So on the basis of my “I make the rules here” what do you think of a series of college football (SEC mostly) previews? I’d write one for Alabama, you guys can divide the others up among yourselves. I’m thinking it could be pretty extensive.
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I’ll claim Auburn.
I’ll take Tennessee
E-mail me if you want Mac – length, season preview, staff preview, personnel preview..?
Yeah Mac, email me too. Tell me what you want and how long it can be.
And for the record, I like a Tennessee/Auburn SEC Championship Game. Too many questions at Georgia & Florida, and there’s always an under-the-radar team (and too many people are jumping on the Arkansas bandwagon as a sleeper for that to actually happen)
As person who enjoys watching SEC football but lacks any in depth knowledge, I’d be all in favor of a good set of previews.
can you do it,but leave the Braves only posts as the main page, and set up a separate page with a separate URL for Braves Journal SEC Style?
I would second Dix’s post, especially since I could care less about football in general, and SEC football in particular.
As long as Smitty or someone . . . good and honest does the Tennessee review. (And yeah, I realize what I’m saying about other non-Smitty people here, but since this is in the spirit of SEC football I hope everyone understands (and takes no more offense than I meant) when I say that Alabama fans are shifty-eyed and not to be trusted (and Florida fans much, much worse). It’s all in good fun.
This sort of discussion could easily drown out talk of a struggling Braves team though, so maybe you could confine all football talk to football threads?
I am writting an honest Tennessee review. I am not going to over hype them, and I will bash them some.
Can I do UK? Heck, I’ll do it right now:
“Rich Brooks still sucks, and will do his best to make every other SEC team bowl eligible.”
That’s what I said. Lord knows some bashing is called for, I’m just saying some people might be tempted to go overboard.
Oh yeah, I’ll give an honest evaluation as well.
I’d want to do Miami… but if it’s only SEC…I wouldn’t mind doing Florida…
I could help with Tennessee, I guess. Another damn arrest, this time some DB pulls a toy gun on a cop? Our players make too much sense.
If we are making Dom predictions, lets start with the teams that BEAT VANDY last year…
Mac,
Do you want us to email them to you?
Kentucky it is!
I’m with Dix and bman, I’m not a college football fan at all, so is it possible to put it somewhere other than the main page?
I’m an ACC guy – I’d do Clemson & could do one or two others too.
Sorry, the power was out here…
I’m working on the Alabama preview; I’ll post it as an individual page when I’m done and you can see what we’re working with. I can set up anyone who’s ready as a “contributor” if they have a login; that way you can write it and all I’ll have to do it scan, edit, and post.
Mets set up guy Sanchez out for the year…..
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5832906
I’ll be willing to write something up for APSU. Here I’ll do it right here:
“They suck. But the Titans trained there this year.” Now that was soul cleansing.
Hmmm…..I could help out with a UGA breakdown.
BTW, if we don’t make the playoffs, maybe we should do playoff threads on past Brave playoff games? I wouldn’t mind reliving 1995 again. 🙂
From Bpro
WEEI is reporting that the Red Sox turned down an offer to acquire Andruw Jones from the Braves. The cost would have been Craig Hansen, Jon Lester, and Coco Crisp. That’s a high price to pay for a six point increase in Rate. I’d love to see what Nate Silver’s new trade formula would say about this one. Sources on both sides say that the trade as reported is not accurate, though when pressed, I think that the deal was discussed, just not with those exact parameters. If Jones is indeed available for the right offer, the Braves will have plenty of contenders calling.
Dealing Jones now ought to be a good thing what with us being out of the playoffs and all. With Boras, there’s no way he will resign, and if he did he would crush our payroll. Moreover, we have a capable substitute, Langerhans. As a corner outfielder, Langy’s production sucks. But as a centerfielder, Langerhans would be good. Defensively, he’s probably a bit better than Andruw is now. The key to dealing Andruw would be in getting at least one starter (not necessarily for this year, but certainly for next) and hopefully a masher for left field to replace some of Andruw’s offense.
I feel bad for Sanchez and everything but the Mets board is hilarious. There’s at least two posts saying “TAXI DRIVER A YANKEES FAN” and “God must be a Yankees fan”
“God must be a Yankees fan.”
Actually, he’s a Cowboys fan, but that’s trifles to the Mets, I bet.
Well, Smitty beat me to the UT review, and it is the only team I would be qualified to preview. I will look forward to seeing the updates, its not like we have much to watch as Braves fans. Hey Smitty, if you need any assistance please let me know, I stay very current on the Vols.
I’ll take Georgia Tech for the hell of it.
Mac,
I always miss when you start a new thread.
read what this idiot Keith Law said on ESPN.com about our Baez deal:
The Dodgers used Danys Baez to upgrade their third baseman of the immediate future. Wilson Betemit, 26, is a four-tool player whose speed has been lost as he has filled out over the past few years.
The switch-hitter crushes right-handers, can play third, second or short in a pinch, and has slightly above-average power to all fields. He’s a significant improvement over Willy Aybar, who is three years younger but has stagnated at the plate since he was signed at age 16 in 1999. For the Dodgers, this amounts to trading Edwin Jackson, Chuck Tiffany and Aybar for Betemit, and that’s a clear win.
In exchange for Betemit, the Braves get Baez, who like Bob Wickman is known more for his save totals than his ability to miss bats. Baez has a solid-average fastball but no real out pitch, and only this year has he shown even average control.
That said, the Braves’ bullpen was their biggest weakness — well, other than Jeff Francoeur — and Baez immediately becomes their best late-game option from the right side.
Posted this in response on the other thread:
1) Law’s not a dufus. Generally, he seems to know what he’s talking about, and he articulates it well.
2) I don’t understand why you’re so upset about that piece. He assesses Aybar differently than some here (including me) do, but I don’t see anything that’s really untrue or even objectionable.
Stagnation can be reversed in a player as young as Aybar- heck, Betemit was considered stagnant until last year. I’m not worried.
And Wryn, it’ll be Georgia. If you think Tennessee is really close to a resurgence, I’ll have two of whatever you’re drinking.
1914 Update:
NY Giants 52-35 (–)
Chicago Cubs 52-41 (3 GB)
St. Louis Cardinals 51-44 (5)
Boston Braves 44-45 (9)
Cincinnati Reds 44-48 (10.5)
Philadelphia Phillies 41-49 (12.5)
Pittsburgh Pirates 39-49 (13.5)
Brooklyn Robins 37-49 (14.5)
Today’s Game:
Cards 000 000 000 – 0 2 2 LP- Perdue
Braves 010 100 00x – 2 4 3 WP- Rudolph
The Braves went 18-10 in July, doing most of the damage on their last road trip. They’ll be at home for another coupleof weeks, although “home” will soon change…
Georgia? No way. JoeT3 and/or Matthew Stafford will not be leading that team to a divisional title. At least not this season.
I think Tennessee has a chance to put it together, but I’ll believe it when I see it. On paper, Florida seems to me to be the favorite.
IF it’s all right that I do Georgia Tech, I’d like to know what to offer in the preview with them. 🙂
Anyone want depression? Try this:
LA gets:
P Greg Maddux (9-11, 4.69)
CHI gets:
SS Cesar Izturis (.252, 1, 12)
Boy, Maddux may suck this year, but he’s a hell of a lot better than what we have.
On the other hand, so is Sidney Ponson.
That says something right there.
Wonder what Steve Avery’s up to these days.
Doing stuff. 😛
Here’s a fun game: listing people who could crack our starting rotation. I’ll start.
Jason Shiell
Jason Bay
Michael Bay
Micheal Ray Richardson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Kyle Lohse
Kyle Korver
Kyle Broflovsky
Richard Kiel
Cher
Mac-
Just wondering….like the ‘rant’ blog you set up, couldn’t you set up a seperate place to discuss college football? Not everybody here is a football fan (and yes, I know I don’t have to read here, but I like to…I just hate weeding through the football posts to find a bit about baseball) I remember well last year about this time the Braves board became a college football board that lasted until spring training. It just got to where I quit reading the blog until about February. This is usually where I come first for Braves news, and the discussion is always great. I know I wasn’t the only one last year who complained about all the football talk, and I’d hate to see this turned into a football board again.
Don’t take this in a mean-spirited way, I’m just offering a suggestion. It’s frustrating for us Braves fans who are not interested in college football to have the best place for Braves discussion taken over by another sport (and that’s not just a shameless suck up). Of course I know you can do what you want to, but there certainly seems to be enough interest for you to start another place to talk football. Just my 2 cents.
Stephen Hawking
Warwick Davis
Paris Hilton
Hooray, Kim is gone
ATL gets:
P Rich Scalamandre (3-0, 4.26 w/ AAA Memphis)
STL gets:
P Kim Jong-Il (3-10, 5.46, 3 SV)
Stu
Smitty
ububba
Alex R.
jenny
JoeyT
Mac
Brian J
Kyle S
Another Alex R.
csg
kc
Davey
‘Rissa
*pout* I can’t crack the rotation? 🙁
Don’t forget Rich Scalamandre, Stu!
Speaking of depression…
Skip Bayless sure makes me depressed
There is a college football discussion page. This is just a special page on an off-day and I assumed baseball discussion would be on the open thread below.
Anyhoo, I’ve written the Alabama preview. I don’t ask that you necessarily follow my form — or my length. As usual, I went a little overboard.
“Scalamandre, 25, will be assigned to the Braves’ Triple-A Richmond affiliate. He has posted a combined 7-0 record with two saves, 48 strikeouts and a 4.44 ERA in 48.2 innings pitched at two minor league levels this season. Scalamandre opened the 2006 season with Springfield (AA) and went 4-0 with two saves and a 4.55 ERA in 29 appearances. He was promoted to Memphis (AAA) in late June and went 3-0 with a 4.26 ERA in 15 outings.
The Cardinals’ 23rd-round selection in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Scalamandre owns a 22-5 record, 214 strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA in his five minor league campaigns (231.1 IP).
Sosa, 28, went 3-10 with a 5.46 ERA in 26 games (13 starts) for the Braves in 2006, following a 13-3, 2.55 season in 2005.”
…Bill Shanks
(and too many people are jumping on the Arkansas bandwagon as a sleeper for that to actually happen)
I’d be interested to read a Hogs preview. As a USC grad (Trojans not Gamecocks) I’m curious as to what they’ve got this year. The Trojans used them as a punching bag last season, but I expect a whole different story on the road this year.
Here’s my 60 second Trojans preview:
Everyone you’ve heard of either left early or ran out of eligibility except for Dwayne Jarrett who will struggle to be eligible due to an averstion for paying rent. They have no experience in the backfield, and their top two QBs coming in missed much of spring ball due to a bad back (Booty) and an ill-timed rape charge (Sanchez, charges dropped). Their scedule is tough (nine Pac 10 games plus Arkansas, Nebraska, and Notre Dame), and the defense still has a faint burning smell from their encounter with Vince Young. Likely no championship game this year, but still the odds on favorite for the Rose Bowl. Watch our for Chauncey Washington at tailback to make a splash, he was in the same recruiting class as Bush and LenDale and just somehow got academically eligible.
Wait, how can the schedule be “tough” when nine Pac-10 games are scheduled? I’ll admit that the non-conference foes are impressive, but their league is a joke.
UCLA and Cal should be good
Well joke is obvioulsy overstating things but yeah it’s not the SEC (although SC has had no problems with the SEC teams they’ve played in the Carroll era). On the plus side their is no Kentucky, Indiana, or Baylor, all ten teams find their way to to top of the standings now and then. On the minus side, the Pac 10 keeps losing the Holiday Bowl every year which doesn’t look good no matter how you spin it.
I have no problem saying the SEC and ACC are a cut above and the Pac 10 is in the next group with the Big 10 and Big 12. Now you want a joke, let’s talk Big East football…
My main question with college football is how you can compare two preseason top 10 teams – West Virginia & Florida, given their schedules:
WVU:
vs Marshall
vs E. Washington
vs Maryland
@ East Carolina
@ Mississippi St.
Syracuse
@ UConn
@ Louisville
Cincinnati
@ Pittsburgh
South Florida
Rutgers
Florida:
vs Southern Miss
vs UCF
@ Tennessee
vs Kentucky
vs Alabama
vs LSU
@ Auburn
Georgia (Jacksonville, FL)
@ Vandy
South Carolina
Western Carolina
@ Florida St.
SEC Champ. Game (vs LSU/Auburn in Atlanta)
Let’s say WVU goes undefeated, winning several by a field goal or less. Florida loses two games by 1 point. It’s still hard for me to not say Florida isn’t the better team.
I submitted mine Mac – feel free to pull it up anytime.
As is often the case in Georgia football, we’ll be poor-mouthing our squad to anyone that’ll listen.
Top WR Sean Bailey is out for the season & Joe Terishinski is not exactly the second-coming of David Greene (or even Matt Robinson). So without our top receiever and a QB that probably can’t get the ball to next-best-thing Mohammed Massequoi, I’m not sure if our only slightly above-average backfield (Ware, Brown, Lumpkin) can carry the load. (Danny Ware, the most talented of the three, seems to have lost Richt’s confidence, as well.)
Speaking of Joe T, he’s gonna be the biggest issue. He’ll be lucky if he’s considered in the league of John Lastinger because he fits into the “just-what-is-it-that-he-does-well?” category. Lastinger was challenged, but he won (in Auburnspeak, that translates to “Randy Campbell”).
If I understand Dawg culture, most UGA people will be screaming for freshman QB Stafford early and often. If the Dawgs lose to South Carolina in Game 2 & Joe T stinks it up, you may see Stafford getting the call.
Richt does some confounding things sometimes (in-game mostly), but overplay a lousy QB isn’t one of them. I think he’ll get Stafford in there as soon as he’s comfy with him.
I’d say this is a 9-3 team, but I can’t really make a prediction on UGA’s record, because I don’t really know what we have. I’ll have a better idea after the USC game on Sept 9. That’s usually a good barometer for any year, but this year’s different because it’ll mark how we move forward personnel-wise.
Trouble in paradise? Maybe. But we’ve seen this scenario before. It’s been nearly 20 years since we had a quarterback with so little talent, but I tend to believe in the “winning culture” stuff. And Richt has that.
There you go.
I really like Massequoi down the road – I think he has all the makings of an all-world receiever.
Thanks Mac – good to get “published” .. I may do some work this fall as pregame host on the flagship AU Network football station (FM radio) so we’ll see..
How would I submit a preview if I do it?
I don’t really post here that much, though I’ve been following the Braves forever and the site for quite a while. More importantly for the subject of this post, I’ve been following Florida Football even longer – though that doesn’t seem to be a popular subject matter on this site. So if you like, I’d more than happy to put together a UF football preview if necessary.
I’d do UNC. (If anyone cares.)
No JB, no one does.
If ain’t the SEC, it just ain’t football.
(Now thats homerism)
ububba,
I’d say Sean Bailey may have been your most talented receiver, but Massequoi (who, by the way, was Chris Leak’s go-to guy in high school) is your best receiver. Bailey drops the ball A LOT, and I don’t think you’ll really miss him.
That said, I think 9-3 may be a tad optimistic for your season.
Joe Cox’s favorite WR too if I I might add.
Tereshinksi is gonna be this years Rick Clausen.
Arkansas football PBP announcer since 1978 killed last night in a wreck on I-40.
Stu,
Bailey made big plays for us & opened up the offense a lot. He will certainly be missed.
But I agree that Massequoi may well end up being a lot better. Unfortunately, with Joe T at QB he could have a frustrating season. Expect a lot of those middle-screens & hitch passes, instead of anything thrown near coverage. I think Richt will pull out his bag of trick ’em. Unless Danny Ware suddenly becomes Tim Worley, it won’t be “here-we-damn-come” football.
Not 9-3? Are you saying we’re gonna lose to more than half of these schools—Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Colorado, & Tech? I don’t see it. It’s an obnoxious notion, but we’re Georgia and that’s not happening. We’ll find a way.
Of course, I reserve some judgement until I actually see Stafford take some snaps. 😉
I think only Colorado is a safe bet among those 6 schools. Honestly. Georgia’s lost some key players. I think the first 3 schools you listed have better talent, and I think that SC game is going to be awfully tough on the road.
Aren’t the mid-screens and hitches Massequoi’s specialty, though? Seems like that’s what he thrived on last year.
And I really think Georgia will be better off with whoever Bailey’s replacement is than they would be with Bailey. Watching him first-hand a few times, he’s a terrible route-runner, and like I said, he drops a lot of catchable balls. Someone with less talent and a better work ethic would be an improvement. Of course, if the replacement has the same work ethic and lesser talent, I suppose the Bulldogs will miss Bailey.
Also, Wryn, Paul Eells was with Vanderbilt before Arkansas.
Kinda like Larry Munson, who began in Nashville and, I’m convinced, still has his heart here. 🙂
Stu, did you know when the Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee, Skip Caray lost out on the head PBP job to Larry Munson? Random nugget for the day.
Stu,
Those short passes? That’s what I’m saying about Massequoi. But if you don’t have a downfield threat (due to Bailey’s loss, but perhaps more to JoeT’s lousy arm), those hitch passes aren’t nearly as effective. Nobody drops back & creates daylight. If I’m a UGA opponent, I keep my eyes on #1 (Massequoi) & place my best athlete on him, if poss.; if Ware or Lumpkin or Brown start running on you, you’re in trouble anyway.
We all know Bailey’s shortcomings, but he did make some big plays & when he ran downfield defenses respected that. Somebody’s gonna have to step up & become some kind of threat—even if it means JoeT airing it out just for show.
On paper, this team looks like the weakest we’ve had since Richt arrived (at offensive skill positions, for sure), but, of course, what’s considered a “weak squad” for Georgia is still a team loaded with great athletes.
I’m actually looking forward to being surprised. The great thing about the SEC is that you gotta bring it most every week. The genuinely stiff competition can bring out the best in you. And we’re all counting on that.
Stafford, Cox, some other guy, Tereshinksi.
That is the most depth in the SEC behind LSU.
Maybe numbers-wise, but those guys are all either too inexperienced to rely on (the first three…I can’t remember the other guy’s name, either) or too untalented (JoeT3).
Stafford’s really talented, Cox has been there a year.
JoeT3 is managble. But in terms of SEC QBs Florida has 2 Vandy none, UT1/2, Alabama 1 or 2 depending, Auburn 1 1/2, Ole Miss Schaffer, Miss State none, Arkansas 2, USC 1, Kentucky 1/2…..
Georgia 3-4, LSU 3 quality-quality starters…
Georgia and LSU have depth, LSU beats out all with 3 good ones.
Perrilou, Russell, and Flynn.