Archive for November, 2012

Georgia is third in the new Bowl Championship Series standings, which were released Sunday night.

Notre Dame is No. 1 and Alabama is No. 2. All three teams moved up after Oregon and Kansas State were upset Saturday night. Florida is fourth in the BCS.

The top two teams in the BCS standings at the end of the season will play for the national championship on Jan. 7 in Miami.

If Georgia beats Georgia Tech and Alabama beats Auburn Saturday, the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will play for the SEC championship, with the winner advancing to play for the national title.

Notre Dame, Alabama and Georgia also held the top three spots in Sunday’s Associated Press poll.

In other college news Sunday, Tennessee fired coach Derek Dooley. Dooley, 44, had a 15-21 record that included an 0-15 mark against Top 25 teams.

Continue reading Dogs are third in new BCS standings »

The Atlanta Half Marathon, scheduled to be finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Dec. 15, has has been postponed, according to race organizers.

AMS pulled out as host three months ago when reports of other races organized by Rapid Running, which put together the event, were being promoted and then postponed or cancelled at several sites around the U.S.

David Mason, president of Rapid Running, said in an e-mail that AMS’ decision forced him to cancel the event. He said that the 80 runners who registered can apply their registration fees toward any other race organized by his company. However, www.rapidrunning.com doesn’t have a schedule listed on its website and Mason didn’t answer an email asking him how runners are supposed to know when the other racers are going to be run.

Some runners have said that they hadn’t heard that the Atlanta Half Marathon has been cancelled. Mason disputed this, saying he notified entrants, but he again declined to say how.

Cancellations such as the …

Continue reading Atlanta Half Marathon on Dec. 15 has been postponed — updated »

The Silverbacks’ new name will be … the Silverbacks.

After the Atlanta soccer franchise held a contest in which fans could vote on the team’s new name, Silverbacks prevailed over Chiefs, the nickname of the city’s first team, and Atlanta FC. More than 5,000 votes were cast, with the Silverbacks winning in what was described as a close margin.

The new name was unveiled at a party Thursday night.

While the name will remain the same, the team’s logo may change. For the next two weeks, fans can design and submit their own logo through the team’s facebook page. The logo that receives the most “likes” will compete against a logo that the Silverbacks are having designed, as well as the current logo. Those three will be posted on the Silverbacks website where fans can vote to decide the winner, which will be announced in January.

Continue reading Silverbacks will stay the Silverbacks »

Thomas Johnson.

Texas A&M wide receiver Thomas Johnson, who had been reported missing since he was last seen leaving his apartment in College Station on Monday, has been found safe.

From the Associated Press:

Texas A&M freshman wide receiver Thomas Johnson has been found safe in Dallas after he disappeared from campus three days ago.

Johnson’s mother, Linda Hanks, says Texas A&M University police told her Thursday the 18-year-old is unharmed.

University police said they traveled to Dallas to look for Johnson on Wednesday. Johnson was found safe about 2:30 a.m. Thursday with the help of the Dallas police and the Texas Rangers.

Police said Wednesday that Johnson was last seen leaving his College Station residence around 5 p.m. Monday.

Hanks told WFAA-TV she traveled from Dallas to College Station while authorities searched for her son. He turned up 180 miles away in Dallas.

Hanks says Johnson didn’t contact her and that she has no other information. Campus police said that they …

Continue reading Missing Texas A&M receiver found safe »

Everybody’s a coach, it seems, and even Nick Saban isn’t immune from the second-guessing.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, appearing on a Birmingham sports talk radio show, joined the chorus of fans questioning the play-calling on the final series against Texas A&M Saturday that might have cost Alabama a shot at the national championship.

Trailing 29-24 in the final minutes of play and with first and goal inside the Aggie 6 yard line, the Tide ran the ball once and threw three passes, the last of which was intercepted.

Asked by host Paul Finebaum “would you have run the ball on the 2 yard line?” Bentley, an Alabama alumnus, responded, “I would actually have run the ball for four straight times.”

Hindsight, as they say, is always 20-20, but since A.J. McCarron had already passed for more than 300 yards on the Aggie defense, while the Tide had run for 122, it’s understandable why Saban and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeir decided a pass was the better option on fourth and …

Continue reading Governor criticizes Alabama’s play-calling »

Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for sale for the 45th Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Eve. It likely will become the 16th consecutive sellout for the bowl before the teams representing the ACC and SEC are selected on Dec. 2.

Early predictions have Clemson meeting Texas A&M but it won’t be known for certain till after conference championship games are played on Dec. 1 and the BCS bowl selections are made.

Continue reading Chick-fil-A Bowl nears 16th sellout in a row »

The NCAA announced plans Tuesday for a season-long celebration of the 75th year of what has come to be known as “March Madness,” starting with a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York and culminating with the Final Four in Atlanta.

The NCAA said it will roll out programming and events throughout the season to celebrate the teams, people and moments of the men’s basketball tournament.

“It will be a really fun story to tell,” Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president of men’s basketball championships, said in a statement. “Today’s March Madness is more than a basketball competition, and we’re excited to help focus a lens on the historical role it has played on college campuses and across our country.”

The first NCAA tournament was held in 1939, an eight-team tourney won by the Oregon Webfoots (now Ducks). Since then, 308 schools have had teams in the Division I tournament. The 75th tournament will start with 68 teams and end with the Final Four in the Georgia Dome on …

Continue reading NCAA tips off celebration of 75th March Madness, which ends in Atlanta »

The New Orleans Saints — still trying to put the infamous “Bountygate” scandal behind them — are calling the Falcons “classless” after handing Atlanta its first loss of the season Sunday.

From USA Today:

“They were talking (expletive) to our guy Curtis Lofton,” Saints linebacker Scott Shanle told Mike Silver on Sunday night. “I couldn’t even understand them. They were just walking all over our drills trying to mess with him. (Linebacker Jonathan) Vilma went and told their coach it was classless and they didn’t even say anything. It set the tone for the day. It was classless and they got what they deserved.”

Lofton is a former Falcon playing in his first season with the Saints.

Vilma, by the way, is only playing while he appeals a year-long suspension for allegedly participating in a program that paid players for injuring opposing players.

Some of the Saints players were also offended by a dance video made by Atlanta safety William Moore.

The “D-Block” rap video was posted on …

Continue reading Saints call Falcons ‘classless’ »

Georgia’s Aaron Murray is gunning for an SEC title.

The prospect of playing for the BCS title may have some Georgia fans thrilled, but Vegas isn’t quite sold on the Bulldogs’ chances.

While Jeff Schultz has a tough time believing an SEC team will miss out on playing in the championship, the odds are not in his favor.

Georgia’s odds of making the title game stand at 20-1. Too high or too low?

Check to see how the remaining BCS Top 5 fare.

Continue reading BCS Championship odds »

Georgia failed to gain ground in the BCS rankings or the Associated Press poll Sunday despite No. 1 Alabama’s loss to Texas A&M.

The Crimson Tide, which had been No. 1 for 10 straight weeks, dropped to fourth in both after a 29-24 loss to the Aggies in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday.

Georgia, which routed Auburn Saturday and will play in the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome, was ranked fifth in both.

Kansas State took the top spot in the BCS standings while Oregon was No. 1 in the AP poll. Oregon was second in the BCS, while K-State was second in the AP poll. Notre Dame was third in both.

Do you think Georgia should have been ranked ahead of Alabama? Do the Dogs have any path to the national title game?

Continue reading UGA still behind Alabama in BCS, AP poll »