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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Take 10: Things we’re thankful for
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s that time of year again. It’s the time we all give thanks for the wonderful blessings in our lives like having a job, gas prices under two dollars and that Hollywood has decided to make not one, but two sequels to “Twilight.” Just kidding.
The girlfriend drug Take Ten to the vampire lovefest of a film Monday. But fear not. We paid for a ticket to “Quantum of Solace” instead just to spite her. Crappy movies aren’t getting our money. The two hours of painful acting and woeful plot did give us a chance to think about all the good things in our life and all the blessings we’ve had this football season.
Here are 10 things we’re thankful for this football season:
10: Jonathan Davis - We sat through the blistering cold watching Tucker’s linebacker/tailback rush for 198 yards and four touchdowns in the second round of the playoffs last week. The most impressive was a 97-yard scamper with his team backed up on the goalline. Some recruiting services say he’s undersized to be effective at the next level. We just see Bob Sanders running around in a Tiger uniform.
9: Woodstock - What business does a team with no region titles, no state titles and a 6-4 regular season record have in the Class AAAAA quarterfinals? None. But man, it’s fun to watch. We’re thinking Cinderella’s run ends at the hands of Camden County Friday. But thank you Wolverines and Mike O’Brien for giving us a great story.
8: Kacy Stuart - She made headlines earlier in this year for trying to - gasp - play football. We know. Crazy, right? The freshman kicker was dismissed from the New Creation Center Crusaders, a private Christian academy in McDonough, after practicing with the team for two months. We at Take Ten fully support women on the gridiron. It reminds us of Kathy Ireland in “Necessary Roughness,” which is always a good thing, or Becky from “Little Giants.”
7: Rush Propst - Georgia is happy to have the best and brightest coaching minds around. They’ll even take discarded stars. The former Hoover High coach in Alabama (program on MTV’s “Two-A-Days”) went 4-6 in his first season at Colquitt County. The Packers are pushing to get their only reality show on CMT called “Highway 319.” No, not really.
6: Spread offense - Look, it’s got something for everyone. If you’re oldschool and love the wing-T, it’s got the option. If you love to fling the ball, it’s got that, too. That’s assuming your school runs it well. And you can get it for just a couple thousand from the booster club to the pocket of Tony Franklin. The fired Auburn offensive coordinator will be coming out with is follow-up book, “Fourth Down, and I swear Chris Todd can make this” very soon.
5: YouTube - We live in a digital age. But without the video streaming Web site, we would have never seen some of the year’s best plays. How many of you were rolling out of the house to go see Centennial at Lassiter? Didn’t think so.
4: WAGA Fox 5 “It’s in your face” hands - We’re a sucker for a good marketing idea. The kids seem to like it, and it’s given us reason to push for more slogans for the AJC’s high school sports team. How about… “AJC Sports: It’s in your brain,” “AJC Sports: Black and white, and read all over” or my favorite “AJC Sports: We got the funk.” I’m not sure where the funk came from, but I assure you, we have it.
3: Newnan - Look, we like underdogs. The undefeated Cougars went from feel-good story a year ago to a real threat for their first state title in Class AAAAA. They’ve destroyed teams this season. Newnan has allowed 22 points all season and handed teams six-straight shutouts and eight overall. Can’t wait for that North Gwinnett game.
2: Championships in the Dome - You may disapprove, but title games deserve to be on the biggest stage. Both teams have worked hard to be there and no one should get homefield advantage. That’s our take. That and we’re hoping for free Chick-fil-A this year for media.
1: You - Don’t get sentimental on, but where would we be without our readers? Sure, sometimes your comments frighten us. Most of the time they’re enlightening or just funny. We appreciate them nonetheless. Like they say, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to read it, does it make a sound? Well, something like that. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
Go on. Take Ten. What are you most thankful for this holiday season? Who are the players, coaches, teams, mascots or whatever that you’re thankful for? Let us know. Here’s you’re chance to voice your opinion.
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Georgia High School Wrestling: Pound for Pound recaps Week 1 action
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was an interesting first weekend in Georgia high school wrestling. No. 3 Pope defeated No. 1 Collins Hill, 33-29, though the Eagles were missing their top two wrestlers and two others that have a good chance of medaling in February. T.J. Mitchell, Allen Willard and Taylor Knapp were suspended for violating team rules, according to Eagles coach Cliff Ramos. Those absences, along with missing Gary Tiller (still returning from football injury) and two other starters, helped tip the scales in Pope’s favor. Starters missing or not, it was still a nice win on opening day for the Greyhounds.
PFP on location
Pound for Pound will once again be spending nearly every weekend in gymnasiums all over Georgia and we spent the opening weekend at Centennial for the Turkey Trot Duals. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Dual of the day
Kennesaw Mountain had a strong day that almost turned into a perfect day, but a 34-33 loss to Vestavia Hills, the two-time Class AAAAAA Alabama state champions, left the No. 9 Mustangs a little short.
Match we would’ve liked to see
Henry County and McEachern never got as chance to dual, so a 125-pound tussle between McEachern’s Brandon Westerman and the Warhawks’ Evan Warrington never came to fruition. Westerman’s been an absolute machine having not lost to a Georgia wrestler since the 2006 State Duals, but something tells us Warrington might have the edge if the two ever hook up.
A couple questions answered:
1: Henry County will be a major factor in Class AA. With Warrington, Anthony Fretwell and an underrated pack of light weights, the Warhawks appear to be the Jefferson’s biggest obstacle to its first Class AA state title.
2: Sam Kuntz is a beast. The Peachtree Ridge 189-pounder, who finished second last season, won’t finish second again. Kuntz is quick, strong and is a big reason why the Lions have a good shot at finishing in the top-10 again in Class AAAAA.
AJC Top 10 All-Class Wrestling Rankings - Week 2 (Last week’s rank in parenthesis)
- Collins Hill (1) Four potential state champions sit out close dual loss to Pope
- Union Grove (2) Wolverines pick up dual wins over Cass and Forsyth Central
- Pope (4) Greyhounds follow win over Collins Hill with blowout wins over Kennesaw Mountain and Whitewater
- Jefferson (3) Dragons open season December 5 at Panther Invitational
- Lafayette (5) Staph infection scare cancels Ramblers opening duals; now scheduled to open December 2
- Centennial (6) Knights go 4-1 at Turkey Trot Duals; only loss to Vestavia Hills (AL)
- Harrison (7) Hoyas open season by hosting dual tournament today, then head to Kennesaw Mountain this weekend.
- Eastside (8) Defending Class AAAA dual runners-up start their first year in Class AAA with five consecutive dual wins.
- Kennesaw Mountain (NR) Mustangs have strong showing at Centennial, split with Walton and Pope, Tuesday.
- Cass (NR) Colonels lose a tight dual to No. 2 Union Grove, looking like a contender in Class AAAA.
AJC Coaches Poll - Week 2
(1st place votes)
- Collins Hill (7), 88 points. Last week: 1
- Union Grove, 74. Last week: 2
- Pope (1), 66. Last week: 3
- Jefferson (1), 64. Last week: 4
- Centennial, 33. Last week: 5
- Lafayette, 32. Last week: 9
- Eastside, 24. Last week: 6
- Walton, 20. Last week: 8
T9. Gilmer, 17. Last week: 7
Cass, 17. Last week: NR
Others receiving votes:
Harrison, 14; Whitewater, 10; Kennesaw Mountain, 8; Kell, 6; Henry County, 4; Peachtree Ridge, 4; Parkview, 4; Fayette County, 5; Grayson, 3; Wesleyan, 2
They said it
“He’s got to be the best I’ve ever coached as far as the work ethic and the way he handles himself. It’s great to have a kid like that, that you can point to for the younger kids.”
- Union Grove coach Joey Dinino on 135-pounder Joey Lazor
Where we’ll be
Pound for Pound heads to Wesleyan today for a dual tournament involving No. 2 Union Grove, No. 6 Centennial and the No. 10 Wolves, among others.
Pin it down and rank the rankings: Let us know who YOUR Top 10 are and how they stack up against Kurt’s — and the coaches’ — picks.
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