RIP Stuart Scott

(For those who couldn't access my Facebook post)

I'm not sure I deal with death well in that I always either look to, or admittedly hide, in humor. On a day of immense sadness I look to humor for comfort once again so I'll tell a story to everyone I've only told a few people because Stuart Scott made me laugh as hard as I've laughed in almost 5 years at ESPN.

Before ESPN moved its NBA coverage to LA, Stuart Scott anchored our coverage from Bristol and one of the first shifts I did was prompting the pregame and halftime shows for Stu. Our game was the Magic-Lakers and right before halftime the producer comes on the headset and said, "Stu, obviously you can't say this on air, but apparently Kobe has a stomach virus and had bad diarrhea and was late to the arena." So Stu is getting ready to toss back to the game and our shot going to break is of Kobe scoring and Stu says,

"Kobe and the Lakers down 11 at the half. Kobe probably telling his teammates they are going to have to go on some RUNS to get back in this one."

The producers weren't listening to him at the time and the analysts on set didn't know Kobe was sick so I was the only person in America who heard Stuart Scott make a poop joke on television and I laughed my ass off.

Stuart Scott was a man who loved his family, sports and his job. He's a reason so many of us loved sports and ESPN growing up and made so many of us want to work here. And MAN was he good. To see that look no further than my proudest highlight shift at ESPN. The Ravens-49ers Super Bowl highlight was a 19 minute effort that took about a dozen people to produce and Stu and Steve Levy FUCKIN NAILED the read of it. To this day I've never heard a better read of a highlight I've worked on.

He was one of a kind for sure and he will be missed by all. RIP.

Horse & Rider Radio!

Equestrians are in for a special treat! Ms. Lisa Blackstone hosts the Horse Show on Radio Sandy Springs and addresses horse ownership and other equestrian issues. As an accomplished equestrian, she has gained magnitudes of knowledge and can answer questions that you might have about horseback riding or even just horses in general. Listen to National Equestrian Champion Lisa Blackstone on Wednesdays from noon to 1 P.M on RadioSandySprings.com. Missed an episode of this or one of your other favorite shows? Don't worry! Just go to RadioSandySprings.com and check out the archives or search for "Radio Sandy Springs" on iTunes!

College Football Bowl Schedule: Winners and Losers

The overabundance of mediocre football known as the College Football Bowl season kicks off Dec. 20 with a quad...fecta(?) of games that are sure to bore anyone to tears. The full 34 game bowl schedule was announced yesterday and as always there are winners and losers.

Winners
Oklahoma - Proving the BCS honchos' theory that the regular season is a playoff is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Utah - Second BCS bowl in school history. The Utes are in a good situation right now. Urban Meyer couldn't have bolted faster, but Kyle Whittingham is a Utah guy having played at BYU and having coached at Utah now for more than 15 years. He's done a good job keeping the standard set by Meyer and is in it for the long haul in SLC.

Cincinnati and Virginia Tech - Does anyone honestly think either of these teams would have gone better than 6-6 in the Big 12?

GMAC Bowl - for some reason this game is the last game played before the BCS national title game and honestly I think I will watch more of it than the Orange Bowl. There's 7500 yards and 69 passing touchdowns between the two QBs David Johnson and Nate Ball and we'll get to see a real stern test for Ball State who got exposed by a 7-5 Buffalo team Friday night in a game you probably didn't watch.

Poinsettia Bowl - Actually, this is the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl matching up Boise State and TCU. No kidding, this is possibly the best non-BCS Bowl game and it's happening Dec. 23. Boise State has had a great season and this is potentially the swan song for Chris Petersen, but TCU is stout and played in the best Non-BCS conference in America. The Poinsettia organizers have to be ecstatic for once that the focus will be on the game and not the pronunciation of the Bowl itself (Poin-SET-uh or Poin-set-EE-uh?)

Cotton and Alamo Bowls - The glut of good teams in the Big 12 created a trickle down effect and these two bowls benefited big time. The Cotton Bowl gets an 11-1 Texas Tech team that should be playing in a BCS Bowl and the Alamo gets Missouri, who disappointed by all tangible measure, but still features an offense that is way better than any Alamo Bowl deserves.

Vanderbilt - The Long time winner of Bowl season, the Commodores have always gotten to cash in on the shared revenue of SEC Bowls without incurring any travel costs. Now, the 'Dores are Bowl eligible and headed to...Nashville. That's right, the Commodores get to play in the Music City Bowl which means nice payout and no travel costs, the perfect scenario for a school without an Athletic department.

Georgia Tech - Similar situation to Vandy's. Tech will finish one of the more surprising seasons in the FBS playing right down the street from campus.

Chick-Fil-a Bowl - as good as it is for Ga Tech to play at home, that still wouldn't drive ticket sales so fortunately for the organizers they landed LSU which, even though this season has been a disappointment for the Bayou Bengals, will pretty much guarantee a sell out.

Notre Dame - How do you reward a 6-6 season that crashed and burned at the end? A trip to Hawaii. Luck of the Irish indeed.


Losers

Texas - If Oklahoma wins the BCS Title game the Longhorns will forever have to live with the fact that they beat the national champions. If Oklahoma loses, Texas will forever have to live with the fact that they beat a team that didn't deserve to play for a national championship instead of them. I know Ohio State is a power house program, but USC set the bar for Texas at 35-3. Anything short of that will ultimately be a disappointment in the Fiesta Bowl.

Texas Tech - Winners of the Missouri award going to the team that inevitably gets left out of the BCS because only two teams from a conference can make it and the winners of the ACC and Big East have to go to BCS games automatically. Come on, you know an Alabama-Texas Tech Sugar Bowl would be the most intriguing game after the national title game. Hell, a Texas-Texas Tech rematch of probably the best game of the year would be better than Texas-Ohio State.

Oregon State - Last year an injury to Dennis Dixon took the Beavers' arch rivals, Oregon, from national title contention to the Sun Bowl. This year, an injury to freshman Phenom Jacquizz Rogers was a big reason why Oregon State went from a possible Rose Bowl appearance for the first time in 44 years to the Sun Bowl. I hear El Paso is lovely in December.

New Orleans - For a city that relies heavily on sports tourism to bolster the economy, Utah couldn't be a worse selection for the crescent city. Utah doesn't have a huge fan base and it's obviously unlikely that a largely Mormon fan base is going to partake in some of the more adult style activities one would normally partake in in New Orleans.

The Orange Bowl - In January 2006 they got the instant classic old timer's bowl between FSU and Penn State, however other than that it's been sparse for the Orange Bowl in terms of intriguing games. Last year was close, but Kansas didn't deserve a spot over Missouri. They've hosted two stinker national title games (OU over FSU, USC over OU) and other than that it's really been a drag as of late. Expect no different with Cincy and Beamer Ball.

The Humanitarian Bowl - the folks in Boise had a dream match up, relatively speaking, in the works to get the home town Broncos against then undefeated Ball State. The Cardinals balked at the offer (presumably because they didn't want the butt whipping) and thusly the hometown team said 'see ya' heading for a game with TCU in San Diego leaving the home folks with Nevada and Maryland. Blech.

The Independence Bowl - Already struggling for survival, this year's edition is sponsorless and it got worse when its tie-in conferences, the Big 12 and SEC, couldn't field enough eligible teams. As a result they get stuck with Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech. The good news is that La Tech's campus in Ruston is only an hour from Shreveport, but these games rely on sponsors to survive and no company in its right mind wants to sponsor a game featuring teams like this.

The Capital One Bowl - just an Oregon State win against Oregon away from a preseason #1 v. #2 game between Georgia and Ohio State, the Beavers lose to Oregon State bumping USC up to the automatic Rose Bowl bid and Ohio State to an at-large. Michigan State v. Georgia just doesn't have the same buzz.

The NFL: All about the Benjamins Baby

In case you missed it, there was a controversial finish to the Steelers-Chargers game the other day. Trailing by one, the Chargers tried one of those wacky lateral plays. LaDainian Tomlinson tried to lateral to Chris Chambers, but Troy Polamalu scooped up the ball and scored making it 17-10, game over...or so we thought. The refs, for no apparent reason, decided to review the play, even though the game was over. They ruled that the Chargers committed an illegal forward lateral and that the ball was ruled dead, the touchdown wiped out and the game ended Pittsburgh 11, San Diego 10. The refs ruling was incorrect. They admitted so after the game. So what's the big deal? Pittsburgh was favored by 4.5. TD stands, Steelers cover. TD gets wiped out they don't.

WebWire says that $100 million was bet on the game nationwide. With the Steelers not covering on the final play of the game, $32 million that should have gone to gamblers went into the pockets of bookies. That is a staggering number no doubt. Now, it must be noted the $100 million number is probably exaggerated just a tad, nevertheless the NFL is leaping to action.

Mike Pereira, NFL VP of officiating, says a change could be coming. The current replay rules say that once the Referee leaves the replay booth on the field he cannot return and consult with the official in the booth. The NFL is considering changing this rule to allow the official to return and consult with the booth official. That seems reasonable. More interestingly, this rule could be changed during the season by the time the playoffs start.

So let me get this straight. A bunch of money changes hands, at the detriment to gamblers, and the benevolent NFL leaps to action to provide some oversight to the replay system to make sure calls are correct. However, the Falcons lose a game to Philadelphia because the officials made an incorrect call that AFFECTED THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME and the Falcons couldn't challenge it because of the rules of replay and the league decides to address the situation after the season.

The Falcons called their last time out with 3 minutes to go and there is no booth review until the two minute mark. It was INCREDIBLY flukey that the Falcons needed a challenge and didn't have one to use and as far as I know that scenario hadn't happened in the NFL since they brought back replay. However, how often would a replay official need to go back to the booth to re-confirm with the official in the booth? a couple of times a season maybe?

This sends a bad, but predictable, message to NFL teams. I'm not saying we needed a congressional hearing over the Falcons loss to the Eagles and I'm fine with the league looking at it after the season. And don't get me wrong, I have the Steelers defense and had that 6 points I had taken away for the defensive TD cost me my fantasy match up I'd have been plenty peeved, but is this serious enough to warrant corrective action immediately. It says to teams that the NFL cares more about the gamblers than it does the teams.

I get it. Gambling drives up interest in the NFL. Betting on games, and especially the advent of fantasy football leagues many of which are money leagues, has helped the NFL boom into the dominant sports league it has become. I just think it's interesting that the NFL would look after the interests of the audience more than they would the interests of their product.

The Monday 10

Trying something new, 10 random thoughts for Monday.

1. Bad performance from Atlanta yesterday at an inopportune time. The offense was inconsistent, the dropped passes were a problem again and the defense just couldn't stop the Denver when they needed to. At this point the Falcons have far surpassed expectations for the 2008 season, but with time you need to adjust expectations and we are expecting this team to compete for a playoff spot. Yesterday's performance was unacceptable. They really need to hunker down and prepare for a Carolina team that beat them soundly once already this season.

2. After a 6-0 start the Hawks are now 6-3. The loss in Boston was understandable, the losses to New Jersey not so much. Devin Harris exposed a major flaw in the Hawks defensive abilities and Vince Carter, proving once again why he's among the most disliked athletes in sports, put up two virtuoso performances when his team needed it. Seriously, this is a guy who could have been one of the all time greats, but seemingly never cared enough to live up to his potential.

3. The record of Atlanta teams since the legendary Furman Bisher declared Atlanta no longer "Loserville"? 1-4. The lone win was the Thrashers who beat Carolina Friday. They lost to Philly yesterday.

4. Another sloppy performance in a win for Georgia on the plains at Auburn Saturday. Where do you even start with this team? The reliance on the mediocrity of Matt Stafford in crunch time instead of your best player, Moreno, is foolhardy. The team in general lacks the ability to tackle anybody. The penalty situation is a flat out embarrassment. The team lacks discipline. I thought I might be going out on a limb early in the season when I linked the programs recklessness during the offseason to its recklessness on the field, but it's not a stretch now. Mark Richt needs to get this program under control. This team will probably finish 10-2 which is a fine accomplishment, but the way they're going to get there is a tremendous disappointment after last seasons remarkable finish.

5. With the SEC Championship game a national semifinal in all likelihood, the only thing keeping us from BCS controversy is Texas Tech beating Oklahoma Saturday and Missouri in the Big 12 championship game (surely even an unfathomable loss to Baylor wouldn't keep the Big 12 champs out of the title game, would it?). I'm sure BCS officials have put in the call to the Big 12 asking them to make sure Tech wins Saturday. I'm not really sure they could fix it, Big 12 officials are too inept to pull off such a scam.

6. Giants-Titans in the Superbowl. I'm not saying it's going to happen necessarily, but it's certainly looking like we're headed down that path right now. The Titans look like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Not quite as good defensively, but still outstanding and Kerry Collins is playing at a high level right now. The Giants, even though the Titans are unbeaten, are the best team in the league right now in my opinion. They have so much balance on offense with Eli playing well and rotating the backs effectively keeping everyone as healthy as possible. The defense loses Strahan and Osi (I'm not even going to try to properly spell Uminyeyeoeyora) and they don't seem to miss a beat. The road gets tougher for the G-men from here on out, all six of their remaining opponents are fighting for playoff spots. For the Titans, beat the Jets this week and they could cruise to 14-0 by beating the Lions, Browns and Texans. They end with a doozy of a double header, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, two teams that it looks will be fighting for their playoff lives.

7. I don't know what amuses me more, a tie in the NFL or the first ever 11-10 final score in league history. I think the NFL should modify the college overtime system by starting on the 40 and do away with ties all together. It is pretty amusing it was the Eagles, in what should have been a gimmie, tying the lowly Bengals. Meanwhile, as the Steelers get pushed from the record books (they were part of the last tie, a memorable game with Atlanta that ended when Plaxico Burress caught the ball with his body in the endzone, but not the ball,on the final play of overtime) they come up with something to make history. Is there a team with worse weather luck than Pittsburgh? Last year they played a 3-0 barnburner with Miami in a monsoon. Now they play the first ever 11-10 game in a blinding snowstorm.

8. I know hyperbole in sports is out of control these days, but ESPN.com actually had a headline that said Jimmy Johnson winning his third straight Sprint Cup title was among the best feats in sports history. I respect NASCAR drivers because I think they're crazy, but for one thing NASCAR drivers aren't athletes and secondly NASCAR isn't a sport. I understand that the zealots that follow these sports aching for full mainstream support (NASCAR is on its way, but will always have trouble winning over segments of the population) have a myopic world view, but Jimmy Johnson shouldn't be mentioned alongside Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth and Jim Brown. That's like equating the US Women's Curling team winning the 2003 World title to the Miracle on Ice. Don't ask me why I was watching Curling, but I'll never forget it. The most hyperbolic call in sports history.

9. I'm not a huge MMA fan, but I enjoy watching it when I catch it. I made sure to seek out the big Brock Lesnar-Randy Couture fight on Saturday night. Couture was the crafty veteran champion and Lesnar, the former WWE star, the up-and-coming monster. Couture seemed to have a good strategy going in, but strategy went by the wayside when Lesnar caught him with a clean shot in the temple and then punished Couture on the ground with some hammer like fists to the face prompting a second round TKO. Lesnar is the UFC heavyweight champ with a 3-1 career record. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for the UFC in terms of credibility, but it's good for publicity because Lesnar is a HUGE dude with some name recognition from his WWE days and has a legitimate wrestling background so he won't be a flash in the pan like Kimbo Slice.

10. I wish I had more college football for you, but what a dreadful slate of games this past week. Fortunately, we make up for it with a pretty solid slate this week. The week is highlighted by the huge Texas Tech-Oklahoma showdown. There are plenty of intriguing games elsewhere. Utah and BYU battle with BCS implications on the line, Ohio State and Michigan play (seems to have lost some luster this year, no?), Oregon State looks to keep improbable Rose Bowl hopes alive at Arizona, Michigan state and Penn State battle as top 15 teams and the ACC has two critical games as Miami plays Georgia Tech Thursday and Florida State plays Maryland.

How do you like them apples?

All day yesterday on the radio sports talk hosts were criticizing Atlanta fans for their lackluster support of the Falcons against the Saints on Sunday. Despite selling the game out, the crowd didn't seem that into the action and many of the seats were empty. They argued that this team has earned support and I can agree with that. But you can hardly blame Falcons fans. We're Will Hunting.

What does that mean? Well, in the classic 1997 film, Matt Damon plays the enigmatic boy genius. A brilliant prodigy with a troubled past and troubled present he has trouble letting anyone new into his life because he was abused by people who were supposed to take care of him during childhood. It leads to a classic exchange between Will and his therapist Sean (Robin Williams) about the physical abuse he used to suffer at the hands of his foster dad:

Will: He used to just put a belt, a stick, and a wrench on the kitchen table and say, "Choose."
Sean: Well, I gotta go with the belt there.
Will: I used to go with the wrench.
Sean: Why?
Will: Cause fuck him, that' why.

I can't help but equate the Falcons past with Will's. My first indoctrination into Falcon fandom was in 1991. That year the Falcons got the 6th seed in the NFC playoffs and upset division rival New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs. The Falcons were overmatched in the second round by Washington, but it was still exciting to be a Falcons fan. How did they follow it up? Back-to-back 6-10 seasons that got Jerry Glanville fired.

My grandparents were season ticket holders for 30 years. When the Georgia Dome opened they had the best seats in the entire place in the first row of the club level on the 50 yard line. I used to beg my dad to take me and he pretty much always obliged. We went to every home game but one during the 1995 season and the last game, Christmas eve, the Falcons needed to beat the defending Super Bowl champ 49ers to make the playoffs. They did so in improbable fashion. Again the Falcons were outclassed by a playoff opponent, this time the Packers, but good times were coming for the Falcons...Or not. The Falcons finished a dreadful 3-13 in 1996 and June Jones got the ax as a result. That ushered in the Dan Reeves era and the team finished strong in '97 winning five of their last six games setting them up for one of the most improbable runs in league history.

1998 was a year that will never be forgotten in Falcon lore. They started with two wins before losing to long time nemesis San Francisco. A few more wins got them to 5-1, but people were still a tad skeptical after getting waxed by the Jets 28-3 to move to 5-2. A couple of weeks later Atlanta traveled to New England and put a whooping on the Pats. People were starting to believe. They followed it up by beating the 49ers at home and the bandwagon was at full speed. You know the rest. Miracle in Minnesota. Eugene Robinson tries to pay for nookie. Falcons blown out by the Broncos in the big game.

Despite the aging of key players, there was still plenty of optimism in 1999. The team returned a lot of players and had just inked star running back Jamal Anderson to a big contract. Anderson destroyed his knee in game one of the 99 season. The Falcons season was destroyed with him. The Falcons finished 5-11 and went 4-12 the following season, but help was set to arrive in 2001.

I'll never forget where I was the day the before the 2001 NFL draft. I came home from school and logged on to espn.com to find out the Falcons had traded for the number one pick and the right to draft Michael Vick. People were ecstatic. He sat most of 2001, but we got some rare glimpses into his brilliance. He was handed the keys to the franchise in 2002 and led the team to a 9-6-1 record and a playoff birth. His legend grew when he led the Falcons to a playoff win at historic Lambeau Field. A few days later the jumbotron at the Hawks game spotted him sitting courtside and the fans gave him a standing ovation. Our future was bright.

Our future was bright until Adalius Thomas broke Vick's leg and our hopes and dreams in a preseason game and sent the 2003 down the drain. Still, Vick came back and played well at the end of the season and that translated into an NFC title game appearance in 2004. The Falcons lost, but we were still optimistic. We'd never seen anything close to this kind of stability. 2005 and 2006 played out in the same fashion, and neither were good. Both years the Falcons started hot and finished poorly missing the playoffs and leaving many to question the mettle of this team and the ability of its Franchise quarterback. The lackluster finishes cost Jim Mora his job and we were cautiously optimistic that new coach Bobby Petrino could mold Vick into the quarterback the franchise needed him to be. Petrino never got that chance.

Again, you know what happened. Drug bust on a Vick owned property. Dogfighting equipment found. Vick denies allegations. Federal charges come down. Former friend flips. Vick admits guilt. Falcons organization crushed. Rock Bottom came for the Falcons on December 12, 2007 when Bobby Petrino tucked his tail between his leg, left his players dear john letters and hightailed it for Arkansas like the coward and scumbucket he is. We'd seen our darkest day.

Mind you, that's only 17 years of Falcons history. Folks who have been around longer have suffered through more (Don't even get my old man started on the 1980 playoff game against Dallas). So why should we believe it's any different now? I would say without any doubt in my mind everything this franchise has done personnel wise has been a home run since Petrino quit. Thomas Dimitroff has brought in good players and Mike Smith and his staff have prepared them to play well every week. Still, in the mind of Falcons fans every where we're about 50 percent sure Matt Ryan will become a pro bowl quarterback and 50 percent sure he'll be caught galavanting with underage transexual prostitutes, because honestly at this point what could shock people more than federal dog fighting charges.

Sure, we're a slow fan base to energize, but you can't blame Atlanta fans for being hesitant to get on board. We don't jump into our professional sports pool with both feet, we have to dip our toe first, then a leg then both legs and then the whole body. We've been burned too badly in the past to jump in feet first. Like Will Hunting, the Atlanta fans have a ton of potential, but it's going to take more convincing before we let ourselves go and open up.

Pinch me and make sure I'm awake

It's almost unfathomable at this point. The Atlanta Falcons are for real. The Atlanta Hawks seem to be too. What the heck happened? Is this really happening? It seems too good to be true. In the city where professional sports apathy runs rampant due in large part to the long term ineptitude of management, it's hard to believe both teams are headed in positive directions.

Having lost four straight games to the Saints, the Falcons waxed Drew Brees and Co. at the Dome yesterday. The Falcons offense continues to impress which isn't entirely surprising since the Saints defense is a mess. Still, week after week the Falcons offense looks better and better. At this point the shock of Matt Ryan is starting to wear off and we're starting to realize that this guy, a rookie, is just a damn good player. If you figure that this is the floor of what he can do in this league the future is brighter than anyone could have imagined.

The season has been a revelation in so many more ways. The offensive line has been mostly outstanding, Michael Turner has been worth every penny, Roddy White continues to emerge as one of the NFC's best wide outs leading the conference in receiving yards (until tonight when Larry Fitzgerald passes him again) and Michael Jenkins, the much maligned enigma, has been money the last few weeks developing into a legit number two option. The defense continues to get better. Everyone knows John Abraham, but the linebacking corps has been good and the defensive backfield is improving week to week. How the heck did the Falcons get Dominique Foxworth? Why did the league's 28th rated pass defense in Denver let this guy go?

Suddenly, the playoffs aren't such a pipe dream. The Falcons are part of an NFC log jam with a bunch of other teams and both division rivals Tampa Bay and Carolina have to come to the Georgia Dome where the Falcons have trailed for all of 11 seconds this season. If the Falcons can win these next two home games with Denver and Carolina that puts them at 8-3 going into a tough two game road stretch against San Diego and New Orleans. Even if they lost those, if the Falcons run the table at home that gives them no fewer than 10 wins and as this team has shown, anything is believable on the road at this point.

Meanwhile, across the street they're going to have to contemplate changing the name of the building from the Highlight Factory to the Win Factory. The Hawks are the lone unbeaten in the Eastern Conference as they moved to 5-0 with a sloppy win over Oklahoma City last night. The Hawks starting five is a known commodity, but there was a ton of doubt about the Hawks bench after Josh Childress bolted for the riches of Olympiakos. New Hawks GM Rick Sund didn't panic, he went out and signed Mo Evans and Ronald "Flip" Murray and both have been crucial, especially Flip. Flip is averaging 12.4 points per game and put the Hawks on his back and led the comeback last night. Furthermore, the Hawks have gotten good minutes out of Zaza Pachulia the first week of the season and Solomon Jones this week providing some much needed front court depth.

The Hawks are getting it done on both ends of the floor holding opponents to an Eastern Conference best 85.8 points per game while ranking 7th in the league in 3pt percentage on offense. Both stats are telling for a team that struggled in its commitment to defense and struggled shooting the three pointer in the past. The fact that they've improved in both areas is huge and even without Josh Smith for who knows how long with an ankle injury, this team should be able to persevere and look like they will be a formidable opponent for the long haul.

It's been a wonderful ride for the past few weeks and months with the teams in Atlanta. We can only hope the good times continue. If anything the future looks bright. Heck, even the Thrashers have won four straight. Things might finally be going their way....nah.