Spin
In addition to the Braves’ consistent efforts to give back to the less fortunate, the
organization has also always put a large priority on working with Atlanta’s youth,
educating kids on baseball and much, much more. Last week provided a perfect example
of these community efforts, as the team’s players participated in the Junior Braves
Baseball League for the fourth year in a row. Teaming up with the YMCA and the Boys
& Girls Club of America, the Braves put together a league that accommodated more than
2,000 inner-city kids and helped raise nearly $100,000 in grants. Over a two-day period,
kids of all ages participated in numerous games while receiving instruction on life and
baseball from numerous Braves players. The weekend’s biggest highlight, however, came
when Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin arrived and spoke with the young Atlanta females
in attendance.
The PGA’s 26th annual Skins Game concluded last Sunday and K.J Choi sank an
11-foot birdie putt worth $270,000 on the 18th hole to win the event. Over the course of
the weekend, Choi earned $415,000 and, with the win, became only the fifth international
player to win the title. Choi was a part of a foursome that included Rocco Mediate,
Stephen Ames and Phil Mickelson. Failing to capture his third consecutive title in the
event, Ames still managed to earn $250,000 over the weekend while Mickelson and
Mediate took home $195,000 and $140,000, respectively. It was just the seventh time that
all four players in the event won money.
In celebration of Atlanta’s 10 years of Sister City Relations with Nuremberg,
Germany, the Atlanta Thrashers hosted Dr. Ulrich Maly, Lord Mayor of the City of
Nuremberg, on Sunday. Prior to the team’s 3 p.m. game versus the St. Louis Blues,
Thrashers Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell took part in a
jersey exchange with the Lord Mayor, receiving a Nuremberg Ice Tigers jersey from Dr.
Maly. Atlanta and Nuremberg’s sister city relations began in December of 1998 with the
purpose of increasing the knowledge, goodwill, and understanding of the world through
people-to-people diplomacy, education, cultural and economic exchanges, and
humanitarian assistance.
KOVY KINDNESS …
Keeping with the philanthropic theme, Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk hosted
a group of children from the Show Me the Way Foundation and the Gwinnett Children’s
Shelter last week. As part of his Kovy’s Krew program, Kovalchuk and teammate Slava
Kozlov welcomed a large group of kids to Jillian’s – Discover Mills for a party and
numerous games. Traditionally, Kovy’s Krew offers children living with cancer and
others of disadvantaged circumstances the opportunity to visit Jillian’s for an afternoon of
arcade games, food, fun and bowling with the Thrashers forward. This season marks the
seventh year Kovalchuk has provided the community-oriented service.
The Atlanta Falcons announced last week that it would offer current season ticket
holders the opportunity to renew their seats early for the 2009 season. The early renewal
option provides for discounts of up to 29 percent off the planned 2009 season-ticket
prices and even more off 2009 single-game ticket prices. The deadline for early renewal
is Dec. 30, while the idea signals the franchise’s attempt to accommodate fans in
increasingly difficult economic times.
GETTING BURNED …
When the San Diego Chargers decided to let Michael Turner walk a year ago,
most fans and critics thought nothing of it, as current Charger running back LaDanian
Tomlinson was clearly the NFL’s top running threat at the time. Fast-forward to last
weekend when Turner and the Falcons visited Tomlinson’s Chargers and it is clear, and
somewhat shocking, how much things have changed. As of now, Turner is outplaying
Tomlinson by a large margin on the season, rushing for 1,208 yards and 13 touchdowns
through 12 games while Tomlinson has rushed for only 764 yards and six touchdowns in
the same time span. Last Sunday, Tomlinson was outplayed by Turner yet again, running
for only 24 yards while his former teammate bowled his way to 120 yards on 31 carries
en route to a 22-16 victory.
Cc
I am not a stat geek, not by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t feel like stats always
tell the whole truth. Besides that, stats sometimes get in the way of the opinion I want to
have about certain players. Sometimes they work against the point I’m trying to make, so
I just don’t deal with them. Every time I watch the Hawks play, I get this nagging feeling
that when Acie Law and Flip Murray are on the floor at the same time, nothing good
happens. Now of course I had nothing concrete to back this up, but this feeling just kept
intensifying so I finally decided to look it up Friday night after the Hawks lost to
Toronto. I went to 82games.com and was not surprised to learn that I was correct. The
Law-Murray combo this season is absolutely awful. In defense of Murray, he’s no better
when he’s on the floor at the same time as Marvin Williams and Maurice Evans. In
defense of Law, when he’s on the floor with Maurice Evans, it’s also dreadful. See, this is
exactly why I don’t bother with stats.
The only point I wanted to make is that Mike Woodson should stop playing Law
and Murray together unless there is absolutely no one else available. I don’t just limit that
to point guards and shooting guards – I mean they shouldn’t be on the floor together
unless there is no one else available in uniform. It feels that bad when they are on the
court at the same time. I told you – stats don’t tell the whole truth.
The Washington Wizards fired Eddie Jordan last week after they started the
season 1-10. My only feelings on this are if they were ready to fire him after only 11
games, they might as well have fired him last season. They obviously weren’t convinced
he was the right person for the job anyway.
C.C. can be reached at cfelicec@yahoo.com.
GSU
What a way for Mark Steeds of the cross country team to close out what had been an
outstanding season. Last Monday, at the Division I Cross Country National
Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., Steeds became the first All-American in the history
of the Georgia State Cross Country program with a 12th-place finish. The top 15 runners
finished within one minute of each other, as Oregon’s Galen Rupp took the top spot with
a 29:03.2 finishing time. Steeds finished just two seconds shy of 11th place with a time of
29:49.2.
“It was pretty impressive to watch him and it was such a good feeling to see that
Georgia State jersey near the front of the field,” said head coach John Rowland.
Having reached all of his season goals –CAA title, NCAA Regional qualifier and
an All-American nod–Steeds will look forward to a new goal, as he attempts to repeat his
All-American feat during the track season.
“Our team respects all that he has meant to our program and now we’ll help him
get ready for track season and try to help him earn All-American in that,” Rowland said.
HOOPS REGROUPS …
Men’s basketball (2-4 at press time) will try to bounce back from a couple of
disappointing losses with a mid-week home game against Hampton. The Panthers will
then take to the road again, playing an early CAA game Saturday at UNC-Wilmington.
The Panthers have been idle since falling at Troy, 68-63, before Thanksgiving. The
Panthers’ four losses have been by an average of just 5.3 points, including two overtime
losses already in the young season.
“The break gave us a chance to regroup,” said head coach Rod Barnes. “I think
we had been pressing a little bit, so we gave them a few days off, and I think it was what
we needed. We got back in the gym over the weekend and seemed to have a renewed
focus, so hopefully that will show on the court.”
Joe Dukes, a transfer point guard from Wake Forest, has led the way so far,
averaging 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
On another note, Barnes announced that junior forward Chris Echols, a junior
college transfer, has left the team.
“Chris decided that he wanted to concentrate on other things in his life and we
wish him the best,” Barnes said.
IN OTHER NEWS …
After opening the season in fine fashion with a win at Clemson, women’s
basketball dropped their next two games, a 74-56 loss at Georgia Tech and a 51-49 loss at
the College of Charleston.
“We’re glad to be coming home and hope the fans will come out and see what an
exciting team we’ve got this season,” said head coach Lea Henry. … Join us every
Sunday afternoon (4-5 p.m.) for the Rod Barnes/Georgia State Basketball coaches show
on WGKA-AM 920. The show is broadcast live from The Panthers Den restaurant in the
Citizens Trust Bank building, 75 Piedmont Road, on campus.
Dave Cohen is in his 26th season as the “Voice of Georgia State Basketball and
Baseball” on WRAS-FM (88.5) and works on the football radio crew at Furman
University in Greenville, S.C.
Semis
We are down to the final four teams in each of the five classifications of the high school
football playoffs! Here is a look at all of the semifinal matchups in the state …
CLASS 5A …
Peachtree Ridge vs. Grayson: The Grayson Rams hope they can keep the good
times rolling after upsetting defending champion and No. 1-ranked Lowndes last Friday.
The Rams will take on a red-hot Peachtree Ridge team that has won its last 11 games.
Grayson will keep the formula that it has been using all season long: run the ball and stop
the run. The Rams have one of the best run games in the state and are led by Ean
Pemberton, who tore apart the Lowndes defense last week with two touchdowns.
Quarterback Tyler Horne can run the rock if needed and James Earl Jones will look to be
in the mix as well. But the Lions can also run the ball well with Ronnie Smith leading the
way, and on defense, linebacker and LSU-commit Kevin Minter will be all over the field.
This should be a low-scoring game with both teams relying on their running backs. The
Lions shut out Coffee last week by a score of 38-0.
Newnan vs. Camden County: The winner of the above-mentioned all-Gwinnett
matchup will have to face one of these two giants. Newnan is one of the few teams left in
the playoffs that prefers to throw the ball more often than depending on its run game. The
Cougars run their version of the spread with quarterback Russell Powell throwing and
running his way through the playoffs. In fact, he has thrown or run for at least one
touchdown in 25 of 26 games that he has started throughout his career. But Camden
would like to end that streak with a defense that has pitched four shutouts this season.
The Wildcats, making their fifth semifinals appearance since 2002, will run the ball with
Danny Valdez and Greg Baker. Camden will be the favorite, but Newnan is playing its
best football now so this one should be a great contest.
Brian Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com.
CLASS 4A …
Griffin vs. Tucker: Griffin opened the Class 4A state playoffs with a 34-0 blowout
of Glenn Hills. The Bears followed that up with a narrow 34-30 road win over Brunswick
and 10-7 home victory at the expense of Southwest DeKalb. Following a 3-3 start
featuring losses to Dunwoody, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro and North Clayton, Griffin has since
won seven in a row. Tucker took care of Whitewater and Hillgrove at home in Rounds 1
and 2 before shocking top-ranked Westside-Macon 31-20 on the road in quarterfinal
action. The Tigers, at 12-1, are enjoying an eight-game winning streak since getting
erased by Marist 38-0. Will a Bears defense that has posted three shutouts and held five
opponents to seven points or less be able to slow down Tucker running back Jonathan
Davis and flanker Drayton Calhoun? Both Griffin and Tucker are No. 2 seeds (Tucker in
Region 6 and Griffin in Region 4).
Rome vs. Marist: Rome had to pull out a 16-8 defensive battle against Apalachee
in order to pack its bags as playoff visitors. And what road warriors the Wolves have
been! They stunned Sandy Creek 19-13 in Round 2 and booked their spot in the
semifinals with a 41-21 drubbing of Statesboro. Rome has been able to right the ship after
a crushing 27-6 loss to Sprayberry in the Region 7 championship game on Nov. 7. Marist
has found different ways to prevail in all three of its home playoff games en route to the
semifinals. The War Eagles eased past Northgate 42-0 in Round 1, beat Sequoyah 28-12
in a game that was closer than the score suggested, and survived a furious fourth-quarter
rally to subdue Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 34-33 in the quarterfinals. Marist, which again holds
home-field advantage as a No. 1 seed, lost its season-opener to St. Pius but went
undefeated in region play and has won 12 straight overall.
Ricky Dimon can be reached at rdimon@scoreatl.com.
CLASS 3A …
Cairo vs. Carver-Columbus: The Final Four for Class 3A is dominated by teams
outside of the Atlanta area and features the return of a traditional power as well as a
rematch of last year’s title game. The Cairo Syrupmakers fell to Carver-Columbus last
season in the state championship, but this year it will be Cairo, which comes in as the
favorite. The Syrupmakers are led by a potent three-pronged backfield of quarterback
Angelo Pease and running backs Ronnie Wooten and Reginald Bryant. The running
backs are dubbed Thunder (Bryant) and Lightning (Wooten), and the ground game opens
up the aerial for Pease. Last week against Eastside, “Thunder and Lightning” went for
200 yards rushing and Pease also ran one in for a score. The Tiger defense, meanwhile,
will be without the state’s top college prospect linebacker Jarvis Jones but still features
hard-hitting LeRon Furr. The Carver-Columbus offense is led by Devin Burns and
running backs Jarkuis Morgan and Isaiah Crowell.
LaGrange vs. Flowery Branch: The other semifinal matchup finds LaGrange
returning to the semifinals for the first time since 2005. The Grangers have a mobile
quarterback in Rodney Tolbert and fine running back complements in Ocie Salter and
Darren Hairston. Tristian Johnson can bring the heat from the defensive end position and
Qua Huzzie makes plays at linebacker. LaGrange will host the Falcons of Flowery
Branch and head coach Lee Shaw’s bunch can put points on the scoreboard. The team is
averaging 32.6 points per game during the playoffs and the coach’s son, Connor Shaw,
runs the offense flawlessly. When Connor isn’t running the ball, he is handing off to
Daniel Drummond, a predicted fullback next season at Georgia Tech. Izaan Cross is a big
target for Connor at tight end and will be a tough matchup for the Granger defense.
Watch out for Chris Lipscomb at wideout as well.
Fletcher Proctor can be reached at fproctor@scoreatl.com.
CLASS 2A …
Brooks County vs. Calhoun: Brooks County earned its place in the semis by
erasing an 11-point deficit and outlasting Lovett 33-32 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The same venue will host the semifinal tilt on Friday as a result of a coin flip won by the
Trojans last Saturday morning. Calhoun had little trouble dispatching Toombs County
41-14 to reach its semifinal spot, thanks to quarterback Michael Johnson’s 306 passing
yards. There are other things the teams have in common besides their No. 1 seedings in
the playoffs: both teams yield less than 14 points per game on defense and both teams
score over 34 points per game. It will be interesting to see how the Yellow Jackets
execute their spread offense on the road, while Brooks County will look to score on the
ground with Arlester McKinnon, coming off a 135-yard rushing performance.
Fitzgerald vs. Buford: In the other semifinal matchup, Fitzgerald will take on the
daunting task of traveling to Tom Riden Stadium to face Buford, the year-long topranked team in the classification and defending state champion. Ever since their
lackluster effort in the first half against Greater Atlanta Christian in their regular-season
finale, Jess Simpson and the Wolves have righted the ship by outscoring their playoff
opponents 144-38. Their 44-10 drubbing of fellow No. 1 seed Dublin last Friday ran their
record to 13-0 on the season. If running back Storm Johnson can continue to find the end
zone, the Wolves will be right on pace for their second consecutive undefeated season.
The Purple Hurricanes have also played dominating football in the postseason, however,
winning each of their three playoff games by at least three touchdowns. The margin of
victory in Fitzgerald’s 41-19 win over Pepperell in the quarterfinal round sent the clear
message that this will be a big test for the homestanding Wolves. Buford will have to
watch out for Jamea Thomas, who scored two touchdowns—on a kickoff and a picksix—last week.
Corey Mitchell can be reached at cmitchell@scoreatl.com.
CLASS A …
Lincoln County vs. Wesleyan: Lincoln County has won 14 state championships
and 34 region championships. Its semifinal opponent, Wesleyan, won its first region
championship this season and is in the state semifinals for the first time in school history.
The Red Devils and Wolves have met once before in the first round of the 2000 playoffs;
Lincoln County was dominant, winning 45-7. But that was a completely different
Wesleyan team. This year’s Wolves have won 10 straight games and have outscored their
opponents in the playoffs 80-26. The Wolves have won with a balanced offense led by
junior quarterback Conor Welton and sophomore running back Kyle Karempelis. The
Red Devils like to run the football with A.G. Middlebrooks and Taivious McGahee. Both
teams feature strong defenses. The Red Devils have given up only 12 points in the
playoffs, all of those coming last week to Wilcox. If the Wolves are going to advance to
their first state championship game and upset the Red Devils, they must come up big in
the red zone.
ECI vs. Wilkinson County: As defending state champions, Emanuel County
Institute was expected to be here. The same cannot be said for opponent Wilkinson
County, however. The Warriors began their season losing two of their first three to
Region 2-A teams Twiggs County and Wilcox County. They then won five in a row
before losing to Lincoln County, 20-0. Since then, they have begun another streak,
winning four straight—including last week’s 7-6 upset over Turner County—to advance
to the semifinals. While ECI is led by touchdown machine and UGA-bound Washaun
Ealey, the Warriors have a couple of talented backs of their own. Immanual Shinholster
ripped off touchdown runs of 60 and 75 yards to beat Commerce 21-7 in the first round.
Ricky Jones ran for 135 yards and a touchdown in a second-round win over Whitefield
Academy. Ealey has rushed for 542 yards and nine touchdowns in the playoffs for the
Bulldogs.
Derek Wiley can be reached at dwiley@scoreatl.com.
Hawks
Thanks to some solid play from Mike Bibby and Al Horford and a convenient schedule
that included games against three teams with a combined 17-32 record, the Hawks had a
productive 2-1 run last week. Last Wednesday, Atlanta welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks
to Philips and, thanks to 21 points and nine rebounds from Horford, came away with a
102-96 victory.
While the Hawks were forced to play yet again without power forward Josh
Smith, Milwaukee too was forced to battle shorthanded, as center Andrew Bogut joined
Michael Redd on the Bucks’ injured list. Still, though Atlanta led for most of the night,
the Bucks managed to keep the score close throughout, as neither team led by double
digits at any point in the game. In addition to Horford’s 21, Marvin Williams provided 18
points while Bibby and Ronald Murray added 18 and 16 points, respectively. And, while
he did score well below his season average with only 15 points, Joe Johnson put forth a
big-time performance for the Hawks as well, controlling the game throughout by dishing
out an impressive nine assists. According to Big Al, Johnson’s ability to play various
roles is certainly meaningful.
“That says a lot about this team,” Horford said.
On Friday, Atlanta traveled to Toronto to take on the Raptors and the team’s road
woes of yesterday and today continued, as the Hawks fell 93-88 for their fifth
consecutive loss away from home. Atlanta kept it close throughout, but a 15-point third
quarter and a slow start to the fourth proved to be the difference in the Hawks’ losing
effort.
“They came out and hit us in the mouth to start the fourth quarter,” Johnson said
after the game. “It’s tough, especially when you’re in somebody else’s house, to try and
dig into a lead and come back late in a game.”
Atlanta was led on the night by Mike Bibby’s 24 points and also received
solid efforts from Johnson and Maurice Evans, who scored 18 and 17 points,
respectively. The team also got a noteworthy 17 rebounds from starting center Zaza
Pachulia. On the defensive end of the floor, however, the Hawks had absolutely no
answer for All-Star forward Chris Bosh, who finished the game with 30 points and 10
rebounds to go along with seven assists.
“He’s a nightmare for any forward or center to guard,” Hawks head coach Mike
Woodson said after the loss.
REDEMPTION …
Looking to get back on track against the lowly Washington Wizards, the Hawks
received late-game heroics from Horford and eked out a 102-98 victory last Saturday.
Atlanta jumped out to a big lead early thanks to a 21-point performance from Bibby and a
combined 91 points from its starting unit, but faded late and found itself in a dogfight
until the very end.
Washington forward Caron Butler hit three of his 21 points to tie the game at 98
with 1:10 remaining, but a 3-point response from Horford with 12.4 seconds left in the
fourth quarter proved to be the contest’s game-clinching points. Despite the win,
watching his team squander a 17-point lead left Woodson with a sour taste in his mouth.
“I don’t like games to get that close,” Woodson said. “We made it close coming
down the stretch.”
After a three-day rest, the Hawks will get back to action this week with a
Wednesday home date against the Memphis Grizzlies and expect to get a considerable
boost from the return of Smith. Atlanta will also welcome the New York Knicks to town
on Friday before heading out West for Saturday and Tuesday contests with the Dallas
Mavericks and Houston Rockets.
OFF THE COURT …
Last week, the Hawks announced they will be teaming up with V103 on-air
personality and team public address announcer Ryan Cameron to host the first-ever
Hawks Middle School Step Show Competition. The event will take place following the
team’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday game against the Toronto Raptors on
January 19. Performers are asked to submit a 10-minute DVD or VHS tape of their
routine to the Hawks along with completed application materials, and a $500 entry fee.
Registration is open through Dec. 12 and includes 25 tickets to the Hawks/Raptors game.
Eight finalists will be selected from all entries to compete following the game and first-,
second- and third-place prizes will be awarded. The competition is open to middle school
students only. For more information, visit www.hawks.com.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com