Hello friends.
Wanna talk about point-shaving, Hall of Famers and the new Falcons coach?
Too bad. We are anyway.
POINT-SHAVING (ALLEGEDLY) COMES TO KENNESAW
Shortly after we spoke about sports gambling last week, the feds dropped their latest indictment.
And this one hit a lot closer to home.
- Simeon Cottle, the leading scorer for Kennesaw State men’s basketball, stands accused of intentionally flubbing his performance in a March 1, 2024, game against Queens University.
- Why? To help a few gamblers hit on the first-half spread — and make tens of thousands of dollars while doing it, according to his indictment.
- Now-former Owls forward Demond Robinson was implicated, too. The indictment also mentions a third, unnamed player (now a cooperating witness, presumably).
All of which sure raises a lot of questions! Was it really just the one game mentioned in the indictment? How did they get involved?
What, exactly, is wrong with us?
As for the first part: We’re not making any claims here, but it was worth looking at for any other wildly varying performances in Cottle’s past. And Win Column data master Rahul Deshpande found a few in 2024.
Note the games with big differences in his points scored in the first half (low points on the yellow line) vs. the second half (high points on the black line).
In terms of involvement, authorities say “the fixers” specifically targeted “NCAA basketball players for whom the bribe payments would meaningfully supplement or exceed legitimate NIL opportunities.”
Yikes. But let’s not blame NIL for this.
Let’s blame American society going from 0 to 60 on sports wagering practically overnight. As others have said, you don’t have nearly as many problems if it’s not this easy for anyone to bet on in-game spreads for Kennesaw State — or Coppin State, or Southern Miss — basketball, of all things.
I’m not generally an alarmist; sports find a way to survive. We’re flirting with disaster here, though.
It’s time to walk away from the table.
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ANDRUW’S UNPRECEDENTED ASCENT
There’s not a lot new to say about Andruw Jones.
Ten-time Gold Glove winner. A healthy 434 home runs. The greatest center fielder ever. Grade-school Tyler’s fourth or fifth favorite Brave.
And now, officially, a Hall of Famer.
“One thing that Chipper (Jones) said for a long time, ‘I don’t think the Hall of Fame is going to be complete without (you) being in it,’” Andruw said. “And his wish came true now.”
Jones is the eighth member of those ’90s Braves teams to get the call, joining Chipper, Glavine, Maddux, McGriff and Smoltz (plus Cox and Schuerholz). He’s also the first Hall of Famer from his native Curacao.
But here’s the most interesting part: As you’ll see above, he got just 7.3% of the vote in his first year on the ballot in 2018.
Per MLB stats guru Sarah Langs, that’s the lowest initial number for anyone eventually inducted since annual voting resumed in 1966. (Second place: Scott Rolen, 10.2%).
That’s largely a product of 1) the rise of defensive stats, which better quantify Jones’ ridiculous impact on the game and 2) voters’ distaste for the steroid-fueled stars who would otherwise create a logjam.
Impressive nonetheless. Perhaps a little poetic, even.
🗓️ Mark those calendars: The induction ceremony (also featuring non-Braves Carlos Beltrán and Jeff Kent) is set for Sunday, July 26. A word of advice, from personal experience: Don’t convince your wife to make the trip by staying in New York City and attempting to drive to and from Cooperstown in the same day. It’s way too much.
ASK A BEAT WRITER, KEVIN STEFANSKI EDITION
I’m gonna let our buddy D. Led handle the heavy lifting on new Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski, the ongoing GM search and whatever other new delights arise in the coming days and weeks (sign up for that Dirty Birds Dispatch, folks).
But I will say I’m reasonably surprised nearly two-thirds of AJC readers who responded to our extremely scientific poll graded the hire at an A or a B.
Maybe it’s the Matt Ryan effect, but “former Browns coach who lost 26 games the last two seasons” strikes me as the type of hire that typically leaves ATLiens uniformly nonplussed.
Not that there’s a complete lack of consternation — particularly for folks who think Stefanski should’ve played rookie Cleveland quarterback Shedeur Sanders sooner. I know basically nothing about that and ain’t afraid to admit it.
So I reached out to Mark Kay Cabot, legendary Browns beat reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Here’s how she characterized the working relationship:
1️⃣ “Kevin Stefanski put countless extra hours into getting Shedeur Sanders ready to play.”
2️⃣ “The Browns altered their training camp schedule and their practice schedule to make sure Sanders got all of the reps he needed as the fourth- and third-team quarterback before he became the backup and then the starter.”
3️⃣ “They ‘two-spotted’ in camp, conducting an extra set of concurrent drills on a separate field so Sanders could be working at all times.”
4️⃣ “Sanders also spent the early morning hours with Stefanski in his office one-on-one, going over practice film to help him get up to speed and correct mistakes. We only knew this because (Browns defensive end) Myles Garrett revealed it, and then Stefanski confirmed it.”
Interesting stuff. Should be quite the introductory news conference on Tuesday.
Shoot me an email with your own thoughts, won’t you?
OTHER NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
⭐ Georgia Tech may have found its next quarterback … and it’s Alberto Mendoza, little brother of Indiana’s Heisman winner. The younger Mendoza is listed at 6-foot-2 and was a 3-star recruit out of high school.
- In mop-up duty for the Hoosiers this season, he finished 18-of-24 for 298 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Ran for 190 yards on 13 carries, too.
⭐ Carson Beck lost exactly six games in his college career at Georgia and Miami — and in four of them, he threw an interception on the final offensive play of a potentially game-winning drive, according to ESPN’s David Hale.
- Miami receiver Keelan Marion, a former Grayson High star, said he should’ve been looking for Beck’s final pass of Monday’s national championship game.
⭐ The Hawks have lost four straight. Ailing center Kristaps Porzingis (left Achilles tendinitis) will be reevaluated next week. Same goes for Zaccharie Risacher, who’s got a bone bruise on his knee.
⭐ Braves shortstop Ha-Seong Kim is out up to five months after purportedly slipping on ice and tearing a finger tendon(!). That Mauricio Dubón signing is looking pretty smart right now.
⭐ Georgia men’s basketball won at Missouri last night and now sits at 16-3 and 4-2 in the SEC. The Bulldogs are eyeing consecutive NCAA Tournament bids for the first time since 2001-2002.
⭐ The World Cup arrives in Atlanta in a little less than 150 days and there’s still lots of work to do, in and around Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Er … Atlanta Stadium.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Look at our fresh-faced baby boy. (More flashback-y photos here.)
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
We all wanted to be like Andruw Jones growing up. He had us all out in the outfield catching balls by our belts every practice! One of the greatest outfielders in the history of baseball.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
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