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Monday, March 31, 2008

Oh Braves, not again

Well, it's that wonderful time of year again. The grass is freshly cut and smelling great, the weather is turning warm to stay, and Atlanta's pastime is back in action. On Sunday night, the Braves played the role of sacrificial lamb in Washington as the Nationals won it on Ryan Zimmerman's home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the first ever game in their new stadium. You just knew that when the Braves tied it up late in the game that the baseball Gods would not let Washington's first game in their new house end that way.

The last time that the Braves were in such a position (to the best of my memory, that is) was after 9-11, when the first games after the tragedy were played. The Braves were in New York to take on the Mets, and I don't think anyone had a problem pulling for the Mets that night. As fate would have it, the face of Mets baseball, Mike Piazza, won it for the home team that night, giving the Big Apple the shot in the arm it needed.

After a suspect first inning last night, Tim Hudson settled in for a long stretch of fantastic pitching. Late in the game, the Braves tied, but the bullpen gave up the game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th to Washington.

On to Monday. Atlanta hosted Pittsburgh in the home opener, and the homecoming for Tom Glavine. As much dislike as I have acquired for Tommy since he spurned the Braves for an extra $6 million dollars to go to rival New York (when you are as rich as he is, can you really put a price tag on staying home?), it was good to see him back in Atlanta. He looked good too. He left with a game intact that the bullpen could win. But for the second straight night, the bullpen faltered.

What looked to be a lost cause being down 9-4 in the bottom of the 9th, the Braves not only rallied with those powerful bats, but with help from Pittsburgh's own attempt to give the game away, as well as a little luck (Jason Bay "misjudging" the ball with 2 outs).

But even after giving up the lead and allowing the Pirates to pad a huge lead, then letting the offense get back into the game, the bullpen once again showed its cracks, allowing a 3 run home run in the top of the 12th to put Pittsburgh ahead for good. Ultimately, the Braves fell 12-11 in 12 innings.

So a team that many are predicting to be NL East Champions, NL Champions, perhaps even World Series Champions is now 0-2, granted that those 2 losses were very close and hard fought battles down to the very end. It is very early yet.

But I am worried. I have been a Braves fan for as long as I was competent enough to watch and understand baseball. I have followed this team for years. I loved the run of division titles and probably did take them for granted. Now 2 years without playoff appearances has me restless. The main struggle that the past 2 Atlanta teams have dealt with would be bullpen pitching. This year, the pitching from top to bottom has been revamped, and they are now deep enough to make a deep playoff run. But after 2 losses in which the bullpen failed to hold for the powerful offense, I am beginning to question just a little. Is this the same bullpen of 2006 and 2007? Are we in for the same roller coaster ride once Hudson, Smoltz, Hampton, Glavine, or whoever the starter may be, leaves the game? This offense is talented enough to put up runs whenever it is asked to do such. It just doesn't need to do it multiple times a game after the 'pen has placed the team in a hole.

This is supposed to be a new Braves lineup, but so far the same faults and imperfections that have cost the team the past 2 seasons have cost them 2 victories on this young season. Let's just hope it's early season growing pains, and that the Braves turn things around quickly to get back to the summit of the NL East.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Georgia Bulldogs Pull off the Improbable

(AP Photo/Phil Coale)

The University of Georgia Bulldogs Basketball team accomplished one of the, if the not the most remarkable feats in SEC Tournament history. The team played four total games in order to grab the SEC Tournament Championship. Led by Sundiata Gaines, the Bulldogs played some inspired basketball and pulled off some late game heroics to win their games. In the first game it was an unexpected bank shot by Senior Center, Dave Bliss and in the second game it was yet another unexpected 3-point shot by Freshman Guard, Zac Swansey. The Third game was played against the Western Conference Champs, Mississippi State. This game would prove to be difficult as the Georgia Bulldogs had to play just hours after beating Kentucky(for the first time in tournament history). The Bulldogs were forced into this position by SEC officials because of the tornadic activity causing damage to the Georgia Dome the night before. The tournament was transferred to Alexander Memorial Colosseum on the Georgia Tech campus with limited amount of people allowed into the venue because of "security issues" and fairness complications. People allowed to attend included credentialed media members, Pep bands, cheerleaders, and family of the players. The atmosphere inside the basketball arena was weird to say the least. With all these problems the Bulldogs somehow pulled a win out, even with Gaines fouling out again. Luckily the team would have to play the Arkansas Razorbacks for the Championship game, instead of the Tennessee Volunteers. The Razorbacks had beat the Volunteers by one-point previous to Georgia beating Mississippi State. The Georgia team had made it to far to lose to the Razorbacks in the finals. With more fan support the Bulldogs never trailed in the final game and even had a largest lead of 19 points. The Razorbacks made it interesting by coming within three points toward the end of the game, but it was determination that won it for the Bulldogs.

(AP Photo/Phil Coale)

As a fan, the SEC Tournament was one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever witnessed. I sat on my couch with my eyes glued to the T.V. After the doubleheader on Saturday I was excited to watch Sportscenter hoping they would cover the story about the two games and in fact it was the first story they showed. I was glad that the Georgia Basketball team was getting national attention. Georgia Basketball has been a sore subject for some years and now something positive was coming out of the program. This tourney was for all the fans who have stuck out all the bad times that go along with being a Georgia Basketball fan. I have to admit that although I am a season ticket holder I did not attend every game this season because of the disappointment that came with the season, but now I feel more excited about the future. It hurts that Sundiata Gaines, the soul of our team, will be leaving and Dave Bliss also. Dave Bliss may not of been most talented of centers in College Basketball, but he sure has heart. He is a consistent player with a high basketball IQ. Sundiata Gaines I think is the most underrated player in the SEC and I am sure many Georgia fans would agree. I was happy to see him finally get a reward for his hard work. He gave so much to the program and it would have been a shame to see his efforts wasted. I think most of the credit goes to him. Thanks Yatta! Thanks Bliss! Good luck to them in their future endeavours.

I must also thank all the other players on the team and I will list what I think they contribute to the team(now and in the future):

Terrance Woodbury - In the tournament he proved to be a good 3-point shooter that pulled out some clutch shots. When Billy Humphrey was struggling Woodbury stepped it up. I think he provides us with an experienced G/F. We will need him next year to support our inexperienced PG.

Billy Humphrey - He struggled in the tournament, but made some crucial shots in the Championship game. He will be our starting SG next year if he can stay out of trouble. I like him when he is on his shot. He also has experience.

Albert Jackson- I don't know what he did, but he looked much improved in the tourney. Although at times he reverted to his usual play, I feel like he is developing. I liked to see the nice hook shots he made in the games. He still needs to work on his post moves and he also needs to learn not to travel as much, but he proved that he is improving.

Jeremy Price - He did not stand out much in the tournament, but he definitely made his shots and provided a big body for the defense. Throughout the season I like what I have seen from him because he definitely knows how to play basketball. I will enjoy seeing how he plays next season with more minutes.

Zac Swansey - He provided a shot that kept us in it and took over for Sundiata at times. We needed him especially when Yatta fouled out. I like him as our backup PG now and trust him to be our future PG. He handles the ball well and is a pass first guard.

Corey Bulter - I do not think people would guess he is a walk-on...he is that good. He deserves a scholarship. He plays well and tough. He is one of those players that fans like because of his effort.

Troy Brewer- I enjoy seeing him make 3-pointers. I think he will be important in our shooting game when we need to some shots from the outside. We will see more from him next season.

Chris Barnes and Jeremy Jacob - They both are injured, which hurts us because we only have 9 players total to play our games. From what they showed this season, I think that they will definitely develop into solid players for our team.

Extra thoughts:

1) I have to credit our great defense in the tourney. We may not have a prolific offense, but we sure showed that we can defend with the best of 'em. It got us into foul trouble at times, but I think we can work out the kinks and defend well in the tourney as well as next year.

2) I am looking forward to our next year recruits. Howard Thompkins will be a great addition to our front court. From what I have heard/seen about Dustin Ware, I think he will definitely battle Swansey for the starting PG position. He sounds like a really good player. The other recruit Drazen Zlovaric is a PF and will add depth to that position.

3) I think that we have pretty good chance of upsetting Xavier and maybe even winning our second round game(maybe go all the way!!!) because we are playing with nothing to lose. Of course as a Georgia fan I think we could beat anyone and hope we beat everyone and win the National Championship...now wouldn't that be a great story. Then it would be made into a great inspirational movie 10 years down the road.

4) Before the SEC tourney I wanted Dennis Felton gone, now I am not sure. He will retain his job according to Damon Evans. I think that after what has happened he deserves another year, but if progress is not made he should be released.

Thanks for reading if you made it all the way through.

-Ryan

(AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Monday, March 10, 2008

WUOG Visits Braves Spring Training

Greetings and salutations from Tim Kohrumel and Ryan Evans, who will be giving you an inside look at the Braves Spring Training for the next few days here at the Disney Wide World of Sports.

Let's start you off with the accommodations--Ron Burgendy would have lived it up big here at the Ramada where renovations have been non-existent since the disco era. But that gives it character.

Today was a day game with Jair Jurrjens taking the mound for his second start of the spring season. He looked solid, only giving up one hit in 4 innings. Detroit is going to be sorry for giving up this guy. He'll be a part of the 5-man rotation for sure.

Other things of note include old timer Javy Lopez getting his second homer of the spring...which also happened to be his second hit of the season. If he only gets homers for hits, that might be enough to give him a backup spot behind McCann. But that's probably unlikely at this point because he is hitting below .200 and his defense has been shakey. He admitted that he's pressing, but maybe Frank Wren will throw him a bone and give him a minor league contract in the meantime.

Jordan Schafer also is continuing to impress. He ended up with a double and two walks today, so the pop in his bat is continuing to...well, pop. Yes. Pop. He'll still play behind Kotsay this season, but he'll definitely be the starting center fielder in a year.

We were fortunate enough to sit behind the rarest of all baseball fans - the fan of both teams. He routinely would cheer for each batter, yelling "This is our inning! Get some RBIs!" only to cheer when the opposing team made an out. And as you would expect of a man of 60+, he was wearing his vintage Atlantic City hat sideways. Good thing the stereotypical Braves fan is apathetic, otherwise there would have been a bloodbath.

There was also the obligatory drunk and obnoxious Cubs fan there wearing Top Gun style mirrored aviators. Not sure if he knew where he was or who was playing. There was a "Massh*le" sitting in front of us (pardon the french) wearing a Red Sox shirt. Maybe those two guys were going to Epcot together tomorrow.

Words of warning to those of you wanting to come catch some spring training action. 1) Wear sunscreen and apply it evenly. Tim has a phallic looking sun burn running the length of his arm. He's not pleased. 2) If you are looking to try any local brews here in Florida, you are SOL. We've been to two bars/restaurants and the most eccentric beer choice is a Boston Lager and a Corona Light (this sadly includes the ESPN Club). Score dudez! Who wants a Bud Heavy and watch some NASCAR??? 3) If you really think there is some chance in this world that a hot trio of blonde females between the ages of 18-25 will be at spring training baseball games, you are going to be extremely disappointed. Women like Erin Andrews don't actually exist in the real world.

So tomorrow night, we'll shamelessly compete with 12 year-olds for autographs as we continue bringing you the inside scoop from Disney's Wide World of Sports. We'll leave you with a few pictures that I hope you'll enjoy.