Friday(saturday) Thoughts

All right folks, it's time for the first edition of my Friday thoughts, where I talk about this past week in Atlanta sports, the sports world in general, and anything else that pops into my mind. I know, I know, it's actually Saturday Night, and I'm about 36 hours late. Nonetheless, here goes. Let's start with DEM HAWKS! The hawks are 11-2 to start off the season. It is really impressive how they just keep improving. In 04-05, they had only 13 wins. Each season since, they have gotten better and better. After that horriffic year, their seasons go as follows:
26 wins
30 wins
37 wins
47 wins
That last number was last season and while it does look difficult to move up from a fourth place conference finish , the hawks said watch us and that's exactly what has happened, we have a team that still hasn't lost at home and their two losses are on the road. One against the champion Lakers and the other against the Bobcats, really their only bad game of the year, as far as I see it. One of my favorite things about this team is their depth. Former AJC collumnist, Terrence Moore, not too long ago wrote about how the reason the Hawks aren't a championship caliber team is because they don't have a superstar. But that's just it with this team, you never know who is going to step up as the star. Joe Johnson is the best player on the team in terms of point production but look at what Al Horford and Josh Smith have been doing. J-Smoove is averaging 2.62 blocks per game and 9.2 rebounds a game. Horford is averaging a double double at 10 rebounds a game and a solid 14 PPG. Gotta give those guys props. Also, the driving force behind the hawks' success is Coach Mike Woodson. He was at the helm as the hawks continued to improve and instead of firing him after consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance, they stuck with him. The only thing left to do for the Hawks is simple. In the words, of Mike Woodson, "Don't be satisfied!"

The thrashers might not be a dominant team but they sure to play hard with the talent that they have and that just may get them somewhere in the end. Kovalchuk has been brilliant in his return and I am very happy that there is not as much issue in goal as I anticipated at the beginning of the season. Rich Peverley has turned out to be a stellar accuisition dating back to last year. The key question is can the thrashers have some success early in the hockey game. It is very difficult to continue having to win games in the third period.

The falcons are not at a bad place right now, they're not. They are 5-4 and I admit, I too am not comfortable with this record. However, that is why you play every week, so you can improve on your record. I truly believe that we are a better football team than the Giants. The thing that could kill us is our injuries. The Giants will be without Linebacker Antonio Pierce. The falcons have a lot of players listed as questionable. On the offensive end, Jerious Norwood and Roddy White are questionable, Michael Turner is doubtful and wide receiver Brian Finneran is out. The good thing is left tackle Sam Baker is probable and he adds a serious presence to give Matt Ryan time in the passing game and allow some of our backup backs to run the football more effectively. That being said, I would not count out Mike Turner at this point. He is indeed doubtful and we have to accept that. There is something about Turner the last few weeks, though that has brought him to consecutive 100 plus yard games. Something is alive in him and that competitiveness may bring him to the field tomorrow afternoon. But there's nothing he can do if he simply can't play. We're beat up but the addition of Norwood potentially could be crucial to our success in the running game tomorrow. On the defensive side of the game, safety Erik coleman is questionable. The last thing this team needs is an injury on an already inconsistent secondary so hopefully he will be able to play. Nonetheless, this game, no matter how beat up you are, is imperative if you wish to make a legitimate run at the playoffs. Lets go out there and get it done. GO FALCONS!

My unrelated thoughts for the week: SPOILER Note for those that have not seen the latest episode of the office.
There were multiple occasions during the past episode of the office for us the viewers to simply feel good. Yet the prodcucers failed to fulfill that. There was only one time when I smiled and did a fist pump. That was when Jim moved Ryan to the closet office showing everybody who's in charge. But, when everything seemed to be going well for Michael, he got kicked out of the conference and left on a kind of sour note. My least favorite part of the episode and one of the most aggravating marks of the season was when Michael invited Oscar up to the corporate suite. Oscar had been complaining the entire time about how the company was run and Andy continued to tell him that he should stick it to the man. Oscar had some great ideas that he could have told to the Man, the executives and instead of saying anything, he just said a small compliment and walked out. I couldn't decide between punching my screen or crying.

I am a huge soccer fan. I am already starting to get world cup frenzy and you may notice that my posts continue to become more and more soccer-oriented. Anyway, the second leg of a world cup qualifying series between Ireland and France included a controversial goal in which Thierry Henry had a handball pass to William Gallas who sent the ball through to bring France to the World Cup. Now this decided the fates of two entire nations for the next four years and was no small call. The debate is not whether or not it was a handball, because it clearly was. The question is what to do about it. Do they replay the game? Fifa said that everything is final. I don't think they should replay the game but should get this fixed in the first place. Institute replay and this would have never happened. It is not fair to make France feel guilty for the next few months through the cup, this June.

Here is the link for those of you that have not yet seen this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxw1-Id91lQ

I'll see you all next week and remember, Penguins and Thrashers tonight at Phillips arena, Hawks in New Orleans against the Hornets, and tomorrow at 1, Falcons, Giants.
Long live Atlanta.

courtesy: nba.com, atlantafalcons.com, nbauniverse.com

Throwback Uniforms

My quick thoughts on Throwback Unis:

I LOVE them. I can't help myself. When I see some of these throwbacks, I think Screw the football game, its all about the attire. It has me in a trance just like when I watched the Patriots tromping of the Titans 59-0, a few weeks ago. It was an utter blowout, yet its snowlit setting was so serene, I couldn't take my eyes of the screen. I know you're probably thinking who is this sissy? But back to business, it's a similar effect with throwbacks and in particular NFL throwbacks. Even the ugliest ones: e.g. New York titans, Denver Broncos have something about them that just lights up the field. my two favorites, however are the Buccaneers and the Falcons, with the Patriots in a close third.

The Falcons have a simplicity about them that far surpasses their current uniforms. Whenever I watch players being interviewed down at Flowery Branch, I can't help but notice the red helmet next to the black helmet in the background. The red wins. The black jersey with no words on the front and the classic birds on the sleeve is awesome.

As for the Bucs, they need no explanation. Maybe, the thing that makes them so refreshing is how ugly the usual red and gold kits, that the Bucs (try) to play in are. However, these creamsicle orange jerseys give literally a new light to this team. There was something about Raymond James Stadium, lit up in orange on that day they beat the Packers that they had not seen all season. So I salute the Bucs for wearing these and if I had it my way, they should wear these as their every day uniforms. So should the Falcons, with their throwbacks.

courtesy: espn.com, ajc.com

I found this interesting article on the former Hawks GM, Billy Knight. Knight essentially, built the core of the team, including Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Al Horford, and Josh Smith. The article truly displays how much of what a general manager does lives after them.(figuratively) When you're a player, you work hard in practice and you go out and pick up the triple-double, your team wins and you feel great. When you're a GM, you put together a package and sometimes don't see the results for a few years. I don't do justice by explaining it here so check out the link. It's worth a read.

edit: apperently the link is not working so go to nba.com, and type in Hawks GM

courtesy: nba.com

Hi everybody and a strong apology for my lack in posting for what i guess has been a few weeks now. I just want to give a heads up on how I'm going to run this blog. Grant it, it will be ever-changing. I am going to be posting a weekly column summing up all that has happened in the last 7 days in ATL sports along with some other sport-related and non-sport-related topics. This will be up every FRIDAY. I will try me best to have it up before noon, and hopefully closer to the early morning. I will also post things throughout the week as I see fit. On another note, The Brave Bird is on twitter!

Visit us @ twitter.com/atlbravebird

I just put it up today, so it may be a couple days before I get rolling on that. Anyway check back Friday for what should be a great inaugural column.

Georgia Tech Vs Virginia Tech

Well folks, the Yellow Jackets are legit. There is no denying it. At 6-1, the Jackets may be poised to make a run at an ACC title. Tonight's game certainly tested where my allegiance is. Both my mother and my cousin went to Virginia Tech. I have no relatives that call Georgia Tech their alma mator. However, I have only been to a handful of college football games and all of them have been Jackets games. I'm really not a gigantic college sports fan. March madness/bracket madness is awesome and college football certainly has its positives. Simply, the traditions, from Bevo, the Texas Longhorn, to the flight of the Auburn War eagle before games. That being said, I couldn't sit here and spit out stats and an in depth look about which team is better, so I won't. What I do know is that GT's defense really stepped it up, giving up only 23 points after allowing 44 the week before. Josh Nesbitt looked like Tyrod Taylor, only better and both looked like Michael Vick.

Who was I rooting for? As previously mentioned, I have only been to Georgia Tech football games. I lived close to campus when I was a little kid, and specifically remember how cool the intown neighborhoods and dorms are, located right in midtown Atlanta. The sheer pride of Atlanta was what drove me to root for the bees tonight. Heck, it payed off. As fans stormed the field at Bobby Dodd Stadium, I thought, maybe just maybe I would finally fall into my right of allegiance to my Southern roots and become a yelling, screaming college football fan. Then again, that's what I said at the beginning of the season too, and the season before that etc. As we move closer to the "postseason", yes in quotation marks of the college football season, we shall see. Let's hope the fine people of the BCS will adhere to the statement, "Anything can happen."

courtesy: espn.com, collegefootball.about.com, ramblinwreck.com
photo courtesy of ajc.com

Ron Hainsey interview

Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey was interviewed recently on Hockey this Morning. It's worth a listen. He in particular speaks about the thrashers key offensive players including Evander Kane, and mentions a topic that I talked about recently, which is the thrashers schedule. Enjoy

http://www.xmhomeice.com/audio/09-10-15%20Ron%20Hainsey%20on%20HTM.mp3

courtesy: bluelandblog.wordpress.com, xmhomeice.com http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Montreal+Canadiens+v+Atlanta+Thrashers+0QkXyfzb3MZl.jpg

To kick off the first post on the Brave Bird, I thought I would give an update on where we're at in ATL sports. After a run that included at one point a 16 of 19 winning stretch, the Braves called it quits in an ugly way. (tough to get swept by the Nationals).
Jair Jurrjens was named the National League pitcher of the month for September when he went 4-1 with a 1.25 ERA. This highlights a terrific starting rotation for the Braves. If they can keep everybody healthy, they should once again be towards the top of the National League in ERA next season.

The question is what to do about hitting. My take on it is that the Braves have a lot of guys who are decent 270-280 hitters. They also have very few hitters (maybe Greg Norton) whom if at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, you would say oh crap, we're finished. The Braves have overall good fielding but might want to find some more speed for baserunning. Bobby cox also needs to be more confident in letting his guys steal bases. Nate Mclouth had 19 stolen bases and Matt Diaz, 12. However the fact that Yunel Escobar only had five and Omar Infante had two is unacceptable. Anyway, it might seem like a long winter for Braves fans, but spring is right around the corner (kind of) and it will be interesting to see what kind of deals are made to boost this team for what will be Bobby Cox's final season managing the club.

Now, on to the Thrashers. I am very proud with how this team has played thus far. Offensively, we're looking sharp. Kovalchuk is being Kovalchuk, scoring 5 goals in his first three games. Ondrei Pavelec has looked stellar? Did i just say that? Well, it's false. But he's looked decent . I am not going to pretend like a hockey old timer who knows a ton about the game. Heck, I can barely stand on a pair of skates. That being said, i don't quite understand why Pavelec has seemed to be coming off his line so much and leaving clear open net space for a hard slap shot. Perhaps, I am just naive in the ways of hockey goaltending. It will be interesting to see how the Thrashers defense fares against Zack Parise when they travel to Jersey on Friday night. Parise has been relatively quiet to start off the year, with 4 points in 5 games and only one goal. Either he's been quiet or I'm just too used to Kovalchuk. One final hockey note: I understand that the NHL has had to tweak its schedule because of the winter olympics that are coming up. However, it seems odd to me how the thrashers scheduling has been to start off the season:

opener against Tampa: Saturday Night
at Blues: Thursday
at Ottawa: Saturday
at New Jersey: the following Friday
at Buffalo: Saturday
at Montreal: Tuesday

There are a couple of huge spaces between games, one with 6 days between games. Then, there are 3 games in 5 days. It is strange but once again, perhaps it has to do with the Olympics.

Finally, to wrap up this post, lets talk Falcons!
The birds are off to a 3-1 start and exploded on Sunday with a 45-10 win against the 49ers. What good teams to is turn all the positive talk about one team into negative talk. That is exactly what the Falcons did with the Niners. Everyone was raving about their defense. Well, I can tell you that giving up 45 points doesn't exactly help the old fantasy team. My favorite play of the game was when Dre Bly intercepted a pass from Matt Ryan and then as he was celebrating the pick, was forced to the ground, fumbled the ball and the Falcons got the ball back simply having to deal with lost yards on the play. This happened while the falcons were winning 35-10 and the game was already out of the hands of San Francisco. It was enough to make any Falcons fan laugh and any 49ers fan cringe.

Personal Note: Just to be clear, I am currently living in a connecticut suburb of New York City, not in my true hometown of Atlanta, GA. I say this to convey the fact that I have limited broadcasting availability of Atlanta sports. I have already been able to watch two Falcons games(patriots, 49ers this season and am hoping to have a few more (including this week on Sunday Night Football against the Bears.)

information courtesy: nhl.com, braves.com, The Associated Press

welcome to the brave bird

Hello sports world! Im creating this blog to pursue my love of Atlanta sports. Here, you will find all things falcons, braves, thrashers, hawks, georgia tech and more. Check back often as i will try to post atlanta sporting news as well as my thoughts on the matter. Thanks for coming by and come back soon for the first full post.