Woodson HAS TO GO

Mike Woodson has to go. he just stands there when the team is playing awful.
What does he do during practice. Why do the Hawks look so bad. I just don't understand why the team can get out and run and be high flying and take it to the hoop and then they play like crap and stand around. He doesn't use a bench. Get players in the game that can run. If that's not the style you want to play and you want to pound the ball inside then get the players to play that style. This coach uses Joe Johnson 44 minutes per game. Joe is dead tired. I can't understand why you have 12 men on the team and you use 7 or 8.
The Atlanta spirit I think just doesn't want to win. And to make matters worse, I think the league doesn't want them to win. Duane Wade. Kobe Bryant and Lebron James get all the calls and the league wants them to face each other. Ratings I guess. But it should be based on FAIR refs. It is mind boggling to see the Atlanta guys getting mugged and then a little touch foul and you call a foul on us. Woodson has got to learn to use his players better and to get the team motivated when they are playing bad. Please find a real coach and maybe we can advance past the first round.

Fans all over umps

Being in the pressbox at the local high school games gives me an angle for the balls and strikes that is a lot different than being down in the bleachers. I hear these parents all over the umpires about balls and strikes. Being an umpire is a very difficult job and most of the time, these umps are pretty good. There are a few times that the umps are a little inconsistent. But the other day I heard some fans really get all over the umpire behind the plate. This guy was pretty good. But to the fans they were not happy. And they were winning. Well until later in the game. Then the other team came back and started hitting the ball and scored 6 runs over the last few innings to blow the game open.

The fans need to let these umpires do there job. When they are yelling and screaming at the umpires, it makes them mad and then you might not get the calls. It is a very tough job to do. But some people think the umpires are partial. Believe me, they don't care who wins or loses and all they want is a good game. Until you've done it, let them do their job. Beside it makes the person yelling and screaming look really "Bush" League. Hopefully we'll see some good well played games and then the umpire won't even be noticed.

Baseball Talk

Well we know there are different languages and different dialects for this country but there is also a new language called Baseballeze. I will give you the words and then the definitions.
Let's first start with a common phrase heard at the game.
"Hey Blue that was terrible." This means the umpire, commonly referred to Blue because of the most commonly used Blue Uniform and of course the person didn't agree with the call.
Then there is "C'mon Kid." Now this could be used even in the major leagues. Kid is usually a younger player or even a rookie. I'm 42 so a 38-year old veteran might be a kid to me.
Also there is the term "Hey Two Five watch it close." Well the person is probably wearing the number 25 on his jersey. In baseball it is not uncommon for people to call the players by their number, even if it's a family member at a high school game.
Then there is a saying "Good Eye." this means that the person up to bat is able to tell if it's a ball or a strike and takes a close pitch.
Can of Corn. Now this is a good one. Can of corn is referred to an easy fly ball that the outfielder is camped under to make the catch. It is originally said because farmers back in the days when baseball was invented would stack the corn up high and when a customer needed on they would get it to fall and would be easy to catch. We use corn because the outfield may be called the corn field. it was first used by an announcer named Red Barber in the 50's.
Barber had many sayings that are coined and used today. One is a Rhubarb. This means there is a heated argument. "Back, Back Back" is a saying that is even now used by Chris Berman to describe a ball that could get out of the park. Also another commonly used phrase is "Baseball is a game of inches." That means the ball could have bounced a different way and the result may have been different.
There is a website that has so many different explanations and lingo that is really cool. It's www.baseballfarming.com and you really need to check it out.
Some of the lingo in there would really crack you up. I would want you to go to it and then go to a game and use it. It will make the people think you are a baseball efficienato. You might be called a grandstander. That is a "showoff" of sorts. These are just a few of the terms but go to the site and check it out and let me know what you think. Then let's meet at the game and see what the crowd thinks.

Tidbits from a big weekend

Well Friday night as I was leaving for the Brookwood/South game I got a call from my friend Frank. He said I have two tickets to the Gwinnett Braves. Well how could I refuse. I got my wife and we headed over to the game. I had to check out the new P.A. announcer. You see I went to the audition for it and felt I aced it. Well I found out later they hired a former police officer with no experience. I was a little disappointed but wanted to see what I got beat out by. Well I knew he'd be a little nervous as anyone would be....including me. Here you are at tryouts in front of three judges;. But at the game you are in front of 10,000 people.

The announcer got off to an inauspicious start. He said first for the visiting Gwinnett Tides. Well we know it's the Norfolk Tides. I never heard #7 leading off until the second batter batted. When Clint Sammons was up Van Pope was still on the matrix board. Yes this might not have been his fault however, make us aware of it. Also the organ player was playing "charge" while we were on defense. Hmmmm. Not his fault but the glitches were far to many. Sure there are kinks and I understand but it also was quiet for about 4 innings. Then to his credit he started getting a little more enthusiastic. Yes were losing through most of the early innings but that place needs to be jumping. I mean it's the announcers job to be vocal and get the crowd into it on every single batter. Believe me you can keep a team in the game if the crowd is into the game. The players play harder. I was an announcer for Berkmar Football in 2004. This team was playing it's rival Parkview and I heard from the Parkview coaches that I got on their nerves and they wanted to come up and stangle me. I took that as a compliment. They actually said it kept Berkmar on the field with this much more powerful team. Another example was when I did the announcing for Central Gwinnett I had a Loganville parent ask if I could come do the announcing for them.

The announcer did a good job but for a AAA minor league baseball team they need to have someone that was more vocal. It's early. I hope he does well and gets better. After the Gwinnett Braves lost all three games this weekend, they need it. It's a team effort.

I also would like to say that I had T.J. Smith from Berkmar find me this weekend on facebook. Good kid. I hear he's playing at Clark Atlanta next year. He is currently in California at a junior college. I wish him well.

And Congrats to the Mill Creek baseball team. Went down to see them at Turner Field and they played a great game against the No. 1 team in the state South Forsyth. The Hawks pulled out a 4-3 victory over the War Eagles. Greg Brody knocked in two runs with a triple and Jake German knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. It was a long but fun weekend. Hope to have more like that soon.

Nothing like baseball

Well baseball completed it's first week and I have enjoyed my first week of fantasy baseball. Actually am leading the league I'm in but a few things upset me about some of the rules. Like Stolen bases and saves. I could pick 3 guys that get saves and really rack up the points. And my team has but 4 stolen bases and out of 8 categories I lead by a wide margin in 6 of them. But those two categories I'm weaker in and lost points. So after today I trail by .5 points. You get 10 points for first, nine for second, eight for third. So after last night I had 59.5 points and one of my competitors had 60 points because he outscored me by 11 points as he has 13 stolen bases and 9 saves. Heck the teams have only played 7 games. I have K-Rod the best closer and he has only one save. I have Roy Oswalt and he doesn't have a win yet. This fantasy league stuff is fun. It really gets you watching all the players.
Nelson Cruz has been a great addition for me. He has a stolen base and 4 home runs. I don't like having to pull for Johan Santana and K-Rod or Shane Victorino but hey I guess if Santana and K-Rod and Victorino can do all the stats against the Marlins or each other that will be okay. As you know I am a Braves fan and Yunel Escobar and Omar Infante are on my team too. Yunel has done well for my team. I hope he can keep it up. Infante also is doing good for me.
Wow nothing like baseball season. Just need some more speed a few more saves.

Doing Highlight Video helps get you noticed

Well I have done many highlight video's for athletes around the county and today I got a call from Delano Howard. Senior that is. He asked if I could do a video for him on Delano Howard Jr. I said well of course. I found out he was in North Platte, Nebraska. I am thinking to myself "Wow that is far." I couldn't imagine going that far to a junior college but I see he did very well.
It got me to thinking about some of these stars that didn't go on to success on the next level as far as D-1 schools or pro's. I am wondering what they are doing now.

I had a friend in 7th grade named Mark Thigpen. I thought he'd be a superstar and be playing a sport for money one day. Well I found him on Facebook and he said he got injured and now owns his own company making team apparel and logo's in Augusta. We'll give his company a plug. It's called Custom Images Inc. located in the Augusta and North Augusta, S.C. area.

Then I covered a player in Perry named Ken Sikes. He got drafted and went to the minor leagues for a while and now after 8 years in the minors he works for Blue Bird in Fort Valley. He told me on Facebook that he has gotten into the real world now. Haven't we all. I also noticed that Sy Jones from Perry, who pitched in the state title game in 1991 is now a baseball coach and teacher at FPD in Macon. Anther player I covered in Perry Marvin Stokeling is now in Atlanta and does promotions for a young rapper.

Delano still wants to play D-1 and wants to be closer to home. I think he can do it. He's a quick shooting guard that played alongside Louis Williams from the Philadelphia 76ers in high school. I didn't realize he also played against Ty Lawson of North Carolina fame in a game against Oak Hill and actually helped his team come back to win that game. That was probably one of the best games I have ever seen.

So if you want to find out where one of the stars was when you were a kid, do a search on Facebook and you will probably find out they are in the corporate world. But Delano still young enough to make it and I hope he does.

Doing these video's really help you get seen. These guys made an impact at college and now are in the real world but if you want to really get noticed the highlight video's are a very good way. My company Play-By-Play Adverising has done video's for Chica Okoli from Brookwood who ended up at Samford. We did a video for Rob Wadley from Duluth, John Sizemore of North Gwinnett, who went to Army, Ean Pemberton this past season from Grayson, Donnie Moon from North Gwinnett, Jesse Garcia of Peachtree Ridge, Eric Josovitz, who went to West Georgia and many more.

So if you are not the star of the team but still want to get seen, check us out on our website at www.thecoachescorner.net and then give us a call. You can be seen too.

Umpires usually get it right

Unlike basketball, where the refs miss a ton of calls, baseball umpires are usually pretty close every time. I got to see a great game from Collins Hill and Mill Creek on Wednesday and there were a few plays in the game that I questioned. However, the umpire talked to me later and explained the rules and the calls and now I see where he was right on.
The first play I questioned was a play at the plate. The runner was clearly out but after the umpire was about to call the runner out, he ruled safe. All of us in the press box and the Collins Hill fans were wondering what is going on. Well here it is. The umpire saw the catcher bobble the ball and was in the kids way or what they call obstruction before he had control of the ball. Once he got control of it, yes the runner was out but you have to get control of it beforehand thus that allowed the next base which in this case was home plate. If you are in the line of the plate and get the ball and control it right into the mitt well yes you can block the plate but like I said, there was a slight hesitation or bobble and that allowed the runner to get that next base.

The other close call in the game came on a double play. It looked like a routine 6-4-3 or short to second to first double play but the runner was sliding into second and had his leg above the knee of the secondbaseman. The rule states your feet have to be down below the knees and at the bag. In pro or major league baseball you can slide outside of the base as long as your arm can grab the base. In high school baseball, you have to slide directly at the bag and with your feet down. That meant the runner going to first was safe.

So there are two rules we learned. Barnes and Noble has a ton of books on rules of the game. I think I am going to go check it out...Or I can maybe use google and find some here on the net.

Will Meeks be 1st rounder

I had the priviledge of seeing Jodie Meeks for 2 years at Norcross. He was phenomenal. I remember in the playoffs how he just took over the game. And of course they won a state title. Now they played Beach, who had upset Wheeler but that was still on the grand stage at the Gwinnett Arena.
But going to Kentucky and playing in the SEC i never dreamed he'd be that good. I heard he lit Tennessee up for 54 points this season. I tuned in at halftime and he had 26 points. I knew he would have a big game. Of course being a channel flipper I was going back and forth to other events. So when I turned back and he had 50 I decided to watch the rest.
So that leads to the question, is he a first rounder. I think so. Is he a top 10? Well that I don't know. In fact I hope he isn't because maybe he could land with the Hawks. Let's do our version of a Mock Draft and see. Here are my top picks.
Blake Griffin - Oklahoma
Tyler Hansbrough -North Carolina
Ty Lawson - North Carolina should he declare
DeJuan Blair - Pittsburgh
Hasheem Thabeet - Connecticut
Al Farouq Aminu - Wake Forest (if he declares)
Of course that is another story for our Gwinnett products and for that matter Norcross grads
James Harden - Arizona State
Stephen Curry - Davidson
Earl Clark - Louisville
Jeff Teague - Wake Forest

So that is a mock top 10 and could Meeks be in there? Well let's see if he could fit in the next 5-10 players selected. The Hawks will probably pick around 18-20th. So will Meeks be available?

Cole Aldrich - Kansas
Greg Monroe - Although I question this one too and that will be for a later blog as to why.
Brandon Jennings - Italy
Darren Collison - UCLA
Tyreke Evans - Memphis
Jordan Hill - Arizona
Kyle Singler - Duke
B.J. Mullens - Ohio State
And now Jodie Meeks.

So I do think he could go in the top 20. That was actually 19th and his stock is rising as others begin to fall. Meeks is definitely a first rounder. He has poise and can shoot free throws. He can shoot it from 3-point range and he can take it to the hole. If he doesn't make the top 10, he definitely will be in the second ten. I know if I were there in the middle of the first round I would consider him a lot. He is a winner too. He knows how to win. Granted this year was tough on him but trust me, Jodie Meeks will be making a good living if he decides the NBA is for him.

March Madness finally over

Well my bracket was busted big time. But who didn't know North Carolina would make the final four and actually win the title. I had a sentimental place for our Gwinnett products and Chris Allen made us proud down here in Lawrenceville. Every time I see his name and where he's from it made me proud. To think that Chris was a kid with long dreadlocks and a super nice guy that repected my wife and me. I remember him coming over to us while in attendance at the region tournament and saying "Nice to meet you." and "It was a pleasure meeting you:" to my wife. You don't find kids like that any more. Especially athletes. But ever since then Allen has been one of OUR favorites.

Back to my bracket. Yes I had Memphis, UConnecticut, Louisville, North Carolina and Villanova advancing further than they all did. Who would have thought Michigan State would go that far. I may like Allen a lot but Louisville was on a roll. I liked Wesley Witherspoon and thought his team had enough to win the title. But Missouri got hot for a game and knocked him out. That killed my bracket. I did say Villanova would beat Pitt. But you'd have to be under a rock somewhere not to realize the Tar Heels were on a roll and would destroy them, provided they got past Oklahoma and Blake Griffin.

But I heard a stat and this is phenomenal. North Carolina won all six games by an average of 20 points or more. Sure the first round game is always a blowout but to beat teams like Oklahoma, Villanova and Michigan State all by 20 is saying something. Yes the final score was 89-72 but they led by 21 at halftime and then put it on cruise control.

I should have known the Tar Heels would dominate. Roy Williams is a great coach but sometimes during March Madness we go with our heart. Next year I'll go with the brains and if some of our Gwinnett products make it to the dance maybe I'll pick them a round or two and then go back to reality and pick the best team. If Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are back, look for UNC to repeat. I wouldn't pick against them this time.

She's the best

Well I must say my mind hasn't changed in 6 years. I saw Maya Moore as a freshman at Collins Hill and her team went 32-0 before they finally lost in the championship at the Arena to Stephenson. Well Maya went 125-3 over four years at Collins Hill with 3 straight state championships and now she is 71-1 on the College level with what's going to be a championship. 196-3 comes to about 98.5% of her games. If that's not incredible I don't know what is.

I was just thinking if Andy Landers or Pat Summit got Maya how would they do. I guarantee they would be the winning teams. Sure Tina Charles and Rene Montgomery are good players but Maya makes whoever is around her better. There is no doubt in my mind that those teams would be contending for a title had Maya chosen them over University of Connecticut.

Gino Auriemma is a good coach but I could coach a team with Maya Moore on it. She not only scores, 24 points against Stanford, but she rebounds (8 rebounds against Stanford) and she chipped in with 2 assists. She will usually have 5 or 6 assists with 8-10 rebounds. Oklahoma was thinking they would play them again. Well Louisville gets that honor. Either team would have lost by 20 or so.

Will there ever be another Maya? I doubt it. Not since Cindy Brogdon has there been a player of this caliber. So i guess it will be another 25 years. We'll see

Transferring needs to stop

Well another top notch player has decided to move and enter into another school. Well the parents of the kid decided to move. I saw where Chris Bolden, an outstanding freshman from Brookwood decided to move to Norcross. I know it's not for the academics of the school. It just seems that people are moving into Norcross, Wheeler, now Milton and schools like this so there kid can play for a winning team. But at what cost?

Richard Howell transferred to Wheeler last year from Central. Devonte White transferred to Centennial this past year from Central Gwinnett. Adrian Hubbard moved from Peachtree Ridge to Norcross in hopes of another state title. What does this say? Sure these programs are good but how can guys like Len Garner's North Gwinnett Bulldogs ever hope to make an impact with his home grown players. Basically he can't.

Is it fair? Well the GHSA doesn't have any rules about it. After talking to coach Garner about some of this subject, he thought a good idea would be if they transfer within 50 miles of the previous school they should sit out. I agree. Look at college. Guys have to sit out and I think the GHSA should prohibit stuff like this.

David Boyd at Milton had a few kids move in and I understand some parents of players that were there for a long time and grew up in the area weren't to happy. Yes, Boyd is a great coach and I like him a lot but when kids are moving into the area for the sake of winning a state title I just think it's crazy. I think winning one with guys that grew up in the area is more fun for the community. How can you go to a game and cheer your school on knowing you either A. recruited these kids or B. They come there just to get seen for a year and move on.

Take Kevin Minter who transferred from Berkmar to Peachtree Ridge in football. I really think that was a great move. I had someone from Berkmar tell me he would not have gotten the attention he needed to get a major scholarship from an LSU while he was at Berkmar. That's one thing. And he did help his team make the finals in football. He was an added piece. However, guys going to Wheeler, Norcross and all these places reminds me of the New York Yankees trying to buy a championship. I think a great team like South had with Kevon Jenkins, Reggie Brice and Mario Vasser was a great team that has played a long time together. South had some transplants in the days of Louis Williams. Mike Mercer transferred in. But overall it was a home grown team. Collins Hill's girls won it with Maya Moore but had a few girls move into the area like Jordan Jones. It's going to happen and as long as the GHSA allows it, it will continue to happen. Doesn't mean I have to agree with it. Now that Maya is gone you don't see any more girls begging to move into the area.

These parents seem to go to great lengths. They have to sell the house, buy a new house, change jobs or whatever else that comes with moving. Yes I'd do just about anything for my child but is it worth it. It is about getting an education and the athletics should be second. If they can go hand in hand that's great. We'll see what the GHSA does about it. Something needs to change.