The Hot Button: Who’s the biggest dud in local sports?
Megaton dud Eddie Haas pulls Gene Garber. (AJC photo by Calvin Cruce)
Again, I have you folks to thank — or blame, as the case may be — for this entry. This tangent arose on Saturday’s live chat off the Falcons’ defensive collapse, and I thought it would make a nice Hot Button. (Or Cold Button, as the case may be.)
The question: Who’s the biggest dud in local sports?
Parameters: It has to be someone currently employed locally. Meaning: No Len Barker, no Aundray Bruce, no Eddie Haas, no Ron Jirsa, no Bruce Pickens, no Jeff Francoeur, no J.R. Rider, no Jeff George, no Priest Lauderdale, no Ray Goff, no Corky Miller, no Marion Campbell, no Peerless Price, no Damian Rhodes, no Bill Lewis, no Albie Lopez, no Robert Fick, no Shelden Williams, no Jimmy Williams, no Bobby Petrino, no Dan Kolb, no Steve Broussard, no Adam Keefe, no Brad Komminsk, no Reggie Kelly … enough already!
I’ve taken the liberty of nominating one deserving — or undeserving, as the case may be — candidate from each local entity. (Caveat: No college players will be considered. It’d be mean to label an amateur a flop, especially with so many alleged pros from which to choose.) And here we go. Feel free to comment/disagree/amplify/moan.
Greg Norton, Braves slugger: I don’t think I need to outline the argument for/against him. And if I did, I’m not apt to do it any better than I did it in this post earlier today.
Jamaal Anderson, Falcons defensive end: First-round draft pick (No. 8 overall) has two sacks in two seasons. On the bright side, he had two more sacks in Year 2 than in Year 1, so the graph is pointing upward. Started as a rookie. Probably won’t start as a third-year man. Was drafted as a DE. Has been tried at defensive tackle. Best position would seem the bench.
Mike Woodson, Hawks coach: He makes the list because each local sporting concern must have a representative. Also because he’s still more than a hundred games under .500 as a head coach. Also because he just groused to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports about not having been offered a contract extension. But Woody did a good job last season and wouldn’t be included had not Speedy Claxton been shipped to Golden State, which was downright thoughtless of Rick Sund.
Don Waddell, Thrashers GM: Ten years on the job, two winning seasons, one playoff appearance, no playoff victories. But he has had a nice offseason, and if he persuades Ilya Kovalchuk to stay we’ll be throwing roses at the Teflon Don, as opposed to the usual rotten tomatoes.
Loading ...Willie Martinez, Georgia defensive coordinator: His players were in position; they just didn’t make the tackles. But seriously, folks … here’s the reason Unslick Willie is substandard.
Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech basketball coach: Took the Jackets to the 2004 national championship game by winning five riveting NCAA games in 17 days. Has won one NCAA game since. Has missed the Big Dance three times in the past four years. Has had a losing record three of the past four seasons. Just saw his program lose two scholarships for failure to meet NCAA academic progress standards.
Me, I’d say the overall choice comes down to expectations, meaning money. Norton is stealing earning $800,000. Martinez makes $325,000, or $1 per missed tackle. Anderson earns — wrong word, I know — $3.8 million. Which would seem to make him the winner/loser. Except:
Though Hewitt’s annual pay packet is only (only!) $1.375 million, Tech would owe him $7.175 million were it to fire him today. That makes him the biggest underachiever in local sports. But I say that knowing, seven months from now, we might well believe he’s the best bargain around. Because the Jackets should be really good next season.
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259 comments Add your comment
eyeball kid
September 3rd, 2009
6:22 pm
Dave,
Sorry, forgot about North Dekalb. Didn’t include Decatur because it is not a part of the Dekalb Co School System.
gt fan
September 3rd, 2009
7:00 pm
are we going to have a good year like the year we had crit and young and dickey and amo and west and and and and ……
phew has not shown that he can handle a roster of 7=8 let alone 10. we had a roster with 4 nba players on it at the same time and finished mid pack acc an went one n done in the ncaa.
young and crit an bosh were all lottery picks or at the least drafted in the top 15. bosh is a STAR in the nba. young will soon be in that category. at this point there is no quarnatee that favors will be better than bosh or young. potential is NO quarantee.
that being said why would anybody expect a team of roll players, one potential nba star and a potential nba journeyman in a mix of 5 freshman to accomplish what other more experienced more talented phew teams did not?
we have lost one of our more experienced coaches and we have a coach who is so arrogant that he thinks that the program is fine and that his system is sound. we have 5 freshman.
i will bet that at best we will yet again finish in the middle of the acc. at best we will possibly qualify for the big dance but we will go one an done once again.
we have 9 years of this trend. the same coach with the same system and the same arrogance.
we are once again starting to have issues that phew’s defenders can point to and say but for this… but for that…. we woulda shoulda coulda had a good team and a good season. (holsey blew out his knee)
poor poor poor POOR paul hewit. he is snake bit once again. is anybody else tired of our perennial snake bit coach?
i am and have been for the last two years.
the definition of crazy is when someone keeps doing the same things over and over again yet expects different results.
OkieJacket
September 3rd, 2009
7:31 pm
Supersize…you are right about Dudish. I was a soph at Tech in 1967. A friend and I were walking back from ptomain hall and his father pulled up, got out of the car and asked, “Have you seen my boy?” We didn’t know who he was, much less his “boy”. He just assumed that everybody knew Charlie Dudish.
Atlanta Sports
September 3rd, 2009
7:53 pm
Atlanta Sports = Loserville!
1 title of any kind in the city’s history and that was a fluke in the strike year of 1995! Up in Boston, we have titles in all sports, and they keep coming!! The Celtics and Patriots will win it all again this year. I’m losing track of all the championships. Atlanta will not have any more for 50 years, which is why everyone in the U.S. calls it loserville!!!!
carolina jacket
September 3rd, 2009
8:15 pm
absolutely has to be Len Barker for whom in 1981 the braves traded Brett Butler and 2 other players plus $150000 in cash (back when that was real money)
Supersize that order, mutt
September 3rd, 2009
8:24 pm
Okie, I don’t know how much you might have read or heard about Dudish’s old man, but whenever he talked about Charlie, it was always “WE”, never “HE.” I guess it’s ok to live vicariously through your child, but not like that jerk did. Do you ever watch “Friday Night Lights” on TV? There is a father-son combo on that show now that reminds me SOOOOO much about the Dudish’s. VERY VERY SAD.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 3rd, 2009
8:28 pm
Okie, I typed this once, but it didn’t post for some reason, so I will try again. Did you ever read or hear anything that daddy Dudish said about his son? It was always “We” and only “He” when Charlie screwed up. There is a father-son combo as characters on the TV show “Friday Night Lights,” which reminds me SOOOO MUCH of the Dudishes. VERY VERY SAD
AtlantaFan
September 3rd, 2009
8:28 pm
Greg Norton needs to go. He sounds like a golfer. Get him out of here. I hate to hear his name announced. Does he come from a rich family or something, why does he keep PH? Jamaal Anderson, I don’t know. One more year with Mike Smith should make him straight. Without the right coaching, he won’t develop properly, which brings me to Mike Woodson, is he the right coach to develop young players? NO But he’s made a lot of progress with this team of nobody’s. Don Waddell. I don’t follow hockey, but that team hasn’t gone anywhere. He might be my winner. Paul Hewitt has the hardest job. He made it thru the ACC, thru the NCAA and to the championship game that we almost won. The ACC is the hardest divison in college basketball plus he has to deal with 1and DONE players. So, he’s at the bottom. Also he’s done a good job at recruiting all this talent within the state. I’m not a UGA fan, I am a TECH fan. So Willie Martinez is my new friend! Mark Bradley has to be the biggest dud of them all. I mean he just walks around here like he owns the place, like he’s the New Ted Turner! No Mark, go and sit in your winery up there in Cumming and write novels. LoL and those are my words.
kool$kat
September 3rd, 2009
9:09 pm
Alltime duds previously unmentioned: Jon Koncak and Danny Manning.
Hey Bradley, start an annual Chan Gailey Dud of the Year award. If someone wins it three times, they get the Len Barker Hall of Duds Lifetime underachievement award.
BrittishAnger
September 3rd, 2009
9:48 pm
I don’t get your line about Speedy Claxton…are you saying it was a bad thing for Rick Sund to ship the biggest bust in Atlanta Hawks history for somebody who will actually contribute to the team? Aren’t you, as a local sports journalist, supposed to be excited about something that improves our team rather than diminishes it? Oh Mark-o….
Stephen
September 3rd, 2009
9:49 pm
THE biggest dud…BOBBY COX..I know..all u pathetic fans of Braves baseball, infamously known for the bandwagon theory..anyway, different argument, different day. BOBBY COX should have been canned years ago…1999 to be exact. YES he was, key word people, WAS, a great manager!! Now..he is so pathetic, it is EMABARRASSING. I will not spend an hour discussing the last 9 years since the series against the yankees was BLOWN … better yet…lets look at this year…4 Braves pitchers lead the N.L. in appearences..why you ask? Piss poor managing…What else, NO FIRE…NO AGGRESSION..NO TEAM…if you are a TRUE fan..u know, watch day in, day out, win or lose…then YOU should know this about the BRAVES…THEY consistently swing at the first pitch..They rarely steal or hit and run…The pitchers allow two runners in the 5th inning to get on with a 2 run lead and dumb ass Cox goes to the bullpen…no faith in the starters (Hanson was pitching by the way 9-3-09) over use of the bullpen!!! Yes, I am clearly pissed!! I love Cox..however just cause u love someone, when their time has come and gone, then it’s time to let them go…COX time came and went…It’s time to move on…They were smart about it with Glavine and Smoltz now it’s time to get rid of COX and soon Chipper…AS the players often say, “It’s just business, nothing personal”. There are ten plus games this year, where COX made bad decisions which cost us the win…Give us those games back…BRAVES are in first place…!!!!!!!!!
BrittishAnger
September 3rd, 2009
9:53 pm
Oh, and Atlanta Sports, I look forward to you all losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs again this year…Picking up ‘Sheed is as dumb a mistake as what’s gonna happen to the Grizzlies when they sign Allen Iverson. Eat your beans leave the Soul Food arguments to the locals.
What the...
September 3rd, 2009
9:55 pm
How is Don Waddell not running away with this thing? I can only imagine that he’s finally driven off all the hockey fans so there’s no one left to vote for him. Sweet Jesus he even comes out of this vote unscathed. He’s coated in something slicker than Teflon.
George P. Burdell
September 3rd, 2009
10:12 pm
Stan “The Man” Gann, Tech QB who shot himself practicing the quick draw back in the late 50s; Charles Dudish, Tech QB in the 60s; Eddie McAshan, Tech QB in the 70s; Fast forward over many other dud Tech QBs to the all-time great Reggie Ball, now in the Bulldog Hall of Fame.
chuck allison
September 3rd, 2009
10:54 pm
Hewitt is 23-69 in road games for all of his time at Tech. He has only had one (1) winning ACC conference season. He has wasted a lot of talent and personally dismantled the Tech basketball program built by Bobby Cremins. He goes after “one and dones” who do nothing to build the program but make him look like a great recruiter. His performance is dismal. At his current salary, we pay him about $100,000 per basketball win.
Dr. R
September 3rd, 2009
11:26 pm
I gotta go with Anderson. As bad as Norton is, he’s just a bit player (though he DOES seem to always be up there with the game on the line). Anderson was a high draft pick with high expectations and he just can’t play. Proves that the whole drafting thing is a crapshoot and you never know which players can make the transition from college to pro. The difference between high level college ball and the NFL is, to borrow MB’s metaphor, like your sisters’ girl fight is to the Corleones vs. the Tatallias. No comparison. Faster, more complex, more dominated by amazing athletes, not just a few here and there but all over the field. He could push around Mississippi State guys but that don’t get you far on Sundays.
Dr. R
September 3rd, 2009
11:29 pm
True story: My dad was a cafeteria manager in Decatur, a joint owned by my uncle, and the Dudishes attended somebody’s TD club banquet that year. My dad said old man Dudish was about the most obnoxious SOB he ever came across in all his years in the business, and it apparently rubbed off on Jr. as well. What makes a guy think he’s hot stuff in the world because his boy can throw a ball? And apparently, not all that well once he left Avondale. What goes around …
Keith
September 3rd, 2009
11:54 pm
I felt soooo vindicated by being able to vote for Norton in an antagonistic expression. Thanks, Bradley. Makes me feel so much better. Love the piece today about NOrton and Bobby’s silver lining saying it’s more about how he hits. The thing that frustrates me is he said he’s actually “productive.” That’s the thing. NO, HE’S NOT!!!!! HE’s BEEN AWFUL. TERRIBLE. MAKES ME WANT TO VOMIT WHEN HE BATS. Did I used enough descriptors???
irishmafia`
September 4th, 2009
12:52 am
Only 42 votes for Woodson r u ******G kidding me? The worst coach in NBA history with 100 games coached and you people don’t see what a huge loser he is? Pathetic sports fans rule ATL anyhow so I guess you recognize extreme failure when it’s shoved in your face!.
Coach (2010 or Bust)
September 4th, 2009
5:16 am
The biggest Dud right now is undoubtedly Bobby Cox.
Greg Norton is the sinking ship and Cox is the captain at the helm.
"Chef" Tim Dix
September 4th, 2009
5:22 am
Hewitt’s a dud but I sure want his agent nezt time negotiate a contract.
LET THE BIG DAWG EAT!
September 4th, 2009
5:54 am
EASY! THE ENTIRE GA.TECH SPORTS PROGRAM IS THE BIGGEST DUD! ALWAYS HAS BEEN – ALWAYS WILL BE!
Coach (2010 or Bust)
September 4th, 2009
5:55 am
When it comes to the Braves, Yes, it is over. Done. finished.
Bobby Cox is the most overrated manager in ML history.
Watching the Braves in the top of the fifth inning last night was like seeing Deja Vu all over again. Their plodding ninety feet at a time offense was all to familiar. Load the bases, push one run in and repeat. All told, four hits, one walk and three outs resulted in a whopping two runs.
Then Tommy Hanson eclipsed that F-N artificial 100 pitch count, Cox then repeated the same mistake he has made a million times, and we all watched the bullpen melt down in the sixth inning exactly as it had done the night before.
Greg Norton then justified Bobby’s faith in him by recording yet another useless pinch hit appearance in the bottom of the sixth.
It’s cookie cutter management gone amok. Cox is his own worst enemy and it feels like Chinese water torture while being forced to endure this endless underachievement by our Braves.
downsouth
September 4th, 2009
6:16 am
i think Bobby Cox is the biggest dud. can we please let his contract expire?!?!?!?
jerry
September 4th, 2009
7:02 am
Either Ragan or Sorenson. If NASCAR is a sport.
LAC
September 4th, 2009
7:51 am
Dumb don waddell IS the reason we have a POOR NHL club. This IDIOT has had ten+ years to produce a WINNER and never has, his only reason for staying is these sprit owners are worse than a bunch of first graders
at running a sports business, the need to go AWAY and suck their thumbs and let a REAL OWNER fire waddell and put NHL hockey on the MAP HERE !
sidslid
September 4th, 2009
8:20 am
Rich McKay: It was Dan Reeves coaching of Michael Vick that got us that epic season and win on the marhmellow tundra
McKay’s suit is as empty as anyone since Steven Weed and Cato Caylin (sp)
m
September 4th, 2009
8:26 am
chan gomer gailey is by far the biggest dud EVER!!
Hiring him at TECH was the dumbest thing in history.
Keeping him 6 years while he destroyed TECH’s program is unfathomable.
Tech websites like the HIVE and Stingtalk propping him up with bullshiiite talk about how good his resume was or what a good man he is was just STUPUDITY beyond belief.
And sportswriters like Mark Bradley giving him a free pass for 6 long sorry years was ridiculous.
Any Tech fan that had anything to do with the hiring of chan gomer gailey or supporting him or defending him in any way SUCKS as bad as he does.
Thanks to God and Greyhound that chan gomer gailey is gone forever. Did you notice it only took Kansas City one year to correct their mistake of hiriing him….not 6 long horrible years?!?!?!.
m
September 4th, 2009
8:31 am
There is no doubt that chan gomer gailey is by far the biggest dud EVER!!
Hiring him at TECH was the dumbest thing in history.
Keeping him 6 years while he destroyed TECH’s program is unfathomable.
Tech websites like the HIVE and Stingtalk propping him up with bullshiiite talk about how good his resume was or what a good man he is was just STUPUDITY beyond belief.
And sportswriters like Mark Bradley giving him a free pass for 6 long sorry years was ridiculous.
Any Tech fan that had anything to do with the hiring of chan gomer gailey or supporting him or defending him in any way SUCKS as bad as he does.
Thanks to God and Greyhound that chan gomer gailey is gone forever. Did you notice it only took Kansas City one year to correct their mistake of hiriing him….not 6 long horrible years?!?!?!.
JohnKrukisMyDaddy
September 4th, 2009
9:42 am
Another vote for Bobby Cox.
JohnKrukisMyDaddy
September 4th, 2009
9:43 am
Bring Medlen in AGAIN… after he was damaged so badly the night before. He’s going to shatter the poor kids confidence. The problem is.. Bobby never brought Medlen into ANY pressure situations during the rest of the season. Then, all of the sudden, we are in the thick of it in September, and he expects the kid to come into these difficult situations. Bobby didn’t prepare him for this!
Coach (2010 or Bust)
September 4th, 2009
9:57 am
Yes it is over. Done. finished.
Bobby Cox is the most overrated manager in ML history.
Watching the Braves in the top of the fifth inning last night was like seeing Deja Vu all over again. Their plodding ninety feet at a time offense was all to familiar. Load the bases, push one run in and repeat. All told, four hits, one walk and three outs resulted in a whopping two runs.
Then Tommy Hanson eclipsed that F-N artificial 100 pitch count, Cox repeated the same mistake he has made a million times, and we all watched the bullpen melt down in the sixth inning exactly as it had done the night before.
Greg Norton then justified Bobby’s faith in him by recording yet another useless pinch hit appearance in the bottom of the sixth.
It’s cookie cutter management gone amok. Cox is his own worst enemy, and it feels like Chinese water torture while being forced to endure this endless underachievement by our Braves.
Coach (2010 or Bust)
September 4th, 2009
9:58 am
Enter your comments here
Pop
September 4th, 2009
10:56 am
Bobby Cox. He only uses half of his bullpen. The Braves don’t lose because of bad relievers – they lose because the same relievers pitch day after day after day.
Andy Smith
September 4th, 2009
11:34 am
I think Mark Richt is great, and I admire his loyalty. I hope he does not jeopardize his career and the hopes of Georgia football on Martinez. Mark ,please go find a better defensive coordinator
Dud Fan
September 4th, 2009
7:10 pm
The Falcons secondary defense; Atlanta Dream’s coach, Marynell Meadors; Bobby Cox; Josh Smith’s jumpshot; All of the part time Hawks fans that do not support our Atlanta Dream.
live by the sword...
September 4th, 2009
7:30 pm
censorship sucks no matter how you do it….you of all people should know it
and Jeff Schultz IS a transvestite who needs a hair weave
Danny
September 4th, 2009
11:11 pm
How about Chris Medlin & Manny Acosta? What have they done?
Bad News
September 4th, 2009
11:22 pm
ANALYSIS OF VICK & POST VICK ERA:
Vick’s last 3 seasons……..
2004
11-5
2005
8-8
2006
7-9
TOTAL:
26-22
POST VICK:
2007
4-12
2008
11-5
TOTAL
15-17
REMARKS:
In order for the post Vick era to equal or surpass the record of Vick’s last 3 seasons, the Falcons must have a record of 11-5.
Surely the post Vick era will not be outdone by a guy who did not study film or practice hard
RobertNAtl
September 4th, 2009
11:25 pm
He barely fits inside the given parameters of being “currently employed locally,” but the hype to performance ratio of Jordan Schafer approaches infinity.
Paddy
September 5th, 2009
8:56 am
Eddie Haas….the only mgr in the history of MLB that was afraid of his players and as a result afraid to manage.
Skeezix
September 5th, 2009
9:07 am
That no hitting Norton of this 2009 Braves team gets my vote for first. And then I’d put the Ga.Tech b-ball coach second (can they get Bobby Cremins back?). Also, remember who won the 2008 NL batting title? …..Well I think we have to put Chipper Jones in there somewhere because the Braves offense was built around him and he is having a miserable season by Chipper Jones standards. His extended slump over the last several weeks has help cripple their play off hopes. I believe his BA has dropped around 70 points year to year. Unfortunately I can’t blame Wren for that.
braves70
September 5th, 2009
10:35 am
I also vote of the biggest Dud of all time, anywhere: Bobby Cox. Ted Turner had it right when he fired him after the 1981 season. Greg Norton would not even be in our discussion were it not for his enabler, Bobby Cox.
Farnsworthy
September 5th, 2009
12:08 pm
I thought we were suppose to limit it to current Atlanta players. Since many bloggers have strayed from that—my vote for all time biggest dud is Len Barker. But also, Vick, for the terrible abuse and killing of animals….then might as well throw the Hockey team in there too.
Ralph
September 5th, 2009
1:56 pm
Mark I voted for you but thats because you left out the most deserving reciepent BOBBY COX, and thats why I voted for you.
bigeasy830
September 5th, 2009
2:10 pm
The AJC for banning my buddy FALCONS SORRY.
rufues
September 5th, 2009
6:41 pm
I have to agreed with Bushwacker the announcers are showing way too much favoritism, towards Chipper Jones, he has without a doubt hurt the Braves this year, along with Bobby Cox, and yet
I have not heard on single criticism, on how bad he’s doing. Now if it was another player like Escobar, Joe would cut him up from one end to another and he’s not the only one who has more than hurt the Braves is Kelley Johnson, who should have been, in the minors months ago. All my year following the Braves, this is the worse managing from Bobby Cox. My recommendation is to sell the Braves to someone who really wants to win.
rufues
September 5th, 2009
6:57 pm
best announcers the Brave ever had SKIP AND PETE. Such do miss real talented announcers.
scottbravesfan
September 6th, 2009
12:02 am
Don Waddell and it’s not even close.
scottbravesfan
September 6th, 2009
12:13 am
Irishmafia,
No one really cares about the Hawks in this town that’s why no one is talking about Mike Woodson. It’s the Braves, Falcons, Dogs, and Tech. No one else matters. I like the Hawks and the Thrashers but we have to be honest we have like twelve fans unless we make the playoffs. Don Waddell and Mike Woodson are awful.