The Braves Have a Shot

This spring was miserable. Mid-February pitchers and catchers arrived at camp. The WBC was played and left the Braves without Chipper, B-Mac, Vasquez, and others. Ken Griffey said he liked Atlanta...then went to Seattle. We got Garret Anderson instead (younger, higher career avg). Glavine's fastball topped out at 80mph while a guy named Hanson topped out a 99 mph (he was sent to AAA Gwinett). Two 19 year olds carried the Braves while the vets were playing for their WBC teams (they're in A ball as well). A 22 year old named Schafer essentially locked up the center field job with a .350 avg and 5 stolen bases. This spring training has felt like a season in itself. On the immediate horizon, however, is the first meaningful game of 2009 against the Phillies.

I like this Braves team - a lot. Sure, I am biased, but I operate on facts.

Fact 1- The Rotation is solid. These guys should "eat innings" and if you are able to "eat innings" then that means first of all that you are pitching well enough to be left in the game. This will also benefit our bullpen.

Fact 2 - The bullpen may be one of the best in the majors. The huge factor here is health. If Soriano can show up and Moylan's arm be totally healed, then Gonzalez can be money in that closer role - he converted 33 straight saves over two years before his surgery.

Fact 3 - Franceour will rebound. This guy is talented, too talented to be a .230 hitter with 0 power. He has worked on his swing and will be much improved in 09.

Fact 4 - Brian McCann is the best catcher in baseball.

Fact 5 - Home runs aren't everything. We did not add a legitimate 30 homer guy in the offseason, but we don't need it. Home runs are not the only way to score in this game. This is why on base percentage is important when paired with runs and rbi. The team OBP will be up this year with Anderson and Kotchman proving reliable and the returning batting champ, Mr. Jones bringing his .300 to the plate. Franceour will be better and Johnson and Escobar will be consistent.

Fact 6 - Our bench is very deep. We've got Norton, Infante, Prado, and the newly acquired Ross, who will spell B-mac from time to time. All of these guys are potential starters on other teams - with the exception of Norton - and all will provide sound D and O off the bench.

Fact 7 - We improved the most in our division this offseason. One analyst called the Braves rotation reconstruction the best job this side of the Yankees (Sabathia and Burnett). The Mets did drastically improve their bullpen, which probably is the best in baseball on paper, but their rotation is not pretty, lacking depth and certainty after their ace, Santana. The Phillies are looking at the same issues, with Hamels coming off his heaviest workload of his career last year and experiencing elbow discomfort this spring. Their bullpen will be hard pressed to be as efficienct this year as it was last year. The Marlins are very talented, but very young, and the Nats still have several holes.

All of this leads to one conclusion: The Braves may be the team to beat in the East again. Certainly they should be wild-card contenders.

UGA's Coaching Hire

The Dawgs hired Mark Fox from Nevada yesterday. Many are calling it a suprise move because he wasn't on any speculators' lists for the job. His record at Nevada is very impressive (70 games over .500) and he has 3 tourney appearances. This is at Nevada...He now comes to a school with some of the best prospects in the country playing ball for high schools all over the state. I don't know much about this guy, or what he does, but I like the hire. Mainly because a name like Mark Fox just sounds like a winner. I like the fact that he took a mid major to the tourney and had some success there. I like the fact that he was under the radar.

Basically, I think it doesent matter what this guy does. The Men's basketball team has been under scrutiny this year for not being a consistently good team - but it has been like that more often than not in Athens. Perhaps the scrutiny comes now because fans have grown complacent about the football team. 10 win seasons are all too common in Athens these days and the fans have been privy to a remarkable consistency that has put Georgia Football among the elite teams in the country. Much like the Braves' run of 14 years, complacency has set in for that area of athletics. It must be time now to focus on an area that has been ignored for nearly 30 years - the bball team.

Hawks Poised for One and Done

The Hawks began this season with a bang, winning six straight games against teams like Orlando and New Orleans - and won these on the road. Optimism was high for this fan, who still lacks the understanding that seasons in the NBA are very young in November. Now it is April and the Hawks have all but secured the 4th seed in the Conference. I should be excited, but I'm not.

The Hawks are very consistently incosistent. That opening week Orlando win? They turned that into a mid-season trouncing by losing to the Magic in two games by a combined 60 points. They ended Cleveland's winning streak early in the season to be beaten by them convincingly two weeks ago. The Celtics have yet to be beaten in the regular season.

If they cannot be consistently intense on the defensive end of the floor, these Hawks are going to be done in the first round. The 76ers are a bad matchup for the Hawks and recently destroyed their zone defense to beat the birds. The Heat have an MVP that will take a game - or 4 - over. When the Hawks lose, it is because they play uninspired defense. They better find some intensity, and fast.