What I Hope...

Free Agency has hit in the NFL. The Hawks have made a move. The Thrashers have dumped an All-Star. And the Braves are "working" at Disney.

Good times are here again!

Because February really bites. Post-Super Bowl, what's the month good for? You've got the NHL All Star game (yawn) and the NBA's Ugly Uniform Show (er...All Star game) (yawn) and of course their festivities - slam dunk contest, etc.

Speaking of etc., those festivities were actually entertaining this year. Check out the highlights:



Sick nasty.

But that's not really sports. That's more of the "E" in ESPN.

Which brings me back to the "S". As in Sports and Spring. Those two words were designed for each other.

One promises hope. New life. The other promises a fight, a challenge, the unexpected.

So what do I hope for this Spring for Atlanta Sports?

-I hope that the Falcons take Derek Anderson in Free Agency, drop Joey Harrington, and give D.J. Shockley an actual chance to be the number two guy.

Derek Anderson, still technically of the Browns, just dropped a bombshell on Cleveland last night when he turned down their contract offer to test free agency. But, he's restricted, which means a team will have to give up a first and third round draft pick if they sign him.

Here's how it can work: The Falcons should trade the talented but disgruntled and destructive DeAngelo Hall to the Giants for a first round pick and (plenty of) cash or a player. They'd then have the Giants pick, Round 1, #31, that they could give to the Browns and still keep the number three overall pick, with which they would no longer feel compelled to draft an overrated QB like Matt Ryan and instead take one of the better players in the draft - Jake Long or Glenn Dorsey or Darren McFadden.

The QB pool in this draft isn't the best in recent years, but I'd much rather see them wait till round two or three and draft Chad Henne than waste a first-rounder on Ryan. They'd be wise to draft a lineman. Of course, I've said that before. And I'm not paid to make those decisions.

And I don't really feel the need to say why they should sign Anderson. I'll just share this: He's a tall dude - 6'6", 230 whose got a great vision of the field and a good arm. And that, my friend, produces numbers like these when he got a chance to be a starter (and star): 3787 passing yds and 29 TD's. Good stuff. Better than what we've got or anything else we can get. Go get him.

But I doubt Thomas Dimitroff reads this.

***It doesn't matter now. I just heard that Cleveland managed to re-sign Anderson today, just hours after he declared free agency. So goes that pipe-dream.

What's the next best option? Still a big fat NO to Matt Ryan.

If I'm Dimitroff, I have Redman and Shockley go for the number one spot, with Redman penciled in up top. I draft Chad Henne or John David Booty in the second or third round to be your number three and (potential) future guy. And I still draft a lineman (Long) with the number 3 pick.***

-I hope that the Hawks make the playoffs (because I gotta root for Atlanta teams) and they still fire Mike Woodson and Billy Knight and hire real, living basketball guys for coach and GM (because I gotta root for Atlanta teams).

Who should they hire? I don't care. Hire Bobby Knight. Hire Billy Donovan. Heck, hire Billy Madison.


Just do something. Anything's gotta be an improvement.

-I hope that the Thrasher's do the same with Don Waddell.

In June he'll celebrate his ten-year anniversary with the Thrashers. In June Thashers' fans will mourn for a decade of this:


Waddell's blank stares at how to run a hockey team.

-And finally, hope of all hopes, I hope the Braves return to the postseason and - gasp - win The Series.

Big hopes, you say? Big dreams?

Yeah, well, those were bigger hopes in 1991 when they still came one run shy of winning the greatest World Series of all time.



They were big hopes in 1995. The strike saved the Braves from falling to Montreal in 1994's division race and who knew if the same would happen in '95? But a Justice home run here, a Glavine masterpiece there and Mark Wholers save to cap it off and the Braves were celebrating in old Fulton County Stadium.





They've got a lineup that I believe rivals any in the East. (Yes, I really do believe that. Having your 3 and 4 hitters both being high-average, run-producing, homer-hitting and SWITCH-HITTING bashers is huge. Not too many teams (do any?) have back-to-back solid switch hitters in the most important spots in the lineup.) Johnson, Escobar, Chipper, Teixeira, Francouer, McCann, Kotsay, Diaz... Solid.



They've got stud pitching even if Hampton doesn't come back. And he will.

They've got the makeup of a team that can make a serious run at October. And I'm not just talking as a fan here.

So, hope of all hopes, I hope the Braves can stay healthy this year. And if they do, you'll see them in the Classic.

SB: Extra Large Two

There are three reasons I'm glad that Super Bowl XLII is just two days away. Reason number one is that I'm getting pretty tired of seeing the same clip of Bill Belichick running in his grey hoodie with the cut-off sleeves a-swayin' and the chin fat a-bouncin'. Reason number two is that I'm always ready for baseball. And Super Bowl time means that it's getting pretty close to time for pitchers and catchers to report to Florida. And reason number three is, I think, my favorite: I love the underdog, and the underdog is never more successful than in the Super Bowl.

Shall we go further?

Reason number one actually entails a lot more than just ESPN getting it's kicks off of Belichick's stern expression while he lightly jogs to the lockerroom in the halfway slow-motion clip that The Network keeps playing over and over again anytime his name is even uttered on-air. It's about air time in general. And my venting extends beyond the NFL into the college realm, and beyond sports into politics. And it stops there because that's about all I watch on TV, if I watch TV at all. (Except for my occassional laughs at "Everybody Loves Raymond.")

But seriously, how many times can they break down the Super Bowl in this two-week period? Is that why the NFL gives us a two-week break between Championship Sunday and the Super Bowl, so that we'll all go crazy watching ESPN try to fill the gap with programming? If you've watched Sportscenter just once over the past two weeks you've seen two-thirds of it's airtime given to this game. Which would be fine if that were true about today (Friday) through Sunday night only. But no. They're breaking down Plaxico Burress versus the Pats' Secondary today for the 1,000th time in the past ten days. True Story.

Wait, not true. Because ESPN can't get past the Fourth Coming of Tom Brady and The Hoodie. We can't get any news about anything else because it's all about how Tom Brady and Randy Moss are going to own the Giant's Defense, and how "If you give Bill Belichick two weeks to prepare he can beat God himself."

I tired of hearing about Bill Belichick's gameplanabilities.

Just like I'm tired of hearing about USC, Ohio State, and the Republican and Democrat frontrunners in the election.

What is it about the news media and picking their favorite topic and keeping it in the spotlight, flexing their authority over the national conversation?

Does ESPN cover USC and OSU more than any other team because that's who the writers across the country really think are that good, or do the writers around the country really think they're that good because ESPN covers them more than anyone else? Their annual number one status affects the rest of the season's polls, but is it legit? Or the result of mass hype? We don't know. We'll never know. Because of ESPN's irresponsible coverage.

But that's just sports. That's not really a big deal. But what about politics? ("Sports and Convictions") Was John Edwards the third candidate because everyone really cared about Hillary and Obama and so CNN covered them more, including in the debates? Or did CNN give them more time in coverage and in the debates and so everyone flocked to them? Why is there a four-man GOP race right now (yes, Huck and Ron Paul are technically still in it) but if you watch CNN you'd think it's down to Romney and McCain?

Because networks have too much control over the national conversation.

And, in the case of Super Bowl week, their control backfires. Every third story is about the Patriots "Pursuit of Perfection," and I think about 98% of the country doesn't really care anymore.

Thanks, ESPN. We're so glad the game is finally here.

Reason number two is pretty cut-and-dry. Football might be America's Passion, but Baseball is America's Pasttime. And so the Super Bowl means we're just days away from Pitchers and Catchers reporting to Spring Training, which means we're just a couple weeks from Spring Training actually starting, which means we're only a couple of months away from the season, which means Spring is near, Summer is soon, and the grass really is greener on that side of the calendar.

When I hear "Pitchers and Catchers report," I start getting that feeling that Shoeless Joe Jackson gets in Field of Dreams. "Is this heaven?" "No, It's Iowa."

Or, "No, it's just spring."

Oh. Well, that's pretty close in my books.

And while I'm not ready to predict the season yet, I will say this: It really isn't the end of the season for the rest of the National League just because the Mets traded for Johan Santana. Does anybody out there in sportsland remember last year's big pitcher signing, Barry Zito? Seven years, 126 million dollars, and eleven wins for the Giants. Big splash. His numbers rivaled those of Chuck James.

Look, just because a guy does well in the American League doesn't assure his dominance of the National League. So before you give the NL crown to the Mets, consult your history books, or your recent sports pages for crying out loud.

Let me quote myself: "If the Mets don't get Johan Santana, and the Braves old starters don't break down, and the Braves bullpen holds up, and the Braves new center-fielder, Mark Kotsay, holds up, and Chipper holds up, then the Braves will win the East.

If the Mets do get Johan Santana, and the Braves old starters don't break down, and the Braves bullpen holds up, and the Braves new center-fielder, Mark Kotsay, holds up, and Chipper holds up, then the Braves will win the East.

If any of the latter doesn't happen, well, expect to see a repeat of the past two years."

Is there a list of things that must happen for the Braves to win the East? Yes. Is there a list of things that must happen for the Mets to win the East? Yes. Does Johan Santana make a difference. Yes, but it's been vastly overstated how big in recent days.

I've still got the Braves.

Reason number three is in the blood of every American. It's why we love Rocky, Rudy and the Rutgers football team. It's been in our blood since 1776. We love the underdog. Especially in the Super Bowl.

And because everybody's nodding their heads right now (and my post has already reached an ungodly length) I don't have to explain this one.

I'll just suffice it to say this: My gut is telling me that the Giants are going to win, but my brain is telling me otherwise. My gut is telling me that Eli's staying on his hot streak, Plaxico's too big and the Pats' linebackers are too old. My gut is telling me that Brady's gonna be sacked. A lot. My gut is telling me this one's gonna be like David and Goliath, and the big boy's going down.

The rational part of me wants to say take the Giants and the Points (12) but Pats win.

But a man goes with his gut. Even if its irrational. That's why we get lost all the time.

So, I'm saying Eli's going to Disneyworld. The underdogs win by four.