december 10-16, 2010 check us out at scoreatl.com 6 no … · do the twist: the falcons set a...

DECEMBER 10-16, 2010 CHECK US OUT AT SCOREATL.COM VOL 6 NO 45

2 | SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

A LW AY S AT S C O R E AT L . C O M

DECEMBER 10-16, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA | 3


PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. RosenbergGENERAL MANAGER Bob HoughtonMANAGING EDITOR Stephen Black

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ GalbiatiBUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

BEAT WRITERS Josh Bagriansky (Hawks), Stephen Black (UGA), Dave Cohen (Georgia State), Joe Deighton (Thrashers),

Ricky Dimon (Falcons), Fletcher Proctor (Braves), Thomas Watson (Tech), Brian Jones (Preps)

STAFF WRITERS Jamie Walker, Jay Thomason, Drew Collins, Raj Prashad

CONTRIBUTORS C.C., Brian Katrek, Alex Ewalt, Tad Arapoglou, Dean Zindler, Zander Lentz, Kevin Dankosky, Mitch Evans, Chris

Dimino, Matt Stewart, Fred Kalil, Nick Cellini, Dave Marshall, Greg Smith, Steak Shapiro, Beau Bock, Roy Hickman, Dave Cohen, Bob Rathbun, Courtney Capps, Bill Hartman, Chuck Dowdle, Dan Kamal, Dennis Scott, Jeff Batten, Jeff Measor

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS Mitch Albom, Dave Kindred, Barry Bloom

STARTINGLINEUP

CHEROKEE/FORSYTH: Cherokee, Creekview, Etowah, Forsyth Central, North Forsyth, Sequoyah, South Forsyth, West Forsyth, Woodstock

COBB: Allatoona, Campbell, Harrison, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain, Lassiter, Marietta, McEachern, Mt. Paran Christian N. Cobb, N. Cobb Christian, Pebblebrook, Pope, S. Cobb, Sprayberry,

Walker, Walton, Wheeler, Whitefield AcademyDEKALB: Arabia Mountain, Chamblee, Columbia, Decatur, Druid Hills,

Dunwoody, Lakeside, Marist, Miller Grove, M.L. King, Paideia, Redan, St. Pius X, Southwest DeKalb, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Tucker

FULTON: Alpharetta, Blessed Trinity, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Douglass, Grady, John’s Creek, Lovett, Mays, Milton, Mt. Pisgah, North Springs,

Northview, Riverwood, Roswell, Tri-Cities, Westminster, Woodward AcademyGWINNETT: Berkmar, Brookwood, Buford, C. Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula,

Grayson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Meadowcreek, Mill Creek, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge, South Gwinnett, Wesleyan

FAYETTE: Whitewater, Sandy Creek, Starr’s MillNEWTON: Eastside

SCHOOLLISTING

DO THE TWIST: The Falcons set a Guin-ness World Record for largest virtual physical education class when 2,228 local students gathered at the Georgia Dome to take part in the event. Team president Rich McKay and linebacker Spencer Adkins also took part in the class. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Cribb/Atlanta Falcons.

SHOT OF THE WEEK...

CAN’T MISSCAN’T MISS

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The Fletch bashes national NFL experts for their lack of respect for the Falcons.

In “The Dimon Club”, Ricky Dimon points out the flaws in the arguments of Falcons doubters.

In this week’s cover story, Drew Collins ex-plains why this could be the golden age of professional sports in Atlanta.

The results are in! See who won the inaugural “Going Out on a Limb” feature!

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICES

ON T

HE Score Atlanta is looking for new sales associates

as well as writing and graphic design interns. For sales positions, e-mail Bob Houghton at [email protected]. For writing in-ternships, e-mail Stephen Black at [email protected]. For graphic design internships, e-mail DJ Galbiati at [email protected] free to call 404-256-1572 to speak with someone about any of these positions.

COVER DESIGN BY DJ GALBIATICOVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF DJ GALBIATI, JIMMY CRIBB/ATLANTA FALCONS AND THE ATLANTA THRASHERS

6 SCORE LIST - WHO’S HOT

11 SCORE MORE 12 GSU 13 CALENDAR 14 TECH-UGA

THIS WEEK

BRAVES OUTFIELDER/ FIRST BASEMAN

ERIC HINSKE

INSIDE AT SCORE



ESPN’s NFL analysts sleeping on Falcons; Laurentino wears the black hat on 680Hypocrisy, my name is ESPN.

Falcons fans across the city and the state surely must be pulling their hair out af-ter listening to the World Wide Leader’s NFL experts slam the Falcons’ accomplishments but excuse-make for other teams with lesser records than Atlanta. Just a few weeks after the Atlanta Falcons came back to conk out the Baltimore Ravens on national television and then best the Packers with a late field goal on the way to a 10-2 record, ESPN’s Marcellus Wiley gave the New Orleans Saints a free “get out of jail” card. Michael Wilbon railed on the Falcons the day after the team caught a break or two against the Ravens. Then, after the Falcons made their own breaks against Green Bay and Tampa Bay, Wiley was praising the Saints for pulling the same tricks against an AWFUL Cowboys squad on Thanksgiving and then surviving against an even worse Cincinnati team. Wiley said on Sunday’s ESPN Radio coverage: “In the NFL, it comes down to wins and losses.” Well, if it does, then give the Fal-cons the respect and due the team deserves for running off a better record than New Orleans, including a victory over the Saints IN the Su-per Dome. Wiley continued, “Good things and good breaks happen to good teams. Bad teams find bad things and bad breaks.” So it is okay for the Saints to barely beat two teams that may COMBINE to win eight games this year, but the Falcons cannot “find” the breaks to beat playoff teams? Crazy. I am not a Falcons fan at heart, but I feel the national media is still refusing to give due to my hometown team, so I am coming to the rescue. Some one needs to since the four-letter network won’t fully embrace them until Mike Smith and Arthur Blank hoist the Lom-

bardi Trophy. Then the Falcons will probably be lumped in the New Orleans/Ohio State cat-egory of “They can do NOTHING wrong!” I just ask that these “experts” apply the same logic to all teams and not treat certain fran-chises differently due to past successes. As Parcells used to say, “You are what your re-cord is.” That means the Falcons are pretty good. Who cares how they got that way!?

PERRY PROVOKES … Every local sports radio show has a “black hat,” whose job it is to be a villain that inspires phone calls with ridiculous opinions and who spits on the local teams, just to in-sight response. Perry Laurentino plays the Ric Flair role on 680 The Fan’s Rude Awakening and, while he isn’t as good at the role as John Kincade is on The Fan’s afternoon drive show Buck & Kincade, Laurentino is still entertain-ing. He may have taken too absurd of a stance recently though as he was trying to instigate an SEC vs. the field argument after Auburn’s win over South Carolina in the SEC Champi-onship game. Laurentino started his rant by ripping Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, which I have no problem with; I thought Lau-rentino made several valid points. However, Laurentino went into the deep end of the pool without waterwings when he tried to argue that his Pac-10 was just as good as the SEC because the west coast confer-ence had just as many BCS bids as the SEC did, in what is a “down year” for the SEC. Yeah, apparently the BCS rules escaped Lau-rentino’s brain before the statement came out as EVERY college football fan knows that a conference can ONLY place TWO teams into the BCS bowls. I guess he would say that with his logic that the Big Ten is just as good as the SEC and the Pac-10 as well as it

TOO has two teams in the BCS bowls, and that the Mountain West is JUST AS GOOD as the Big XII since both conferences have one team in the bowls. Sorry Perry, but if the rule limiting conferences didn’t exist, LSU or Ala-bama would receive a BCS bid well before the third-place squad from the Pac-10 would. If he REALLY wanted to argue that the SEC was down, he should have championed the cause of the Big Ten who has a top 10 team that is missing out of the big bowls.

PREP COVERAGE … Finally, the GHSA and Georgia Public Broadcasting were all over it again for the GHSA football state championships. Georgia Public Broadcasting had been leading up to the state championships at the Georgia Dome with a weekly webcast of a football game every Friday night and provided a weekly Wednesday webcast that interviewed coach-es, broke down big matchups and touched on other relevant topics all season long. This past Thursday, GPB-TV aired an hour-long version of GPB Sports Central LIVE from the Georgia Dome that featured a preview of each game complete with the announcing crew from each game, as well as several other big-time features that enter-tained and informed. Sports Central XL fol-lowed with extended analysis, and both can be seen OnDemand on GPB.org/sports or on www.gaprepnews.com. If you are heading out to the Dome for the state championship games, be sure and catch the replays of the championship games on GPB’s website. The broadcast crews may be the best collection of talent the championships have ever seen in all of the years the GHSA and GPB have aired the games. Friday’s Class AA game will fea-

ture CSS’s Matt Stewart and 680 The Fan’s Chuck Oliver, who work a game every Fri-day night for CSS. Friday night’s AAAA tilt will feature Charles Ward, a long-time GPB broadcaster and Falcons great Jeff Van Note. Saturday’s Class A game will find WSB’s Zach Klein and myself on the call. Class AAA will have a FOX5 crew in Ken Rodriguez and Buck Lanford. Finally Class AAAAA will feature a pair of veteran broadcasters in Dave Garner and Harper LeBel. These broadcast teams all offer keen insights and each broadcaster has a special connection to Georgia high school football that shouldn’t be missed. Every year the telecasts of the championships give GPB some of the highest ratings of any public broadcasting system in the entire country. Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

CAN YOU BELIEVE......HE SAID THAT?“There’s a difference between

smiling and laughing.”

That was 680 The Fan’s Perry Laurentino who defended Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward for smiling after dropping a pass that would have given his team a first down in a win but ripped Derek An-derson for laughing on the sidelines in an Arizona loss. He doesn’t like it when pro-fessional athletes don’t seem to take the game seriously and don’t seem to care when he messes up…as long as that ath-lete doesn’t play for the Mets, Steelers, or USC Trojans. Those guys can do what they may. Drop a pass and smile it off? Oh, he was just smiling…



First place Falcons are for real; Hawks giving us a reason to believeWhat else do the Falcons have to do? They’ve

won at home. They’ve won on the road. They’ve won with offense. They’ve won with defense. They’ve won with special teams. Most importantly, they are 10-2, leading the NFC South and the entire NFC, and are tied with New England for the best record in the NFL. Still, despite all of that, the Falcons still have their fair share of doubters. Leading the charge is ESPN’s Skip Bayless, who argues that Atlanta does not have any “im-pressive wins.” On Monday morning, Bayless and the rest of the ESPN First Take staff some-how had the audacity to debate the following, hard-to-believe question: “Who is more fraudu-lent: the Bucs or Falcons?” Debating the merits of a 7-5 team versus a 10-2 team is ri-diculous enough. It’s even more ridiculous, though, that whoever wrote the question apparently takes it as a given that the Fal-cons are a fraud. The question was not if the Falcons are fraud-ulent; it was just how fraudulent they really are. Fortunately, everyone who actually follows Atlanta football knows that these Falcons are for real. Bayless, for one, clearly does not. If he did, he would re-alize the Falcons might even lead the league in impressive wins. They have won at New Orleans (9-3, defending Super Bowl champs), at Cleveland (blowout wins over the Saints and Patriots), at St. Louis (leading the NFC West), and at Tampa Bay (7-5), and they have home victories over those same Bucs as well as Baltimore (8-4) and Green Bay (8-4, lead-ing the NFL in point differential). Perhaps the naysayers have gripes that the Falcons generally do not blow opponents out. True, they don’t. Their only real beat-down so far is a 41-7 thrashing of lowly Ari-zona way back in Week 2. The 34-17 contest at St. Louis was much closer than the score suggested. Yeah, so this team does not kill

people. So what? In fact, that’s exactly the reason why this team is the real deal. That’s exactly the rea-son why this team has the ideal makeup of a serious playoff contender. The Falcons know how to win on the road and they know how to win close games. How many ingredients go into their winning recipe? Last-minute touch-

down passes, last-second field goals, goalline stands, pick-sixes, improbable fumble recov-eries, and amazing kickoff returns have all played a part of fourth-quarter heroics this season. “We’re a resilient football team,” Matt Ryan said after last week’s victory, and that could be the understatement of the year. Ryan is not saying his team is some kind of world-beater, and neither am I. The Falcons are not the best team in NFL history. They may not even be the best team in the league right now. Maybe they aren’t even great. But they are resilient and they do have the inside track on homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. If that happens, Ryan’s current

19-1 home record will be tough for any op-ponent to overcome. The haters can hate all they want, but this is no argument: the Falcons are the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.

HAWKS OVER HUMP … After a six-game winning streak to open

the season, the Hawks lost four in a row and seven of nine. Shortly thereafter, owning a mediocre 11-7 record, the team announced that star guard Joe Johnson would undergo arthroscopic elbow sur-gery and miss four to six weeks. Just when we thought the Hawks were headed for another solid, but uninspiring season, we might want to reconsider. One thing is close to certain—Johnson’s injury will turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Atlanta. Sure, his absence may not help the record in Decem-ber, but who cares? The Hawks were not going to top Orlando or Miami in the Southeast Divi-sion even with Johnson healthy for 82 games. At the same time, they would not miss the play-offs even permanently without Johnson. The bottom line is that this Johnson-less stretch is go-ing to help them when the post-

season comes calling. Guys know they have to step up and pick up the slack left by the $125-million man, and they are doing just that. The Hawks are already 4-1 without Johnson, including an 80-74 road win over the Magic. Monday’s upset was Atlanta’s first victory in Orlando since Oct. 29, 2008 and its second in the last 13 games against its nemesis. Encouragingly, almost everyone is chip-ping in. Against the Magic, Josh Smith had 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks; Al Horford contributed 16 points and 10 boards; Mike Bibby tallied 13 points and seven as-sists. In Tuesday’s rout of New Jersey, Smith poured in 34 points, Jamal Crawford scored

26, and Horford notched 24. It was Mar-vin Williams who rose to the occasion with a game-high 22 points in a Dec. 3 win over Philadelphia. On Dec. 1, Josh Powell came off the bench and gave the Hawks 16 points in a 112-109 victory against Memphis. “Mentally, this is a big boost for our guys,” head coach Larry Drew told the AJC after the rare triumph at Orlando. Mentally, this whole stretch is going to be big for the Hawks. They are proving they can beat good teams and they are showing they can do it without one of their best play-ers. Some won’t agree, but they will be even better when Johnson returns. For now, while this may not be what Johnson wants to hear, this is the truth: no Johnson, no problem. Deighton can be reached at [email protected].

Eric Weems and the Atlanta Falcons stormed back to beat Tampa Bay Sunday in a key NFC South match-up. The Falcons are now 10-2 and looking like a sure-thing for a playoff berth. To read about the current suc-cess of Atlanta’s pro sports teams, please see page 9. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Cribb/Atlanta Falcons.

OUT FRONT

CLAWING AWAY: Jamal Crawford and the Hawks are just onegame back of Orlando in the Southeast Division of the NBA despite losing franchise player Joe Johnson to an injury. The Hawks are just one Atlanta pro team that are looking like playoff contend-ers. Photo courtesy of David Caselli.



SCORELIST

CRUNCHING THENUMBERS

BY BRIAN JONES BY BRIAN JONESFALCONS ROLL ON: The Falcons showed resiliency, as they came back from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Tampa Bay this past Sunday. With the win, the Falcons im-prove to 10-2 and still have the best record in the NFC. With four games left, Atlanta needs a strong finish to clinch homefield advantage.

NO JOE, NO PROBLEM: With Joe Johnson out for at least a month, ev-ery Hawks player has stepped up and played at a high level. As of Tuesday, the Hawks are 4-1 without Johnson including a win over Orlando. Josh Smith and Al Horford are playing well while Jamal Crawford continues to perform off the bench.

GOING BOWLING: It’s time for Tech and Georgia to prepare for their respective bowl games. Georgia will play UCF in the Liberty Bowl while Georgia Tech will face Air Force in the Independence Bowl. This is not what we wanted, but that’s what happens when you have a 6-6 record.

UGA SWEEPS: Georgia defeated Georgia Tech in football by a slim mar-gin and they were able to do the same on the hardwood as the Hoop Hounds took down Tech. Dustin Ware and Trey Thompkins each had 21 points in the win. There is no doubt now that UGA does run this state.

ROAD ENDS HERE: It’s been a wild and crazy prep football season which ends this weekend at the Georgia Dome. Can Brookwood win their first title since 1996? Can Chattahoochee win their first title in school history? And will Buford win their fourth con-secutive 2A crown? All these ques-tions will be answered this weekend.

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THUMBS UP TO ATLANTA SPORTS

THUMBS DOWN TO FALLS FROM GRACE

Atlanta FalconsIt’s not just that the Falcons are 10-2 and No. 1 in the NFC. It’s how they have reached this point. Atlanta won yet another thriller last Sunday, going into Tampa Bay and coming away with a 28-24 victory despite trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Atlanta HawksThe Hawks have won seven of their last eight and four of five without Joe Johnson. Most important-ly, they won at Orlando on Monday. They avoided a letdown against New Jersey at home on Tuesday and, thanks to contributions from the entire roster, now boast an impressive 15-8 record.

Atlanta ThrashersYep, we’re making it a clean sweep for At-lanta pro sports this week. And why not? The Thrashers, of all teams, are positively on fire. They ended November on a six-game winning streak and have won eight of their last nine. If the season ended now, Atlanta would be in the playoffs with room to spare.

Georgia Tech AthleticsGeorgia Tech fans made fun of Georgia last year for going to the Independence Bowl while the Jackets went to the Or-ange Bowl. One year later, it’s 6-6 Tech that is bound for Shreveport. If Jacket fans were hoping for the hoops team to pick up the slack, well, it lost to Georgia at home on Tuesday.Tiger’s 2010Due to well-documented problems both on and off the golf course, Tiger Woods is winless in 2010. And he is still winless despite carrying a four-shot lead into the final round of last week’s Chevron World Golf Challenge. Graeme McDowell, whose year has been every bit as good as Tiger’s has been bad, pulled off a comeback victory.

BCSThe “final” BCS standings released last Sunday had an error that put LSU ahead of Boise State in the No. 10 spot. The problem was fixed and would not have affected either team’s bowl des-tination. But what if next year the glitch comes between the second- and third-ranked teams?

TRIVIA

QUESTIONWhen was the last time the

Falcons began a season with a 10-2 record?

SANITY

AT LAST“I’m somewhat disappointed

that it happened this late in the process. I’m not going to say it X’s them out but that’s a problem. That’s a big problem.”

- Five-star prospect Ray Drew of Thomasville told the AJC

when he learned Urban Meyer was leaving Florida. Answer on Page 14

Consecutive games the Falcons have won their longest streak since 1998

Yards of the kick re-turn for touchdown by Eric Weems last week, which is a club record Percentage of house-holds in Atlanta that watched the Falcons-Tampa Bay game

Receptions for Roddy White, which is a ca-reer high.

UGA players named to the All-SEC first team by the coaches

Mark Fox’s record against Georgia Tech Hawks record with-out Joe Johnson as of Wednesday

Price of tickets to see Georgia Tech in the In-dependence Bowl

Career wins Colquitt County head coach Rush Propst has earned

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102

31.3

91

32-04-1

$14

200MY TWO CENTS What a remarkable year it’s been in the world of high school football. From the open-ing weekend at the Corky Kell Classic to this weekend’s finals at the Geor-gia Dome, a lot has transpired in these past few months that will shape memories for thousands of people throughout our great state. Who can forget humble Cross Keys, who won a game on the field for the first time since 2006? Then, a week later, won yet another game to add to their heart-warming story of success. And what about Kell and Chattahoochee, who were moved down to Class 4A after a modest year in 5A, but finished this past regular season undefeated. Then, there are

the unfortunate tales of North Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge. The two Gwinnett pow-

ers reigned in the top 5 of the Class 5A rankings for much of the year only to

see their seasons end earlier than most expected. Little-known Hill-grove shocked the state with two consecutive major upsets in the playoffs. First, the Hawks traveled to DeKalb to eliminate mighty Stephenson, then a week later, up-ended No. 1 Camden County, the defending state champion.

It’s been a great year in high school football, one that fans of the

prep gridiron will not soon forget. Managing Editor Stephen Black can be reached at [email protected].





Atlanta’s professional sports teams all looking solid for playoff berthsAtlanta is a sports town, and not just be-

cause the four major professional Ameri-can sports have a team in the city. It goes beyond that. It is home to one of the 12 WNBA franchises. Georgia Tech sits in the heart of downtown and excels in athletics. It is one of the few FBS schools to consis-tently put its football, baseball and basketball teams in the college postseason. There are few other major cities with an FBS school located inside its city limits, and even fewer that play in their own foot-ball stadium. The Chick-Fil-A Bowl is held in the Georgia Dome every New Year’s Eve. The Dome also hosts the Chick-Fil-A Kick-off Game for college football, which has quickly become one of the marquee Week 1 matchups, as well as the SEC Championship football game. The city has been home to the sum-mer Olympics, the Super Bowl (twice), and recently made a push to host a World Cup game. Major conference colleges hold their basketball and baseball tournaments in At-lanta facilities on a regular basis. Women’s professional soccer returned to Atlanta in 2010 when the Atlanta Beat re-sumed play, and the Georgia Force, Atlanta’s

arena football team, returns in 2011 as a member of the new Arena Football League.

UNPRECENTED SUCCESS … With everything Atlanta has to offer the sports world, its major pro teams’ recent trends beg the question: is this the Golden Age of Atlanta sports? Consider the three teams playing right now. The Falcons are 10-2 after their Week 14 game against Tampa Bay and have the best record in the NFC. They are also tied for the best record in the NFL with the New England Patriots. The Hawks are 15-8 after Tuesday’s victory over the Nets and only one game behind the Southeast Division-leading Or-lando Magic. The Thrashers, coming off their Dec. 6 victory against the Nashville Predators, are 15-10-3 and six points off the Southeast di-vision leading Washington Capitals, and they recently tied a franchise record with a six game win streak. It is true that the basketball and hockey seasons are young, and the Falcons still have some tough tests ahead of them, but there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic for Atlanta sports, not just this year but for the future.

FALCONS FEVER … The Falcons are clearly one of the best teams in the NFL and have a solid organiza-tion from top to bottom, the kind of organi-zation that creates long-term success. People have compared the post-Vick/Petrino Falcons to the Patriots, albeit cautiously, but the piec-es are there. Foxsports.com’s Adam Schein, in his second annual NFL organizational rankings, has the Falcons at No. 8. Author Blank, one of the best owners in professional sports, is a big reason why. “He knows how to market the Falcons, while letting his football people make the football decisions,” says Schein. In an interview with NFL Films, Blank said, “I’ve always tried to surround myself…with people that are smarter than I am, that are brighter than I am, and get out of their way.” GM Thomas Dimitroff would seem to be one of those people. From the Patriots’ front offices, Dimi-troff brought in Mike Smith (who has been compared to Bill Belichick), a defensive-minded coach that gets the most out of his players, from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and drafted Matt Ryan third overall in 2008 (who has been compared to a young Tom Brady). After never having two winning seasons in a row, the Falcons recently secured its third consecutive winning season, and appears to be built to win consistently for a long time.Despite some ownership issues that began when the Atlanta Spirit group bought both the franchises and the Philips Arena from Time Warner, the Thrashers and Hawks have showed promise over the last several years.

SPIRIT OF SUCCESS … The Thrashers have overcome the 2003 Dany Heatley incident and the inability to come to terms on a new contract with super-star Ilya Kovalchuk to put together a solid team. After winning the division for the first time in franchise history in the 2006-07 sea-son the Thrashers have finished no better than second in the division, and have not returned to the playoffs.

However, new GM Rick Dudley is looking to build on the talent that the Mar-ian Hossa and Kovalchuck trades brought the team, and new head coach Craig Ramsey has brought new life to the team. The Hawks, on the other hand, have had playoff success. GM Rick Sund made

good personnel moves in recent years, both through trades and free agent signings. Sund has also had some good drafts, including cur-rent starters Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford. The results have been three straight playoff berths. The Hawks have even made a hefty financial commitment to Joe Johnson this past offseason, signing the perennial all-star to a six-year, $119 million dollar contract. Also during the offseason, the Hawks also promoted assistant coach Larry Drew to the head coaching position, a man Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called a “respected assistant who knows the Hawks’ problems…a smart basketball guy. He’s tough. He’s disciplined.” The Hawks recent personnel moves, along with ESPN.com’s report that the At-lanta Spirit group is interested in selling the Thrashers, could mean continued success in the near future for both franchises. Selling the Thrashers would free up the Atlanta Spirit group to invest even more mon-ey in the Hawks, and may provide the Thrash-ers with ownership that has the cash to keep the homegrown talent from leaving. Atlanta has had a professional football team and basketball team since the 1960s, and has had an NHL team twice in its history: 1972-80, when the Flames were in town, and 1999 to the present with the Thrashers. Only once, in the 1978-79 season, did all three professional sports teams make the playoffs. Even then, none of them won their division. The 2010-11 season brings new possi-bilities. The Falcons have all but clinched a playoff spot and very well could be a top two seed. A lot can happen between now and the end of spring, but with the best eight teams from both conferences getting a playoff berth in the NBA and NHL, both the Hawks and Thrashers could be in. As of now they are third and seventh respectively. Throw in the Braves making it back to the playoffs for the first time in five years and the Dream making their title game run this past summer, and this could be the best sports year in Atlanta history. Combine those teams’ success with the return of the Beat and the Force, this very well could be the Golden Age of Atlanta professional sports. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Cribb/At-lanta Falcons. Dimon can be reached at 404-256-1572.



Hawks overcome Johnson’s absenceA few disastrous losses, coupled with

Joe Johnson’s elbow injury created great cause for concern for the Hawks. But Atlanta has responded from that adversity and managed to rattle off one of their more impressive stretches of the season. Wins over the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, and most importantly the Orlando Magic spurred them to a re-cord of 15-8. The 80-74 win over Orlando helped the road team exercise some demons of the past. Orlando beat the Hawks in the most lopsided playoff series ever last year, and had beaten Atlanta 11of 13 times over the past three years. But some great defensive play, and timely baskets from veteran Mike Bibby helped Atlanta to their biggest victory of the season. No stranger to clutch shots, the veteran hit a big three with 2:42 to go put Atlanta up nine points, then fin-ished off Orlando with 26 seconds left, nailing another three to make it a two possession game at 76-70.MAINTAINING MOMENTUM …

Atlanta’s win showed they can beat a playoff team, something they had failed to do this season. It also showed

they can do it on the road, something they have always struggled with. They will try to do that again in San Antonio, who have been on fire this season.

Everyone knows Tim Duncan, but the key is Tony Parker, the speedy point guard has torn Atlanta to shreds in pre-vious matchups, exposing weaker de-fenders like Bibby and inexperienced Jeff Teague, especially on the pick-and-roll with Duncan or someone else. ALL-STAR SMOOVE … The seven-year pro was shut out of the game last year despite putting up his usual strong all-around numbers and im-proving drastically on his shot selection to garner a shooting percentage of over 50 at last season’s All Star Break. His improved scoring ability showed in a Dec. 7 win over New Jer-sey. “Smoove” had 34 points on incred-ible 14-for-16 shooting. And believe or not, he is showing a consistent touch from the outside. Smith was 2-for-2 from outside against the Nets, and is shooting a more than solid 47 percent from three-point land.

Bagriansky can be reached at [email protected]

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Braves sign Hinske, Linebrink As weather turns cold, Thrashers heat upThe Atlanta Braves made several

moves last week in an effort to re-turn the playoffs in 2011 and said good bye to another. The Braves managed to resign outfielder/first baseman Eric Hin-ske to a one-year deal with an option for 2012. The deal is worth $1.35M with an option in 2012 for $1.5M or a $100,000 buyout. Last year in his first with At-lanta, Hinske clubbed eleven home runs and drove in 51 runs in 281 at-bats. He averaged .256 for the season and was effective off of the bench, nailing three pinch-hit home runs, including one in the postseason series against the Giants. MORE CONTRACT NEWS … The Braves also recently tendered contracts to Dan Uggla and Martin Prado, ensuring their services for next season as well as pitchers Peter Moylan, Eric O’Flaherty and Jair Jurrjens. The two clubs will try to come to an agreement otherwise the players will head to an arbi-tration hearing. Outfielder Matt Diaz was not tendered a contract and is thus a free agent. Last season was an injury-plagued one for Diaz, who hit .250, well under his career average of .313. His .302 on-base percentage was also a career-low. Diaz

Old man winter has finally arrived this week. Frigid temperatures make

it barely tolerable to step outside. Ironi-cally, the one Atlanta team that plays its games on the ice, the Atlanta Thrashers, are one of the hottest teams in the NHL. They have won eight out of their last 10 games and more recently, seven out of their last eight. Every year a team comes out of nowhere to earn a playoff spot in the NHL. At least a quarter of the way through the season, it’s looking like At-lanta may be that team. When a surprise team emerges, it usually has a clever nickname for a particular segment of its players. The Thrashers have the “Greek God Line”. I am referring to the team’s powerful unit of Eric Boulton, Jimmy Slater and Chris Thorburn. They have had this nickname for a few years now, but with the team playing so well, only now are they get-ting some publicity. After being down 2-0 in a recent game with Nashville, the line single-handedly willed the Thrashers back

The Falcons won another thriller last Sunday, going into Tampa Bay for a

come-from behind 28-24 victory. A 102-yard kickoff return by Eric Weems and a Matt Ryan touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins helped erase a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit and propelled Atlanta to 10-2. The win also kept the team atop the NFC South. Brent Grimes sealed the win with a diving interception of Bucs’ quarterback Josh Freeman. “We came out and didn’t play as well as we would have liked to,” Ryan said in his postgame interview with the team’s website. “But with that said, we kept fighting. We’re a resilient football team. Unbelievable effort by everybody.”RYAN, BRYANT HONORED ... Ryan was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month last week. In No-vember, Ryan completed 106 of 153 passes for 1,001 yards and seven touch-downs without throwing an interception. He compiled a 102.3 passer rating while orchestrating wins over Tampa Bay, Bal-timore, St. Louis and Green Bay. Matt Bryant was named NFC Spe-cial Teams Player of the Week for his performance against the Packers on

had expressed interest in returning to the team but other teams have come forward and expressed interest. Finally, the Braves made a move to shore up a bullpen that lost its two 2010 imports in Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito by acquiring Scott Linebrink from the Chicago White Sox for minor leaguer Kyle Cofield. Chicago will also send At-lanta $3.5M to help out with Linebrink’s $5.5M contract for 2011. Last season the 34-year-old righthander was 3-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 52 games, his third straight season with 50+ appearances. Linebrink struck out 52 batters while surrendering just 17 walks in 57.1 innings pitched. In his career, the new Braves reliever is 38-27 with a 3.50 ERA, but he seems to thrive in the NL, sporting a career 3.21 ERA with a 30-16 record in 384 games. Meanwhile Cofield over six minor league seasons has never appeared above Class-AA and has given up 263 walks in 485 innings while compiling a 25-26 re-cord. The Braves brass hopes Linebrink can team with Moylan and O’Flaherty to help tutor young relievers Jonny Venters and expected closer Craig Kimbrel.

Proctor can be reached at [email protected].

into the game. Slater scored a goal that made the score 2-1 late in the second period. Then, moments later, Boulton had the tying goal on his stick, but couldn’t put it away. However, the momentum had shifted into Atlanta’s favor going into the third period. They quickly tied the game on a goal by team captain Andrew Ladd and won it in overtime on a goal by young defense-man Zach Bogosian. “We got in a hole at 2-0, but they are a good defensive team and we were just patient and started doing things right,“ said Slater. “That’s how you play three periods. We started off slow, but finished strong.” The trio isn’t much for scoring points, combining for just 14 this sea-son, but they do generate an intimida-tion factor with their big bodies and clobbering hits. A line like that can also be a big factor when the rest of the team is hitting on all cylinders like the Thrashers are right now. Deighton can be reached at [email protected].

Nov. 28 at the Georgia Dome. Bryant nailed a 47-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining to break a 17-17 tie. The veteran kicker joins Chris Dole-man, Brad Johnson and Warren Moon as the only players in NFL history to win a player of the week honor with three dif-ferent teams.ROAD SWING CONTINUES ... In the midst of a three-game road trip, the Falcons next go to Carolina on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers own the worst record in the NFL at 1-11 and they have lost six in a row. Five of those six setbacks have come by double-digits. Falcons head coach Mike Smith, though, is not about to look past another division rival. “Anytime you play in the NFC South, you know it’s going to be competitive,” Smith noted in his Mon-day press conference. “We’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to get corrected before we go to Carolina, another road game within the division.” Atlanta will also host Carolina the final week of the season, preceded by dates with Seattle and New Orleans. Dimon can be reached at [email protected].

Falcons reap benefits of 10-2 record



Hoops beats James Madison at the buzzer; Swann swims to first place finishIt was another game that came down to the

wire, and this time, battling James Madi-son University in their early December CAA game, the Panthers found a way to win it at the buzzer. Jihad Ali rebounded a missed Marcus Johnson shot and made a layup as time expired to clinch a 64-63 win for GSU. Now I stress this because this Georgia State team was coming off, not one, but two straight overtime losses to Samford and Hampton. “I told our team, never feel like we cannot win the game,” said GSU head coach Rod Barnes. “You’ve got to believe, until the game is over, that

we’re going to win it, and we talked about that in the huddle. Marques got off a good shot and Jihad made a great play to grab the rebound. I’m very happy for our team to finally win a close one.” Brandon McGee led with 15 points while Josh Micheaux added 12 points. The Panthers are now 3-3 on the young season and will host Western Michigan in the Sports Arena on Sat-urday. (Listen to Georgia State basketball on WRAS-FM (88.5)

IN OTHER NEWS … Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener’s squad

dropped its game to C-USA foe UAB last Thursday to slip back to .500 on the season. The Lady Panthers will look to get back on the winning track when they host Western Carolina Saturday night. Keeping up with the FCS College Foot-ball playoffs, there are three CAA teams remaining following wins last Saturday by Delaware, New Hampshire and Villanova. Delaware beat Lehigh 42-20, New Hampshire eliminated Bethune-Cookman 45-20, and Vil-lanova beat Stephen F. Austin 54-24. The one CAA team to fall victim was William & Mary,

which lost to Georgia Southern 31-15. Interest-ing to note that CAA teams featured five of the top seven defenses in the FCS this year. About 20 members of the track team traveled to Clemson University last weekend for the first indoor meet of the winter season. Highlighting the opener was a first-place perfor-mance by Brandi Swann in the 500 meters as she raced past the 28 other runners for victory. Dave Cohen is in his 28th season as the “Voice of Georgia State Athletics” on WRAS-FM (88.5) and WCFO-AM, Newstalk 1160.

IJ Rosenberg (61-23)President

DJ Galbiati (54-30)Creative Art Director

Brian Jones (54-30)“Big B”

Fletcher Proctor (52-32)“The Fletch”

Bob Houghton (49-35)General Manager

Stephen Black (46-38)Managing Editor

Falcons @ BuccaneersFalcons

South Carolina vs. Auburn Auburn

Virginia Tech vs. Florida StateVirginia Tech

Colquitt Co. @ GraysonColquitt Co.

Peach Co. @ Sandy CreekSandy Creek

Collins Hill @ BrookwoodBrookwood




Colquitt Co. @ GraysonGrayson

Peach Co. @ Sandy CreekPeach Co.










Virginia Tech vs. Florida StateFlorida State


Peach Co. @ Sandy CreekPeach Co.

Collins Hill @ BrookwoodCollins Hill









Virginia Tech vs. Florida StateFlorida State



Collins Hill @ BrookwoodCollins Hill

Above games are the results of last week’s picks



BASKETBALLHawks. December 10 at San Antonio 8:30 PM. December 11 vs.

Indiana 7 PM. December 14 at Detroit 7:30 PM. December 16 at Boston 8 PM. December 17 vs. Charlotte 7:30 PM. Decem-ber 19 at New Jersey 1 PM. December 20 vs. Orlando 7 PM. December 22 vs. Cleveland 7 PM.

Club Sport, “Where Atlanta Comes To Play!” Registration Ongoing - Men’s League plays on Sunday evenings at the Brookhaven Boys & Girls Club. For more info or to register visit www.usclubsport.com

Open Recreational Basketball. GSL — Georgia Sports Leagues. Georgia’s Best Sports Leagues. Registration ongoing. We offer “Top Gun,” “B,” “C” and Co-Ed styles of play around Atlanta. We play ALL year round. For more information please contact (678)799-0159 or email [email protected]. Visit www.georgiasportsleagues.org.

Roundtable Fundamental Basketball Camp Boys and Girls. Ris-ing 6th-10th Graders (Current 5th-9th Graders) June 7-11. 9am-2pm. St. Francis High School, Alpharetta. Contact Coach Huff [email protected].

BASEBALLProspect Watch. Ongoing - Buckhead. Baseball pitching and hitting

lessons by a former college and minor league coach. For infor-mation call 404-869-7966 or visit www.eteamz.com/tryouts.

Adult Baseball League Metro Atlanta. Ongoing. MSBL 18+, 28+, 38+, and 48+. Sunday League contact info is 770.785.2588, e-mail [email protected]. MSBL 18+ Saturday League contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail [email protected]. MSBL 18+ Midweek Wood bat league contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail [email protected]. MSBL 18+Fall League contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail [email protected]. For more information about our Atlanta Adult Baseball League, please visit our website at www.AtlantaMSBL.com.

TNT Sports. Ongoing. Baseball pitching and hitting lessons by Rob Blair, former college coach, Snellville. To set up a free pitching or hitting analysis call. 678-344-5876.

Jack City Baseball. Ongoing. Baseball pitching and hitting. In-struction with former pro Keith Whitner. 18-y looking for high school players. The new location is inside Velocity Sports in North Gwinnett. For more information call 770-633-0948 or visit jackcity.net.

Jack City Sports Center. Indoor T-Ball League being offered at Jack City Sports Center. 10 game season with games on Sundays. $125 per player. Team rates available and ques-tions can be directed to 770-513-4121.

FOOTBALLFalcons. December 12 at Carolina 1 PM. Collins Hill Athletic Association. Ongoing. Accepting applica-

tions for qualified coaches in all age groups. For informtion email Craig Deneau at [email protected]

Grayson Athletic Association. Ongoing. Football coaches needed for eighth grade and all age groups. For information call Duane Davis at 678-300-0282 or visit www.gaasports.org.

Flag Football. GSL -- Georgia Sports Leagues. Georgia’s Largest Flag League. Registration ongoing. We offer 7-Man, 8-man,

Youth and Co-Ed styles of play around Atlanta. We play ALL year round. For information please contact (678)799-0159 or email [email protected]. Visit www.georgias-portsleagues.org.

Arena Indoor Football. Ongoing. Youth and Adult Leagues. Youth 7 vs. 7; Adult 6 vs. 6. For information, call 678-714-7454 or e-mail [email protected]. www.atlantasil-verbacks.com/indoor.

Capitol City Officials Association. CCOA is accepting ongoing registration for the upcoming GHSA High School season in football. We hold weekly training meetings. For more infor-mation, contact Irvin Seabrook at 404-957-3331 or e-mail [email protected].

HOCKEY Thrashers. December 10 vs. Colorado 7:30 PM. December 11 at

New York Islanders 7 PM. December 13 at Ottawa 7:30 PM. December 14 at Tampa Bay 7:30 PM. December 16 vs. Caro-lina 7 PM. December 18 vs. New Jersey 7 PM. December 20 at Toronto 7 PM. December 21 vs. St. Louis 7 PM. December 23 at Boston 7 PM.

Gladiators. December 10 at Wheeling 7:30 PM. December 11 at Wheeling 7:30 PM. December 14 at Greenville 7:05 PM. De-cember 17 at Greenville 7:05 PM. December 18 vs. South Car-olina 7:05 PM. December 19 vs. Greenville 4:05 PM. Decem-ber 21 at Florida 7:30 PM. December 22 at Florida 7:30 PM.

Peachtree Booster Club. Ongoing - Pickneyville Roller Hockey Rink. Fees: $95 for 12-game season, $30 out-of-county fee. For information visit www.pbcsports.org.

SOCCER Challenged Soccer. Ongoing. For mentally and physically dis-

abled youngsters. For information call Ken Higgins at 770-985-0434.

Hall of Fame soccer clinics. Ongoing on Fridays Clarkston Com-munity Center. For under-6 through under-12 players. Fees: Free. For information call 404-508-1050 or visit www.clark-stoncommunitycenter.org. 5:30-7 PM.

TENNIS Technique Clinics. Ongoing - Bitsy Grant Tennis Center. Tuesdays

(serve/volley) and Saturdays (forehand/backhand). Fees: $18. For information call 404-790-4772 or email [email protected]. 2 PM on Saturdays, 6:30PM on Tuesdays.

Tennis camps for kids. Ongoing weekly. Lost Mountain Tennis Center. For information call 770-528-8525.

LACROSSELacrosse. Ongoing. Registration for 1st-8th grades. For informa-

tion call 404-216-5870, email [email protected] or visit www.bagatawaylacrosse.com.

Double Stixx Lacrosse. Ongoing - Leagues, Travel Teams and Tournaments for youth, high school and adult’s boys and girls. More information about the best lacrosse programs in Georgia can be found at www.doblestixxlacrosse.com or by contacting Chris Smith at [email protected] or 404-550-5322.

RUNNING 2010 Will Chamberlin Memorial Santa Stroll 5K. Dec. 18. Athens,

9:00 AM. 770-714-2935.DMS Jingle Jog 5K. Dec. 18. Flowery Branch, 2:00 PM.The Frosty 5K and Kids Fun Run. Dec. 18. Dahlonega, 10:00 AM.

706-864-8180.

VOLLEYBALLGwinnett Sports Center. Registration ongoing. For information call

Jerry Robison at 678-491-0203 or visit www.gscfun.com.

SWIMMING & DIVING Swimming lessons. Ongoing - Alpharetta City Pool - Alpharetta, Ga.

- 1825 Old Milton Parkway. For information call 678-297-6107. Dynamo Swim School. DynaBabies, Preschool, Grade School,

Adult Classes. Youth Swim Team. Call us (770) 457-7946 Ext 16 www.dynamoswimschool.com

Gwinnett Aquatics. Ongoing - 2800 Quinberry Drive and Bethany Church Road. For ages 5-18. Swim team and lessons avail-able. For information call 770-972-4055.

Senior Water-Exercise class. Ongoing - Mountain Park pool - Lilburn, Ga. Fees: $1 per class. For information call 770-546-4650. 10-10:50 AM.

SwimAtlanta Sugarloaf at Kid’s Village. Ongoing. Swim team, lessons, lap swimming, master’s program, water aerobics and scuba available. For information call 678-442-7946.

YOUTH REGISTRATIONSoccer-Soccer Alley. Ongoing - 3265 Roswell Road- Atlanta. For in-

formation call 404-266-0762 or visit www.starsoccerclub.com.Tucker Youth Soccer. Ongoing - 2803 Henderson Road Tucker, Ga.

For information call 770-414-0538 or visit www.tysa.com.Track and Field - Peachtree City Flash Youth Track Team regis-

tration. Ongoing - Riley Field - Peachtree City, Ga. For ages 6-14. For information call 770-631-3552 or email [email protected].

Gymnastics - Georgia Gymnastics Academy. Ongoing. For regis-tration in Lawrenceville call 770-962-5867; in Suwanee call 770-945-3424.

Gym Elite. Ongoing. Registration for ages 2 and older. Cheerlead-ing for ages 6 and older. For information call 770-242-0678.

Youth Soccer Training. Ongoing. Start age 3 and up. For infor-mation, call 678-714-7454, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.atlantasilverbacks.com/indoor.

Corpus Christi Youth Basketball League Registration is now under-way for our 29th season! Boys and girls ages 5 through 14, any skill level, are welcome. Cost: $90 per child/$85 for siblings. Fee includes uniforms, field trips, skills clinics, 9 games and maore! Register while space is still available Saturdays October 11 & 18, 2008, 10 AM to 12 PM. Location: Corpus Christi Church Sports Arena, 600 Mountain View Drive, Stone Mountain, GA 30083. For info, call 770-469-0395, email [email protected] or visit the league’s website (www.ccybl.net).

SOFTBALL AYSA Spring Season. Ongoing - North Park - Cogburn and Bethany -

Alpharetta. Fees: If Alpharetta Residential Property Tax IS NOT PAID at the primary residence of the player, then the Non-City Resident Fee must be paid. After Jan. 13, $10 late fee is charged.

GYMNASTICSGymnastics Classes at Gymnastics AcademyofAtlanta. Ongoing

- 3126 Cobb Parkway Kennesaw, Ga. For information call 770-975-8337 or visit www.gymnasticsacademyofatlanta.com.

Gymnastics Classes at Gwinnett Gymnastics Center Ongoing - 927 Killian Hill Road Lilburn, Ga. For information call 770-921-5630.

Atlanta School of Gymnastics in Lawrenceville. Ongoing. Class-es for tots through teens. Cheerleading classes for ages 5 and older. For information call 770-277-9434.

The Little Gym of Snellville. Ongoing. Noncompetitive gymnas-tics and motor-skills development classes and camps. For ages 10 months-12 years. For information call 770-982-0901 or visit www.tlgsnellvillega.com.

RACINGOff-Season Legends Race. Dec. 11 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

OFFICIATING 9RCorp Sports Officials. Ongoing. Provider of sports officials for

multiple sports including basketball, flag football, & softball. Looking for additional officials. For information call Dennis Reagan at 404-213-0588 or email [email protected].

Georgia Lacrosse Officials Association. Needs boys youth and High School officials for 2010 season. Games are played Spring, Summer, and Fall. Great way to earn extra money and get some fun aerobic exercise. For more information, please visit www.GALAXREF.com or email [email protected].

Atlanta Peachstate Football Officials Association. High School Football Officials needed. We are in need of people who want to officiate high school football in the Atlanta Metro area. No experience is necessary. We have weekly training sessions. For more information go on our web site www.apfoa.com or call Keith @ 678.592.1194.

ATLANTA SPORTS COUNCIL Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Dec. 31, 2010. Georgia Dome. For tickets, call

404-444-4444. To reach the Atlanta Sports Council call 404-586-8510 or visit www.atlantasportscouncil.com.

MISC.Club Sport. Club Sport opens registration for summer leagues on

May 1st with league play beginning in June. Club Sport is At-lanta’s recreational sports and social group with over 10,000 participants each year on 1200 teams in 120 leagues. Each season Club Sport offers leagues in flag football, softball, soccer, sand and indoor volleyball, basketball and more. Club Sport is where Atlanta comes to play! For more information about Club Sport, upcoming events, photos or interviews with the owner, please contact Rich Alvarez at 678-994-0793 ext. 818 or visit www.usclubsport.com.

GOkickball “Atlanta’s Premier Social Experience”. Providing social, co-ed adult kickball leagues throughout metro-Atlanta centered around having a good time, meeting new people, and playing recreational games of kickball at local parks. Registra-tion is open now for spring season. Join the fun! For more in-formation and to register, go to www.gokickball.com/atlanta. Special Score Atlanta 15% off discount code: “Score15”.



Copyright 2010 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.Score Atlanta is published every week on Fridays. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

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Georgia earned their second road win of the young season Tues night at Georgia

Tech when the Bulldogs pulled out a dramatic 73-72 victory over their hated rivals. Guard Dustin Ware nailed a remarkable seven of nine three-point attempts and led the Hoop Hounds with 21 points. “I told the staff last night that I thought Dustin would shoot the ball well,” Fox told reporters after the game. “He was shooting the ball well in practice last night.” Trey Thompkins also had 21 for Georgia. The win seemed unlikely with 2:14 remain-ing as the Yellow Jackets led 70-65. But the Daw-gs went on an 8-0 run over the next 1:56 after a three-point play by Thompkins, a lay-in by point guard Gerald Robinson and, finally, Ware’s final

The Yellow Jackets started quick, but ran out of steam late in losing to arch rival Georgia

73-72 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum Tues-day night. Dustin Ware hit a three pointer for the Bulldogs with 18 seconds left in the game as Tech’s record falls to 4-4 this season. Coming into the game, the Yellow Jack-ets were 3-0 at home this season and were 31-8 all-time against Georgia at home. De-spite jumping out to an early lead, the visiting Bulldogs re-took the lead with 12:10 remain-ing and ventually won the game on a Dustin Ware three. Shumpert ended the game with 18 points, Rice had 14 points and Oliver eventually got to 10 points on just 3-15 shooting. The Bull-

three-pointer of the night to give Georgia their first lead since the five-minute mark. “The fact that we’ve been in a lot of close games, that’s good experience for us,” Fox said. “It certainly paid dividends tonight late in the game we didn’t panic, we finished the game with a timeout, never had to burn it, and I think we played like a mature group.” The Bulldogs improved to 6-2 after the win, including a 2-0 mark on the road. It was Georgia’s second win at Alexander Memorial Coliseum since the series was moved back to the campuses in 1995.

KNIGHT TIME … Georgia officially accepted a bid to

dogs were led by Trey Thompkins, who had 21 points, and Ware who also had 21 points and was 7-9 in three-point attempts. The three-pointer has been the bane of Georgia Tech’s existence this season. Georgia made 12 three pointers, the same as Tech’s last opponent Northwestern, and it was the third time this season that a Tech opponent made 10 or more three pointers.

HEADING TO SHREVEPORT … The Advocare V100 Independence Bowl has sent the invitation and Georgia Tech has accepted. The Yellow Jackets will face the Air Force Academy on Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. and it will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Hoops Hounds earn rare win at Tech; UCF awaits in Memphis

Jackets fall to UGA in nail-biter; football in Shreveport

the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Sunday and will face the Central Florida Golden Knights, winners of Conference USA. The Knights are coached by George O’Leary, a familiar foe to Georgia fans. O’Leary coached Tech from 1995-2001 and was 3-4 against the Bulldogs. “I’m really excited for our team and especially our seniors with the opportu-nity to play at a bowl game with such tre-mendous tradition and history,” said UGA head coach Mark Richt. “It’s also a desti-nation that will be new to most of our fans and supporters.” The bowl bid is UGA’s 14th in a row. Black can be reached at [email protected].

“Our football team should be excited about this opportunity to play against a very talented, well-coached team like the Air Force Academy,” Johnson said. “It will certainly be a challenge for our football team, but it’s also a chance to end the season on a positive note as we head into 2011.” Johnson is very familiar with Air Force; his team played them every year when he was the coach at Navy and they won the last five meetings against the Falcons. This game will feature the top two rushing offenses in the na-tion with Tech averaging 327 yards per game and Air Force averaging 317.9 yards per game. Watson can be reached at 404-256-1572.

TRIVIAANSWER

1998, the only other time the Falcons started a season 10-2. It was also their only trip to the Super Bowl.

MIKAEL’S AUTO SPAATLANTA’S #1 CAR WASH AND

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638 ROSWELL RD. • ATLANTA, GA • 30328 • 404-252-0376

december 10-16, 2010 check us out at scoreatl.com 6 no … · do the twist: the falcons set a...

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