FEBRUARY 11-17, 2011 CHECK US OUT aT SCOrEaTl.COm …FEBRUARy 11-17, 2011 ScoRE AtlAntA | 5 AlwAys...

FEBRUARY 11-17, 2011 CHECK US OUT aT SCOrEaTl.COm Vol 7 No 6

2 | ScoRE AtlAntA Get In The Game!

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

FEBRUARy 11-17, 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

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

sWANN dAWG: Grady’s Damian Swann inked with Georgia last Wednesday on Na-tional Signing Day and helped cement a near-unanimous top 5 recruiting class. This shot is from Andretti’s in Roswell, where the Touch-down Club of Atlanta hosted a signing day event. Several other metro Atlanta prospects signed with colleges at the event as well. Photo courtesy of Rob Saye.

SHOT OF THE WEEK...

Can’T miSSCan’T miSS

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the Fletch reviews super bowl coverage and decides that Aaron rodgers should not be deified just yet.

in this week’s cover story, Joe deighton writes about how the players acquired from Chicago are liking Atlanta thus far.

brian Jones previews the state swimming and diving championships in this week’s prep beat.

our prep beat writers update you on the latest and greatest in metro Atlanta high school sports.

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 PhOtOs COuRtEsy Of thE ChiCagO blaCkhawks and thE atlanta thRashERs

6 ScORE LiST - WHO’S HOT

11 ScORE mORE 12 GSU

13 caLEndaR 14 TEcH - UGa

hAWKs G Joe JohNsoN

THiS WEEK

inSidE aT ScORE



Golden lands gig on 680; aaron Rodgers not an elite quarterback… yetThe lady with the “Golden” voice is get-

ting a new gig and a new station. Former 790 The Zone personality Sandra Golden will be joining 680 The Fan’s morning show The Rude Awakening after a few years off since a long run at 790 The Zone. Golden, who up until recently was still heard on 790 The Zone promotions, commercials and some fill-in work, had a brief run at a daily sports show called The Sports Gig, which she co-hosted on CSS with 790’s Mike Bell. Golden was also featured frequently on CSS’s SportsNite as a reporter and co-anchor. Honestly, it will be nice to listen not just to a female voice in the Rude Awakening, but to a fresh voice on that show which had been getting stale with the addition of Leo Maz-zone. Golden has experience with “the boys”, as she was the only female in the boys club that used to be Mayhem in the AM on The Zone. Her laugh was distinctive but she also knows her sports. If Mazzone tries to run her over by dismissing her as just the female side-line reporter-type, he will be mistaken. Actu-ally, I kind of hope they challenge her so she CAN flex her sports intellect. Golden also continues a recent trend of 680 The Fan grabbing former 790 The Zone talent. Matt Chernoff “started” the recent ship-jumping to 680, followed by The King Chuck Oliver, Brandon “Hometeam” Leak, update man/producer Chadd Scott, fill-in host Brandon Adams and 3D Dennis Scott, who helps with the Hawks coverage.

siGNiNG dAY … National Signing Day 2011 was finally put to rest last Monday on Score Atlanta’s The Official Visit. Co-hosts Scott Janovitz and Fletcher Proctor broke down Georgia’s class and Georgia Tech’s class and fielded calls on both programs. The Official Visit is constantly changing and evolving as now listeners are calling in to seek information,

something that had not been occurring in the past. The Official Visit is also expanding to the Twitter World with a brand new handle: @OfficialVisit. The Twitter feed will pro-vide updates on who will be appearing on the show, various recruiting updates and recaps of interviews. Speaking of National Signing Day 2011, Brian Jones of Score Atlanta fame wrote up a tremendous recap which can be found on www.scoreatl.com, detailing the day/week that was in Georgia high school recruiting. A little less than one week after National Signing Day, nearly 750 football players had signed on to play at the next level. Score At-lanta, Georgia Public Broadcasting — which hosted two webcasts breaking down the re-cruiting season that was — and 790 The Zone all provided instant updates and analysis and should be lauded for their efforts.

the “biG GAMe” … The Super Bowl was played last Sunday and the coverage was wall-to-wall as expect-ed. A few interesting nuggets from the cov-erage, on a local level, involved Aaron Rod-gers. With Rodgers’ win in the game, some local personalities were ready to anoint him as one of the best ever. As much as one Super Bowl victory can improve a resume, I cannot say that this one title promotes him into the discussion for inclusion on the Quarterback Mount Rushmore. Sorry. While I personally believe that this title elevates him into the discussion for inclusion into the CURRENT quarterback Rushmore, his lone title hasn’t helped him surpass Elway or Brady or Man-ning or Marino or Favre. He hasn’t passed Montana, Young, Kelly, Bradshaw or Aik-man yet. This isn’t to say that he won’t, but he hasn’t yet. The win does, though, punch Rodgers’ ticket as the best young QB in the game, bar none. Atlanta fans sadly must agree with this

statement as Rodgers actually went up against Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan and out-played him in the Georgia Dome. Ryan is a fine young quarterback, but he can only look at his 0-2 postseason record and then peek at Rodgers’ resumé, which now includes a ring, and see that the bar has been raised. Don’t fret, though, Falcons fans, I’d still rank Ryan in the top five quarterbacks under 30 years old. Philip Rivers has to be in the discussion as does Rodgers, but you must like Ryan ahead of Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez, St. Louis’ Sam Bradford and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco. While San-chez and Flacco both have tasted some success in the postseason, I believe if giv-en a choice, both of those franchises would gladly switch quarterbacks with Atlanta, while I cannot see the Falcons willing to go through with a switch in a hypothetical swap. Rodgers lost a tough playoff game in 2009-10 then went on to win the 2010-11 Super Bowl. Perhaps Ryan will follow in Rodgers’ footsteps in 2011-12. Other notes from the Super Bowl: May-hem in the AM talking about how a hand-ful of fans got jobbed (paraphrasing since I don’t want to write the word they used) out of the Super Bowl due to an overselling of seats. It was announced that these fans would be given deluxe tickets to next year’s Super Bowl and be allowed on the field and likely put up by the NFL in a hotel and al-lowed into parties. In my opinion, this was the best thing that could have ever happened to these people. Oh, you missed the Super Bowl. Big deal. You will be treated like a king/queen next season. It reminds me of when an airline over-sells seats and the folks at the counter beg for a volunteer to take a later flight with a voucher for a free flight and a seat in first class. HECK YES you take that deal if your plans allow it. Oh, you have to sit in the airport for four more

hours. Usually they let you go to the first class lounge and then you get to sit in first class on the next flight AND you get a free flight? No-brainer. Same with these folks: they were going to sit in the nosebleed seats, but now they will be ON THE FIELD in 2012 with primo seats. The Mayhem crew relented a bit once it was announced what the “unlucky” fans would receive. I think they cleaned up. ESPN.com ran a story on its front page recently declaring that Chipper Jones would be back for 2011. Thanks? I’ll take “things that were obvious six months ago” for $600, please, Alex. Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

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

“Just a month ago things were looking pretty bleak, as the dogs had turned in an excruciatingly bad bowl performance, whiffed

on a couple of all star recruits and been dumped on verbally by a

big-name football alum.”

that was the AJC’s Georgia fan blog-ger bill King. his statement brings up an interesting thought: i wonder how Frankly Fran tarkenton is tak-ing this recruiting class? the recruits and players don’t seem to agree with tarkenton and his latest rant against richt. i wonder if Frankly Fran will weigh in on richt now. Ah, that’s right; he only surfaces to heap nega-tivity. i would imagine we won’t hear from him until Georgia loses.



Former Blackhawks leading Thrashers into the final stretch of the playoff runHope is a word that has seldom been

used in the history of the Atlanta Thrashers franchise. In 10 previous sea-sons, the team has made just one playoff appearance, which yielded zero wins. Of course, there is always hope going into ev-ery season, but this season was different; there was hope for a reason. Atlanta is not a traditional hockey town. That started to change this past offseason, when GM Rick Dudley traded for three play-ers from the Chicago Blackhawks, who are

one of the “Original Six” NHL franchises. An-other Blackhawk, An-drew Ladd signed as

throughout the season. The defenseman is not looked at as much of a goal scorer and thus only has two goals this year. Howev-er, one of those goals came this past week against Carolina. The service that Sopel provides is not the kind that jumps off the stat page. He leads the team in blocked shots and has a plus-nine rating so far this year. His experi-ence last year with Chicago pays big divi-dends when it comes to playoff hockey and winning close games. “We need to find a way to win these one-goal games,” he said after a shootout loss to Tampa. “Coming down the stretch here, this is like playing playoff hockey. We just have to find a way to close these games out.” Without the services of injured defen-seman Tobi Enstrom, Sopel’s production is crucial to Atlanta’s chances of a Stan-ley Cup playoff spot. “Good teams find ways,” Sopel said. “When guys are out of the lineup, it’s just an opportunity for other guys to get more ice time.” Should the Thrashers make the playoffs, Sopel can provide the necessary experience to win a series. The 34-year old has played in 64 career postseason games.

doWN the stretCh … With just 26 games remaining, there is little room for error if the Thrashers want to earn their first playoff berth since 2007. At-lanta fell to ninth place recently in the Eastern Conference behind division-rival Carolina. Three games are left between the two teams and more than likely it will come down to who plays the best in those contests. “It comes down to our willingness to battle,” said Ramsay. The downside to the schedule is that the Hurricanes have two games in hand, which ultimately puts playoff destiny in their hands. Anything can happen in hockey and the puck bounces funny ways when teams are battling for a postseason berth. “We need to just keep doing what we’re doing,” said Sopel. “If we keep doing what we’re doing, eventually the results will come.” Photos of Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Sopel courtesy of the Atlanta Spirit. Deighton can be reached at [email protected].

a free agent. Dustin Byfuglien, Ladd, and Brent Sopel were the key acquisitions dur-ing the greatest offseason in Thrashers his-tory. All three were part of last year’s Stanley Cup champions and look forward to doing the same in Atlanta.

leAdershiP ANd eXPeriNCe … These players from Chicago have not only made the team better, but have become the unquestioned leaders on the ice and in the locker room. They brought a winning at-titude and, more importantly, the experience of winning a championship. Last year, Byfuglien was one of the lead-ers on Chicago and could have very easily won the Conn Smythe award for playoff MVP with 11 goals and five assists. He transitioned

his tremendous playoff performance into a spectacular first half for Atlanta. Byfug-

lien put the team on his back during its early surge this season. He changed

positions from forward to defen-seman and never missed a beat,

leading the team with 17 goals through Feb. 8. Six of those tallies were game-winning goals. This made him an easy

choice to represent Atlanta in the 2011 NHL All-Star

game. Although his stats are impressive,

Byfuglien has giv-

en the Thrashers more than they could have ever hoped for when they traded for him. “The fact that he scores is tremendous,” said head coach Craig Ramsay. “The fact that he wins a lot of battles in our zone, down low, that he has a good stick and is understanding that if you’re good without the puck and win-ning those battles, you get to go shoot.” Byfuglien understands that he has to be a total player in order for the team to be suc-cessful and that is just what he has done so far. “You just have to stick to the system and know what you’re doing out there,” he said. “You have to be on top of your game at all times and, if you can do that, the team will succeed.” He also knows that being a leader is most important when the team is struggling and overcoming adversity. Over the past few weeks, the Thrashers have struggled, losing four straight games since the All-Star break. “We have to learn from our mistakes and look at the positives when we lose,” added Byfug-lien. “We have to continue on and not focus on one game and just get back on track.” Ladd came to Atlanta with two champi-onship rings; one with Chicago and another with the ‘06 Carolina Hurricanes. This made him a prime candidate to be named captain of the Thrashers. At just 25-years old, Ladd was named captain of the team at the start of the year and he has lived up to every expec-tation that comes with that honor. He is tied with Byfuglien for the team lead in goals with 17 and leads all Thrashers forwards with 40 points through Feb. 8. The playoffs are within reach for the Thrashers and that has created a certain level of excitement for Ladd and his teammates. “We’re excited to be battling for a playoff spot,” said Ladd. “We should be excited, be-cause we can do something special in Atlanta.” Ladd has been the vocal leader of this team, as he should be as Captain, and he chal-lenged his teammates to focus on their own game. “We can’t worry about what other

teams do,” said Ladd. “We have to play as a team and work hard to win these games.” Sopel has struggled at times as a Thrasher, but he has shown some signs of progress



SCOrEliST

cRUncHinG THEnUmBErS

bY briAN JoNes bY riCKY diMoNPriMe tiMe iN CANtoN: Former Falcons Cb deion sanders was one of the best in the game, and for his efforts, was voted into the Pro Football hall of Fame last saturday. he is the first player drafted by the Falcons to be inducted into the hall. despite his tackling deficiencies, he deserves the honor, as he was the true definition of a shutdown corner.

liViN’ oN A shAre: And speak-ing of the Falcons, could they have a new minority owner? rock legend Jon bon Jovi has confirmed he expressed interest in buying 15 percent of the franchise. What does this mean in the long run? this could be all part of Ar-thur blank’s plan to build a new stadium, which is something he has wanted since he bought the team in 2002.

the FiNAl dAWG: Georgia already had a great signing day class before last saturday, but it got better when defen-sive tackle John Jenkins signed with the bulldogs over Florida. Jenkins is a junior college transfer and is slated to play right away at the nose tackle po-sition, if everything goes according to plan. hopefully, he can produce like Ala-bama’s terrence Cody did.

AlMost here: With football season officially over and basketball season at the halfway point, it’s almost time for baseball season to begin and the braves will get underway on Monday when pitch-ers and catchers report for spring train-ing. i can’t wait for the season to begin because i think the braves can have an-other postseason run. the Phillies may have something to say about that, though.

tourNeY tiMe: the high school basketball regular season has come to an end, and that means region tourna-ments will get underway this week. Can Milton take home the region 6-AAAAA title and go on to win another state title? or can a team like Peachtree ridge take home the region 7-AAAAA title and be a darkhorse for the state crown? this should be fun.

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THUmBS dOWn TO L’S

coach SmittyThe head coach of the Atlanta Falcons has been rewarded for leading his team to three consecutive winning seasons, including the NFC South title in his third year at the helm. Smith signed a three-year contract extension last week which locks him up through the 2014-15 campaign.Big aLA Blake Griffin foul with 0.6 seconds left in last Friday’s Hawks-Clippers game sent Hor-ford to the line with Atlanta down by one. Despite falling on his back and suffering an injury that has now kept him out two games, Horford calmly sank two free throws for the win. Horford had 23 points and 12 boards for his four th double-double in five games.K-LoveSpeaking of double-doubles, Minnesota’s Kevin Love has a mind-boggling 38 in a row after getting another one against Houston on Tuesday. Love is well past Kevin Garnett’s previous franchise record and he has the lon-gest streak of double-doubles since Moses Malone’s 44 straight in 1982-83.

Sixers LossThree NBA games this season have re-sulted in the home team getting blown out by more than 30 points, and the Hawks have now been on the losing end of two such games. On Tuesday, they trailed 33-18 after one, fell behind by a shocking 65-33 score at the half and lost to Philadelphia 117-83.

The cavsIt’s still going…. As of Wednesday afternoon, the abysmal Cavs have lost an NBA-record 25 consecutive games. If there’s any good news, however, it’s that they fell at Dallas by just three points on Monday and have home games against bad teams on the horizon.

Why Washaun?The UGA running back had already been suspend-ed once before for a traffic violation while driving with a suspended license. Now he is suspended again—this time indefinitely—for failing to show up for a “punishment run,” for players who violate team rules. Mark Richt says Ealey will be back if he starts doing things “the Georgia way.”

TRiVia

QUESTiOnThe Thrashers’ current winning pct. is .518.

compared to previous seasons, how high does that percentage rank in

franchise history?

SaniTY

aT LaST“They appreciate it, but I think

sometimes with them, when they play bad you’ve got to say, we

played bad. But it’s always ‘we.’ I wouldn’t say 24 guys played good and if this guy would’ve caught

that ground ball we would’ve won that day. It’s always ‘we.’ “

– Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez on how players react to a manager’s

quotes to the media. answer on page 14

Aaron rodgers’ passer rating in the Packers’ su-per bowl XlV victory

television viewership (in millions) of the super bowl, setting an all-time record

super bowl record for teams that have returned an interception for a touchdown

Combined rushing at-tempts by Pittsburgh and Green bay, fewest in su-per bowl history

rogers’ lead over brett Favre in super bowl MVP awards (1-0)

Current losing streak for the Georgia tech men’s hoops team as of Wednesday

Games in his last 12 that tech sophomore Glen rice Jr. has scored in double-figures

turnovers — in a loss — forced by the Yellow Jackets in last week’s game at Miami

tech’s ACC rank (last) in both FG percentage and 3-point FG percentage

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my TWO CEnTS The high school hoops postseason has arrived, and GPB will be all over the action with regular webcasts throughout the playoffs. As you may already know, our found-er and President, I.J. Rosen-berg is also the head of sports at GPB, and has pushed for the state-funded media source to broadcast high school sport-ing events on the internet. The wbecasts can be seen around the globe by anyone and every-one interested. This past football season, we webcasted a game each Friday night up until the finals, when

we webcasted each championship game. During hoops season, we’ve webcasted

games the past three Tuesdays and will be back next Thursday for the first postseason webcast. After the regionals are done, we will move onto covering the playoffs. We sincerely hope that all readers who are also high school basketball fans will tune into the web-casts to check out the best

matchups Georgia high school hoops has to offer.

Black can be reached at [email protected].

It’s midway through February and, when it comes to high school sports in Georgia,

that means the winter sports are drawing to a close. It all starts with swimming and diving, as the state championships take place at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center this weekend. Over 1,000 swimmers and divers will descend on the Tech campus over the week-end. This won’t be anything new to Georgia Tech, as the school has hosted its fair share of big events. In 1996, for example, the GTAC hosted the Olympic swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events. Plus, Tech staged the 2005 ACC Swimming and Div-ing Championships and 2006 NCAA Cham-pionship, which brought in over 10,000 fans in three days. This will be the first time the GTAC will host the high school state cham-pionships, which will benefit the swimmers who will have the chance to swim in a state-

of-the-art facility.

A looK At 5A … Speaking of swimmers, the Brookwood boys are looking to win their fourth consecu-tive title while the Lassiter girls are also in search of their fourth straight state crown. For Brookwood, All-American Ken Bolton leads the way. However, the Broncos did lose a solid senior class from last year, so there’s a chance another team could take the title away from them. Several possible teams that could win are Northview, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge and Lassiter. The Lassiter girls are led by three se-niors — Samantha Bosma, Kim Carducci and Shannon O’Malley. They will all go on to swim in college, but first they want to end their careers as champions. The biggest obstacle is Walton, which comes in to the

tournament stronger than last year. It will be interesting to see if the county rival can take the title from the Trojans. For diving, the Brookwood girls hope to have a strong outing. Emma Weisel, Chloe Cotter and Norelle Saunders want to take down teams such as Colquitt County and Northview. For the boys, Alpharetta and Peachtree Ridge each have three divers com-peting in the championships. Jack Nyquist of Alpharetta looks to defend his state title.

A, 2A, 3A, 4A … Marist and Westminster have dominated the swim and dive scene for a while and this year should be no different. The Westminster girls have won 19 state titles while the Marist girls have won the last four championships. The Westminster boys have won 22 state titles while the Marist boys have won four titles since 2000.

For Westminster, Nicole Stafford will be a swimmer to watch. She placed first in the qualifiers in the 200 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly, 100 Freestyle, 500 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle Relay and the 100 Backstroke. She will be key if Westminster wants to get the state title back from Marist. The problem is Greater Atlanta Christian could disrupt the party, be-cause it has a qualifier in nearly every event. And the same can be said about the GAC boys team, which is the defending state cham-pion. GAC will have its hands full because Westminster and Marist have a swimmer in almost every event. As far as diving goes, Marist will have sev-en girls and six boys competing in the champi-onships. No other school came close to qualify-ing even 10 total divers for the championships. Jones can be reached at [email protected].

bY briAN JoNes



McEachern moved into the top 10 with a 61-52 win over South Cobb, and im-

proved to 15-6 on the year. It was the second win in as many nights for the Indians over South Cobb and they were led by power for-ward Marquis Roberts’ game-high 17 points. Forward Chris Okpala added eight points, including two three-pointers that keyed a 16-7 run. The spurt broke the game open for McEachern in the third quarter. The Indians have won five straight and look safe to gain another trip to the state playoffs. Walton ranks No. 6 in Class 5A this week after a hard-fought 72-69 victory over Lassiter. The three-point margin is misleading, because the Raiders had a 62-44 lead going into the fourth quarter. Lassiter was able to mount a tre-mendous comeback, falling just short after turn-ing the ball over with two seconds remaining. Karl Cochran led the Raiders with 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Head coach Joe Goydish appreciated the play of his star player. “When (Karl) heats up, there isn‘t a better shooter in the state,” he told the MDJ. “When he’s shooting like that, we get the ball

Last Tuesday, four teams in the top six of Class AA got together on the same court

for GPB’s Two-For-Tuesday matchup as the No. 6 Greater Atlanta Christian School girls hosted No. 3 Buford while the No. 6 Buford boys faced the No. 2 GAC boys.

shoWdoWN oN GPb … The Buford girls used a big second quar-ter to race out to a three-point halftime lead, but the Lady Spartans limited Kaela Davis and Andraya Carter to below their season av-erages while basically eliminating all other threats. GAC, meanwhile, received a tremen-dous effort from sophomore Kristina Nelson, who scored 13 of her 17 in the second half to lead the 52-43 win. Brianna Cummings showed she might be the real deal as well, as the freshman contributed 10 huge points. The GAC boys were able to pull off the sweep of Buford, rallying from a first-half hole to take down the Wolves 70-67. Malcolm Brodgon had 30 points in the win and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Buford featured five play-ers in double figures.

Miller Grove (23-1, 15-0) is No. 1 in the Class 4A rankings yet again and looks to

end the season that way barring an upset this Friday against Douglass. Should the Wolverines fall, undefeated Sequoyah could overtake them in the final rankings. Southwest DeKalb (16-5, 10-3) lost a tough one to the Wolverines Friday night 49-46, but maintained its No. 10 rank-ing and could easily make the state tourna-ment with its second-place finish in Region 6B-AAAA. The Columbia boys (20-3, 10-0) have re-bounded from their loss to Tucker last week to reel off three straight wins and remain atop the Class 3A rankings heading into their final two games this weekend. Only region foes Cedar Grove and Mc-Nair remain for the Eagles, but even if Co-lumbia were to lose to both of them, a region title is assured because of the Eagles’ four-game lead in region 5B-AAA.

Girls hooPs … The No. 6 Lady Jaguars of Stephenson (18-4, 12-0) lost to Campbell last Saturday

in his hands and he finishes.” The Raiders are 15-6 (8-1) with just two games remaining: one against Etowah and an-other with Lassiter.

Girls hooPs … The McEachern girls won their fourth straight game with a 68-38 thumping over South Cobb. The Indians got balanced scor-ing from their entire lineup, finishing with four players in double figures. Shooting guard Bre-anna Jackson led the team with 12 points. A 26-8 run started things off nicely for the Indi-ans and they never let go of the lead. The win improved McEachern’s record to 17-5 (9-3). North Cobb continues to lead Region 4-5A with a 21-3 (11-2) record. They won their sixth game in a row 70-59 over Camp-bell to essentially wrap up the region title. The Warriors lead Campbell by one game with one game to play. The Lady Warriors will fin-ish the season against Harrison before prepar-ing for the region and state tournaments. Deighton can be reached at [email protected].

reGioN WrestliNG … On the wrestling mats, Collins Hill and Parkview continued to show their dominance as both claimed area traditional titles. Collins Hill claimed its seventh straight traditional Area 7-AAAAA crown, beating out North Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge and qualifying all 14 team members for the upcoming Class 5A sectionals. The Eagles’ program boasted seven individual champions in the event. Parkview, meanwhile, qualified nine wres-tlers for the upcoming sectionals while claim-ing three individual titlists en route to the Area 8-AAAAA title. The Panthers held off Dacula and Archer for the win. The title was the eighth straight area team championship win for Parkview. Panthers coach Chris Hardin told Score Atlanta that he believes the Area competition has gotten his squad ready for the upcoming tournaments. “With us being in Gwinnett, we get to see some of the best teams and individ-uals in the state on a regular basis. With our Area being so tough, we feel very prepared to take on the rest of the state.” Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

65-59. The loss ends the Lady Jaguars’ 10-game winning streak and drops them to num-ber six in the Class 5A rankings. Stephenson will play Westlake and Newnan to end the season before starting the region tournament next Monday. The Chamblee girls (22-0, 15-0) are still undefeated and No. 1 in the Class 4A rank-ings after beating region foe Dunwoody last week, 57-43. The Lady Dogs will face Tucker this Friday with a perfect season on the line. At No. 4 in Class 4A, the Redan girls (17-2, 12-2) maintained their ranking from last week with wins over region foes Mays and Tucker this past weekend. With four games left and eighth-ranked Southwest DeKalb (16-6, 11-2) right behind them in the rankings, the Lady Raiders still have some work to do if they want to wrap up a region title. The aforementioned Lady Panthers of Southwest DeKalb sit at No. 8, up one spot from last week. In Class 3A, the Columbia Lady Eagles are still No. 2 and their winning streak is now at nine. Collins can be reached at 404-256-1572.

mcEachern rolls; Walton wins again

Gac sweeps Buford on GpB webcastFinal stretch for basketball contenders

Last Wednesday was a big day for 21 Cher-okee and Forsyth footballers, as it was the

first day that they could sign a national letter-of-intent to their prospective universities. Schools from around the area were well represented as Etowah led the area with five signees: Eagles defensive end Christian Har-ris, who finished the season with 127 tack-les and considered the highest-touted recruit in the area, inked to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. “I’m really excited to get up (to Knoxville) and work with the team and get to know everybody,” Harris said to The Chero-kee Tribune at the Cherokee County National Signing Day event. Other signees from Etowah include Nick Merino-Fordham University (NY), Jason Holdway-Harvard University, and Braden Nolan-Carsen Newman, D’Andre Jackson-Tusculum University (TN). West Forsyth had four players sign letters: Dustin Gayton-Jacksonville State (AL), Ethan Shirley-Morehead State (KY), Jake Tatum-University of West Georgia (Carrollton), and Reice Thompson- Bethel University (TN). North Forsyth had four players sign letters: Austin Kahler-University of West Georgia(Carrollton), Joey Vicary-Brevard College (NC), Nick Saponara-Bemidji State

University (MN), and Johnny Hampton-Car-son-Newman (TN). Woodstock sent three players to the next level: Tanner Skogen-Furman University (SC), Keven Bolak-William Penn University (IA), and Corey Santiago-Charleston Southern (SC). South Forsyth’s Kyle Travis was one of two Football Bowl Subdivision signees from Forsyth County as he signed to play for Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech. Travis joins a class of 22 other signees on the 41st-ranked class ac-cording to Rivals, representing the largest class for Tech since 2004. Travis was quoted on his choice of Tech by The Forsyth News “I watched Tech [as a kid], I watched Georgia, I was a fan of both ... Now I’m an all-out Tech man.” Gar-rett Frye stayed in state to play for Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Sequoyah’s Carter Bragg signed with Fordham University (NY) and Forsyth Cen-tral lineman Joey Negley signed with Furman University (SC). Pinecrest deep snapper Bryce Haynes, considered the best in the country, had his choice of schools from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Arkansas. Haynes signed with the Buckeyes. Thomason can be reached at 404-256-1572.

Local gridiron stars ink with colleges



Action is heating up on the hardwood as basketball region tournaments are less

than one week away. Arguably no team, though, is as hot as the Chattahoochee girls right now. The Cougars earned two more vic-tories last week to extend their winning streak to 17 games while improving their record to 21-2 (13-0 Region 7-AAAA). Sophomore Kayla Upchurch, who has already signed with Georgia Southern Uni-versity, is averaging more than 18 points and five assists per game. Junior Alexis Alexander is scoring more than 18 points and grabbing more than 13 boards per contest. They are aided by a core group of eight seniors who have helped the team exceed expectations de-spite the early-season loss of injured Georgia signee Erika Ford. “We haven’t gotten any move-ins; no transfers,” head coach Erick Herrick told the AJC. “It’s good to be able to compete with those schools that do. When you have them in the program from beginning to end, you’re a close-knit group.” Alpharetta sophomore Kylee Smith eclipsed the 1,000-career points mark last Tuesday in a 57-53 loss to Region 6-AAAAA rival Northview. The Raiders, who handed Chattahoochee one of its two losses back in

December, saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end but bounced back last Friday to edge Roswell 41-38. On the boys side, a tough non-region schedule seems to have fired up Milton for a late-season surge. The highly-touted Eagles, who dropped a pair of games in December, have won 11 straight—all by at least 15 points. They have won their last two games by more than 40 points and have dominated six of their last eight by no less than 28.siGNiNG dAY NeWs … Several Fulton County football standouts made their verbal commitments official last week on National Signing Day. Grady’s Damian Swann is part of Geor-gia’s 2011 recruiting “Dream Team” and he will also play baseball for the Bulldogs. For Class AAAA state champion Chattahoochee, quarter-back Timmy Byerly (Middle Tennessee State), kicker Ammon Lakip (Clemson) and wide re-ceiver Kane Whitehurst (Arkansas) all signed letters-of-intent. Cougars’ defensive lineman Barron Dixon was one of the few signing-day surprises, as he de-committed from Mississippi State and signed with Vanderbilt. Dimon can be reached at [email protected].

‘Hooch, alpharetta looking good in hoops





another poor showing at philipsAlthough Atlanta sports a respectable

17-8 record at home, it has been shellacked three times at Philips Arena. The first two came in clunkers against New Orleans and Boston; the third came on Tuesday in a 117-83 dismantling at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers. Atlanta never lead and shot a mea-sly 41 percent from the field. Meanwhile, the Sixers were simply rolling throughout. They quickly jumped out to a 14-5 lead and the rout was on. The Hawks never even pulled back to within double-digits for the rest of the game. Atlanta native Louis Williams led the way with 20 off the bench. Philadel-phia placed six players in double-figures and shot 54 percent from the field. “It was clearly a game where we had to come out ready in the very be-ginning,” said head coach Larry Drew, “That’s just totally inexcusable for us to come out like that.” Al Horford missed his second straight game with a back injury.roAd WArriors … The blowout loss to Philly couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the Hawks are about to head into their most diffi-cult stretch of games this season with a

two-week road trip. They’ll get their last taste of Philips Arena against a Charlotte team that they beat two weeks ago. Then it’s on the road to face the Detroit Pistons on Monday. That’s the beginning of a challenging trip that fea-tures tough away matchups such as trips to the Knicks, Lakers, Suns, Trailblazers and Nuggets. This year the Hawks have been much improved in that area, sporting a 16-11 record. All-stArs … For the second consecutive season, Horford and Joe Johnson will represent the Hawks at the NBA All Star Game. Johnson is averaging 20.6 PPG and 5.5 APG on the year after a fantastic month of January. Meanwhile, Horford is averaging close to a double-double yet again with 16 points and nine boards. “I’m thrilled to be going back to the All-Star Game and I am proud to rep-resent the entire Atlanta Hawks organi-zation,” Horford said. “Last year was an unbelievable experience and it’s an honor for me to be selected again.” Bagriansky can be reached at [email protected]

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Jones to man the hot corner in 2011 Team in midst of important playoff runThe news that Braves future Hall of

Fame third baseman Chipper Jones will return “broke” recently, though it was really no surprise that Jones would return following a season-ending injury in 2010. Earlier this offseason, new At-lanta manager Fredi Gonzalez announced that Jones was penciled in at third base, thus moving Martin Prado to left field following the acquisition of new second baseman Dan Uggla. Jones was slotted in the third spot of the batting order. ChiPPer thouGhts … Honestly, this is how it should be if Jones is ready to go following surgery on his knee, which caused him to miss the team’s run to the playoffs in 2010. Jones’ bat isn’t what it was in 1999, when he took home the MVP while leading the Braves to the World Series, and the bat really isn’t what it was a few seasons ago when he flirted with .400 on his way to the National League batting crown. However, Jones is still a smart and patient hitter that doesn’t get fooled often and racked up the bases on balls last season before the injury. A switch-hitter with a tremendous eye at

With just 26 games remaining, the Thrashers are in the midst of a very

important stretch run to the Stanley Cup playoffs. They trail Carolina by one point for the eighth spot in the Eastern Confer-ence. This week they will entertain the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurri-canes. Both of those teams are above At-lanta and wins against them will go a long way to remaining in playoff contention. touGh losses … The Thrashers are winless since the All-Star break, losing four straight and gaining just one point. One of the most frustrating losses came in the last game at Toronto. After leading 2-0 in the first peri-od, things started to fall apart in the second and third period, as goalie Ondrej Pavelec gave up five goals. The game would end with the Maple Leafs winning 5-4. The team scored enough, but obviously didn’t do enough to win. “It’s getting to the point where you have to win,” head coach Craig Ramsay told the AP. “We made a very large point of that tonight - that it isn’t about playing well, it was about winning.” MAKiNG MoVes … Injuries are taking a toll on the At-lanta Thrasher roster at this point of the

The Atlanta Falcons announced last week that head coach Mike Smith signed a

three-year contract extension. Smith, who has been with the team for three years, was originally inked to a four-year deal in 2008, worth between $8 and $10 million annual-ly. This contract—terms of which were not disclosed—now locks up Smith through the 2014-15 season. “I am looking forward to continu-ing to build upon the solid foundation we have in place within our organization and on our football team,” Smith said in a statement released by the Falcons. “I’d like to personally thank both Arthur (Blank) and Thomas Dimitroff for their outstanding support and guidance. We are going to continue to work as hard as we can to bring a championship to Fal-cons fans and to the city of Atlanta.” Smith, the NFL Coach of the Year in 2008, has guided the Falcons to a 33-17 overall record in three campaigns and they have reached the playoffs twice. Having never previously recorded back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history, At-lanta suddenly boasts three in a row. Not surprisingly, Blank was eager to reward Smith’s work. “When we

the plate is valuable, and don’t discount Jones’ leadership in the clubhouse. And, while some people say that his defense has slipped, I have to disagree. While his range isn’t what it once was, you aren’t asking him to play shortstop for the Braves. He is the third baseman and still has his instincts that he came into the league with back in the early 1990s. He can still pick the ball on a chopper to third and he can start a double-play with the best in the National League. The bottom line with Chipper Jones in 2011 is that he is coming back and the team should be glad that he will be in the order and in the field. His presence out there cannot be valued just in terms of his production but also in how he im-pacts Brooks Conrad, Freddie Freeman, Jordan Schafer and Jason Heyward. His value will be counted in the postsea-son with quality at-bats that potentially force the opposing manager to go to the bullpen a few batters early because of the ability to wait out the quality pitch. Jones will certainly have an impact on the 2011 Braves. Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

season. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom was placed on injured reserve last week. His loss will have a major impact on the team’s playoff chances. Enstrom is second on the team in scoring with 41 points. Defenseman Arturs Kulda was called up from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to make up for another injury to defense-man Freddy Meyer. Meyer suffered an upper body injury when he was hit and failed to gain his footing against Cal-gary last week. Kulda was a minus-two along with two penalty minutes against Carolina and Toronto. Goalie Chris Mason was activated from injured reserve. The 34-year old has seven wins as a starter in net this season. He has an .892 save percentage in 19 games and will back up Pavelec for the rest of the year. Goalie Drew MacIntyre was reas-signed to the Chicago Wolves. He has appeared in 15 games for the AHL squad, posting an 8-5-1 record along with a 2.88 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. Deighton can be reached at [email protected].

hired Mike Smith in 2008, we believed we had found the total package; a head coach with strong leadership skills and experience and the track record to back it up, and a man of high character and integrity,” the AJC reported Blank as saying. “In his three seasons with us, Coach Smith has demonstrated all of these characteristics, and then some.”‘PriMe tiMe’ NoW All-tiMe ... Former Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last Saturday. When Sand-ers is enshrined into Canton this August, he will become the first player originally draft-ed by Atlanta to enter the Hall of Fame. The Falcons selected Sanders fifth overall out of Florida State University in the 1989 draft. He spent five seasons with the team, hauling in 24 of his 53 career interceptions. He returned five kicks—two punts and three kickoffs—for touch-downs as a Falcon. During the 1992 sea-son, Sanders amassed more than 1,000 kick return yards, averaged 26.7 yards per return and took two to the endzone. Dimon can be reached at [email protected].

Smith rewarded with new contract



men’s basketball beats UncW and Towson; Lady panthers shock Lady SeahawksA little revenge was in order for the Panther

men’s basketball team with UNC-Wilm-ington coming into the sports arena. Having lost to the Seahawks on a three-point buzzer-beater in Wilmington in early January, the game last week here went to overtime with Georgia State pulling out a 63-58 win. “We had some guys down the stretch make some plays,” commented head coach Rod Barnes. “I thought guys like Javonte Maynor and Josh Micheaux stepped up and did some big things for us tonight. It was a great win for our team.” Eric Buckner led with 18 points while

Micheaux finished with a career-high 15 points. Three days later James Vincent scored a career-high 12 points for the second time against Towson this season and led the Pan-thers to a 63-60 win over the Tigers in the Towson Athletic Center. The Panthers will host Hofstra and Northeastern this week (WRAS-FM 88.5)… Listen to the weekly Inside Georgia State Basketball radio show Monday’s 4-5 p.m. on Newstalk 1160, WCFO-AM.

PANtherettes … In women’s action last Sunday, the

Lady Panthers shot 63 percent in the second half, 3-for-3 outside the arc in the second half, and 85.7 percent from the free throw line (12-14) in the second half to upset first-place UNC Wilmington 76-67. Georgia State had a balanced attack with five players in double-figure scoring. Sophomore center Cody Paulk had a career-best 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with six blocked shots. “Our aggressiveness worked to our advan-tage in the second half,” said coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener. “We defended better and certainly shot the ball a whole lot better. The team showed unselfish play today and we

had a balanced scoring attack.” Panther fans are looking forward to this weekend’s games as it’s Panther Alumni Week. Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena the 1990-91 and 2000-01 NCAA men’s teams will be honored and then on Sunday the 1980-81 and 2000-01 women’s AIAW and NCAA teams will be honored. It’s always good to beat Georgia South-ern in any sport, and the Panther tennis team did so 5-2 last week at Piedmont Park. 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. February 12 vs. Charlotte 7 PM. February 14 at Detroit

7:30 PM. February 16 at New York 7:30 PM. February 22 at Los Angeles Lakers 10:30 PM. February 23 at Phoenix 9 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.

FooTBAllCollins 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. February 11 vs. New York Rangers 7:30 PM. February

13 vs. Carolina 5 PM. February 17 at Phoenix 9 PM. February 19 at Edmonton 3:30 PM. February 23 at Buffalo 7 PM.

Gladiators. February 11 at South Carolina 7:05 PM. February 12 vs. South Carolina 7:05 PM. February 13 vs. South Carolina 4:05 PM. February 18 at Florida 7:30 PM. February 19 at Flor-ida 7 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 run with the Wolves 5K and 2 Mile health Walk. Feb. 19. Rome,

8:30 AM. 706-766-8845.3rd Annual Feel the h.e.A.t. 5K & Mile Fun run. Feb. 19. Su-

wanee, 10:30 AM. 770-888-5145. taste 10K & Mile Family Fun run. Feb. 19. Athens, 8:00 AM.

706.353.1313 . (certified 10k course)run the reagan half Marathon/10K/5K/Mile. Feb. 19. Snellville,

8:00 AM. 770-518-8002.st. Joe’s Jog 5K & 1 Mile Fun run. Feb. 19. Athens, 8:30 AM.

706-680-7223.1st Annual darby ranger run 10K/30K/50K & 1K Kids Fun run.

Feb. 19. Camp Darby, 8:00 AM. 205-305-8311.

cAMPSNike basketball Camps. Camps located in Snellville, Roswell, Ken-

nesaw, Oxford and Jonesboro. For more information or a free bro-chure, visit 1-800-645-3226 or visit www.ussportscamps.com.

Club sport, “Where Atlanta Comes to Play!” Registration Ongoing for Sand & Indoor Leagues and Tournaments League games played every day and night at the Brookhaven Boys and Girls Club. For more info or to register visit http://www.usclubsport.com/

Jack City baseball. Ongoing. Atlanta Braves pitcher Vladimir Nunez is now conducting pitching lessons. To schedule a les-son, call 770-513-4121.

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. 5. Feb. 12 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.richard Petty driving experience. Feb. 19-20 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”.



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With the basketball team holding a 4-4 record in conference play, it was safe

to say the Bulldogs needed to win against Auburn last Saturday in order to keep their chances of a tournament bid alive. It was not easy, but Georgia was able to come away with an 81-72 win against the Tigers in overtime. Jeremy Price was the hero for the Bulldogs, scoring 22 points and pulling down a career-best 14 rebounds. “Jeremy did play very well,” head coach Mark Fox said after the game. “I thought he was consistently pretty darn good for us. He rebounded the ball well, scored it and played like a senior.” Price played a larger role in the game for the Dawgs because Trey Thompkins was sick. Thompkins still had a productive night as he scored 16 points in the win. Travis Leslie add-

Georgia Tech’s record has dropped to 10-12 (3-6 ACC) and its performance on the

road is a major factor as to why. The Yellow Jackets are 0-7 on the road this season, and in the conference they are 0-4 in opponents’ buildings. Despite their mediocre record, it hasn’t been because of a tough schedule, as Tech has only played one team currently ranked in the Top 25. Things aren’t going to get any easier for these Jackets either, as their next three conference games are against Florida State, Virginia Tech and Duke. Two of those three are on the road. It has been a down year, not just for the Jackets, but for many teams in the ACC. Paul Hewitt talked in his Monday ACC teleconfer-

ed 20 points and eight rebounds. With the team winning its last two SEC games, it looked to get its third consecutive win when it faced Xavier at Stegeman Coli-seum on Tuesday. Going into halftime, the Bulldogs were up by one, but the combina-tion of offensive woes plus Thompkins foul-ing out of the game led to a 65-57 win for the Musketeers. “We played better in the first half today than we did in the second half,” Fox said after the game. “Our two best interior offensive play-ers fouled out and that’s hard to overcome.” Thompkins led Georgia with 14 points and nine boards. Leslie had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Georgia’s record now stands at 16-7 and the team will look to get back on track Saturday when it travels to South Carolina to face the Gamecocks.

ence about the perception of the conference. “I think that the standard that the ACC has set over the years sometimes comes back to be a negative with people,” he said. “I’ve been in the league now for 11 years, and ev-ery year I’ve always heard that the ACC is down. But you look at the last 10 years, we’ve had five national champions come out of the league and we played for the title in 2004. I think it’s just become a stylish thing to say that the ACC is down.”

QuiCK Notes … Iman Shumpert is only six points away from becoming the 41st Yellow Jacket to eclipse the 1,000-point mark. Shumpert has

Fox Hounds beat auburn, lose to Xavier; Ealey suspended indefinitely

Struggling Jackets lose Oliver; Shumpert close to career milestone

GridiroN issues … In football news, running back Washaun Ealey is in hot water with the coaching staff and is suspended indefinitely from the team. The reason for the suspension was not offi-cially released, but according to reports, Ealey failed to report for a punishment run last week. “We have certain expectations and stan-dards that apply to all our student-athletes,” head coach Mark Richt said in a statement. “If Washaun does things the Georgia way, he’ll be back in good standing.” Ealey got in trouble last season after be-ing arrested for hitting a parked car and driv-ing with a suspended license. He led the team in rushing last season with 811 yards and 11 touchdowns. Jones can be reached at [email protected].

been the team’s Mr. Everything this year. His list of accolades keeps growing, as the junior guard has achieved a triple-double, ACC Player of the Week honors and now the 1,000-point mark. Shumpert has clearly been the MVP of this team, with his backcourt mate Glen Rice, Jr. in a distant second. The dynamic duo of Shumpert and Rice will have to make do without Brian Oliver. Oliver, at times has shown this season he can be a capable scorer. The sophomore forward has a fracture at the base of his thumb and will have to have surgery. Oliver has aver-aged 10.9 points per game. Watson can be reached at 404-256-1572.

TriviaANsWer

Third, the team finished with higher winning pcts. in 05-06 and 06-07.



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