Tuesday, August 31, 2004
So here we are again. Hello September.
After my little rant in February, how do we think the various seasons ended for my clubs?
Manchester United. Never recovered from the loss of Rio Ferdinand and wound up winning the FA Cup. Better than I'd hoped, homestly.
Atlanta Braves. June 25th. Sitting third in the division, 5.5 games back From the Marlins and 1 game behind the Phillies, Atlanta were 33-39, six games behind .500 baseball. Not a commanding position. Not the position the Bravos are used to. But then something happened. Russ Ortiz led them to a 5-0 win over the Orioles. Then a come-from-behind (0-7 in the sixth) to win 8-7 the next day. Atlanta picked themselves up, dusted off their hat and stood there, spinning their six-guns.
It's the bottom of the eighth right now. Braves are 5-1 up in Philadelphia and I don't doubt that this is going to be another W. 77 and 54. In the last 59 games the Braves have only dropped 15 of them. Now sitting back at the top of the division 8.5 games ahead of Florida and, after tonight, 12.5 games ahead of the Phillies. The magic number is 23. Any combination of Braves wins and Marlins losses that adds up to 23 will see the Braves clinch the division again. 31 more games to play.
Mostly it's been down to good fielding and first-rate base-running, rather than explosive batting and three 40+ home-run outfielders. And that makes me happy. That makes me believe that this team can actually make a post-season run.
Happy birthday, by the way, to Shea Logan Jones. A chip off the old Chipper, born yesterday.
Georgia Tech made it all the way to the final game in March Madness, beating most people's predictions of a much earlier exit. They succumbed, or rather capitulated, to a devastating Duke in the first half, going in with a 22 point deficit. To their credit they came out fighting and, eventually, had it back to 8 points but time ran out. Regardless, Paul Hewitt and his team came back from the Alamodome as heroes.
On the ice the Thrashers kind of just tailed off into nothingness. Try again starting next month.
By March it had become obvious that the only thing keeping the Hawks from finishing dead last
was a grim determination to screw themselves over in the expansion draft as well as the regular season. Good job. Mission accomplished.
The gridiron season is about to start. NFL in ten days, College in four. Falcons will be taking on the 49ers in San Francisco while the Bulldogs will be pitting their wits against Georgia Southern in Sanford Stadium.
This is where I get to shout out to Jim Mora who has been coming to my little coffee house for a couple of months now.
After my little rant in February, how do we think the various seasons ended for my clubs?
Manchester United. Never recovered from the loss of Rio Ferdinand and wound up winning the FA Cup. Better than I'd hoped, homestly.
Atlanta Braves. June 25th. Sitting third in the division, 5.5 games back From the Marlins and 1 game behind the Phillies, Atlanta were 33-39, six games behind .500 baseball. Not a commanding position. Not the position the Bravos are used to. But then something happened. Russ Ortiz led them to a 5-0 win over the Orioles. Then a come-from-behind (0-7 in the sixth) to win 8-7 the next day. Atlanta picked themselves up, dusted off their hat and stood there, spinning their six-guns.
It's the bottom of the eighth right now. Braves are 5-1 up in Philadelphia and I don't doubt that this is going to be another W. 77 and 54. In the last 59 games the Braves have only dropped 15 of them. Now sitting back at the top of the division 8.5 games ahead of Florida and, after tonight, 12.5 games ahead of the Phillies. The magic number is 23. Any combination of Braves wins and Marlins losses that adds up to 23 will see the Braves clinch the division again. 31 more games to play.
Mostly it's been down to good fielding and first-rate base-running, rather than explosive batting and three 40+ home-run outfielders. And that makes me happy. That makes me believe that this team can actually make a post-season run.
Happy birthday, by the way, to Shea Logan Jones. A chip off the old Chipper, born yesterday.
Georgia Tech made it all the way to the final game in March Madness, beating most people's predictions of a much earlier exit. They succumbed, or rather capitulated, to a devastating Duke in the first half, going in with a 22 point deficit. To their credit they came out fighting and, eventually, had it back to 8 points but time ran out. Regardless, Paul Hewitt and his team came back from the Alamodome as heroes.
On the ice the Thrashers kind of just tailed off into nothingness. Try again starting next month.
By March it had become obvious that the only thing keeping the Hawks from finishing dead last
was a grim determination to screw themselves over in the expansion draft as well as the regular season. Good job. Mission accomplished.
The gridiron season is about to start. NFL in ten days, College in four. Falcons will be taking on the 49ers in San Francisco while the Bulldogs will be pitting their wits against Georgia Southern in Sanford Stadium.
This is where I get to shout out to Jim Mora who has been coming to my little coffee house for a couple of months now.
