Gators Look To Chomp on 2019
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2018 season was the best in recent memory for the Gators of Bulloch Academy.
An 8-2 record and a second-place finish in region action was solid in its own right, but the Gators took things a step farther in winning their first state playoff game since 2009.
In fact, Bulloch Academy could have gone even farther if not for how its schedule played out. The Gators lost a non-region contest to John Milledge Academy and missed out on a region title when they dropped a close one against Frederica.
Those turned out to be possibly the only teams that could handle Bulloch last season as the Gators made it to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by John Milledge, which advanced to the state championship game before falling to Frederica.
All of that came in the first season with Pat Collins running the ship for BA. Collins has been the school’s athletic director for two seasons, but stepped into the football head coaching role – a title he has previously held at Portal, Screven County and Southeast Bulloch – during the spring of 2018.
He has seen success wherever he’s gone and while he usually inherits a rebuilding squad, he now has the task of continuing to build on an impressive debut.
“We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us,” Collins said. “We lost 12 seniors, a three-year starting quarterback and 98 percent of our offensive yards from last year. That’s a lot to replace, but we’ve got eight rising seniors who are stepping up and I think we can be a good team again this season.”
Fischer Oglesby is the heir to the quarterback spot vacated by Don Aaron. And while Collins admits that nothing can replace Aaron’s experience, Oglesby has more size and speed that will fit well in the Gators’ offense that showcases plenty of option, with the ability to take long shots down the field.
While the offense settles into an entirely new backfield, it will be the defense that Bulloch relies on early in the season.
Eight starters return, giving Collins hope that his thoughts on the gravity of experience translate into a shutdown defensive unit.
Perhaps the biggest edge Bulloch can take into 2019 is its depth. Not only did plenty of underclassmen get quality playing time last season – including a JV squad that went undefeated in its abbreviated schedule – but the numbers continue to creep up on the roster in general.
The Gators figure to have at least 40 – and possibly 45 – players in uniform to open the season. That’s up from the normal roster of 30-ish Gators from just a few years ago and will allow the team to avoid too many instances of two-way players that can become an issue late in the season as fatigue mounts.
Bulloch will once again kick off its season against arch-rival Pinewood as part of the Erk Russell Classic at Paulson Stadium on the campus of Georgia Southern University.
The Gators will face familiar non-region foes – including Westfield and a rematch with John Milledge – early in the season before playing the entirety of its Region 2-AAA schedule over the final four weeks of the regular season.
Wolves On The Hunt
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Buford High School has been a powerhouse for quite some time.
The Wolves won their first state title in 1978. Then starting in 2001, they won 10 state championships with the last one in 2014. They advanced to the state final 2015 and 2016 and lost close games.
They are trying to get back on track and prove they are the best team in 5A.
John Ford took the top job at Buford in 2017 after coaching Roswell to a 14-1 season and a 23-20 loss to Grayson in the class 7A championship game.
After two seasons, he resigned. He went 21-5 in two years as head coach, taking both teams deep into the state playoffs.
Ford led Buford to last year’s state quarterfinals, where they were upset, 23-20, by Bainbridge. That was the program’s first Elite Eight loss since 2006. That loss ended Buford’s state-record 35-game winning streak in home playoff games.
The Wolves won the Region 8-AAAAA championship and lost in the regular season to Class AAAAAAA semifinalist Archer and to Florida power Deerfield Beach.
They also won the region championship in 2017 and reached the state semifinals with an 11-2 record. That season ended with a rough 45-7 loss to Rome.
Buford promoted defensive coordinator Bryant Appling to head football coach. Appling has been on Buford’s staff the past 15 years through seven state titles and five runner-up finishes. He was an assistant for two seasons at Lithonia before coming to Buford.
The Wolves are ranked No.5 in the state in the 5A preseason poll. They have a lot of talent on the team. Corner back Jalen Huff is the highest ranked recruit on the team. He is the 53rd ranked player in the state and he’s a Georgia Tech commit. Huff is a bigger corner, listed as 6’0.
Center Seth McLaughlin is 6’4, 270 pounds. He’s ranked as the tenth best center in the nation and he committed to Alabama.
Willie ‘T’ Lee is listed as an athlete and he plays wide receiver and cornerback. He is a three-star recruit and an Arizona State commit. Lee is 5’11 so he also has good size for the position.
Running back Elijah Turner is also a three-star recruit.
The season opens August 23rd in the Corky Kell Classic at Coolray Field. They play Milton, the defending 7A state champs. Milton lost a lot of talent from last year’s team so I think this will be a very close game.
The next week is home against Jonesboro and that will be an easy win. Last season Buford beat the Cardinals 58 – 7.
Life Christian Academy from Virginia comes to town after a bye week for Buford. They were 2-6 last season so this will be another easy win.
Newton, another 7A opponent comes to town. Buford beat them 54 – 27 in 2018 and I expect more of the same.
They play a better 7A team September 27th when Archer comes to town. The Tigers beat up on Buford last year, 48 – 24. I think the game should be closer but I expect Archer to win.
They begin region play October 4th and Buford will slaughter these teams. Last season they beat all five region 8 AAAAA opponents and scored 253 points while only giving up 9 points.
I know they’ll make it to the playoffs but can they get over the hump and win another championship? That is the burning question.
The Coach’s Corner
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There are a few things I look forward to ever summer: vacations, beautiful weather, and SEC Media Day.
I have no idea why I look forward to Media Day with the enthusiasm of a teenage boy on prom night; maybe it’s because the summer months are fairly slow and it’s something to write about?
Could it be that sometimes they’re actually a tad bit entertaining? Regardless of the reason, with media days approaching here is what you can expect to see or hear from all 14 SEC coaches.
Dan Mullen. Mullen will start things off that Monday morning wearing a 2019 Florida Gators SEC Championship t-shirt, assuming the Gators are favored to win the conference title because he’s going ahead of Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.
Ed Orgeron. Reporters will bring in those interpretation headsets used during U.N. Conferences and still nobody will understand what the hell Orgeron is saying. Still, odds are at least one reporter will try and run through a wall.
Barry Odom. Most of Odom’s time will be spent asking the media to put in a good word with his fellow coaches, just in case he’s looking for a job at this point next year.
Kirby Smart. Smart will bring the transcript of all Nick Saban’s answers from last year’s media day and recite them accordingly. Things will get a bit dicey when he makes a reference to his quarterback, Tua Tagoviaola.
Matt Luke. This session will be one of the shortest of the summer. Luke will merely state “Still not Hugh Freeze”, will receive a standing ovation, then turn and leave.
Jeremy Pruitt. With Phillip Fulmer by his side, all questions will be directed to the Tennessee Athletic Director; nobody loves Phil Fulmer more than Phil Fulmer.
Jimbo Fisher. Fisher will spend most of his time subliminally mentioning Willie Taggert’s name whenever something negative comes up.
Nick Saban. The part of Nick Saban will be played by Bill Belichek. Everyone will be confused as to why “Saban” is talking about the Miami Dolphins and the leap Sam Darnold will make in his 2nd year with Jets. Yet, no one will question his remarks in fear of being yelled at.
Chad Morris. If it wasn’t bad enough Morris was at the helm during Arkansas’ first ever 10 loss season, he gets stuck with this slot at media day. Good news is most of the media will probably be eating lunch, so it may not be too painful.
Joe Moorhead. Moorhead will appear on the podium wearing a “My Name Is Joe Moorhead” sticker. No questions will be asked.
Will Muschamp. The final media day will begin with the South Carolina coach. If a coach nobody really cares about answers questions that don’t matter, does anyone really pay attention?
Gus Malzahn. I’m pretty sure Malzahn will spend his entire time reciting Chris D’Elia’s “Brinks” standup routine, because that’s what I would do if I were being paid $7 million a season with his coaching record.
Mark Stoops. This may be the first year Stoops doesn’t spend most of his time answering questions about Kentucky basketball or what his brother Bob is up to. Who am I kidding, that’s still going to happen.
Derek Mason. As the final session approaches all of the reporters but two will have already left, forgetting that Vanderbilt is still part of the SEC and that Mason has actually done a decent job.
Braves Tomahawk First Half
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Braves will be entering the All-Star Break sitting pretty atop of the heap of the National League East.
That fact, plus a three-All-Star showing in the personages of Ronald Acuna, Jr., Freddie Freeman, and Mike Soroka, should make baseball fans all across Braves country rejoice.
It’s especially sweet given the potential offseason improvements made by the Washington Nationals (adding Patrick Corbin, among other things) and Philadelphia Phillies (adding Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen, and Jean Segura, among other things), both of whom are tied for 2nd place in the East at 6 games back going into Sunday’s contests.
The Mets too, made moves to improve themselves (blockbuster trade for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz), and they sit under .500 at 13 games back going into Sunday.
The Braves, for their part, made very few headlines in the offseason other than signing Josh Donaldson to a hefty $23 million contract for a year and he has only really been bringing the rain for the past two weeks or so, offensively.
So, the fact that the Bravos have managed to put a relatively nice cushion between them and the rest of the NL East at the end of the first half is truly an impressive feat, though maybe not an entirely surprising one, as they did win the division last season.
The question is: can they maintain the lead they’ve carved out for themselves during the second half of 2019? And if they can, are they capable of playing deeper into the playoffs than their fairly unimpressive showing against the Los Angeles Dodgers last October?
The answer to the first question is a resounding yes. The Mets are being the Mets and seem to be on the verge of implosion, so let’s table them for the time being.
The Phillies are a talented squad but the Braves have shown that they can handle them, winning the last two series against them and outscoring them 50-25 over those six games.
The Nationals are a bit more of an unknown factor. The Braves have only played them five times so far this season, and have gone 2-3 so far. Granted, they took 2 out of 3 from them in the nation’s capital two weeks ago, so recency bias has the Braves at an advantage for their season exchange going forward.
The Braves have won with a nearly unstoppable offense in 2019. They’ve set a new season record for home runs before the break and tied the franchise record for most players with 15 bombs in the first half – both records set by the 2003 squad (note: if Ozzie Albies knocks one out on Sunday, the new record will be set with six – SIX – players with 15 homers).
The pitching for Atlanta in 2019 has been more inconsistent, which is partially why the answer to the second question is probably a no.
Mike Soroka has earned his All-Star selection, but the Atlanta rotation just hasn’t shown it can get the job done day in and day out. Obviously, the team has been winning, but that doesn’t mean that if the Braves draw the Dodgers in the first round again that they won’t get spanked.
There’s potential here. However, Julio Teheran has found his old self in 2019, though he still has his poor streaks.
Mike Foltynewicz has proved that he can be better than he has been this year, and I feel confident we haven’t seen the best of Dallas Keuchel in an Atlanta uniform yet (he just got started, after all).
But these guys need to find another gear if this second exciting year atop the NL East is going to end differently than the last one.
Pirates Set To Sail In 2019
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Sean Pender starts year three at Brunswick High with 16 starters from 2018 returning with a year of varsity football experience.
The 2019 Pirates expect to compete for the Region 2-AAAAAA football championship.
When asked about what to expect from the 2019 Pirates Pender said “We have had more intensity and competiveness than we had in all of last year in our spring and summer program. The kids have worked extremely hard and I expect good things out of this football team once we get healthy at the QB position.”
Schedule and my predictions:
August 23rd vs Coffee: The Trojans look very good along the lines of scrimmage. Coffee is always big and strong. This will be a tough matchup for the Pirates, but Coffee has historically struggled at Glynn County Stadium. Give me Coffee 28-20.
August 30th vs Bartram Trail: Brunswick moved the ball up and down the field last year in St. Augustine. Bartram makes the return visit to Brunswick and I think the Pirates will be ready and beats a solid Florida state playoff team 34-28 to go 1-1 on the season.
September 6th vs MCA: The Bucs from Darien come “Between the Bricks” and get drilled 49-7. Pirates go to 2-1 on the season.
September 20th @ Camden: The Pirates tangle with the Cats in the first road game of the season and it will not end well for the Pirates. Camden is on the way back to being a factor in 7-A and the Pirates get clawed 38-20 to go to 2-2 on the season.
September 27th@ New Hampstead: Pirates travel to Savannah for this one and I’m putting them on upset alert. Pirates win an exciting game on the road 35-22 to move to 3-2 on the season.
October 4th@ Monroe Albany: Long drive to Albany, Georgia and the Pirates roll home with a 42-14 win to go to 4-2 on the season.
October 11th @ Richmond Hill: The Wildcats embarrassed the Pirates in 2018, but lost pretty much their entire offense to graduation. Brunswick returns the favor on the road at a place they have never lost. Brunswick beats Richmond Hill 28-21. Pirates go to 5-2 on the season.
October 18th vs Effingham: The Rebels ran up the score against the Pirates in Springfield last year throwing TD passes with less than two minutes left up by 24 points. Circle game at home for Brunswick. Expect Brunswick to return the favor if that opportunity presents. Pirates go to 6-2 with a 38-21 win.
October 25th @ Glynn Academy: In a game with the region championship on the line BHS tries to avoid a sixth straight loss. Anything can happen in a rival game but I will not believe it until I see it. Glynn 27-20. Pirates drop to 6-3
November 8th vs Bradwell: BHS locks up a number two seed with a 41-14 win over the Tigers and finishes the regular season at 7-3 and will host a first-round state playoff game.
Opposing Coaches view on Brunswick: “When Sean gets solid QB production his offenses are the best around.
I know he made some really good hires on the defensive side of the ball during the winter and I think they get a lot better there because they played a lot of sophomores on that side of the ball last year.
Will that community let Sean build this thing? You will see this team get a lot better this fall and Sean has worked hard to keep his kids from being cherry picked by the private school in the county.
They are on the way back. Maurice and Victor built a solid program there and they made a mistake letting Victor go, and the guy behind him ran that thing over a cliff.
Sean is the right man for that job, and he has some nice young talent cycling his way in that school system. They will be a playoff team this fall then that program takes off in 2020.
They have good facilities down there and they have those kids all on the same NFL team in Detroit. The skill talent is always there.
Sean built that thing in Pierce and will do the same in Brunswick.”
Milton To Soar Again In 2019?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last season Milton defeated the Colquitt County Packers 14-13 in the 7A championship game to become the first team not from South Georgia or Gwinnett County to win in the state’s highest classification since 1995.
The Packers had rolled over many of the state’s top teams while on its way to a 14-0 record and a top-5 position in several national high school polls.
Colquitt was playing in its fourth championship game in the last five seasons. They were hailed as a 21-point favorite by the computer Maxwell Ratings. This was the biggest upset in a state championship game that I can remember.
“They believed and trusted each other as cliché as that sounds,” head coach Adam Clack said after the monumental Milton victory. “This is one of the greatest teams – TEAMS in capital letters – a coach has ever had.”
Going in to 2019, the Eagles are the top team in the 7A preseason rankings. They have several great players that graduated in 2019.
Milton graduated 11 players that made first-team all-region in 5-AAAAAAA. Those include player of the year Jordan Yates (a quarterback signed with Georgia Tech), co-offensive player of the year Dylan Leonard (a tight end/wide receiver to Georgia Tech) and defensive player of the year Jordan Davis (linebacker to West Georgia).
Some additional graduates were 1,000-yard rusher Joshua Edwards, linebacker Allen Walker (Louisiana Tech) and Joseph Charleston (Clemson) and Nasier Currie-Sudler (UMass), whom Clack called the best safety combination in the country.
The 2018 team possessed plenty of playmakers of both sides of the ball. The 2019 team, on the other hand, will be anchored on the lines of scrimmage. Paul Tchio, a four-star offensive guard committed to Clemson, will be the team’s marquee player. Tchio is rated as the No. 7 recruit in Georgia. Zander Barnett, Alec Hutchinson, Anthony Minella and Marcos Rangel are other linemen who got all-region recognition last year. Most will play significantly on both sides of the ball.
Jack Rhodes had over 100 tackles at linebacker last year and he is a Senior in 2019. He will play defensive back/wide receiver this season. The replacement for Yates – who passed for 2,590 yards and rushed for 1,134 – is uncertain. Senior Jackson Weaver, Yates’ backup will probably be the starter.
Milton played a very tough non-region schedule in 2018. They opened last season by upsetting No. 3 Archer in the Corky Kell Classic, then beat Cardinal Gibbons of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 42-17 in the first Freedom Bowl, a six-game event that Milton hosted. Cardinal Gibbons went on to win Florida’s Class 5A championship.
The schedule will be tough again this season. The Eagles will open against Buford (#5 in 5A) in the Corky Kell. Then on Sept. 13, Milton will become the first Georgia high school team to play a game in California. The Eagles are set to play JSerra Catholic in The Trinity League vs. USA Showcase outside of Los Angeles.
JSerra was 9-3 in last season and ranked No. 17 nationally in the MaxPreps’ final computer national rankings.
The following two games are also against stiff competition. They play at Roswell September 20th. The Hornets have 3-star recruit, offensive tackle Trey Zimmerman who is committed to North Carolina.
No. 6 Parkview comes to town after that. The Panthers beat Milton by two points last season. The Eagles begin region play after this game.
I expect Milton to easily win their region and get back to the playoffs. I don’t believe they will make a deep run once they get in.
Saban Rolling Out?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The other day the Southern Sports Edition posted a story “The Question of the Day”, which consisted of 50 questions the southern sports fan should ask concerning sports in our region.
There were a lot of intriguing questions asked- you should give it a read if you haven’t already- but the one that stuck out to me was “How much longer will Nick Saban coach?”
I knew Saban was older than I originally thought (he’s 67 to be exact), but I hadn’t really spent much time pondering how much longer he’ll actually continue to coach.
It’s difficult to gauge the happiness of someone who is obviously allergic to smiling and showing joy more than once a month, but when you’ve dedicated your life to something and had the type of success Saban has achieved, you just don’t think of that person giving it up.
I admit, I don’t really pull for anyone in the SEC, so I can understand how that conversation may come up a little more often amongst fans.
If I had to guess, and that’s strictly what this is, I would say it’ll be at least 4-5 more years before Saban calls it quits.
Since 2008, Saban’s second season at Alabama, the Tide have finished tied for first or won the SEC West outright in every year except two, 2010/2011.
Over his tenure he has won 5 National Championships, 6 SEC titles, regularly finishes in the top 3 in recruiting and just happens to be the highest paid college football coach.
I realize at some point all those things pale in comparison to allure of stepping away from the stress of the job, but when you’re on a roll like that, it makes it more difficult.
No matter when Saban decides to hang it up, part of the fun is trying to predict who will take the reins once it happens.
I think the first call obviously has to be to Dabo Swinney. I don’t think he’d take it- Clemson gave him an opportunity and you could argue they are premier program in college football- but he does have a history with Alabama and you can never underestimate just how convincing some boosters can be.
The second call I’m making- it’s at this point you may throw whatever you’re reading this on against the wall and figure out some way to put a voodoo curse on me- is Kirby Smart.
Again, much like Swinney I’m not saying Smart would take the bait, but depending on what happens over the next few years in Athens, I wouldn’t completely discount it.
After those two, it’s a who’s who of coaches they could go after. Do they stay within the Saban coaching tree and go after someone like Jimbo Fisher or Mark Dantonio? Or, do they go outside the “family” and hire someone with nonties to either Alabama or Saban?
Outside of Swinney and Smart, it would probably be in Alabama’s best interest to look outside the program. There are plenty of decent coaches with a connection to Alabama, but I think you’d be looking at Matt Doherty with UNC type situation as opposed to their current one with Roy Williams.
There are more pressing questions with immediate repercussions, but when it comes to our region’s most popular sport and the one man who has had a stranglehold in the SEC, the timing of his departure, and what may follow, just might be the most important one of all.
Hawks Free Agent Radar
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NBA offseason, unlike the MLB offseason, is divided somewhat neatly into two parts: pre-draft and post-draft.
This is to say that teams look forward to adding to their rosters primarily with the excitement and intrigue of the draft during the short time between it and the preceding NBA finals; and then they look forward to fortifying the rest of their squad afterwards via free agency.
Now that the NBA Draft is in the rearview mirror, the Atlanta Hawks need to look ahead. That starts with filling out the rest of their roster.
They have enough pieces that a serviceable team could conceivably be put on the court without any other additions, but there are enough question marks and uncertainties that free agency could hold some appeal for Travis Schlenk, should he want to pull the trigger on anyone.
Now we’re not talking about Kevin Durant, functioning Achilles’ or not. That’s obviously not in the cards for a ton of reasons (money for one, but also KD will want to go after an immediate ring, and the Hawks are still in rebuilding mode).
However, there are a few significant names that could potentially be lured to Atlanta. Malcolm Brogdon, for one, could work off of Trae Young or even sub in for the point guard when necessary.
He might find playing for his hometown team a sufficient enough draw to join the team, but – and this is why it’s unlikely to happen – he’d need to take a significant discount to return to his roots.
Thaddeus Young (Georgia Tech) and Al-Farouq Aminu (Norcross High School) have local connections as well, and both could fit in well with the way the team is constructed, but again both are unlikely to find Atlanta’s offer better than something they could get elsewhere.
There’s a real question about options at center. Dewayne Dedmon is a free agent but he may yet return to the Hawks and solve that problem.
In truth, he might be the best available (and most affordable) option that Atlanta has. There are some other free agent centers, however – like Kevon Looney, who is young and talented, but who the Golden State Warriors might not let go of so easily.
Willie Cauley-Stein and Maxi Kleber are both on the table as well, but with the caveat that they’re restricted free agents and therefore their prices may be prohibitive.
Let’s not forget (very recent) former Hawk and future Hall of Famer Vince Carter as a potential free agent pick up for Atlanta. Carter, the oldest player in the league, seems to want to return and the Hawks are likely interested in the prospect as well.
The Hawks would know what they were getting in Carter, who would once again bring an invaluable intangible to the roster as a veteran, even though his lack of future value does drag down a team in the midst of building for the years ahead.
The Hawks are currently sitting with 14 contracted players (assuming that second round pick Bruno Fernando signs his deal in the near future) with space to add one more.
Any of the above could be Hawks before the season starts this fall (or several – there’s no reason to think that Schlenk couldn’t maneuver more roster spots through a savvy trade or two).
Whichever route they choose to take during this free agency period, expect the moves to be more practical than splashy. Deciding on a rebuild and sticking to it is a tough road to navigate, but so far it seems like the Hawks are planning to stay the course.
The Grass Cutters
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Wimbledon! The oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament on the planet!
Since 1877, the All England Club in London has hosted The Championships, Wimbledon, all of them have been on grass.
Since 2003, either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic has taken home the gentlemen’s trophy with only four exceptions. Rafael Nadal won in 2008 and 2010; Andy Murray in ’13 and ’16.
Federer, the #2 seed, has conquered these fabled grass courts eight times, more than any other man. Federer has also won 20 Grand Slam titles, also more than any other man.
Roger could face Kei Nishikori or John Isner before a potential semi-final matchup against Nadal. A final for Federer would probably match him against Djokovic.
Federer will be 38 in August but is coming off a tenth grass court championship at the Halle Open two weeks ago. Roger Federer last hoisted the Wimbledon trophy in 2017.
Novak Djokovic, the defending champion and the #1 seed, will be vying for his fifth title at the All England Club. Djokovic has 15 Grand Slam titles and hopes to eventually become the all-time slamholder.
Novak, age 32, may have the toughest draw of the top four seeds, including an interesting first round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat Djokovic at Indian Wells in March.
Djokovic could also play Stefanos Tsitsipas, the #7 seed, in a quarter-final. Djokovic is slated to play against Kevin Anderson in the semis and either Federer or Nadal in the final.
Rafael Nadal, age 33, is seeded third and has some interesting matches if he makes it to the final. Rafa could play Nick Kyrgious in the second round and Marin Cilic in the fourth.
Barring upsets, Nadal would have a quarter-final match against Dominic Thiem before meeting Federer in the semis.
His 18 Slam titles has him only two behind Federer with a strong possibility of eventually surpassing him.
Kevin Anderson is the #4 seed even though he is ranked eighth in the world. Anderson lost to Djokovic in the final last year and would have to get through Alexander Zverev (#6) in order to meet Novak in the semis.
On the ladies’ side, Ash Barty is the #1 seed while Naomi Osaka is #2, Karolina Pliskova #3, and Kiki Bertens #4. Angie Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep, and Elina Svitolina are #s 5-8, respectively.
Barty won the French Open and followed it up with a win at Birmingham (England, not Alabama). Barty could very well win the ladies’ title but has very tough draw.
Osaka won last year’s U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open but has faltered in recent tournaments.
Pliskova, Kerber, and Halep are all former #1 players, and Kerber is the defending champion. If Kerber can get past Serena Williams in the 4th round, she will probably sail into the final.
Kvitova won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. Bertens and Svitolina have had good 2019 seasons and could make strong runs at Wimbledon.
Serena, age 37, has won Wimbledon seven times and is hoping to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles. Serena is seeded 11th and is always a threat to win any tournament she enters but hasn’t quite regained her pre-baby success.
Venus Williams has won Wimbledon five times, but the last one was 2008. Venus, 39, plays 15-year-old Cori Gauff in the first round.
The gentlemen’s champion and the ladies’ champion will earn almost $3 million each.
The runners-up will get almost $1.5 million each. Even first round losers will receive about $57,000. The ladies champion will receive the Venus Rosewater Dish rather than a trophy.
The champions? Novak Djokovic and Angie Kerber.
Ahh, Wimbledon!
The Question Of The Day
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There are a lot of questions that need answers in the regional sports landscape. Here are 50 questions that need answers:
- Do the Braves stick with Luke Jackson at closer or do they get one at the trading deadline?
- Will Austin Riley win the NL Rookie of the Year?
- Will Freddie Freeman win the NL MVP?
- Will the Braves run away with the NL East?
- Will the Atlanta Falcons get back to the playoffs in 2019?
- Will the Falcons make Julio Jones the highest paid wide receiver in football?
- Will Matt Ryan get back close to MVP form?
- Can the Falcons win with defense when it matters the most?
- Will Georgia Tech make a bowl game in 2019?
- How many recruiting classes with it take for GT to be competitive in the ACC with a pro-style offense?
- Who will be the starting quarterback for Auburn?
- Will a quality running back surface for Auburn in 2019?
- If Auburn struggles early will Gus Malzahn get fired before November?
- How much longer will Nick Saban coach?
- Will the Alabama defense have any drop-off in 2019?
- Will Tua win the Heisman?
- Will Willie Taggart make it through year two at FSU?
- How bad of shape did Jimbo Fisher leave FSU in?
- How obsessed is Dan Mullen with UGA?
- How good will the Gator offensive line be?
- Will UF win the SEC East with Feleipe Franks at QB?
- Will UF lead the SEC in QB sacks in 2019?
- Will we be hearing UCF deserves to be in the college football playoff talk in 2019?
- Do the Miami Hurricanes get blown out by Florida in their opener?
- Will Jameis Winston make it through 2019 as Tampa Bay’s starting QB?
- Will the Dolphins tank in 2019 to draft Tua or Jake Fromm?
- Will the Jacksonville defense play up to 2017 standards in 2019?
- Is Nick Foles the missing piece of the puzzle in Jacksonville?
- If the Jags struggle does Doug Marrone get fired by mid-season?
- Can the Jags beat New England, Kansas City, or even Tennessee when it matters?
- Can South Carolina navigate a brutal schedule to play in a bowl in 2019?
- Will the Gamecocks be patient and let Muschamp build the program?
- Is Trevor Lawrence the most prized QB prospect since Peyton Manning?
- Will Clemson take a step back on defense in 2019?
- Should we go ahead and pencil Clemson in the college football playoff now for 2019?
- How is Cam Newton’s shoulder?
- Can the Panthers make a run in the NFC South?
- Will the Brunswick High Pirates make the state football playoffs in 2019?
- Will the QB position be more productive for Sean Pender in 2019?
- Will the BHS Pirates be much improved on defense?
- Will Glynn Academy win a fifth straight region football championship in 2019?
- Will Glynn make another state title run in 2019?
- Will Glynn beat Camden County at home this fall?
- Will UGA win the SEC in 2019?
- Who will step up at Wide Receiver at UGA this fall?
- Will Georgia be able to pressure the passer better in 2019?
- Will the UGA/Notre Dame game atmosphere be the most electric ever in Athens?
- Will UGA win a National Title in the next 3 years?
- Will Jake Fromm return for his senior season in 2020?
- When will UGA fans stop talking about 1980?
Some things to ponder Southern sports fans.
