What a crazy month for sports!
Hello Gwinnett,
I hope you all had a wonderful start to the year. January had a lot of interesting things going on in sports!
I will start off by talking about the NFL Playoffs. The New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in Arizona. This has been a crazy season. It has been a long journey for the New York Giants. They didn’t know whether Michael Strahan was going to come back this season. There was talk about Tom Coughlin losing his job, the war of words between Eli Manning and Tiki Barber, and the Giants lost their first two games of the season.
The Giants had to win three straight playoff games to get here. That’s tough enough. But they had to do it all away from Giants Stadium. They had to play in all kinds of weather. New York played in the warm Tampa Bay weather and they played in Artic-like weather in Green Bay when it was below 0. This is a tough team. Tom Brady needs to watch out and hope his offensive line blocks for him as this Giants defense is going to rush their linemen and attack.
For the Patriots, this has been a great season and also a controversial season also. The Patriots began their quest for a Super Bowl when they played their first game against the New York Jets. But after that game, they were caught cheating. The Pats were taping the play-calling when they were playing the Jets. Coach Belichick was fined and New England lost a draft pick. After all of that, their next game was against the San Diego Chargers who they beat in the Playoffs the previous year. The Chargers were talking bad about the Pats and calling them cheaters. That fueled New England. The Pats won that game: 38-14. Ever since then, all they’ve done is win. In the Playoffs, they had to get through a tough Jacksonville Jaguars team. Next was the San Diego Chargers, again. It was a hard fought game for the most part. But maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
If I had to pick a team to win, I would pick the Giants to win. I would like Michael Strahan to get a Super Bowl ring before he retires. I want the G-men to win but I think the Pats are going to win.
The Falcons have finally found a new coach. His name is Mike Smith. He was the Defensive Coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hopefully he can turn this franchise around and gain the trust of his players, the whole Falcon staff, and the trust of the city! The Falcons also got a new GM (General Manager): Thomas Dimitroff. He came from the Perfect Patriots. This should be helpful!
In the NBA, this month is All Star Weekend. This is my favorite sporting event of all time. You have the Dunk Contest, Three Point Shootout, Celebrity Game, Rookie & Sophomore game, Player Skills Challenge, Shooting skills challenge, and the All Star Game. Gerald Green will try to defend his Slam Dunk Title against: Rudy Gay, Dwight Howard, and Jamario Moon. These guys are great athletes and I can’t wait to see these guys perform. In the All Star Game, the West starters are: Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming. The East starters are: Jason Kidd, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Dwight Howard. I think the bench players for the for the West should be: Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Dirk Knowitzki, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudemire, Baron Davis, and Marcus Camby. I think the bench players for the East should be: Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Caron Butler, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, Zydrunas Illgauskas, and Vince Carter. I don’t think Shaq will be voted in by the fans or coaches. Even if he is, he can’t play because he is injured. Maybe they can have him as a judge in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He knows how tough it is to dunk if you are a big man. This may be good for Dwight Howard. But anyway, they just need to invite him to do something in New Orleans.
The Hawks have played poorly this month as they are 18-22. They are 4-9 in the month of January (currently). Josh Smith has stepped his game up. Especially his offensive game this month. He’s averaged 20 ppg, 8 rpg, 4 apg, 2 spg, and 4 bpg. Those are All Star type numbers! He should be rewarded with an All Star invitation. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith might not go to New Orleans because the Hawks are under 500. Both of them are having great seasons for the Atlanta Hawks.
In NCAAM (College Basketball), North Carolina lost their first game of the season. The Tar heels lost to Maryland. It was a close game but Maryland was too much for them. That means the Memphis Tigers moved up to the # 1 spot in the country. Next month is March Madness. So that means teams need to get their act together or else they will watch the tournament at home.
In the NHL, the NHL All Star Game was held in Atlanta. It was a crowded day in Philips Arena and the crowd saw a great and entertaining game. The East got the close win against the West: 8-7.
against the West: 8-7.
In the MLB, it looks like the Braves found their Center Fielder. His name is Mark Kotsay. Kotsay played for the Oakland A’s (Athletics) last season. The Center Fielder was bit by the injury bug last season. He only played 56 games. Once he’s healthy, he’ll be a great addition to this team. I think that the Braves are a good team. But they are just one starting pitcher away from being a World Series caliber team. They could go after Johan Santana, Oliver Perez, or Noah Lowry. I hope we can get one of those three pitchers without having to give up our young players such as: Chuck James, Yunel Escobar, Jo-Jo Reyes, Kelly Johnson, and Blaine Boyer just to name a few.
Finally, the Atlanta Braves minor league team: Richmond Braves (AAA) have agreed to move to Gwinnett County. Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners has agreed to build Richmond a new stadium. They will move to Gwinnett County in 2009.
Thanks for the Support, See you next month!
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