I know what you're thinking but you're wrong!!!

Post by William

More proof that the NFL is "All Powerful"

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced yesterday that the NFL Opening Night will be moved from the traditional Thursday Night to Wednesday night so the game will not conflict with Obama's speech at the DNC. This is all the more proof that the NFL is the most powerful organization that exists.

I know what some of you will say.... "The NFL is moving to Wednesday so they won't lose in the ratings to Obama's speech". Quite the opposite. The NFL would destroy the speech in the ratings and they don't want to embarass Obama. The NFL doesn't want to fight the government in any way.

So, since I always look out for my friends, here are some viewing options for Thursday September 6th in the time slot you would normally be watching the NFL game.

#1    Not sure who the teams are but there will be NCAA College Football on ESPN at 8pm.

#2    Repeat of Braves/Rockies in Atlanta on FSN or Sportsouth. Getaway day, 1st pitch 12:10. Play Mets in NYC the next night.

#3    Repeat of 1st round of BMW Championship on the Golf Channel. This is the last playoff event before the Tour Championship at East Lake.

#4   Repeats of M*A*S*H on TV Land

#5   Anything on the Food Channel

#6   Anything On Demand

#7   Anything from Blockbuster

Just doing this as a public service for my friends.

 http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7626288/nfl-season-start-wednesday-sept-5-due-democratic-national-convention

Finally! Georgia has two teams ranked!

Post by Mike
It has been a while since the State has put two strong contenders in the top 15 of any polls. Currently the Jackets are ranked 12th and the Dawgs are 9th in NCAA baseball. NCAA D1 Baseball Rankings

The State is also well represented in D2 with Columbus State at 7th, North Georgia at 13, and Georgia College at 21. NCAA D2 Baseball Rankings

Count down to Bracket time.

Post by Mike

With the final week of regular season NCAA basketball in progress, Bracket time is right around the corner.

First there is some unsettled business between UNC and Duke. Dick Vitale calls this the greatest college rivalry in sports. He rates it higher than Alabama vs. Auburn and Ohio State vs. Michigan.

Those are high targets, and while I'm not quite convinced it is bigger than the booger eater's rivalry to our immediate West, it is very entertaining.

Duke's version of the rivalry           

Duke takes on Wake tonight while UNC host Maryland Wednesday. Then on Saturday UNC travels 30 miles to Cameron Indoor, one of the wildest venues in sports. If you have time Saturday night, be sure to watch 7 PM on ESPN.

After that we got conference tournament play, then the big dance.

My early predictions for 1 seeds are: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, and Duke.

My early predictions for this year's Cinderella are: Murray State, San Diego State and Wichita State.

I am also betting the selection committee sets up the brackets so Murray State would get to play Kentucky. Hey they aren't stupid and the in state match up would generate a lot of buzz.

NCAA RPI RANKINGS           Jerry Palm's Bracket projections

Aren't there laws against poaching?

Post by Mike
Saban is harvesting our State! Somebody stop him!

Another Georgia high school star picks the Tide.

Will they have the rag tag mojo?

Post by Mike

Spring training always brings that feeling. You know the belief that in October we could relive the rush we had in 1991, 1992....insert almost any year of the decade.

But can it really be done with this team. An analysis of the roster tells me yes... maybe.

First let's look at the starting rotation:

Hudson - Hanson - Jurjens - Beachy and (Medlen, Teheran or Delgado).

At first look, that is impressive. Only when you consider that the top three names of the rotation are coming off surgery, do you begin to have doubts.

Huddy will miss the first month of the season (at least) because he had two disc in his back fused together. Apparently the surgeon went through his abdomen to do the procedure. Now I'm no brain scientist, but that doesn't sound like he's gonna be firing heaters with authority in June.

Hanson had his shoulder cut on, and according to Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, the shoulder is the least predictable area when forecasting recovery. Plus Big Red blew a tire and got a concussion on his way to the first Spring workout. Bad Karma!

Jurjens had his knee surgery before the 2011 season was over and he is in his final year of a contract, so maybe he will come out strong. We'll see, but my point is, between our top three, we might only count on having the equivalent of two full timers. Huddy and Hanson may split time to fill one spot.

That means the Medlen/Teheran/Delgado trio will have to pick up the slack, and provide mid inning relief.

Then scan the infield. Freeman - young kid with a good bat. Uggla - surely he won't come out in a coma again. Pastornicky - word is he will be a defensive genius,... at the plate... not so much. Chipper - damn he's old and brittle.

The outfield? Heyward - was he hype or the real thing? Bourn - solid in the field, on the path and at the plate. Constanza - Stand up... I can't see you. Prado - might spend more time at third than left, and needs to regain his 2010 form. Diaz/Hinske - the bench has definitely improved .... no Conrad!

It is not an overpowering star studded roster like the Marlins have, so maybe the rag tag mojo will come back. After all who really thought Francisco Cabrera would do anything important in 1992?

CLICK HERE>Remember this? TO PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE

Good Grief!! Did I "Gowdy" this?

Is it possible I "Gowdyed" this to happen with the earlier post about Chipper getting hurt?

The Power is immense.

http://www.rantsports.com/bringingheat/2012/02/20/braves-p-tommy-hanson-involved-in-one-car-accident/

Wanna bet Chipper's next?

Post by William

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/34907326

How long before we hear Chipper's down for 2 weeks?

This is from yesterday at Disney. Doesn't really look in "fighting trim", does he?

Tiger Who???

Post by William

Yeah, golf sure does suck when Tiger isn't playing. Hope he's home practicing.

This is a damn good cause

I saw Jamil Saba on TV this morning talking about this so I asked Friend of the Blog Albert Wester to send me the details. Those who remember Cleve will remember that Cleve would do anything for anybody. Please help if you can.


PS.... I left off the "War Eagle" from the bottom of the email. Couldn't help myself.


Here are the details re: the 4th Annual Cleve Wester Scholarship Dinner, sponsored by the Southwest Georgia Auburn Club and the Auburn Alumni Association:
Date:               Thursday, March 1, 2012
Place:             Merry Acres Event Center - 1500 Dawson Road, Albany
Time:              Social at 6:15 PM (cash bar); Dinner at 7:00 PM

Tickets are available now by emailing us at this address (southwestgeorgiaauburnclub@gmail.com) or by calling 229-435-3029 or by contacting a club Board member*.
Cost of an adult ticket is $60.00.  This year, we are pleased to offer tickets for children (under 10 years of age) at $5.00 each.  
Our guest speaker will be Curtis Luper, Running Backs Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.  

Please make plans to attend this annual event that supports the scholarship fund named in honor of Cleve Wester.  We hope to see you there.

I don't think we know how good we have it in the Good Life City!!! (non-sports related)

Post by William

So Olive Garden is coming to Albany. People are making that out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Never eaten there. Maybe it is good.

However, there is no better Italian food on the planet than Villa Gargano. Their red sauce is unreal and I defy someone to find better pizza than they have.

So let all the rookies hit the Oilve Garden. Us pros will be at the Villa.

Some guys Mommies are not gonna be happy about this

Post by William

Chris Low from ESPN.com ranks the coaching staffs in the SEC. Tennessee at #11. That's not gonna sit well with Barbara Dooley.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/38845/sec-postseason-coaching-staff-rankings

Tim Tebow and Katy Perry? Don't think Mommy Tebow would like that either. I will say this.... if he is dating her, KUDOS to you Timmy.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1065985-tim-tebow-and-katy-perry-latest-on-nfls-hottest-offseason-rumor

Pretty funny...

It's like Ann Coulter says.... Shut up and sing!!!

So Falcons WR Roddy White tweets about Roger Goodell getting a raise to $20 mill a year. Just a few things for Roddy to think about...

#1   Let's reverse that tweet, Roddy. How the hell can a man get paid all that money when ALL he can do is run, block, and tackle? 6 years, $50 million you're getting. Roger Goddell is running a $9 billion a year business.

#2   You've got quite a pair to be complaining about another man's money when you've led the League in dropped passes the last 2 years.

Shut up and catch the ball.


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/13/roddy-white-asks-how-the-hell-can-goodell-get-paid-so-much/

You can't hide class...

Post by Mike
You can't hide class and apparently you can't buy it either. Not even if you have a Ponzi scheme. This Shapiro cat is every program's worst night mare, but he had better be careful. The Hurricanes are pretty well represented in the BIG HOUSE.

http://eye-on-collegefootball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/24156338/34817314

Somebody just got a beatdown!!!

Post by William

Oh yeah. He's back.

TW just got handed a beatdown like he's never gotten before. Phil usually folds like a cheap suit when facing Tiger. He beat him by 11 shots today. If Phil isn't scared of him, I doubt anybody is.

The only thing is.... this might just piss Tiger off so bad that he goes to Augusta an angry Tiger.

Oh..... he was complaining about the greens. Everybody has to putt them Tiger.

40 minutes til Tee Time

Post by William

Get your Honey-do list finished quickly. Tiger and Phil are paired together today. Tee off at 12:29 our time. Golf Channel coverage starts at 12:30. Tiger is 4 back, Phil 6. Not a chance Charlie Wi holds on today. He leads by 3. Watch out for Dustin Johnson. He's won twice at Pebble before.

Here comes the Saturday Lovefest

Post by William

It's Celebrity Saturday at Pebble Beach. That means Bill Murray, George Lopez, Bill Bellichick and Nick Saban. It also means Tony Romo who's playing with Tiger. So be prepared to not see much golf(except for TW of course) and be prepared for Jim Nantz to swoon over Tiger like a teenage girl. The blimp shots of Pebble are worth staying with it, though. Just turn down the volume while you're watching a CBball game on the other TV.

FYI, in case you didn't see it (trust me, you didn't), Phil beat Tiger by 3 shots on the same course yesterday. You won't see that on the ESPN crawl.

On another subject of "Did he really say that?", Jordan Jefferson shows why he's not the brightest bulb in the store.

http://sportsradiointerviews.com/2012/02/09/college-football-bcs-national-championship-lsu-tigers-jefferson/

Here's a really good recipe for a cold Saturday/Sunday afternoon of sports watching. I substitute Chili Sauce for the ketchup and Italian Seasoning for the other herbs. The key is sopping up the sauce with the bread. Have a roll of paper towels at the ready. Good stuff.

http://www.food.com/recipe/oven-baked-bbq-shrimp-207429

A quick analysis - BRAVES NEED OFFENSE - to erase the 2011 sting.

Post by Mike
With pitcher's reporting  next week it is time for us to shake off the collapse of 2011. So let's examine what happened and what needs to be done to avoid another disaster.

First take a look at the 2011 offensive stats: 2011 NL Offensive Stats

Notice that the Braves finished 13th in the NL. Several factors contributed to that. Jason Heyward's sophomore slump, Dan Uggla's horrid first half, and let's not forget Michael Bourne didn't get to Atlanta until the second half of the season.

If Atlanta is going to challenge in 2012, the offense has to improve and must start putting some teams away in the first six innings. Remember that Venters and Kimbrel where so over used last season, that both had empty tanks down the stretch.

Even though the arms faltered in September, the overall stats were still great: 2011 NL Pitching Stats

The team finished 4th in ERA and tied for 2nd with 52 saves.

The defense was pretty good too: 2011 NL Fielding Stats The Braves finished 2nd in the league here.

So we have a top tier pitching and fielding team. All we need now, is some offense.

Braves move single-A team, but not to Georgia.

Post by Mike

Too bad Columbus, Macon or Albany didn't get in on this:

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/02/08/braves-hope-to-move-class-a-team-to-n-c-by-2014/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog

Maybe they will bring the Mississippi team closer to home.

1st CBball Lock of the Year!!!

Post by William

OK. Now that football is over, (until Draft season), now it's time to turn to CBball. Wouldn't it be nice if one of the state schools was decent? GT is awful and they beat UGA. Kinda makes the season uninspiring. It seems to me that if those 2 schools could just get the best players inside I-285, they would be in the top half of their leagues.

I won't be picking many CBball games this year but this is one of the biggest up to now. OH, and it's a layup.

NORTH CAROLINA(Home) minus 6 vs Duke        UNC will dominate the Blue Devils inside and cover 6 points EASILY.

Time to study the brackets

Post by Mike
Tourney time is just around the corner so we have to review Jerry Palm's Bracket Projections.

Link here: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

If the selection were held today he is predicting Kentucky would be a 1 seed. Florida, Bama, Vandy and Mississippi State would make the cut. He is also predicting that Mizzou will be a 1 seed. They may not bring much to the football table, but that makes a powerful statement on the hard court.

"Stand by Your Man!!"

Post by William

Vinny from Brooklyn tried to give Giselle some grief last night. She gives it back to him and calls out Patiots receivers.

She's so hot I'm sure Tom will give her a pass.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/06/gisele-consoles-brady-rips-bleepin-patriots-receivers-after-loss/

Super Bowl Pick

Post by William

Here's a game in case you really want to miss work on Monday

http://outkickthecoverage.com/super-bowl-46-drinking-game.php

New England Patriots minus 3 vs NEW YORK GIANTS in a shootout.