Kipp Branch
Can I Wear That Jacket?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This year’s telecast of the Masters on CBS recorded the major tournament’s lowest final-round numbers since 1957, extending a streak of soft sports TV viewership numbers.
The broadcast averaged a 3.4 rating and 5.59 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
That is about 51% lower than last year, when Tiger Woods recorded a comeback win, and also well below the previous lows of 6.7 in 1980 and 11.05 million viewers in 2017. (Viewership has been tracked since 1995.) In 1957, CBS aired one hour of coverage and drew a 3.0.
I enjoyed The Masters. I liked the fact that three of golf’s Major Championships were able to reschedule and play in 2020. The Open Championship cancelled the 2020 tournament early on in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dustin Johnson is the number one golfer in the world according to the World Golf Rankings.
With the win at Augusta he capped a stellar stretch in the majors this year finishing 2nd in the PGA Championship, and 6th in the US Open.
Johnson has now won the US Open and The Masters, and has runner-up finishes in the PGA and Open Championship.
The play has been consistently very good since August where has finished no worse than 6th in seven starts on tours with two wins.
Johnson was born in Columbia, South Carolina and played his golf at Coastal Carolina University so the proximity to Augusta National made last weekend’s win very special to Johnson.
Johnson grew up in Irmo, South Carolina. His childhood dream was to win The Masters.
Once the Green Jacket was placed on him by Tiger Woods, he became very emotional and barely could speak a word.
That raw emotion from Johnson was very good to see. Johnson is known as stoic player, who just handles his business on the golf course and in 2020 style that post tournament side of Johnson was something that I wish we could see more of on the PGA tour.
Back to the final round of The Masters, Johnson carded a final round of 68 that left him at 20-under 268, beating the previous tournament best of 18-under set by both defending champion Tiger Woods, in 1997, and Jordan Spieth, in 2015.
Johnson shot four rounds under par for the tournament. He has played 11 straight rounds under par at Augusta which is a record.
Johnson became the first world number one to win at Augusta since Tiger in 2002.
Don’t let the low television ratings from last weekend put a damper on the quality of golf that was played.
Those of us who watched saw a record-breaking performance by Dustin Johnson, who has rapidly become one of my favorite golfers on the tour.
Johnson’s work ethic is better than most on the tour. At age 36 Johnson is in his golfing prime. Many more wins could be on the horizon.
Brooks Koepka called out Dustin Johnson as only having one major championship going into the final round of the PGA Championship in August and it backfired on Brooks.
Koepka finished tied for 7th at 10 under par at The Masters. Good showing but it was 10 strokes behind your 2020 Master Champion Dustin Johnson, who now has two majors under his belt.
Dustin Johnson is the best golfer in the world and he may stay there for a while. He has The Green Jacket to prove it.
He will defend in April and this time we will have Azalea’s and Dogwood’s blooming once again.
Yellowstone is my favorite show on TV right now and in grand Rip Wheeler fashion it is time to take 2020 on a trip to the Train Station.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender November 18
I Have The Power
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Thanksgiving is almost upon us in the pandemic-stricken football season of 2020.
Just this weekend alone you have four games in the SEC that have been postponed and scheduled for a later date due to the Coronavirus. Will we make it through the regular season?
Who knows that answer, but here are my SEC Power Rankings at this point of the season:
Alabama: The Crimson Tide hung 52 points on Texas A&M. Alabama hung 41 on Georgia before Georgia’s defense was officially exposed as a fraud.
Mac Jones and Najee Harris are Heisman candidates.
This defense is starting to come around, and there is no team in the conference that will stand in their way on a cruise to the SEC Championship.
Florida could pose some problems, but that defense can’t stop a faucet drip.
Nick Saban is still the best in the business. Alabama’s offense might be better than a couple of NFL teams that are in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes. SEC Champion and College Football playoff team.
Texas A&M: By virtue of beating Florida the Aggies land here.
The Aggies played awful against Alabama, but doesn’t everyone not named Auburn and LSU once every 8 years?
Jimbo Fisher is in position to get a College Football playoff bid without winning a conference championship if his team can run the table and finish 9-1 in this pandemic season. This team is improving weekly.
Florida: The Gators got over the UGA hurdle last week, but UGA left three TD’s on the field with awful QB play.
Kyle Trask may be the Heisman front-runner at the moment.
Dan Mullen needs to get something out of this season because Trask will not be back next year.
This defense can’t stop an elite team like Alabama. I see Florida finishing the season with a 10-2 record with a nice NY6 Bowl win over someone to be determined.
This offense is really good, and they just completed another 40-yard wheel route to a running back on Georgia.
Mullen still has a month to fix this defense before the Alabama SEC title game.
Georgia: UGA lands here by default.
The QB room is a mess and the defense can’t stop a good college passing offense.
UGA may finish 8-2 who knows, but last weekend in Jacksonville left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Bulldog Nation.
Carson Beck needs to get his shot Kirby.
Auburn: With the win over a bad LSU team Gus may have survived once again.
Perception is reality you know.
This is a team that did not score a TD against UGA.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks are the most improved team in the SEC.
“The Pit Boss” Sam Pittman is the SEC coach of the year. Arkansas is the SEC feel good story of the year. The Hogs are 3-3 currently and are a pretty decent football team.
Ole Miss: The Rebels have the third best offense in the SEC.
Once Lane Kiffin can shore up that defense with a couple of recruiting cycles look out SEC.
This is an exciting team to watch.
LSU: Yeah, we know the Tigers lost 14 players to the NFL draft, but damn this is LSU.
Covid-19 delayed a monumental beating from Alabama this weekend, but don’t worry LSU its coming in December.
Tennessee: You can shake 9-14 up in a bag.
Tennessee should be better than this.
Missouri: The Tigers are rebuilding and show signs of life.
South Carolina: Hugh Freeze is sitting by the phone Carolina fans.
Kentucky: Watching this offense is like staring at paint drying.
Mississippi State: The Air Raid is a dud in the SEC. The LSU game was fool’s gold against an awful defense.
Vanderbilt: Baseball season will start soon Vandy fans.
Power Rankings in Coastal Georgia seem to be a hot topic these days.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender November 11
Bark and Bite
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When Kirby Smart took the UGA job in December of 2015 the two main things he had to do was change the mental aspect of the Florida series, and make UGA a more physical football team.
Here are a few things you hear from Florida fans these days:
“We gave the game away”
“We had too many turnovers”
“Georgia is killing us on the recruiting trail”
“Mullen is a better game day coach than Kirby”.
And a new one for 2020: “Covid-19 put us at a competitive disadvantage”
You hear Florida players and coaches say this is just another game, and every sports cliché you can come up with and it will start up right after Florida takes care of Missouri on Saturday.
The fact of the matter is this UGA is one win away from a complete brainwashing of the Florida fan base and that will carry over to the football program.
Let me go on record and say Georgia is going to win the Florida game on November 7th, and with that win you will have an entire senior football class at UF go through the program without a win in the Georgia series.
Sunday, November 8, 2020 will be a glorious morning for Georgia football because The Dawgs will control the series, once again both physically and more importantly mentally, which is something UGA hasn’t done since Vince Dooley decided he didn’t want to control Florida any longer when he retired.
Dan Mullen is already hearing it when he travels around to all the Gator Booster events around the State of Florida now. “Coach, when are we going to beat Georgia?” “Coach, we are letting Kirby come into our backyard and take too many kids out of the State of Florida”. The list goes on and on.
Name me a signature Dan Mullen win in his head coaching career? I’m listening Florida fans.
Going into this game Florida fans have got themselves wound up so tight that they are asking “How are we going to screw this one up?” Prior to 1990 this was the life of a Gator fan.
UGA would roll into Jacksonville, take the game, take all the pretty women, and drink the most cocktails, and roll out of town and leave the Florida fans bitter and resentful because they were mentally brainwashed.
Then something magical happened for UF, they hired Steve Spurrier, who became bigger than life for the program. He became their Sigmund Freud.
Spurrier ushered in the Golden Age of Gator football, but that glimmer is gone, and Steve won’t be roaming the sidelines in Jacksonville anymore.
Urban Meyer rode the Spurrier mystique and left that program in shambles.
Dan Mullen has now been hired to reclaim the glory, but one thing stands in his way and that is the Georgia Bulldogs led by Kirby Smart.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the entire Florida fan base and program are one more loss away in the series from being conditioned from one recruiting to the next that we just can’t beat Georgia.
Physically Georgia is better that Florida currently. Mentally Georgia is light years ahead of Florida currently.
Mark Richt was fired because he was 5-10 against Florida. Will Dan Mullen be the first Florida coach in three decades to eventually get fired because he couldn’t beat UGA enough?
I love the UGA/UF game. I love the game in Jacksonville and hope it stays there forever.
As a UGA fan Kirby Smart has me expecting to beat Florida every year.
Gator fans don’t lose too much sleep worrying about what’s going to go wrong this time.
Dawgs win again 35-20.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender November 4
Brunswick High Pirates Show w Sean Pender October 28
SEC Hot Seat
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are almost at the halfway point in the SEC football season, and we have some head coaches who are starting to feel a little heat. Here are my top five SEC coaches are under a little heat.
- Jimbo Fisher/Texas A&M: We are three years into the Jimbo tenure in College Station and the results have not been what is expected.
Fisher is 20-10 through two and a half seasons at College Station.
Three losses to Alabama where the Aggies have given up 45, 47, and 52 points.
The saving grace so far for Jimbo is the 41-38 win over #4 Florida earlier in the month that has cooled off his seat somewhat.
Auburn and LSU appear down this year, so wins over those two are a must at this point.
The Aggies need to win 8 or 9 games in this shortened season in a down SEC West.
The Aggies are 3-1 on the season. The win over Florida did wonders for the Aggie nation.
- Derek Mason/Vanderbilt: James Franklin seems to be the only coach in decades to be able win in Nashville.
Mason is 27-50 at Vandy with a couple of bowl appearances.
The thing is since 2018 Vandy has only won three games.
Vandy went 3-9 in 2019, and it does not look like they will win a football game in 2020 sitting at 0-3 on the season.
The best shot at a win may come at Mississippi State on November 7th. If let go Mason will catch on in the SEC as a defensive coordinator.
3.Jeremy Pruitt/Tennessee: The Vols started out at 2-0 then have had two bad losses in a row at Georgia 21-44 and a blowout loss at home to Kentucky last week 7-34.
Word has leaked out that Pruitt fired an assistant coach during the Kentucky game, which is just not a good look.
Pruitt is under pressure to make a QB change, and you have Alabama coming to Neyland Stadium this week. Tennessee has lost 13 straight to Alabama.
Alabama, Florida, Auburn, and Texas A&M are still left on the schedule.
The perception is that things are a little hot in Knoxville. Can Tennessee salvage a winning season in a ten game schedule?
The jury is out on whether Pruitt will make it in Knoxville. Would Pruitt be gone in the Vols finish 3-7 in 2020?
- Gus Malzahn/Auburn: Championships are expected to be won at Auburn.
Gus has been the head coach at Auburn since 2013. Malzahn is 64-33 during that window with one SEC Title in that span.
Auburn recruits as well as anyone in the country, but that does not seem to translate to the football field.
Malzahn signed a $49 million dollar contract extension after the 2017, and if Auburn and Malzahn part ways then Gus is owed $21 million in a buyout.
Gus can’t beat Georgia 2-7 against them currently, and just lost to South Carolina for the first time since FDR was President.
Bo Nix and Seth Williams were bickering in front of TV cameras in Columbia last week. It just feels like Auburn is in turmoil.
Malzahn is 2-7 in bowl games and has only won 10 games twice in 2013 and 2017.
Too much talent and resources at Auburn to accept the poor return on investment to date. How much more can the Auburn folks take?
1.Will Muschamp/South Carolina: Is there a coach out there with worst luck than Will Muschamp?
Muschamp was brought into Florida and told to clean it up after Urban Meyer ran Florida into the ground with off the field issues.
He was hired at South Carolina after Steve Spurrier quit on them in the middle of the 2015 season.
Muschamp got a huge win over Auburn last week at home, and a huge win over UGA in Athens last season.
He is 28-27 at South Carolina, but the losses to Clemson are mounting and the Carolina natives are restless.
I think Muschamp is a pretty good head coach that is not afraid to dig in and try and fix programs. Question is will he be allowed to do so in Columbia?
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender October 21
Pirates Ship
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After a huge win in the region opener against Glynn Academy the Brunswick High Pirates have an inside track to win the region. Here are my mid-season grades for Brunswick.
Special Teams: B+: Anthony Elvine has become a weapon punting the football.
He is close to setting a school record for punts downed inside the 15-yard line. He is a weapon he creates a long field for Pirate opponents.
Elvine is having an all-region season at punter.
Kyle Rehberg is putting many of his kickoffs in the end zone in 2020, and the big third quarter FG that gave BHS a 17-7 lead in the City Championship game ended up being the difference in a wild 24-21 win.
The Pirates are still waiting on the big kick return for BHS in 2020, but the special teams area, which has long been a weakness for BHS has become a team strength in 2020.
Defense: B+: The defense is giving up under 20 points per game this season.
Kashawn Thomas is starting to make a name for himself on the defensive line and has become that force in the middle of the defense for BHS.
We know what Cameron Crump and AJ Wilson can do at linebacker. Zane Rosenbaum was the defensive player of the game in the City Championship.
In the secondary Devontae Gadson is having a solid season. This unit, led by DC Thomas Tedder, is much improved in 2020.
The unit gave up two long TD drives in the 4th quarter against Glynn so there is room for improvement.
Offense: B: The offensive line coached up by OC Garrett Grady has become one of the best in South Georgia.
Caleb Cook and Kanaya Charlton are major college prospects at tackle.
Keegan Carroll, Jaquan Gibson, and David Newbauer round out a starting unit that can execute the power run game and protect the passer.
The Wolfpack or the running back group Ree Simmons and Chuckobe Hill are the best tandem in the region.
Simmons is having a great season, and Hill is back from an injury suffered in season opener.
The emergence of Leon Charlton has given BHS three great options at running back.
Tyrease Jones just made the greatest play in BHS history to win the City Championship game from that will forever be known as “The Miracle Between the Bricks” a 75-yard TD pass caught off of a deflection plus all-out sprint to the end zone that broke a losing streak in the series.
KJ Lee is having the season we all expected of him. Great arm talent.
Coaching: B+: Sean Pender has done a fantastic job with this team. The players love their coaches and there is a sense of unity on this team that stands out.
This team is still improving weekly. Pender has put his stamp on the program with the win over the Terrors.
There is still a lot of work to do with this team in 2020, but they are definitely heading in the right direction.
The goals for BHS every season are:
City Championship
Region Championship
State Championship
Goal #1 is complete now it is on to Goal #2, which will be decided over the next few weeks.
Stay tuned the 2020 football story is still being written at BHS because” It’s All About the Family” for the City Champions.
