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Non-Sports Day
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It probably won’t come as much of a surprise to people that my radio is always on. For as long as I can remember, sports have always been my biggest interest. While baseball and college football are my favorites, I can get wrapped up in just about anything.
A few weeks ago, in the waning hours of a program where the hosts were trying to fill out their last segment of the show, the topic of the ‘sports calendar’ was brought up.
Obviously, there is no right answer to the question. Plenty of sports jump the normal calendar from December into January and there is enough of a following in each sport to keep one from being the league that opens or closes a ‘sports year’.
But I’d like to nominate today – July 18, 2018 – as the official unofficial singular day of the sports offseason.
This being the day after the MLB All-Star game, we’ve arrived at one of only two days each year in which none of the United States’ major professional leagues host games.
And that’s what makes today perfect for ending one year of sports and starting another
In this way, we’ll have wrapped up the last sports season with tennis’ most popular major at Wimbledon and the most watched all-star game of all major sports. We can all take inventory today and begin again tomorrow with the start of the British Open.
Using this timetable, the next ‘year’ should be an exciting one for sports fans in Georgia.
When MLB play resumes, the Braves will pick back up just half a game out of first place.
Atlanta is now popping up in many trade rumors as they look to add a piece that can put them over the top and each passing day is reaffirming that the success of the young roster is no fluke.
One of the newest sports on the scene in the Peach State is also turning some heads as the sports year begins.
Soccer is still trying to gain a strong foothold in the hierarchy of American sports, but it always gets a boost after the World Cup and those who give Atlanta United a chance will be pleasantly surprised.
The second-year franchise had a solid expansion season and has kept up the momentum in year two as United currently leads the Eastern Conference.
As fall arrives, the biggest fun starts as football returns.
On the pro side of things, the Falcons again figure to be a playoff team and will get a good barometer check from the get-go as they visit defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia in the first NFL game of the season.
Down in the college ranks, UGA fans might still be having nightmares of a national title game that got away but the Bulldogs have every reason to believe they can contend for a national title once again.
Football undoubtedly carries the bulk of the weight in this unique calendar and takes us into the early days of February. Georgia fans will face a lull for a month or two as Atlanta has no NHL team and the Hawks are only an NBA team by the most charitable of definitions.
But Georgia Tech, UGA and Georgia Southern all have solid baseball teams that will be in full swing by March and April brings The Masters, easily the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, to Georgia.
The end of the Masters coincides with the beginning of the MLB season, taking us into the dog days of summer where the head and grind call for this solitary day of rest.
Now enjoy your one day of sports offseason and get to bed early. The first groups at the British Open tee off at 1:35 a.m. Eastern time.
Home Grown
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When my wife and I moved to Glynn County back in 2003 we didn’t know much about the area at all.
Over the three years we spent in the “Marshes of Glynn” we learned all about Willie’s Wee-Nee Wagon and 25 cent oysters during Happy Hour over on St. Simon’s.
We also became very aware of the importance and pride among all the high school athletic programs; a knowledge, along with an immense amount of respect, that has only grown over the years.
Most counties the size of Glynn are lucky if they have one or two athletes that make it to the professional level.
As comparison, the county in I live in now has roughly half the population and the biggest athlete they’ve produced has been St. Louis Cardinals reliever, Greg Holland. Granted, being the hometown of a three time All-Star certainly isn’t anything to scoff at, but it pales in comparison to Glynn County.
The first athlete I was aware of was Davis Love III. I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing someone talk about him; he was like the human embodiment of Starbucks.
Next, was Kwame Brown. Now obviously, I knew of Brown beforehand, but I didn’t realize he was from Brunswick until moving. I know his career didn’t wind up exactly like the locals wanted it to but being the number one overall draft pick is impressive, nonetheless.
Now, most communities have their own version of the “white whale”. And by that, I mean there’s always an athlete that is just mediocre, but over time the stories have taken on a life of their own, to point where he or she is the greatest athlete to have ever been born.
During our time in Brunswick, Adam Wainwright was that guy. I heard stories of what a tremendous pitcher he was and that he was destined to be an All-Star; all stories that I believed to be told in an attempt to hype up a local legend.
It’s rare that someone can live up to the reputation, but Wainwright has done that and more. Being a 2-time World Series Champion, to go along with 3 All-Star appearances, has a way of showing people the light.
If that list of players isn’t impressive enough, I did a double take, Bugs Bunny style, while watching the Women’s World Cup a few years ago. As I’m watching I swear I hear that one of the women is from St. Simon’s.
So naturally. I hop online and take a look. Of course, that player was Morgan Brian. For my money what Brian has accomplished is the most impressive, when you consider she is playing for our country in the World Cup.
You’ll notice I haven’t even mentioned a player like Darius Slay Jr., someone whom if he came from 95 percent of the towns across the country would have a key to the city and his own holiday.
Unfortunately, for him he’s up against a #1 draft pick, an All-Star, and a World Cup participant. Oh, and the human version of Subway (seriously, I couldn’t go anywhere without Love’s name being brought up).
The point is, there are a lot of things to like about Glynn County and a lot the residents of that area should take pride in.
Sure, it’s not nearly as big as Atlanta, Miami, or those other big cities, but when it comes to big time athletes, they take a back seat to no one.
Don’t I Know You?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Have you ever sat down and tried to come up with top 5 lists? I got the thinking as I write for the Georgia Sports Edition as of July 1st (changed from Southern Sports Edition) who are the top 5 current sports figures in the State of Georgia. Here goes my totally subjective list:
- Jake Fromm QB UGA: The starting QB for the flagship university always makes an updated list of top sports figures in the State.
Fromm goes into his sophomore season at the University of Georgia as the starting QB after leading UGA to a 13-2 record, Rose Bowl win, and national title game appearance as a freshman in 2017.
Fromm is loved throughout the State and the Dawgs are loaded going into 2018 on offense. Fromm looked a little rusty during the spring game, but this kid has something you can’t coach and it is called the WOW factor.
Nothing seems to bother him and that is a good thing because Justin Fields is nipping at his heels now in Athens. UGA is set at the QB position for the next few years, and Jake is the golden boy around the State right now.
- Ozzie Albies 2B Atlanta Braves: Albies is taking not just the State of Georgia by storm, but the nation by storm as he is the front runner for the National League Rookie of the year.
The kid is around 20 homeruns and his enthusiasm for the game has helped ignite the Braves nation in 2018.
Albies will likely be the starting second baseman for the National League All Stars in this year’s game in Washington DC. At 5’8 and 155 lbs. the power numbers are off the charts and the excitement is back in the State for Braves baseball.
- Matt Ryan QB Atlanta Falcons: Matty Ice is the highest paid player in the NFL. Ryan just became the NFL’s first 30 million per year player and his current deal guarantees him $100 million.
Football is king in the State of Georgia and Ryan will lead the Falcons to the playoffs in 2018. Possibly, back to the Super Bowl and redemption from blowing the 25-point third quarter SB lead two years ago. Ryan is putting together a potential Hall of Fame career in Atlanta that could be cemented with a Super Bowl ring.
- Freddie Freeman 1B Atlanta Braves: Freeman is currently batting .311 with 16 HR and 56 RBI for the division leading Atlanta Braves and is the face of the franchise.
The Freeman led Braves are in first place in July for the first time since 2014 and Freeman is having an MVP season in 2018. If the season ended today Freeman would probably be named National League MVP.
Freeman has been a regular in Atlanta now since 2010 and is one of the most recognizable sports figures in the state. If Freddie leads the Braves back to the World Series he might have a future in Georgia politics one day.
And the most recognizable sport figure in the state of Georgia currently is: Kirby Smart Head Football Coach University of Georgia: Smart is the face of UGA Football.
Born and raised in Georgia, played and earned All-SEC honors at UGA, and now has UGA competing for national championships in a State that is football crazy and championship deprived.
The 2017 UGA football season was magical and Smart had the Dawgs a blown coverage away from its first National Championship since 1980.
Smart is the best recruiter in the business and now has UGA reloading every year. Georgia season football tickets are the most treasured possession in the Peach State currently all because of the monster Kirby is building in Athens.
Kirby Smart is the most popular and most recognizable sports figure in the State of Georgia and if he wins a national title in the near future your future Governor when he retires from coaching football.
My First Game
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’ve been fortunate over my lifetime to see a number of collegiate and professional games. Out of all the ones I’ve seen- including tickets 13 rows up at the ‘94 Orange Bowl where FSU defeated Nebraska to become first time champions- there are two that stand out.
The first one was a routine summer baseball game back in 1990 between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants. I was a Giants fan because the Braves were horrible and Kevin Mitchell had hit 49 home runs during the previous season.
So, for my 10th birthday my family made the 4-hour trek from Asheville to Atlanta and my Dad and I went to the game. I can remember almost every detail of that weekend because it was my first professional game.
I remember the anticipation I had on the ride down and being nervous that there wouldn’t be any tickets available. Not only did we get tickets, but they were $3 for the upper deck.
I remember the two players I desperately wanted to see, Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark; both took the game off. Any disappointment I had was quickly erased after a Robby Thompson home run in the 2nd inning put the Giants up for good. San Francisco went on to win 2-0.
I even remember my Dad driving back to the hotel and going the wrong way down a one-way street after the game. And no, he wasn’t drinking; we were just so caught up in talking about my first experience at a professional baseball game, we kind of lost track of where we were.
I’ve been to a few baseball games since, but I honestly could not tell you anything about them outside of who the home team was.
The second game took place on New Year’s Eve of 2014 when my daughter- roughly the same age I was during the Atlanta trip- and I went to Cameron Indoor Stadium to see Duke play Wofford.
Much like the Braves/Giants game, there wasn’t really anything on the line, but she was as excited as I had been 28 years ago. I imagine I felt like my Dad did all those years ago, too.
We talked about the game for the whole 3-hour ride back to our house and even though I didn’t go the wrong way on a one-way street, I did get a little turned around in a McDonald’s parking lot. (I promise these two incidents are not indicative of my family’s sense of direction.)
Normally at this point in the story is where you get the big emotional reveal, but that’s not the case.
My Dad is a 63-year-old triathlete that is better shape now than I’ve ever been at any point in my life. And while my daughter is 13 and has this growth at the end of her arm that resembles an iPhone, she still enjoys hanging out with her old man.
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The month of April is a very underappreciated sports month. Think about it for a second.
You have the final four in college basketball, the start of baseball season, The Masters, The NFL draft, and local playoff baseball with three local teams poised the make playoff runs.
Let’s start with the final four. Has there ever been a bigger Cinderella in college basketball than Loyola-Chicago? I know I will be a huge fan this weekend just like 95% of America will.
What captures national awareness more than a huge sports underdog making a championship run? Sister Jean and Loyola against Michigan in one national semifinal game. On paper Michigan should win.
The Wolverines have won 11 straight neutral site games by an average of 15 points. All signs point to a Michigan victory, but I watched the 1986 classic movie this week “Hoosiers” starring Gene Hackman to get ready for Saturday and I’m hoping for the upset.
My heart says Loyola and my head says Michigan. I’m going with my heart because my beautiful girlfriend is sitting right next to me as I write the story. Loyola wins 76-73 to make title game.
In the other matchup of blue bloods, you have Villanova and Kansas. Villanova is averaging 86 points a game and can put the ball in the basket. Kansas beat Duke so that automatically gives them high marks from me. I like Kansas to win this game.
Then you have Loyola against Kansas in the final on Monday night. Kansas like no other college basketball blue blood has been taken down by Cinderella many times in the tourney over the years.
Here is hoping for history to repeat as Loyola shocks the country and takes down Kansas 79-77 for the National Championship. Sister Jean for President in 2020. The President would not dare to tweet anything negative about Sister Jean, would he? The would be a recipe for disaster.
Tiger Woods is going to take America by storm again and win the Masters with a back nine charge for the ages on Sunday. Tiger will shoot 29 on the back nine to win by one over Bubba Watson. Tiger in a Green Jacket for the 5th time would be television gold.
April means the start of baseball season for the RONALD ACUNA-less Atlanta Braves. I’ll tune in when they call their future up in May.
NFL draft is later in April and the Jaguars need help on the at OL, WR, and TE. This team is a Super Bowl contender. The Falcons need help at DL and DB. They can make a run if they get the defense at a championship level.
Local high school teams are a combined 41-13. Glynn, Brunswick, and Frederica all will make playoffs, but this 18-2 Glynn squad, led by Randon Jernigan, can make a title run. If pitching can hold up then these baseball Terrors have a shot to bring a state title to the Golden Isles.
Yep, April is a very underrated sports month on the calendar.
Braves please call up Ronald Acuna soon!
Sincerely, Your Fan Base
Fair Weather Fans
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Atlanta is a terrible sports town. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Atlantans simply don’t show up for their pro teams unless they are winning, and consistently.
Partially it’s because the south belongs to college football, and partially it’s because of a lack of championships and probably some other things factor in as well. It’s the way of things here, and I doubt it will change any time soon.
So how is it that the NFC Championship, the final game at the Georgia Dome for the Atlanta Falcons, was packed full of loud, screaming southerners? Why were tickets for Suntrust Park’s debut game so hard to come by when they went on sale?
Fair weather fans.
The Falcons were good, and they were on their way to the Super Bowl. Suntrust Park is sparkly and new, and there is excitement abound for the Braves this year; but mark my words, if the Falcons can’t win football games at a high clip in their own brand new stadium, Mercedes Benz Stadium won’t be seeing sellouts in November.
If the Braves don’t stay competitive, then Suntrust Park will be just as vacant as Turner Field was in August last year; because those fair weather fans will stop caring and that’s okay.
Look, it can be frustrating for die hard fans to cope with the sudden attention their team gets from people that would otherwise fail to show up. Die harders experience the lows that fair weather fans will never know; because they don’t subject themselves to it. So, what right do they have to experience the highs?
I saw it and heard it all over Atlanta while the Falcons were in the playoffs: remarks about fans coming out of the woodwork just because the team was good. It was certainly true – but warranted. They WERE good!
As I am a die hard Braves fan, I find myself occasionally annoyed by fair weather fans too but if I take a step back I realize that not only are they not committing any egregious crimes, they are benefitting the team they’ve suddenly come out to support.
Think about it: if the Braves miraculously made it to the World Series this year, fair weather fans would show up in droves to the ballpark and sports bars to watch them play.
Irksome as they may seem (this has been MY TEAM for years!), would I truly rather they didn’t bother to pay attention? Do I want my team to take the field to a stadium half full of fans while they battle for a championship? Of course not.
A roaring crowd can tip the scales in some cases and I want my team to have that. They should take the field or court or gridiron to a packed house of supporters. It doesn’t matter if the fans have earned the right to celebrate – the team has earned the right to fans.
Plus, not every die hard fan was raised to be a die hard fan. Everyone has to start somewhere. I, for one, am a die hard Braves fanatic not because my parents were, but because I watched John Smoltz strike out three batters out in 2003 to close out a win. They were good, and they hooked me.
What if the Giants had come back and won that game? Would I have come back to the Braves? I’d like to think so, but I’m not so sure. Good teams breed new fans. Just think about how many Georgian eyes were on the Super Bowl in February. If they had held on and won, how many of those eyes would have been converted into die harders?
So, next time your beloved team, wherever they are, starts winning don’t scorn those who haven’t suffered the losses with you. Instead, embrace them. Your team deserves them.
SEC Margin?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
All good things must come to end…..or so I hear.
Sometimes it may end abruptly, much like the career of whomever it was that decided to give Jethro Tull the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Album over Metallica, Jane’s’ Addiction, and AC/DC. And sometimes it just happens to run its course, kind of like stuffed crust pizza. The SEC’s reign as the strongest football conference in the country seems to be dwindling with almost every passing week.
That’s not to say you don’t have a valid argument that it’s still the nation’s best conference, it’s just that margin of difference is more along the lines of a Prescott to Romo gap than it is a Rodgers to whoever the hell is Green Bay’s backup quarterback.
One of the things the SEC could always hang their hat on was the competitive balance throughout the league. It seemed that no matter who actually made the SEC Championship game I usually felt like they were probably two of the best teams in the nation. Because the conference was so strong, top to bottom, I believed no other team in the country could have played as difficult a schedule as either of those two teams would have played.
It was almost more of testament to their success when they made the SEC Championship than whatever bowl game they would play in afterwards.
The SEC still has competitive balance, just not quite in the same light as before. I mean, I could easily say my 6-year old’s baseball league has that same balance, but all I’d be admitting to is that each team has a few players that roll in the dirt, or run around in the outfield playing tag. Just because it competitive doesn’t necessarily equate to being good.
The SEC East is balanced, but I’m not sure anyone would, or should, take that as a compliment.
As weird as it is for me to say this, the SEC kinda reminds me of the ACC this year. Both the West and Atlantic divisions have strong play at the top (Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Louisville) and teams like Ole Miss, LSU, and FSU that are underachieving, but still extremely talented.
On the other side, the East and Coastal divisions have a few teams (Florida, UNC, Virginia Tech) that have decent records, but it’s more an indication of how awful the rest of their division is as opposed to how good they already are.
Now, I know you could make this basic argument for just about any other conference out there, but that’s kind of the point I’m trying to make.
A few years ago, you could make this argument for all the other conferences, but not the SEC. They were just that dominant.
Five years ago, if you were in 2nd place in the SEC West and ranked in the Top 15, you were a team to be feared. Just this past week, on this website, I voted Auburn as the 10 best team in the country. Do they deserve it? This year, probably.
Do I feel comfortable betting any amount of money they’ll beat a 5-4 Georgia team this weekend? Absolutely not. (And I’m sorry, but I don’t mean that as a compliment to the Athens faithful).
It’s been an impressive run for the SEC the past 15 years or so. Unprecedented really. And while there aren’t any signs of their success stopping, but things are certainly slowing down. It’s ok though, it happens to the best of us. Even to fans of Jethro Tull.
Here Come the Terrors
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors took the field Friday night against the Bradwell Institute Tigers with the region championship already wrapped up in a little bow.
Bradwell was able to stay in the game through the first quarter; at the end of the first it was only 7-0 Glynn.
However, the flood gates opened in the second quarter and the Terrors had given themselves a 34-0 halftime lead. When all was said and done Glynn had defeated Bradwell by a score of 41-0
Coach Rocky Hidalgo elected to sit out RB/WR Randon Jernigan due to a sore hamstring and RB Jeremiah Anderson made his return to the team from an injury that kept him out since the first week of the season.
Jernigan’s return in the first round of the playoffs is questionable.
The final region standings saw the Red Terrors finish first, The Effingham Rebels finish with the two seed, the Richmond Hill Wildcats with the three seed, the Bradwell Tigers as the fourth seed, finishing last in the region with no playoff berth are the Brunswick High Pirates.
The Red Terrors will now turn their attention to the Jonesboro Cardinals, who upset Drew on Thursday night 38-26 to secure the number four seed in their region.
Jonesboro is loaded with athletes but is not nearly as physical as the Red Terrors.
Another great thing is that with Glynn securing the number one seed means they will be guaranteed for the first two games to be at home at Glynn County Stadium. A much different dynamic than last year’s run.
This Red Terror team is a very different team than last year’s. This team can score at will and can run the ball on anyone. Glynn Academy has rushed for more yards through 10 games than all of last year through 15 games. The Red Terrors are very dynamic on offense.
In other words, this team is better; still among the state’s elite on defense and now an explosive offense.
If you are a Terrors fan look for another deep run in the playoffs and maybe a State Title when the smoke clears.
Dolphins Growing Pains?
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2016 Dolphins offense is going to take a minute to get going, folks.
It is almost certainly not going to sing in four-part harmony the first time coach Adam Gase gives his unit voice in the Seattle regular-season opener.
The offense is a work in progress, and because the players are mostly young and new to each other and the coach, and his scheme, getting all that to look as if everyone has been together for years is close to impossible.
