Mike Flynn Archive

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Phils should be getting nervous

Too often we are eager to criticize performance, but today I have a good news tale. Since televised sports have become an even bigger part of the American experience, our program providers have become our partners.

They deliver the experience in affordable fashion. In more robust economic times a family might attend seven or even 10 Braves games in a season or load up on a fall Saturday to visit Auburn, Athens or Tallahassee. Now that dollars are tighter and stretched a bit more, our programming provider has taken on new importance.

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The Richt principles

A friend attended the UGA event at Doublegate last week. This friend knows little about football or the dynamics of the SEC coaching world. When I ask for an opinion of what Coach Richt had to say, this person said, “Coach Richt is very devout, but I got the feeling he is focused on ministering to his team more than coaching them.”

In the big picture, how do you complain about that? How do you knock a man for putting God first, and football second? You simply cannot, but let’s examine where all this may be headed.

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Local Dawgs to congregate

Go ahead and your calendar for a few dates. The first is May 24. Georgia Coach Mark Richt will be speaking at Doublegate Country Club. In an effort to bring the university to the fan base, Athletic Director Greg McGarity and Vic Sullivan, president of the UGA Alumni Association, have launched UGA Day.

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Dixie cultivated today’s Knights

A few years have strolled by since these kids were running the base paths behind Lake Park and Sherwood schools. They were 3 feet tall. Then they graduated to the Dixie field behind the Sherwood Library, where they honed their skills.

Now Lindsey Short, all 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds of him, is hitting 400-foot bombs and Gil Gillespie is gunning down runners and handling catching duties with quiet skill. Harris Webb is turning plays at second, short and leading off for the DWS Knights as they enter the second round of the GISA playoffs, and Sammy Shellhaas is starting in right field as a sophomore.

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Tags: Mike Flynn
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Zenon’s star shines Mediacom’s doesn’t

 

Spring is winding down along with the annual flurry of intrasquad scrimmages that have to sustain college football fans for three months.

Last Saturday, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets held their Gold and White game and former DWS running back Tony Zenon got two carries and gained 22 yards as his Gold team won 21-7. Word out of the big city is he continues to surprise and impress his coaching staff with his intellect, speed and work ethic.

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Burst pipeline: Dawgs’ loss Tigers’ gain?

Carver Columbus is absolutely loaded with athletes. Of course, Georgia’s top recruit Isaiah Crowell is finishing his senior year there now, and redshirt sophomore Jarvis Jones is an alumni. However, the pipeline to that talent pool may end there, at least for one season.

Not because the school doesn’t produce talented players — on the contrary, Carver would have had one of the top 10 high school players in the state on their roster next season except for a bad decision.

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I want my Braves TV on Mediacom (888-847-6228)

Not sure when the last time I missed watching the Braves home opener was, but I won’t forget this season’s opener anytime soon. It was historic. Bobby Cox threw out the first pitch. Chipper got his 2,500th hit, and the Braves beat the Phillies. What a night!

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Tournament time

 

Here we go on the great three-week ride that is the NCAA basketball tournament.

For the third straight year, Albany’s Andre Young will get to play in the event, but the odds of his Clemson team advancing very far are slim.

This season, the field was expanded to 68 teams with four “play-in” games on Tuesday. Clemson drew one of these tough slots, having to fly to Dayton, Ohio, to square off with Alabama-Birmingham. Talk about a double punishment; first they have to spend a night in Dayton, and then play their way into the field of 64.

Should the Tigers win, they will play again two days later against a rested West Virginia team, and if they happen to pull that out they will most likely get to face Kentucky. Yuck! Stranger things have happened, especially in this tournament, but common sense say Andre and the Tigers won’t make it past the second round.

The expanded field did allow bubble teams like Clemson the chance, but two play-in teams are stacked in the East region. Not only will West Virginia draw a tired opponent, but Ohio State, the top seed in the region will face either UT-San Antonio or Alabama State in their opening game. Do we really want to see that?

That configuration weakens that arm of the bracket and makes the path easier as the Buckeyes could play deep down their bench in that first game, and most likely will.

Still, I am picking North Carolina to get past Long Island, Georgia, Xavier, and then Ohio State to set up the fourth meeting of the season with Duke.

As far as college basketball goes, there is no bigger rivalry. Their campuses are 40 hate miles apart. The teams split on their home courts in the regular season, and then Duke lit it up in the finals of the ACC tournament and holds a 2-1 advantage in 2011.

Should this matchup develop, it would be a nationally televised game on Saturday, April 2. The winner would advance to the title game. You can be sure this would look more like an ultimate fighting cage match than a basketball game. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

A lot has to happen to get us to that point. Duke has to, most likely, get past Michigan (a bigger problem than most think), Texas, and then UConn.

Every year there is a sleeper that arises to reach the round of 16. This year I am predicting Florida State, Old Dominion and Wofford to make some noise. Most of the talking heads are ready to crown Belmont as Cinderella, but Wisconsin will take care of business in Round 1.

Of all the No. 1 seeds, Kansas has the easiest path to the Final Four. Many have said Pittsburgh should glide through the Southeast region, but Florida will most likely pop that Big East ego that has grown with the placement of 11 teams in the field. That’s too much from one conference.

There are several teams that could win this thing. Louisville, Florida, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, UConn, Xavier and Syracuse, but I am sticking with the ACC. My prediction is the winner of the fourth Duke-UNC game of the season, will win it all.

That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee … unless it’s Starbucks.

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What a weekend!

On the local scene a really fast Ethiopian out paced the field of approximately 2,000 in the Albany Snickers Marathon.

The annual event has become a huge boost to our local economy with runners from as far away as Russia and even Fitzgerald coming to participate. I don’t really know where Ethiopia is, but it sounds far away. It must be somewhere in north Georgia.

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NCAA notes

With the NCAA basketball tournament right around the corner, Georgia is sitting on the bubble with two regular season games remaining. Coach Mark Fox has brought the program a long way in a short time and a tourney invite would help with recruiting, which he needs since the Dawgs’ best player, Trey Thompkins, is surely going to the NBA next season.

Travis Leslie may also test the professional waters, but would be well-advised to play one more season in the college ranks to improve his skill set. He is possibly the best athlete in Athens, but still raw.

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