A contrite Michael Vick told an Atlanta radio station Wednesday he wishes he had shown more dedication to his craft while quarterbacking the Falcons.It was one of many regrets Vick expressed in the interview with 790 AM The Zone."There was a lot more I could have done off the field and in the film room that could have elevated my game to a different level," Vick said.

DENVER -- Kari Lehtonen will play another NHL game -- it just won’t be for the Thrashers.The Thrashers traded the goaltender, recovering from two off-season back surgeries, to Dallas on Tuesday for defensive prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round draft pick this year.

Jamal Crawford scored 28 points, including fourth 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped the Atlanta Hawks pull away from the Memphis Grizzlies for a 108-94 victory Tuesday night.Crawford scored 14 points in the final period, and on 5 of 7 from 3-point range in the game.

Jerry Jackson's first head coaching job is about as high-profile as it gets in the state's high school ranks.Jackson guides the Redan girls, who are the defending state champions, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA and registered their 50th consecutive win with a 71-46 decision over archrival Stephenson on Tuesday.

The Braves haven't ruled out adding a free agent if the discounted price is right, and outfielder Johnny Damon made it known again Tuesday that he would like to play for them."I hope. They are definitely a team that is on top of the list," Damon said in a text message to the Journal-Constitution when asked if he had reason to think or hope the Braves would make him a competitive offer.

Georgia Tech hired Marietta native Andy McCollum as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Tuesday.He comes to Tech from N.C. State, where he was the linebackers coach for the past three seasons."We will be happy to have a coach with the experience and knowledge that Andy will bring to our program," Tech coach Paul Johnson said in a statement.

Longtime Atlantan Brad Nessler was on Tuesday named the winner of the 2010 Furman Bisher for Sports Media Excellence.Nessler, who began his broadcast career at WGST in 1980, will be honored by the Atlanta Sports Council, which presents the award. A longtime Duluth resident, Nessler is a college football and basketball play-by-play man for ESPN (since 1992) and ABC (since 1997).

Georgia State will begin spring practice on March 17 and will host its spring game, which is yet to be named, at the Georgia Dome on April 10.

Georgia will begin spring practice March 4 and will host its G-Day game at Sanford Stadium on April 10. The Bulldogs went 8-5 last season.

Zachery Peacock could have been the perfect warm-and-fuzzy example of how a player, who started 30 games as a junior, reacted with class and grace when he found out he wouldn't be a starter as a senior.But the 6-foot-8 senior power forward for the Yellow Jackets went for something more tangible.

Georgia Tech will begin spring football practice practice March 29 and will host its T-Day game at Bobby Dodd Stadium on April 24.  The Yellow Jackets went 11-3 last season and won the ACC.

ATHENS -- Travis Leslie's teammates on the Georgia basketball team have taken good-natured note of his increasing celebrity."They call me ‘Top 10,' " Leslie, a sophomore from Decatur, said sheepishly.That's a reference to ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10″ plays-of-the-day feature, on which Leslie's dunks have had a recurring role recently.

Monday morning, the ball that Chris Reis had clutched so tightly to his body and wouldn’t have surrendered for anything was gone.The night before, Reis, the New Orleans safety from Roswell High School and Georgia Tech, became a part of Super Bowl history when he recovered the third-quarter onside kick that triggered the Saints' comeback in their 31-17 upset of Indianapolis.

Atlanta starts a three-game road trip that ends with the two-week Olympic break.

Johnny Oduya and Niclas Bergfors played key roles in Thrashers victory over Florida Saturday,.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Coming on the heels of another exhilarating Super Bowl, NFL teams should be basking in the afterglow this week.However, a new reality for the Falcons and the rest of the league is setting in today. Looking ahead the 2010 season, teams face an uncapped year for salaries, complicating offseason operations as franchises construct their rosters.

New Orleans coach Sean Payton's decision to attempt an onside kick to start the second half Sunday evening will go down as one of the best coaching gambles in Super Bowl history.With the Saints trailing 10-6, Payton didn't want to just hand the ball over to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts' high-octane offense to start the half.

There is no timetable for goalie to play his first NHL game since April 11, 2009.

Hawks have won two of the last three at the Grizzlies and are 18-10 overall in the series.

Hawks general manager Rick Sund said he expects the team's core group to remain intact after the Feb. 18 trade deadline.“People are talking about us as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and that’s what we strive for,” Sund said Monday. “If there is something out there that will make us better, we’ll look at it.

Outfield phenom Jason Heyward and left-hander Mike Minor are among 18 non-roster players invited to Braves major league spring training camp. Minor was the team's first-round draft selection in June and Heyward was recently rated the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball.

The grass may soon be greener at Cobb County schools. The school system plans to spend $1 million at each high school, mostly to install artificial turf.

Tucker boys basketball coach James Hartry believes his team or Miller Grove could play in the state championship game again this year.But it would be harder this time around.In one of metro Atlanta’s top games this week, the two DeKalb County schools will play Friday for what probably will determine a Region 6-AAAA subregion championship.

Josh Smith won't be an All-Star this season, but he gave more evidence Friday night that his time is coming.As has become increasingly common this season, Smith did a little bit of everything for the Hawks, racking up his second career triple-double in the Hawks' 91-81 win over Chicago at Philips Arena.

Ailling Joe Johnson could benefit from extra day off after game called off by weather.

Thrashers goalie appeared in four games for Chicago during his two-week rehab stint.

LIEVIN, France — The United States secured a spot in the Fed Cup semifinals after Cobb County teenager Melanie Oudin beat Julie Coin on Sunday to give the Americans a 3-0 lead over France. Oudin defeated Coin 7-6 (3), 6-4 in just over two hours in the first reverse singles match.

In their first home game without franchise player Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers' two newest players provided a glimmer of hope.Forward Niclas Bergfors, one of three players acquired from New Jersey in Thursday's Kovalchuk trade, delivered the game-winner in the Thrashers' 4-2 win over Florida on Saturday at Philips Arena.

Bulldogs, who trailed by as many as eight points early in second half, rallied for SEC win.

The historic snowstorm that blanketed the Mid-Atlantic states this weekend nearly caught the Thrashers in its grip. They barely made it home in time for their Saturday night game against Florida."That's the worst storm I've ever seen in that area," said team play-by-play man Dan Kamal, who spent 12 years in nearby Pennsylvania.

Georgia State picked a bad time to lose its shooting touch.The Panthers, who had made 51.9 percent from the field in the first half, made only 32 percent in the second and lost to William and Mary 59-56 before a rowdy homecoming crowd at the GSU Sports Arena on Saturday.

A game that dissolved into a mad scramble Saturday against N.C. State, just left Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt mad.The Yellow Jackets' 16-point lead disappeared on seven turnovers in the final 3:29 while trying to inbound the ball against N.C. State's press.

Snowstorms throughout the Mid-Atlantic region hamper team's return for Saturday night's game.

Last week, James “Friday” Richards was in the head football coach’s office at Marietta High School, stowing a career. Thirty-three years packed into four middling boxes, the residue of a man who never thought himself overly important.Not that a few photos, ribbons and trophy trinkets really tell his story.

Former NFL star Warren Sapp is being questioned by Miami Beach police for an alleged domestic battery incident.Police spokesman Juan Sanchez says Sapp was brought in Saturday afternoon and detectives are still interviewing him.Sanchez says the 37-year-old Sapp has not been arrested.

For any Georgia Tech fans who have made certain assumptions about Brian Oliver, the freshman on the basketball team, and Brian Oliver, the former standout from Tech's 1990 Final Four team -- not to worry.You weren't the only ones confused.When Tech coach Paul Hewitt first started to recruit the younger Oliver, who is from Glasstown, N.

When Georgia State guard Joe Dukes transferred to the Panthers from Wake Forest two years ago, he was tired of sitting on the Demon Deacons’ bench and wanted a chance to play close to home and get more playing time.Two years later it’s apparent that changing schools was good for Dukes and Georgia State.

Increasingly it looks as if the Magic will be Hawks' main competition for playoff spot.

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis has taken the long and winding road from McNair High to center stage at Super Bowl XLIV."When I was back at McNair, I just never thought something like this could happen for a person like me considering where I came from," said Mathis over his cell phone while riding the team bus back to the hotel after practice last week.

When Georgia State guard Joe Dukes transferred to the Panthers from Wake Forest two years ago, he was tired of sitting on the Demon Deacons' bench and wanted a chance to play close to home and get more playing time.Two years later it's apparent that changing schools was good for Dukes and Georgia State.

The Thrashers have four players who will represent three countries at the men’s hockey competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which begin Friday. Two players will make their Olympic debut. Here’s a look at the players, including their favorite Olympic moment.

As the Atlanta Braves' executive vice president of business operations, Mike Plant plans and oversees many of the details of every game, from opening to closing. His other identity is even more massive - he's in Vancouver this month as the chef de mission for the U.

WASHINGTON -- The Thrashers couldn’t stop Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.Then again, who can?Ovechkin had a goal and an assist to lead the Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the Thrashers on Friday at the Verizon Center. It was the Capitals’ team-record 13th consecutive victory.

Ilya Kovalchuk's debut with the New Jersey Devils had a storybook ending, except journeyman Jay Pandolfo provided the big goal instead of the high-scoring Russian.Pandolfo capped a three-goal outburst in the final 3:04 and the Devils welcomed Kovalchuk by rallying for a 4-3 victory over the stunned Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.

Among those disappointed to see Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk get traded was perhaps the Thrashers' tallest fan, Hawks center Zaza Pachulia. The two athletes and their families are friends, attending the others' games at Philips Arena. "He wanted me to stay here [when Pachulia was a free agent last summer], and I wanted the same for him," Pachulia said.

He’s only 20 with limited experience above the low minor leagues, but Braves officials say Jason Heyward will enter spring training with every chance to win the right-field job.Then there’s Jordan Schafer, 23, who last spring won a three-way battle for the center-field job and hit two home runs in the opening series at Philadelphia.

Hillgrove girls basketball coach Sheryl Fowler loves a challenge.That’s why she left a successful career at McEachern to start a new program a few miles down the road in Cobb County when Hillgrove opened in 2006.“I started at Campbell, and Tom Wilson had that team rolling and that program going, so that was a matter of just maintaining it,” the 52-year-old Fowler said.

From the outside looking in, it sure seems like it would be nice to be part of the Georgia Tech golf team.The Yellow Jackets, after all, kicked off the spring season this week in Hawaii, which is very pleasant place to start, and they're preparing for later trips to Puerto Rico and Las Vegas.

A look at the three players the Thrashers received from the Devils in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade:Niclas BergforsNumber: 18Position: Right wingCounty: SwedenHeight; weight: 5 feet 11, 195 poundsShoots: RightAge: 22Draft: First round (23rd overall) in 2005 by DevilsStats: 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists)In quotes: “I’m an offensive player.

Freshman pitcher/infielder Cooper Moseley was awarded the National Umpires Association Player of the Year/Sportsmanship Award.The award is given to the nation's top amateur baseball player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the field -- ethical behavior both on and off the field, fair play and integrity" by NUA.

Next for ThrashersWho: vs. PanthersWhen: 7 p.m. SaturdayTV/Radio: None; 680

• This will be the last home game for the Thrashers this month. After a three-game western road trip next week, the NHL breaks for the remainder of the month for the Olympics.

• Both teams are playing for the second consecutive night.

WASHINGTON -- The Thrashers began the post-Kovalchuk era on Friday.To survive, much less remain a playoff contender, the team must replace its captain, its leading scorer and the face of the franchise.Ilya Kovalchuk played his first game as a New Jersey Devil Friday night, 24 hours after the Thrashers gave up on months of fruitless negotiations and traded their star, having failed to secure a long-term contract for the pending unrestricted free agent.

Arkansas is poised to make a strong run in the SEC West and much of the Razorbacks’ success can be linked to a freshman.Kentucky freshmen John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins have received most of the publicity, but Marshawn Powell is the conference’s 11th-leading scorer (15.

Some folks say it’s parity. Others are beginning to worry that this is a down season for the ACC.The ACC continues to be the top-rated conference in the Sagarin and Pomeroy rankings, but only Duke and Georgia Tech are ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Blue Devils might have knocked the Yellow Jackets out of next week’s poll with their 86-67 victory on Thursday night.

Al Groh will be paid $150,000 a year to be Georgia Tech's defensive coordinator, according to a copy of his contract obtained Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through the state's open records law.Groh signed the two-year deal, with an option for the third year, on Jan.

Next for Georgia TechWho: vs. N.C. State (14-9, 2-6)When: 4 p.m. SaturdayTV; radio: WATL; 790, 106.7Leading scorers: Tech F Gani Lawal (14.3 ppg); NCSU F Tracy Smith (17.4 ppg)What to watch

• The No. 21 Yellow Jackets (16-6, 4-4) are trying to rebound from their worst loss of the season, an 86-67 loss Thursday at Duke.

Former University of Tennessee head football-turned USC pigskin coach Lane Kiffin is planning for the future -- five years ahead, a Wilmington, Del., newspaper reports.According to the Wilmington News Journal, Bear, Del., seventh-grade quarterback David Sills committed Thursday night to accept a football scholarship from USC.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Defeating Duke in Atlanta is one thing. Defeating Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium is something Georgia Tech has managed only a handful of times in the past 55 years.There's a reason.From the first minute Thursday night, after Gani Lawal picked up two fouls, to the last minute when "Cameron Crazies" chanted "Our House," the game belonged to Duke.

WASHINGTON -- That didn’t take long.One day after informing Ilya Kovalchuk that he would be traded, the Thrashers on Thursday night sent its franchise player to New Jersey for two players, a prospect and a first-round draft pick.The Thrashers swapped Kovalchuk and defenseman Anssi Salmela to the Devils for forward Nicklas Bergfors, defenseman Johnny Oduya, center Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick in this year's draft.

ATHENS -- Georgia and LSU showed Thursday why they're the SEC's best defenses, with each offense scoring a season-low 42 points in regulation.But the No. 14 Lady Bulldogs found their stride on offense in overtime, holding off the No. 19 Tigers to win 49-46 and break a three-game losing streak.

A message to fans from Thrashers GM Don Waddell: After several months of negotiations toward a long-term contract with forward Ilya Kovalchuk and his agent, we were unable to reach an agreement and elected to trade Kovalchuk and defenseman Anssi Salmela to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a first round draft pick in 2010.

Georgia Tech linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary has accepted a position at Louisville.Jean-Mary, who has been at Tech for the past six seasons, will be assistant head coach, as well as linebackers coach, for first-year coach Charlie Strong.The two have known each other since Jean-Mary was a junior in high school and Strong the assistant head coach at Florida (1991-94).

North Clayton High School sophomore Mariah Stackhouse was asked to participate in an assembly Thursday morning at the school gymnasium.Missing math class has rarely proven so profitable.After Stackhouse, one of the best junior golfers in the country, gave a speech and presented a tournament trophy she had won to the school, she received a prize of her own.

Advancing Friday's game between the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls at Philips Arena.When, TV/radio: 8 p.m., ESPN; 790** The Hawks have split two games with the Bulls thus far, beating them by 25 points at Philips Arena Dec. 9 and then losing by three in overtime in Chicago Dec.

Ilya Kovalchuk still is a member of the Thrashers -- at least for now.Despite being told by general manager Don Waddell that he will be traded, Kovalchuk practiced with the team Thursday. He later departed for Washington to play against the Capitals on Friday.

Fired as Georgia's defensive coordinator in December, Willie Martinez has been much in demand in recent days.He accepted a position as an assistant coach at Stanford late last week, only to change his mind when Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops called and offered a job over the weekend.

Panthers receive permission to speak to football players about possibly transferring.

The Hawks obviously have ambitions beyond the second round of the playoffs, but they have a Dwight Howard Problem. They can’t guard him.The Orlando center scored 31 points and had 19 rebounds in a 104-86 victory against Atlanta last week and Rashard Lewis, the Magic’s swingman, pushed a needle in the Hawks.

The man who will lead the Indianapolis Colts onto the field for Super Bowl XLIV isn't Peyton Manning or coach Jim Caldwell but Marietta's own Trey Mock.Known to the NFL as Blue, the Colts' mascot, Mock will sprint out in his 40-pound acrylic horse suit waving a team flag.

North Cobb junior Jarae Savage averages a team-high 16 points, four assists and three steals and is a prime reason the Warriors (18-3) were on top of Region 5-AAAAA entering games this week against Cherokee and Kennesaw Mountain. Here are some thoughts the 5-foot-7 point guard shared with Michael Alpert, who filed this report for the AJC.

If the NCAA expands its men's basketball tournament to 96 teams, Paul Hewitt probably will cheer. "We have [347] Division I teams now, and only 65 are going," the Georgia Tech coach said. "We've increased it by one since 1985. That just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

The Whitefield Academy boys team, top-ranked in Class A, will look to get back on track toward repeating asClass A champion when it travels to No. 8 Pace Academy tonight. After starting the season 17-1, with the only loss coming in December to a highly ranked team from Alabama, the Wolfpack have lost two consecutive games, including a listless 46-40 decision on Tuesday to unranked Paideia (16-6).

Eddie Martin had several reasons for leaving Norcross’ boys basketball program two years ago and coming to Greater Atlanta Christian, but seeking a better shot at a state championship was not one of them.Martin had won three straight in Class AAAAA at Norcross, the first school to accomplish that feat in the highest classification since the 1930s.

Georgia Tech will open its season Sept. 4 at home against South Carolina State and will begin to defend its ACC title at North Carolina on Sept. 18.The 2010 schedule, which was released Thursday, almost is a reverse of last season's, with a tough October-November stretch against three ACC contenders: a road game at Clemson on Oct.

Teams don’t earn spots in the state basketball tournament until the region tournaments, but winning a regular-season region championship can make that task a lot easier because it brings a more favorable draw. Here are some of the tightest races worth watching as the regular season heads into the final week:Boys

• 6-AAAAA: Both subregions in the state’s toughest region will go down to the wire.

My reasonsCoach Allen Whitehart’s Centennial boys enter the weekend 15-6, having played nearly half of their games against opponents outside Georgia.Centennial finished 2-1 and 3-0 in the Prep All-Star Classic and Rotary Roundball Classic in the Carolinas during Christmas break.

Mac Thompson, the 39-year-old head football coach of Cook High in South Georgia, died of a massive heart attack on Wednesday evening. It is the second tragedy for the school and football program in less than one year. In May, just three months after Thompson was hired, senior football player Roy White collapsed during spring practice and could not be revived.

With its first football game less than eight months away, Georgia State went looking for size and defensive players Wednesday and the Panthers got both. Georgia State signed 18 defensive players and the new class includes 13 players who weigh more than 240 pounds.

One punch and a man is going to prison for five years.The punch in October 2008 came two days after coach Preston Moses told Ronald Lee’s 17-year-old son he had to run sprints for missing a class at Pebblebrook High School or he could leave the team.

Five Hawks scored in double figures in a home victory over Los Angeles.

Losing can take a toll on a team. It can become a habit-forming, self-fulfilling, joyless hunk of misery.Wednesday’s 72-68 loss to Arkansas was extra miserable for Georgia.While Georgia (9-11, 1-6) has squandered many halftime leads this year, it was hard to imagine this one getting away, the Bulldogs up by 15 against a 10-11 Razorback team.

Derek Dooley was selling. Da'Rick Rogers was buying.By landing recruits such as the Calhoun High wide receiver, Tennessee's new coach has salvaged his first recruiting class for the Volunteers. Hired less than three weeks ago, Dooley made the most of his time, piecing together a 25-player class that might be better than the one Lane Kiffin had recruited before bolting to USC.

Georgia State  settled for a moral victory the first time it played George Mason, saddled with a three-point loss. On Wednesday night, the  Panthers turned things around, beating the same team 61-57 at the Georgia State Sports Arena.Sophomore Jihad Ali, a 6-foot-5 guard from King High School, scored a career-high 22 points and hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to put his team on top for good.

Joseph Gilbert, who has started 26 games on the offensive line for Georgia Tech over the past two seasons, might have to transfer.Gilbert, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound native of Cartersville, is on pace to graduate with a degree in management this summer and has yet to be accepted into a graduate school at Tech.

Things are different now for Hawks guard Mike Bibby.His minutes are down to a career-low average and so it follows that his other numbers are, too. He’s not a primary scorer. He’s not even the finishing point guard some nights.This is after Bibby, 31, signed a three-year contract before the season.

ATHENS -- A new contract for athletics director Damon Evans. A facelift for Stegeman Coliseum. And a new plaza for Sanford Stadium.Those will be the results of actions taken Wednesday by the board of directors of the University of Georgia Athletic Association.

Ilya Kovalchuk’s days in Atlanta are numbered.Kovalchuk was informed by Thrashers general manager Don Waddell after practice Wednesday that he will be traded. Kovalchuk then phoned agent Jay Grossman, who later was told the same thing by Waddell.“It certainly appears to be the direction the club is moving in,” Grossman told The Atlanta  Journal-Constitution.

The Great Groove Controversy on the PGA Tour, also known as “How Phil Got His Grooves Back,” has been calmed. For now.It began last week in San Diego when Scott McCarron argued that the four players in the field at Torrey Pines who were using the Ping Eye2 wedges – specifically Phil Mickelson -- were skirting the new USGA rule that requires professional players to use equipment with “V” grooves.

Scoring on Georgia's defense was consistently difficult during its early 16-game winning streak.But lately, the points have come in bunches for Lady Bulldogs' opponents and the losses have done the same. Georgia takes a three-game losing streak against No.

Georgia Tech's practices have been spirited this week and not just in the figurative way you'd expect as the Yellow Jackets prepared to face No. 10 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Thursday night.The Yellow Jackets have been practicing to piped-in sounds of the infamous Cameron Crazies chanting as well as the Duke pep band playing its fight song, over and over again.

Who: at Duke (17-4, 5-2)When: 7 p.m. ThursdayTV, Radio: ESPN2; 106.7, 790Leading scorers: Tech F Gani Lawal (14.5 ppg); Duke G Jon Scheyer (18.7 ppg).What to watch

• Tech (16-5, 4-3), which defeated Duke 71-67 at Alexander Coliseum on Jan. 9, is trying to win at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time since 2004 and sixth time ever.

With its first football game less than eight months away, Georgia State went looking for size and defensive players Wednesday and the Panthers got both. Georgia State signed 18 defensive players and the new class includes 13 players who weigh more than 240 pounds.

Derek Dooley only had two weeks to salvage the top ten recruiting class left by predecessor Lane Kiffin when he bolted for Southern California.His class may look a bit different, but it's still one of the best in the nation.Dooley signed five-star wide receiver Da'Rick Rogers even though the Calhoun, Ga.

It’s bad enough that the Thrashers fell behind early to Tampa Bay.It’s even worse that it happened against a goaltender they have never beaten.Tampa Bay won a 2-1 decision over the Thrashers on Tuesday at Philips Arena as Antero Niittymaki improved to 16-0-0 lifetime against the franchise.