DeceMBeR 17, 2010 - JANUARY 6, 2011 CHECK US OUT aT ... · at the Easter Seals North Georgia Early...

DeceMBeR 17, 2010 - JANUARY 6, 2011 CHECK US OUT aT SCOrEaTl.COm Vol 6 No 46

2 | ScoRe AtlAntA Get In The Game!

A lw Ay s At s c o r e aT l . c o m

DECEMBER 17, 2010 - JAnuARy 6, 2011 ScoRe AtlAntA | 3


Publisher/editor I.J. RosenbergGeNerAl MANAGer Bob HoughtonMANAGiNG editor Stephen Black

Art/CreAtiVe direCtor DJ GalbiatibusiNess MANAGer Marvin Botnick

beAt Writers Josh Bagriansky (Hawks), Stephen Black (UGA), Dave Cohen (Georgia State), Joe Deighton (Thrashers),

Ricky Dimon (Falcons), Fletcher Proctor (Braves), Thomas Watson (Tech), Brian Jones (Preps)

stAFF Writers Jamie Walker, Jay Thomason, Drew Collins, Raj Prashad, Sean Conway

CoNtributors C.C., Brian Katrek, Alex Ewalt, Tad Arapoglou, Dean Zindler, Zander Lentz, Kevin Dankosky, Mitch Evans, Chris

Dimino, Matt Stewart, Fred Kalil, Nick Cellini, Dave Marshall, Greg Smith, Steak Shapiro, Beau Bock, Roy Hickman, Dave Cohen, Bob Rathbun, Courtney Capps, Bill Hartman, Chuck Dowdle, Dan Kamal, Dennis Scott, Jeff Batten, Jeff Measor

sPeCiAl CoNtributors Mitch Albom, Dave Kindred, Barry Bloom

STarTinglinEUp

CheroKee/ForsYth: Cherokee, Creekview, Etowah, Forsyth Central, North Forsyth, Sequoyah, South Forsyth, West Forsyth, Woodstock

Cobb: Allatoona, Campbell, Harrison, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain, Lassiter, Marietta, McEachern, Mt. Paran Christian N. Cobb, N. Cobb Christian, Pebblebrook, Pope, S. Cobb, Sprayberry,

Walker, Walton, Wheeler, Whitefield AcademydeKAlb: Arabia Mountain, Chamblee, Columbia, Decatur, Druid Hills,

Dunwoody, Lakeside, Marist, Miller Grove, M.L. King, Paideia, Redan, St. Pius X, Southwest DeKalb, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Tucker

FultoN: Alpharetta, Blessed Trinity, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Douglass, Grady, John’s Creek, Lovett, Mays, Milton, Mt. Pisgah, North Springs,

Northview, Riverwood, Roswell, Tri-Cities, Westminster, Woodward AcademyGWiNNett: Berkmar, Brookwood, Buford, C. Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula,

Grayson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Meadowcreek, Mill Creek, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge, South Gwinnett, Wesleyan

FAYette: Whitewater, Sandy Creek, Starr’s MillNeWtoN: Eastside

SCHOOlliSTing

suPer sANtA: Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux hung out with preschoolers at the Easter Seals North Georgia Early Educa-tion Center on Tuesday. The hulking defender helped the kids decorate Christmas cookies before donning a Santa Claus outfit to hand out gifts. Photo courtesy Cherry Banez P.R.

SHOT OF THE WEEK...

Can’T miSSCan’T miSS

45

9

10

the Fletch reams esPN personality skip bayless for his thoughtless criticisms of the Falcons.

in a return to his “sitting in the Cheap seats” column, i.J. rosenberg discusses the magic of holiday season - from all angles.

in our cover story, Falcons reporter ricky dimon breaks down the con-tinuing success story that is Atlan-ta’s NFl franchise.

our panel of so-called experts makes their bowl picks. Yup, all 35 of them.

TEam ScOOp and VOicES

On T

HE score Atlanta is looking for new sales associates

as well as writing and graphic design interns. For sales positions, e-mail Bob Houghton at [email protected]. For writing in-ternships, e-mail Stephen Black at [email protected]. For graphic design internships, e-mail DJ Galbiati at [email protected] free to call 404-256-1572 to speak with someone about any of these positions.

COVER dEsign by dJ galbiatiCOVER PhOtO COuRtEsy Of Jimmy CRibb/atlanta falCOns

6 ScORE LiST - WHO’S HOT

11 ScORE mORE 12 GSU

13 caLEndaR 14 TEcH - UGa

THiS WEEK

thrAshers leFt WiNG eVANder KANe

inSidE aT ScORE



Bayless continues anti-Falcons rhetoric; Gators desperate for attentionSkip Bayless is a professional rabble-rouser

that is paid by ESPN to come up with the most absurd opinions possible in the desper-ate hope that it will draw attention to a show that about .004 percent of sports fans across America even think about watching. Recently on this show, Bayless chose to ignore the fact that the Falcons sport the best record in the National Football League by say-ing that Atlanta was merely the 10th-best team this season. His logic: the Falcons did not have a “signature” victory on their 2010 resume. WOW. I guess Bayless, along with Michael Wilbon and several other NFL experts, are still refusing to give the Falcons credit for beating the Green Bay Packers or the Baltimore Ra-vens or even the Cleveland Browns ON THE ROAD (ask New Orleans and New England about the Browns). Then, OH YEAH, there was that whole “win at New Orleans” thing earlier in the season, too. That certainly wasn’t signature enough though, I guess. I realize that Bayless and ESPN are look-ing for ratings and his saying outlandish things like a team with a 10-2 (at the time) record is only the 10th-best team in the league, a state-ment sure to get everybody from 790 The Zone to Score Atlanta to the AJC talking. At some point, however, don’t you just come off like an idiot for making too crazy of a statement? I believe you do. Then again, if he says No. 5 or No. 6, I guess that could get swept under the rug and it wouldn’t stand out. He and his show need all of the attention they can get. Hence, the crazy proclamation of No. 10. Chris Domino brought up the statement to Mike Smith recently and the Falcons’ head coach was smart enough not to take the bait. He didn’t defend Bayless but just generalized

by saying that the two teams that make the Su-per Bowl should get respect and the world will see how good those two teams are when they play in the big game. Domino pressed Smith again, but Smith wouldn’t lower himself to Bayless’s level and kudos to him. Smith knows that if he keeps winning, no one will be able to say anything bad about his team. Sadly, two members of the Falcons did take the bait as Brent Grimes and Roddy White both tweeted about Bayless. This led to a Twitter war between the three parties. De-spite a replay on the field, Bayless still tried to tell Grimes that he didn’t make an inter-ception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers then he acted like a two-year-old in several responses to White. I wish that Grimes and White had done what Smith did and just ig-nored this dope Bayless and let him go back to shouting at whoever is unlucky enough to sit across from him on First and Ten or First Take or Cold Pizza or whatever the show is called these days. In fact, the best way to shut him up would be for Grimes and White to both make outstanding plays to win the Super Bowl and just let Bayless stew over it. Per-haps they could even appear on his show a few days afterwards and bring the tape.

looK At Me … Speaking of needy two-year-olds, the University of Florida Gators attempted to hi-jack the Heisman ceremony last Saturday by deciding to announce former Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as its new head football coach hours before former Gator Cam Newton claimed the prize. I don’t know why Florida couldn’t let Newton have his day in the clouded sun by waiting until Sunday morning to

announce the hire; the extra 12 hours wouldn’t have affected recruiting so the school shouldn’t try and use that excuse. The announcement of the hire came just days after Urban Meyer an-nounced his retirement…in the same cycle as the college football awards. It just seems weird that these announcements typically happen when Florida is out of the spotlight and Meyer or Jeremy Foley feel the need for the program to be recognized. I guess they were spoiled by CBS and ESPN fawning all over them when Tim Tebow was there and the Gators were win-ning BCS titles. As the Greek poet Hesiod once said, “Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor.” Florida cannot quite grasp that.

CAM-sPeAK … Back to the Heisman ceremony, where Auburn quarterback and Atlanta-native New-ton claimed the Great Stiff-arm: Boy, that speech was bad. He stumbled and muttered and rambled any sympathy I might have still been harboring for him right away, and it paled in comparison to last year’s winning speech from Mark Ingram. Newton KNEW he was going to win; he couldn’t have had someone help him write it? What was with the “my folks do so much behind the scenes,” line? We KNOW they do after reading the papers over the last month. 790 The Zone’s David Pollack defended the stammering, saying that when he did the awards circuit in 2004, he was just as nervous. Sorry, though, David. You had com-petition that year and winning was a bit more unexpected than it was for Newton. He had it in the bag. He should have been coached up by somebody at Auburn. They don’t have a speech class he could have sat in on last week?

FiNAls CoVerAGe … Finally, the GHSA football state champion-ships were a success last weekend at the Georgia Dome. The five games were seen on GPB-TV as well as gpb.org/sports. The webcasts also fea-tured an interactive chat, just as the Friday night broadcasts had leading up to the championships. At one point on the interactive chat Saturday night, a new web site traffic record was reached for most visitors at one time. Georgia Public Broadcasting was able to follow up its game broadcasts by snagging four of the championship coaches and GHSA Executive Director Dr. Ralph Swearngin for this past Wednesday’s Sports Cen-tral XL. If you missed the show, check it out on-demand on the gpb.org/sports site or follow the link on www.gaprepnews.com. Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

can YOU BELiEVE......HE Said THaT?

all i can tell you is that we thought long and hard about what not to do.

We thought harder about what to do.”

that was big ten Commissioner Jim delany after he announced that the two divisions in the new-look big ten will be called the leaders and the legends. huh? What? i guess North/south and east/West were taken, so you decided to listen to a drunken fan at an iowa/Minnesota tailgate party? dude, we’ve got so many legends. And what about our leaders?! leaders and legends, eh? oK. Whatever. When dis-cussing delany and his brain trust, i’ll go with dumb and dumber.



The holidays bring us all together, no matter how you choose to celebrateWith the holidays right around the corner

I always get the same question this time of year: What is like being Jewish during Christmas? Well, it’s actually a good question, one that I answer much differently then I did when I was young. First, some disclosure: I grew up in a conservative Jewish home, married a Jewish girl, sent my kids to a Jewish day school for the first nine years of their formal education, and feel very strongly about my people and Israel. When I was young, in a public school in my hometown of Atlanta, I always wondered about Christmas. I remember our holiday pageants would consist of a half dozen or so Christmas songs and, yes, the courtesy “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I made you out of clay” (Best ver-sion done on an episode of South Park). It never changed. First grade to seventh, the same deal and then there were all the ques-tions from my Christian friends: “Hey I.J., do you really get presents on all eight days of Chanukah?” Or, this one: “I.J., what are Latkes?” Okay, I did have a mother who made sure that every night my brother and I received a gift. And my wife is the same way with my kids. But I would tell my friends that while it seemed like a lot, sometimes the presents would just be a pair of socks and I would bet them they always had more than eight pres-ents under the tree come Christmas morning. And as far as the Latkes, which I have been begging Hooters to start serving with their wings, they are potato pancakes often served

with sour cream, apple sauce or jam. While they leave the house smelling of fried pota-toes for about a month, they are delicious, but really bad for you. Really, though, I felt out of place during the holidays. In a way, isolated.

But as the years went by and I went off to college and my circle of friends continued to increase, I better understood that while there may be a huge literal difference in the mean-ing of Chanukah and Christmas, they in es-sence mean the same thing. The first time I realized this was on a holiday break in north Alabama when visit-ing my then girlfriend’s home. The home was decorated beautifully and, when we walked in, there was a huge fire burning and Christ-mas was everywhere. But her parents took a huge interest in my faith, in how we cel-

ebrated the holidays, and made me feel right at home. In fact, my girlfriend’s mother made a point to get me a Chanukah card (I think she had to drive to Birmingham to get it). It was then I realized that, no matter what we all believe, this was one time of year we

seem to forget our differences, feel good about our families and ourselves and reach out to others who we may not spend a lot of time with during the year. Last year, my wife and I were invited to our next-door neighbors’ house for a holiday party: our first Kwanza celebra-tion. While the father of the house did a good job explaining the meaning of Kwanza, what I re-member most is the desserts and not just for how good they tasted. On a huge dining room ta-ble, many cakes, pies and cook-ies were laid out. The mother of the house explained how every one of the treats was homemade, each by a member of the family, each with special care. It was their gift to us, and my wife and I walked back to our house with our stomachs filled, but again re-

alizing the holidays do a good job of bring-ing us all together. In this space, I usually spend my time talking sports, critical at times of spoiled ath-letes and poor decision making. But like I – and I’m sure many others – remember when walking down a busy city street on a crisp winter day with the stores buzzing and the restaurants humming, I love the holidays and this time of year. I’ll never forget when I was in third grade and had my first crush, who, by the way, wasn’t Jewish. I remember trying to figure

out what to get her for Christmas. So I went to the local mall with my mother, walked into a candy store, and bought the crush two Wacky Packs (Google it). I wrapped it up and gave it to her the next day. She looked at it, I think said something under her breath (not a great gift for a little girl), but managed to look up and smile at me.I can still see that smile. Nothing like the holidays. Rosenberg is president of sports marketing company Score Atlanta and sports director for Georgia Public Broadcasting. He can be reached at 404-256-1572 and [email protected]. He can also be found on both Facebook and Twitter.

head coach Mike smith and his Fal-cons have taken the NFC by storm this year, and will look to nail down home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by winning two of their final three regular season games. Check out our cover story on page 9, as our ricky dimon breaks down the secrets to their success. Photo cour-tesy Jimmy Cribb/atlanta falcons.

OUT FROnT

GiViNG bACK: the holidays are a time for giving, especially for those in a position to make a dif-ference. And Atlanta’s professional teams have always done a great job of spreading the holi-day cheer throughout the city, as is evidenced above with the thrashers’ ron hainsey, evander Kane and bryan little at a recent charity event. Photo courtesy atlanta thrashers media relations.

“in this space, i usually spend my time talking sports, critical at times of spoiled athletes and poor decision making. But like i ─ and i’m sure many others, remember when walking down a busy city street on a crisp winter day with the stores buzzing and the restaurants humming, i love the holidays and this time of year.”



SCOrEliST

cRUncHinG THEnUmBErS

bY briAN JoNes bY riCKY diMoNoNe steP Closer: the Falcons earned their 11th win of the season by destroying the Carolina Panthers 31-10 this past sunday. they will face seattle sunday afternoon and, if they win, will clinch a playoff spot and be one win away from clinching home-field advan-tage. the amazing season continues.

MoViN’ oN uP: Another pro team that is soaring is the thrashers, who have won 10 of their last 12 games as of tuesday. if the playoffs were to start now, the thrashers would be a No. 5 seed. they have done it with solid play by dustin byfuglien and ondrej Pavelec.

our MoVe: With the Philadelphia Phillies signing Cliff lee this week, Atlanta will have some work to do in order to keep up with its division ri-vals. the braves will have a strong ro-tation with tim hudson, Jair Jurrjens and tommy hanson. but the Phillies have lee along with roy halladay, roy oswalt and Cole hamels.

FiVe NeW ChAMPs: the GhsA state Football Championships took place at the Georgia dome last Friday and saturday. Congratulations to Clinch County, buford, sandy Creek, Chat-tahoochee and brookwood for winning state titles. buford has won four con-secutive titles in 2A while Clinch won its first title since 2004. We’re already excited for the 2011 season!

eAGles FlYiNG hiGh: Another team that deserves some love is Georgia southern, which will face delaware in the semifinals of the FCs championships for the first time since 2002. if the eagles win satur-day, they will play in the champion-ship for a chance to win their first title since 2000. Good luck eagles!

1

2

3

4

5

THUmBS Up TO THE BURnER

THUmBS dOWn TO iLLEGaL paRTicipaTiOn

michael TurnerTurner bullied the Panthers for 112 yards and three touchdowns as the Falcons took care of business 31-10 last weekend at Carolina. The Falcons fed Turner the ball 28 times, a major reason why they dominated time of possession by nearly 10 minutes, while winning their seventh straight game.

damage controlDetroit came to the rescue when, after the Me-trodome’s roof collapsed in a snowstorm, the Vikings and Giants played at Ford Field on Mon-day night. This week, workers at TCF Bank Sta-dium (University of Minnesota) and even fans are shoveling out five feet of snow to prepare it for Monday’s Vikings-Bears game.

cliff LeeFor once it’s not all about the money when it comes to a professional athlete. Lee turned down a more lucrative offer from the Yankees simply because he wanted to play for Philadel-phia rather than for the Evil Empire. He left $30 million of guaranteed money on the table.

Sal alosiAlosi, a strength coach for the Jets, purposely tripped Dolphins’ gunner No-lan Carroll during a punt. The Jets sus-pended Alosi for the rest of the season, but did not fire him. Word on the street is that Alosi was not fired because the Jets instructed him – and others – to form a blockade along the sideline.atlanta HawksThe Hawks have stayed afloat without Joe John-son, but their last two road games were disasters. They lost to San Antonio 108-92 and – far worse – got blown out 103-80 by lowly Detroit on Tuesday. Atlanta was outscored in the fourth quarter by a combined 34 points in those two games.

cliff LeeWhile Lee gets a big thumbs up for taking less money and giving the Yankees a cold shoulder, he did Atlanta no favors by signing with Phila-delphia. The Phillies, four-time defending NL East winners, now boast a rotation of Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt.

TRiVia

QUESTiOnWho holds the

Thrashers’ franchise record for goals by a defenseman

in a season?

SaniTY

aT LaST“They were afraid the fans

were losing interest at 3-0 so they decided to let them back

in it by giving them a couple.”

- Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said of the team’s

unnecessarily dramatic overtime win over Ottawaanswer on page 14

Combined points by which the Falcons are outscoring opponents in the fourth quarter

Games Atlanta needs to win to clinch the NFC’s top seed

Consecutive kicks (field goals and PAts) made by Matt bryant dating back to Week 6

touchdowns scored by Michael turner in his last seven games, three against Carolina

Consecutive state foot-ball championships won by buford, tying West rome’s state record

rushing yards for Clinch County (230 fewer than its average) in its title win over sChs

Chattahoochee’s com-bined record in two sea-sons prior to its 2010 4A state title

Yards by which Colquitt Co. outgained champion brookwood (609-380) in the 5A final

teams (including sandy Creek) in GhsA history to win consecutive titles in different classes

572

36

10

4

38

7-13

229

3my TWO CEnTS The GHSA did a wonderful job of host-ing while Georgia Public Broadcasting did a great job of broadcasting the football state championships this past week-end, and there were several memo-rable moments from the event. The first game was a doozy, as Calhoun roared back from a 24-7 deficit to force overtime with nemesis Bu-ford in the Class 2A final. Despite the loss, the Yellow Jackets earned some respect from the Geor-gia high school world after their never-say-die performance. ... On Friday night, Chattahoochee left no doubt it was the best team in Class 4A with a dominating 24-0 win over Starr’s Mill. Quarterback Timmy Byer-ly and wide receiver Kane Whitehurst did their thing on offense, but the defense stole the

show. The Cougars shut out a Panther offense that had scored at least 20 points in each game

leading up to the final. ... Saturday kicked off with Clinch County winning its fifth

state title. I was impressed with the loyalty of the Panthers’ fan base, who filled the GPB.org chat room with enthusiasm from all over the world. ... Brookwood’s Class 5A title once again puts it at the top of the state’s largest classification. The Broncos rebounded from two straight six-win seasons to win the title and return to state prominence.

... And finally, how about metro At-lanta football?! For the first time since

1970, four state titleists came from the metro area.

Managing Editor Stephen Black can be reached at [email protected].







Late-game heroics, fourth-quarter dominance have Falcons in control of nFcWhen the Atlanta Falcons suffered a rare

loss in Week 6 at Philadelphia, they still found themselves atop the entire NFC with four other teams at 4-2. For eight weeks now, the rest of the conference’s contenders have been hoping and waiting for the elite to lose and fall back to the pack. They are still waiting on the Falcons. Atlanta has won seven games in a row to take control of the NFC with an 11-2 record. The team is one game ahead of defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans and two clear of Chicago, Philadelphia and the New York Giants.

WiNNiNG WAYs … How have they done it? How have these Atlanta Falcons surged from postseason spectators in 2009 to the class of their conference – if not the whole league – in 2010? Well, they’ve done it in just about every way

imaginable…and probably unimaginable, too. In a highly-anticipated Week 3 show-down against the Saints, Atlanta was a Garrett Hartley 29-yard field goal away from losing in overtime. After Hartley missed, however, the Falcons drove down the field and si-lenced the Superdome with a game-winning 46-yard field goal by Matt Bryant. One week later, they would have fallen at home to San Francisco if cornerback Nate Clements had just kneeled with the football after picking off Matt Ryan in the final minutes. Instead, Roddy White forced a Clements fumble and Bryant booted the game-winner less than a minute later. While naysayers will quip that it’s bet-

ter to be lucky than good, the Falcons are whole lot of the latter. If the sign of a

good team is being able to win close games, this team is nothing short of great. Just ask the Tampa Bay Bucs. Both of this season’s clash-es between the longtime division rivals came down to the waning moments. At the Georgia Dome

on Nov. 7, Atlanta needed a goal-line stand late in the

fourth quarter to preserve a 27-21 lead. In Tampa Bay on Dec. 5, the Fal-cons stormed back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 28-24 be-hind a 102-yard kickoff

return from Eric Weems, a scoring strike from Ryan to Michael Jenkins, and a diving interception from Brent Grimes. During a current streak of five consecu-

tive thrillers at the Georgia Dome, Baltimore and Green

Bay also limped out of town af-ter excruciating near-misses. In a

Thursday night blockbuster on Nov. 11, the Ravens took a 21-20 lead with

1:05 remaining only to see the Falcons drive 62 yards in 45 seconds. A dramatic 33-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to White sealed Baltimore’s fate. With the Packers gunning for a share of the NFC’s best record, Aaron Rodgers tied a crucial Week 14 contest thanks to a touchdown pass in the final minute. Ryan, though, engineered a lightning-quick drive (aided by a long Weems return) that culmi-nated in a 47-yard clincher by Bryant.

FlAir For the drAMAtiC … It does not take a genius to figure out why they call him “Matty Ice,” but it’s not just Ryan who is living up to that nickname. Any word that refers to being “clutch” would suffice for this entire flight of Falcons. Not only has Bryant nailed a trio of game-winners, but he has also been just about perfect on all kinds of field goals. He has not missed since Week 6 at Philadelphia, a streak of 12 in a row. The veteran is 18 for 18 in-doors, and that’s exactly where he will expect to kick during the playoffs. In addition to his heroics against San Francisco and Baltimore, White delivered late against New Orleans, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and at Tampa Bay. He made go-ahead touch-down catches in the fourth quarter against the Saints and in the third quarter against the Browns, hauled in the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter against the Bengals, and made a diving catch on third-and-20 to prolong the game-winning drive against the Bucs. “I can’t say enough about the resiliency of this team,” head coach Mike Smith said in his press conference following the nail-biter against Green Bay. “The way that they come to work, the way that they play the game. … They never once blink even when things go bad. It’s part of the makeup of what we feel like you’ve got to do to be successful; you’ve got to score points in the fourth quarter.” The defense has both scored points and prevented points over the final 15 minutes of games. Arguably the signature defensive play of the season came in Cleveland, where

the Falcons clung to a tenuous 13-10 advan-tage with less than five minutes remaining. Defensive end Kroy Biermann deflected a Jake Delhomme pass, made a lunging inter-ception, then got up and rumbled 41 yards for a touchdown. Thomas DeCoud played the hero role, albeit more subtly, in the Week 9 win over Tampa. He made the game-saving tackle of LeGarrette Blount on the two-yard line with 2:37 to play. In St. Louis two weeks later it was William Moore who sealed the vic-tory. With Atlanta leading 26-17 early in the fourth, Moore read a shovel-pass call, stepped in the intended receiver’s path and picked off the Sam Bradford flick. The Falcons are outscoring opponents 104-47 in the fourth quarter, tops in the NFL. Last season’s leader in fourth-quarter scor-ing differential? That just happened to be the Saints, who snagged home-field advantage in the NFC and used it to reach – and win – the Super Bowl.

destiNY iN their hANds … Home-field advantage has been on the Falcons’ minds for quite a while now. “We’re already thinking about that,” White admitted after the first win over Tampa Bay. “We have little room for error. We can’t slip up and lose any games.” The No. 1 seed was little more than a dream back then, but Atlanta has not slipped up and it has not lost any games. As a result, home-field throughout the playoffs is inch-ing closer to reality. If the Falcons win two of their last three – no matter the combination – they will clinch the top spot in the conference. And two of those are at home, where Atlanta is 6-0 this season and Ryan is 19-1 as a starter. So, in a way, the Falcons already own home-field advantage. The math is simple now; if nobody beats them in the Georgia Dome, they are going to the Super Bowl. Photo of Matt Ryan courtesy of Jim-my Cribb/Atlanta Falcons. Dimon can be reached at 404-256-1572.



iJ rosenbergPresident

dJ GalbiatiCreative Art director

brian Jones“big b”

Fletcher Proctor“the Fletch”

bob houghtonGeneral Manager

stephen blackManaging editor

New Mexico bowlbyu vs. utEP

BYU

udrove humanitarian bowln illinois vs. fresno st.

Fresno St.

r+l Carriers New orleans bowlOhio vs. troy

Troy

beef ‘o’ brady’s bowl st. Petersburg

so. miss. vs. louisville Southern Miss

MAACo bowl las Vegasutah vs. boise st.

Boise St.

san diego Co. Credit unit Poinsettianavy vs. sdsu

SDSU

sheraton hawaii bowlhawaii vs. tulsa

Hawaii

little Caesars bowlflorida int’l vs. toledo

Toledo

AdvoCare v100 independence bowl

air force vs. ga. techAir Force

Champs sports bowlWest Virginia vs. nC state

NC State

insight bowlmissouri vs. iowa

Iowa

Military bowl presented by Northrop Grumman

East Carolina vs. marylandMaryland

texas bowlillinois vs. baylor

Baylor

Valero Alamo bowlOklahoma st. vs. arizonaOklahoma St.

bell helicopter Armed Forces bowl

army vs. smuSMU

New era Pinstripe bowlKansas st. vs. syracuse

Kansas St.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City bowl

unC vs. tennesseeTennessee

bridgepoint education holiday bowl

nebraska vs. WashingtonNebraska

Meineke Car Care bowlsouth florida vs. ClemsonClemson

hyundai sun bowlnotre dame vs. miami

Notre Dame

AutoZone liberty bowlgeorgia vs.

Central floridaGeorgia

Chick-fil-A bowlsouth Carolina vs. Florida st.

South Carolina

ticketCity bowlnorthwestern vs. texas tech

Texas Tech

outback bowlflorida vs. Penn st.

Penn St.

Capitol one bowlalabama vs. michigan st.Alabama

Gator bowlmississippi st. vs. michigan

Mississippi St.

rose bowl Game presented by ViZioWisconsin vs. tCuWisconsin

tostitos Fiesta bowluConn vs. Oklahoma

Oklahoma

discover orange bowlstanford vs. Virginia techStanford

Allstate sugar bowlOhio st. vs. arkansas

Ohio State

Godaddy.com bowlmiddle tennessee

vs. miami (Oh)Middle Tenn.

At&t Cotton bowllsu vs. texas a&m

LSU

bbVA Compass bowlPittsburgh

vs. KentuckyKentucky

Kraft Fight hunger bowlnevada vs.

boston CollegeNevada

tostitos bCs National Championship GameOregon vs. auburn

Oregon


BYU

udrove humanitarian bowln illinois vs. fresno st.Northern Illinois


Troy


so. miss. vs. louisville Louisville


Boise St.


SDSU


Hawaii


Florida Int’l




NC State


Iowa




Baylor



army vs. smuSMU


Kansas St.


unC vs. tennesseeUNC





Notre Dame




South Carolina


Northwestern


Florida



Mississippi St.

rose bowl Game presented by ViZioWisconsin vs. tCu

TCU


Oklahoma

discover orange bowlstanford vs. Virginia tech

Virginia Tech


Arkansas


vs. miami (Oh)Middle Tenn.


LSU






Auburn


BYU



Troy




Boise St.


Navy


Hawaii


Toledo




NC State


Missouri




Illinois



army vs. smuArmy


Syracuse







Miami




Florida State


Texas Tech


Florida



Mississippi St.



Oklahoma

discover orange bowlstanford vs. Virginia tech

Virginia Tech


Arkansas


vs. miami (Oh)Miami (OH)


LSU


vs. KentuckyPittsburgh




Auburn


BYU


Fresno St.


Ohio




Boise St.


Navy


Hawaii


Florida Int’l


air force vs. ga. techGeorgia Tech


West Virginia


Iowa




Baylor



army vs. smuSMU


Kansas St.







Notre Dame




South Carolina


Texas Tech


Florida


Gator bowlmississippi st. vs. michiganMichigan



Oklahoma



Arkansas




LSU






Oregon


BYU


Fresno St.


Troy


so. miss. vs. louisville Southern Miss.


Boise St.


Navy


Hawaii


Toledo




West Virginia


Iowa




Baylor



army vs. smuSMU


Kansas St.







Notre Dame



Chick-fil-A bowlsouth Carolina vs. florida st.

Florida State


Northwestern


Florida



Mississippi St.



Oklahoma



Ohio St.




LSU


vs. KentuckyPittsburgh



tostitos bCs National Championship Gameoregon vs. Auburn

Oregon


BYU



Troy




Boise St.


Navy


Hawaii


Toledo


air force vs. ga. techGeorgia Tech


NC State


Missouri




Baylor

Valero Alamo bowlOklahoma st. vs. arizona

Arizona


army vs. smuSMU


Syracuse







Notre Dame



Chick-fil-A bowlsouth Carolina vs. florida st.

Florida State


Texas Tech


Florida



Mississippi St.



Oklahoma



Ohio St.




LSU





tostitos bCs National Championship Gameoregon vs. Auburn

Auburn



Hawks fall in detroit; Johnson recoveringIf you thought that the Atlanta Hawks

were going to roll over and die with-out perennial all star Joe Johnson, think again. At press time, Atlanta had gone 5-3 without him, despite a 103-80 loss in Detroit on Wednesday. Atlanta trailed by 12 at the half, but got right back into the game by win-ning the third quarter 24-15. It all came crumbling down in the fourth, however, with the Pistons outscoring the Hawks by an astounding 20 points. “It was tough and got out of hand quickly,” Mike Bibby said about the fi-nal stanza. Despite the loss, Atlanta benefit-ted from another strong performance by Josh Smith, who dropped 26. He was also instrumental in a 97-83 win over Indiana on Dec. 11 with 21 points.JohNsoN’s returN … It should still be at least a week be-fore Johnson returns to the team. But everyone was happy to see the Arkansas alum return to the practice floor, even if it was just to shoot some jumpers. At-lanta’s top scorer has been out since late November with an elbow injury.

“For the most part it was pain-free,” Johnson told the AJC. “But we are tak-ing it one day at a time.” Johnson is hoping his absence will be a positive for Atlanta in the long run, as other players have been required to step up without him. “This could be a blessing in dis-guise,” he told the AJC. “It can help me feel better or give me a break, and let the guys go out there and figure things out.” oN the horiZoN … Atlanta has had its way with the Charlotte Bobcats of late at home, and Larry Brown’s team visits Philips Are-na on Friday. Then the team travels to New Jer-sey for a Sunday matinee. The Nets were once a bugaboo for Atlanta, but the Hawks have won five of their last six against them. Orlando visits on Monday for the division rivals’ third meeting of the season. Atlanta got over the hump against its nemesis earlier, beating the Magic 80-74 three weeks ago after a narrow loss early in the year. Bagriansky can be reached at [email protected]

ORE

mOR

EScORE m

ORE

Sherrill completes revamped bullpen Thrashers roll into fifth placeThe facelift of the Braves bullpen

seems to have been finished off with recent signing of lefthander George Sher-rill to a one-year/$1.2M deal. Sherrill comes to Atlanta to be the third lefty in Roger McDowell’s bullpen. The newest Brave comes to Atlanta after pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010. He previously pitched for Baltimore, where he served as an All-Star closer with 31 saves in 2008. Sherrill pitches extremely well against lefties, dominating them with a .192 average against, though righties tagged him at a .427 clip. Sherrill finished 2010 with a 6.69 ERA in 65 ap-pearances over just 36.1 innings. At the age of 33, Sherrill probably will just face one batter per game, given his vast differential between lefty/righty, but with two other lefthanders in the bullpen, he won’t be needed to go full in-nings. Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters will both be looked at to go an inning if needed. Venters may compete with Craig Kimbrel for the closing duties. Scott Linebrink was acquired from the White Sox earlier this offseason. The Braves rotation is fully stocked going into 2011 with Tim Hudson, Der-ek Lowe, Tommy Hanson and Jair Jur-

The Thrashers showed this past week that they can win even when they

don’t play their best game. Atlanta started slow and trailed the New York Islanders 2-0 before eventually recov-ering to win 5-4. The opposite hap-pened against Ottawa, as they took a 3-0 lead, then saw the Senators force overtime before Atlanta prevailed 4-3. Bryan Little scored three goals in the victories, including the overtime winner against Ottawa. He took a bad pass up the ice with blinding speed and blistered a shot past the Ottawa goaltender for the win. “I knew the defenseman was coming, and I think he might have had it if it was a little harder of a pass, but it was soft and I had lots of time to get it,” Little told the AP after the game. “I knew as soon as I tipped it, I had a good chance coming up. My eyes lit up, definitely.” It looks like Little has re-gained the scoring touch that made him a 30 goal scorer two seasons ago. Over the last six games he has five goals and

The Falcons won their seventh con-secutive game last Sunday, going on

the road to blast the Carolina Panthers 31-10. In a matchup between the NFL’s best and the NFL’s worst (according to their respective 10-2 and 1-11 records), Atlanta took control right from the start and coasted the entire way. Despite kicking off, the Falcons found themselves leading 7-0 less than 90 seconds into the game. On the first play from scrimmage, Mike Peterson forced a fumbled and Dunta Robinson jumped on it. Three plays later, Matt Ryan found Tony Gonzalez with a four-yard touchdown pass. “We came out, started fast,” Ryan said in an interview with the team’s website. “(We) kind of let them get back into it a little bit in the middle of the game but made the plays in the fourth quarter to put it away.” While the Panthers reeled off some alarming long runs in the second half, they never got closer than 10 points. Michael Turner rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns while the defense made five sacks, including two apiece for Kroy Biermann and John Abraham.

rjens locking down the first four spots and Brandon Beachy and Mike Mi-nor competing for the fifth spot. A key member of the 2010 rotation seems to be progressing nicely from Tommy John surgery. Kris Medlen has been cleared to throw soft tosses just four months af-ter undergoing the elbow reconstruction surgery on Aug. 18. Last year, Medlen began in the bullpen before getting plugged into the rotation where he shined. Medlen post-ed a 6-2 mark with a 3.68 ERA in 31 games, including 14 starts. If Medlen sticks to the average recovery timeta-ble, he would return in mid-August or early September. FreNChY oN the MoVe … Finally, former Brave Jeff Francoeur is on the move yet again. After helping the Texas Rangers advance to the World Series, the right fielder signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals. The Braves traded the Parkview product to the Mets several seasons ago and last year New York sent Frenchy to the Rang-ers in a summer deal. Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

leads the team in plus/minus. Dustin Byfuglien set a new team re-cord for goals scored by a defenseman with his 11th against the Senators. The former record of 10 will become a dis-tant mark before this season is over. He continues to lead all NHL defenseman with 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) and will likely be skating in Raleigh for the NHL All-Star game next month. Atlanta has been one of the hot-test teams in the league over the past month. From Nov. 19 through Dec. 13 the Thrashers earned 20 points in 12 games. That was good enough to move to fifth in the Eastern Conference (at press time). With a game in hand, they trail first-place Washington by just two points for the Southeast Division lead. Games with Carolina, New Jersey and Toronto over the next week are very winnable and should give the Thrash a great chance to gain first place. Deighton can be reached at [email protected].

Need tWo ... If the Falcons win two of their fi-nal three games – no matter the com-bination – they will clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC play-offs. Up first is a Sunday afternoon visit to Seattle, where the Seahawks also have playoffs on their minds. Playing in the atrocious NFC West, they are tied for the division lead with San Francisco at 6-7. “Seattle is a very difficult place to play,” head coach Mike Smith said in his Sunday press conference. “Their fans are as good as any in the league. It’s going to be a challenge for us.” Following the trip out west, Atlanta returns home to finish the regular season with New Orleans and Carolina. Based out last week’s rout of the Panthers, the Falcons have to be feeling good about that Week 17 contest. If Smith’s team takes care of business at Seattle on Sun-day, you can go ahead and start map-ping the NFC’s path to the Super Bowl through the Georgia Dome. Dimon can be reached at [email protected].

Falcons nearing home-field advantage



Hoops squad drops another tough one; Tiley qualifies for Euro pGa TourIn what is becoming a trend for the Geor-

gia State Panthers, meaning games that go down to the wire and are either decided in overtime or on last-second shots, continued last Saturday night when the Panthers hosted Western Michigan. The only problem was – like the two overtime games – it ended up go-ing in the loss column, 61-59 to the Broncos. The Panthers are now 3-4 on the season. With GSU trailing 59-56 late, Brandon McGee tied the game on a three-point shot with 12.5 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, the Broncos’ Demetrious Ward took the inbounds pass and drove underneath the basket where he

found Flenard Whitfield, who hit a shot with .6 seconds to play. “We did a lot of good things but just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch,” said GSU head coach Rod Barnes. “We didn’t finish strong. We had some great opportunities; we just didn’t close the door.” McGee led the Panthers with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jihad Ali added 12 points. James Vincent contributed six points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Whit-field paced the Broncos with 17 points and seven rebounds. The Panthers will host Flor-ida A&M in the Sports Arena Saturday. (Lis-ten to Georgia State basketball on WRAS-FM

(88.5) Also, make sure to listen to the weekly Inside Georgia State Basketball show with Rod Barnes Mondays from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Newstalk 1160 WCFO-AM.)

NeW ANd Notes … Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener’s squad dropped its game to Western Carolina 51-37 last Saturday night. The Lady Panthers shot just 21 percent while playing without leading scorer and rebounder Chan Harris. Angelique Burtts finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Former Panther golfer Steven Tiley en-

joyed a great week as he finished in the top 30 in the European PGA Tour Q-school, earning a spot on the tour for the 2011 season. Tiley becomes the second former GSU golfer to earn a spot on the European PGA following Joel Sjoholm. With the FCS football playoffs down to the final four teams, there are two CAA teams in the hunt. It will be Delaware host-ing Georgia Southern and Villanova facing Eastern Washington. Dave Cohen is in his 28th season as the “Voice of Georgia State Athletics” on WRAS-FM (88.5) and WCFO-AM, Newstalk 1160.



BASKeTBAllhawks. December 17 vs. Charlotte 7:30 PM. December 19 at

New Jersey 1 PM. December 20 vs. Orlando 7 PM. December 22 vs. Cleveland 7 PM. December 26 at New Orleans 7 PM. December 27 at Milwaukee 8 PM. December 29 at Golden State 7 PM.

Club sport, “Where Atlanta Comes to Play!” Registration Ongoing - Men’s League plays on Sunday evenings at the Brookhaven Boys & Girls Club. For more info or to register visit www.usclubsport.com

open recreational basketball. Gsl — Georgia Sports Leagues. Georgia’s Best Sports Leagues. Registration ongoing. We offer “Top Gun,” “B,” “C” and Co-Ed styles of play around Atlanta. We play ALL year round. For more information please contact (678)799-0159 or email [email protected]. Visit www.georgiasportsleagues.org.

roundtable Fundamental basketball Camp boys and Girls. Ris-ing 6th-10th Graders (Current 5th-9th Graders) June 7-11. 9am-2pm. St. Francis High School, Alpharetta. Contact Coach Huff [email protected].

BASeBAllProspect Watch. Ongoing - Buckhead. Baseball pitching and hitting

lessons by a former college and minor league coach. For infor-mation call 404-869-7966 or visit www.eteamz.com/tryouts.

Adult baseball league Metro Atlanta. Ongoing. MSBL 18+, 28+, 38+, and 48+. Sunday League contact info is 770.785.2588, e-mail [email protected]. MSBL 18+ Saturday League contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail [email protected]. MSBL 18+ Midweek Wood bat league contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail [email protected]. MSBL 18+Fall League contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail [email protected]. For more information about our Atlanta Adult Baseball League, please visit our website at www.AtlantaMSBL.com.

tNt sports. Ongoing. Baseball pitching and hitting lessons by Rob Blair, former college coach, Snellville. To set up a free pitching or hitting analysis call. 678-344-5876.

Jack City baseball. Ongoing. Baseball pitching and hitting. In-struction with former pro Keith Whitner. 18-y looking for high school players. The new location is inside Velocity Sports in North Gwinnett. For more information call 770-633-0948 or visit jackcity.net.

Jack City sports Center. Indoor T-Ball League being offered at Jack City Sports Center. 10 game season with games on Sundays. $125 per player. Team rates available and ques-tions can be directed to 770-513-4121.

FooTBAllFalcons. December 19 at Seattle 4:05 PM. Collins hill Athletic Association. Ongoing. Accepting applica-

tions for qualified coaches in all age groups. For informtion email Craig Deneau at [email protected]

Grayson Athletic Association. Ongoing. Football coaches needed for eighth grade and all age groups. For information call Duane Davis at 678-300-0282 or visit www.gaasports.org.

Flag Football. Gsl -- Georgia sports leagues. Georgia’s Largest Flag League. Registration ongoing. We offer 7-Man, 8-man, Youth and Co-Ed styles of play around Atlanta. We play ALL year round. For information please contact (678)799-0159 or email [email protected]. Visit www.georgias-portsleagues.org.

Arena indoor Football. Ongoing. Youth and Adult Leagues. Youth 7 vs. 7; Adult 6 vs. 6. For information, call 678-714-7454 or e-mail [email protected]. www.atlantasil-verbacks.com/indoor.

Capitol City officials Association. CCOA is accepting ongoing registration for the upcoming GHSA High School season in football. We hold weekly training meetings. For more infor-mation, contact Irvin Seabrook at 404-957-3331 or e-mail [email protected].

HocKeY thrashers. December 18 vs. New Jersey 7 PM. December 20 at

Toronto 7 PM. December 21 vs. St. Louis 7 PM. December 23 at Boston 7 PM. December 26 vs. Tampa Bay 7 PM. De-cember 28 at Pittsburgh PM. December 30 vs. Boston 7 PM.

Gladiators. December 17 at Greenville 7:05 PM. December 18 vs. South Carolina 7:05 PM. December 19 vs. Greenville 4:05 PM. December 21 at Florida 7:30 PM. December 22 at Florida 7:30 PM. December 26 vs. South Carolina 4:05 PM. December 28 vs. Wheeling 7:05 PM. December vs. Wheeling 7:05 PM.

Peachtree booster Club. Ongoing - Pickneyville Roller Hockey Rink. Fees: $95 for 12-game season, $30 out-of-county fee. For information visit www.pbcsports.org.

SocceR Challenged soccer. Ongoing. For mentally and physically dis-

abled youngsters. For information call Ken Higgins at 770-985-0434.

hall of Fame soccer clinics. Ongoing on Fridays Clarkston Com-munity Center. For under-6 through under-12 players. Fees: Free. For information call 404-508-1050 or visit www.clark-stoncommunitycenter.org. 5:30-7 PM.

TeNNIS technique Clinics. Ongoing - Bitsy Grant Tennis Center. Tuesdays

(serve/volley) and Saturdays (forehand/backhand). Fees: $18. For information call 404-790-4772 or email [email protected]. 2 PM on Saturdays, 6:30PM on Tuesdays.

tennis camps for kids. Ongoing weekly. Lost Mountain Tennis Center. For information call 770-528-8525.

lAcRoSSelacrosse. Ongoing. Registration for 1st-8th grades. For informa-

tion call 404-216-5870, email [email protected] or visit www.bagatawaylacrosse.com.

double stixx lacrosse. Ongoing - Leagues, Travel Teams and Tournaments for youth, high school and adult’s boys and girls. More information about the best lacrosse programs in Georgia can be found at www.doblestixxlacrosse.com or by contacting Chris Smith at [email protected] or 404-550-5322.

RUNNING Flashlight 5K. Dec. 31. Lawrenceville, 6:00 PM. 770-963-

0386 Ext. 117

VolleYBAllGwinnett sports Center. Registration ongoing. For information call

Jerry Robison at 678-491-0203 or visit www.gscfun.com.

SWIMMING & DIVING swimming lessons. Ongoing - Alpharetta City Pool - Alpharetta, Ga.

- 1825 Old Milton Parkway. For information call 678-297-6107. dynamo swim school. DynaBabies, Preschool, Grade School,

Adult Classes. Youth Swim Team. Call us (770) 457-7946 Ext 16 www.dynamoswimschool.com

Gwinnett Aquatics. Ongoing - 2800 Quinberry Drive and Bethany Church Road. For ages 5-18. Swim team and lessons avail-able. For information call 770-972-4055.

senior Water-exercise class. Ongoing - Mountain Park pool - Lilburn, Ga. Fees: $1 per class. For information call 770-546-4650. 10-10:50 AM.

swimAtlanta sugarloaf at Kid’s Village. Ongoing. Swim team, lessons, lap swimming, master’s program, water aerobics and scuba available. For information call 678-442-7946.

YoUTH ReGISTRATIoNsoccer-soccer Alley. Ongoing - 3265 Roswell Road- Atlanta. For in-

formation call 404-266-0762 or visit www.starsoccerclub.com.tucker Youth soccer. Ongoing - 2803 Henderson Road Tucker, Ga.

For information call 770-414-0538 or visit www.tysa.com.track and Field - Peachtree City Flash Youth Track Team regis-

tration. Ongoing - Riley Field - Peachtree City, Ga. For ages 6-14. For information call 770-631-3552 or email [email protected].

Gymnastics - Georgia Gymnastics Academy. Ongoing. For regis-tration in Lawrenceville call 770-962-5867; in Suwanee call 770-945-3424.

Gym elite. Ongoing. Registration for ages 2 and older. Cheerlead-ing for ages 6 and older. For information call 770-242-0678.

Youth soccer training. Ongoing. Start age 3 and up. For infor-mation, call 678-714-7454, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.atlantasilverbacks.com/indoor.

Corpus Christi Youth basketball league Registration is now under-way for our 29th season! Boys and girls ages 5 through 14, any skill level, are welcome. Cost: $90 per child/$85 for siblings. Fee includes uniforms, field trips, skills clinics, 9 games and maore! Register while space is still available Saturdays October 11 & 18, 2008, 10 AM to 12 PM. Location: Corpus Christi Church Sports Arena, 600 Mountain View Drive, Stone Mountain, GA 30083. For info, call 770-469-0395, email [email protected] or visit the league’s website (www.ccybl.net).

SoFTBAll AYsA spring season. Ongoing - North Park - Cogburn and Bethany -

Alpharetta. Fees: If Alpharetta Residential Property Tax IS NOT PAID at the primary residence of the player, then the Non-City Resident Fee must be paid. After Jan. 13, $10 late fee is charged.

GYMNASTIcSGymnastics Classes at Gymnastics AcademyofAtlanta. Ongoing

- 3126 Cobb Parkway Kennesaw, Ga. For information call 770-975-8337 or visit www.gymnasticsacademyofatlanta.com.

Gymnastics Classes at Gwinnett Gymnastics Center Ongoing - 927 Killian Hill Road Lilburn, Ga. For information call 770-921-5630.

Atlanta school of Gymnastics in lawrenceville. Ongoing. Class-es for tots through teens. Cheerleading classes for ages 5 and older. For information call 770-277-9434.

the little Gym of snellville. Ongoing. Noncompetitive gymnas-tics and motor-skills development classes and camps. For ages 10 months-12 years. For information call 770-982-0901 or visit www.tlgsnellvillega.com.

RAcINGWinter Flurry off-season legends race No. 3. Jan. 15 at Atlanta

Motor Speedway

oFFIcIATING 9rCorp sports officials. Ongoing. Provider of sports officials for

multiple sports including basketball, flag football, & softball. Looking for additional officials. For information call Dennis Reagan at 404-213-0588 or email [email protected].

Georgia lacrosse officials Association. Needs boys youth and High School officials for 2010 season. Games are played Spring, Summer, and Fall. Great way to earn extra money and get some fun aerobic exercise. For more information, please visit www.GALAXREF.com or email [email protected].

Atlanta Peachstate Football officials Association. High School Football Officials needed. We are in need of people who want to officiate high school football in the Atlanta Metro area. No experience is necessary. We have weekly training sessions. For more information go on our web site www.apfoa.com or call Keith @ 678.592.1194.

ATlANTA SPoRTS coUNcIl Chick-Fil-A bowl. Dec. 31, 2010. Georgia Dome. For tickets, call

404-444-4444. To reach the Atlanta Sports Council call 404-586-8510 or visit www.atlantasportscouncil.com.

MISc.Club sport. Club Sport opens registration for summer leagues on

May 1st with league play beginning in June. Club Sport is Atlanta’s recreational sports and social group with over 10,000 participants each year on 1200 teams in 120 leagues. Each season Club Sport offers leagues in flag football, softball, soccer, sand and indoor vol-leyball, basketball and more. Club Sport is where Atlanta comes to play! For more information about Club Sport, upcoming events, photos or interviews with the owner, please contact Rich Alvarez at 678-994-0793 ext. 818 or visit www.usclubsport.com.

Gokickball “Atlanta’s Premier social experience”. Providing social, co-ed adult kickball leagues throughout metro-Atlanta centered around having a good time, meeting new people, and playing recreational games of kickball at local parks. Registra-tion is open now for spring season. Join the fun! For more in-formation and to register, go to www.gokickball.com/atlanta. Special Score Atlanta 15% off discount code: “Score15”.



Copyright 2010 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.Score Atlanta is published every week on Fridays. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

to AdVertise iN sCore AtlANtA:404.256.1572

CHECK OUTsCoreAtl.CoM!

Georgia’s gridiron squad practiced on Dec. 11 for the first time since its regular sea-

son finale against Georgia Tech. The Bull-dogs had a full-pads workout which was their last until Wednesday, when final exams were completed. After that, UGA will practice eight more times before taking off for Mem-phis on Dec. 26. The Dawgs will then meet No. 24 Cen-tral Florida in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 at 3:30 p.m. It will be the 14th consecutive bowl game for Georgia and the 46th bowl game in the history of the program, which is in the top five in all of college football. Head coach Mark Richt has guided Georgia to a bowl game each year he has been in Athens and is 7-2 in such games. In Memphis, Georgia will take on a

After losing to Georgia 73-72 a week ago Tuesday Dec. 7 on a last minute three-

pointer by the Bulldog’s Dustin Ware, the Geor-gia Tech basketball team did little to redeem itself Saturday Dec. 11 when it beat Savannah State 69-59. Iman Shumpert had 17 points and added 10 rebounds to hand Savannah State it-s10th straight loss and the victory snapped the Yellow Jackets’ three-game skid. Despite rais-ing their record to 5-4, the Tigers are a team that Tech should have handled much more easily than they did and coach Paul Hewitt has yet to see a complete game from his team. “Overall, we need to continue to prog-ress,” said Hewitt. “Specifically, I would like to see our big guys take another step forward, and

Golden Knights squad that is similar in one regard – its freshman quarterback is one of the best in America. Jeff Godfrey and the Bulldogs’ Aaron Murray have the two high-est passing efficiency ratings of all freshmen quarterbacks in the country. While Godfrey has accounted for 23 touchdowns this year, Murray has scored 28. hoNoroees … Justin Houston was named a first-team All-American on Dec. 15 by the Football Writers’ Association of America. He becomes the second Georgia player in as many years to be named to the team after punter Drew But-ler received the honor last season. There have been 24 Bulldogs named to the list all-time. Houston and Butler were also named to Phil

I have been really pleased with how they have been coming along, particularly Daniel Miller. Nate Hicks has been a pleasant surprise. But overall, just some better execution, some sets.” Hewitt continued by saying, “Defensively, I’m not sure if we are just not capable of maintain-ing our intensity or we are just not playing up to our potential. I think at this time, there are just too many lapses on defense. I would like to see some of those disappear by the time we get to conference play.” In as tough a conference as the ACC is, an improved defense will be imperative for a suc-cessful season. Three times this season a Tech opponent has made 10 or more three-point baskets and Savannah State made nine. The

Bowl practice resumes; Houston, murray receive honors

Jackets continue struggles despite Savannah St win

Steele’s 2010 All-American team. Meanwhile, Murray was named a Freshman All-American by Phil Steele, Col-legeFootballNews.com and Rivals.com. the tube … The television schedule for SEC gym-nastics was released on Tuesday and the Gym Dogs have the most televised appearances in the conference. Georgia will compete six times in televised events, as meets against Auburn on Jan. 21, Florida on Feb. 11 and Alabama on Feb. 25 will be aired by ESPNU. Road meets at Kentucky on Jan. 29 and Arkansas on Feb. 5 will be shown on Fox Sports Net while the Feb. 18 meet at LSU will air on CSS. Black can be reached at [email protected].

defense on the perimeter has been so bad that it has prompted some reporters to offer Hewitt solutions, like a box-and-one style of defense, “It’s got to be appropriate to the team,” said Hewitt. “A box-and-one probably wouldn’t be appropriate for Georgia or for Northwestern. It’s funny; I was thinking that as I was watching the game yesterday. It all comes down to the team and the size appropri-ately. You play a box-and-one against a team that has a good inside players and they will just eat you alive.” Needless to say, if reporters are offering suggestions, things need to improve. Watson can be reached at 404-256-1572.

TriviaANsWer

Dustin Byfuglien, who scored his 11th goal on Dec. 13, just 31

games into the season.



Josh Clemons, Whitewater (Fayetteville) rbCameron lynch, brookwood (snellville) lb

eric Yang, brookwood (snellville) Ktimmy byerly, Chattahoochee (Alpharetta) Qb

Kane Whitehurst, Chattahoochee WrAnthony McNeil, Clinch County, (homerville) rb

ronnie bell, sandy Creek, (tyrone) rbtroy braswell, lowndes (Valdosta) ray drew, tCC (thomasville) de

James Vaughters, tucker (tucker) lbNick Marshall, Wilcox County (rochelle) QbMartay Mattox, Clarke Central (Athens) Qb

isaiah Crowell, Carver (Columbus) rbGabe Wright, Carver (Columbus) dt

stephon tuitt, Monroe Area (Monroe) dttyler Cierski, Mill Creek (hoschton) Fb

Jabari hunt-days, hillgrove (Powder springs) lbJustin Garrett, tucker (tucker) lb

Corey Moore, Griffin (Griffin) sChris sanders, tucker (tucker) db

AJ Johnson, Gainesville (Gainesville) lbshannon brown, Cook (Adel) lb

terrence smith, sWd (decatur) olbCJ uzomah, North Gwinnett (suwanee) QbKent rollins, south Gwinnett (snellville) Qb

Alan Posey, Clarke Central (Athens) olXzavier Ward, Colquitt County (Moultrie) ol

Xzavier dickson, Griffin (Griffin) deJay rome, Valdosta (Valdosta) te

Malcolm Mitchell, Valdosta (Valdosta) styler hunter, lowndes (Valdosta) Athdamian swann, Grady (Atlanta) dbbrian randolph, Kell (Marietta) s

Avery Walls, elCA (Mcdonough) sKyle Karempelis, Wesleyan (Norcross) rb

Kadetrix Marcus, stephenson (stone Mountain) stravis richmond, Peach County (Fort Valley) Ath

rory Anderson, Mceachern (Marietta) tetaylor heinicke, Collins hill (suwanee) Qb

Jeff Glover, Collins hill (suwanee) WrMarcus Caffey, Grady (Atlanta) rb

Matt Kiefer, Chattahoochee (Johns Creek) oldemarco robinson, Ml King (lithonia) Wr

Andre “AJ” simms, brookwood (snellville) Wr

Sonic Proudly SuPPortS GeorGia HiGH ScHool Football

Date post:	12-Mar-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

DeceMBeR 17, 2010 - JANUARY 6, 2011 CHECK US OUT aT ... · at the Easter Seals North Georgia Early...

Documents