County. This is BY FAR the best game of all of the games this weekend. For a preview, let's go to Fletcher Proctor of Score Atlanta.
Gainesville Red Elephants 14-0
The Gainesville Red Elephants entered the playoffs ranked the No.1 team in Class AAA and the first few rounds seemed to justify that ranking. In the semi-finals, the Red Elephants trailed early to Flowery Branch but thanks to QB Blake Sims, Gainesville rallied back to win late 29-21. Sims returned a kick 96 yards for a TD and threw the ten-yard game-winning pass, one of three fourth quarter touchdowns. Sims for the game was 6-17 for 167 yards with one TD and three INTs but did lead all rushers with 123 yards. Sims, the future Crimson Tider, will have a major weapon to throw to in Notre Dame-bound Tai-ler Jones. Tyson Smith was the running back that caught the game-winner and scored earlier in the game to help Gainesville come back. Coach Bruce Miller can also lean on Teryan Rucker to tote the rock as he did against the Falcons for 99 yards, 126 overall. Gainesville has not been to a state championship game since 1982. Gainesville has allowed just 47 points this postseason.

Peach County Trojans 14-0
The Trojans of Peach County won back-to-back state championships in 2005 and 2006 and now seek its third in five years. Senior QB Patrick Taylor is back after missing most of last season and Taylor made up for lost time. In the semi-finals, the QB was 7-10 for 137 yards and one TD, but the score was a 65-yard strike to Lamar Zanders. The Trojans running game was led last week by Travis Richmond's 62 yards, including a 12-yard game-winning TD with nine minutes to go against Eastside. Richmond was also a major factor on special teams as he leapt up to block a field goal attempt. The Trojans defense has a special player in Octavius Hall who also recovered a blocked punt for a score in the semi-finals. (124). The offense though starts with Taylor, who has been impressive this season. Against Baldwin earlier this season, Taylor was 17-28 for 155 yards, and Peach County averaged 29 points on its way to yet another Region 1-AAA title. Coach Chad Campbell's squad allows just 8 points per game but will be hard pressed to slow Gainesville, who average 44 points.
PREDICTION: Gainesville 38, Peach Co 24

CLASS AA Calhoun v Buford. The Wolves are trying for the school's seventh state title and sixth this decade and third straight and second three-peat of the decade. That is a mouthful. This is ALSO a rematch of last year when Buford crushed Calhoun. This is a MUCH different year though as the Yellow Jackets now have Nash Nance who is oh-so-dangerous with the ball in his hands. He can beat you with his legs and with his arm. And when he wants to do it with his arm, he can throw to the FREAK Da'Rick Rogers. Nash has been able to pick up the offense that Hal Lamb threw at him and he WILL put them over the top here. His ability to move the pocket and buy time for Da'Rick or to burn you with the legs will bring Lamb the title that eluded him last season. On the flip side, I believe Buford left it all on the field last week against Fitzgerald and Coach Jess Simpson was honest when he said that Fitz could move the ball and score pretty much at will and THAT is why he kept going for it on 4th down. He pulled out some magic last week, but the David Copperfield act is over. PREDICTION: Calhoun 24 Buford 17.

There it be. Enjoy the games and tune in to GPTV this week to see my play-by-play partner doing several of the games, only without me. The powers that be picked Jeff Van Note to do the games over me. I understand. The guy is in the Georgia Hall of Fame and has done UK, GT and Falcons radio. I've never made a Hall of Fame (not even Club 124!) and my play-by-play resume consists of Rabun County High School, Apalachee High School, North Springs High School, GPB's games of the week, 790 the Zone's High School High Five and the Corky Kell Classic. I can see a little difference there. Maybe next season.

Score Atlanta's Around the Dial sneak peek

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:30:00 +0000

For more of ME, pick up a copy of Score Atlanta at your local Kroger, Blockbuster, or QuikTrip in the Metro-area. Enjoy!

Did you hear? Michael Vick, now a member of the Eagles, came back to Atlanta over the weekend as Philadelphia visited the Georgia Dome. Before the season started, everyone figured that this game would be all of the talk the week leading up to the contest but strangely, this game seemed to fly under the radar. True ESPN and CBS made a big deal about a game over the weekend in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, but the game drawing the interest was the SEC Championship game between No.2 Alabama and No.1 Florida. The “Vick returns to Atlanta” story angle was really the fifth biggest story of the week on local sports radio the past week as Georgia beating Georgia Tech, Tiger Woods’ crash and subsequent affair revelations, Georgia Tech in the ACC championship and the SEC Championship game all pushed Vick’s return to the backburner. I might dare even say that Willie Martinez’s firing brought in more calls than the return of MV7. So interesting. I would say that people in Atlanta had turned the page until I started watching FOX’s coverage of the Philadelphia/Atlanta game. The FOX cameras did its best job to find ALL of the Vick supporters in the crowd wearing Falcons No.7 jerseys. When Vick entered the game in the first quarter the cameras panned out to show folks holding up signs in support of Vick and going crazy even after he ran for three whole yards. The crowd reaction seemed mixed, half cheering and half booing as he ran back off of the field. The camera crews would mix shots of Vick on the sidelines and the Falcons jersey-wearers throughout the first half and Vick played just two snaps in the first half. FOX seemed to be beating this dead horse into the ground when Vick scored in the second half, then the shots started up again with the crowd shots. As the Eagles went on to the big win, the crowd seemed to be more Pro-Vick as most of the Falcons fans seemingly left. When Vick threw a TD pass in the fourth quarter, the remaining crowd made up of Eagles fans and Vick fans exploded as few boos were heard. Crowd shots showed that most of the Red and Black crowd had left. ESPN.com and CNNSI.com as well as most other news outlet websites had Vick celebrating on the Georgia Dome field after the game. The reaction on the sports talk radio afterwards was mostly about how the Falcons might have blown their playoff chances and not Vick. Despite what FOX and ESPN want the story to be, it seems that Falcons fans have turned the page on the Vick era. The remaining Vick fans in Atlanta on the other hand…

Headline News and Turner Sports have announced the premiere of a new one hour special called With All Due Respect that is set to debut on December 20 at 10 p.m. on HLN. The new show will feature HLN anchor Robin Meade, to be joined by TNT’s Charles Barkley (NBA coverage), TBS’s Dennis Eckersley (MLB) and TNT’s Kyle Petty (NASCAR). This certainly is an interesting collection of personalities here. I’m not certain the extent of Meade’s sports knowledge and I’ve never been that impressed by Eckersley’s work on TBS’s sports coverage. As for Barkley, he is always good for a strong opinion, but I wonder if he is going to mail it in if this show doesn’t get off to a hot start.
Speaking of TBS, the network and Chip Carey decided to part ways after Carey worked the postseason and Sunday games for the network’s national game of the week. Carey is of course the son of former Atlanta broadcaster Skip and grandson of Chicago legend Harry. Carey has also worked the past few seasons with the Braves. He came under fire for a few errors in his calls this past postseason but I though overall he had a smooth call. He was folksy and perhaps TBS overreacted to a New York writer’s opinion on Carey. Either way though Carey will land on his feet with another big time gig.

Finally, the new Georgia Men’s basketball coach Mark Fox will be coming to a TV near you soon. Inside Georgia Basketball with Mark Fox will now air Sunday nights at midnight on WSB. This is the same time slot that the network gave football coach Mark Richt for his show. IGB will run fifteen weeks with Chuck Dowdle hosting. If you cannot stay up that late, catch the re-air on Sundays at 1 and 7 p.m. Sundays on SportSouth.

Midweek entertainment report 12/09/09

noreply@blogger.com (Fletcher Proctor) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:00 +0000

The Guidos are causing trouble for MTV, SYTYCD produces a head scratcher, the AJC is officially up the butt of Tyler Perry (Why? we don't know) and Tom produces YET ANOTHER good looking kid...

Ladies and gentlemen, the RETURN of the midweek entertainment report!

(AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!)

TMZ reported yesterday that two sponsors have pulled advertizing from MTV's The Jersey Shore after just ONE two-hour episode. Dominos and American Family Insurance have said No Mas (or what ever no more is in Italian) after watching the self-proclaimed guidos and guidettes make a mockery of all things Italian-American. This by the way is DOMINOS, which serves Italian food, pulling the plug on some of its own, and American Family, apparently NOT Italian-American Family. I thought that companies would be lining UP to advertise on the FUNNIEST SHOW ON TV. Apparently not? I guess that is the situation. SORRY MIKE! Maybe they can get Pac-Sun Tanning to fill in. Or Johnsonville Brats. Or Aussie hair gel. Dapper Dan, maybe? Or maybe the pizza place where Vinny no doubt works can step up. Guido illustrated?

I haven't been watching So You Think You Can Dance this fall mainly because of my radio show being on Tuesdays, but I tuned in last night and was surprised as to a certain development. Apparently one of the female dancers hurt herself and could not dance, but instead of getting DQ-ed, she was allowed to stay and potentially receive votes. She had her own number for folks to call in and DON'T think that she wasn't potentially in the catbird seat right there. Instead of doing a really crappy job on what could have been foxtrot or russian dancing, she gets the sympathy vote from America. If I was one of the other chicks, I would have been furious. If I went home after dancing my butt off and she got to stay and go to the final without dancing, I'd protest the CRAP out of the situation (no, not Mike).

ajc.com was reporting earlier that Tyler Perry's mother died. Why? Why are we reporting this in the entertainment section? I can understand the obits page, but the entertainment section? Really? Was she Madea? NO, that was HIM in drag. I guess maybe she was the inspiration for Madea but do we really need to know that she died? Does this mean he'll only produce 7 movies the next two weeks instead of the usual 29? The ajc guys need to get their lips off of his bum and give him some privacy at this time.

Finally, Tom Brady and Gisele Bunchden had a baby boy yesterday. I am sure he is going to grow up and be incredibly attractive, probably moreso than Brady's first son, with Bridget Moynahan. The only way Brady has a better looking kid is if he has a baby with Kate Beckinsale. WOW. He is setting his kid up to be the BIGGEST player EVER. Son of Super Bowl winner and Vicky's secret model....WOW. He is going to get so much play it is UNREAL. More than Brody Jenner. I know MTV is ALREADY trying to sign him to a show in 18 years.

That's it. Have a great rest of the week.