Braves Blog

You knew it was coming, or maybe you didn't. Opening Day is tomorrow, and more importantly, the Braves take the field against the Nationals around 1:00 pm.

Augusta is on day 3 of some sort of monsoon. Now, pair that with a long offseason, and I've had quite some time to think about what this post is going to be all about. Lucky you...

Pitching ain't a problem -- especially when Scott Proctor got kicked to the curb. I've question Derek Lowe from day 1, but he was arguably the best/2nd best pitcher in Sept. and his two starts in the playoffs. Tommy Hanson should get some more runs and have a very good year. It's hard to bet against Tim Hudson. I can't really make an argument for him being bad. That brings us to Jair Jurrjens and the new guy, Brandon Beachy. Beachy was better than Mike Minor this spring training, so he got the 5th spot. Jurrjens has been solid for Atlanta, but he's already hurt, and it will but hard to justify re-signing him to a big deal. But, it's hard for me to believe that both of these guys will be Braves come August. Atlanta's minor league system is loaded with young pitching -- Beachy being one of those guys, but maybe not even in the top 3 or 4. Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, and Mike Minor will all be fixtures in future Atlanta rotations, but they need just a little more time. Back to Beachy and Jurrjens...I'm not calling for Beachy to be traded. He's going to be a very very good pitcher, and I would love for the Braves to hold on to him. But, if they need offense come July or August, he gone.

Did someone say offense? That may not be a problem if things go according to plan... you know, if: Dan Uggla does anything besides a playoff-Brooks Conrad impression; Chipper and his knee are good; Nate McLouth is something other than terrible; Eric Hinske gets a chance to swing the bat; Prado does half of what he did last season. There's probably a few more factors to play in, maybe like the new manager, but whatever. So, if all of said things are a go, then it's full speed ahead. Easy, right? Ooooh yeah. And, if they need a spark plug, why just call on Matt Young -- the new roster spot winner and the 4th outfielder...all 5'2 of him. 

He just a little guy.

 Remember this guy?...

Of course you don't. We're on to the next "big thing" or things, I guess. Fredi Freeman has saved us from Troy Glaus, Derrick Lee, and whatever the next experiment may have been. Give him some time 'cause he's only 21 and that may be close to the amount of pitches he saw last year with the team. Damn, when you hit 8th in the order, you should not be expecting a lot of good hitting pitches anyway. Craig Kimbrel could be Atlanta's closer for the next 10 years, or he could be the next Bob Wickman, Dan Kolb, or Chris Reitsma. Who did I just say? Exactly. Kimbrel and Freeman should be fine. If not, trade them to the Mets for someone. 

Prediction: 90 wins and a playoff series win or a few.

I hate to feel so good about this team and the season to be, but I do.

Braves win, Braves win.

Like R. Kelly said...

It's the freakin' weekend babay. But it's no ordinary weekend in Augusta; this is Murray Mayhem in Augusta, GA...

#741

So the first 2 rounds are in the books, or I guess it's the first 3 rounds with expanding the field; however you wanna slice it, those rounds are over and done. St. Johns', Louisville's, and Pitts' early exits have hurt my bracket in a big way, but show me good games, and I start to care less and less about brackets. Upsets happen every year, so there's no real story there. I do believe there was some interesting stuff that came out of the past weekend of games that no one is talking about...


- Washington's Isiah Thomas is 5'9, and he makes pretty decent decisions with the basketball. So he's nothing like his namesake -- Isiah Thomas. Okay, okay, the senior Isiah Thomas was a hell of a player, but we'll stop there. All of what I've said so far isn't that interesting, but how the young Isiah Thomas got his name is, or it may be that it is just really funny. During the UGA/Wash. broadcast, the cameras were all over the Thomas kid's dad, and Nantz throws out this lil' nugget: "Thomas' father told us that he was named after the long time player and now coach, Isiah Thomas, because he lost a bet with a friend." 

- Speaking of Georgia...the story of the weekend is not the hot pile they laid on the court on Friday. No, I think the real story is the signing of 6'8 PF Nemanja Djurisic. He's from Montenegro, but went to high school somewhere in Connecticut and screams(!!!!) Drazen. Yeah, you remember him, right?  As you can see by the picture, Nemanja may not be a pretty as Drazen, but he's just as European. 

Drazen giving us the ol' Serbian charm

Nemanja's no немарно држање тела (Serbian for "slouch")

Drazen does roll of the tongue a little easier. So, UGA is looking to gain back that Eastern European flare, and I like it. I'll like it until that first turnover or three straight misses from 20+ feet away. 

- VCU's coach is Chaka Smart. That is a badass name.


-  2010-11's three best college basketball players are still playing in the tournament -- Nolan Smith, Jimmer Fredette, and Kimba Walker. The "most NBA-ready" players are also still playing -- Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, and Arizona's Derrick Williams.


On to the Sweet Sixteen...

Upset Alert: Arizona (+8.5) v Duke

Five O

Yesterday, I was pulled over by one of Augusta's finest. The first thing I did when he pulled up behind me was give the "go around me wave" because I had no clue what I did wrong. Well, he stayed behind me for another half a block or so, and he then hollered over his speaker, "Pull over!" I had to act quick, so I stuck all the angel dust and heroin I had up my butt.  I knew I didn't have anything to worry about there, but I was still trying to figure out what I did wrong. Was it because of my suspicious black Explorer? Did I put my turn signal on too early? "Do you know why I pulled you over?"  To which I responded, "I have no idea." "You're not wearing your seatbelt. Is there a reason for that?"  Yeah, I'm a risk taker behind the wheel. So he heads back to his car with my license and shit, and I immediately begin planning my way out of such a dumb ticket.

The only thing I could come up with was...

I tried really hard to cry. I thought of all kinds of sad shit -- the Dawson's Creek break-up, I am Sam, student loans, what Adrian Peterson said, but nothing was happening. Apparently nothing needed to happen. I got a warning. Let me go ahead and warn Augusta -- I'm not wearing my seatbelt. Suck it. 

Totally Awesome is totally awesome.

These guys don't layup...

...'cause layups should be done in pregame warm-ups.

He's Finally Made It

  
Happy Thoughts gets a thumbs-up. If you missed it last night don't fret; Comedy Central and Tosh pimped it enough for last 3-5months, so I'm guessing you'll get another shot. It was really funny. I'm always amazed when a single person can hold my attention for an hour, much less make me laugh.

What can you expect out of this thing? Affirmation that being male, Caucasian (non-Hispanic), and not a resident of California all result in check marks in the "good" column of life. There will be quite a few uncomfortable moments, but isn't that what makes life funny? And if you don't buy that, at least he tries to sell you on the fact that his domestic violence and rape jokes are "made up". Yeah, right.

"God's goalline defense against fags trying to enter Heaven"

 Primer:

Versus

First matchup:

vs

We put these two "things" together and ask the question: Which will make it come September to "play ball"?


The Collective Bargaining agreement between NFL owners and players is set to expire tonight at 11:59 pm. There hasn't been much progress made between the sides, and there isn't really a really for much optimism for the coming weeks/months. Carson Palmer doesn't seem to mind -- "I have $80 million in the bank. I don't have to play football for money." But that isn't the feelings of the NFLPA and many of its players. This may be a bit of a shock to some, but they don't want to take a pay cut and play more games. The owners want more money. What do they want to do with that money? Burn it, stuff their pillows with it, fans their animals, and buy hookers of course. Personally, I could care less what happens, but for every me and Carson Palmer (first and last time we'll ever be in the same sentence), there's millions of fans and hundreds of players that want this deal done.

Come Summer time, NFL players will miss the comradery...and a steady paycheck...

 Redskins' tomfoolery at it's best

 ...And fans will miss seeing their favorite NFL player being concussed on every other possession...

 Is that Cutler's "O Face" or "Oww Face"?

And now... Charlie Sheen



I don't know what to say. Maybe he finally watched an episode of Two and a Half Men and completely lost it. I think the saying goes, you can never have too many hookers and methamphetamines, but in Charlie's case, that may not be true. Or maybe. Let's be honest, we've all seen celebrities (Lindsey Lohan, the guy that plays Ironman, Tiger) mess up and then "come clean" to the public on TV. The hilarious/awesome thing in Sheen's case is, he doesn't give a shit about apologizing or coming clean. Nope, he just wants to run his mouth about "tigers blood", "winning or bi-winning", and "epic" things in front of a camera. Hell, he probably ended up snorting a line off that ABC reporter's anatomy after the interview. Charlie, I hate your show, but I love Major League. I'd wish you the best, but I don't think that's going to be enough.






Winner: the NFLPA