The Word

Before I do anything, I would like to direct everyone’s attention to my favorite video of the high school football season. This one was captured at Terrell County last night. On the surface the 99-yard fumble return for a touchdown appears to be a normal high school football play. Exciting? Yes. Extraordinary? No.

That is until, my boy, No. 42 running all alone down the field on a convoy, well, let’s just say he loses his footing. The video is in the player at albanyherald.com. No hate here, but let’s be honest, that’s comedy.

You don’t believe people falling is funny? Well, here is more evidence otherwise.

Now, here are the five things I learned Friday:

1) Deerfield-Windsor is going to repeat as state champions. I typically don’t like to make declarative statements like that as predictions, but their performance last night leaves me no other option. Westfield was the unanimous top team in GISA. They were undefeated and relatively untouched. They had this game circled on their schedule all season after losing in the state title game last year at DWS. All signs pointed to Westfield finally having its day.

Then Deerfield dominated every aspect of the game and won 27-7. With Tony Zenon at tailback they have the star power and the speed on everyone they see. With Reggie Brown at wideout and Banks Kinslow at QB they have the ability to pass whenever necessary. With Justin Webb and Quinton Adkins they have depth in case of injuries.

And, oh yeah, I don’t think their defense hasn’t allowed double digits points since before the swine flu showed up.

Add in the experience of having won the big game last year and it seems the only thing that can stop DWS from another title is itself.

I sure would like to see how this team competed in GHSA Class A….sorry, couldn’t resist.

2) Bainbridge may be the most inconsistent team in Class AAAA. One week the Bearcats look like they can compete for a region title. The next week, they look like they sent the JV team to the wrong field. Not sure how to explain the Bearcats, one week after beating Hardaway to put themselves in prime position for a postseason run to lose to hapless Upson-Lee. This was the same Upson Lee team without a region victory and losses against lowly Lee County and Americus-Sumter.

This performance was very un-Pilcher-like. Typcially his teams are always up for games and never overlook an opponent. We can be sure the Bearcats won’t overlook anybody the rest of the season.

3) The Internet may explode this week and it will be the fault of SGA and SCA. Never has there been more talk on the message board than the back and forth surrounding these two schools. From the transfer of Nile Knapp to the transfer of the city school players to Old Pretoria Rd., they have been galvanizing programs. More than anything, they love to hate on each other. They will play this Friday for the Region 3-AA title and No. 1 seed entering the state tournament.

If only David Bell turned out to be the brains behind Balloon Boy would there be more hits on The Vent this week.

4) Pelham is the feel-good story of the year. The Hornets will play for a sub-region title against Clinch County on Friday. There have not been two more opposite programs this decade, but here they meet with significant stakes. A win would guarantee the first home playoff game in Pelham since 2001.

Caleb Morrell has turned into an outstanding quarterback and his collection of running backs around him have been exciting. If they are good enough to beat Clinch, rather than the rest of the relatively bad region they play in, is yet to be seen, but they have now won four games in a row and have the confidence that it can be done. Two thumbs up to everybody down there. Looking forward to coming to the game on Friday. Just send me an email with a great place to go to eat when I get there!

5) Seriously, falls are funny.

Here are the YouTube links with Flux Capaciter YouTube speed.

Herald Tour at Seminole County, Part I

Herald Tour at Seminole County, Part II

So, I have spent much of the the last few days gloating over the success of my Cincinnati Bengals. It’s so great to finally follow a team that is winning. I remember saying before the year how vulenerable I felt I was entering this year. With so many poor seasons from every team I invest any time in, I didn’t know if I could take another letdown. Yet, I am once again reminded of what makes sports great. Oh, and because videos like this one resurface. Rapping Solomon Wilcots? Ickey Woods with three complete sentences!

Where I am going with this is, Georgia fans, I feel your pain. There is nothing more frustrating than when “bigger picture problems” begin showing up and making you question everything the program has been built on. People start talking about blowing it all up. In Athens, that means major media pundits…not just message board wack-jobs…calling for Mark Richt’s job. And guess what, it’s all happening.

Here is Mark Bradley of the AJC taking serious shots at Richt. He brings up names like Ray Goff and mentions stats like UGA being 9-6 in his last 15 games. He calls them a program in decline and, gasp, points out their deficiencies when compared to Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech.

Have to say on some levels I agree. The Bulldogs do need some serious changes, and the clearly show the program is in decline. The defense has been ever since Willie Martinez took over. All signs pointed to Martinez needing to go after last season and Richt stood by his guy and showed loyalty. It’s exactly what you love about Richt. it’s exactly what five-star kids that commit to Georgia love about Richt. He is a man of his word and loyal to his people.

This offseason, Richt should be forced to make a call. Be loyal to your staff, specifically Martinez, without a job. Or keep yours and find someone new. These are the tough calls. The ones that nobody wants to make but sometimes you have to. Like when your defense has allowed more than 37 points or more in seven of its last 12 games. That’s right. The Georgia Bulldogs. Vanderbilt thinks that stat is embarrassing.

Love this line from EDSBS: “Georgia’s secondary leads the nation in chasing windblown plastic bags.”

This is the first piece of significant adversity seen in the Richt era…isn’t it amazing how far this program has fallen in the last 15 months when they were the No. 1 team in the nation preseason.

The point is this slide will not stop until some significant changes are made. They will likely be coordinators, unless Richt stays loyal. Then he will again be mentioned in the same breathe as Ray Goff.

Here is The Word:

– On the other side of the Bulldogs debacle is Georgia Tech playing its biggest ACC game in more than 10 years. They take on Virginia Tech on Saturday and could reach a level of significant national respect, prominence and ranking with a victory.

– By the way, Virginia Tech is really good. People are even talking national title hopes despite opening with the loss against Alabama.

– Florida State tight end Caz Piurowski is out for the year with an ACL tear. Oh, now, Florida State’s season is shot. Wait…it already was screwed. Oh, OK.

– Mike Gundy is a man, he’s 40 and he supports Dez Bryant.

– A Gator fan documents 24 hours in Baton Rouge this weekend. Love: they do shots called Statutory Grape (”It tastes like Dimetapp and Felony Assault with a chaser of grain alcohol.” ) Shocked: No corn dogs!

– The Atlanta Falcons offense looked unbelievable on Sunday. Ryan with a career high 329 yards. Roddy White big plays. Tony Gonzalez solid underneath. Michael Turner 3 TDs. This is what this offense is capable of. Scary thought: Ryan and coach Mike Smith think they didn’t play all that well.

– The Phillies completed the LCS picture with a wild win against the Rockies last night. I still don’t know that their fragile bullpen has enough to hold up in the pressure situations against the Dodgers, or if they get past them, the Yankees or Angels. But they sure are fun to watch.

– Oh, and the umpiring is awful. It reminds me of when Caroline in the City was between Friends and Seinfeld on Thursday nights. You can’t believe you are watching it, but you really have no choice because of all the good stuff going on around it.

– Why was I up watching one of the most meaningful baseball games of the season at 2 a.m? That question is not meant for me, yeah, I am almost always up at 2 a.m., along with the Slap Chop infomercial. But why are they playing it…in Denver….in October! At a certain point aren’t we sacrificing the integrity of the game for TV if we force these guys to play in temps where they can’t feel the ball going into their glove? That answer is yes. For that, I would like to watch Bud Selig chase windblown plastic bags around Coors.

– What is the best part about Twitter? Fake twitter. Specifically, the Chip Caray fake Twitter.

– In the UFL, even the sideline reporters are the equivalent of J.P. Losman sailing a 10-yard out into the first row.

– Today I will end with one of my favorite videos of all-time that I first brought to you Word readers last year. It will brighten your day. Every time. And rememeber, The Albany Herald, your No. 1 source for Kazookelele coverage in Southwest Georgia!

Happy Thursday, everyone. A nice lift getting through hump day with the MLB postseason kicking off. No sport quite compares with playoff baseball. Watching games where every pitch matters is invigorating. It proves exactly why most people love to play baseball, but hate watching it. Baseball is only fun when you are hanging on every pitch.

One of these days my Reds will play in that scenario. Let’s just hope I’m still alive.

On to the word:

– All anybody wants to talk about around UGA these days are kickoffs. Though, they are pretty embarrassing.

– Last year toward the end of the season, I wrote a story about the future of the defensive end pass rush that would give hope for angry Georgia fans. Nearly everyone at UGA pointed to Justin Houston. Looks like they were right.

– There is talk about Tech and UGA opening in the Georgia Dome for 2011. If this is a one-time thing, that is great, but there is something to be said for Georgia Tech ripping out pieces of the hedges as they did last season or the Dogs celebrating as the Tech fans walk out devising a vaccine for slow linebackers.

– Tim Tucker of the AJC takes a closer look at the positives and negatives of the possible game.

– Heather Dinich at ESPN says the Georgia Tech game is on the backburner at FSU.

– Shows like PTI and Around the Horn are so popular because watching collegues argue about sports is entertaining and everybody has an opinion. It is also based in sports departments doing this on a daily basis. In that same vein, I will argue the opposite of what my editor Danny Aller did in this space yesterday. Sure, you can claim that Bowden deserves to stay to preserve his legacy. Don’t tarnish it, right? Well, hasn’t it already been tarnished? Hasn’t the past five, six, seven years of mediocrity all while not falling off in recruiting put a dark cloud on what Bowden built FSU into. There is no shame in not being able to do what you did in the past when you are 80. People are afraid to step on Bobby Bowden’s toes, and he has earned that right. But how long do you let a program be embarrassed on the field because you are afraid of how making changes will make a guy look off of it? If the trustees and Bowden come to an agreement for him to leave after the season and Bobby “steps down” people will praise what he did for the program and laud him as one of the greatest coaches in history and let it go. The longer he sticks around, the worse the bad-mouthing will be and the more it will continue to tarnish his legacy. So, there’s that.

– If you are a college football player: STAY AWAY FROM DEION SANDERS!

– Florida OL Matt Patchan tore his ACL and won’t return this season. It is the fourth-worst injury he has suffered in his Gators career.

– The Redskins don’t like their fans wearing bags on their heads.

– Shannon Brown drops the preseason hammer on Mikki Moore.

– Glad to see my old sports department in Key West is still keeping high standards. (Pun intended)

I don’t know if anybody heard, but Brett Favre played in a big game last night. In case you didn’t tune in, let me give you a brief synopsis of the Monday Night Football game last night.

Brett Favre is great, Brett Favre is a legend, blown Packers coverage, Brett Favre eyes are great, Did you know Jon Gruden coached Brett Favre?, Brett Favre’s feet are unbelievable, Oh, Aaron Rodgers is good, too, touchdown Favre, touchdown Favre, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Favre may cure breast cancer just by wearing pink gloves, blown Packers coverage, Adrian Peterson is great, but without Favre they would be nothing, slurp Favre, fumble, Did you know Jon Gruden coached Brett Favre, slurp Favre, Rodgers another TD, onside kick recovery, Favre is the greatest ever, The End. 

Yeah, that pretty well sums it up. I am sure John Madden wept tears of joy with little Favre images inside the teardrops through the first three quarters.

Thankfully, that is over, at least until he returns to Lambeau and the nausea and Favreburn begins again.

The performance of the great Brett Favre has inspired me to put together a great series of links and hillarious videos for you to peruse while you pretend to work today. (I’m looking at you, Don!)

Here’s the word:

– This has been the case for years, but the SEC celebration rules are garbage. This time, the SEC admits it. That’s right, the refs blew the call against UGA after the AJ Green TD. See, don’t you feel better now Bulldogs fans?

– Those celebration rules aren’t changing, either.

– Instead of complaining about the refs, Bulldogs fans more need to complain about their kicking unit. As part of one of the great two-day displays in blogging history, former Albany Herald writer, Darton College professor and Charlie B’s nemesis, David Hale, chronicled the two-year disaster that has been UGA special teams.

– One thing the Bulldogs can be happy about is that they are not Florida State right now. The wheels have officially come off as reporters tracked down Bobby Bowden buzzing across campus on a golf cart last night to get his reaction to trustees calling for the 80-year-old coach to step down.

– George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel points out there is nobody FSU can blame for this mess but themselves because “Ya’ll decided to create an organizational football flow chart that looks like a scrambled Rubik’s Cube.”

– For those of you who agree with the trustee that Jimbo Fisher should assume control should take a closer look at his first 31 days as OC compared with former dishonorably dismissed OC Jeff Bowden.

– Georgia Tech enters FSU’s picture with impeccable timing, but Jackets  coach Paul Johnson says his team needs to be better than the 487 yards allowed against Mississippi State. Also, shouldn’t we start to consider the MSU isn’t all that bad? They are one yard away from beating LSU right now. Then put up 31 points against GT. Just saying, let’s give some credit to the job Dan Mullens is doing despite the losses.

– The baseball regular season comes to an end and playoffs begin at 5 p.m. with the one-game playoff between Detroit and Minnesota. I love playoff baseball. Being at a game where the baseball fans are into it from the opening pitch to the final out is when we all remember why this was America’s Past time.

– Listen, I like to drink as much as the next guy. Actually, sorry next guy, I probably like to drink more than you. But when you are in the thick of the final weekend of the pennant race, what are you doing on an all-night bender 13 hours before the first pitch? What in the name of David Wells was Miguel Cabrera thinking? Not to gloss over the domestic violence issues, that deserves its own serious consequences, but this clearly exposes a much deeper issue. And it’s not that vodka is yummy.

– For the other 21 teams, Sunday was the final day of the regular season and goodbyes were spreada across the league. None was quieter than the possible final game for Ken Griffey Jr. I have been an unabashed Griffey hater in this space, and really any space that allows free speech in America, but that is mainly due to the eight years of losing I had to endure while he was with my Reds. But the guy has been the classiest, most productive act during one of the darkest, classless eras in the history of baseball. If this was his last game, it is a sad day to see his sweet swing retire.

– For the Braves, they can look back on a 2009 that restored them to the doorstep of the playoffs and a possible championship thanks to a pitching staff that established itself among the best in baseball.

– By the way, shocker in the High School game of the week voting as Randolph Southern and Westwood have turned out in record numbers to the verge of upsetting the big Dougherty-Monroe showdown on Saturday. You know, most people may criticize a GISA Class A game being mentioned in the GOTW, but this game is huge for those two schools and while the competition level might not be as high as there will be at Hugh Mills, the will and desire to win will be. Plus, that’s why we vote. If you want us to be at your school, we will come. No matter how close or far. Good for Westwood. Now, to find the Junior Miss Gnat for Friday’s show.

– Let’s hope we get to see a finish like this incredible one. What a great celebration afterward, too.

– When High School football fans attack! (1:48 mark) Was he carrying a purse? I think it was a European Carry-All. He’s very fancy.

– Winning a Super Bowl, that’s great. Winning a second, even better. Going on WWE Raw and throwing down the DX “Suck it” four times with Triple H and The Heartbreak Kid, now that is the shining moment of Ben Roethlisberger’s young career.

– Esquire picks the sexiest woman alive. I won’t argue, except to say she is the second sexiest, behind my beautiful girlfriend. (Hi Carey!)

– I want to go to a Boston Bruins game.

– Do you love bad tattoos? I do.

– I leave you with one final hillarious video. This has been around for awhile, but my buddy Trent at Cnati.com posted this and I coulnd’t help but do the same here. George Brett telling a story about a crazy night in Las Vegas. And the editor pumps in the megamix. (NSFW, bad language)

Happy October, everyone. The greatest month of the calendar year.

Seriously, I want to hear arguments in the comments section for what month is better than October. The NFL is in full swing.

College football starts getting into all the premier conference matchups (UGA/Florida, 30 days and counting).

I don’t mean to go all Mark Richt here, but let’s talk about the weather. Nobody loves talking about the weather more than Richt, and nobody loves October weather more than I do. Maybe it is just my northern roots sticking out here, but the cool air flows in, it smells like football.

Oh, by the way, MLB playoffs. Even if you don’t have a team, you can’t beat the drama of hanging on every pitch in the postseason.

NHL drops the puck tonight…oh wait, nobody cares about that.

Still, even the NBA is in training camp….oh, wait, nobody cares about that either until the playoffs. Ok.

Well, Halloween is maybe the best holiday not named Thanksgiving or Christmas. Grown adults, dressing up, every girl as a slutty version of some profession.

Anyway, like I said, happy October.

Here’s the word:

– I had a story today on Westover assistant Calvin Poole. Too often we miss out on the great stories of what coaches are supposed to be these days. Poole proved that this summer when he drove QB Rashad Jackson all over the Southest since Jackson’s dad was laid up following a bad car accident. Great story, great example of what a coach should be.

–  Dougherty and Westover kick off the city rivalry circuit on Saturday when they play at Hugh Mills. I am sure there will be a large crowd out there for that one, plus, log on to albanyherald.com to see the Herald Tour at Dougherty on Friday. (Caution: There will be dancing)

– Miller County (4-1) and Terrell County (4-1) also a big game this week. Terrell will need to keep an eye on Juwan Jones for Miller. He had four sacks last week againt Clinch County.

– All the high school teams just hope they don’t end up doing this at the end of their games. This may be the most demoralizing moment I have ever seen for a high school football player. The major foul up begins with a team kicking a long last second field goal, down 2, with only seconds left. Shenanigans ensue around the 1:20 mark.

– UGA’s running back drama continues. The Bulldogs are showing patience with Richard Samuel. That all sounds nice until there is a mistake against No. 4 LSU in the first quarter. Then, it’s amazing how quick patience disappears.

– LSU’s offense is the sluggish ruggish bone. (Click here for musical accompaniement)

– People have been waiting to see more of Rantavious Wooten and Marlon Brown. Well, fans are getting half of the wish.

– The WorldWide Leader, always on top of things in the SEC, says A.J. Green is really good.

– Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News says Gene Chizik may need to do more than just win to turn national perception. He’s obviously on the homer slant here, but he does have a point. Is there a reason why Auburn hasn’t touched the Top 25 yet?

– The reason you argue they should be is because of this guy.

– Chris Low takes a peak at what to watch in the SEC in Week 5. It includes the matchup of the week nationally, with A.J. Green vs. LSU corner Patrick Peterson.

– I got a lot of response to the FSU link by Corey Clark the other day that talked about the Noles being 25-23 since October 2005 against Division 1-A opponents. Herald Tour co-host Tim Dix, noted FSU alum, stated he was laying down in the middle Slappey Blvd. after reading that. My only response was, he better hope Jimbo Fisher is driving toward he because the FSU OC won’t be able to figure out how to exploit his weakness. Well, Bobby Bowden says his team needs to stop listening to the critics.

– USF’s Jason Pierre-Paul is one of the scariest linebackers I have ever seen even before I knew this: He did a standing backflip in full pads.

– The Braves are all but done now.  Ricky Nolasco is good. Matt Diaz froze like Walt Disney on the third base line. The end.

– Charles Barkely thinks I am a loser. And likely a good majority of you reading this are as well.

– Next time, don’t just write “Wash me” and laugh. Show some creativity. Here are the top 25 creative dirty window drawings.

– Just when you think it is Ok to run around naked covered in feces, the nit-picking cops send somebody to jail for it.

Out of habit, I typically check the bottom line on ESPN every night to look for two baseball scores, no matter the situation, standings or day. I always look for my hometown Reds and the Atlanta Braves.

I look for the Braves since I moved down here because, well, it’s my job. But, of late, once they fell to 8 1/2 games back of the wild card with 21 to go, I asked myself, why do I care? There is absolutely no way they can make a run at this thing.

Then, this streak happened. Don’t look now, but the Braves are only two games back. This is not only amazing, it is unprecendented. The last time a team came from 8 1/2 games back in September to make the playoffs was 1904. It has never happened with 21 games left. Ever.

Yet, here are these Braves with their five smoking hot starting pitchers, hot bats and 15 wins in 17 games. They are the team that nobody in Philly, Denver, Los Angeles or St. Louis wants to see make the playoffs.

But, can it happen? Here is a take from John Kruk. Then there is this reasoning from Steve Phillips.

Here’s what you need to know. The schedule heavily favors the Braves. They have two games against Florida and and then four against the Nationals. The same Nats the Braves just swept this weekend. The Rockies have three at home against Milwaukee and then finish the year with three at the Dodgers.

If Atlanta were to force a tiebreaker, the one-game playoff would be in Atlanta.

Unless there is a Mets-like final-week collapse then it would appear the margin of error for the Braves is one loss. They can lose one, but anything beyond that will eliminate their realistic hopes of making history.

It’s nice to see a pennant race show up in what has been one of the most boring Augusts in recent baseball history.

On to the word:

– One other quick MLB note for the baseball fans, pretty cool day in Detroit today with a doubleheader at Comerica Park between the Tigers-Twins. By the end of the day the Twins could either be tied for the division or eliminated. Can’t remember anything like this ever happening.

– Most underrated manager in baseball: Ron Gardenhire.

– If the Angels AL West championship celebration honoring Nick Adenhart doesn’t send chills up your spine, you are not alive.

– Another big week upcoming for Georgia. This may be the most entertaining team two watch in the country, though that’s not necessarily great news for Bulldog Nation. Part of that is the fact no game is ever over. And part of that is the turnover issue.

– That issue plays right into LSU’s hands.

– I can say I had the (dis)pleasure of watching the Georgia Tech-UNC game on Saturday. It was my first live viewing of the triple-option offense. As my good friend Darren McPhail said, it is like going to the dentists office and just waiting for the Novacaine to kick in. “Has it happened yet? Has it happened yet? Is it going to happen? It’s over.” Though, McPhail is a former UNC football player, so it probably felt more like this.

– It may be boring, but it was certainly effective in the win against UNC. It seemed like GT was in third-and-long for their entire final scoring drive and converted every one.

– UNC thought it was ready for the Jackets running game. They weren’t. Miss. State believes it is.

– AJC’s Jeff Schultz dares broach the topic of which program is better in the long run? Georgia or Georgia Tech? Can’t say I agree with him. Remember how bad Tech looked against Miami. Did you see how bad Miami looked against Virginia Tech?

– Nolessports.com’s Corey Clark takes a deeper look at the problems at FSU after their demoralizing loss to USF. He points out a stat that would have been unfathomable not long ago. Against Division 1-A competition since Oct. 15, 2005, the Seminoles are 25-23.

– Life without Tebow? But then who will circumcize the children?

– How would Tebow playing against LSU affect the view of Urban Meyer? If you’re smart, dramatically.

– Here’s the thing we should learn about this mini locker-room blowup by Richard Seymour. It is not the players that go crazy, it is the Raiders that make you crazy. Personally, I am surprised it only took Seymour three games to lose his cool.

– Even when Detroit Lions fans win, they lose.

– The Onion is now selling greeting cards. Some of them can be very real life motto’s, even in their hilarity. (See: Study: Alligators are dangerous no matter how drunk you are)

I frequent the local bars quite a bit. I know, those of you who know me are shocked. A few beers, a shot, some laughs and a waffle house debacle are really what motivate me to live.

When I am out, however, I always end up in a conversation with Braves fans about Bobby Cox. For some reason, you Braves fans are ready to see Bobby Cox go. There seems to be this idea that the game has passed him by and he has lost control of the locker room.

Well, as we found out yesterday, Bobby will be going after next season. I have to say that Braves have finally got their wish and now they get to find out how the other half lives.

Nobody has more respect in a clubhouse than Bobby Cox. Every time a player would talk about playing for the Braves, the words honor and respect always preceded Cox’s name. He is the stable general that drove the team to 14 consecutive division titles and in baseball managing, respect and credibility go as far as baseball savvy. And Cox is overflowing with all of those.

Cox was a big reason they won the 14 titles and a much smaller reason they didn’t make the playoffs the last four years. You can chalk that up to inadequate pitching.

Not sure who Braves fans think will waltz into that clubhouse and be better than Cox. As a Reds fan, however, I will pay you to take Dusty Baker. Your only overhead is a toothpick dispenser.

On to the word:

– Everybody is talking about Bobby Cox today. The AJC, for all its faults and lay-offs, still has enough talented staff around to hit a home run with its coverage of this. Jeff Schultz says that despite some of you whining about Cox, he deserves this one last chance.

– In Mark Bradley’s blog he takes a look at the five candidates to take over Cox’s job. Spoiler alert: Terry Pendleton is on this list. Like Terry a lot, great guy, one of the nicest interviews I have done. But do we really think he is ready for this?

– John Schuerholz talks about relating to Cox’s decision.

– Ejection photo gallery!

– The Detroit Free Press talks to Tigers manager Jim Leyland, another one of the great managers to prove age don’t mean squat in the dugout, about Bobby Cox. Leyland says, among other things, “it was an honor to have managed against him.”

– ESPN’s Rob Neyer steps in and tracks the Cox legacy.

– Foxsports Ken Rosenthal says Cox deserves a respectful exit.

– Oh, by the way, another sweep for the Braves. They are now four games out with 10 to play. If this turned into a 13-game win streak to steal the wild card, it will go down as the greatest retirement announcement in the history of professional sports!

– Ok, let’s move forward. Ole Miss at South Carolina tonight. Here is a quick breakdown. Beware the home dog! Especially with a team not used to playing the role of favorite hitting the road. Winning on the road in the SEC tends to be the last step into elite status. Good luck, Ole Miss, don’t trip. (Gamblers: Home dog, night game, national TV alert!)

– The Cocktail Party is staying in Jacksonville (pick up travel board games to play while sitting in gridlock traffic now! The announcement has them flying off the shelves!) Tony Barnhadt says it was never in doubt.

– Mark Richt didn’t say much about the Jacksonville decision. However, he did have something to say about Richard Samuel being in jeopardy of losing his starting RB spot.

– The Athens Banner-Herald tracks the play of Bulldogs in the NFL last weekend.

– So, you can get out of jail to go to a baseball game if you are die hard Red Sox fan? Though, “conjugal visit” with the Red Sox gives me nasty images of David Ortiz and Kevin Youklis.

– The U appears to be back and Heather Dinich takes a closer look at their offense as they roll into Blacksburg. From my angle, the U appears to be the team to beat in the ACC. If they can find a way past VT and Oklahoma WITH Sam Bradford, there may be a run on fatigues sales in South Florida.

– If you play for the Indian National Cricket team you better find yourself a woman.

– In Russia, we believe Nets are good!

– The Yankees and Red Sox fans still don’t like each other? This video launches my new favorite phrase: Go home to yah mutha!

Feeling a little bit groggy this morning, but yet I persevere for you, our dedicated readers. Which judging by the comments section may only be a collection of six extremely bored people.

Not going to lie, I can’t hate on our readership this week, not with what is happening with the readers polls. This has been a record-setting week for the Game of the Week poll as the total votes number nearly hit 150 for the decision between Bainbridge-Westside (Macon) and SGA-DWS.

However, you can look for the Herald Tour making its first return trip of the year now, as SGA-DWS took 59 percent of the vote. You can log on to albanyherald.com and see what shenanigans happen next. Though, I promise no more death or threats of death. The shows to this point have had a concerning dark humor to them, but Tim and I are men of peace and plan on acting as such this week.

Also, a huge voter turnout for the Nile Knapp poll question. This seems to be a galvanizing topic as to whether Knapp is the best RB in the area. Sixty-three percent say no, but that is no knock on Knapp. He will always be questioned because of the region he plays in, but he has real next-level skills. Of course, his numbers would not be anywhere near as astronomical at say, Lee County or Westover, but he would certainly make his fair share of big runs at those schools.

He is the big fish in a little pond, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t survive in a big pond. He would certainly see 10-20 touches a game at any school in the area.

Moving on to the word:

– This is a MONSTER week for local high school football. It’s the kind of week I wish I could go all Multiplicity and be in four places at once. (I my come under fire for this, but I say Multiplicty is the best Michael Keaton movie ever….I know you disagree Batman fans, but this is how I feel) Still, the slate of big games runs long.

SGA-DWS : It is the GOTW and there has been a lot of trash talk back and forth about this one. SGA (4-0) thinks they are good enough to compete with the big boys this year. Here is their best chance to prove it.

Cairo at Monroe: Confession — I have been the only one voting for Monroe in the Class AAA state poll. But what does a team have to do to make it in there? They allowed three points in four games. And that was a 44-yeard field goal! All that will change if the Tornadoes can beat Cairo, whose name automatically garners respect for what they did last year, but they are still fighting youth on a team that lost 17 starters from the state title group last year.

No. 6 Bainbridge at No. 3 Westside (Macon): On paper, this will be one of the top three games in the state, not just SW Ga. this weekend. The great folks at Georgia High School Football Daily claim the GSWA poll has Bainbridge too high. That it is too soon to judge them. Maybe so, but here will be a result for all to judge against Westside, who has won every game by at least 20 points and not allowed more than a touchdown in any contest. A lot at stake here, including the possible No. 1 seed for the state tournament, though an Oct. 16 game at Hardaway will also be a major factor.

Mitchell County at Fitzgerald: Clearly, I would send Michael Keaton No. 3 to this game, but it still has a lot of intrigue. Every year I have covered HS football in this area, it seems Mitchell County believes it can be an elite program at this week and then Fitzgerald slams them back to reality. That will almost certainly again be the case again here, but not because Mitchell isn’t much better, they are. More because Fitzgerald is the best team in the state, in my opinion.

– At UGA, everyone is calling for the head of DC Willie Martinez….again. By the numbers, it’s hard to argue for the move at season’s end. The average points against have risen every year under CWM. That is assuming the current trend continues after the latest shootout win against Arkansas. Here is a story from David Hale at the Macon Telegraph about the defense. And here is his assesment on the blog. Here’s a sample of the numbers:

1) Last in the SEC in total defense
2) Last in the SEC in scoring defense
3) Last in the SEC in passing defense
4) Last in the SEC in interceptions
5) Second to last in SEC in sacks
6) Last in the SEC in allowing opponents 1st downs
7) Second to last in the SEC in allowing 4th down conversions
8) Last in the SEC in turnover margin
As Kevin Bacon would say in A Few Good Men, “These are the facts of the case, and they are undisputed”

– Georgia Tech buckles in for Round 3 of their heavyweight ACC fights. To come out of this three-game stretch 2-1 would be a victory for the Jackets. And necessary for them to win the ACC. This UNC game on Saturday at noon (Noon, seriously? The networks are really down on the Wreck) will be the biggest game of their season against a team not named Georgia.

– Sure would be nice if the Jackets had this guy.

– The AP says UNC will be drawing on what it did last year in shutting down Tech.

– Boy, did FSU get lucky. I really hate to see a guy who did so much for South Florida see his career end on crutches.

– Though, I don’t believe it would have mattered anyway. What I most took away from the Miami-Florida State game was these were two teams that were playing good football. It wasn’t high scoring because the defenses were bad — offensive players were making plays. Great plays. Turns out Miami was better than we ever thought they would be and, apparently, losing to them on a dropped 4-yard pass isn’t something to sulk about. As for Jax St., these are 19-year old kids, they overlooked J-State…wouldn’t you?

– Speaking of better than we thought they would be…Auburn, really? I hate to jump the gun, but this offense has been impressive. There certainly were a lot of Chizik haters out there when this hire was made, but winning does cure everything. Though, the jury is still out as Auburn was a no-show in the polls again, the Tigers’ own DB Walter McFadden says, “We are a good team, not a great team.” Well, at least you can’t call them cocky.

– I know none of you care about my fantasy golf team…yeah, I play, don’t judge. You can root for my boy, Steve Marino, though! But despite the fact I am in contention for the season-title, this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta is a big deal. 10 million dollars will go to the overall FedEx Cup points winner. I assume Elin already has the blueprints drawn up for her “Nordgrenland Village” in Sweden.

– I know baseball has rain outs. And so does tennis. But did you know school could get rained out? Can I call in rainy one day from work? Regardless, the massive rains in Atlanta have East Lake at the saturation point.

– Oh, the Braves are still playing. Game 150: blowout win. In my best Monty Python voice — “Yaaayyy.”

– I can’t make a Monty Python reference without this. “It’s not an ordinary rabbit, it’s the most foul, cruel and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!”

– Chris Fowler cracks jokes at a distraught Clemson fan after they lost to GT in a hillarious off-air broadcats feed (via Deadspin).

– For all of you LSU haters out there (they actually do smell like corn dogs, btw) here is a hillarious clip of a drunk Tigers fan after the game on Saturday. My favorite line of the day, “You don’t want him vomiting into his airways, that would suck.” In a close second is, “If he dies, we’ll fix it.”

This blog post is coming to you live from the most surreal location in the history of The Word.

It is 4:21 a.m., and I am sitting in Gate C14 at the Atlanta airport. Normally one of the hubs of transportation in North America, there are three people with eye sight. They are all dusting.

There are some joys to arriving at the airport at 3 a.m. There is no traffic. No line at the security gate. In fact, it was so empty I decided to strike up a conversation with the ID security guard. He’s hearing it’s going to rain in Ohio.

There is one major downfall to arriving at 3 a.m., the trams don’t run. You have to use the moving walkway….only, the moving walkways aren’t running either. Well, they are in the opposite direction. Which the sound of those humming machines moving toward Baggage Claim taunted me during my entire half mile walk to the C Terminal.

I am here because I am headed home for the weekend on an early morning flight, but wasn’t to miss Week 4 of Friday night football. I was stationed in Cordele at Monroe-Crisp County. Read my game story here. Also, head over to albanyherald.com and watch the highlights. Watch Dominique Reid ankle-break a Crisp defender right as he cuts toward the sideline. Silly.

Here are the five things I learned:

1) Monroe may be good enough to win Region 1-AAA, but we don’t know yet. Let me say this, Monroe has passed every test presented this year with flying colors. They rolled two much less talented teams to open the year, they stuffed Class AAAA Glynn Academy and opened region with a shutout. They have outscored opponenets 123-3 through four games.

What that has established is Monroe is the best team in the Albany area. Period. Nobody has been as well-rounded as the Tornadoes. Their dominance also establishes that their goals this season should stretch far beyond Dougherty County. Second round? Third round? Semifinals? Who knows? But, whether they can accomplish those goals is yet to be seen.

The good news is, we will find out the next two weeks. Monroe hosts defending state champ Cairo on Friday. Cairo is a far cry from the dominant team that rolled to teh title last year. They lost 17 starters and have only scored 23 points in their first three games. But the Syrupmakers had a bye and two weeks to prepare for the Tornadoes. They just beat Thomasville, who was ranked in the state in Class AA. They only lost to Class AAAA No. 6 Bainbridge by a field goal. This will be a test.

After that, Monroe will test Peach County. Peach is ranked No. 3 in the state in Class AAA. They already beat state-ranked Baldwin, 17-7. They are the real deal.

So, yes, Monroe is good. They hold our No. 1 ranking and aren’t moving. But are they among the best in the state in AAA? Call me in two weeks.

2) Nile Knapp deserves his category of statistics. Seriously, he is a GISA legend. Friday, he racked up six touchdowns and 327 rushing yards.   As I witnessed last year when I covered SGA’s win against Terrell Academy, it felt like the Eagles contained Knapp, but he still ran for 188 yards. SGA is big enough to just give it to him and he can make people miss consistently on the next level and has the speed to leave them in the dust.

While we keep bragging on SGA, it does set up a nice opportunity to see how good they are this week as they travel to DWS for one of our Game of the Week nominees. (CHOOSE OR LOSE, Jon Norris!) SGA may be able to push around these smaller GISA schools like Westwood, TA, Randolph Southern and a down Brookwood team in AAA. But, can they stop DWS who has made on mince meat of teams with weaknesses. See blowouts againt Tattnall Square, Stratford and Pinewood Christian.

3.) Justin Walker may be the most underrated player in Southwest Georgia. You may not have heard of Walker because he plays quarterback for 0-4 Lee County, but he has picked up Lee County’s uptempo spread option offense fast. He continues to lead the Trojans offense, this time to 31 points against undefeated Hardaway. If Lee County could have found a way to slow Hardaway QB Marcus Smith this would have been a breakthrough win, though Lee shouldn’t feel bad, there will be players in the SEC that won’t be able to stop the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Smith who has an offer from Florida.

Lee may be 0-4, but their offense has been impressive and they appear to be turning the corner. This may sound crazy, but I think Lee wins three games before the season is out. And I think Walker leads Region 1-AAA in passing yards.

4) Seminole County should be ranked in the Class A Top 10 this week. Criticize their less than difficult schedule if you will, but the Indians came into Friday leading A in points per game and posted a 51-0 win against Atkinson. Want to know the scary thing? This team is built to hit its stride in November.

Seminole has an extremely young team, but has been able to put it on everyone its faced this year except for state-ranked Wilcox, who it pushed to the brink in a 33-20 loss in the opener. That score would be different at the end of the season. Seminole will do much more growing this year than an already experienced Wilcox team. Should they meet again, look out.

Outside of that, I only see one more possible loss on the Indians (3-1) schedule. That would be the annual Family Fued against Miller County. Outside of that, they should earn a home playoff game and have a chance to go deep.  

5.) If Dr. Phil shaved his mustache, people would question his credibility. Sorry, apparently, Dr. Phil is hosting Larry King Live at 5 a.m. on Airport TV.

He has most recognizable stache not named Selleck in America today. I dare you to name another! If he shaved it, people wouldn’t know what to do. Families everywhere would collapse. Something to think about next time you are in Gate C14 at 5 a.m.

Good night…or morning….whatever.