There Goes Another Piece of My Childhood, Part 2

For most of the 90’s, the Braves’s “Big 3” was commonly thought of as Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.

In time, of course, the group aged and separated for various reasons. All are (for the time being) still in baseball, but the “era” of the Big 3 is definitely over.

Much less exalted was the quintet of announcers TBS employed for most of the 90’s: Skip Caray, Joe Simpson, Pete van Wieren, and Don Sutton. They’re listed in the order they were paired in, and this is important because when the Braves were still on TBS the pairs often switched from TV to radio (and vice versa) in the middle of the 5th inning. Skip and Pete were the play-by-play guys, with former ball players Joe and Don providing the color analysis.

This arrangement gradually died earlier this decade, as TBS let Don Sutton go (he’s now stuck doing color for the Nationals). Also a factor in Don leaving was TBS taking in former Cubs play-by-play announcer Chip Caray, who was (in)famously let go. With Chip on-board, TBS gradually began reducing TV time for Skip and Pete, though fan demand eventually was able to bring Skip back.

The Braves were sold by AOL/Time Warner and TBS, eager to acquire those lucrative playoff games, agreed to MLB’s demand to stop showing Braves games nationally, presumably to sell more MLB Season Ticket packages. The Braves’s TV rights were bought up by FOX for syndication only throughout the South, and they only brought Joe Simpson with them. Skip got to keep doing games that were still on WTBS and its offspring, WPCH (Peachtree TV) before his departure earlier this year.

Despite these factors, I was still just a little surprised today to see that Pete was hangin’ them up. Yes, I know that he says it wasn’t because of any of those items I listed above. At any rate, this is a tremdous loss for broadcasting in Atlanta.

It’s hard to quantify how much losing two play-by-play guys really means to me as a Braves fan. I’ve watched so many games in my short life it’s probably safe to say I’ve listened to them more than anyone else outside my immediate family. Growing up, I would watch every game possible and if I couldn’t watch it I’d try to listen to it. (As far as I know, the Braves still have the most extensive radio network of any baseball team. Heck, they even have an affiliate in the Virgin Islands.) On my drives to and from Tech each August and May I would look-up ahead of time which radio stations had the game on my route just to make sure I caught it. On Wednesdays when the games were on FSN (and before they got the current announcers) I’d sometimes even try to listen to the game on the radio.

It baffled me when I saw that Skip was not on the ballot for this year’s Ford C. Frick award, and next year if neither Skip nor Pete are finalists I will really start to wonder what’s going in the minds of the panelists and voters.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 8

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Georgia Tech @ Clemson (ESPN): I will actually be at this game. Not really sure what to expect here. Will Clemson be rejuvenated with a new coach and, presumably, a new offensive philosophy? Will the mobility of Willy Korn make up for the huge deficiencies in their offensive line? (Also note that GT has one of, if not the best defensive lines in the ACC.) Too many variables here, and I just hope that GT will play through a surely re-energized fanbase and get the job done.
  • Purdue @ Northwestern (ESPN2): NU got their first loss of the season last weekend against Michigan State. Meanwhile, Purdue has lost 3 straight and has failed to beat a single BCS opponent. Have to go with Northwestern here.
  • Wisconsin @ Iowa (BTN): Wisconsin. Next!
  • Texas Tech @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (FSN): Anyone noticed how bad TAMU is this year? Seriosuly. TTU rolls.
  • Wake Forest @ Maryland (Raycom/Gameplan): Which Maryland is going to show up this week? Beats me! For the sake of my sanity, I’m picking Wake and moving on.

12:30:

  • Nebraska @ Iowa State (Versus): Bad Big 12 matchup of the day! Both these teams are winless in the conference and Nebraska has lost 3 straight. Nebraksa has a narrow overtime loss to Texas Tech last week, while ISU lost by 28 to Baylor. I like the Huskers here.
  • Vanderbilt @ Georgia (Raycom/Gameplan): My brain says UGA but my heart is hoping for a repeat of 2006.

3:30:

  • Mississippi @ Alabama (CBS):

    This game will be close, for awhile. Then, eventually, Houston Nutt will find a way. A way to lose.
  • North Carolina @ Virginia (Gameplan/ABC/ESPN2): I’m not buying into the UVA hype just yet. They may have themselves a QB, and UNC is missing some crucial parts. I still think they pull it out in Charlottesville, though.
  • Ohio State @ Michigan State (ESPN/ABC): Important game for OSU on the come back trail, yet again. But to be completely honest I don’t know who can beat them on their remaining schedule except for Penn State. Which, notably, is next week. So the only way OSU loses is if they overlook MSU and are preparing for Penn State.
  • Kansas @ Oklahoma (ABC/Gameplan): Is Kansas a good football team? Yes. But are they as good as Oklahoma? No.
  • Southern California @ Washington State (FSN): Wazzou is really, really, really bad. USC should be able to beat these guys with their backups.
  • Pittsburgh @ Navy (CBSCS): Despite, you know, the entire season I am not really sold on Pitt at all. So I’ll take Navy and the upset.

4:30: Michigan @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): As you can tell, I’m tired and writing these previews with even less analysis than usual. My apologies. At any rate, has Michigan looked bad these past two weeks or what? Penn State rolls into their huge game against OSU next week.

7:00: Oregon State @ Washington (Versus): Does OSU hang 66 like they did on Wazzou last week? Maybe, but it will probably be more in the 40-50 range.

8:00:

  • Missouri @ Texas (ABC): Is this game as significant as it looked to be last week? Probably not. But is it still important? Yes. However, with the game in Austin I have to favor the Longhorns.
  • Louisiana State @ South Carolina (ESPN): Don’t look, but USC has won 4 straight. The reason why you shouldn’t look is because they haven’t beaten anyone of note. In fact, I won’t even say who, that’s how unnoteworthy they are. LSU should roll.
  • Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ESPN2): GT badly, badly needs VPI to lose this game. For reasons I can’t quite figure out, VPI is actually a slight underdog here, but I’m not buying. I think VPI will win, though I’ll be rooting for BC.
  • Indiana @ Illinois (BTN): Hey, it’s exactly kind of game that should be on the Big Ten Network! And that’s why I’m not going to watch it. Illinois wins.
  • Texas-El Pas @ Tulsa (CBSCS): Tulsa scores 60 and wins.

That’s all for now. Bowl predictions probably won’t be up until Monday evening, but I’m looking forward to getting back on that old horse.

“All Predictions Wrong”

That’s the mantra of my weekly predictions column, but so far this season I’ve actually acquitted myself fairly well. To wit:
Week 1: 16-11
Week 2: 13-1
Week 3: 11-4
Week 4: 12-4
Week 5: 12-8
Week 6: 15-3
Week 7: 9-8
Total: 88-39 (69.3%)

However, I’ve also said some fairly wrong things over the course of these 7 weeks. Last weekend, for instance, I was wrong about almost all of the morning slate.

Anyway, I wanted to do a wrap-up column here but I’m feeling pretty tired. Bowl predictions return next week, so look forward to that.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 7

Busy again, so let’s get down to business.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Texas vs. Oklahoma (@Dallas, TX; ABC): It’s still the Red River Shootout to me. With more fans for each side than ever (the Cotton Bowl just finished renovations to expand capacity to 90,000) this will hopefully be a close game. Neither of these teams has been even remotely challenged this year, but I am going to go ahead and drink the Sooner Kool-Aid.
  • Minnesota @ Illinois (ESPN): How does Minnesota not suck this year? Granted, they’ve only played 2 opponents worth talking about (and went 1-1) but still. At any rate, Illinois is still better than Indiana and should have no problems with the Gophers.
  • Iowa @ Indiana (BTN): Now this was the kind of game the Big Ten Network was made for! Iowa has 3 straight losses to heavyweights like Pitt, Northwestern, and Michigan State. Indiana also has 3 straight losses, but to Ball State, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Hard to tell who will suck less here. My general policy is to avoid picking Iowa as much as possible, so I’ll go with the Hoosiers. And yes, I know Ball State is 6-0, but their best win is a tossup between Indiana and Navy, so…
  • East Carolina @ Virginia (Raycom/Gameplan): Virginia scored 13 points (combined) against UConn and Duke. Then they hung a 31 spot on Maryland. The ECU bandwagon is officially sunk, so this sounds like a good time for UVA to start losing again. Yarr.

12:30:

  • Colorado @ Kansas (ESPN2): It’s your other entirely too early Big 12 game! CU is coming off two straight dismantlings admistered by FSU and Texas. (By the way, Monday was the 18-year anniverisary of the 5th down.) KU rolls.
  • South Carolina @ Kentucky (Raycom/Gameplan): If you’ve never had the opportunity to experience the, er, magic of the Daves, all these games are streamed online. Kentucky very quietly go to 4-0, but they didn’t play anyone and couldn’t quite top Alabama last week. The Visor has reeled off 3 striaght, but against Wofford, UAB, and Ole Miss. (At some point this season, it’ll be nice to not have to say “they haven’t played anyone yet.”) Anyway, Kentucky looked fairly competent last week and it’s at home, so why not? (That’s some hard hitting analysis right there, folks.)

1:00: East Michigan @ Army (ESPN Classic): Not only did Army actually win last week, they beat a DI-A opponent, and pretty badly at that. (The victim was Tulane, and the score was 44-13.) Tulane may or may not be better than New Hampshire, but that’s beside the point. Eastern Michigan lost 4 straight, getting drubbed by even the two MAC teams they played. However, a last minute touchdown put them past Bowling Green, so here we are. They’re probably the better team, but this is enough of a toss-up (I hope), so I’ll pick the sentimental favorite, Army.

3:00: Nebraska @ Texas Tech (FSN): Over/under on points scored by Texas Tech alone should be around 50 or so. I’d still take the over.

3:30:

  • Arizona State @ Southern California (ABC/Gameplan): Gee, thanks, ABC for still showing football games in standard definition in 2008! This is one of the most messed up coverage maps I’ve ever seen, too. See that blue patch in southern Tennessee and northern Alabama? That’s where I’d be if I were back at home. I can gauruntee that, no matter what, no one in the South gives a damn about Arizona State or Southern Cal, at least in terms of wanting to watch them as opposed to the two other games that are actually in HD. Oh, and USC wins by a few touchdowns. They’re baaack!
  • Ohio State @ Purdue (ESPN/ABC): Purdue still doesn’t really trust this “defense” thing. Ohio State should take care of business here.
  • Notre Dame @ North Carolina (Gameplan/ESPN/ABC): A-C-C! Well, maybe. I think UNC’s schedule has actually been slightly tougher, but they’re still lacking their starting QB. Then again, they seem to have found a new one. Both these teams have pretty sudden turnarounds from last year, both programs being labeled as sleeping giants, needing only the right coaching to spring forth. So they’re both 4-1, and just to spite Lou Holtz, I will pick UNC.
  • Michigan State @ Northwestern (ESPN2): I think NU’s luck runs out against the Spartans.
  • Texas Christian @ Colorado State (CBSCS): Against teams that aren’t currently ranked #1 in the country, TCU has been putting up a lot of points, and I don’t see that stopping here.
  • Gardner-Webb @ Georgia Tech (No TV): So Tech will probably start its 3rd string QB here. (Also, for the final time, this game was supposed to be up in West Point. Army backed out right before last year’s game.) Those actually attending the game will be in for a treat – this game will not be on live TV anywhere, which means no fat dude in a red jacket stopping play after turnovers and punts. As for the QB thing, well, I’m not worried. Nesbitt’s hamstring still hurts, but I suspect he will see some game action, even if for a drive or two. Clavin Booker will probably get the start, and he’s certainly earned for being a team player if nothing else. (Rumor is Jaybo Shaw got a minor concussion last week against Duke.) As for Mr. Demaryius “BeBe” Thomas, he doesn’t quite have Calvin’s height (6’3″ versus 6’5″) but he still towers over many corners. Calvin also never had a 200 yard game at Tech, or an 88-yard reception. Is BeBe as good as Calvin? Of course not, but he’s darn close which provides a huge asset in this offense. Most teams can’t afford to leave him one-on-one, but because of the run game they will often have little choice.

8:00:

  • Louisiana State @ Florida (CBS): A rare evening game with Uncle Verne, and I’m looking foward to it. (Of course, it’s at 5:00 here, which is hardly the evening, but still.) Like many matchups of elite SEC teams, this should feature precious little offense. The problem for UF at the moment is that they are totally lost on offense and defense. (Yes, I am aware that they beat Arkansas 38-7. Arkansas is that bad this year.) That said, LSU hasn’t looked bad all year, even though they almost lost to now OC-less Auburn. Will the SEC eat its own children this year, or will LSU go on to the Game of Destiny against Alabama? I say the latter will probably occur, just so Alabama can beat them to spite me.
  • Pennsylvania State @ Wisconsin (ESPN): My opinion on this game is this. Wisconsin is not as good as everyone thought they were before they lost 2 straight. Penn State is 6-0. I’ll take the safe pick.
  • Oklahoma State @ Missouri (ESPN2): I don’t know what the over/under on this game is, but take the over. And also take Mizzou, though I have a gut feeling it might come down to who gets the ball last.
  • Boise State @ Southern Mississippi (CBSCS): Unless they are jetlagged, Boise State should come out on top here. USM might keep it close, so if you can take your eyes off LSU-Florida or OSU-Mizzou for a second (though I would be afraid of blinking during the latter game), give this a shot….

10:15: California-Los Angeles @ Oregon (FSN): …because it’ll probably be better than this game, at any rate. Both these teams found some mojo against hapless Washington State (enroll now, try out for QB tomorrow!) but Oregon then went and had the unfortunate chance of playing a USC that actually showed up for the game. I’ll still take the Ducks here, though.