21 Aug
What took so long?
Hank Aaron of Mobile joins state’s Academy of Honor- al.com
Hard to believe there are a hundred Alabamians more deserving.
Hank Aaron of Mobile joins state’s Academy of Honor- al.com
Hard to believe there are a hundred Alabamians more deserving.
I am sure the first 45 have something to do with football and/or related to Bear Bryant.
(11 days till football, I couldn’t resist!)
August 21st, 2007 at 9:53 amI’m surprised Nick Saban hasn’t yet made the list.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:55 amI wonder how many of them are “prized recruits” by the University of Alabama
August 21st, 2007 at 10:02 amCarrying on from the last thread, I’m starting to see Vanderbilt as a legitimate opponent for Florida in football, and they’re already tough in basketball, and they kill Florida in baseball. They’re definitely on the way up…
August 21st, 2007 at 10:02 amGoing back to the “Face of the Braves” issue. Henry Aaron, as long as he lives, will be the face of the Braves, just as Stan Musial is the face of the Cardinals.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:11 amRob,
We’ve still got a lot of work to do in football, but it’s definitely on the upswing. This year’s team should be pretty good, but we’ll graduate a lot of our starters (and Earl Bennett may go pro), making next year’s team pretty inexperienced and, I have to think, much weaker. Don’t know that we will ever be good, year-in and year-out, at football—it just takes so many quality scholarship athletes to build a consistent winner, and that’s tough for our coaches to provide, given the University’s academic restrictions. Still, a bowl game more than once every 25 years (and counting) would be nice and should be doable.
As for basketball, we should be able to put out a consistent winner. I think Stallings may finally be starting to turn the corner in recruiting, which would be huge. The man can certainly coach.
And baseball, well, we turned into a national power almost overnight. The recruits are pouring in. Another season or two of success, and the program will hopefully be self-sufficient enough that keeping Corbin here won’t be so critical.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:18 amI think every team in the SEC east will go bowling
August 21st, 2007 at 10:21 amwhat is a respectable outing for Reyes tonight? Just want a quality start? The kid has proved that he can pitch in the minors. Now that this is his 2nd chance in the majors this year, would it be considered a setback if he struggles again tonight?
August 21st, 2007 at 10:30 amHere is what ESPN had to say about the Reds’ pitcher last night, Some Guy:
“Dumatrait retired only six batters for the second consecutive start. In his last two starts, Dumatrait has given up 13 runs in four innings.”
This is what Reyes should try to avoid.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:37 amSomeone mentioned in the previous thread (Parish?) that Joba Chamberlain was available to the Braves in the the draft last year.
FWIW, as scary-dominant as he looks now, Chamberlain missed a chunk of his last college season with arm trouble. He was the 41st pick & some teams were scared off by the injury.
How do I know this? Joba Chamberlain has become an instant folk hero up here in YankeeLand. Without even trying, I know everything about him now. His story is pretty good.
Tonight we score more touchdowns. We’re gonna need ‘em. I have a feeling that neither team is going to be out of this game until Out #27.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:39 amI think we should get Leonidas to pitch for us.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:54 am#8, I’ll take 5 innings with 4 runs or less or even 5. In that ballpark, that would give the Braves a solid shot at winning.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:16 amits funny that when we get big leads Bobby lets Mahay and Moylan pitch, our best two relievers right now. In close games however he goes to our worst right now in Soriano and Wickman. Yates however he just pitches everyday that there’s a game, close or not. Weird strategy
August 21st, 2007 at 11:19 amgross…
The Rockies signed Mark Redman to a minor league contract. It makes sense to add some depth, but I like the team’s plan of using high-octane arms Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales instead of the safe veteran options.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:22 amUbubba,
I was dismayed at the Braves pick of Cody Johnson last year mainly because I was sure he would be there for them in the supplemental round. Joba may have been a similar stretch pick and Hank Conger was probably the other option.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:33 amOh, and on Vandy football:
This is the year we need to get to a bowl game, or we will have to wait quite a few more.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:34 amParish,
Do I wish the Braves had picked up Joba Chamberlain? Having so far seen him make good ML hitters look nothing short of silly, I’d say that Atlanta wouldn’t be the only club pondering that question.
But when it comes to ML drafts, it’s tough to judge until all picks shake out. Not gonna lose any sleep over it.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:53 amububba,
I think the issue is more with Johnson than with Chamberlain. The point is that Johnson—and this was known at the time he was drafted—almost certainly would have been available for the Braves’ later picks in the draft.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pm#14, awesome. If he gets any starts at the major league level, that should ensure the Rockies don’t win the wild card.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pmMy favorite thing about that, csg and Ron, is that they label him a “safe” option.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:02 pmWho’s 4th in the SEC East, Carolina or Vandy? Anybody think Florida, Tennessee and UGA won’t be the top 3 (in some order)?
August 21st, 2007 at 12:13 pmHank Aaron is not the fact of the Braves to me. I never saw him play. I voted for Cox at ESPN. I might choose Skip and Pete, if TBS still broadcast Braves games. Skip and Pete have been the face (voice) of baseball on TV for me for my whole life.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:14 pmI go with Andy. The co-faces of the Braves, despite the way they have been treated the last few years, are Skip and Pete. There through good years and through bad years and even through bad movies.
ESPN named Vin Scully for the Dodgers and they were right.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:46 pmanyone hear Sutcliffe in the game last night? I hear it, but didnt know how serious anyone would take his comments….here’s what he said
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/08/21/rick-sutcliffe-wanted-to-kill-reggie-jackson/
August 21st, 2007 at 12:51 pmthere was a lot more to it than that. Sutcliffe also talked about how no one today would showboat if they hit one off of Nolan Ryan. He said Ryan would definitely take some of these guys out if they acted like that against him. He basically said the game has changed way to much and the pitchers have become scared of the hitters and they wont throw at them anymore.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:54 pmJust got done with a discussion with a Yankee fan (yeah, that’s the problem with living up here) who started out his conversation, “I see you guys managed to win a couple of games.” I pointed out that the Yankees are 5 down to Boston and 1.5 out in the wild card, while the Braves are 5 down to the Mets and 1 out in the wild card. Both teams score tons of runs and both have some questionable pitching.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:02 pmWho would you rather be right now — the Braves or the Yankees? First, I’d never want to be the Yankees under any circumstances, but don’t you think momentum unnaturally colors people opinions? Momentum be damned! I still think the Braves are in better position than the Yankees.
JonF,
August 21st, 2007 at 1:09 pmYankees have a better club right now, but I’d still rather root for the Braves.
The amount of ground the Yankees has made up is pretty impressive.
I liken it to (though it kills me inside just a bit) the 93 posteason run. Once we got 5 of those games back, we were on fire and swept SF at Candlestick Park.
I think the Yankees are in a position to ground more ground faster than the Braves right now. The Bravos need to prove that their capable of going on a tear.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:13 pm*gain
*they’re
I should really check these things….
August 21st, 2007 at 1:14 pmFor us old folks, Ernie Johnson will always be the voice of the Braves.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:30 pmRob,
The ’93 comparison is an interesting one, considering that most Yankee fans prefer the ’78 comparison. We’re looking through Braves-colored glasses, of course.
I was hanging with some major Red Sawx fans down in Atlantic City last week & it’s hysterical the fears they expressed to me about the Yankees (after a couple beverages).
Of course, as soon as I asked them to repeat it to a co-worker who’s a real Yankee fan, they couldn’t bring themselves to it. It was all reconstituted bluster.
No doubt, they’re feeling the fear.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:41 pmAndy,
I have no idea how the SEC East will shake out this season. The traditional Bottom Three—South Carolina, Kentucky and Vandy—are all up, whereas the Top 3 appear to be down a bit. I have no idea who will win the league or who will finish last. Of the three you list, I think I’d only be confident in Florida as a Top 3 finisher at the end of the season. Georgia and Tennessee have some big question marks. I’m sure at least one of those two will be up there with Florida, but I don’t know which.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:48 pmWhile the Yankees may have the better team to make up ground with, they are also trailing better teams (Red Sox, Mariners, and i dont know if the Tigers are ahead of them still), then we are (Mets and Padres).I would much rather be in the Braves position
August 21st, 2007 at 1:56 pmcan you think of a worst way to spend $100 million? I mean its the Pac 10
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2984161
August 21st, 2007 at 1:59 pmStu:
SEC East is the toughest division in football. I’m a Carolina fan. I wish they could transfer to the ACC. Their schedule is brutal: @LSU, @UGA, @ Tenn, @ Arkansas.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:59 pmYeah, at least we have 8 home games this year. Our aways are at Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida. Which is, IMO, actually good for us, since we’d be most likely to lose those games, anyway.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:01 pmStu,
I wanted to get tickets to the Alabama vs. Vanderbilt game, but unfortunately will be out of town. I think that is going to be a tough game for Alabama.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:09 pmI sure hope so, Kenny. I stand to lose some money if it isn’t.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:10 pmnew thread!
August 21st, 2007 at 2:17 pmWe’ll know a lot about the Dawgs in 10 days.
I’m sure Oklahoma State will be a much better opener than Boise State was a few years ago (48-7). They have a superb running game with a kid named Dantrell Savage, out of Jordan Vocational High School in Columbus, Ga.
He’s a transfer from JC who lit up the Big 12 the second half of last year. I’m sure Bama people remember him from the Shreveport Bowl (or whatever they call it now). And you better believe he’ll be fired up to play Between the Hedges. Not a team to take lightly.
Then it’s the Cocks. Not an impossibly brutal first 2 games for UGA (both in Athens), but certainly tough enough for a young team with a QB who needs to build on his late-season success from last year.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:38 pmAfter reviewing the game last night on my DVR, I have come to a exciting conclusion. When Kelly Pickler was walking though the stands after singing, she had a “wardrobe malfunction”. It’s clear as day.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:35 pm