By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

As we ring in the new year and a new decade, it dawned on me that I’ve been writing for The Southern Sports Edition for just over five years now- and I haven’t been fired yet.

Over that time frame, there have been a number of things I’ve either learned, or have had reinforced, about sports in our area.

For example, there are a few things you just assume to be true, like the SEC is the best football conference in the country, or that the ACC is usually the strongest in basketball.

And while I’d argue both of those are true, I didn’t realize how dominant both conferences were combined, when it came to the three major college sports.

In the six football championships that will have taken place by the end of this month, five of those champions will have come from either the ACC or SEC.

The two conferences can also stake claim to three of the past five championships in both basketball and baseball over that same period of time. (If you want to include Coastal Carolina in our “area” then it’s actually four of five in baseball.) That’s not quite “Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl” dominance, but it’s pretty close.

One important lesson I learned early on is nothing brings Florida and Georgia together like their hatred of Tom Brady.

I’ve written over 300 stories since I started in October of 2014, and I don’t know if I’ve received more comments on any single article than the one I did on Brady being the best NFL quarterback of all time.

One on hand, I get it. Even though I wrote it after the Patriots beat Seattle in the Super Bowl, it was during the height of Deflategate, so the timing was a bit off.

On the other hand, Brady did lead New England to three of the next four Super Bowls, winning two of them, so I do feel a little vindicated.

Also, if I was paid based on the number of “Joe Montana never cheated” responses I got from that story, I’d be making Stephen A. Smith money right now.

One of the evolutions that has been a bit surprising is the SEC’s transition from being a more defensive minded league to an offensive one. That’s not to say the defensive side of the ball isn’t still the calling card of the conference, but you’re more likely to see a 45-38 score than a 17-13.

I must admit, the two stories I enjoyed writing the most didn’t teach me anything, but rather reminded me of why sports can mean so much to so many.

The first is the Father’s Day story I wrote about my dad and I watching a Braves game for my 10th birthday.

The other was about the Pink Out game that took place in Athens a few months ago.

Neither were especially well written, it’s just there’s so much negativity around sports nowadays it was nice to remember how athletics can bring people together.

I’ve really enjoyed these past few years and I appreciate you taking the time to read, pop culture references and all.

Here’s to the next five years of learning, reminiscing, and if my track record is any indication, being wrong on 80% of my predictions.

Unless it has to with Tom Brady; I’m pretty spot on with those.