Baseline to Baseline

Today I want to focus on a few topics including college baseball, the Hawks future, and of course some college football.  So here goes...

Big Week for the Dogs

The University of Georgia Diamond Dogs emBARK on the biggest week of the year so far this season.  With Georgia Tech on Wednesday night at home and then a trip to play second place Vanderbilt in Nashville this weekend, we will find out just how ready this team is to challenge for a championship.  The Dogs can virtually clinch hosting a regional with a sweep of the week.  If they play decent then they should sew up the eastern division championship.

Hawks Future

The future seems to be very bright for a young Hawks team that challenged the Celtics in their first round playoff loss to what had been described as the best team in the NBA this season.  With Billy Knight "resigning" this morning, it will interesting to see what direction the new GM takes in regard to the talent on the team and especially coach Mike Woodson.  I have not been a big fan of Woodsons in the past, but he has seemed to save his job by getting this team to the playoffs and with a great showing in those playoffs.  Priority one is deciding whether or not to resign Josh Smith and Josh Childress.  If they resign both then it would seem that Marvin Wiliams may be the odd man out.  The Hawks need another big man so Al Horford can move back to his natural position of PF.  A consistent outside shooter off the bench would also be a major piece to the puzzle.  The future looks bright for years to come for the Hawks.

College Football

So, Tony Barnhart has picked UGA as his spring #1 team in the nation.  WHO CARES. Its freakin May.  Anything can happen over the summer and early in fall practice.  I think we should wait at least until fall practice begins to start picking who will be the best of the best.  Actually I would love it if they waited until about four weeks in to the season before they came out with the first polls.  But its these preseason polls that have many people biased about which teams they think will be the best.  I do believe UGA will have a very good team and hopefully a dream season.  But it is way to early to tell.

Odds and Ends

Just a few thoughts that have been swimming around in my big head

Falcons Draft

I thought that coach Mike Smith and GM Thomas Dimitroff wanted to build this team from the inside out.  I thought that meant building the offensive and defensive lines and then addressing other needs.  With big DT Glenn Dorsey sitting there the Falcons take "The new face of the franchise" Matt Ryan.  Then they trade up and take OT Sam Baker from USC.  I thought they would have been better served taking Dorsey at three and then Baker in the second round.  They had three second round picks and could have easily still picked either Brian Brohm or Chad Henne.  Would have loved to see Dorsey, Brohm, and Baker standing at the press conference holding up those jerseys.  At any rate I will still pull hard for Matt Ryan and the Falcons.

Hawks Playoff Run

Well break up the Hawks.  After looking dead in the water after two games in Boston, the Hawks have shown they still have some fight left in them by evening the series 2-2.  Joe Johnson absolutely took over in the 4th quarter of game 4.  And Josh Smith is becoming the best player you never heard of.  If he would just quit taking those outside shots.  The Hawks will be a team to be reckoned with for the next few years if they can acquire a consistent outside shooter.

Diamond Dogs

Folks, if you have never been to a University of Georgia baseball game you have missed out.  I have'nt been to a Braves game in years, but have been to Foley Field to catch the dogs on numerous occasions the past few years. Its only two hours away and a great family atmosphere.  The tickets are very affordable($6 for reserved seats and $3 for general admission), the food is always good and much less than Turner Field.  And the Diamond Dogs are having one heck of a season.  They are ranked in the top 10 in most polls and lead the SEC East with only a few weeks of regular season play left.  They have 7 regular season home games left so get out and support  the Diamond Dogs.  Hopefully another College World Series appearance is on the Horizon.

Who is the Best Athlete in Atlanta Sports History

While lying on my couch watching John Smoltz notch his 3000th strikeout, I began to ponder who might be the greatest athlete in Atlanta pro sports history.   I am really talking the big three sports...football, basketball, and baseball.  Hockey and possibly soccer can also be included, but dont get the same coverage as the other three sports.  Is it Smoltz?  Dominique Wilkins, Hank Aaron, Michael Vick?  The Human highlight reel, Dominique would be my choice, followed closely by Aaron.  Smoltz is an amazing athlete as well. 

 Well folks...I want to hear from you.  Who do you think is the best athlete to ever wear a Braves, Falcons, or Hawks jersey? 

Back To The Days Of Superbowl Blowouts

     As I sit and write this,  the line on the Superbowl continues to fall and I don'tknow why.  After the conference championship games the line opened up at New England -14.  It is now down to 11 1/2 and I expect it to level off at 10.  Apparently people have forgotten how explosive this New England offense can be when the weather is good.  Last time I checked, the weather in Phoenix is perfect.  The Pats will roll.  Remember those days of the Superbowl blowouts.  Washington destroyed Denver.  The Bears ripped the Patriots.  The 49ers drilled the Chargers.  Well folks, we are about to add another one to the list.  Heres why.

     The coaching matchup is a mismatch.  Give Bill Belichek two weeks to prepare a gameplan and you can take it to the bank.  Tom Coughlin is a competant coach, but he is simply outclassed in this matchup.  Not to mention the fact that his players don't respect or like him very much.

     The New England offense is the most explosive offense we have seen in some time.  The only thing that slowed them down was the weather.  The Pats had to run the ball more as the temps fell.  The weather in Phoenix resembles the weather early in the season.  You know, when the Pats were scoring points in bunches.  New England will open up the offense and score early and often.  Tom Brady is the best QB in the business.  The high ankle sprain should'nt affect him much by gametime. Randy  Moss,  Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney, and  Benjamin Watson are part of the most explosive and deepest receiving core EVER.  The Giants pretty much rely on Plaxico Burress.  .  Amani Toomer and Steve Smith are reliable but underutilized receivers.  Eli Manning is a wild card.  He has been playing lights out the last month and a half.  But I think he will wilt under the enormous spotlight that is the Superbowl and throw a few picks. 

     The Giants do have a slight edge in the running game.  Brandon Jacobs is a big, deceptively quick back.  He will have a decent first half.  Maroney and Faulk are a good combo, but are used primarily as receivers out of the backfield.

     Finally the Pats have a tremendous will to win.  This team just refuses to lose.  When you think of a professional football franchise, this team exemplifies that trait.  New England will deal the Giants an early blow and continue to pour it on.  My prediction...New England Patriots 44 - New York Giants 17.  Congratulations to the undefeated Patriots, perhaps the greatest football team ever assembled.

BCS BS Aside, Lets Take A Look At The Craziest College Football Season Ever

Now that the college football season is officially over, I think it would be eye opening to take a look at the six BCS conferences and rank them in order of overall strength.  I understand that this is very subjective, and will hopefully stir a ton of debate.  Oh well, might as well dive right in.

#1 SEC...LSU wins the BCS championship and UGA finishes #2 in the final AP poll.  This conference is so deep and competitive that it sent nine teams to bowl games with seven teams winning their respective bowls.  The rugged week to week match-ups with their conference brethren does take a toll, but it also has these teams prepared and battle tested when they step up to bowl games.

#2 Big 12...With Oklahoma winning the Big 12 and Kansas also securing a BCS bowl berth, this conference moved closer to the top than they have been in a long time.  Missouri probably should have made a BCS game and Texas had an up and down year but rebounded nicely in their bowl game.  This conference should continue to provide some thrilling match-ups next season as well, as most of the talent in the entire Big 12 will be back next season.

#3 Pac 10...I have never been a big fan of Pac 10 football(maybe its that whole east coast bias thing), but the Pac 10 proved they were more than just a one team league this season.  Of course USC is the class of the Pac 10, once again winning the conference and sporting the best roster of athletes in the nation.  When Oregon was healthy, they were one of the elite teams in all of college football.  Arizona St was in or around the top ten all season.

#4 Big 10...The Big 10 does not play the prettiest style of football in the country, but it works for them.  Ohio St once again wins the conference in a down year, but fell flat once again to the overall team speed and athleticism of a superior SEC team.  Michigan bounced back from the season opening upset loss to have a solid season.  Illinois proved they were ready to step up and challenge the big two in the league.  Wisconsin, Michigan St and Penn St all had solid seasons as well.

#5 ACC...Virginia Tech was easily the best team in the ACC this season winning another conference title.  Clemson, Boston College, and Virginia all had solid seasons as well.  Boy it sure would be nice to see Miami and Florida St bounce back soon.  This would one of the most competitive conferences around if that would happen.

#6 Big East...West Virginia came within an eyelash of playing for the BCS championship this year. UConn, Rutgers, and South Florida had good years as well.  Hopefully the Big East can continue to make strides as far as the depth of good teams in the conference and Louisville can bounce back as well to make this a better league.

Well, there you have it.  This is only my opinion and sure I will get lots of disagreement and debate on this.  Great!!!  That is exactly what I am looking for!!  Lets have fun with this and look for my next blog.  Any ideas  you guys would like to talk about will certainly be taken under consideration.