This blog has moved! Yes, already!
As of Thursday, Feb. 12, this little blog has relocated to a new home on AJC.com. It’s the same newspaper, the same Web site and the same writer (feel free to groan) — there’s just a new URL.
New features: Bigger type, more graphics, comments that load 10 times faster and a larger and more recent photo that makes me look pretty doggone old. I think you’ll like it (the blog, not the photo). But I am, as we know too well, often wrong.
Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2009 > January > 19
Monday, January 19, 2009
Bradley’s Buzz: The lowdown on D-Lowe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reassessing the Braves
A week after Frank Wren became the Dumbest Man in Baseball, he got all smart. So writes Richard Justice for Sporting News. And does Wren’s acquisition of Derek Lowe mean the Braves can win the NL East? Writing for SI.com, Cliff Corcoran suggests a playoff berth is still unlikely.
On ESPN.com, Keith Law guesses the additions of Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami will enable the Braves to eat innings in bulk. (Question: If you eat innings in bulk, does that constitute a high-fiber diet?) Law also suggests Kawakami, whose fastball isn’t so fast, will have to use more off-speed pitches in the USA than he did in Japan.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, the Braves spending splurge might have already subsided. He writes that the Braves, having invested $83 million in Lowe and Kawakami, have slowed their search for that long-sought outfielder/bat. Indeed, Wren signaled as much in the second of last week’s two media briefings, saying the Braves intend to wait for the right hitter. Rosenthal believes they could wait as late as July.
File this under the heading of even-the-best-have-issues: Esteemed former colleague Gerry Fraley evaluates the reigning World Series champ for Sporting News and believes the the Phillies are bound for yet another slow start. Which wouldn’t be bad news for the Braves, who open their season in Philly.
Yet another college football Top 25 for 2009
And this one, from Dennis Dodd of CBSsports.com, would seem to carry a bit more weight, given that he actually waited until underclassmen stated their NFL draft intentions to compile it. Dodd has Georgia Tech No. 10 and Georgia No. 20, and I would be derelict in my duties if I didn’t point out that this correspondent suggested, back on Jan. 2, that Tech would be No. 9 to Georgia’s No. 21 in preseason if Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno left.
Speaking of which … Andy Staples of SI.com rates Georgia as only the fourth-biggest loser among teams touched by the draft deadline. Ohio State was No. 1, he writes, and Alabama No. 2.
Meeks shall inherit … a nice big award?
After scoring 54 points against Tennessee on ESPN, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks has entered the national-player-of-the year discussion, writes esteemed former colleague John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader. And Jerry Tipton, another EFC, notes that the Meeks who returned to face Georgia on Sunday wasn’t the same guy who left Norcross three years ago. For one thing, Meeks wasn’t even considered the best guard prospect in Georgia — Javaris Crittenton, who spent one season at Tech, was.
All I can say is, “You’re welcome”
Many Cardinal fans have written to thank me for ripping their team prior to its first-round game against the Falcons. I’m told — I wasn’t actually there — that a quote from this little effort was flashed on the message board at University of Phoenix Stadium to incite the crowd that day, and afterward safety Adrian Wilson groused to reporters that the Falcons deemed it “a blessing” to be playing Arizona. (Which technically wasn’t true. That was dumb ol’ me saying it, not the Falcons.)
And now that team is in the Super Bowl. I say congratulations. I also say the Cardinals couldn’t have done it without me.
The strangest development in a strange story
This has nothing to do with Atlanta or Georgia or even Arizona, but what the heck. You probably remember that Ole Miss basketball coach was charged with misdemeanor assault in Cincinnati last month for allegedly punching and hurling racial insults at a cab driver. Beyond the legal charge, both Kennedy and the cabbie have filed civil suits against one another, and Kennedy’s suit was amended, reports WLWT to include his wife Kimber, who claims the incident has affected the couple’s sex life.
Full marks to the Cincinnati TV station for the headline on its Web-posted story. I’d print it here, but that would spoil the fun of clicking for y’all.
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