Moving to a new location
AJC blogs are moving to a new technical platform. So check out Terence Moore’s new blog home and bookmark it.
Home > Terence Moore > Archives > 2008 > October
October 2008
Horford reason Hawks will impress
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They won’t win it all. They’ll also dribble just shy of taking the Eastern Conference and their division. Still, the Hawks will do impressive things this season, because Al Horford won’t settle for less. He’s only an NBA sophomore, but he has the presence of somebody who already has his doctorate in professional basketball. He just has it.
Whatever it is.
“I think I’ve gotten to this point [of NBA maturity] quicker than I thought, and I have to give credit for that to Coach,” said Horford, referring to Mike Woodson, who encouraged the former University of Florida standout to “do his thing” on and off the court soon after he became the Hawks’ first pick in last year’s draft.
Said Woodson, “When you draft players, you’re not only drafting for talent, but you’re drafting for personality, how he fits into a team setting — and winning has a lot to do with that. When we drafted Al, I mean, the kid was polished.”
For one, all 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds of Horford could play. He was a gifted energy machine for the Gators along the way to consecutive national championships. For another, Horford could lead. He hadn’t a problem with encouraging others either softly or loudly on a Florida squad packed with NBA talent. Which explains this: During Game 4 of the Hawks’ playoff series last season against the Boston Celtics, Horford kept shoving teammate Zaza Pachulia away from a nasty encounter with Kevin Garnett.
The more Pachulia grew angry with Garnett, the more Horford shoved to save Pachulia from getting whistled to the locker room by a referee. In the end, Pachulia was around to contribute to the Hawks’ victory that led to a seven-game series against the eventual world champions.
“I was just trying to help a teammate out in that situation, because that’s the way I’ve always been, and that’s the way I’ve always played,” said Horford, who also contributed to the Hawks’ cause as a rookie by averaging nearly a double-double (10.1 points and 9.7 rebounds) per game with solid defense. Not surprisingly, he was the only player unanimously selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
This also isn’t surprising: Step by step, with much help from Horford’s size-17 sneakers, the Hawks keep flashing signs of a renaissance. It’s a little one, but after they spent nearly a decade without even the hint of one, this is significant news.
There was the Hawks’ rise in victories from 13 to 26 to 30 during each of Woodson’s first three seasons as head coach, and then they hit 37 last season. Later, there was that scare they threw into the Celtics during the Hawks’ first trip to the playoffs in nearly a decade (see a pattern here?). Then, to open this season, there were the Hawks pounding the Magic in Orlando. It was the Hawks’ first victory in a road opener in more than a decade.
Now the Hawks are just a victory tonight in their home opener against the Philadelphia 76ers from starting a season 2-0 for the first time in (all together now) nearly a decade.
“To be honest, before I got here, I always looked at the Hawks as being bottom feeders,” Horford said laughing. “But once I got here, all the guys I talked to knew we could be really good. This is something small, but I think the change of the uniforms last year and the new look, it really gave all of the guys a fresh start.” Yeah. Especially with Horford in one of those uniforms.
Permalink | | Categories: Hawks/NBA
MLB owners should listen to Selig
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Time and again, Bud Selig has urged baseball owners to shorten the regular season, and time again, they’ve essentially told the commissioner, who is better than you think, to shove a Louisville Slugger down his throat.
A shorter regular season would mean the World Series wouldn’t end near November. It also would mean fewer pennies in the owners’ pockets, and that’s the problem.
If you don’t know by now, it’s all about money in professional sports when it comes to your average owner.
So baseball is getting what it deserves, which means this World Series is nearly as brutal as the 1994 World Series.
That’s right. There was no World Series back then, because of the Mother of All Work Stoppages. This World Series involves Mother Nature, period, and this was so unnecessary.
All baseball had to do was listen to Selig and do something such as go from 162 games to 154 in the regular season. Then the division series would begin no later than the last week of September instead of early October. Then you wouldn’t have what you have now: A World Series featuring television ratings dropping as fast as the temperature in Philadelphia.
With game-time temperatures slated for the low 40s (with the wind-chill factor in the upper 20s) tonight, the Phillies are scheduled to hit in the bottom of the sixth inning during their suspended Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
And did I mention the possibility of rain and snow?
If not shorten the regular season, then get rid of the division series and all of those wild cards. Oh, that’s right. Then the owners would lose more revenue.
What a mess.
Permalink | Comments (30) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB
All’s hush-hush on UGA-Florida front
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Athens — The Gators weren’t amused then, and such remains the case now.
They just won’t say it. They have their own gag order.
With that little football game in Jacksonville approaching, Georgia coach Mark Richt and his Florida counterpart, Urban Meyer, don’t wish to discuss You Know What. They’ve also suggested to their players not to utter a syllable about it. According to those on both sides, that unmentionable thing is all in the past, and it is not a big deal. It is a big deal, and everybody knows it, especially those coaching, playing and rooting for Georgia and Florida.
Richt’s gag order is one of the long-term consequences of his short-term fix for the lethargy that affected his Bulldogs early last season. Remember? The week of the Florida game, Richt said he told his offensive players on the field to celebrate enough after Georgia’s first touchdown to draw an unsportsmanlike penalty. Instead, all of his players sprinted from the sidelines to the end zone for a dog pile between screaming and clowning.
The Bulldogs don’t want to talk about it. They can’t talk about it. After all, Richt might force violators to suck on Uga VII’s old dogbones. Imagine a mantra that sits between Mark McGwire (“I’m not here to talk about the past) and the Clintons (“It’s the economy, stupid.”). For instance: Offensive lineman Clint Boling joined most of his Georgia peers in shifting into automatic pilot after hearing such trigger phrases as “Florida game” and “last year” in a question.
Said Boling, politely, “Uh, we’re just worried about this year’s game. We’re not thinking about last year.”
Actually, the question wasn’t about You Know What. Neither was the one to fullback Fred Munzenmaier, who nevertheless heard those trigger phrases before responding with a chuckle, “Uh, no. We’ve been told to put that one behind us.”
At least linebacker Rennie Curran acknowledged some of the truth. Nearly as long as water has filled the St. Johns River, Georgia players have dreamt about upcoming Florida games for days, weeks and months. Now you’ve got both teams streaking inside the Top 10 of the BCS standings. We won’t even mention You Know What. This game is fairly emotional for both sides, right?
“If you need outside motivation for this game, you have, like, no heart,” said Curran, a sophomore form Snellville. “If you’re a Georgia fan or a Georgia player, this game is just everything. It’s impossible not to get motivated for this game, because most of us have coaches from high school and a bunch of friends who are Florida fans.”
What about friends who are Florida players? “Oh, yeah. I played with a couple of guys during some high school all-star games,” said Curran, before naming a slew of Gators with a smile. “There’s definitely some connections there.”
So do you talk to your Florida friends about last year’s game? “Uh,” Curran said, pausing, with thoughts of Richt and old dogbones rattling in his mind. “There really is no mention about last year.”
Uh-huh.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Categories: UGA/SEC
No stopping Johnson in NASCAR
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He’s always there. He’s always lurking when he isn’t streaking. Mostly, to the dismay of his NASCAR brethren, he’s always just several tweaks and bursts away from surging to the front of the pack with his No. 48 Chevy.
That is, when Jimmie Johnson doesn’t have to come from behind. He often has everybody else on the track chasing the sparks from his exhaust pipe.
So it’s always about Johnson, even when he does the rarity by failing to overcome everybody in his speedy path. Such was the case on Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he nearly did the impossible during the last eight laps. He kept passing folks like crazy. He moved from 11th place, then to 10th place. Finally, with those in the crowd of 80,000 rubbing their eyes, he was battling Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards for a mad dash for the checkered flag on the final lap.
“Man, Jimmie’s magic,” said Edwards, who nervously watched his rearview mirror. He saw the charging Johnson zip by Hamlin with a nifty move in turn 4 for second place. Even so, during a picturesque sundown over the Pep Boys Auto 500, Edwards was in the middle of the infield doing his victory flip. It was his third victory at AMS. More important, it pushed Edwards from fourth to second in the Chase for the Cup with three races left.
It’s always about Johnson, though, because he actually leads the Chase. By a lot. Try 183 points over Edwards.
Not only that, Johnson left town just shy of becoming the 21st century Cale Yarborough along the way to solidifying his legacy. The real Cale Yarborough remains the sole driver ever to manage three consecutive titles in stock car racing’s premier series. He did so during the late 1970s. Now, barring something in the vicinity of the Collapse for the Ages in those final three races of the Chase, Johnson will tie Yarborough’s mark with ease.
Just don’t tell Johnson. “You still gotta race. That’s what we’re here for,” Johnson said. “You’ve got no clue what’s going to happen during those last few races. Until I have that trophy in my hands, I can’t let up.”
You can let up, Jimmie. It’s over, because this was another example of how Johnson and his crew members are almost peerless in their ability to overcome adversity on the fly. In this one, Johnson was doing just fine in the early going after beginning the race from the pole. Then came the 90th lap, when he got a little gas-pedal happy roaring into pit row. The NASCAR police aren’t amused by such things. As a result, Johnson was penalized and forced to re-enter the pit area at regulation speed to drop a lap behind.
It almost didn’t matter since it’s always about Johnson. Well, Johnson and Chad Knaus, Johnson’s brilliant crew chief, who is adept at adjusting. Knaus kept tinkering enough with Johnson’s car during pit stops to help Johnson move from 30th place soon after his penalty to 19th — then to about half of that deficit for most of the race until his scramble at the end.
“I feel like I went 12 rounds with [Mike] Tyson,” said Johnson, smiling after coming that pit-row violation short of his seventh victory of the year. “It just killed us, and we just fought back from that all day long. We made up some ground, but we were only able to get to seventh, sixth, something like that. Cars were pretty much all equal in front of us in speed.”
Nobody equals Johnson in anything right now, especially points.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Tech tackled itself
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So this was another test of adversity for a ridiculously young football team. No school in the ACC has more underclassmen on its roster than Georgia Tech. That means the Yellow Jackets still have much to learn despite streaking into Saturday’s game against Virginia with just one loss in seven games under a new coach.
You can make that two losses in eight games under that new coach.
Courtesy of mostly self-inflicted wounds, Tech suffered a come-from-ahead loss of 24-17 that now has the Jackets pursuing the ACC championship game from afar instead of up close and personal. They have nobody to blame but their sloppy themselves.
Where to start? How about the ability of Virginia’s offense to convert on third downs virtually at will throughout the chilly afternoon? In the end, with much help from a slew of missed tackles by the Jackets, Virginia was 11-for-18 in that category. “Pretty good, wasn’t it?” said Paul Johnson, that new coach, delivering most of his post-game analysis of the Jackets through clenched teeth, and for good reason.
Before a relatively lively homecoming crowd of 47,416, the Jackets suffered a positively deflating loss, which brings us back to their latest test of adversity.
This time, they flunked. They passed other such tests earlier this season after surging from the rear to win conference games on the road against Boston College and Clemson. They flunked against Virginia because they couldn’t discover ways to overcome themselves.
In addition to those missed tackles, the Jackets’ normally aggressive front seven on defense barely touched Virginia quarterback Marc Verica, who regularly picked apart the Jackets’ injury-depleted and inexperienced-filled secondary.
Before we continue, let’s get this youth excuse out of the way regarding the Jackets’ inconsistency at times this season. “We know we can’t use youth as an excuse, because when it comes down to it, everybody is a football player who has to do their job,” said Morgan Burnett, Tech’s gifted safety, who nevertheless was as shoddy as many of his teammates in tackling (or the lack thereof) against Virginia. When it came to running back Cedric Peerman alone, Johnson estimated his defenders “missed 10 or 15 tackles.”
That said, the Jackets have a bigger issue to overcome. They’ve yet to discover an answer to keeping the butter fingers away while running Johnson’s triple-option offense. They entered the weekend tied for third in the nation in lost fumbles with 12.
They now have 14.
The problem on Saturday? Well, Josh Nesbitt just had one of those days as a sophomore quarterback starting his sixth game in Johnson’s triple-option offense. He was responsible for both of the fumbles, and he contributed to several other Tech problems, too. Like a couple of the four times he was sacked after holding the ball too long and a costly interception.
As for Nesbitt’s first fumble, it came from a dropped snap from center. Said Johnson with a sigh, “I mean, on this level, you’d like to think that you could get the quarterback-center exchange.” Then he described Nesbitt’s fumble at the Virginia 5-yard line in the third quarter with Tech trailing 17-14. “He just fumbled the ball,” Johnson said, shrugging.
“Then there was the interception at the end there [with Tech driving],” Johnson added. “That was a poor decision, and we actually had a chance there during the second play of that series. We had Correy Earls there open, if he had thrown the ball.”
Nesbitt didn’t. A lot of things didn’t happen for Tech against Virginia.
Permalink | |
Bill Curry getting head start on Georgia State football
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’re Bill Curry, and you’re highly energetic (translated: you can’t stand doing nothing). But you’re the coach of a Georgia State football team that won’t have its first kickoff until 2010.
This waiting can’t be good.
So why is Curry sounding like a 68-year-old kid on Christmas morning? Well, he already is opening some of his gifts. Most strikingly, there was last week’s tryout that drew 55 participants. Said Curry, “It was unbelievable. I didn’t think we’d have more than 10 kids. We turned a bunch away, because they didn’t get there in time to sign their disclaimers and all. So I’m going to have another tryout.
“I found a long snapper. I found a punter, and there were two or three guys who could really run and catch. Two or three big guys. And there were a whole bunch of folks that are just really fired up about football coming to Georgia State.”
There also is an upcoming pep rally, where Curry will announce his recipe for tailgating to the crowd. Plus, he wants folks to know that he will give two scholarships to walkons. He laughed, adding, “So there are all kinds of exciting, fun things going on that I’ve never done before.”
Yeah, but you’re Bill Curry, and since you left home in College Park to star at Georgia Tech during the early 1960s, you’ve always been within a chinstrap of live football games in a mighty way. You were a splendid enough NFL center to start for two Super Bowl teams. You were an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers. You spent 17 years as the head coach at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky. You later became an ESPN analyst for more than a decade through last season.
No, this waiting can’t be good, especially with Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets prospering all around you, and with NCAA limits on what you can do at Georgia State right now. So Curry spends his current Saturdays doing what?
“I’ve had Saturdays where I have sat and charted exactly what games I’ve wanted to watch, and I’ve studied four or five football games from start to finish,” Curry said. “I’ve also, for the first time in my adult life, driven to Charlotte, N.C., to attend a fall baseball game where my 11-year-old grandson was pitching. Then I left there to go to a football game where my 9-year-old grandson was playing center for his team. And then I left there to go to a junior high game where my son — the dad of those two boys — coaches the junior high football team in his community.
“To experience that, it was one of the nicest days of my life. I’ve never been able to do that before — ever.”
Curry also travels the nation as a motivational speaker, and he has a recently published book that he will sign at Georgia Tech on Saturday before the Jackets’ homecoming game against Virginia. Still, his primary focus involves trying to find ways to make “2010” not sound so distant for Georgia State football.
For instance: Curry received permission from the NCAA to spend an entire game day with another coaching staff. That will complement what he did earlier this summer, which was send his Georgia State assistant coaches to observe Clemson’s two-a-day practices. Said Curry, “I’ve got friends who have visited with the Georgia staff. I’ve talked to (Georgia Tech coach) Paul Johnson, and he has invited us over. There just hasn’t been the right occasion for us to get together yet.”
It’s coming, though.
Just like Georgia State’s first football season is coming — slowly.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment |
Bill Curry getting head start on Georgia State football
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’re Bill Curry, and you’re highly energetic (translated: you can’t stand doing nothing). But you’re the coach of a Georgia State football team that won’t have its first kickoff until 2010.
This waiting can’t be good.
So why is Curry sounding like a 68-year-old kid on Christmas morning? Well, he already is opening some of his gifts. Most strikingly, there was last week’s tryout that drew 55 participants. Said Curry, “It was unbelievable. I didn’t think we’d have more than 10 kids. We turned a bunch away, because they didn’t get there in time to sign their disclaimers and all. So I’m going to have another tryout.
“I found a long snapper. I found a punter, and there were two or three guys who could really run and catch. Two or three big guys. And there were a whole bunch of folks that are just really fired up about football coming to Georgia State.”
There also is an upcoming pep rally, where Curry will announce his recipe for tailgating to the crowd. Plus, he wants folks to know that he will give two scholarships to walkons. He laughed, adding, “So there are all kinds of exciting, fun things going on that I’ve never done before.”
Yeah, but you’re Bill Curry, and since you left home in College Park to star at Georgia Tech during the early 1960s, you’ve always been within a chinstrap of live football games in a mighty way. You were a splendid enough NFL center to start for two Super Bowl teams. You were an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers. You spent 17 years as the head coach at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky. You later became an ESPN analyst for more than a decade through last season.
No, this waiting can’t be good, especially with Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets prospering all around you, and with NCAA limits on what you can do at Georgia State right now. So Curry spends his current Saturdays doing what?
“I’ve had Saturdays where I have sat and charted exactly what games I’ve wanted to watch, and I’ve studied four or five football games from start to finish,” Curry said. “I’ve also, for the first time in my adult life, driven to Charlotte, N.C., to attend a fall baseball game where my 11-year-old grandson was pitching. Then I left there to go to a football game where my 9-year-old grandson was playing center for his team. And then I left there to go to a junior high game where my son — the dad of those two boys — coaches the junior high football team in his community.
“To experience that, it was one of the nicest days of my life. I’ve never been able to do that before — ever.”
Curry also travels the nation as a motivational speaker, and he has a recently published book that he will sign at Georgia Tech on Saturday before the Jackets’ homecoming game against Virginia. Still, his primary focus involves trying to find ways to make “2010” not sound so distant for Georgia State football.
For instance: Curry received permission from the NCAA to spend an entire game day with another coaching staff. That will complement what he did earlier this summer, which was send his Georgia State assistant coaches to observe Clemson’s two-a-day practices. Said Curry, “I’ve got friends who have visited with the Georgia staff. I’ve talked to (Georgia Tech coach) Paul Johnson, and he has invited us over. There just hasn’t been the right occasion for us to get together yet.”
It’s coming, though.
Just like Georgia State’s first football season is coming — slowly.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Van Wieren’s retirement as sad as it gets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nothing against Larry Munson, the recently retired broadcasting god of the Bulldog Nation, but losing a legendary baseball voice hurts more.
It always does. That’s because baseball voices are with you longer during a given season and lifetime. They begin talking to you through their microphones in early March with exhibition games, and they continue on nearly a daily basis through the spring, summer and autumn.
They do so year after year, and often decade after decade.
They may not know you, but you definitely know them, because they become a part of your family through their jokes between pitches, their stories during rain delays and their emotions while describing the highs and lows of your favorite team.
They are magical for the ages - more so than the majority of their peers in the other sports combined.
Jack Buck. Ernie Harwell. Red Barber. Harry Caray. Jack Brickhouse. Mel Allen. Bob Prince. I grew up as a Big Red Machine fan, and I still cringe when I think that Cincinnati Reds games took place this season without Joe Nuxhall describing the action for the first time since the LBJ administration. Nuxhall died last November.
So Pete Van Wieren’s retirement from the Braves broadcasting team after 33 years is as sad as it gets. The same goes for the retirement way back when of Ernie Johnson Sr. The same goes for the death this season of Skip Caray, Van Wieren’s broadcast partner with the Braves forever.
The same goes for whoever else you can think of who fits this category.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB
Falcons’ goals can be made
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Flowery Branch — When it comes to shocking things this NFL season, the Falcons’ dance with decency ranks between those who believe that Pacman Jones really will get it some day and Brett Favre leaving the Wisconsin Cheeseheads for Fireman Ed in the Meadowlands.
So how shocking is the Falcons’ 4-2 record in the highly competitive NFC South after their bye on Sunday? Just last year, they had those controversies for the ages involving Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino. They eventually had their third consecutive nonwinning season at 4-12.
Now, despite a rookie NFL general manager hiring a rookie NFL head coach, and despite inexperienced players throughout their two-deep roster, the Falcons look promising enough near Halloween to suggest they will remain significant through Christmas.
This is shocking, isn’t it? “No. Not at all,” said linebacker Michael Boley, straight-faced, with others in the Falcons’ locker room supporting his claim.
Added Boley, who was around for the Falcons’ ugliness during the previous three seasons, “Back at the first minicamp we had this year, and even before the [April draft], we set high expectations for ourselves. Then [Falcons officials] did a good job with the draft. After that, we spent the whole offseason getting mentally prepared. Really, it boils down to the fact that we all believe in each other, and it was just a matter of everybody buying into Coach Smith’s philosophy.”
It’s a simple philosophy, and here is the primary message: goals.
Ten days after Thomas Dimitroff left the New England Patriots’ scouting department to become the Falcons’ general manager last January, he hired the affable Smith away from the Jacksonville Jaguars, where Smith spent five years as their defensive coordinator. He kept flashing his bright smile to players, but he also kept telling them to trust the journey that he had mapped out for the team.
That journey involved each player making a commitment to do whatever it took to prosper every stop along the way. He told them during the offseason. He told them during minicamps. He told them during training camp.
He still tells them.
“We have deep discussions about our internal goals, and we set milestones in terms of where we want to be,” said Smith, among the NFL’s teaching coaches, and not by coincidence. While growing up in his native Daytona Beach, Fla., his parents were educators. Added Smith, “There’s a process you have to go through and steps you have to take to become a good football team, and we’re just continuing to work through those steps. So I wouldn’t say I’m surprised [by the 4-2 start], but it has been accelerated in terms of how quickly some of these milestones have been reached.”
The success or failure for the Falcons regarding those other milestones will depend on their ability to stop turning the red zone into the dead zone.
They’ve managed only eight touchdowns after 20 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. The defense also has issues, with a leaky secondary for long stretches and ranking among the league’s worst teams in third-down conversion rate for foes.
Still, compared to the big thing, according to Falcons defensive end John Abraham, those are little things.
And the big thing? “This is the first time since I’ve been on this team that I know everybody’s name, because we’ve become a close family,” said Abraham, in his third season with the Falcons. “Nobody feels like they’re better than anybody else. Unlike the past, nobody is griping and moaning about, ‘I need to do this, and I need to do that.’ Everybody is just doing their job.”
Wow. What a concept.
Permalink | Comments (33) | Categories: Falcons/NFL
Roddy White on track for consistent greatness
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Flowery Branch — For so many reasons, Roddy White is symbolic of why the Falcons are turning their three previous seasons of mediocrity, ugliness and turmoil into yesterday’s news.
As for today’s news, there is The List, for instance.
Let White explain.
“At the beginning of the season, Coach [Mike] Smith told me to write down the best wide receivers in the league,” said White, who promptly did what many around the Falcons’ locker room have done throughout their surprising 4-2 start: He kept his mouth shut, and he followed one of his coach’s suggestions.
Smith is a first-year NFL head coach, but this was a veteran coach’s move. For instance: White showed in 2007 that he was close to consistent goodness with 1,202 receiving yards after his opening two years in the league were dominated by dropped passes. Even so, if you’re Smith, and you’re always into improvement, you want White to seek consistent greatness.
Get better, suggests Smith and his assistants. Strive to become the ultimate that you can be. Don’t settle.
So Smith came up with The List for White, and the wide receiver nodded before rushing somewhere to jot down names. Torry Holt. Randy Moss. Chad Johnson (or Ocho Cinco or whatever he wants to be called nowadays). Terrell Owens. Reggie Wayne.
Afterward, White showed The List to Smith, who responded in a hurry.
“He said I need you to be like these two guys,” said White, referring to the names of Holt and Wayne, both the antithesis of the others when it comes to flash and silliness. That sounds like the no-frills White these days. He ranks second in the league in total receiving yards with 566, and he is proficient in the clutch. After all, he is tied for second in the NFC in third-down receiving with 13 catches for 245 yards and a touchdown.
More impressive, White displayed his growing NFL maturity after two drops against Carolina. The next week in Green Bay, he had eight catches — during the first half. Then there was last Sunday at the Georgia Dome. Despite missing two practices during the week with a head injury, he caught nine passes for 112 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons’ 22-20 thriller over the Chicago Bears.
It’s the stuff of Holt and Wayne, which is becoming the stuff of White.
“They just go out there and do their jobs,” White said. “They don’t complain. Whether they get the ball or not, they don’t go to the media about it. They sit back, they catch the ball, and at the end of the year, they’re always at the head of the stat sheets, and they always make the Pro Bowl.”
Sounds like White is reaching that next level with his 27th birthday just a couple of weeks away. So why did Falcons wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie respond with a deep sigh?
Get better. Strive to become the ultimate that you can be. Don’t settle.
Remember?
“Roddy’s getting better every day, but I won’t concede he’s at the next level yet,” said Robiskie, with nearly three decades as an NFL coach. “I’ll make the call that somebody is at that next level as a wide receiver when I see him in [Tampa for the Super Bowl] this season. And they’re catching one over somebody’s head. And the confetti is flying at the end. And the commissioner is handing somebody that trophy. And the guy’s waking up the next day at 6’o’clock in the morning to catch a flight to Hawaii [for the Pro Bowl].”
Tough standards. Then again, that’s why these Falcons aren’t playing like those other Falcons.
Permalink | | Categories: Falcons/NFL
Florida celebration backfiring on Dogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but probably not. Ever since Georgia’s silliness in the end zone last season against Florida, the Bulldogs have gone from ranking as one of the most disciplined teams in the country to whatever they are now.
Whatever they are now isn’t pretty, by the way. They are the only Division I-A football team in double digits (11) when it comes to the average number of penalties per game. They have more penalties overall than anybody not named TCU (67 to 64). They also have an absolutely ridiculous number of personal fouls (13) after six games.
“I don’t think [the Florida game] had anything to do with this, but I guess it’s up for people to debate,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt on Wednesday, despite the overwhelming numbers that show there isn’t a debate. We’ll share those numbers in a moment, but Richt wished to add, “I do know that since the Florida game, we’ve won, what, 12 out of 13 or 13 out of 14 [actually it’s 10 out of 11]? I don’t know what that record is, but you might want to throw that in there.”
Duly noted. The same goes for this: Only one team had more penalties than LSU last season, but the Tigers still won the national championship. The previous year, no one was penalized more than the Gators, but Florida also won it all.
It’s just that neither LSU nor Florida (both averaged eight penalties for 63 yards per game) was penalized anything close to Georgia’s current rate of 11 penalties for an average of 86 yards per game.
None of this should be surprising. A guy predicted such sloppiness for Georgia a year ago in Jacksonville.
I was that guy, and I wrote during the short-sighted joy after Georgia whipped Florida for just the third time in 18 tries: “So much for discipline, poise and class. They could return as staples of Georgia’s football program under Mark Richt, but it’ll take a while. They vanished on Saturday at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, where the Bulldogs kept making fools of themselves early and often. They were fools by choice. That’s the scary thing.”
It was this scary: Richt ordered his players during the week to storm the field after their first touchdown. He suggested that they go nuts enough to force officials to litter the stadium with flags. It happened, and what was a composed group under Richt during his previous six seasons at Georgia became a bunch of self-inflicted crazies.
Against Florida, Georgia had seven penalties for 77 yards. That included four personal fouls, ranging from Mohamed Massaquoi nearly triggering worse than Florida boos with his version of the Gator Chomp to two facemask penalties by Bulldogs on the same kickoff.
And consider this: In the seven games before Florida last season, Georgia had an average of six penalties for 43 yards per game. In the five games after Florida last season, Georgia had an average of eight penalties for 76 yards per game.
Those numbers are much uglier this season. That’s because since Richt built and then turned his red-and-black monster loose against Florida, he hasn’t been able to tame it. “Even the smallest of penalties can make the biggest of differences. We know that,” Richt said. “But I do believe that we are getting better, and we’ll continue to get better at reducing them.”
The Bulldogs haven’t a choice. Otherwise, that red-and-black monster will keep chomping away at their title hopes.
Commenting has been turned off
Permalink | Comments (108) | Categories: UGA/SEC
Blank’s right - Vick should return to NFL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Everything that Falcons owner Arthur Blank told ESPN.com in a recent interview about what should come next for Michael Vick was exactly right.
First, Vick should be allowed to play in the NFL again following his stay in prison next summer. Second, Vick’s return shouldn’t involve having the Georgia Dome as his football home again.
The Falcons already have a quarterback, and he’s pretty good.
“We’re committed to Matt Ryan,” Blank told ESPN.com of his strikingly composed rookie who has led the Falcons to a surprising 4-2 record with an 82.9 passer rating. “Even before his early success, we were committed to Matt Ryan. We made that decision when we drafted him. When you select someone in the draft at that level and pay him what we’re paying him, you expect him to be successful, and you expect him to be a leader.”
It makes sense to me.
Once Falcons officials anointed Ryan as the new face of their franchise, there was no turning back - and certainly not back to Vick who earned a trip to the slammer over his dogfighting mess.
Even so, Blank was correct when he told ESPN.com about the virtues of second and third chances. Added Blank, “That doesn’t mean I believe in forever chances.” Then again, Blank came close to doing just that with Vick over the course of months, ranging from that water-bottle silliness to the flipping off of hometown fans during a game to that stolen-watch thing at the airport.
Vick is the Falcons’ past, though. Ryan is the Falcons present and future, but that doesn’t mean Vick can’t have a future …
With somebody else.
Maturing Falcons come through in clutch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s always dangerous to make assumptions about the direction of an NFL team for a season after a mid-October game, but there are exceptions.
Like this one.
Oh, about this one.
“I had my second child on Wednesday, and I thought I was going to have another one today,” said Falcons defensive end John Abraham, with a deep sigh. He was describing the outrageously tense moments down the stretch of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. This was Six Flags over The Georgia Dome, but The Goliath inside the place wasn’t a roller coaster. It was the ebb and flow of a thriller that ended with the Falcons somehow managing a 22-20 victory at the final gun.
Simply put, these Falcons aren’t even distant cousins to those of Jim Mora and Bobby Petrino — you know, those clueless teams that spent the previous three seasons in a dramatic free fall to 8-8, 7-9 and then 4-12. These are the Falcons of first-year NFL coach Mike Smith, a veteran quarterback disguised as a rookie named Matt Ryan, rising running back Michael Turner, an opportunistic defense and hope.
How promising is the future for the Falcons this season? Defensive end Jamaal Anderson got his first NFL sack after 85 consecutive quarters. The Falcons’ previously maligned offensive line has allowed just two sacks during its last three games. And the Falcons previously maligned wide receivers actually are catching the ball.
In the clutch, too.
“Our approach right now is, whatever it takes for us to win, whether it’s something big or small,” said Falcons linebacker Michael Boley, who led the way to keep the Bears out of the end zone midway through the fourth quarter when the Bears ran on third and fourth downs from the Falcons’ 1-yard line. “We’re about to go into our bye week, so we really wanted to come in here and win and be 4-2.”
No problem there. In fact, the Falcons proved during the most improbable victory you’ll ever see that many things are now possible for this youthful bunch. That’s because they continued their sprint out of nowhere to do all sorts of strange things in this one, and most were good.
A few were bad (five field goals to one touchdown). Then again, several were great, beginning and ending with the fact that the Falcons somehow won a game that they had lost, then won, and then lost again before shocking the Bears with The Throw, The Catch and The Kick.
The Throw involved Ryan continuing his brilliant passing day (22-for-30 for 301 yards and a touchdown) near the end of the afternoon by delivering a perfect sideline pass to Michael Jenkins. The Catch involved Jenkins’ fancy footwork after The Pass to complete a 26-yard play at the Bears’ 30-yard line. Suddenly, “one” was the number of the moment. Not only did the Falcons trail by one, but there was one second left on the clock.
It was time for The Kick, a 48-yarder from Jason Elam that took forever to fly over the crossbar for the game-winner. There was an explosion of joy throughout the dome, ranging from those among the sellout crowd that wasn’t wearing Chicago orange and blue to Ryan literally jumping into the arms of Smith at the 50-yard line.
“I mean, I’m still just a kid, really,” said Ryan, chuckling, after another impressive game as a rookie. “When you’re out there playing, you certainly feel as if you’re 10, 11, 12 years old. It’s kind of the same way. It doesn’t change. I was crossing my fingers and doing everything else that you can do until that kick went through.”
Then the kick went through, and the NFL kids on the Falcons were closer to becoming NFL grown-ups.
Permalink | Comments (78) | Categories: Falcons/NFL
Poor play ruins Booker’s feel-good story
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Yellow Jackets overall and for their senior quarterback in particular on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
First, Georgia Tech’s football team spent the afternoon scrambling for its life against a pathetic Gardner-Webb bunch that lost to the likes of Tennessee Tech, Sam Houston State and Charleston Southern.
Second, everybody loves Calvin Booker, that senior quarterback.
He’s the epitome of the student-athlete with a finance degree just three months away. He’s a splendid role model who regularly studies his favorite book from Genesis to Revelation (I know, because I was his Sunday School teacher). He’s also the consummate teammate.
“He’s a character,” said running back Jonathan Dwyer, forcing a smile to keep from crying after the listless Jackets barely managed a 10-7 victory because Gardner-Webb missed a game-tying field goal in the final seconds. “You can talk to Book about anything. He’s a very emotional guy, and he’s a leader. He has the mentality that you need to be a quarterback.”
That said, this was brutal for Tech and for Booker. Tech’s offensive line was overpowered from start to finish. There were silly penalties, including one that negated a missed Gardner-Webb field goal. The new life enabled the Bulldogs to score a touchdown. When the Jackets’ defense wasn’t allowing huge yardage through the air, Tech’s offensive players were bringing in the wrong plays at times.
None of those things were pages in what should have been a feel-good story involving a Mays High graduate making his first collegiate start.
There was Booker’s 79-yard touchdown pass to Dwyer in the second quarter. There also was Booker slipping and sliding but keeping his balance for a first down inside the game’s final two minutes deep in Tech territory. Anything less than those two plays and Gardner-Webb makes Tech a loser to a Division I-AA school for the second time in 116 years.
So why was Booker as melancholy as everybody else?
Because this was Gardner-Webb.
“They stepped up and punched us in the mouth, and we didn’t punch back, which is why today was just a wasted day, as far as I’m concerned,” said Booker, who completed three of 11 passes for 120 yards and an interception. Then again, his statistics were deceptive. They don’t show the wrong route that Demaryius Thomas ran that caused an interception, or the pass Thomas dropped on Tech’s first play, or A-Backs running left when they should have been running right.
Said Tech coach Paul Johnson, looking as if he’d been run over by Tech’s Ramblin’ Wreck car, “There were a lot of times Calvin didn’t have a chance. It was a comedy of errors, really.”
Consider, too, that there rarely is a moment in Johnson’s news conferences when he doesn’t say something about his third-string quarterback, and the coach usually does so with adoring eyes.
Booker began at Auburn as a backup, then transferred to Tech in 2006 for more playing time. When it didn’t happen in Chan Gailey’s traditional offense last year that was suited for Booker’s drop-back style, he didn’t whine. Neither did he scream after Johnson replaced Gailey this season and installed a triple-option approach, the antithesis to Booker’s game. It made his teammates hug him more.
“I’m like granddad to the rest of the guys, because I’ll be 23 next week,” said Booker, also forcing a smile to keep from crying.
Permalink | | Categories: Tech/ACC
Rays take same path as ‘91 Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, stop me if you’ve heard any of this before. You’ve got a team that finished with baseball’s worst record. The next year, that team does the ridiculous by sitting four victories shy of the World Series against a playoff-seasoned foe. That team is built around splendid pitching, efficient defense and timely hitting.
You’ve guessed it.
The spirit of the 1991 Braves lives in the current Tampa Bay Rays.
Well, sort of. While those Braves were spurred by energy from the tomahawk chop at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium as much as by Terry Pendleton, Steve Avery and the rest, these Rays had sparse and quiet home crowds until recently.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed, and that’s a big difference,” said Mark Lemke, the second baseman and a key sparkplug for the 1991 Braves. “For us, there were 40,000 or 50,000 every night. That was huge, and we still talk about it to this day about how awesome it was. To me, that’s a once in a lifetime experience. For a fan base of that size, to keep up that intensity level for that period of time, it was amazing.
“It’s one thing when you go to a football game, and it’s a Sunday or a Saturday afternoon, and everybody’s fired up, and it’s game day. For us, it was game day for a month and a half.”
Not so much for these Rays, who still found ways to use their quirky domed stadium to manage the game’s best home record. They eventually joined the 1991 Braves as the only teams ever to go from losing more games than anybody in baseball one season to the playoffs the next. And, like those Braves, these Rays had more than a few chances to collapse.
For instance: While the 1991 Braves were 9 1/2 games behind the mighty Dodgers at the All-Star break, these Rays dropped seven straight games at the All-Star break to tumble out of first place in their stifling division that features the Yankees and the Red Sox. Even so, those Braves and these Rays responded dramatically.
For those Braves, there was everything from a combined no-hitter to David Justice’s clutch homer off Rob Dibble. For these Rays, there were a couple of showdown series in September against a Boston team with two World Series titles since 2004. It didn’t matter. The Rays won both series and then the division.
“Like us, in 1991, they played a lot of one-run games, and we both came up with a lot of big wins, which helps you in the playoffs,” said Lemke, whose inexperienced Braves faced a Pittsburgh Pirates bunch with stars Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla making their second consecutive trip to the NLCS. The inexperienced Rays will meet the loaded Red Sox on Friday night for the start of the ALCS.
Added Lemke, “This will be a coming-out party for a lot of their guys. Now everybody can see how talented (B.J.) Upton and (Evan) Longoria are. Plus, you’ll see how good their pitching is, which I don’t think gets a lot of credit.”
Maybe the Rays’ Scott Kazmir and Andy Sonnanstine are the next Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. But who is the next Lemke, an obscure but significant player? “If I had to pick one, it would be their shortstop, (Jason) Bartlett,” said Lemke of a fourth-year player who still has a ways to go to become Lemke. Just like these Rays have a ways to go to become those Braves.
Those Braves reached the World Series, and during it, Lemke wasn’t obscure anymore after hitting .417.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Braves/MLB
Please explain Tennessee dominance over UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No matter how you analyze it, this dominance by Tennessee over Georgia in football makes no sense. And, yes, dominance is the operative word here, which sort of makes you wonder about something: How in the name of Herschel Walker running over Bill Bates have the Volunteers won three of the last four games over the Bulldogs?
Not only that, Tennessee has whipped Georgia by a composite score of 86-47 during the past two seasons.
This definitely makes no sense.
It’s not as if Tennessee is Florida or something. It’s also not as if Phillip Fulmer is Steve Spurrier.
Here’s another thing: During Mark Richt’s previous seven seasons as Georgia’s head coach, the Bulldogs have surpassed Tennessee in NFL draftees overall, All-SEC first-teamers (AP and coaches) and SEC titles (two to the Volunteers’ none).
Still, after winning three straight against the Volunteers to start the Richt era, Georgia mostly has struggled against Tennessee since.
What is it?
Is it a fluke?
Is Georgia just allergic to orange all of a sudden?
Is it psychological?
Is Tennessee more hyped for Georgia than any other team these days, including Florida and Alabama? If so, why?
Is Fulmer a better game-day strategist than Richt, or maybe more efficient at preparing his team during the week?
Is Georgia looking ahead to the Vanderbilt game (I’m serious), which traditionally follows the Tennessee game?
Is this delayed payback time for that Walker-Bates thing?
Is it parts or all of the above, or is it just something else?
You make the call.
I haven’t a clue.
Permalink | Comments (98) | Categories: UGA/SEC
Current Falcons staff reminiscent of Reeves’ tenure
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is it just me? I mean, for the first time since the Dan Reeves regime, it looks as if the Falcons have a bunch of coaches who actually know what they’re doing.
Guess it isn’t just me.
“I hope I don’t ruffle any feathers, because I don’t want to say anything against (Bobby) Petrino or (Jim) Mora,” said veteran Falcons assistant coach Emmitt Thomas on Monday, reflecting on his old bosses before telling the truth about his new one.
His name is Mike Smith, but to hear Thomas tell it, you could call him Dan Reeves.
“This staff is more like the one coach Reeves had, because it had a nice blend of veteran coaches and young coaches,” said Thomas, among Reeves’ most effective lieutenants. “He held coaches accountable, and he would get on them hard, but he would relax sometimes. And we’ve got the same type of staff here, with some good minds who have been under some good teaching.
“I’m the oldest guy here (65), and you’ve got Terry Robiskie who played in the league, along with Ray (Hamilton). You’ve got Paul Boudreau who has been around a long time, and the same with Mike Mularkey. The players respect that, and they’re buying into the philosophy.”
For verification, consider this big thing: The Falcons are 3-2 under their first-year NFL head coach after shocking the Packers on Sunday in always visitor-hostile Green Bay. Even so, it’s the little things that tell you there is much teaching happening these days in Flowery Branch.
You have the move toward decency of what was a ghastly offensive line. You have Roddy White showing his maturity by going from a dropped-filled game one week to eight catches (in the first half) the next week. You have those tweaks along the defensive line to make John Abraham more potent and Jamal Anderson’s struggles less noticeable. You have Matt Ryan making more progress than not as a rookie quarterback. You also have a young squad (43 percent of its players with three seasons or less NFL experience) that refused to flinch when encountering those ghosts down the stretch at Lambeau Field.
Despite all of that, the Falcons haven’t the talent of, say, Lombardi’s Packers, so we’re back to Smith’s coaches.
Said Thomas, “On defense, for instance, Smitty brought Ray (Hamilton) in. He brought (Brian) Van Gorder in. He brought Alvin (Reynolds) in. They all worked for him previously, and regardless of what I say or anybody else, he’s just like Coach Reeves in that we’ve got to do it his way, and the players understand that.
“Smitty has a little old school and new school in him, and that reminds me of Dan Reeves somewhat. (Smith) knows when to squeeze his players, but he also knows how to let up off of them a little bit.”
Thomas is the definitive expert on all of this, by the way. Not only has he run the Falcons’ secondary for the past seven seasons under four different head coaches, but he is the assistant head coach. He became the interim top guy last year when the stifling Petrino did the franchise a favor with three games left to play by bolting during the middle of the night to call Hogs in Arkansas.
Before Petrino, Mora functioned as the players’ eternal pal to the detriment of himself and his assistants as the Falcons began their three-year slide toward oblivion (8-8, 7-9, 4-12) after reaching the NFC championship game.
Now the Falcons are back to the Dan Reeves future with Smith and his capable group of assistants.
That’s encouraging.
Permalink | Comments (56) | Categories: Falcons/NFL
Wren refuses to give up on vision
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves general manager Frank Wren had it right this season regarding his vision for baseball fossils John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. It’s just that the injury gods couldn’t care less about vision. Even so, despite their ongoing aches and pains, those baseball fossils are in Wren’s new vision, but only in a smaller way, which means he still has it right.
That’s because Wren refuses to send his baseball fossils to a museum until he is just shy of having no choice.
You can say the same of Wren’s approach to Mike Hampton, nearly a baseball fossil at 36, and to Tim Hudson, the toddler of the bunch at 33, who is recovering from major elbow surgery.
Wren’s new vision is like this: He is approaching 2009 with the mindset of acquiring a couple of pitching aces from elsewhere to anchor the Braves’ starting rotation. Still, he is keeping Smoltz (recovering from shoulder surgery at 41), Glavine (a free agent recovering from elbow and shoulder surgeries at 42), Hampton (always recovering from something) and Hudson in the mix until their arms show signs of snapping from their bodies.
And why not? Although future Hall of Famers Smoltz and Glavine have been around a combined 41 seasons in the majors, they were significant pitchers as recently as last season. Hampton was Hampton again down the stretch this season despite not throwing a major-league pitch in nearly three years. Then there was Hudson, spending his 12th season in professional baseball without a losing record.
“It’ll be the last month of next season before Hudson can return, and the prognosis is good on him,” Wren said Thursday. “I think in both cases [for Smoltz and Glavine], they’re ready for spring training. We won’t know for sure until they increase the intensity on their throwing programs later in the winter, but I think both of them are on track to be ready.”
As for Hampton, who had a 3.72 ERA during his last nine starts, Wren already has told the left-hander that the Braves wish to re-sign him. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, nothing wrong with any of Wren’s approach to his baseball fossils, because the New York Yankees proved often during the latter part of their dynasty run this century that age is just a number these days regarding some pitchers.
In 2003, for instance, each of the Yankees’ top four starting pitchers won at least 15 games. They also threw more than 200 innings apiece along the way to the American League pennant. One was 41 (Roger Clemens), another was 40 (David Wells), another was 34 (Mike Mussina) and the other was 31 (Andy Pettitte).
Sounds like Wren’s vision for the Braves before the injury gods took over. Still, with the acquisition of a No. 1 and a No. 2 starter through trade or free agency and the continued growth of Jair Jurrjens into stardom, Wren’s new vision has some of his older pitchers in the back of the rotation. If the injury gods are kind, those pitchers could reach more of the rotation.
“There are just so many advances in medicine — sports medicine, in particular, whether it’s an elbow or shoulder surgery that used to take a pitcher out maybe when he was 30,” Wren said. “Now they can fix it, and he can pitch until he’s 45. It’s just a different era totally. It’s that, and we also have a track record with this group of [older] pitchers that is strong.”
Very strong. Strong enough to keep throwing them out there.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Categories: Braves/MLB
Ryan focused on leading Falcons to wins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If nothing else, Matt Ryan sounds mature, which is a good sign for the Falcons.
Actually, that’s a great sign.
After all, you don’t want your rookie starting quarterback to sound overwhelmed, especially when he’s the most visible guy on an NFL team dominated by youth and inexperience. You want your rookie starting quarterback to sound like Ryan.
Let’s start with this: Courtesy of at least six dropped passes by his receivers on Sunday in Charlotte, Ryan continued his four-game pattern of going from a nice performance to a shaky one and then to a nice one and then to a shaky one.
You know, just like your average rookie starting quarterback.
Even so, when it came to the Falcons’ error-filled loss of 24-9 to the Carolina Panthers, Ryan answered every question with confidence, direct eye contact and no sense of alibiing about his performance or those of his bumbling teammates.
You know, just like your average veteran starting quarterback.
“I think the biggest thing is when you get your chance in the red zone, you’ve got to execute and take advantage of it, because you’re not going to get down there every series,” said Ryan, referring to the Falcons’ inability to score a touchdown against the Panthers despite moving inside their 20-yard line twice. Not only that, the Falcons were 2-for-13 on third-down tries.
Added Ryan, “Without question. Without question I’ve got to get better in both of those situations. I think quarterback play is measured on third down and in the red zone, and I’ve got to do a better job in both of those situations.”
Yes, Ryan does. He also struggled in both of those situations during a 24-9 loss in Tampa, the only other decent team that the 2-2 Falcons have faced this season. In contrast, the Falcons clobbered Detroit and Kansas City, both among the meek.
All Ryan knows is that he wants to keep getting better. He plans to do so by forgetting that he was a splendid player at Boston College and remembering that he was chosen as the No. 3 pick in the NFL draft by the Falcons and given a $72 million contract for a reason: To get the job done sooner than later.
“Those college days are done,” Ryan said flatly. “The college memories are there, and they’ll be nice to think about in a couple of years, but right now, there is just a lot of focus on trying to win these NFL games.”
“Focus” is the operative word here, and it sounds like Ryan has it. • More coverage: Matt Ryan page
Services »
