Thursday, August 2, 2012

Braves, Falcons, & Everything in Between

This is the time of year when the only thing going on in the sports world is baseball, but thanks to a thing called the Olympics a lot has been happening around the world. Still football is drawing near and clearly everyone is aware that soon their favorite teams will be trying to win that elusive trophy that everyone wants. Yet no sport ever dies the stories just go away for a month or two until something pops up that takes the action away from another sport for maybe a second or a full week. Take for instance the Atlanta Braves, who are in the thick of a playoff race and have just acquired another pitcher to bolster their rotation. As we know though once a fan says the Atlanta Falcons are back all that hype fades from the Braves and moves onto the Falcon's training camp held in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Remember a sport never dies, it just takes a back seat until something juicy comes around. So without further lets get to some sport updates.

Jason Getz


Atlanta Braves Surge into August:
The Braves recently had their 6 game winning streak snapped by the Miami Marlins. During the streak the Braves closed the gap with the Washington Nationals going from 4.5 games back to 2.5 games back. Currently the Braves are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the two wild card spots and are slowly pulling away from the other National League teams. At the trade deadline the Braves acquired left-hander Paul Maholm and outfielder Reed Johnson from the Chicago Cubs for highly regarded right-handed prospect Arodys Vizcaino and right-hander Jaye Chapman. The move strengths not just the line up with another lefty to complement the team, but also gives them another bench player and adds more power to the outfield as well. Looking at the month of August, the Braves will have to battle a lot of division opponents, but at the same time face off against the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres. So get ready Brave's fan for an exciting August of Brave's baseball and prepare for a showdown with the Washington Nationals.



No Jokes at Atlanta Falcon's Training Camp:
Last we left the Atlanta Falcons they were reeling from another embarrassing playoff lose this time coming from the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the New York Giants. From what we could tell the entire staff was shocked at how the team performed and promised that the Falcons would work harder than before to fix this HUGE mistake. Well so far the Falcons are living up to their promise, especially at their training camp held up in Flowery Branch, Georgia. As a spectator I went up to see how the Falcons were doing at camp and was shocked to see how physical they were being with each other, but how the coaches were letting each player have it for the smallest mistakes made. Every time someone did not try or if they missed their cue, a coach would gladly make the whole squad redo the exercise until it was done perfect and in this heat perfect was something very hard to achieve. Still the Falcons will need to be tough in order the brave the schedule they were dealt this year. Some of the teams the Falcons will face this year include the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions. Remember this schedule also includes the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saint, who both are not considered push overs this year. Still the Falcons look very strong on defense and looked to have improved on the new passing offense. It should be an interesting year for all the Falcons, especially for Head Coach Mike Smith and Quarterback Matt Ryan.

Kevin C. Cox


Georgia Bulldogs ready for the SEC:
As of right now the Bulldogs are ranked No. 6 in the USA Today Coach's Poll Preseason edition. Some people are question whether Georgia should be ranked this high heading into a season where the Bulldogs have one of the best schedules for an SEC team. The Bulldogs avoided LSU and Alabama and have only two big games this year, which are against the Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium and their big SEC East rivals the South Carolina Gamecocks held in Columbia, South Carolina. So even though the schedule looks easy, the Bulldogs are not making it easy on themselves. Already the team has dismissed troubled running back Isaiah Crowell and presently has players suspended on both sides of the ball. Even with all the troubles the Bulldogs have they look like a team ready to prove they can hang with and beat a LSU or Alabama and compete for an SEC Title and a BCS Title as well.



Hawks still trying to Land Dwight Howard:
Basically the Hawks traded away All-Star Joe Johnson and point guard Marvin Williams to save themselves a lot of money so the team could pursue big free agents in the summer of 2013. At first it looked like the team would only have Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jeff Teague and rookie John Jenkins. After closer examination, however, the pieces the Hawks acquired for Johnson and Williams really fit the team well and add tons of depth to the bench. The Hawks also traded for Kyle Korver to help with their 3-point game. All of this was so the Hawks could trade for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and really make a push for the playoffs next year. The plan has not really worked into their favor because other teams such as the Lakers and Nets can offer better deals for Howard, but the Hawks are not giving up and if somehow they acquire Howard look for the Hawks to make it deep in the playoffs and have an outstanding season as well.

BONUS: Olympic Update:
It took the end of day six for the United States to overtake China in overall medal counts. The U.S. now has a total of 37 medals, 18 of which are gold. China has 34 medals, but also has 18 gold medals as well. The god news for Team U.S.A. is the men's and women's basketball teams are dominating each opponent they face and will mostly likely bring home two additional gold medals. The medals do not stop there either, swimming still has no concluded, so that means the U.S. can still bring home an additional  3 or 4 gold medals. Remember people this was only day six, we still have another week to go and things are going to get more exciting when track and field begins. Just give it some thought on how the U.S.A. could potential come back home with a lot of honor and pride for us cheering them at home.