Archive for August, 2009

Megalomaniac

Welcome back to News and Views, the blog creation of convenience when there’s really no subject at 11 a.m. on a Friday that’s worth more than a couple of paragraphs. Wait. That didn’t come out quite the way I intended. . .

♦ News: Several NFL experts pound Brett Favre for his Hamlet act but claim all that really matters is this signing makes the Minnesota Vikings a better team.

♦ Initial reaction: Huh?

♦ Views: Look, I’m well aware of Favre’s resume: He has won one more Super Bowl and three more MVP awards and been to 10 more Pro Bowls than Tarvaris Jackson. But why is everybody so certain this makes the Vikings better? They did go 10-6 and make the playoffs last season without Favre. Logic dictates that Jackson would only get better this season. If Minnesota is doing this largely to take the next step, why roll the dice on a beat-up quarterback who: 1) is going to turn 40 in October; 2) had his right arm dangling like linguine for the last five …

Continue reading News and Views: Favre fallacy, Vick back in jail (not that one) »

The Braves don't have to this to Florida but this is their best chance to make a move.

I’ve decided not to make any more grand declarations on the Braves’ playoff chances. There have been too many bizarre developments in the past month or two to boldly state something absolute like: The Braves must sweep this series, or this home stand, or win 10 of the next 13, or they can just forget about working past Labor Day.

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But this is the best opportunity the Braves will have to make a move in the National League wild card race. And if they don’t do well in this next series, or this homestand, or in this stretch of games, they can just forget about working past Labor Day. (That didn’t last long.)

This is how the schedule lays out in the next two weeks: seven against Florida, three against Philadelphia, three against San Diego. The Braves open a …

Continue reading This decides Braves’ playoff hopes! (at least this week) »

I'm spending three hours alone with this man. Pray for me. (John Spink/jspink@ajc.com)

I’m filing this early because they’re waiting for me in makeup. I’ve been tabbed as a co-host replacement for David Pollack on today’s Pollack and Bell show. There has been no official announcement as to why Pollack is out this week. But I’m pretty sure it’s because he’s young, good looking and a former All-American at Georgia, and that’s so yesterday. Better to get the middle-aged sports writer!

Seriously, it should be fun. I’ve done quite a bit of radio over the last 28 years but this will be the first time I’m locked in a room with Mike Bell, who isn’t completely normal and proudly wears that on his sleeve, sort of like a gravy stain. No, really. Mike’s cool. I’m not worried. Besides, I’ve had all my shots. (Thank you, I’m here all week. Actually, after that line, probably not.)

I have  no idea what we’re going to talk about. With Mike, you never know. But I’m soliciting topics here that …

Continue reading We now interrupt our regularly scheduled program . . . »

Look familiar? John Calipari could bring UK down this road again.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who graduated from the University of Kentucky and I would imagine sleeps under a big blue Wildcat bedspread and wears those big puffy blue Wildcat slippers around the governor’s mansion, defended (shockingly!) Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari Thursday. When asked about Calipari causing humiliation at yet another of his past schools, Beshear said, “I’m not worried about it because they have never said Coach Cal did anything wrong at all. I think he’s a very upstanding guy. I think that’s his reputation and I think that reputation will be with him here. I really don’t foresee any problems.”

How much do souls go for in Lexington, anyway?

John Calipari has coached two different schools to Final Fours in his career — Massachusetts and Memphis. He also has managed to get two different schools stripped of Final Fours because of some combination of cheating/academic fraud/using an …

Continue reading Hey, Kentucky: Now you’re on Calipari’s Shame Train »

It's not often the Falcons have danced on stage. But 1998 was that kind of year.

In 1980, Georgia won the national championship and the Falcons won the NFC West, but Georgia Tech went 1-9-1 in Bill Curry’s first season.

In 1990, Georgia Tech shared the national championship, but the Falcons (5-11) had their eighth straight losing season and Georgia (4-7) had its worst finish in three decades under Ray Goff.

In 1998, we experienced the closest Atlanta has come to the three levels of football Nirvana. The Falcons went to the Super Bowl. Tech went 10-2 and tied for first in the ACC. Georgia went 9-3, which maybe didn’t completely satisfy the masses in Athens but it continued an impressive turnaround under Jim Donnan after the Goff years.

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Continue reading Falcons, Dogs, Jackets: Pick your magic number »

Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez apparently has convinced Mark Richt he can do the job. Now he just has to convince everybody else. (Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com)

ATHENS — The most maligned football coach in Athens cracked a joke. Or maybe it wasn’t a joke.

“I want to coach on offense,” Willie Martinez said. “Tight ends. A guy drops a pass, so what? That’s my dream job — to coach the tight ends in a passing offense. ‘Hey you: Get in! Get out! Did you block your guy?’ Ah, but my guys tell me I would just get bored.”

He should experience such boredom on defense. Martinez has coached at Georgia for eight seasons. It’s only in the past four, during his term as defensive coordinator, that he has been more like a dart board with ears. It’s the perfect storm for an assistant football coach: Work at an SEC school with a demanding and obsessed fan base; follow somebody popular (Brian VanGorder); and have, frankly, only moderate success.