Before the season there was lot of grumbling in Hawks camp that there was no way we would bring back coach Mike Woodson AND forward Josh Smith. They just butted heads too much. They would get in each other's way. It wouldn't be good for the team. But after resigning them both, the upstart Hawks found themselves as the last undefeated team standing in the Eastern Conference. And then Josh Smith got hurt. 
Reports out of Vegas are that the Yankees and pitcher CC Sabathia have agreed to a contract worth $160M over 7 years (that's over $23M per year for those counting at home). Sabathia, the AL Cy Young Award Winner in 2007, had a rocky (read: terrible) start last season with the Indians before returning to form as a Milwaukee Brewer in the second half. Combined he went 17-10 with a 2.70ERA and 251Ks last season, with a major league leading 10 complete games. 
When did all his mumbo jumbo about who's conference is better start? It's crap. When did Auburn fans start rooting for Alabama to win their bowl game? When did Georgia fans decide it was OK to root for Florida to beat Alabama because Florida has the better chance of winning a national championship? Why would Michigan fans root for Ohio State last year against LSU?? This has debate has gone too far and is out of control and something has to be done.
e is not between the Big 12 and the SEC. It's between Florida and Oklahoma and as such, Texas fans should root for Florida and Georgia fans should root for Oklahoma. Georgia fans should be proud to say "Florida can take that national championship ball and shatter it..." oh wait, that already happened. Georgia fans should also proudly proclaim that Gators Wear Jean Shorts (Jorts). 
Francisco Rodriguez is coming to the NL East. The New York Mets have reportedly agreed upon a 3 year/$37M contract with the closer, who set a new single-season record with 62 saves last season with the Angels. K-Rod is 26 years old and has 208 saves already in his short career- if you remember he was the set up guy for Troy Percival in 2002 when the Angels won the World Series. The Mets, who lost Billy Wagner last season to Tommy John surgery, faltered late in the season mainly due to a lack of an effective bullpen. And K-Rod's presence sure addresses that, but it doesn't fix the fact that the road to K-Rod is flawed and that this is a Mets team that even with Billy Wagner closing games could not run away with the division (see 07 collapse and the mediocre 08 season). This was clearly a necessary move for the Mets, but its not the only move. If they do not address the rest of the bullpen, the starting rotation, and the outfield, then don't expect the Mets back in the playoffs any time soon.
Read Full Article!
Ahh the free agent pool. There's nothing like it. On a cold winter morning, there's just nothing better than dipping your toes into that warm, frothy free agent pool. Oooh theres CC Sabathia massaging my toes... Manny Ramirez doing my hair... AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira oiling up my chest... am I dreaming? Does it get any better?[Padres] stop making out with the Cubs because the Braves will let you get to third base on the first date. Give us Jake Peavy, give him to us now, you're screwing up our entire offseason you greedy, sneaky bastard coward.
The Mets, the Braves arch nemesis, are closing on a big deal to send K-Rod, Francisco Rodriguez, to the Big Apple. This scares the crap out of me. He was by far the most dominant closer last year, sorry Brad Lidge you're good too. Bringing in another big-time closer into the NL East is just going to make the division tighter, and this is definitely a play to get back at the Phillies. The Braves seem to be falling farther and farther behind in the bullpen. Mike Gonzalez is a fine young closer, but you line him up with the other two guys, and I'd take K-Rod or Lidge any day.
Now a word from Braves camp. Bobby Cox is speaking out about the pitching staff. Cox very blatantly said, "You can't win unless you have good pitching, and we lost everybody last year." [mlb.com]. That is a lot to digest, but he is right. I have been going on about getting a big bat, which we desperately need, but in the end we also really need one more big name pitcher. I think Bobby may be worried about our ability to compete over Burnett, a concern that is warranted. We will just have to see. 
More news from Vegas around the National League, including a flurry of activity from the Dodgers. Casey Blake is to resign for 3yr's $17 million, and the Dodgers also picked up veteran 2nd baseman Mark Loretta for $1.25 million over 1 year(cheapo). I think Blake is definitely a keeper. He plays hard and can be clutch, kudos to the Dodgers for keeping him around. The only down side is that it is just more money the Dodgers are going to be sending down the hole. Their payroll is extreme, and a lot of the players they pay big bucks to end up sitting out and riding the bench. The Loretta pick up is a little strange. I can see how they want someone to back up Kent who is injury prone, but I would think a younger player would be better. It is likely they don't have the homegrown talent for that yet, so it looks like the Dodgers will be playing some age over at 2nd this year.
The Dodgers aren't done yet. Word on the street is that they are highly interested in CC Sabathia. The Dodger GM boasts that he thinks CC wants to play in LA [cite espn.com], I could believe that. Not having to pay Manny next year could just make CC affordable. All reports from CC seem to indicate he wants to play in the NL where he can hit and live in a warm city. LA fits both of those needs. I am not convinced this will eventually be his final landing spot, as the Yankees and Red Sox have a lot of money to throw around. Should Sabathia end up in the National League, as Johan Santana did last year, we could be looking at one overly dominant pitcher after another next season. If teams like the Dodgers are willing to throw around bundles of money to land the superstars, expect more pressure on Frank Wren to pull the trigger on big names to keep pace.
I do think Hermida would make a great addition, the benefit would far out-weigh the risk. In the end, he still doesn't really fit the Braves' need other than the fact that he plays outfield and he may hit slightly better than the guys we threw out there last year. There is a deeper problem. First off, the majority of the hitters listed are left-handed hitters. Which does not complement Chipper and McCann. That would be too many lefties in a row, any way you slice it. That leaves Chipper (who is best from the left side) and McCann still hitting back to back. In the late innings, managers will bring in a single left handed pitcher to face down both Chipper and McCann- instead of having to use two. Lefty relievers do not come in bulk, particularly the good ones. Unfortunately, none of those players named really fit that role, with the exception of Ankiel. Who is definitely the stud of that stud pack, but I think he requires more time in another posting. 
Mark Bowman, the Braves beat blogger for mlb.com, is reporting that the Braves have offered A.J. Burnett a 4-year deal with a 5th year option. There were no numbers, but we can assume that they are impressive, but not Yankee or Red Sox impressive. With the Yankees offering heaven and hell to CC Sabathia, the Red Sox perhaps looking backwards to Lowe and east to Japan, I am going to be optimistic about our chances of landing Burnett. We are definitely a more attractive landing pad with the acquisition of Javy Vazquez. And with the Peavy musk still in the air, things could be looking up for the starting rotation. 
The bowl schedule was officially announced last night, and the Georgia Bulldogs are set for the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day. While we already figured this would be case, it was more a question of who the opponent would be... and now we know. The Michigan State Spartans out of the Big 10 will take on the Bulldogs at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The 9-3 Spartans finished third in the Big 10, and are led by standout senior running back Javon Ringer who ran for 1,590 yards and scored 21 touchdowns. All eyes will be on Bulldogs stars Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, and whether this will be their last game in a Georgia uniform. Both players are eligible to leave for the NFL Draft after the season. 
A trip to the national championship is on the line (most likely). All I have to say is, for all the hype, this one better be close. Florida has been playing as well as anyone in the nation on both sides of the ball, forcing turnovers and scoring at will, however, they have not faced a solid team since Ole Miss. I think that Florida will go up at the beginning with their speed and athleticism, but will be worn down by Bama's daunting defensive and offensive fronts. I do not think that Florida's highly ranked scoring defense will be able to maintain their stature with Bama having the ball for the majority of the game. They will use the blue collar football techniques they've been using all season to dominate the line of scrimmage like they did against Georgia. Now don't get me wrong, Florida is more than capable of winning, I just don't think they will. Same score as the Ole Miss game in Gainesville: Bama 31 - Florida 30
and Oklahoma, it's a roll reversal. Oklahoma is scoring over 50 points per game. Missouri's pass defense is in the bottom 20. I don't think that Mizzou is going to be able to hang around, although I think it will be close. Oklahoma wins, and sets up a Bama-Sooner Championship. Oklahoma 54 - Mizzou 41 
Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer has been named 2008 ACC Player of the Year. The sophomore ran for 1,328 yards and scored 12 touchdowns for the 9-3 Jackets. Dwyer follows WR Calvin Johnson (2006) and QB Joe Hamilton (1999) as the only Yellow Jackets to win the award. Dwyer was at his best this year in a key game against Florida State, totaling 175 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Read Full Article!
So here we are, with four games left in the regular season the Atlanta Falcons are sitting in prime position for a playoff run. Now I know last week I made some lofty predictions for the Dirty Birds...and of course I hope that happens...but on a realistic note the Falcons have no reason not to snatch one of the Wildcard spots in the NFC. Currently, the Falcons have the 6th and final playoff (the other going to Carolina), but let's look at the week ahead. The Dallas Cowboys, who seem to be the biggest threat to the Falcons, have a tough road game at Pittsburgh...followed by games against the Giants, Ravens, and then at Philly. America's team truly could lose all four of those...but even losing just two of them would pretty much seal the deal for Atlanta if we take care of business.
War Eagle no more, Tuberville is out the door at Auburn. Dirty South is the first to report this fresh off an insider email received today. His record at Auburn was 85–40, including an undefeated season in 2004, where they were not allowed to play for the national title. More on Tommy's departure as this story develops. 
Well! Only a few hours after killing Frank Wren for standing pat this long, looks like he's making me eat my words. The Braves have sent four prospects to the Chicago White Sox for starting pitcher Javier Vazquez, including shortstop Brent Lillibridge and highly touted catching prospect Tyler Flowers. Vazquez has spent 11 seasons in the majors, playing for the Expos, Yankees, Diamondbacks and White Sox. A power pitcher (and a fairly solid #2), Vazquez put up great numbers in 2007 (15-8, 3.74ERA, 213Ks) before following it up with a mediocre, inconsistent 2008 season. Vazquez's arguably best season was 2003 with the Expos, with 13 wins, a 3.24ERA, 4CG and 241Ks. 
What a year for the Yellow Jackets. New coach Paul Johnson brings in a new triple option scheme, wins nine games, beats Georgia, wins ACC Coach of the Year, and now lands in the classic ACC/SEC battle - the Chick-Fil-A Bow,l New Year's Eve in Atlanta. The 9-3 Jackets will essentially host either LSU or South Carolina, most likely, though their opponent has not yet been announced.
Read Full Article!
It seems as if the departures of Michael Vick, Bobby Petrino and DeAngelo Hall actually took all of the bad luck away from the Falcons. The new coaching staff, the draft, the new quarterback, the winning season.. yep, seems the Falcons' demons were cast out in one fell swoop. So it should come as no surprise that although six NFL players were suspended yesterday for taking a banned substance (its a water pill, but still), the Falcons' Grady Jackson was not (yet). While league officials continue to look into his case, and Grady continues to appeal the automatic four-game suspension, he will remain on the field. But should the league overrule the appeal and suspend Grady after this week's game in New Orleans, the four games would bleed over into either the postseason (should we make it) or into next season. 
Its December! Two months from two weeks from this past Sunday, pitchers and catchers report! That means Brian McCann! Jair Jurrjens! Jorge Campillo! and .... aaaand....... no one else! Meanwhile the Cubs bring back the best starting rotation in baseball! The Padres still have Peavy. Mike Hampton just took a pay cut to go back to Houston! Houston!! So where's Frank Wren? Where's Franky boy, and what has he done with all of my hopes and dreams for a future where the Braves lose less than 90 games?! As of today our starting rotation is non-existent. 
