The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find in informative, insightful and fun.
Max Fried’s personality switch
Has Braves ace Max Fried always had that intensity on the mound? After all, he’s a more relaxed individual off the field. He transforms on game days.
“He is one of the most easygoing, relaxed people, super-ind guy,” said Angels starter Lucas Giolito, who went to high school with Fried in Los Angeles. “But he turns it on when it’s time to perform. He goes into that mode. I think that’s a big part of why he’s successful. Because he’s really, really good at – well, first of all, he prepares at the highest level that I’ve ever seen a starting pitcher prepare. And then he goes into that really focused intense mode when he takes the ball.
“I give him crap sometimes. I’m like, ‘man, you just had that inning, you worked out of a jam, struck out the side, and you’re just walking off the mound like this (stoically). You know, I’d be like, ‘C’mon baby (pounds his chest).’ You know what I mean? But that’s just Max, and that’s what makes him who he is, one of the best.”
Kirby and Lincoln, much the same
Defensive lineman Bear Alexander transferred from Georgia to USC, a decision he said was motivated by playing time. In his short time in Southern California, Alexander noted he doesn’t feel Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and Trojans coach Lincoln Riley are too different.
“Lincoln and Kirby are very similar,” he said. “They both have the same goals and the same expectations. So it’s very similar.”
Smart’s Bulldogs defeated Riley’s Oklahoma Sooners in the Rose Bowl in January 2018, the coaches’ only meeting thus far. While Riley is a brilliant offensive mind, he has a way to go before catching up with Smart’s on-field success. Riley has yet to win a playoff game.
Watch out!
On Tuesday afternoon, the Braves’ pitchers went out to stretch and began throwing hours before that night’s game. They were gathered in right field.
Suddenly, you could hear some boyish yells and screams.
That’s because the sprinklers went on around them.
Oops.
This was a funny mistake. But hey, the water had to feel refreshing on a hot day.
After a few seconds, the right-field sprinklers turned off and the left-field sprinklers went on instead.
Blooper … talks?
When the Braves were in Chicago, Matt Olson spent one of his nights doing an interview for Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast. During the interview, the hosts – Dan Katz and Eric Sollenberger, who go by the names, “Big Cat” and “PFT Commenter,” respectively – began talking about Blooper.
Olson let it slip that Blooper talks.
Wait, the Braves’ mascot talks?
Oops. Olson and the two hosts joked about it, and they were able to pull it out of Olson that he’s heard Blooper – the man in the costume – talk.
Showing off hometown in Ireland
On July 3, a small group of Georgia Tech football players had the opportunity to visit Ireland and Aviva Stadium, the site of the Yellow Jackets’ season opener Aug. 24, 2024.
It was a special trip for Tech’s David Shanahan, an Ireland native, who had his teammates over to his childhood home where Shanahan’s mother cooked lunch for the crew.
“I didn’t think I’d ever have five Georgia Tech football players in my kitchen,” he said. “That was really fun.”
A junior punter, Shanahan grew up in Castleisland, a town in the southwest corner of the country in County Kerry. Shanahan said he was able to give his teammates a tour of the countryside and take them to a Fourth of July parade in Kilarney, a parade that “hit every single American stereotype they could. They had cowboys and hot dogs.”
Shanahan also showed off St. Patrick’s Secondary School where Shanahan graduated from before enrolling at Tech.
“My high school is basically just a big house,” Shanahan said. “There’s 100 guys that went there, there’s fireplaces in the classroom, it’s a really old building. So comparing that school to an Atlanta public school is a pretty big difference.”
Tech is scheduled to face Florida State in the ‘24 opener.
That will be $500 please … for charity
D. Orlando Ledbetter showed up late for Falcons training camp – and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution paid for it.
It was all in good fun and, later, for charity.
Here’s the story.
Ledbetter scheduled a vacation in late July before the Falcons’ training camp schedule was announced. You’d think someone with decades of experience covering the NFL would know better. We joke. The vacation was approved by sports editor Chris Vivlamore, and substitute coverage for the first two days of camp was arranged.
Upon his return to camp, Ledbetter was presented with a $500 “fine” by Falcons coach Arthur Smith. It came on official Falcons letterhead and was signed by Smith. It was good for a laugh.
Ledbetter intended to pay the “fine” with a large cardboard check. You know the ones they use during fancy presentations. Vivlamore offered that if the Falcons chose a charity, he would pay Ledbetter’s “fine” as a donation.
Ledbetter presented the large check and sentiment to Smith before a media briefing. Smith quickly countered that he would match the charitable donation. Later in the day, Falcons owner Arthur Blank agreed to do the same.
The beneficiary of the “fine” was Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
-Staff writers Gabriel Burns, Justin Toscano, Chad Bishop and Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.
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