As of a couple hours ago, registration for this year’s Peachtree Road Race is officially open.
That said ... you came here to read about sports, not do them, right? And you want to vote in the latest round of our tournament of enjoyable Atlanta athletes, right?
Let’s jump on in.
HOW TO (PROBABLY) HAVE YOUR BEST SEASON IN YEARS
It’s really very simple.
Step 1: Take a big offseason swing to build some hype.
Step 2: Hover below .500 while the primary product of that swing (Kristaps Porzingis) plays in a grand total of three games with your longtime franchise star (Trae Young).
Step 3: Trade ‘em both by the first week of February.
Step 4: Win all but two of your games in March.
Voilà! You’re flirting with the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed with six games to go.
Kidding.
That stuff happened, of course. But stopping there would be downright dismissive of Jalen Johnson’s ascension. Dyson Daniels’ excellence. Nickeil “We Expected Good Things But Not Quite This” Alexander-Walker. Onyeka Okongwu. CJ McCollum and like six other dudes who weren’t here to start the season.
Thanks to them, here the Atlanta Hawks sit: 10 games over .500 and on the verge of doing something they haven’t done since that magical Eastern Conference Finals run of 2021.
Simply make the big boy playoffs, no play-in required.
- According to Sportico’s Lev Akabas, the Hawks have spent a total of 614 days in middling playoff position (seeds 7 through 10) since the 2020-21 season.
- No one else has even broken the 500-day mark.
Translation? Over the last half-decade or so, no team has been more invariably “meh” than Atlanta.
After Monday’s rather enjoyable win over the Celtics, I asked Hawks coach Quin Snyder about his message to the team as it stares down a chance to shift that narrative — but only if it survives a tough final stretch, which includes five games against playoff or play-in teams (and one more against a very bad Brooklyn squad).
“Tonight was the first in a seven-game playoff series,” he said. “We treat it like that. Every game is essential.”
Playing hard, he added, “needs to be a baseline for us.”
As Okongwu later pointed out, playing hard equals better defense and rebounding. And there’s been plenty of both lately.
- Prior to March, the team’s defensive rating was the NBA’s 14th best. Over the last month? No. 5.
- The Hawks had the league’s third-best net rating (an adjusted point differential thing) in March.
- Meanwhile, Atlanta’s pre-March rebounding percentage ranked 25th in the league. Over the last month? No. 9.
That’ll certainly play — enough to convince AJC columnist Michael Cunningham that the Hawks are playoff-ready.
Just in a wildly different way than we all expected in October.
📝 Make sure to follow beat writer Lauren Williams for all the latest down the stretch.
THE FAN-TASTIC FOUR
If there’s one clear from the latest round of voting in our tournament of Atlanta athletes, it’s this: We love our Braves.
Three Bravos entered the Exceptional Eight, and all three easily advanced to what I’ve dubbed the Fan-tastic Four (please note the dash, Marvel-affiliated attorneys).
Ronald Acuña Jr. cruised over Falcons receiver Drake London with 93% of the vote. Matt Olson (77%) owned Hawks star Jalen Johnson. And Ozzie Albies (82%) took care of Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Bijan Robinson is the only non-baseball survivor.
Without only a little further ado, here are your Fan-tastic Four matchups:
- Ronald Acuña Jr. (1) vs. Matt Olson (3)
- Bijan Robinson (1) vs. Ozzie Albies (2)
✅ Choose wisely. And come back next week for the final showdown.
LISTEN, WE TRIED …
As the Braves get off to a much better start than last season (hey, it took them until April 10 to get their third win of 2025), a particularly peculiar celebration has cropped up.
- Someone gets a hit.
- They glance back at the dugout.
- They scratch their head. Maybe their belly too, for good measure.
These things tend to gain steam, so beat writer extraordinaire Chad Bishop went in search of answers.
Alas, nary a player is claiming responsibility just yet. Or even explaining what it means.
“That’s the thing, I don’t know who started it, or who got the first hit and did it first. Yeah, honestly, don’t know,” Michael Harris II said. “I was getting credit for it but I don’t know if I deserve credit for it.”
Verrrry curious.
🚨 Midweek day game alert: Today’s series finale against the Athletics arrives at 12:15 p.m. Lunch break accordingly.
RISING UP IN RED?
The Braves’ latest City Connect jerseys — inspired by the TBS era and that one poster of Dale Murphy with a laser bat — are pretty excellent.
Now we see what the Falcons have up (and perhaps on) their sleeves.
The long foretold unveiling of the new Dirty Bird duds happens sometime Thursday. And while nothing is official, internet sleuths suspect they’ve sussed things out.
- Social media uniform guy Zach Cohen claims to have seen a red jersey with a clean, throwback look — and that it’ll be the team’s primary home attire.
- In a recent TV interview, Falcons prez Matt Ryan repeatedly declined to provide details. “I will say this: I approve,” he told Kay Adams. When asked if it was “a red throwback,” he said, “We will see.”
- Then there’s this: A Tuesday afternoon social media post allegedly including a peek at the jersey itself.
If it’s real, the descriptors above are true … and we think we love it?
🗓️ New jerseys in the wild: The Falcons are hosting a “404 Day” party at Old Fourth Ward Skate Park on Saturday (April 4, get it?). The team promises a chance to buy updated gear, plus music, food trucks and player appearances. Check it out from 2 to 6 p.m.
OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS (PLUS A POLL)
🤔 GHSA’s president says keeping high school football championship games at the swank-but-pricey Mercedes-Benz Stadium remains the goal — if this year’s financials issues don’t become a trend.
But where do you think they should be played? MBS? On campus? Back at Georgia State? Sound off here.
⛳ Tiger Woods will not be at Augusta National next week (right choice). But this teenager from South Georgia will be — along with a full squad of seven AJC writers and photojournalists.
Here’s the home base for all our Masters coverage, which is ramping up right … about … now.
🏆 Emory men’s basketball made it to the Division III national championship game. The Eagles and recently minted player of the year Ben Pearce take on Mary Washington at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Indianapolis. Watch on ESPN+.
Cool fact: Pearce’s brother Max plays for the Harlem Globetrotters — and makes some pretty good art too.
🛍️ The AJC now has an online store! Not a lot of sports stuff there just yet, but Georgia fans might be interested in this Mike Luckovich mug featuring a title-winning Bulldog eating an elephant.
Stay tuned. I’m gonna see if I can get y’all a special Win Column discount code.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
This photo makes my hip hurt. The U.S. Men’s National Team and its dismal Atlanta performances merely elicit an audible sigh.
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.
