First of 104!!!

Post by William

As Skip Caray used to say..... "Ho Hum. Braves win."

First of 104 this season.

Dude, have you looked in the mirror?? UPDATED w/Video

Guess he caught 'Nique at the wrong time. Now he gets mouthy? Good for you 'Nique.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/ex-ref-says-wilkins-892407.html

http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=91b91f19-66dd-4db6-a9dc-cfee1cf12b05

Do you remember when....????

Post by William

The Braves had 9031 hearty souls in attendance  in bad weather today for an exhibition against the Twins when the Braves are trying to get to DC for tomorrow's 1:00 opener ASAP.

Do you remember when that was a good Thursday night crowd back from mid 80s to 1990? You could almost get any seat you wanted.

Get ready folks. It starts tomorrow.

Can you say "World Champion Atlanta Braves"?

Pay for Play Again?? UPDATED

Post by William

This is on HBO tonight. Just remember.....this can/could/will/has happened everywhere.

http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/ex-auburn-players-claim-systematic-pay-to-play-29592

This is an update with Auburn's response

http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/hbo-auburn-responds-to-ex-player-allegations-29593

Isn't this backwards??

Post by William

I thought GT wanted Price as HEAD coach. Why would Price come to be second fiddle? On the job training for another job? Don't think this makes sense. If they're both coming wouldn't Price be Head Coach.

BTW, I think Neal would be a great coach for GT.

Tell us what you think.

http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-tech-sports/2011/03/24/neal-to-interview/

Changes for Spring

Post by William

We've made some changes to the blog for the arrival of Spring. We thought we needed to "spruce it up" a little. The Braves start one week from today and the Masters starts 2 weeks from today.

We've added, deleted, and rearranged some links on the right as well. We'll have lots of stuff coming in the next few days for Braves and Masters.

Please give us some feedback if you like/don't like changes and/or what we need to add/delete.

Bradley vs Hewitt....Bradley, you won already.

Mark Bradley.... still taking shots at Paul Hewitt.

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2011/03/24/so-techs-a-bad-job-note-all-the-georgia-products-still-dancing/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog

Is Tech's next coach in the Sweet 16?

The following column was first published in The Albany Journal

by Mike Flynn

If athletic director Dan Radakovich has a wish list, Butler head coach Brad Stevens must be at the very top. Increasing the balance in the Georgia Tech checking account by an amount sufficient to sign the rising coach would have to be number two.

Would Stevens leave the place where he is adored to come rebuild the Jacket program? Let's consider the positives.

He would be coaching in the ACC, still the premier basketball conference in the country despite the noise you are hearing from the Big Least. He would have access to a bevy of talent inside I-285. He is also well liked by Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Mark Bradley, a huge point in his favor. Bradley's sharp pen laid the ground work to run Bobby Cremins and Paul Hewitt.

So it would seem Stevens would be a perfect match.

On the other hand, he has proven with good coaching and dedicated players, it is not the size of the institution in the fight, but the size of the fight in the institution that matters when traveling the Road to the Final Four. So why would he EVER leave Butler. He is a hero there for the rest of his life, and jumping into a deep pond with bigger fish can prove to be tricky.

If you were lucky enough to see Butler drop the Pitt Panthers, you surely noticed that the team with the best athletes did not win. The team with the players that hustled the most, boxed out and played with sound fundamentals, over came two freak fouls to advance. That is all about coaching and inspiring average athletes to perform at a level beyond that which they normally would.

Tech could use a dose of that medicine.

If Radakovich does decide to go after Stevens he had better be prepared for a street fight with Butler. After having to swallow Paul Hewitt's huge contract, the will to write big checks and make big deals may not exist at Georgia Tech, so who else could Tech get?

Mark Price? Yes, but that is not a good idea. You can not put the magic back in the bottle. Remember Mike Shula at Alabama? Hiring a star from the past is tempting, but so is eating ice cream for every meal.

Another hot name has been Richmond Spider coach, Chris Mooney who has compiled a 128-98 record in six seasons and led the Spiders to the A-10 championship this year. He also orchestrated a second round win over Vanderbilt, beat Moorehead State and is getting ready to face top seeded Kansas in the Sweet 16. If he upsets the Jayhawks, he can name his price too.

Mooney has an impressive resume. He played under Pete Carrill at Princeton and, before taking over at Richmond, was the head coach at Air Force. He has a record of recruiting good players who are also good students. In his first season with the Spiders he did a little house cleaning and played with only seven players.

From there he has built a solid team and has proven success recruiting in Georgia where he signed Kevin Anderson out of Peachtree Ridge and Darius Garrett out of McEachern.

Mooney will be a solid program builder, but is not the boy genius that Stevens is. He is however, more attainable. You have to think that N.C. State and now Tennessee will also be knocking on his door.

Then there is VCU's coach Shaka Smart. The 33 year old has his Rams rolling. The team barely made the tournament having to win a play in game last Wednesday before destroying Georgetown then Purdue to advance to the 16. His stock is rising fast now and a youth movement would help the Jackets.

By the way, have you noticed the Big Least started the tournament with 11 teams, but is down to only two. Meanwhile the ACC has three teams still in the running and the lowly SEC has two as does the Big 10. Can you say over rated?

A Big OOOPS!!!!

Post by William

Mike went out on a limb and picked Louisville to win it all in the Big Dance. They just lost to Morehead St. OOOPS!!

"You just keep thinking Butch. That's what you're good at."

Maybe it is time to boycott ESPN.

Posted by Mike

The World is spinning out of control and ESPN makes time for our Kardashian-in-Chief to grace us with his brave bracket picks of all 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four.

Wow... you went to Columbia for that?

The network should have acted like a parent sending a child up stairs to finish their homework.

"No Mr. President... go take care of the erupting Middle East, those reactors melting down in Japan, and while you're at it why don't you try getting off the back of small business so they can create some jobs. Then we'll give you a few minutes of air time."

The only problem is Obama would stomp up the stairs like a spoiled brat drama queen.

"Then I'm just gona take my birth certificate and union buddies and run away to join the circus."

If only we were so lucky.

One and 1/2 hours left to play

Post by William

You've only got one and 1/2 hours left to send in your bracket. Please see post from Mike below for the rules and how to play.

Dogs get into the Dance

Dogs get in. Play Washington Friday.

The First Annual Georgia Sports Report NCAA Bracket Challenge

Post by William

FYI. We're going to have an NCAA Bracket Challenge. The details and a bracket will be up no later than noon Monday. Please join us for some good clean fun.

UGA/Auburn

Post by William

According to the website, UGA/Auburn game will be on ESPN3.com at 1pm today.

http://espn.go.com/espn3/index

This makes me angry

Post by William

Well I said earlier today that I was going to vent about Tressel and OSU. I was going to until I came across this little gem. (It IS gonna be funny when the NCAA takes away all of their 2010 wins b/c they went all in to beat Woo Pig Sooey in the Sugar Bowl.)

http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2011/03/09/ray-drews-announcement-results-in-5-ncaa-violations-for-georgia/

So Ray Drew has gotten UGA into trouble b/c he wanted to be a Kardashian/Lohan/Attention whore for his signing announcement. I guess we're too far gone to think that anybody would just say where they're going w/o ESPN showing up. The thing that makes me mad is that he says he'd do the same thing again knowing what the end result was. It's all about Ray Drew. I thought he was the most mature one in the class.

          Son, when you get to Athens in August, you'd better be ready. I hope that new Strength and Conditioning Coach Joe T makes your life miserable. I hope the first week of camp is awful. The upperclassmen(IF there are any leaders on that team) make your life a living Hell. You are going to get Oklahoma drilled to death.You are going to come to know every step in that stadium. I hope you're so miserable that your parents call Coach Richt.

          Maybe there's a happy ending to all this. Maybe next Fall when the class of 2012 up and coming recruits(Attention whores) come to Athens, you can tell them how great UGA is and and that they must come because you've grown up SO much and how that when they decide to announce where they're going to school, don't be a jackass.

Please forward on to anyone you think might be interested.

Let us know what you think.

Real quick post

Post by William

Real quick post. Going to try to get some stuff up later tonight re: SEC bball and Tressel/Ohio State.

Here in Albany, the SEC Mens Bball tournament will be on channel 81 your Mediacom digital box on Thursday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday on ABC. UGA/Auburn Thursday at 1pm. IF Dogs win, Dogs/BAMA 1pm Friday. Probably a play-in game.

Here's the link for this week's full bball schedule.

http://mattsarzsports.com/basketball2010/week18.aspx

I'll try to post later. This OSU thing has got me steaming.

So it's come to this??

Post by William

Do NOT try to have any contact with any Auburn fans today starting at 1:30. ESPN3.com is showing the Auburn Pro Day on the internet.

That's alot even for a sports nerd like me.

http://www.espn3.com/

Now here's a shocker!!!

How does he have a mortgage??

http://www.tmz.com/2011/03/03/jamarcus-russell-oakland-raiders-foreclosure-home-mansion-nfl-qwuarterback/

UGA Bball Reminder

Post by William

Just a reminder.....UGA/LSU in Athens tonight at 8. In Albany the game will be on channel 81 on Mediacom Digital box. Vandy lost last night. Dogs gotta have this win.

Big week in the SEC!!

It's fish or cut bait time for the Dogs. This week will set them up for the SEC and NCAA tournaments. The link below is the schedule for the remainder of the season in the SEC. UGA is 1 game out of 2nd in the SEC East, tied with Kentucky. 2nd place gets a first round bye in the SEC Tournament. The link also has the standings. It's still possible for the Dogs to get 2nd:

UGA wins Wednesday at home vs LSU and at Bama on Saturday, Vandy loses tonight at Kentucky, Florida wins at Vandy Saturday and Kentucky loses Sunday at Tennessee. Piece of cake.

http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/SECSPORTS/SPORTS/BASKETBALLM.aspx

FYI, for those of us in Albany, we get UGA/LSU on channel 81 on your digital box Wednesday night. It's not listed on the guide. Trust me, we'll get it.

Enjoy the bball.