Those were the days

Yes I remember covering the Parkview Panthers in the early part of this decade. The football team was super with Clint Sammons at quarterback and that big time wide receiver named Jeff Francoeur. He also was a great cornerback. I remember calling a game at Brookwood and he had two interceptions returned for touchdowns. What a game. Then they went on a nice run of 30-0 and two state championships.

Speaking of two straight state championships, he and Sammons both had two more on the baseball team. I remember going to Lassiter and they were talking some smack about how good their team was. I just kept my mouth shut. I was on top of the third base dugout with all the Lassiter fans. Well I finally had enough and started telling them about Francouer, Billy Howard, a good leftfielder named Green, a great shortstop named Tim Gustafson and Sammons. Then Francouer quietly smacked four home runs in the doubleheader. Those Lassiter fans were irate. It was actually kind of funny. I knew even when the bases were loaded and they brought in another pitcher Francoeur would deliver again. You could feel it in the air. I even made the comment they should walk him intentionally, even if it meant giving up a run. Well sure enough Superman came through.

And now when I watch the show on FSS about Francouer, you can see a part of me on top of that dugout while Francoeur rounds third base. Boy those were the days. Of course even after Francoeur and Sammons left, the Panthers continued the streak and made it 45 games in football and actually 46 with one the following year. The baseball team wasn't quite the same but it still is nice remembering the early part of this decade.

Coach needs to go

I have been a homer for Atlanta for 30 years now. I remember as a kid growing up in Augusta, Georgia listening to the Hawks on WSB at night and keeping score for Dan Roundfield, Tree Rollins, Rory Sparrow, John Drew, Cliff Levingston and Kevin Willis. I remember Mike Fratello and Hubie Brown and these Hawks were very exciting. They would make the playoffs every year and even one year made it to within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals. Fifty wins was not out of the question.

This team they have now is just as exciting. With talents such as Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and even guys like Marvin Williams, Maurice Evans and Flip Murray this team could have made it further. But there is one thing holding them back....The Coach. When we got Mike Woodson I thought this was a good pickup. He was an assistant at Detroit and knew how to play defense. We are still a pretty good defensive team but he doesn't have a clue how to run this offense.

We are a fast break team and to do that you need more than 7 or 8 players. Look at Mike Anderson at Missouri. He just proved that if you get the guys out there and run the whole game it works. Why are we not playing Solomon Jones, Randolph Morris and Acie Law more. ZaZa Pachulia is a great help but yet he plays maybe 10 minutes or so a game. Our guys are worn out by the fourth quarter.

And we must have a mental block when it comes to playing the Celtics. Person for person we have as good or better players. But as a team, we will never advance and be considered an elite team. We don't get the ink or press time on ESPN or CNN or any other sports channels and I don't like it but I tend to agree. We are pretenders and not contenders and will never be as long as our coach doesn't figure out how to get guys 9-12 in the game.

Rotate and keep fresh people in the game. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Use time outs wisely. Doc Rivers did an excellent job of using his timeouts. Hawks cut a 17 point deficit to 11 with two 3-pointers and Rivers immediately called a timeout. They are the champs not because of the big 3, Garnett, Pierce and Allen. They are the champs because Doc Rivers is smart. Glen Davis is an average player. Mikey Moore is average. Eddie House is average. But with a great coach, they look like superstars. Atlanta will never be that with a coach that doesn't have a clue how to use them.

Take that starting unit and break it up into two good units. Throw a Morris or Jones in it and use some of the other guys on the second team. It's not who starts but who finishes. By the last 4 minutes of the game you can mix and match and put the best 5 out there to finish the game. These guys don't have ego's so much they have to start all the time. I think they'd rather win. Try it. I bet I am right on this one. But I guess we'll never know.

Price shipped to minors kills me

I was expecting big things from David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. Did you see what he did in the playoffs and in the one game the Rays won in the World Series? This guy is young but I know he isn't a flash in the pan. I picked him on my fantasy team and what do the Rays do? They send him to the minors.

Well, sometimes that could come as a blessing. Let Price go down and work on some things and watch what happens. Maybe he'll be a phenom like everyone is expecting anyway. This is my first time playing fantasy baseball and I am really excited. I have always watched the Braves and could tell you everything about them but I never really kept up with the stats from other players. Now I will.

Price may be gone to the minors but my pitching staff is excellent. Another big surprise will be Joe Saunders. That guy was 17-7 last year and the last 5 games had an ERA under 3.00. All I want from him is the same numbers. And he would be my number 3 or 4 pitcher. I have Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt, Scott Kazmir, Saunders and then battling for the 5 spot is Ted Lilly, Gavin Floyd, Bronson Arroyo and Joel Hanrahan. Plus I have K-Rod closing. Francisco Rodriguez should score me a lot of points. Wow what if he had 60 saves like last year.

It's crazy but I am a true Braves fan. I am going to have to pull for Santana when he pitches and K-Rod and then have the other New York Met's to lose. So if Santana goes 35-0 and K-Rod gets 35 saves I am in good shape. I really need the American League guys to do most of my scoring. Which I think they usually do. At any rate, this being my first year should be a lot of fun. Let the games begin.

Here we go again

I am still trying to find some old friends and of course i went to a great source....Facebook. I was able to find some of these people but for the most part still can't locate them. I remember playing little league ball with guys like Derk Lutcher and Keith Hagins and Keith Price. We were in Martinez, Georgia which was a suburb of Augusta. I remember Collin Cassedy. He was our quarterback on the Lions. Man we had a blast. We went undefeated until we played this team from Hiram. They had a girl on the team and guess what? We lost.

I will never forget that team. We had a great little runningback named Mark Thigpen. Man he was the fastest kid I have ever seen. I did manage to friend him on Facebook. I remember Collin as being a real quiet guy. He had red hair and freckles and wasn't really interested in the girls. But wow he had some that liked him. I moved away in 1981 the summer between my freshman and sophomore year. In 1986 I heard his younger brother was the quarterback at Evans and got in trouble for having a headphone on and talking to his dad, who was the coach at Evans. They had to forfeit the game.

Some of the other guys that I played ball with her Roger Shead and Randy Reese. They were pretty good as well.

Then after I graduated and went to college I met some other really good athletes. I still wonder what happened to them. I moved to Perry, Georgia and covered guys like Toriano Gilbert, Keith Newberry, Tazari Green, Jake Smith, Jimmy Dunlap, Ken Sikes, Sy Jones and Setarvin Jackson.

Perry was loaded with great athletes. I wonder if they ever made it big. I worked for a local paper and got to cover other athletes as well. Bobby Ellison from Manchester aka Blue Boy was awesome. Robert Shannon from Jackson played college ball and Lakista McCullers from Americus was called Baby Jordan. There was a guy named Rod Ladd that was from Macon County. He was a great shooter who went to VCU.

I really want to know whateverhappened to all these people. If anyone knows, please get in touch with me. I'm curious.

Fantasy Team for Gwinnett

Well I have my fantasy team for the pro's and I think I got a heck of a team. I got Johan Santana and Roy Oswalt. Plus I got David Price and Francisco Rodriguez. Then my top hitters are Prince Fielder, Yunel Escobar, Matt Kemp, Corey Hart, Micheal Bourne, Orlando Hudson, Ty Wigginton. I also have Gavin Floyd, John Hanrahan, Clayton Kershaw, Bronson Arroyo. Some more hitters are Nelson Cruz, Freddy Sanchez, Matt Weiters, Victor Martinez, Paul Maholm and Ted Lilly. I even have Jay Bruce and Miguel Cabrera. If I can't produce a winner out of that lineup than I need to see a doctor.

So with this team I was thinking about a Gwinnett County Fantasy team for this year. Here are some of my players. I would carry 20 players. These are my starters. Forrest Garrett on the mound from Norcross with Jake German of Mill Creek catching. Mitchell Williford in centerfield with Brandon Jacobs in left field. I'd have Nate Chong of Peachtree Ridge at third base and Taylor Forrester of North Gwinnett at first base. In right field I'd have Jack Buckelew of Collins Hill. Then I'd have Kyle Sanderson at shortstop along with Ronnie Freeman of Brookwood as my DH. He could also be a third catcher. My number two catcher is Brent Teschner of South Gwinnett. My second baseman is Morgan Ownbey of Collins Hill.

Some of my reserves are Jacob Timmie of Duluth, Kenny Belevance of Parkview as an outfielder, Michael Brown of Brookwood as my closer, Chris Hawkins of North, Michael Adams in centerfield backing up Williford. Then I'd have Reed Buck of Collins Hill as a long reliever. Grant Earls of Collins Hill would be a backup first baseman. Matt Adams of Brookwood would be my third pitcher. Who better to have in a three game series with it tied at one game each. Experience would be the key for Adams. Also Wyatt Brown of North would be another one of my pitchers and Peter Poole and Beau Buckler of Norcross would fill out my roster.

This is a fantasy team. I am not saying they are the best players from Gwinnett but that would be a heck of team. Boy we'd be hard to beat. Now how about someone filling out there team. I'd like to see and compare it to mine.

Next we will look at an all time Gwinnett Fantasy Team. I guess two players playing at the Ted would be on my team that's for sure. But there are some more good ones out there. One is about to make a team up in Bean Town.

Any more state champs coming

Well have we come to the end of our rope. Last year was so fun with Brookwood and Wesleyan taking home a state championship. Does that mean the well is dry. I don't think so. I think there are some more teams in this county that could put together a nice run and make a legitimate run for a title. Of course pitching is the key.

I think there are few key teams that could make a run at a title. Norcross has a dynamite pitcher in Forrest Garrett. He is a tall lefty that throws really hard. Add a Tyler Roach and Beau Buckler and a few others in the mix and Norcross could be primed to go far in the region. Doug Jones over at Mill Creek also has some pitching. I liked Matthew Grimes. He was pretty dominant against Parkview, especially after the first inning when he gave up some runs. But after that he shut them down.

Then I saw John Adcock from Mill Creek and if not for a 2-run homerun from Jacob Timmie of Duluth, Adcock would have given up only one run. Mill Creek is another team that could be ready to go further. Each year Coach Jones has his team in the playoffs and that is nothing to sneeze at in region 7-AAAAA. Now I hear South Forsyth is someone to contend with. Throw in Collins Hill, Peachtree Ridge, North Gwinnett and rumor has it North Forsyth is also pretty good. So making the playoffs in region 7-AAAAA will be a struggle and someone pretty good will have to pay to watch the playoffs. This region could make a team that good that when it comes time to play outside the region it may be an easier game.

I really like our teams in the county but I think day in and day out with region 7-AAAAA, this could keep the well running and provide us with another team making it at least to the final four if not to the championship. Peachtree Ridge has not been to the playoffs. They are the only team at the school not to qualify for a playoff spot and new coach Ryan Hanik has them playing well. They let two games slip away or they could be something like 7-1. They have some quality pitching and found a new one in Nate Chong. Justin Goetz comes from a baseball family as his dad Al once owned a batting cage and now scouts for Braves. The younger Goetz is really a good pitcher. The Lions have some quality bats in Chris Brunatti and Mitchell Williford. Williford can patrol the outfield like a true centerfielder and Brunatti has some good pop in his bat. Watch for them down the stretch and to finally get the monkey off the back and get into the playoffs. Then anything can happen.

Yes I am partial to Gwinnett sports but I just call it like I see it. I dare anyone to find not three, not four, not five but six great teams in one region that even a sixth place team could beat some other region's number one team.

So remember when it comes playoffs in AAAAA, look at where region 7-AAAAA team's are. if they are not contending this is one blogger who will be totally surprised.

County dominance moving to the Northeast

Being a neutral party I can tell you the dominance of the local baseball teams has moved from the south part of the county to the north part. If you remember the days of Parkview and Brookwood dominating in most all the sports including baseball, I believe the north part of the county has caught up and maybe even passed the south part.
Take a look at the teams; Norcross, Mill Creek, Peachtree Ridge, Collins Hill and North Gwinnett. I believe they all have past the teams like Parkview, Brookwood, Shiloh, South Gwinnett and Berkmar. Yes every now and then region 8-AAAAA will beat one of those teams but overall I think region 7-AAAAA has the talent to beat on a consistent basis the other.
I know in football they have that rivalries game and I think they ought to break it up by region and then we can have a true test. If you look at the rankings this year you have 3-4 teams in the top 10 and Brookwood from the other region has cracked the top 10 but I feel that is based on the fact they won it last season. And taking nothing away from them last season, they had a great and I mean great team. But no one else did. The entire region is loaded this year for 7-AAAAA. And that also includes South Forsyth, who I don't know a lot about. I do know they have 8 seniors back and all are college prospects.
Only time will tell but let's see come end of May who is still alive during the playoffs and who is not. I will say region 7-AAAAA will be. They are matched up with region 8 in the first round so that will give us our answer. Maybe they will prove me wrong. Only time will tell

Best place in America for High School Sports

Yes I am biased. But let's take a look at all the reasons to live here when it comes to high school sports. We Dominate. Nuff said. However, there are plenty of other reasons as well. I am going to address all the reasons you should enroll you son or daughter here and we'll look at it sport by sport.
First I am going to take Football. Buford has won 110 games this decade while losing only six. In fact they have lost to only 3 teams, Charlton County three times, Central Gwinnett and Commerce twice in 2000. Parkview and Brookwood had runs with greatness, South Gwinnett early in the 90's, North and Peachtree Ridge most recently and let's not forget Collins Hill made it to the Dome earlier this decade as has Dacula.
We've had numerous state champs in girls softball. Buford has won it now twice, Grayson won in AAA earlier this decade and Collins Hill and Mill Creek has won it. GACS has come close many times. South and Central Gwinnett both had wins in the championship.
Now to Winter Sports. My Goodness we've had a ton of championships in basketball both boys and girls. Berkmar twice earlier this decade, South and Norcross three times. Collins Hill five times on the girls side, Wesleyan six times, GACS two times and now Buford.
Baseball we had Wesley and Brookwood last season. So that is the big three in sports. I couldn't begin to count when it comes to swimming, soccer, golf, tennis, and especially wrestling.
Now that is the sports reasons why this is the best county. As far as the other reasons, we have Braves, Falcons and Hawks right down the road, Lake Lanier is close by as is Stone Mountain. Six Flags is not that far and we have three big malls. Nuff said. Gwinnett is far enough away from the city but still is a major metropolis. We have great academics and great people in this county. So when cnsidering an area to live you won't have to twist my arm to endorse this area. Just keep winning so I can continue to brad about Gwinnett

Spring Sports Are in Full Force

During football season, I really thought I was busy. I would prepare for a Friday night football game well in advance. Then I would edit the game to get it ready for television. I always thought things would slow down in the Spring. Boy, was I wrong. Not only is there high school baseball, but we have boys and girls soccer, golf, tennis and now even lacrosse. As many of you know, I stress on my show that I am the only locally produced high school sports show that covers all sports in Gwinnett County. So, in order for me to uphold my motto, I am so looking forward to covering these other sports.

I, being the sports-minded person I am, am really looking forward to covering lacrosse and becoming more familiar with the game. It must be a very active game and a player must need to be in great shape to participate in this sport. I heard that former NFL great Howie Long's son, who was an excellent quarterback chose to go to the University of Virginia on a lacrosse scholarship. This sport is really gaining popularity nationwide. Of course, we all know it really became more well known after the Duke scandal a few years ago.

Here is Gwinnett County, Wesleyan was the first to have a lacrosse team. Now, Peachtree Ridge, GAC, Collins Hill and a few others have made lacrosse a varsity sport. So, for those of you who think baseball and soccer are the only Spring sports, you may want to check out lacrosse. I know I'm looking forward to it.