The Win Column: What it takes to be a Tech man

Hello again, friends.

No official update yet on Michael Penix Jr.’s injured ribs (or his playing status against the Bears on Sunday). Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski talks to reporters this afternoon, so stay tuned to AJC.com/falcons and @bydanielflick for the latest.

In the meantime …

LEAVING IT ALL ON THE FIELD

When you’re a Tech Man — a real Tech Man — and decide your body just can’t do the football thing anymore, the athletic director and school president attend your news conference.

Former teammates call you the “toughest dude I ever played with by far.”

Your coach, a man who bleeds white and gold himself (just ask him), says things like this: “Great leaders don’t have to profess to be a leader. They just do it.

“And this guy is a leader.”

Kyle Efford is, and will always be, a Tech Man, too.

The senior linebacker officially called it quits Tuesday. And while his on-the-field accomplishments — three-year Yellow Jacket tackle leader, two-time All-ACC performer, captain — are impressive …

... the way his early retirement from football played out speaks louder.

As our friend Fletcher Page reports:

• Efford reinjured his medically repaired right shoulder in Week 2 against Tennessee. Doctors told him his career was over.
• He sat out Georgia Tech’s loss to Stanford — then decided to go out his own way, feeling in his fingers or not.
• He recorded six tackles against Duke on Saturday. One of them helped preserve the Jackets’ fourth-quarter lead.

“This man felt as if he could single-handedly will us out of a rut,” coach Brent Key said. “And he did. He did. There’s 11 guys on defense and 21 arms out there; he left it all on the field.”

Can’t ask for more than that.

“There is nothing left in the tank,” Efford said, “and there are no regrets in my heart.”

Check out the full story for more on Efford’s plans for the future. Then tell a friend to join the Win Column party.

VENUE VINDICATION FOR THE DREAM

The Dream will host WNBA Finals games at State Farm Arena after all. The powers that be managed to move Game 3 up a day (new time: 8 p.m. Oct. 21) and Game 4 up a few hours (new time: 1 p.m. Oct. 24) to make it work.

Plans for an if-necessary Game 6 in Atlanta remain TBD.

• Finals tickets technically go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, but an easy-to-join presale grants access a day earlier.

The team, meanwhile, is feeling pretty good about things ahead of Friday’s series opener in San Francisco.

Said Angel Reese: “We’re rolling and piecing things together at the right time, and yeah, it’s no better time than now.”

👀 Lots more on Atlanta’s matchup with the upstart-ish Golden State Valkyries in Friday’s Win Column.

OTHER GOOD THINGS TO KNOW

🐶 Dwight “Peanut” Phillips Jr. may have to lead No. 1 Georgia’s rushing attack again on Saturday. He’s just fine with that.

🏀 SEC basketball media days are underway in Birmingham, if you’re into that kind of thing. Georgia’s new women’s coach, Ayla Guzzardo, speaks around 3:20 p.m. EDT, with men’s coach Mike White and players Blue Cain and Smurf Millender following an hour later.

⚖️ A federal judge in Pennsylvania sentenced one of the fixers in that sprawling NCAA basketball betting scandal — the same one that ensnared Kennesaw State’s Simeon Cottle — to serve six years in prison.

⚽ Atlanta United plays at last-place Montreal tonight (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). The Five Stripes need a win to keep their extremely faint playoff hopes alive.

🏈 The Falcons remain in decent position in the NFC South, believe or not. This profile of defensive end Cameron Thomas is worth a read too.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO …

… what may be the worst umpiring performance in the history of organized baseball.

Yep. It’s Game 5 of the 1997 NLCS, when Marlins rookie Livan Hernandez struck out 15 Braves with juuuust a bit of help from umpire Eric Gregg’s absurdly wide strike zone. (The game was actually Oct. 12, so we’re using “anniversary” loosely. Sue me.)

AJC writer Jack Wilkinson’s deemed Gregg’s efforts “the most controversial strike zone since a UPS picket line.” His lead in the next day’s paper:

By nightfall Sunday, the Braves were much like the best pitches thrown by Livan Hernandez: down and away, flying home. That’s when it really kicked in for Atlanta. Another loss and the Braves will be just like Eric Gregg’s strike zone: on the outside, looking in on the World Series for the first time since 1993.

Tom Glavine surrendered seven runs in Game 6, the Marlins went on to win a title and, a couple decades later, Gregg earned the No. 8 spot on the AJC’s list of Atlanta sports villains.

So there.

🔗 More current Braves news: Little clarity for Strider; Revisiting preseason predictions; big offseason decisions

UPDATE: FAN BILL OF RIGHTS (AND WRONGS)

Still working on that “Fan Bill of Rights (and Wrongs)” we started talking about a few weeks back.

A few early thoughts from readers like you:

🤔 “If you want me to pay for your service, and you say you have all the games, you need to HAVE ALL THE GAMES.” “Do not mock me with a tiny little asterisk that ends up saying ‘except the ones we don’t actually have,’” this anonymous reader continued. “I’m a simple person; I just want to watch my freaking teams on TV. Is that so much to ask?” No, no it is not.

🤔 No more in-game interviews. “Ms. Kerry from Brookhaven” suggested this rule. I tend to agree. We don’t learn much and, frankly, it makes me anxious. The WNBA has even interviewed players in the middle of playoff games; at least one player has had to toss the headsets and rush back on to the court midinterview.

• Another banger from Ms. Kerry: “No TV ads for delicious looking foods that are not sold in our area.”

🤔 If the team’s bad enough to get a top-3 draft pick, reimburse my season ticket costs. Not gonna happen, but I like where your head’s at, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous.

🤔 No personal attacks. Duh. But if we’re eyeing more specific guidelines, one reader suggested that it’s acceptable to dis players if 1) you’re talking about their on-field performance and 2) it’s funny. I can dig it.

🤔 One guy wants to nix “entertainment of any kind louder than 100 decibels.” Kevin from Dunwoody essentially wants to end all in-game entertainment too (even the Braves’ Home Depot Tool Race! Gasp!). And also ban the wave.