It Seems a Long Way Since the Atlanta Braves Were 0-4

When a team like the Atlanta Braves, who have a lot of expectations attached to a season, begins the season 0-4,  it can lead to some concern.  When those four losses are against one of your division rivals who is predicted to finish last, that concern quickly becomes worry.  But since the Braves’ inauspicious start against the New York Mets, they’ve manged to win every series – against the Astros, Brewers, Mets, Diamondbacks and Dodgers – and are poised to climb over division leader Washington this weekend.   As Alfred E. Newman says, “What…me worry?”

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Cooperstown is No Place for Pete Rose and Other Cheaters

The executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Michael Weiner, discussed his view of the Hall of Fame during a question and answer session in Washington. His views were...let's just say...typical for someone representing the players.

Pete Rose had a .303 liftetime batting average and 4256 hits

“The Hall of Fame is for the best baseball players who have ever played,” Weiner said,  “Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. He has more hits than anybody else."  His comments are even more unbelievable when asked about including players who are tied in with the use of performance enhancing drugs....


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Demotion of Jair Jurrjens Leaves a Big Hole for the Atlanta Braves

Make no mistake, Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens wasn’t off to a great start in 2012.  In fact, he hadn’t really pitched all that well since the All-Star break in 2011.  But still, his demotion to AAA Gwinnett leaves a big hole in the Braves’ starting rotation that wont be easily filled by manager Fredi Gonzalez.

Jurrjens – who was selected to his first All-Star team in 2011 – had a 12-3 record, with a 1.87 ERA in the first half of the 2011 season, and and it looked like he was on his way to becoming the Braves’ ace starter. But the second half of the season wasn’t as kind to him, as his numbers took a steep decline and injuries took their toll on the Braves right-hander.

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It's Gut Check Time for the Atlanta Hawks

With two games remaining in the 2012 regular season, it's time for the Atlanta Hawks to take a hard look in the mirror and decide what they want to do in this year's playoffs.  2012 will be the Hawks fifth straight year in the NBA post-season, and unfortunately all signs are pointing to another first or second round exit for Atlanta.

While it's true that Atlanta has had to deal with it's fair share of injuries, the time for excuses has passed.  If the Hawks want to take that next step and be considered one of the dangerous post-season teams, they have to start winning regularly in March and April against other playoff bound teams.  The bench rotation has to be set, and role-players have to step up when needed.  So far, it's not happening...


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New Jersy Governor Christie to the Nets "Good Riddance"

Can the Atlanta Falcons Fill Some Holes With the Draft?

The other day, I took a look at one direction the Atlanta Falcons might go with the 2012 NFL draft, by picking the best available players on the board regardless of position.  Now we’ll explore another draft strategy.  Given the picks that Atlanta has, is it possible to fill some needed holes in specific positions?  The odds say no, but anything is possible.

Should the Falcons try to go in this direction, they will need to not only be very diligent in their research and analysis, but they will need a bit of luck on their side as well.  Two things are on the Falcons side should this strategy be employed....


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Atlanta Falcons 2012 Draft Class May Be a Bridge Year

Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said in a press conference that “Our focus right now is all draft and we’re continuing to tweak our board as we go.”  Given the Falcons needs, as opposed to the picks they have, it may take more than some tweaking.  With no first round pick, and having to wait until the number 55 pick overall, the Falcons will have some tough decisions to make for the 2012 draft.  The question will be, do they try to fill immediate needs, or do they take the best players available regardless of position, and use this draft as a “bridge year” to get them through until next year’s draft.  If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the latter option..

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The NHL MVP Should Come From a Playoff Team

I see no reason why the MVP in the National Hockey League shouldn't have to come from a playoff bound team.  Hockey - unlike some other sports - is one of those games where one player, a single superstar, can make a big difference on a team.  But he has to do it with more than just a compilation of individual statistics.

I've never understood the argument that the "Most Valuable Player" in the entire league could be someone who couldn't guide his team to a playoff berth in a league where better than 50% of the teams make the playoffs

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The Panic is Over for Atlanta Braves Fans...For Now

Let the hysteria subside in the south’s capital city.  All you folks getting ready to plunge to certain doom on the North Avenue overpass can come down now.  The Atlanta Braves ship seems to have been righted for the time being, so everyone in Atlanta can exhale and get a grip on themselves.

It’s a funny thing how folks talk about how laid back and disinterested Braves fans are, yet if they drop three straight to the New York Mets to open the season (four straight total) you’d think that General Sherman was on the move down Peachtree Street again....

(Continue Reading on Rant Sports)

Atlanta Hawks Accomplish Two Big Goals

The up and down ride for the Atlanta Hawks hit a nice peak on Monday night against the Toronto Raptors.  After losing a heart-breaker to Toronto on the front end of a home-home on Sunday, the Hawks came back to defeat the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre 109-87, and in doing so accomplished two major goals for the season.  With the win, Atlanta secures a playoff spot, but most importantly the Hawks have a winning road record for the first time since the 1998-99 season, another lockout shortened year.

The win also had Atlanta keep pace with the Orlando Magic – who scored a home victory over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers –

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Atlanta Falcons 2012 Schedule: Initial Reaction and Breakdown

The NFL has just officially released the 2012 regular season schedule, and the Atlanta Falcons are going to have a tough road back to the playoffs.  The good news is that Atlanta has four prime-time nationally televised games, including two Monday Night Football games.  The bad news is that since 1970, the Falcons are 9-24 on Monday Night Football, and haven’t fared much better in all other nationally televised prime-time games.

The first six weeks of the schedule alone will be enough to make coach Mike Smith up his dosage of Rogaine.  The Falcons open on the road at Kansas City Chiefs, and then return home on a short week to play on Monday Night against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos...

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Atlanta Braves Need to Dump "Turner Field"

How about "Coca-Cola Park" or "SunTrust Field"

That's right, I said it. "Turner Field" needs to go away.  No, I don't mean it should be demolished and then the ashes buried under the Hank Aaron 715 sign in the blue lot.  I mean it's time for the Braves to take some steps to bring in extra revenue to make up for the horrible television deal they are currently locked into.

Right now Liberty Media gives GM Frank Wren about a $94 million budget to work with each year.  There's no "Oh hey, we really need to keep this guy so I'm going to spend an extra $10 million".  The budget is what it is.  One of the big reasons for the budget constraint is the current TV deal.  They are locked into 25-year local TV contracts that will prevent the franchise from getting in on Major League Baseball’s trend toward much higher fees to get broadcasting rights.

Can Julio Jones Play Defense for the Falcons?

How multi-talented is Julio?

When the Atlanta Falcons traded away a handful of draft picks last year to grab Julio Jones in the first round, I questioned the move.  I knew then that it was not only going to severely affect last year’s draft, but the 2012 draft as well.  The question is, can Julio Jones play defense in the secondary, or protect Matt Ryan on the offensive line, or return punts and kickoffs?  Because those are all areas where the Falcons are severely hurting, and if Jones can’t do those jobs then Atlanta is going to have a tough time filling some of those gaps given the limited draft picks they have available this year...

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Georgia's G-Day More Than Just a Game For Some

Georgia's annual G-Day game went off as expected, as 44,000 members of the Bulldog Nation gathered in Sanford Stadium to watch the spring scrimmage. In an exciting and high scoring game, the Red team defeated the Black team 32-31 with less than two minutes to play in the game.  But to some Bulldogs, the game was only the dressing.  The meal - literally and figuratively - came a few hours prior to the game.

Just across the street from Sanford Stadium at Legion Field, The Lunch with the Legends - as it was called - brought together fans, former players, and Bulldog legends in a fight that hits particularly close to home for the Georgia coaching staff.  The tailgate lunch was a benefit for The Kasyn Cares Fund for pediatric cancer research at the Aflac Cancer Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta....

(Continue Reading on ChuckOliver.net)

This One's For You Dad

In a person's lifetime, they can try many things...hold many jobs...attempt many careers.  At last count, I've held at least 35 different jobs in just about as many different areas of work in my life.  Everything from a grocery store courtesy clerk, to a senior buyer in charge of multi-million dollar contracts.

Michael T. Collins Sr. - "Dad"

Some of us take a while to find our niche.  We are all blessed with many different talents and abilities, and it can take time to discover which one of those talents will be the one you use in your career.  You even can think you have it nailed down, until something turns your world completely upside down.

My dad used to tell me, "Son, it doesn't matter to me what you do.   Just be good at it, and be happy.  If you want to be a ditch digger, then be a happy ditch digger and be the best damn one in the world."  I would think about those words every time I woke up feeling dread about going to work, or trying to think of an excuse not to go in.

In 2010, a series of events - some brought on by my own stupidity - completely altered the course of my life.  A fairly comfortable job that I had held for nearly ten years was gone, and I found myself in uncharted territory.  Without work, and without a plan.  It's at that point when most of us, myself included, adopt the "any job will do" mentality.  Hence, I found myself working in a car wash.

I Am Tiger Woods....

This is not the Tiger that Nike signed up for

If the Nike were to use the "I am Tiger Woods" promotion today as they did in their first commercial using Tiger, it might have to be written like this:

I used to be the greatest golfer on the tour.  I was achieving legendary status.  Now I am lucky to make the cut against golfers who were once a shadow of me and my abilities.  I have a god given talent that I do not use to it's fullest potential.

I am Tiger Woods.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 4/9/12

One Word...BUBBA!!

It's Way too Early for the "Fire Fredi" War Chant

His first season as the Atlanta Braves manager, the team finished with a 69-93 record...good enough for 6th place in the division.  His second season as Braves manager, the 66-94 record brought another 6th place finish.  The next two seasons the Braves finished over .500 only once, and never placed higher than 4th in the division.  After four seasons, he was fired.

The person I'm talking about is Bobby Cox.

Perhaps the "Fire Fredi" chants are a bit premature

Yes the same Bobby Cox who then went north of the border,  and turned the Toronto Blue Jays into a perennial winner during the 80s and 90s.   The same Bobby Cox who was named AL Manager of the Year in 1985 as the Blue Jays Skipper.  The same Bobby Cox who returned to the scene of his early crimes in Atlanta, and managed the Braves during their most successful era ever.

Bobby Cox - dubbed one of the greatest baseball managers of all time - managed MLB clubs for eight seasons before he ever guided a team to the playoffs, and who didn't win a world series title until his fourteenth season as a manager.

Hey Winnipeg...Maybe Now You See It Wasn't Our Fault

I've spent the entire 2012 hockey season with my mouth basically shut.  I wrote at the beginning of the season how I felt about the NHL, Gary Bettman, and the entire fiasco surrounding the former Atlanta Thrashers.  And what did I get for my tongue-in-cheek column, and my silence following said article?  A lot of kidney punches and eye gouges from the good folk in Winnipeg.

I seriously thought of changing my name to Larry, Moe or Curly for a while there.

No playoffs for you!!  - The Soup Nazi

But I bit my tongue.  I wasn't going to let them bait me into a pointless argument.  I have lived through all the incarnations of hockey that have ever been in Atlanta, and nobody from the great white north will make me ever believe that the problems are completely fan driven.  It's just not so.

Even though they continued to hammer me, I resisted the urge to fire back.  It was tough.

VIDEO: What's on 2nd? A CHEAP SHOT!

Talk about your cheap shots!  Keep your eye on second base...don't let the rest of the pushing and shoving distract you.

Does One Loss Matter for the Braves?

Mets: 1 - Braves: 0

Jason Heyward still has issues reaching for breaking balls

It's just one loss, right?  A season opener, on the road, against a team with a history of winning season openers, and against a jacked up premier pitcher who hadn't pitched in over 15 months and was ready to show his stuff again.  No harm..no foul.  Please, tell me I'm right. 

Then again, that entire game just smacks of last September.  Stellar pitching, good defense, and not a bit of timely hitting to be found.  Just in innings 5-7 the Braves stranded six runners...five of them in scoring position.  Not good.

Bobby Petrino Can Still Do The Right Thing

I'm not going to crucify Bobby Petrino for cheating on his wife and betraying his family.  That's their personal business and should be left for them to sort out.  It's not news.

I'm not going to comically satirize Bobby Petrino for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle.  Helmet laws aside, that's his personal choice...dumb as it may be.

I'm not going to show vicious outrage and insist that the University of Arkansas fire Bobby Petrino.  I've never read his contract, nor am I privy to the rules and regulations governing that institution.

Georgia and Mark Richt Face Some Big Challenges as the Season Nears

University of Georgia head coach Mark Richt may not be on the proverbial "hot seat" anymore, but he's got some serious issues to deal with as the 2012 season begins to get closer.  Once again, Georgia's off-season is spending more time being printed in the police blotter instead of the sports section.  This is not what Richt and the championship minded Bulldogs needed.

Losing Bacarri Rambo for 4 games will hurt Georgia

As it stands right now, you can't be really sure who's going to be available to play for the season opener against Buffalo.  A game that was scheduled as a warm-up against a cream-puff, might very well end up being a huge challenge.  Defensive backs Nick Marshall and Chris Sanders were dismissed from the team...

(Continue Reading on ChuckOliver.net)

NL East Preview

I wanted to wait until opening day to post this, just so I could say the new-look Marlins were already in last place. Beyond that, here are my predictions and thoughts about the NL East for the 2012 season.  I usually don't use spring training as much of a barometer in my predictions, but given some of this years performances it may weigh in heavier than usual.

All-Time Falcon Favorites

Tim Mazzetti kicking in 1978

In thinking about this column, I was perplexed at where to begin.  I mean, it would be easy to just scroll through the Atlanta Falcons record books and pull out names like Bartkowski, Riggs, Van Note and Andersen.  Or I could have even just grabbed the marquis names that have come through our city like Deion Sanders, or Billy "White Shoes" or Jeff George (ok, just seeing if you were paying attention).

But instead I thought why not grab a name from the past that made a significant contribution to Atlanta Falcons lore, who maybe your average fan may not know about (or has forgotten).   The pantheon of those names was quite broad.  Kenn, Brezina, Nobis, Tuggle, Andrews, Buchanan, Settle...just to name a few.  I finally settled on a guy who was one of the primary reasons the Falcons reached there first every playoff berth...a kicker.  That's right a kicker.

(Continue Reading on GritsBlitzBlog)

WrestleMania 28 Rewind

Now that WrestleMania 28 is done, and the obligatory post pay-per-view RAW recap has been served, it's time for a look back at this years grand spectacle from a fan's point of view (if you just want to read how exciting and great every match was, then go to the WWE site).  I'll do this in a sort of timeline format to give you the closest representation I can to actually being able to watch it if you weren't able to.

First off, there was a "Pre-show triple threat tag-team mach" which I guess the $65 I shelled out to Vince McMahon didn't cover.   I understand the tag-team champions Primo and Epico successfully retained their championship belts against the Justin Gabriel-Tyson Kidd team, and the Usos. (don't worry if you don't recognize any of those names, most people who watch every week couldn't pick them out of a lineup either)

T-T-T-Timmy and the Jets. Gold Record, or One Hit Wonder?

Rex Ryan, the ringmaster of the circus that has become the New York Jets, has just pointed the spotlight and megaphone to the man on the high wire without a net...and his name is Mark Sanchez.  The Tim Tebow show has come to town, and that means Sanchez is going to have to perform his act to it's highest level, or plunge to his doom.

So many questions and issues arise when you bring the human lightning rod named Tebow into your camp, and Rex Ryan - who loves to make a public spectacle of himself - is loving every minute of the attention.  But the thing is, it could all quite easily backfire in the worst possible way.

The way this quarterback situation is being handled by Ringmaster Ryan and his big-top boss Mike Tannenbaum is farcical, and if you look at the timeline I don't think there is any way you can conclude that the two of them didn't know exactly what they were planning.