From Jason Stark @ ESPN:

One more time: Meanwhile, friends of John Smoltz and Tom Glavine continue to report that both want to return to Atlanta next year for low-guarantee, incentive-packed deals as long as it's even remotely possible for them to pitch. In part, it's because they feel remorse for collecting $22 million this year and contributing just five wins and 18 starts. But in part it's also because these guys are such good friends, they feel as if they were cheated out of one last season of playing with each other. And they'd love a mulligan, in more ways than one. "If they want to come back, and you're the Braves," one NL executive said, "I don't know how you would say no."

That is wonderful news. So not only does it look like the braves will have a little cash to play with (due to the ending of the contracts of Smoltz, Hampton, Glavine, Tex, and Kotsay as well as the insurance payments on Hudson's contract), we will likely have the chance to bring several of those pitchers back at significantly reduced salary. I wouldn't discount the notion of Hampton doing the same. He seems like a reasonable fellow by all accounts and has been pitching fairly well (8 IP 3 ER his last start).

Perhaps we can get all three back next year for a total of $15-20 million (which would be 17-22 million less than this year). This would give us added pitching depth which could allow us to bring along the Medlens, Hansons, and Osunas of the minor leagues a little slower.

Here's to hope!

"This I Believe" Falcons Preview

I'm excited about the Falcons season. No joke here, I'm actually excited. Of course I love watching young, rebuilding teams. Something about looking at all the potential and seeing it gradually fall into place just makes me want to watch a team more than an aging, average one that will win 7-9 games.

On offense, I believe the biggest question mark will not be Ryan, but rather our offensive line.
I believe, however, if they are able to make some holes for Turner and Norwood, and if they are able to keep Matt Ryan in one piece, then the Falcons offense could surprise some people.

I believe those are some big ifs...

I believe that Matt Ryan will have an average statistical year, but he will make leaps and bounds in becoming an NFL QB and, more importantly, he will further solidify his status as a leader of the offense. He's already got his receivers pointing at him after they catch scores.

I believe that the combo of Turner and Norwood will gash defenses for close to 2,000 yards, and Turner especially will take a ton of pressure off of Ryan.

I believe that our receivers will continue to mature, led by Roddy White who will be noted more for his stats this year rather than his choice of uniform accessories.

I believe that no one in our secondary could start for any other team.

On that note, I believe that our secondary will give up a ton a big passing plays, but they will improve as the year goes on.

I believe that we could get a good pass rush from DEs Anderson and Abraham if Abraham stays healthy for 16 games.

I believe Abraham will get hurt.

I believe our linebacking core is deep and talented, and that Boley and Brooking will be able to protect whichever middle linebacker plays between Taylor and Lofton.

I believe resigning Grady "Fat" Jackson (note: not his real nickname) was one of the smartest offseason moves for the Falcons.

I believe that signing Jason Elam was another great move this offseason as he will win 2-3 games for a Falcons team that will grind out every game and every possession they have.

I believe the Eagles (if McNabb is healthy) and the Chargers are the only teams that scare me on the Falcons schedule.

I believe the Falcons will win 6 games.

This I believe.

Pleasant Distraction

The riveting run of Team USA in Commiejing is coming to an end. The only really compelling event remaining is the "Redeem Team" (edit: I hate that name, it sounds stupid) going to Gold. Phelps' run is complete (and still damn amazing), the gymnasts medaled all over the place, beach volleyball took Gold in mens and womens for the first time ever at the same games. The closing ceremonies are Sunday. USA will likely celebrate it's "win" in the medal standings (whatever that means) and we will be forced to go back to watching our normal sports.

That's where the trouble comes in. We're left with a week of braves (they get lowercase letters for the rest of the season if I can remember to do so) before college football starts up (and even then it's only non-compelling blowouts for the first two weeks). Really we are 2-3 weeks away from anything worth getting excited about and that is boring. But since I still have sports on my brain, here are a few thoughts for the next couple of weeks:

The braves should rest Jurrjens the rest of the season. He's never pitched this many innings and there is no reason to wear his arm down now. He's a good pitcher now and could be a great one in 2 years. Let's not ruin that.

Similarly, bring up prospects like Anderson (riding a 26 game hit streak), Hanson, B. Jones, even Schafer. These guys need to get a feel for the league and there's no better way to do that than in low pressure situations. And they can't be worse in the field than Infante was in left last night.

I like the decision to give Matt Ryan plenty of time. He's not the typical rookie QB that will be phased by a weak O-Line and a steady stream of defenders in his face. He got used to that at BC.

I wish the Falcons would give Shockley some time with the 1st or 2nd string offense in a game. He's on the edge of the roster because he's behind the worst 3rd stringers in the league while Harrington and Redman get the benefit of having at least NFL level bench players around them.

While losing your left tackle like UGA did with Sturdivant stinks, I'd much rather lose him pre-season than mid-season. It's a lot easier for the coaches to adjust and get people in positions to succeed if you have a game or two to work the kinks out.

The buzz around Stafford is that he may go pro after this season. I doubt that. By coincidence I ate dinner across from him this week and he seems to enjoy the low-key life and relaxing with his friends. Some people have an air of superiority and you can just tell they want to move on. He just seemed like a good old boy happy to be hanging out with his friends. I may just be overly optimistic.

Relatedly, our waitress was an idiot. Besides screwing up our order twice, she (while being a college student and waitress in Athens) had no idea she was waiting on Matt Stafford. After he left she commented "Oh my God! Do you know I just served the #1 QB in the nation." My first thought was to discuss whether or not he is the #1 QB, but my second was to hit her on the head with a pizza box. I went with neither. Occasionally, I'm kind.

It's too early and the anger still too recent to talk about the Hawks.

The Braves are kinda Depressing

So I got a message from Matt today that read, "Braves are being one-hit by Jason Marquis," and I don't know what was sadder. The fact that the Braves were indeed being one-hit by Jason Marquis through 4 innings, or that I didn't care.
At this point, as a fan, I've mailed in this Braves season. They simply don't have the horses to make any sort of run at the playoffs, and even if they did, I would fully expect the hottest player to come down with some season ending injury. That's just the sort of season we've had.
Our top two starters (Smoltz and Hudson) are out for a while, maybe forever for Smoltz. Glavine went on the DL for the first time in his 21 year career. Our top three relievers from last year (Soriano, Gonzalez, and Moylan) all missed significant amounts of time. Franceour stunk up the joint at the plate. Due to all of the above, we then traded Tex. And to top it all off the rock in the announcing booth, Skip Carey, died, may he rest in peace. I don't know if anything else can go wrong.
Therefore I have checked out of the Braves season. Someone tell me when I can start talking about offseason trades.

SIGN HIM ALREADY!!!

This is maddening.
The Hawks finish the season on a high note: pushing the champions further than anyone thought possible, establishing an actual home court advantage, and all with an incredibly young core of players. And how do the Hawks celebrate the off season?
By being the only team that can't keep their non-European player from leaving the country. (Still love you Chill)
By low balling their second best player; a young player who craved attention and praise (see his trip to Philly), but instead the Hawks gave him the middle finger.
Basically by taking any credibility the franchise had gained in the playoffs and flushing it straight down the toilet.
The Bulls can get it done.
The 76ers can get it done.
The Warriors can get it done. Twice.
Hell, even the Bobcats can get it done.
The Hawks? Not so much...
And Sekou reports that we refuse to offer Josh more than $9 mil/year even though everyone else in his draft class is getting about $12 mil/year.
Give him his due, and give the fans something to be happy about again.

Boley Waives Arraignment

I just wanted to reference this story, as reported by the AJC, for a couple of reasons.
One, his lawyer taught one of my classes in law school. Thought it was kinda cool.
Two, to point out an inefficiency in the court system. Most of the time judges will require people to show up in court for their arraignment, even though the whole process takes all of 2 minutes.

Judge: The case of State of Georgia v. Michael Boley.
Lawyer: Judge, Manny Arora for Mr. Boley. He waives his right to a formal arraignment and enters his plea of not guilty.
(Lawyer and Boley sign paper)
Clerk: The plea has been entered.
Judge: Thank you. Next case...

That's it... literally. And there are a lot of judges who won't even let you enter a plea of guilty. The whole process came about in England because most people didn't know how to read, and the first time they would find out what they were exactly charged with would be when the judge read it out to them. Do we really still need this?

The Falcons Should Trade for Favre

Hear me out on this one. Favre wants out of Green Bay. Green Bay would like Favre gone but wants something in return. Green Bay doesn't want to trade him to the Vikings (which is supposedly where he wants to go).

So what is precluding a team from trading for Favre and then spinning him right back to Minny? We have the cap space to absorb him for a day and then ship him right back out. We could probably net ourselves a 3rd round pick by expending a 4th round pick to get Favre here.

Now, there are potential problems: namely, getting Favre to agree to come here. A quick line to his agent should be able to clear that up.

We'd be effectively deciding not to deal with GB ever again because they would want nothing to do with us after we did something like this but it's a business and they should understand that.

thoughts?