A.M. ATL: Fresh air

Morning, y’all! Tired of the World Cup yet? Good, because we have another match in Atlanta today. Fellow commuters, we’ll get through this together.

Let’s get to it.

LIFE AFTER EXONERATION

Brandon Pugh was convicted in a 2008 armed bank robbery that he didn't commit, and after years of legal efforts to prove his innocence, he was finally successful. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Imagine: You’re convicted of a crime you didn’t commit. Your trial is widely thought to be mismanaged. You serve 16 years in prison. Then, you’re acquitted, and life starts anew.

How would you feel? Where would you even begin?

• Brandon Pugh spent almost two decades in prison after his stolen Cadillac was used as a getaway car in an armed bank robbery. He was recently acquitted with help from the Justice Integrity Unit of the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.
• The father of two has a loving family, but prison cost him his job, his health and countless memories with loved ones. He knows he can’t get those moments back, but he’s choosing a higher path.
• “You can be bitter, or you can be better,” he told the AJC. “I chose to be better.”
• Wrongfully convicted people like Pugh are getting a second chance at justice through district attorneys’ units dedicated to reviewing exoneration claims. Douglas and Fulton counties are the only two offices in Georgia with such programs. Other organizations, like the Georgia Innocence Project, also work for the cause.
• A new state system now gives exonerees in Georgia another pathway to obtain compensation from the state, which Pugh intends to pursue.

🔎 READ MORE: More about Pugh’s story, and what compensation looks like

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MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🏗️ A big developer buying up Atlanta real estate is planning a revamp of Morningside Village, a roughly 50,000-square-foot shopping and dining hub in the Morningside-Lenox Park neighborhood.

🤖 Insight Global, a talent, consulting and AI company based in Dunwoody, plans to hire more than 1,700 employees in 2026 “as demand continues to grow for technical talent and AI transformation.”

LET’S GOOO, ATHENS TBDS!

Athens’ new professional indoor football team is asking fans to choose its name. They already have four final candidates, so save your unhinged wordsmithing for another day. (Is that targeted toward a few evil word geniuses in the A.M. ATL inbox? Maybe.)

The options lean heavily on Athens’ twin traditions of good football and good music:

• Athens Bullfrogs
• Athens Crush
• Athens Hedgehawgs
• Athens Panic

Oooh. Some good ones there. What do we think? Fan voting closes Wednesday if you wanna weigh in.

Each of these has fantastic visual and branding possibilities, and I genuinely glow with anticipation of what an “Athens Panic” mascot would look like. Very stressed, obviously. Can we steal Gritty from Philadelphia?

🔎 READ MORE: A look at each name, and another Athens team named after music greats

IT’S WORLD CUP WEDNESDAY

Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after a World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Cape Verde in Miami Gardens, Fla., last week. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

No lies, my husband and I have probably watched 20 entire … wait, no. I just asked him. We are doing the math.

I’m rechecking the math and I don’t like it. Our voices are starting to sound desperate.

Seventy-five. 75. We’ve watched about 75 entire soccer matches since the beginning of the World Cup. Childless WFH behavior in the extreme.

• Anyway, Argentina takes on Egypt today at Atlanta Stadium at noon ET. It’s the penultimate match in our fair city. The last match in the city is a semifinal on July 15.
• Today’s contest brings together two of soccer’s greatest kings: Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Egypt’s Mo Salah. I’d tell you it’s definitely one to watch, but clearly I’m not picky.

⚽ READ MORE: More on the matchup

NEWS BITES

The U.S.A. is out of the World Cup after losing to Belgium