Don't call it a comeback...

...I've been here for YEARS!!

That's right...this is actual new material on the old Stuff of Legend blog today. The last few months have been very....well..."interesting" doesn't really seem to cover it, but I guess it will have to do. Not going to get into it, other than to say that I don't have to be nearly as careful about voicing my appreciation of my favorite television hotties anymore...no strings attached, baby!

So, I have TONS of stuff to get to, obviously. Lots of stuff happened while I was away that I started to blog about, but just couldn't work up the energy or motivation. Let's just pretend that I made my usual really cool and witty remarks about everything that has happened in the sports and pop culture worlds over the last three months or so and MOVE FORWARD.

Let's get the sports stuff out of the way first, so that my sports-only "audience" (yeah, right...as if I still have an audience at this point) can check out once we get to what is really going to be the bulk of this post...

- The Braves pitching staff has been absolutely ridiculous to this point...in a good way.

Second in the majors with a team ERA of 2.94. First in the majors in strikeouts. First in batting average against (a paltry .218). First in WHIP at 1.09.

Those are numbers that even the Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz pitching staffs would be proud of. Top to bottom, this is the best staff in baseball. Philly probably has better starters, but their bullpen can't even touch ours.

But, much like some of those '90s teams, the offense has been inconsistent, and really needs to get rolling if we want to stay in contention for the division. As good as our pitching staff is, it is unrealistic to expect the kind of dominance we are seeing right now to last all season...they will have rough patches when they need the offense to carry them.

To me, the key is three guys:

Dan Uggla: .202 avg, .664 OPS,
Jason Heyward: .219 avg, .749 OPS
Freddie Freeman: .226 avg, .678 OPS

We need to get at least two of these guys going on a consistent basis if we want the offense to stay on track. I don't worry so much about Uggla...he's a proven performer who has a long history of starting slow and then heating up as the weather does. Heyward and Freeman, however, concern me, only because they don't have a proven track record. Heyward can't seem to stay healthy, and his numbers since his hot start last year are Francoueresque. Freeman is obviously going through the majors for the first time, so we have no idea what to really expect.

And, of course, those two guys were also the SI cover boys. Coincidence? (yeah, probably)

- I loved the Falcons move to get Julio Jones. Yes, we gave up a lot. Yes, I would have rather drafted A.J. But to me, this move says that our front office thinks we are ready to win NOW. The guys we would have gotten with the picks we traded away might have been nice for the future (although it could be the case that Dimitroff et. al. saw this draft as extremely top-heavy), but when you have a window to compete for a Super Bowl, you better take advantage of it.

Two more thoughts: 1) the future picks should all be even lower than our pick this year, if the move pays off. Yes, that's an IF...this was a gamble, and all gambles have risks. 2) Who's to say we don't make other deals that get some of those future picks back?

As for A.J....I would love to have him. But I can pretty confidently guarantee that we called Cincy with the same offer we made the Browns. It takes two to make a trade.

My one qualm with the pick...Julio, as good as I think he will be (and I thought he was the second best WR in this draft, but would have been the best in the draft in most years), is still going to start next season as your #2 WR behind Roddy White. And we are paying him #6 pick money. That's a lot of money to pay your 2nd WR, no matter what the new CBA ends up doing to rookie salaries.

- The Hawks. Whatever. I knew after the offseason that we had before the year started that this organization is not aiming for anything other than an occasional appearance in the second round. Larry Drew and Joe Johnson are not the foundation on which championships are built.

We got lucky in the first round that we drew an opponent that was actually more dysfunctional than us. In the second round, it came down to the fact that Chicago has a superstar, and the Hawks only have someone who makes superstar money.

Next year, we likely lose Crawford, and we don't have money to go get a difference maker because we gave it all to Joe Johnson.

Whee.

- I guess the biggest news to come out of Dawg Nation in the last couple of months is the apparent shakeup in the backfield.

I wish Washaun Ealey well, and will always remember him for the night that he and Caleb RAN THIS STATE. But I will also remember him for wasted potential and an apparent bad attitude that was even more apparent to those who followed him on social media. I think he was given multiple chances to get his act together and chose not to...at which point, it's best for the team that he move on, no matter how much it hurts to lose your top rusher.

Now we anxiously await news on Caleb King's eligibility. Yes, I think Isaiah Crowell is a real talent, maybe a game-changing talent...but I thought the same thing about some other highly recruited guys who never panned out, as well. Plus I just don't like the idea of going into the season with two guys who have never carried the ball in an actual game as your top two tailbacks, with the number three guy being an undersized back that Coach Bobo is apparently trying to murder (stop running him up the middle!!).

As usual at this time of the year, I am really excited about the upcoming season. The defense should almost certainly improve, both because of experience in the system and some upgraded personnel along the d-line. Aaron Murray should be one of the top QBs in the SEC, as long as he gets time to throw and his receivers don't let him down.

Should be more to come as we get closer to fall practice...which is only a few (well, a dozen or so) weeks away!

OK...that concludes the sports-related portion of our programming. From here on out, it's a mishmash of pop culture stuff and other random observations, so if you aren't interested in that, no hard feelings...come on back next time (promise it won't be three months).

- This week is Upfronts Week for the networks, which is when they all announce their fall schedules, introducing their new shows and confirming the demise of others. This is also the week that my phone dies around lunchtime, due to the fact that all of the TV critics and bloggers that I follow on Twitter are all tweeting the same news at the same time. I received 25 Twitter messages just while typing that last sentence.

This is also the week when I wish I could go back and be a television writer. One that could actually get paid for the mountain of words that are about to spill out all over this page.

I am legitimately fascinated by things like network strategy...what new shows get greenlit, what gets cancelled and why, putting together a nightly primetime schedule and things like lead-ins, synergies between shows, etc. I'm a geek for several things, but this type of stuff is probably where I geek out the hardest.

I am especially intrigued to see how the networks are adjusting their strategies to deal with the brand new paradigms that they are now facing. It hasn't been too long ago that a "hit" TV show drew 20-30 million viewers a week. Now, with cable stations providing TONS more original programming, some of which is considered to be much higher quality than the typical network show, plus the rapid increase of either "timeslot shifting" (people DVR a show and then watch it whenever they want) or alternative means of watching television (OnDemand, DVD/Netflix, Hulu, etc) networks can't DREAM of hitting those types of numbers, with extremely rare exception (Super Bowl, etc). In my opinion, where this has hurt the most is in the development of new shows. Quick, tell me what the big break out network hits have been in the last two years....and by "hits" I'm talking about shows that actually draw numbers that win time slots.

GO!

OK, time's up...I came up with Glee, Dancing With the Stars, The Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice, and what seems like a dozen CSI, NCIS, L&O type spinoffs. MAYBE The Mentalist? It's almost all reality show drivel or boring procedurals (all opinions in this blog are mine, obviously...if you enjoy those shows, more power to you, and congratulations...you have LOTS of choices).

Now let's look at the world of cable...for a cable channel, a "hit" doesn't necessarily mean "ratings", especially for the pay cable channels. It's all about brand prestige, reputation, and (for the pay channels) subscriptions. Mad Men. Breaking Bad. Boardwalk Empire. True Blood. Walking Dead. Justified. Dexter. I could go on, but you get my point...and that's without even mentioning shows like Sons of Anarchy, or Damages, or Weeds, or Nurse Jackie, or United States of Tara....all shows that, while they may not draw big numbers, all enhance the reputation and brand recognition of their networks.

So...what's the difference? First of all, the obvious...cable networks can get away with things content-wise that broadcast networks can't. That is a definite advantage.

But that can't be all of it. Seriously...what does Mad Men and Breaking Bad show or do that you can't get away with on network television? It's not anything that would really be missed, and it's not why the show works.

I think a big part of it is that cable networks go into it knowing that they are never going to pull the ratings that would typically be expected of a network show, which relieves some of the pressure to yank shows off the air if they aren't pulling huge numbers. True Blood is a great example...when it premiered on HBO, it got less-than -respectable ratings, and in a network environment (assuming that it was a show that had network type content), probably would have been pulled from the schedule almost immediately. Instead, it was left on the air, the buzz ramped up (even if the quality didn't), and it is now HBO's biggest hit.

I don't know what the answer is for the broadcast networks...they somehow have to find a way to sell advertising and make money, and for now their only real way of doing that is using a ridiculously antiquated Nielsen system. I foresee a future where ALL television is web based..NBC won't be a "channel", it will be a website. All of their content will be on the website, and you go and choose whatever you want to watch and it comes straight to your television. That is not something that we are years away from, at least not from a technology standpoint. We HAVE the TECHNOLOGY. What we don't have is a way of monetizing it that works for everybody...the networks, the consumer, the advertisers, the production staffs and writers, etc.

I just hope they figure it out soon...I'm tired of every new network show I start to get into being yanked off the air before it has time to find its feet, with The Chicago Code being the latest example (and Lord, Shawn Ryan deserved better after Terriers). Broadcast networks, in my opinion, have to come up with a new definition of what a "successful" show is...we can't keep using the same parameters in a completely new environment.

This isn't to say that there isn't quality programming currently on network television...but a lot of what I consider quality (Parks and Rec, Community, Chuck, Fringe, Cougar Town, etc) aren't ratings hits by any stretch of the imagination, and seem to live on the cancellation bubble, while stuff like The Voice, Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, etc. always seems to do huge numbers.

So I am very thankful that some of my favorite shows have been granted a reprieve. Looking at the numbers, it's really hard to fathom why the networks have chosen so save some, while others have gone by the wayside...but I'm glad for it anyway.

OK, I promise the rest of the bullet points will be shorter.

- Speaking of upfronts, this is the trailer from the new show that I am most excited about...believe it or not, it's from NBC (I KNOW, RIGHT?!?)

Looks pretty awesome, right? Which means that it will probably be cancelled by the time this post is actually published.

- Is there a way to tell a new girl at work that you find her REALLY attractive? I mean, without coming off like a total creep?

- Guess I should say something about American Idol. Basically, I give up. I said months ago that Scotty McReery was going to win the whole thing...based on my master thesis on American Idol Demographics (I should TOTALLY HAVE WRITTEN THAT), he has the Country Vote, the Teenybopper Vote, and the Grandmother Vote. Those are probably the three most powerful voting blocs in the American Idol Universe, so he is systematically destroying everybody in his path. I would be willing to bet that if they actually released the voting totals, he would be winning every single week. By TONS. Even before he broke out the "Vote for me or the terrorists win!!" strategy last week.

And, gah...he makes me want to punch him in the neck every time he performs.

The show has really missed both Simon and the different genre nights...without those two factors forcing contestants out of their comfort zones, everybody just does the same exact thing every....single...week. And the judges have been atrocious...the problem with praising EVERYTHING that everybody does is that it causes your praise to mean nothing. That was why it was always such a big deal when Simon gave positive feedback...you knew that if he was praising it, that praise was earned.

Anyway...I'm definitely watching out of habit (maybe even obligation) at this point. And no matter what I say, I will probably be right back there every single season until it gets cancelled and puts both me and the show out of our misery.

- Best five comedies currently on TV (either airing or just finished their season), in order: Parks and Recreation, Community, Cougar Town, Raising Hope, Bob's Burgers.

Just missed the cut: Modern Family (too inconsistent, but when it's on its game there are few better), The Office (WAY too up and down this season, and the Will Ferrell thing was a disaster), Archer (been off the air too long to qualify, but no show delivers more laughs per second).

What do you think? Let me know in the comments....next time out I will do dramas.

- So I have one question about the Fringe season finale...if it was 15 years in the future, how come everybody looked the same as they do now? I'm not counting the 4 gray hairs that Peter had. Take it from someone who knows...15 years does a LOT more damage to a head of hair than that.

Yep, that was the one question...everything else made perfect sense.

- Right now, the album I am most likely to be listening to on repeat is Manchester Orchestra's "Mean Everything to Nothing." Nothing but quality, start to finish.

And trust me, I love everything on Adele's "21", but I can't listen to it on repeat unless I want to throw myself off a cliff, only to have Superman swoop down and catch me, and then drop me from HIGHER. (tm Louie C.K.).

- I think I am officially done with How I Met Your Mother after last night. This whole season has been borderline awful (hated everything about the Zoey storyline), but I stuck with it, in large part because I felt like we were promised in the season premiere that by the time we got to that wedding, we would be getting ANSWERS. Instead, all we got was more mysteries...who is Barney marrying, and (most of all), why is this wedding so important to Ted? It was strongly hinted in the premiere that this is when he meets the mother, and maybe it is...but we are certainly no closer to knowing now than we were 22 episodes ago.

Look, I understand how hypocritical this is of someone who to this day will defend LOST with my dying breath...but the time for mysteries is over. They need to move the story FORWARD. In what way has the story moved forward this season? Marshall and Lily are pregnant (a storyline that you knew had to happen eventually), and Barney is marrying...somebody. And we still have no clue who the mother is.

It's time. And, no, I disagree with those who say that once you meet the mother the show is over. The story of a relationship doesn't end when you meet...there could still be LOTS of story to tell after that, with the mother just being another character on the show, that would HAVE to be more interesting than the water-treading that is going on now.

- I am now two thirds of the way through the Hunger Games trilogy...it's very interesting, gripping, exciting stuff. Definitely written for a younger audience, but the plot is tight enough that we older teenagers can still enjoy it. I would certainly recommend it to any parents with young adult readers...I bought my 13 year old a copy this weekend and can't wait to talk about it with her.

- I apologize to all two of you out there who were looking forward to detailed recaps of Game of Thrones. First of all, I never really could decide on a format...do I write it with readers in mind, or non-readers? There is no way I have time to do both...it would be really hard to recap it from a non-reader perspective, having read the entire series multiple times, but I know that out of what little audience I have, the majority would be non-readers.

And then...well, life got in the way and rendered the whole decision moot.

The series has been fantastic...the look is amazing, the acting is superb (and, yes, I would still want to adopt Maisie Williams if it wasn't so obvious that she must have parents far more superb and amazing than I could ever hope to be). My only real issue with the show to this point is the editing...we seem to move REALLY quickly between scenes, which I think hinders the viewer's ability to fully consume what he's just seen. This is probably due to having SO MUCH to fit in to each episode...which then makes me nervous about next season, when they will supposedly have the same number of episodes to tell tons more story.

But that's a worry for next season...for now, I am really enjoying the show. And what's better, several friends of mine who aren't fans of the book are loving it as well, which means that the writers and producers really are doing a fantastic job.

There have been several scenes, especially in the last episode, that never actually happened in the book. Since I am trying to view the show as a separate entity from the books as much as I can, I can safely say that I have really loved every single one of them, and feel like they have added even more depth to even some of the main characters than they might have had without these additional scenes.

Bravo all around, really...and for those of you who are watching and have not read the books, buckle your seatbelts. You ain't seen nothing yet.

By the way, if you're going to comment on Game of Thrones at all, please...no spoilers for non-readers. Thanks.

OK...I think that's enough for now. Even though I haven't even mentioned The Killing (liking it until last week...at which point I loved it), Chuck (perfect finale, and leads up to what I think can be a really cool final season), Firefly (watching it for the first time as it's being re-run on the Science Channel - is it too late to start a campaign to get it renewed?), or Deadwood (the one season I haven't seen, S3, just popped up OnDemand - all I can say, in the spirit of the show, is $%!@, &$*@, and %&!@#!).

Ahhh...it's good to be back.

Catchin' up

Well, I'm back from Florida...which, of course, means that posting will actually be MORE sporadic, not less.

Go figure.

So...what's been going on?

- First of all, my long ago promised (and even longer overdue) apology to Troy Glaus. I was as hard on him as anybody early in the season, hitting him hard both on the blog and on my Twitter feed.

All he's done since then is win the NL Player of the Month for May and take over the NL lead in RBI.

So, maybe instead of apologizing, I should just say....you're WELCOME!

Just kidding...I was wrong, so I'll gladly admit it.

Troy Glaus for MVP!!

- While I was in Destin, the mighty Trojans of USC got as close to the death penalty as any program is going to get post-SMU.

To which I say, simply:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! ::gasp, gasp::.....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, man, that's AWESOME.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite part was when Kiffykins said that the sanctions (loss of 30 scholarships over three years, two-year bowl ban, and most interestingly, the release of juniors and seniors to transfer to another school without sitting out) will have "no impact" on recruiting.

He followed that up with "DERP DERP DERPITTY DERP".

- Also, the Big 12 threatened to explode, only to be saved at the last minute thanks to Texas graciously accepting an additional $15 MILLION DOLLARS or so to stay put. Such a charitable gesture.

I was pretty out of the loop while all of the conversations were going on last week, so I will leave it to others to go through all the ins and outs and backroom politics. I just know that I was extremely glad that the rumored Texas A&M move to the SEC didn't happen. I really don't want to see the SEC expand at all, and I especially don't want them to make a move just because everybody else is and water down the conference by bringing in inferior teams.

I also don't like what SEC expansion would do to the schedule. I don't really want to see more than 8 SEC games on the schedule, so even if the conference was to only expand to two seven-team divisions, in order to keep from going to 9 SEC games you would have to drop one of the "rotating" games. So we would have 6 division games, the game against Auburn, and then only one rotating SEC game, which would mean we would go 10 years or more between games against LSU, Alabama, and the other teams in the SEC West. I don't like that.

Surprisingly enough, Mike Slive didn't ask my opinion, and I don't expect that to change when this comes up again in a couple of years. Expansion is inevitable, I'm afraid...I was just glad the SEC dodged the bullet this time around.

So...is the Big 12 (or whatever they will be called now) really going to go with just ten teams and no championship game? If so, can we take their automatic BCS bid away? Otherwise, won't the winner of the Texas-Oklahoma game just cakewalk to the BCS every year?

- Remember when I was so excited about the fact that the Hawks let Mike Woodson go, and maybe the team was going to go in a different direction other that stagnant mess we've seen over the last two years?

Yeah...never mind.

- Couple of key additions to the Dawgs over the last couple of weeks.

First of all, we got a big commitment from Nick Marshall. I absolutely love this story...this guy grew up a Dawg fan and Georgia was his dream school. We were recruiting him as a quarterback, as were most of the other schools pursuing him, but then we received the commitment from Christian Lemay and Coach Richt said we probably wouldn't take another quarterback in the 2011 class. The gnats were his second choice, so he came very close to committing to them...and then Coach Richt called and offered him as a defensive back. Nick JUMPED at the second chance to be a Dawg...my kind of guy.

On top of that, he is also one of the top basketball recruits in the state, and he will be playing for Coach Fox's Hoop Dawgs as well. The basketball program is making HUGE strides in the right direction under Coach Fox...with the talent we have coming back plus a couple of big recruits, I think we could really make some noise in 2010-2011.

Here are some highlights of Nick playing DB (h/t to Bubba 'n Earl):



Then, today the Dawgs got some more big news when Jarvis Jones decided to transfer to UGA from USC. Jarvis was very highly recruited in 2009, when Rivals had him rated as the 3rd best prospect in Georgia. He had a neck injury last season, after which USC released him from his scholarship, but all reports from both the USC and UGA medical staff seem to indicate that he is ready to play.

I think Jarvis fits in EXTREMELY well as an inside linebacker in Todd Grantham's 3-4 defense. If he does step in there and live up to his vast potential, we could be looking at a possible 2012 linebacking corps of Cornelius Washington (assuming he doesn't have a big enough year to jump to the NFL in '10), Jarvis Jones, Richard Samuel, and T.J. Stripling.

I'll take it.

Here are some Jarvis Jones highlights from when he was being recruited:




Getting fired up yet? Only 81 DAYS TO KICKOFF!!!

To celebrate, here is a very well done highlight video of the Dawgs win over TAMU in the Independence Bowl...our #81, Aron White, has a couple of big plays (at the 2:35 and 4:36 marks):



And, while I'm at it, since I missed yesterday, here is one of my favorite highlights from the career of #82, Fred Gibson...a fingertip TD catch against the gators:


Good to be back...

GO DAWGS!!!

An actual sports post?!?!

Yeah, I think it's about time...

Despite what regular readers of this blog (hi, Mom!) might think, I am actually interested in things other than LOST and American Idol. This blog actually started as more of a sports blog, and believe me....when football season cranks up, it will be again.

So...what's been going on?

Springtime in DawgNation:
- I am cautiously optimistic about the defense based on the reports out of spring practice. I love the change in mindset, and the energy that seemed to have been pumped into the program and the fanbase by our new coaches. And, Lord knows, I love hearing the word "fundamentals" being preached every single day, especially by our new LB Coach Belin.

As I have mentioned before, I think our personnel may actually be better suited to the 3-4 than a 4-3. Looking at the depth chart released yesterday, there are TONS of athletes across the board, and I think they are going to be much better utilized than they have been the last few years.

Having said that, it's very difficult to completely revamp an entire defensive philosophy in just one season...there are going to be some growing pains this year. So while I expect to see more plays being made by a more aggressive and fundamentally sound defense (more turnovers, more plays made in the backfield), I also fully expect there to be times when receivers are running around uncovered because somebody didn't know where they were supposed to be.

Hopefully, it will sort of balance out this year...but, worst case scenario, we may have some games where we give up 35-40 points. Which is what we were doing already, but at least now I have hope for the future.

- I take absolutely nothing from G-Day even in a "normal" year, but this year especially. We didn't run anything close to what our actual defensive scheme is going to look like, and we did absolutely nothing on offense other than run some basic plays.

G-Day is just a practice, and for that matter it's the least relevant practice of the entire spring from a scheme standpoint. Yeah, it's nice to see what they do in front of a "crowd", but is there really any comparison between 25-30K very quiet fans on G-Day and 92K going crazy on a game day? Or 108K inbred hillbillies who want to kill you in Neyland?

Fans should treat it for what it is...a nice little taste of some live football before the long dark days of summer.

Which is why I didn't get all that worked up over Zach Mettenberger outplaying Aaron Murray on G-Day, which leads me to my next point...

- Aaron Murray was ALWAYS going to be the starter at QB for 2010. ALWAYS. Losing Mettenberger certainly hurts from a depth standpoint, as we are now one injury away from a QB 2-deep of Logan Gray and Hutson Mason (::shudder::). But Mett was not going to be the starter on this team, despite having a really good day of practice on April 10.

As for the Mettenberger situation itself...what a maroon. If the accounts that most of us have read by now are true, this guy took jackass to a whole new level (pardon the language, but there is no better word for it), and was still probably going to get away from it relatively unscathed if he had just SHUT UP to the police...but he was having none of that, choosing instead to keep arguing with the police even after the young ladies and restaurant employees had declined to press charges. Then, apparently, when he met with the coaches he lied to them about it and showed little to no remorse. So, basically, he threw away a scholarship to play QB at the University of Georgia by being a gigantic buffoon. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

I think that Coach Richt has proven over the years that if you do show contrition and true remorse over your dumb decisions, you will get another chance...that's why I think that his attitude about the situation probably played as much into the ultimate decision as anything else.

(the previous paragraph is strictly my own opinion, and are not based on any inside knowledge of the situation AT ALL...just knowledge of human behavior and how we have seen Coach Richt handle these situations in the past)

- On offense, no matter who the quarterback is, I think the philosophy has to be a HEAVY dose of King/Ealy, with the passing game being predicated on play-action, bootleg type plays to the playmakers (Green, Charles, Wootentheballcarrier, etc). I think that fits our personnel and, fortunately, I think it fits what Bobo wants to do anyway.

I love our offensive line, I love our playmakers...if we can just get adequate QB play and, most importantly, CUT DOWN ON TURNOVERS AND STUPID PENALTIES, I think our offense has a chance to be even better than it was last year...and last year's offense was pretty darn good, for the most part.

The biggest problem with this team right now, based on the last couple of seasons, is that they play dumb football. Hopefully, the changes that have been made will result in a fresh energy and renewed focus on fundamentals, as well as increased accountability on both sides of the ball, and this team will start playing up their talent level.

Oh, and....NO MORE DIRECTIONAL KICKOFFS!!! WOOHOO!!!

Will the Braves be good enough to hold my interest until fall camp starts?
I don't ask much from the Braves anymore...just be good enough so that I have something to pay attention to until early August, when the beginning of fall camp effectively ends the baseball season for me.

So far, results are mixed....

- The starting pitching is very good...it would be great if Derek Lowe could start earning that $15M salary. The way things are going right now, I think this rotation would be better with Kawakami as the number 4, with Lowe as the number 5 starter/long relief guy. Not that this could ever happen, because of the monetary investment the team has in Lowe.

Jurrjens has been sharp other than one horrid outing, Hanson continues to develop, and Hudson seems to be fully recovered. Lowe is just the fly in the punch bowl.

- Bullpen has been excellent so far...I just hope that Wagner and Saito (combined age: 378) can make it through an entire season.

- I consider myself lucky to be able to watch Jason Heyward. So much has been said about him that I can't add much...he's a superstar, he's going to be a Hall of Famer, and we're getting to watch the first green shoots of his career on a nightly basis.

- TERRIBLE offseason for Frank Wren. We traded Vasquez (arguably our best pitcher last year) for Melky Cabrera, who is just atrocious. Yes, I am aware that either Vasquez or Lowe were going to be moved, and teams were understandably reluctant to take on Lowe and his $15M salary (see above)...but the best we could get was Melky Cabrera, for one of the best pitchers in the NL?

(SIDE NOTE: You know how some trades just work out perfectly, in that both teams are getting exactly what they need even though they are both giving up something of value? The Smoltz - Doyle Alexander trade comes to mind...this was like the exact opposite of that. Vasquez had already proven that A) he is much better suited to the National League; and B) he can't pitch in New York. So the Yankees give up what had been a pretty good 4th outfielder for them for someone who is predestined to be a disaster, and we give up our best starter for a guy who is at best a 4th outfielder, but expect him to be an everyday outfielder and leadoff hitter. Both sides lose.)

"Oh, but wait!" says Frank Wren. "We're not done yet! I know we need a big bat for this lineup, a guy you can count on for HR and run production! Don't judge this move until you see what ELSE we have planned!".

I say, "OK....awesome! Maybe this means we are getting in on the Matt Holliday/Jason Bay discussions? Somebody like that?"

Um...no. Instead we sign Troy Glaus. The same Troy Glaus who missed all of 2009 with an elbow injury, and hasn't been nearly the same player ever since the Mitchell Report was published.

I don't think I have ever yelled at my radio with as much fury as I did the day that Frank Wren was interviewed during spring training and he went on and on about how tall the middle of our lineup had the potential to be. "Man, look at us...Chipper is 6'4, Glaus is 6'6, Heyward is 6'5. That's got to be intimidating for a pitcher!"

Look, if you are in any way intimidated by the sight of Troy Glaus coming to the plate, you have no business being a major league pitcher. Any pitcher worth his salt has to be SALIVATING at watching this automatic rally killer come up in a key spot. His line so far? .170 Avg, .524 OPS, 16 strikeouts and 8 RBI in 53 AB. Yeah....twice as many strikeouts as RBI. That's not good for a #5 hitter, right?

I say we put Eric Hinske in the lineup every single day, and let Troy Glaus do what he does best. Be really tall.

Anyway...this team would fit in really well in the mid-80's National League. Great pitching, solid defense, and an offense that is going to put up maybe 3-4 runs a game. In today's baseball, that's just not enough.

Hey, did you know the Hawks are in the playoffs?
The Hawks are currently manhandling the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. Without Andrew Bogut, the Bucks have absolutely no answer for Al Horford and Josh Smith inside, and they are wreaking havoc.

Josh, in particular, has been a joy to watch this season. He seems to have finally come to grips with the fact that he is never going to be a three-point shooter and is instead doing...everything else. He fills the box score up like Scottie Pippen, and also includes the whining to officials like Pippen, but without the bad hair (seriously...what was UP with that guy's scalp? It looked like it had been PLOWED or something). A typical night from him is like 16 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 4 thunderous dunks that fire the whole team up and keeps them involved in the game.

Here's the down side...this team isn't getting out of the 2nd round, and it's all because of their head coach. The Hawks have two glaring weaknesses...inconsistent effort on defense and an utter lack of a halfcourt offense. These are the two things that kill a team in the playoffs, especially once they get out of the first round and start facing really good teams, and they can both be attributed to poor coaching, in my opinion.

Mike Woodson has been very lucky in that he has been the coach during a time when a very young team has grown up together, so he gets credit for the win totals increasing every year. And I don't think Woodson is a TERRIBLE head coach...I just think his specific deficiencies are the ones most likely to be exploited in the postseason.

Hopefully, I'm wrong...Atlanta certainly has the talent to match up with the Magic in the second round. If we can get past them, maybe we can win one or two games against Lebron and the Cavs. That's probably the absolute ceiling for this team.


OK...that was fun! Turns out I had more to say than I thought I did...maybe I should do this more often?

We interrupt this hiatus to announce another hiatus...

OK, as you can tell, I have gotten off of whatever posting “schedule” that I was ever on…sorry (again) for the intermittent posts. I could give you a long list of excuses, but instead I will just say that I probably won’t be back on a schedule until after the first of the year.

Here’s what I expect will happen, as far as future posts: I will almost definitely have a reaction to whomever the Dawgs get as our next defensive coordinator. I will certainly post some sort of recap to the Independence Bowl, and hopefully a season recap as well. If any big recruiting news breaks, I will likely react to that here as well.

After that, I plan on doing the same type of posting for American Idol and Lost as I did last year…consider yourself warned!

So, here are all of the posts I have been saving up for the past few weeks to tide you over until I get off my lazy butt and start posting regularly again…I’ll warn you ahead of time to pack a lunch. Even by my standards, this is gonna be a long one.

THE TECH GAME

- Maybe the most satisfying win of Coach Richt’s tenure, at least for me. Others may have been more important (the SECCG wins, Auburn ’02, etc), but there is nothing more fun than beating the gnats when they are just SURE that it can’t happen. Add in the fact that so many of them were such turds after the passing of UGA VII, and what happened last year, and the fact that this is supposed to be THE year for them while it’s certainly a down year for us…”sweet” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

I also work with a bunch of Techies, and it’s amazing how much better I feel about having to interact with them on a daily basis now vs. how I felt for the past year. Many jokes have been made about how that win “set the universe right” or whatever…there is at least a kernel of truth in that for Dawg fans. I spent the last year simmering with rage every time I passed one of them in the hall…now we can all be friends again. Sort of. Until next year.

- And while it may not have been the MOST important game of Richt’s career, I don’t think you can overemphasize the fact that this win was definitely important. As bad as this season has gone (and a 7-5 season with a blowout loss to a mediocre UT team and a home loss to Kentucky is putrid), can you imagine what the fallout would be from 6-6 with 2 straight losses to the gnats? This game, plus the postgame decisions that showed that he was serious about fixing what went wrong this year, went a long way in restoring confidence in Coach Richt that some had lost.

- Many have asked where that team was all year, especially the running game. I think the resurgence of the running game started about 8 games into the season, and it can be attributed to two factors:

• Stabilization of the offensive line. Once Sturdivant went down in the opener, the o-line was in a state of flux until around the Tennessee Tech game. Once the current lineup was settled, things really began opening up.

• Caleb and Washaun got healthy. I think this was the biggest factor. Washaun is a true freshman who missed a lot of camp due to injury, so there was a definite learning curve. Caleb battled hamstring problems and then a broken jaw early in the season. Once these two got healthy enough to share the bulk of the carries (and send Samuel, God bless him, off to learn the linebacker position), the running game became a real threat.

- Overall, it was a best case scenario for me…we beat Tech, but it is not enough to keep from having to make changes. Which brings me to my next point…


THE COACHING CHANGES

- I let you know how I feel about the ongoing search here.

- As far as the actual move goes, I think it absolutely had to happen. There was no way to justify the steady decline in defensive output over the last four years, beginning with the Sugar Bowl debacle against West Virginia. I was still worried that Coach Richt would still find enough excuses to keep his friend around for another year, so I was very happy to see him make the tough move.

And once that decision was made, he decided to give whomever the new DC is the ability to hire his own staff by sending Jancek and Fabris away as well. This was less of a no-brainer for me, especially Fabris and his history of developing NFL-quality defensive ends, but it was probably the right move. Part of what doomed the Tony Franklin experiment at Auburn was the fact that Tubbs didn’t let Franklin bring in his own guys, and the old staff just never bought into his philosophy. If we’re going to go after a big-time DC, then I think a total house cleaning was necessary.

All that being said, I want to publicly thank all three of these guys for their hard work and efforts during their time in Athens. I didn’t always agree with the decisions that they made, but I never doubted that they were trying their best to bring a championship to the Dawgs.

- A couple of interesting notes that have come out in the last couple of days:

• Nickell Roby, the cornerback out of Frostproof, FL that I think is a MUST get for this class, expressed some concerns right after the decision was made to let Martinez go. Martinez was the coach who recruited him, was going to be his position coach, etc. Robey took his official visit to Athens over the weekend and had some interesting things to say ($), including that Coach Richt told him he was going to hire “somebody that I like”. That sounds to me like maybe Coach Richt might already have an idea who that person will be, especially since…
• Several reports out of the GALA banquet this past weekend are saying that Coach Richt “has his man”.
  

I have no idea what any of that means, especially in light of the fact that Kirby Smart was supposedly “in the building” over the weekend. I stand by the fact that I would be shocked (happy, but shocked) if Smart leaves Alabama, but the timing is interesting.

Oh, and also…somebody needs to take Twitter away from David Pollack. If you are following him, you know what I am talking about.

- One more quick note on the Dawgs…the Outback really screwed us by taking Auburn. If not for that, we would most likely be in either Atlanta or Nashville, instead of 5PM on a Monday on ESPN2 in Shreveport.


NON-DAWG SPORTS STUFF

- Did the Falcons build their training facility on some sort of Indian burial ground or something? We are rapidly approaching having to hear for ANOTHER year about how the Falcons have never had back-to-back winning seasons.

How has this promising season gone wrong? Let us count the ways:

• Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Harry Douglas, Harvey Dahl, Sam Baker, Jerious Norwood, Todd McClure. All offensive starters, and all have missed significant time due to injury.

• John Abraham has been MIA all season.

• Jason Elam has Steve Sax Disease (or Mark Wohlers Disease for you whippersnappers who don’t remember Steve Sax).

• The defensive secondary is atrocious, just like we all knew it probably would be.

Add all of that up, and what do you get? Probably 8-8, and that’s fairly amazing when you take another look at that list.

- I have no idea what the Braves are doing in their bullpen. We have replaced Soriano and Gonzales with Wagner and Saito…basically the same amount of money, but about 20 years older combined.

Wagner, in particular, concerns me…he’s 38 years old, coming off of Tommy John surgery. It always concerns me when these tiny little power pitchers start having arm trouble. They just have to produce so much torque to get the velocity that they are used to. Would not be at all surprised to see his arm fall off about halfway through the season. Maybe Lowe becomes the closer if we can’t find a taker in the trade market?

Still think the Braves are one big bat away from being contenders, but blowing up their bullpen really doesn’t help.

- I know most of you probably don’t care, but the Hawks are really good, and tons of fun to watch.

It looks like the light has finally come on for Josh Smith…he no longer fancies himself a three point shooter, and is instead going to the basket, attacking the offensive glass, and will probably make the All-NBA defensive team this year with his shot-blocking and skill at getting his hand into passing lanes.

If Jamal Crawford continues what he’s done so far, he will walk away with the Sixth Man award. Seems like he puts up 20 points off the bench every night. And we got him for Speedy Claxton and Acie Law?!?! BWAHAHAHAHA!!

Speaking of things most of you don’t care about…

NON-DAWG, NON-SPORTS STUFF

When I do get back on a regular posting schedule, I will be in all-TV, all the time mode. In fact, many of you who may have found this blog via various Dawgs football sites will probably have a whole different opinion of me once the winter TV season starts.

In that spirit…

Top 5 favorite returning shows I have been watching:

1) Mad Men. I’m counting this one even though the season is over now. Terrific storytelling, amazing writing, perfect acting performances…if you have not been watching this show, do yourself a favor and find copies of the first two seasons and enjoy television as an art form. This season was probably not as fantastic as season 2, but still better than 99% of what else is on.

2) The Office. Still makes me laugh harder than any other show, but can also pull off an episode like “Niagara Falls” that has as many heart-tugging moments as laugh-out-loud funny ones. The best ensemble comedy since Cheers.

3) Fringe. The “weird case of the week” stuff gets sort of pointless and monotonous sometimes (although no show has more cool gross stuff on a weekly basis), but when this show does shows like last week where they focus on the “big picture” story, it’s really superb stuff. Not to mention the fact that those episodes usually focus on the Emmy-worthy performances being turned in by John Noble as the heartbreaking and eccentric Dr. Bishop. Plus, it’s always good to have Pacey around, isn’t it?

4) Big Bang Theory. I just picked this one up about halfway through last season, but I have gone back and watched the entire series. Just when I thought the three camera sitcom with a laugh track was dead, this show comes along and consistently cracks me up. The only drawback is that the laugh track is overused, and it’s a little distracting. But the writing and acting more than make up for it, and Sheldon Cooper is in my top 5 favorite TV characters right now (the others, in case you were wondering: John Locke, Benjamin Linus, Betty Draper, and…Ryan Seacrest).

5) Dollhouse. I know we should consider ourselves lucky that we even got a second season of this Joss Whedon production, considering the abysmal ratings. But the geniuses at Fox really outdid themselves by pairing it with “Til Death” on a Friday night. Regardless, this season (especially the last few episodes) have been television at its best: funny (Topher Brink is hilarious), thought provoking, action filled. And the cast, especially Olivia Williams (Adelle), Enver Gjokaj (Victor), and Fran Kranz (the aforementioned Mr. Brink) have been amazing, along with superb guests Summer Glau and the always fantastic Alan Tudyk.

Honorable mention: The Mentalist, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Amazing Race, How I Met Your Mother


Top 4 favorite NEW shows I am watching:

1) Glee. Now THESE are my people. I watch this show feeling like I am watching home movies. As I’ve said before, I grew up a performing arts geek, and so much of this show is dead-on.

This show doesn’t feature great writing, subtle plot development, or any of the stuff I normally look for in a television show. It’s just FUN. Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester is…well, I can’t think of an adjective that would accurately describe my love for Sue Sylvester. It’s also fun to watch this cast of virtual unknowns (most of them had little to no prior television experience) get a chance to show off every week. And, man, do they show off…the musical performances are outstanding and are prominently featured on my MP3 player.

2) Modern Family. Best new comedy of the season. By FAR. I’m still cracking up about Fizzbo the Clown three weeks later. (People are GOING to stare. They’re not used to seeing only one clown in a car).

3) V. I was looking forward to this show more than any other one besides the very frustrating FlashForward. So far, so good, other than the incredibly annoying and clichéd “Teenage Moron” storyline. Alan Tudyk shows up on this one, too, and is his usual awesome self, as well as Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet from Lost) and the perfectly cast Morena Baccarin as the stylish, sexy, slightly murderous and evil leader of The Visitors. Tons of good stuff here, with nods to philosophy, religion, psychology, fascism, etc, etc. I think this one is going to get really good once it comes back from the long winter break, at which point it will be paired with LOST on the ABC schedule.
4) White Collar. Continues a great run of new shows on USA (Burn Notice, Psych, etc). I love how the shows on USA have a kind of “network TV in the ‘80s” feel to them. This is just another fun little show that they are getting really good at producing…likable characters, witty writing, nothing too challenging. The perfect show to tape on Friday night and then watch over breakfast on Saturday.

(Dis)honorable mention: FlashForward. This one has been a big disappointment, but still I keep watching. I feel like maybe the concept is too big to handle on a TV show. I keep thinking of all the ramifications of a blackout wherein the entire world gets a glimpse of the future, and all the cool things they could do with that, and instead...I am just waiting for something to actually HAPPEN. Not to mention that the lead is played by Joseph Fiennes in one of the most excruciatingly boring performances I have ever seen.


- On a semi-related topic, have any of you been watching Sons of Anarchy? If so, would you recommend going back and watching the first couple of seasons?


- One more note…if you are looking for a good book, and your tastes lean towards the slightly geeky (as mine obviously do), I strongly recommend the “Song of Ice and Fire” series by George R.R. Martin. There have been four written so far, and I am about halfway through the fourth one. I would describe it as either Narnia for grownups or a slightly more modern Lord of the Rings.

There is also production being done on a possible HBO series based on the books that I think has the potential to be phenomenal, so by reading the books you can actually be ahead of the curve!


OK, and with that…I am probably gone until the Dawgs DC is hired, unless something comes up that I REALLY want to write about.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for reading!

And, we're back....(sports edition)

As you can probably tell, I've had a little case of Blogger's Block over the last couple of weeks. Every time I start to write a post, I realize I don't have the energy to say all that I want to say, at least when it comes to my beloved Dawgs. Just know, loyal reader, it's not that I've given up on them, or have "jumped off the bandwagon". No, I've stuck by them through worse times than this. The truth is kind of the opposite...I find it hard to write about them right now because it hurts too much. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated as a fan, not so much by the NUMBER of losses (although five is way too many) as the MANNER of losses. Above all else, right now this team is dumb. We make dumb penalties, commit dumb turnovers, operate with dumb ideas with regards to our mindset in all three phases of the game....we are a dumb team right now, and that frustrates me more than anything else.

And that's all I have say about that.

- As for this week...this week is all about the hate. I think that the entire Dawg fanbase is starting to understand why so many of us still count the trade school as our most hated opponent. One win in 8 years has somehow convinced them all that the tide has turned as far as football dominance in this state. It's like I have always said...there's no team I'd rather beat than Florida, but there is no team I hate losing to more than the trade school.

And, this year, there is even more reason for hatred...their classless, tasteless, and inhumane reaction to the passing of Uga VII (I almost linked a couple of them here, but why give them the traffic. Just imagine the most disgusting, vile, classless response you can think of...and then try to come up with something worse). What kind of person do you have to be to make fun of a lost pet, which is ultimately what the Uga's are for all of us in the Dawg Nation?

I think Bernie said it best...while the Seilers grieved, they laughed. And that is just one more reason why I'm glad to be a Dawg, in spite of whatever this season or any other season has brought or will bring. I could not handle being part of a fan base so pathetic.

I have a hard time coming up with a scenario in which the Dawgs win this game...but if we somehow pull it off, it will go a LONG way towards washing the stench of this season away for me.

- Here's one more reason I have sworn off the AJC for good...yesterday Mark Bradley tweeted a link to his AJC article with this as the message:

Turns out Matthew Stafford, once of UGA and now a Detroit hero, has a heart after all. Fooled me.

OK...now I know that Mr. Bradley works for a particularly pathetic and sickly dinosaur in a business that is on its last legs (and I am NOT going to help by linking to him). And I know that they are DESPERATE for traffic. But what in Stafford's history would lead any rational person to believe that he has no heart?

Was it when he kept getting up and playing his guts out in his freshman season, even when games ended with him looking like this?
Was it the way he kept leading his teams down the field against the trade school last year, despite his defense letting him down over and over again? Was it how he never gave up in ANY game, for that matter, no matter what the situation was? Was it the fact that he never missed a snap at UGA due to injury despite playing some of the toughest and hard hitting defenses in the country?

It's one thing to question somebody's ability. But to question a guy's heart with absolutely no justification, well....it's no wonder that his is a dying business, with that kind of "journalistic" "integrity".

Mr. Bradley, my sincere wish for you and the pathetic rag you work for is that you live up to your reputation and go the way of the DoDo Bird sooner rather than later. Moron.

- I want to get this on record...I know the Falcons are 5-5 right now, and all of us old school Falcons fans are starting to get a serious sense of deja vu. But I think the schedule works out very nicely for the team from here on out, and I say we not only finally see the first ever consecutive winning seasons for this franchise, but we will be in the playoffs...and NOBODY in the NFC will want to play us.

At the same time...can somebody please locate John Abraham and tell him that Aundray Bruce has stolen his jersey?

- If you're not watching the Hawks, you should be...an exciting young team who plays a very entertaining brand of winning basketball. They are really starting to turn some heads, and this is shaping up to be a nice diversion until spring football practice rolls around.

Sorry to have been gone so long...I missed you guys! I'll be back later today or possibly tomorrow with the Non-Sports edition...aka all Geek-TV, all the time.

Weekend thoughts

- First of all, I was slightly wrong about the Hawks, in that I said they were done after game 3, and they in fact ended up winning the worst 7 game series in NBA history. That's not an exaggeration...look it up. You won't find another series where all 7 games were such blowouts. It doesn't even seem possible that a seven game series could be as un-compelling as this one was. If two teams are so close to each other that the series would go the distance, you would think that at SOME point there would be a tightly contested game. You would be wrong.

Some encouraging signs:

• Josh Smith posting up, trying to get to the rim, and taking fewer stupid shots. There were only 2 or 3 times in game 7 where he decided to take a long jumper. In all of those situations, he was wide open, so I can see why he thought they were good shots...but if he has that much room to work, he needs to be using it to drive to the basket. Dude just can NOT hit a jump shot consistently.

• Joe Johnson's play in Game 5, when he was being aggressive and attacking BEFORE the double team arrives. He drives me crazy receiving the pass and then patiently waiting for the double team before making a move. In game 5, he was better, and was much more effective. Unfortunately, that's the only game in which he did that. Sure, he was very impressive in Game 7, but you shouldn't have to count him on heating up from 3-point land the way he did in order to get a big game out of him. He has the ability to get to the front of the rim, he just doesn't seem aggressive enough to want to use it.

And, yes, these were encouraging signs, but ultimately I don't think it matters. Lebron is not just hungry this year, he is STARVING, and I expect that he will do what superstars do and lead his team to a pretty easy series win. Cavs in 5.

That being said, Woodson probably deserves to keep his job, I guess. I'm still not happy with the way this team plays a lot of the time, especially on offense, but you can't argue the fact that the team has gotten progressively better every year under his tutelage, nor do I see any other candidates out there who I think would be a huge improvement.

- Dollhouse season finale is this Friday night...this show got progressively better, in my opinion, and I would love to see Joss get the chance to finish telling the story. Last week's episode was pretty mind blowing, with the reveal of Alpha (which I was not spoiled for, thankfully) and a whole new batch of possibilities. I think the show could get even better. The ensemble cast has proven to be very talented and enjoyable to watch, and they could probably expand some of those roles and not ask Eliza to carry the show. Because, sorry to say it, but she is the weak link on this show. She is great to look at, but I only really buy her performances about half the time.

Here is how I know this is a well-written and conceived show: during the last episode, there is a fight scene between Ballard (the FBI agent) and Boyd (the head of security for a company that basically specializes in human trafficking)....and I wasn't sure who to root for.

- Also, since I have lost a few shows here recently, I picked up a couple of others...How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory. I am THOROUGHLY enjoying both of them, especially Big Bang Theory. Really, really funny stuff.

- Braves ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE! Decent pitching, absolutely ZERO offense, especially with B-Mac out of the lineup. Chipper went 0-0 with FOUR WALKS the other night, because there is nobody else to be afraid of in this lineup. Francouer is definitely better with his new stance, but he seems to be sacrificing power for contact...which is fine, and probably better for him, but this team needs some power somewhere.

And good grief, Jordan Schafer...kid's got loads of talent, but he is currently on pace to strike out 205 times. He has 30 strikeouts in 77 at bats. Yikes. Wouldn't be surprised to see him take a trip to Gwinnett, although Bobby still seems to have a lot of faith in him...he batted him leadoff the other night. Which is probably not a bad idea, as he should certainly see more pitches to hit batting in front of Yunel Escobar than he does in the 8th spot.


- Sympathies and prayers go out to the family of David Cook, who lost his brother Adam last week after a long battle with cancer. David still made his scheduled appearance at a 5K fundraiser for cancer research.

- Nothing much going on in Dawg news, except that the Diamond Dawgs are in the middle of a horrible free fall after spending much of the year ranked #1 in the country. I'm starting to think it's just not good for any Dawgs team to be ranked #1. We don't seem to handle success very well.

- Only 124 days until kickoff!

Weekend thoughts

Random thoughts from the weekend....

- First of all, congratulations to Matt Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, Mohammed Massaquoi, Asher Allen, Corvey Irvin, and Jarius Wynn. This was a proud weekend for the Bulldawg Nation, and I can't wait to see what these guys do on Sundays!

- Confession time...I always tear up a little when I see reactions like Aaron Curry's on Draft Day. I can only imagine the emotions that the players and their families must be going through at that moment when they hear their name called as a first round pick in the NFL draft...the moment their dream comes true, the moment their life changes forever, the moment that makes all of the sacrifice, time, money, effort, and hard work worth it. Even if you've known for some time that you would be selected, THAT moment is when it becomes reality. There's something very cool about that.

- The Raiders are remarkably stupid, and like the text message my brother sent to me on Saturday said, "They DESERVE to suck." I've tried thinking about their drafting of Heyward-Bey at #7 from every possible angle, and I have yet to find one that makes sense. Let's say, just for argument's sake, that you like Heyward-Bey more than Crabtree or Maclin. Laying aside the fact that this alone makes you a moron (in my not-so-humble opinion), why not trade that pick to someone who actually DOES want the best receiver in the draft (Crabtree), pick up some additional draft picks, and move down to the middle to late first round? Trust me...Heyward-Bey would still be available. Most teams are actually NOT looking to take track stars with frying pans for hands that early in the draft. On top of having more picks, you could also save money by not having to pay #7 money to Heyward-Bey .

Oh, but they weren't done...ever heard of Michael Mitchell? The defensive back out of Ohio University? Don't feel bad....neither has Scouts, Inc. They didn't even bother to RATE Mitchell...at BEST, he was projected to be a 7th round pick, and was thought by most to be undrafted. Per Peter King in his Monday Morning QB article (which is a weekly must-read for all NFL fans, btw), he mentioned that Mel Kiper had him as the 73rd best safety in the country. Not the 73rd best player...the 73rd best SAFETY.

So the Raiders pick him in the 2ND ROUND.

Yep...they DESERVE to suck.

- I was pretty pleased with the Falcons draft. Six out of their seven picks were on the defensive side of the ball, which makes me want to give Thomas Demitroff a big ole man-hug. First round pick Peria Jerry may step in and start immediately at DT, and at worst he should provide some quality depth. I like what ESPN.com said about him...he may be the most bust-proof pick in the whole 1st round. You know EXACTLY what you are getting out of this guy, as long as he stays healthy...a run-stopping beast who is going to fill space and occupy blockers in the middle. Think of him as a slightly faster version of Grady Jackson. I'll take that.

Only thing I wish would have gone differently is that I wish the Vikings hadn't taken Asher Allen four picks before the Falcons spot came up in the third round...if he was still available, I think we would have taken him.

Here's the bottom line...unlike in years past, I can look at what the Falcons did in the draft and see exactly what their plan is. That's all I ask...drafts are a crapshoot at times, as far as how the players turn out, but I at least want to be able to see a plan at work, and with Demitroff we have that. Thank God.

- Stick a fork in the Hawks, which means Mike Woodson should be DONE. Saturday's performance was absolutely infuriating to watch. Miami went on a 26-9 run at the end of the first half to basically win the game, and during that time I didn't see Mike Woodson do ANYTHING other than stand there with his arms folded and a sour look on his face. No timeouts, no adjustments...NOTHING. What is he being paid for?

We continue to stay in a zone defense, even though Miami is raining open three pointers down on our heads. We continue to have ZERO half court offense, with no real semblance of a plan as far as I can tell. Our offense seems to consist of bringing the ball up, passing to Joe Johnson, and then dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, 3 seconds on the shot clock, dribble, shoot/pass to Flip Murray for a desperation jump shot at the buzzer. Kenny Smith said it on TNT after game one of this series...the Hawks are great when they can get out and run, but if they have to execute in the halfcourt they have no shot. And that was after a game that the Hawks WON.

This is nothing new...Mike Woodson has taken this team as far as he can. They are going to lose this series, to a one-man team, but even if they don't Woody has to go. The above paragraph is going to continue to be true, whether we make it out of the first round or not.

- I'm worried about this eye "injury" that Brian McCann is dealing with. I only put injury in quotation marks because it seems nobody can pinpoint what is wrong, only that he has blurry vision in his left eye. The latest diagnosis is an infection, but they've put him on the DL for 15 games...that seems to be an awfully long time for an infection to heal, doesn't it? Hopefully, they can get it taken care of...from a purely selfish perspective, I can't see the Braves having any real success this year without Mac's bat in the middle of the lineup. For his sake, unexplained blurry vision is scary, especially for a baseball player, and ESPECIALLY for a catcher.

- Speaking of the Braves, the highlights of the 1991 World Series were on the MLB network this weekend. Brought back some bittersweet memories...

- Kent Hrbek still being a big stupid lying cheater.
- Ron Gant looking positively TINY compared to how big he would get a couple of years later. Lucky for him, this was about 15 years before the Mitchell Report.
- My Dad pitching Game 1 (that's an inside joke, unless you've ever seen a picture of both Charlie Liebrandt and my Dad...the resemblance was uncanny. This started being less awesome after Kirby Puckett's Game 6 homerun).
- Jerry Glanville, Jamie Dukes, and Prime Time in the crowd at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, crowing about how the Braves are 2 Legit 2 Quit.
- Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, with the 715 marker over the left field fence.
- The Tomahawk Chop when it was REAL and not piped in. They should have let that thing die when it stopped being spontaneous...they NEVER should have started trying to manufacture it.
- Bobby Cox's weird tinted glasses.
- Steve Avery, with the world on a string.
- Mark Lemke turning into Willie Mays.
- Jerry Freaking Willard with a game winning RBI.
- Smoltz and Morris in a pitching duel for the ages.

I turned it off once Game 7 went into extra innings. Watching that the first time was bad enough.

Asleep at the wheel...

Yes, I am aware that I am failing in my blogging duties...real life has intruded once again.

Short answer: I am moderately happy about the Citrus Bowl victory. I am moderately unhappy about the Falcons performance in Arizona.

I'm still pumped about the Hawks, I am barely acknowledging that the Thrashers exist, and I am VERY excited about the upcoming winter TV season (hello, LOST, BSG, Friday Night Lights, and Idol...missed you!).

Be back later (hopefully tonight) with more detailed posts.

Until then...I will be monitoring the Great Rodney Garner Cash Grab of 2009. Ugh.

***UPDATE***Garner is staying...per Georgiadogs.com. Great news for the Dawgs!

Busy...

In the home stretch of the house remodel, so posting is spotty.

Luckily, this coincides with a pretty dead period...the Dawgs are obviously not playing, plus a lot of TV shows are on hiatus until January.

Be back soon with thoughts on Hawks, Falcons, plus a "mid-season" TV report!

Thoughts on the game

Well, the game we were all waiting for finally got here, and it was well worth the wait. That's right...last night was the Hawks home opener! YES!!! It was great to have basketball at Atlanta's Playoff Factory!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!11!!!!1!!1!

Joe Johnson was the MAN, once again. 35 points, including a three point DAGGER with 11 seconds left to put the game away. I love the PA announcer's catch phrase every time he scores..."And now you know." Pretty cool.

Josh Smith had a typical Josh Smith game...one half of not being able to get out of his own way (dumb shots, turnovers, etc) and one half where he plays like Scottie Pippen on speed. Big shots, rebounds, blocked shots...it was like his whole career encapsulated in one game.

Even got some production from the bench...Flip Murray stepped in for an ineffective Marvin Williams and played well and ZaZa continued his aggressive play that started when he went nose-to-nose with KG in the playoffs.

So, we're 2-0...it's a new era for Hawks basketball!!

Oh, the Dawgs played yesterday? I was so caught up in the Hawks game that I was unaware. Did we win?