The Word

Happy Monday! Or at least make it a tolerable one. 

High school football coaches will surely be keeping an eye on this as the trial of a former Kentucky prep football coach begins today as he is being tried on reckless homicide charges. Here is a preview written yesterday on the trial by The Associated Press. According to reports, the 17-year-old, Max Gilpin, had a 107-degree body temperature when he died. And the coroner ruled his death an accident??? With his body temperature at 107 degrees??? 

The kid’s death is a result of carelessness by the coach, plain and simple. As you can read from the reports, the coach allegedly held water from his players while they ran sprints. Obviously if the kid had a 107-degree body temperature, chances are he needed some water. Both the coroner’s report and kid’s death certificate states he died from complications stemming from heat stroke. This coach is in trouble. Was it an accident? Yes. However, it was an accident stemming from a coach’s carelessness. If Max had died of a pre-existing heart condition that had been undetected, that’s a different story. However, all of what has been reported places the blame on the coach. The players needed water, and they didn’t get it, and now 1 is dead. Whatever the coach gets, he deserves. 

Now, onto a few lighter things… 

(more…)

Good morning! 

Wanna know what happened today in sports? Click here. 

College football is getting more and more into the flow of things, with Albany State and Valdosta State having started their seasons. Albany State is 1-0 after a win Thursday against Chowan. Valdosta State, on the other hand, is 0-1 after Saturday’s loss against Newberry. it seemed once the Blazers lost their starting quarterback, it was all over after that.

Since Albany State is in the SIAC, let’s span the conference to see what else is going on. Talk about a blast from the past. Ex-Monroe QB Terrance Ransom is now the QB at Fort Valley State, which lost in double overtime Saturday. Ransom also played at Albany State before leaving school. It’s good to see him back, especially playing football. He has a cannon for an arm. Morehouse won its game Saturday against Benedict, Miles beat Lane, and Ky. State beat Stillman, 24-15.

Georgia opens Saturday at Oklahoma State, and former Albany Herald writer and current UGA beat writer at the Macon Telegraph David Hale is reporting that the Bulldogs don’t think they will be lacking in the leadership area this year. Last week, remembering that most of the Bulldogs’ offensive line returns this season – like it did the last time it won the SEC in 2005 — was the first sign to me this could be a special season for UGA. Now, it seems UGA’s intangibles are as strong as they had been in some time. Maybe a trip to New Orleans is in the works for them. I think it’s a little too early to be talking Pasadena — the site of this year’s BCS national title game — just yet. Here is a notebook done by the Athens Banner-Herald leading with receiver Tavarres King.

At Georgia Tech, the AJC did a feature on Tech defensive back Demaryius Thomas, and the Macon Telegraph’s Coley Harvey has a neat feature on the Yellow Jackets’ car that leads the team onto the field at home games… Meet the Ramblin’ Wreck. Tech hosts Jacksonville State on Saturday. The Orange Bowl could also be in the Yellow Jackets’ sights if they get a few breaks here and there. Again, too early to tell if they could go to Pasadena.

At Auburn, ex-QB Kodi Burns is becoming acclimated at wide receiver.  Now that Burns is no longer a backup to Chris Todd, that means Neil Caudle is now the No. 2 QB. Maybe this will be a position where Burns can thrive. When I rotated between covering football at Albany State, Auburn and Florida State last season, I always thought Kodi was capable of becoming a big-time player whenever I interviewed him. If Auburn gets to the Chick-fil-A Bowl — well, ANY bowl — it will be a feat first-year coach Gene Chizik would be proud of.

And at Florida State, the fight to see the documents relating to the Seminoles’ academic scandal continues. Click here. Also in this story, the Seminoles had a scrimmage Saturday, getting ready for their season opener on Labor Day against Miami. A bigger game for FSU just might be its home game against Georgia Tech Oct. 10. It just might be the first of two games they play against other. The second could be in the ACC Championship.

Can’t get enough prep football coverage from The Herald? We’ve got you covered … click here and see why Westover’s football team might be OK in the receiver department even after the loss of big-play receivers from last year. Darton’s soccer teams are still perfect, as you can read in this story. Also, the Lee County softball team improved to 8-0, winning its division in the Watermelon Classic. The Albany State volleyball team struggled in its season-opening tourney at West Georgia.

Also, the Falcons won their preseason game, and AJC Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter writes that the team has its share of concerns. And AJC columnist Mark Bradley thinks a lot of that concern has to do with the secondary.

Meanwhile, the Braves, who are 3 1/2 games behind Colorado in the NL wild-card race, crushed Philadelphia on Saturday. Sure the game got called due to rain, but when a team is losing, 9-1, it’s really time to do this. 

Be sure to vote on www.albanyherald.com to choose where our Prep Game of the Week is, either at Brookwood-Sherwood or Miller County-Early County. Also, you can vote on who had the best week on the field.

Haven’t had your coffee yet? Let’s see if this helps with the Georgia Tech marching band playing its fight song.

Now… GO GET ‘EM!

High School football season began this weekend. The phrase that continues to repeat in my head is, “I didn’t see that one coming.”

In case you want the full recap, check over to albanyherald.com and we have stories from the four biggest games and wrap-ups from all the others. Not to mention video of the biggest plays from Westover, DWS, Terrell Academy and Worth County.

The openers were full of surprises from every angle. In life, there are some surprises that are great, like surprise birthday party. There are other that are not so great, like finding out the money you leant your family and friends was used to fund a multi-state, illegal dogfighting operation.

For the first edition of the High School recap, I will run down the top five surprises of the opening weekend.

1. Wow, Rashad Jackson is the real deal. It’s hard to tell if Lee County still has a long way to go defensively or if Jackson really was that much better than everyone else on the field Friday night in Westover’s 34-13 victory against the Trojans.

Sure, Jackson ran for 113 yards on 11 carries and threw for another 171, but it was the way in which he did it that left everyone wondering what Division I school is going to call now. (Check out the velocity with which he takes in his fourth touchdown on the video at albanyherald.com)

At one point in the second quarter, Jackson rolled off of a play-action fake and had a Trojan defensive end in his face. Jackson took the hit, fell back, stayed up, spun off the tackler and appeard to be sprinting to the sidelines away from chasing defenders to throw the ball out of bounds. No, not on this night. Jackson hit Dominic Barnes between the numbers for an 8-yard gain.

If Jackson can continue to play like this and get a little more help from an ineffective running game, the Patriots could be the surprise team in Region 1-AAA.

2) Hello, Worth County. Look forward to seeing you in November. Turner County was 10-3 and one point away from the Final Four in Class A last year and brought back one of the strongest collection of starters in SW Ga. Worth fielded a sophomore QB in his first game and was without the best pure football player in the area from last year, Meshack Williams.

Final Score: Worth 36, Turner 0. Wow.

Give new coach Scotty Ward credit for getting his team ready to play and know that their defense could be among the best in the region with the front four of Justin Tukes, Sherrod Loud, CJ Williams and Jonathan Brown.

3) Never underestimate the coaching ability of Allen Lowe. Last week Lowe saw the problems his Deerfield-Windsor Knights had moving the football against George Walton. He also saw the success they had slowing down a strong GW running game up front in a 16-6 defeat. What does he do? Swaps the offensive and defensive lines almost entirely. Result? Tony Zenon goes over 200 yards and DWS rolls Tattnall Square outgaining them by 254 yards in the first half. Talk about pushing the right buttons.

4) Early County may be back to its old form. The Bobcats have long been one of the top programs in SW Ga., but fell as far off the map as possible last year, going 1-9. It appears a year later they are back. Sure, they lost to Bainbridge on Friday, 38-24, but to hold their own with the Bearcats was pretty impressive. Once they move to Region 1-AA, they may have a shot at securing the last playoff spot in the region with Fitzgerald, Brooks and Thomasville the clear upper echelon right now.

5) This is going to be a fun season. I guess, this doesn’t belong in a list of surprises, but I will admit I was slightly down on many teams in the area looking at them on paper. Not one of the 23 teams The Herald covers were ranked in the Top 10 of the state, except a tie for 10th by Miller County. Yet, what we witnessed from teams like Westover, Worth County, Miller (they beat Albany 35-7), Bainbridge (2-0) and even Americus-Sutmer with an impressive win against Dougherty, made me think there could be some state contenders in this bunch just yet.

Can’t wait to see Week 2 and see what surprises will come next. 

So, I’m just going to put this out there. I was the victim of a horrible crime last night. Pillowcide—Fox 31’s Jana Barnello reports (no dogs were harmed in the filming of this tweet reel). So, to cheer me up (or really to satisfy their own craving) my roommates suggested ice cream, and the ploy worked to perfection.
 

So in the spirit of passing it forward:
 

–I recommend an ice cream stop for the Westwood defense after Nile Knapp rushed for 254 yards and 6 touchdowns on just 11 carries! In the words of a good friend of mine, Nile Knapp is now rated PG-13 for crushing hopes and dreams. I guess there will be no…Knapping…on SGA this year (sorry, had to get that out of the way, now I promise not to use that pun again the rest of the season).
 

–Even ice cream may not fix the wounds at Kendrick, after the Tornadoes rolled to a 40-0 win. Monroe is the Herald’s No.1, but remember they posted shutouts in each of the first three weeks last year, before losing 6 of 7 to end the season. We may have to wait until September 18^th, when the Mean Green travels to Cordele to see what this team is really made of.
 

–Tip o’ the cap to Albany State for a season-opening win on the road. Don’t be fooled, this was a tough trip—the longest of the regular season and on a Thursday to open the year. This ASU team feels like it may have something special up its sleeve in 2009.
 

–Another tip goes to the Albany Herald Staff. The Herald Pigskin Preview is done! Danny Aller, Paul Dehner, and Scott Chancey did a great job putting this thing together! Speaking of Mr. Dehner—you can see he and I in action in this week’s Herald High School Football Tour. Paul and I are on location at Westover high school to breakdown our Game of the Week—Lee County at Westover. We’ll talk about a couple of other games around the area and give our picks.
 

–PS-contrary to my belief when we taped the show, DeAndre Smelter is not suiting up for Tattnall Square tonight against Deerfield-Windsor. Ring Ring, “It’s the Governor, we’ve got a reprieve!” (That’s me pretending to answer the phone in the Deerfield-Windsor locker room…I’m not actually allowed to answer their phone).
 

–Michael Vick made his return to…preseason football last night. The real surprise, the Eagles fans found something to cheer about! The plays were fairly bland, but that’s to be expected. We’ll see how much time he gets when the regular season actually begins.
 

–As for the Falcons, The Scores Report thinks it may have spotted Thomas Dimitroff’s first blunder in the Atlanta front office.
 

–You almost have to feel sorry for the Braves. They just happen to be chasing two of the hottest teams in baseball. That said—crucial win on Thursday heading into what could be a season-defining series at Philadelphia. One things this team has failed to do the last couple of years has been to get that must-win victory to try to keep momentum going. Maybe this year will be different, but time is not on their side.
So that’s the Buzz. Now if only the rain can stop before tonight’s games kick-off. I hate El Nino...time to get some ice cream.   

Quick disclaimer as you read today’s word, I may be crazy or at least struggling to comprehend common logic during this post, but I have an excuse. The High Schoool Pigskin Preview is finally done and you will be able to find it in Friday’s Albany Herald and, of course, all the stories will be online at albanyherald.com

I have sacrificed sleep, sanity and precious Seinfeld watching time to make it happen, you guys better read it! Plus, it’s filled with all the goods you need as football season starts tonight. It even has one coach talking about his desires of a phone with bigger numbers on it for typing.

Regardless, good stuff, plus check over to the site tomorrow and watch myself and Brian Perkins on the Herald Tour as we stopped by Westover to preview the Lee County-Westover game that you chose for the game of the week. H/T to all 102 of you that voted this week — nice turnout for the opener. Pretty sure that is more than the average attendance of Pirates games this month.

And on to the word:

– Last year when I covered Georgia, I had no greater enjoyment than interviewing Rennie Curran. The guy is a quote machine. But, he is more than that. As one player put it, “Rennie just wants to be the best at everything he does.” If that is doing an interview, than, yes, that is what he is going to be the best in the team at. And he is. Macon and Columbus dogs writer David Hale does a great job of summing up this theory (but hopefully not of drafting a fantasy football team) and sharing more in his Anatomy of a Rennie Curran interview blog post.

– The Athens Banner-Herald has a recap of Wednesday’s scrimmage. As Mark Richt said the school’s web release. “We are not ready to beat Oklahoma State.” Shocking revelation. I can’t wait for the day a coach comes out 10 days before a game and says his team is as in midseason form.

– If you love high school football and want to be a more informed person, you should joining the Georgia High School Football Newsletter put together by former AJC preps writer Todd Holcomb among others. It’s pretty incredible, though SW Ga., gets little love on it. They have a list of the Top 10 best games of the weekend up on there. Here is where to go to join.

– Don’t forget, tonight the season opens at Hugh Mills as Dougherty hosts Americus. As a reader commented on my 08.25 Daily Word, don’t sleep on those Trojans. According to Big Benny coach Flowers says the games are won in the trenches and that is where Dougherty will win. Winning at QB would be helpful, too.

– Dougherty will need to win in the trenches against Johnathon Battle. By this time next season he may be the best player in SW Ga. He will be fun to follow tonight. Don’t forget you can also follow the game on Twitter: twitter.com/AlbHealdsports.

– The AJC has a story on the three freshman that will make an impact at Georgia Tech. Where I went to college, that list was of three girls from the all-female dorm. At least, I heard.

–Plenty of GT stuff from that AJC. Including why Johnathan Dwyer is the real deal. Oh, and for the Bulldogs fans, why the Jackets will disappoint.

–The Braves may be shutting down Jason Heyward, much to the delight of Talking Chop. It may not much matter if this recent slide continues.  The Braves not only lost, but gave up 12 runs to the Padres. Depressing stat: In their previous six games prior to the Braves series, the Padres only scored 10 runs.

– One of my favorite blogs is Yahoo.com’s Big League Stew. Here is one of his greatest reoccuring items. My vote would be for: “The St. Louis Cardinals: Now with 50-percent more moustache!”

– Displaced UK coach Billy Gillespie was arrested for a DUI last night in Kentucky. Not good. In his defense, if I were just fired and still living in Kentucky, I would probably drink a lot of bourbon, too. As for his basketball coaching career, it’s time to kiss da baby.

So what do you do when your new puppy not only chews the cord of your laptop charger, causing a false sense of security while you’re writing “The Daily Word,” only to watch your computer go dead — and you subsequently lose everything — just as your about to post???

This was how I felt.

The real question is, if you write a blog, and no one ever sees it, did you really ever write it at all?

I have no idea. But my boy Gino the Ginny might. Meet you at The Crowbar or the Hunka Bunka, Gino!

Anyway, I’ll try to recapture the magic of the first blog by insisting that if there’s ONE link you read today, it’s this one. Then we can all get together at KFC and try their new sandwhich they’re testing in select markets. You know … the one where the buns are made up of (ugh) meat!

I wish I was kidding.

Now, before we get to the meat of ”The Daily Word” (no pun intended … OK, maybe a little pun), let’s hit the hottest sports topic in all of Southwest Georgia this week: high school football.

In today’s paper, read my preview of Calhoun County, which is still trying to cope with the loss of assistant coach Jerome Carter a week ago. Carter, 47, died of a heart attack — and at practice, no less. My heart goes out to Carter’s family and the entire Edison community. Stay strong and practice what Carter always preached to his players: Keep your heads up.

While Americus is at Dougherty; Southland is at Tiftarea; and SGA travels to Westwood to kick off our first full week of prep football coverage Thursday, the rest of the area plays their season openers Friday. That is, everyone but Sherwood. And if you’re interested in the latest Georgia Sportswriters Association prep football poll — as well as a Week 1 schedule for all Southwest Georgia teams — find both right here.

Of course, don’t forget, our annual “Herald High School Pigskin Preview” is due out Friday, headed up by prep football beat writer Paul Dehner Jr., who looks EXACTLY like Trent Dilfer, and NOTHING like actor Seth Rogen, even though he claims the latter. Why? I do not know.

And lastly, the winner of our Game of the Week contest – after three days of voting by you, the readers — was Westover vs. Lee County with 61% of the vote over Turner County at Worth County. And remember, next week’s GOTW poll will go up Saturday morning and will have two choices for you to vote on. Votes will be tallied Tueday at noon, with our winner announced in the next day’s paper. And of course, you can only vote at the albanyherald.com sports page.

Now onto “The Daily Word” …

*** Let’s begin by staying local, while simultaneously going far, far out West. That’s where former Lee County and FSU baseball star Buster Posey is waiting in the wings with the San Francisco Giants’ AAA club in Fresno, Calif., hitting .303. Last week, The Herald reported that Posey wasn’t going to get called up the majors this year, but would likely be the first call the Giants made in 2010. Only now it appears that Posey — a catcher — suddenly may have to compete with the guy everyone thought was on his way out to make room for Posey: Current Giants starting catcher Bengie Molina. That’s because Molina just asked for a new, two-year contract, and the Giants haven’t said no just yet. 

Very, very interesting.

*** Elsewhere, the Braves lost a 12-inning snoozer Tuesday to the last-place Padres. That can’t be good for their wild-card hopes. Though, at least they weren’t tipping pitches like ex-Brave/ex-Red Sox/current Cardinal, John Smoltz.

*** The embattled South African athlete who is having her gender questioned by the rest of ther world, Caster Semenya, returns to a hero’s welcome in her own country. BTW, not to cast doubt about her assertion she is, in fact, a woman, but this story about her raises some serious questions. Anyone remember former world and Olympic champion German shotputter Heidi Krieger? I didn’t, but apparently Heidi — who later became Andreas, a man — had the same “dopey” coach as Semenya. I’m not sayin’ … I’m just sayin’.

*** In college football, Georgia Tech tries to stop fumbling. And how about this? The same is also true for the Seminoles. Additionally, the New York Times maybe has the most in-depth preview of any football team I have ever seen, and this one just so happens to be on Georgia. If you read this entire thing top to bottom, then you may end up like this kid. “Yes, this is real life” (the 30-second mark).

As for Auburn, still no firegenechizik.com Web site up yet (give it time), but at one key player is already sick — with the flu, that is.

*** In the NFL, Michael Vick may have already violated the terms of his probation by gettin’ on that ‘Goose; the Lions are trying not to rush “Bonus Baby” Matt Stafford; and the Cowboys may have just built the worst, monstrosity of a stadium EVER. Whatever you do … just don’t get these seats.

**Now time for the “Daily dose of Deadspin”:

- Heat rookie star Michael Beasley has lost his marbles. And apparently so has Eagles OL Shawn Andrews.
- Mets pitcher Johan Santana is the latest to suffer the SI curse.
- Some kid in the LLWS asks his coach for permission to plunk a batter (video included).
- Yankees star Derek Jeter is still a major PLAYA! But as for Jets QB Mark Sanchez? Ummm … not so much.

** And finally, here’s a self-serving link to my latest cover story I wrote for BLUFF Magazine, the world’s leading poker publication. This one’s on three-bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro, an Aussie who captured three World Series of Poker bracelets during the recent WSOP that just ended in Vegas, becoming only the second player in history to do so. It’s in bookstores and on magazine racks everywhere right now, so check it out!

Hopefully I made my boy Gino the Ginny proud!

First off, want to say how great it has been to see the Comments section lighting up on the blog. I know we were gone for quite a while, but it is great to know that people are enjoying the work we put into keeping this fun, entertaining and informative everyday.

A particular shout out goes to Wigham Worm. Not only for making a Simpsons reference, but for the longest comment post in the history of Herald blog! Could not agree more in your comments about the dirty sock John Calipari has become but in the fact his actions are also a reflection of the direction basketball has devolved to these days.

In the same vein, how am I to know you didn’t pay somebody to write that post for you Wigham Worm, if that’s even your real name!?

Anyway, keep the comments coming and we will keep talking about what you are talking about. Right now, obviously, that is football.

Here’s the word:

– Unfortunately, an injury has ended the career of Georgia redshirt freshman tight end Bryce Ros.

– David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press has some nuggets on UGA’s freshman wideouts Marlon Brown and Rantatvious Wooten being expected to contribute. The meteoric rise of A.J. Green is likely why Brown committed to UGA. Now, it is set up to be the same reason he could be viewed as an underachiever. Of course, I believe he will look more like this before his career is said in done in Athens.

– Of course, David Hale of the Macon Telegraph, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and undeniable blogging manimal, has this story on Georgia kicking up the intensity of practices.

– David also has this interesting nugget about Orson Charles from his mailbag. Remember, when you control the mail, you control…..information!

– If you are interested in going to the FSU-Miami game in two weeks, don’t worry, there are plenty of tickets left. And Andrew Carter of the Orlando Sentinel gives you five good reasons why it is not.

– The AJC’s Tony Barnhart delivers the five players that will be missed most in the ACC this year. The first name that came to mind for me was the first name on the top of his list. In fact, that name may be a small reason why you can easily find tickets to FSU’s opener.

– Smooth dresser and even smoother writer, Coley Harvey, of the Macon Telegraph gives an outlook on Georgia Tech’s game against Virginia Tech.

– Coley also issues this gem on race that has gotten the masses talking in Macon.

– More on the local side, Albany State is using every inch of its depth at running back. The good news is, the backups appear to be responding well. The bad news? Anthony Baker doesn’t seem to want to put a shirt on.

– Also, look tomorrow for Scott Chancey and Brian Perkins in the debut of the Albany State football show, where Scott and Brian discuss all things Albany St. football and chat with a guest. It will be running every Wednesday throughout the season.

– Only three more days until the full slate of high school football season officially kicks off. It looks like our Game of the Week is going to be Lee County at Westover, so look out on Friday for Brian and I shooting from Patriots practice. Thanks to everyone who voted, you guys really showed up and started stuffing that ballot box. I know there have been some complaints about the speed of download of the show. It seems some computers have had less problems than others, but know that we are looking into it and don’t go giving up on us yet!

– Also, the Herald Pigskin Preview for high school football comes out on Friday. It will have our first Top 5 area poll of the year. Look for Miller County to be in there somewhere. Here is their preview.

– Don’t forget, Thursday game at Hugh Mills this week as Dougherty hosts Americus. Last year the game between these two won our award for best finish of the season. Now, you don’t want to make the same mistake twice and miss this one, too, do you?

–Um, if you didn’t see the end of the Colorado-San Francisco game late last night, do so. Now. Walk-off grand slam in Coors. They sure have had some special moments there in the last few years. I still remember watching that epic slide into home in the 15th inning to make the playoffs two years ago.

– Also, while we are on baseball and picking random topics….why are there no left-handed catchers?

– Back to Colorado…they have pushed Atlanta to 4 1/2 back with little over a month to go. The window is closing. But as Mark Bowman at MLB.com points out, history infers they are far from eliminated.

– For anybody that wants to feel what it is like to be me for about 10 minutes — without holding a bottle of Vodka in one hand and Rogaine in the other — this is a nice (by nice I mean utterly depressing) look at the football team that has ruined my life for the past 19 years.

– I have always been partial to old TV theme songs. Esquire looks at a few of the greats. In my book, the no-brainer: Charles in Charge. Most underrated: Perfect Strangers. Standing tall! On the wings of my dreams!!

Maybe it’s possible to have a happy Monday, after all.

The Yankees are beating the Red Sox, the Braves are beating the Marlins, football season is upon us. All is right with the world.

Want to know what all happened in the world of sports on this day in the past? Check here.  Wow, according to that, Pete Rose was banned from baseball for gambling 20 years ago today. Happy anniversary, right? Here’s a story by the Cincinnati Enquirer on Rose. Does Rose have any remorse? It’s hard to tell. He looked SO caught off guard while being pressed in an interview on his gambling at the 1999 World Series. And then Rose years later admits to betting on baseball only to help sell a book by him? He was a heck of a baseball player. That’s about the only thing I can say good about him.

Now, onto better news.

Michelle Wie found her game while the U.S women retained the Solheim Cup Sunday. For all the times she faltered against the men on the PGA Tour, those times she choked down the stretch while contending for a women’s major… AND especially this time when she was disqualified for failing to sign her scorecard, maybe her game is coming full circle. For all the talk about her being an underachiever, just remember — she is only 19 years old. She still can become one of the greatest female golfers of all time.

Onto the local front. Be sure to check out The Herald’s “High School Pigskin Preview,” which comes out Friday. Meanwhile, check out Matt Stewart’s preview on Southland Academy’s football team, which focuses on the Raiders looking for new solutions after they get a new coach, quarterback and offensive coordinator.  The full prep season begins this week, as well Albany State’s. The Rams open the season Thursday at Chowan, and it looks like they will be having to stop the pass.

Moving onto the Falcons, here’s a story on RB Michael Turner. Mark this down… the Atlanta Falcons will win the Super Bowl within the next three years. Sure, QB Matt Ryan and Turner will be among the reasons, but the main reason is the NFL’s modern draft whiz kid in Thomas Dimitroff. All he has is two Super Bowl championship rings from being the director of college scouting with the Patriots. Want to know how the Patriots sought out Albany native and eventual Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch to draft him in the second round? Dimitroff knew who he was and made sure New England did. Dimitroff has that innate ability to see players who can be difference makers. Dimitroff was the reason the Falcons signed Turner as a free agent, and he was the reason the Falcons drafted Ryan. Bottom line, Dimitroff knows talent and potential when he sees it, and that will be the reason the Falcons will be THE team of the next decade.

And so much for John Smoltz’s demise, right? All Smoltz did was strike out nine batters in his first game for St. Louis. Smoltz is one of the nicest guys in baseball. I think he would be better suited as a reliever to take pressure off that arm of his WHICH could go out at any time. But at least Sunday was a vintage moment for him.

Now, onto UGA, Tech, Auburn and FSU.

First, the Bulldogs. The Bleacher Report ponders where coach Mark Richt ranks among all the coaches in the program’s history. And when I first heard that Joe Cox was going to be the quarterback this year, I didn’t panic at all. In 2005, the Bulldogs had a new QB in D.J. Shockley and a solid offensive line. This year? The Bulldogs have perhaps their best offensive line since then. So, when I saw this Macon Telegraph story about Cox and Shockley talking to each other, it only makes sense. Don’t be surprised if Cox does what Shockley did. Now if Willie Martinez can only improve that defense. Two bright spots from that unit, so far, are Bainbridge native Darryl Gamble and Rennie Curran.

Now, onto Tech. Revered columnist Furman Bisher of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution has a great column on Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson. And here, the Macon Telegraph writes about the higher expectations by Tech. Here’s another Telegraph story on how Tech is using last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl loss against LSU as motivation.

From Atlanta to the Plains.. here we go. At Auburn, here is a story by the Birmingham News on Auburn fine-tuning its 2:00 offense. Funny, that wasn’t as much a problem last season as it was holding onto early double-digit leads. And as the regular season approaches, teams try to simulate game situations. Auburn is no different.

What’s up in Tallahassee? All that bleeds Garnet n’ Gold can be found right here. The Tallahassee Democrat’s Steve Ellis has a story on starting QB Christian Ponder. He also blogs about how FSU’s offense is coming along. And here’s a story by the Palm Beach Post on the talented — yet sometimes troublesome — crop of Seminoles receivers. One of their best receivers is just a sophomore, Bert Reed, who hopefully by now decided that going to class is a good thing. And here’s a story by the Orlando Sentinel’s Andrew Carter that is on the Seminoles’ defensive interior.

Be sure to check out www.albanyherald.com and vote on our sports page for which game you want our prep writer Paul Dehner Jr. to cover. Do you want him in Worth County to cover the Rams’ game against Turner County or at Hugh Mills Stadium, where Westover is hosting Lee County? By now, hopefully you’re awake enough to cast your vote.

And now to get you fired up for Monday, here’s a cue from Georgia’s marching band.

Now… GO GET ‘EM!!!

TGIF! (and I officially have a new ring tone) It is the first Friday of high school football season, and I’m not going to lie, I already feel better. I hope you’ve checked out the Albany Herald Tour Debut—I’m nothing if not a company man—Paul Dehner and I breakdown this week’s slate of games, including our Game of the Week: Deerfield-Windsor vs. George Walton (it takes a bit of time to load, but well worth the wait). It’s a comeback of sorts for me—returning to cover local sports, which begs the question: Who will have the worst comeback of the fall season? If you prefer some old-fashioned reading—here are a couple of previews for the Knights and Randolph Southern, who also opens the season tonight.

Even if you’re not a high school football fan, you know today means we’re just a little closer to the start of the college and NFL slates. How confident are the Pittsburg Steelers? Well, the coach and kicker have taken to just toying with people’s emotions.

Tip of the cap to Bleacher Report for this team by team analysis. If there were a song for my fantasy football team, it would be the emergency broadcast system alert—only my team isn’t a test…it’s the best I could do…sigh.

David Hale, and most of Bulldog nation, hopes that Georgia’s defense can do a little better stopping mobile quarterbacks.

For that matter, not to make light of a serious budget situation, maybe the school could do a little better planning furloughs.

5-1 against defending national champs. Wow. Of course, I still would list Florida at least in the top 10 of most feared games on the Bulldogs schedule.

For you Tech fans, the New York Times, has a pretty in-depth look at what 2009 will hold for the Ramblin’ Wreck. My two-cents, this was one of my favorite teams to watch last year, and I expect nothing less this year. That Tech-UGA showdown should be another classic.

Georgia’s Men’s Hoop schedule is out.

Speaking of Men’s Hoops. Memphis and Coach Calipari are deadlocked in a best of five series—who will be the next to have a Final Four appearance erased from the books. PS—we are an amazing Kansas comeback away from having no National Champion in 2008.

Enjoy some high school football tonight. See you next week!

Happy Thursday folks, may your day be better than Plaxico Burress’.  Speaking of catching a charge, I got to check out the second episode of Hard Knocks with my Cincinnati Bengals on HBO last night.

Quick favorite moment: When a media relations specialist came in to give the team a class on protecting its image in the community, Tank Johnson raises his hand. (Check out his rap sheet here, scroll down to “Legal Troubles”)

Tank: Is there a way that whenever people search your name on Google it can bring up all your good stuff instead of all your charges?

Woman: Good question. No.

Tank: Damn.

At some points you wish your favorite team would ditch its image as the Inmates team from The Longest Yard. Other times it makes your day.

 On to today’s word.  —      After least season’s offensive line injury charade, UGA hopes the Ben Jones injury is not a trend. Jones was one of the biggest bright spots of the rash of injuries on the line last year. His return at center along with Trinton Sturdivant coming back healthy will be engine that makes this year’s Bulldogs go. Turns out Jones’ injury is not serious.

—      Also, the Dogs hope Rod Battle’s scrimmage success rushing the quarterback could put a fix on the defensive end issue.

—      David Pashcall at the Chattanooga Times-Press breaks down the Dogs secondary.

—      Because I can’t resist a Seinfeld reference (particularly this one): Gotta love that T-Boone!

—     Great to see a comment from a reader yesterday. Keep letting us know what you think of the word as you keep popping back. Don’t worry, we are well aware of that Georgia Tech has a team this year. By the way, in case anybody forgot, they are ranked above the Bulldogs.  

—      Everyone’s favorite Georgia Tech beat writer, Macon’s Coley Harvey, lets us know about the Jackets’ defensive line. Particularly its recovery from losing three players to the NFL. —      The Jackets hoops team is going to take off, eh. Hosers. Say hello to Mike Myers for me.

—      MLB.com talks about the Atlanta Braves’ Garret Anderson getting his groove back. Not only did they take off of one of my favorite movie titles of all time, but points out what a great signing Anderson was. Aren’t you glad you didn’t get Ken Griffey Jr. now? —     John Smoltz likely to start on Sunday for the Cardinals. —      Do the Astros have a drug problem?

—      Mark it down: If John Calipari takes over your program, he will leave it in a pile of rubble. UMass, now Memphis. Oh boy, I will be like a little boy on Christmas when he takes down The Judds. Sorry, no those Judds, these Judds.