By
Jordan
Watlington


Hello Gwinnett,

As usual, there is a lot to discuss in the world of sports. Let’s start with MLB. The Braves are playing terrific baseball and are competing with the Mets for 1st place in the NL East. On the 24th of May, John Smoltz defeated a good friend and an old teammate, Tom Glavine to get his 200th career win. John pitched 7 innings gave up 7 hits, and he did not give up a run. You really couldn’t have scripted it any better than what happened that special night. The Braves beat their divisional rival, John Smoltz beats Tom Glavine for the third time this year and John gets his 200th career win. PERFECT!!! Mr. Smoltz seems to be well on his way to the Hall of Fame, along with his former teammates, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux.
Braves manager Bobby Cox continues to climb the all time list for most wins by a major league manager. As long as he continues to get “lights out” pitching from Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Rafael Soriano & Bob Wickman, and contributions from Edgar Renteria, Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, and the left field platoon of Willie Harris & Matt Diaz, the wins should keep coming. Chipper Jones has to get healthy again (hand injury). Andruw Jones has to step up on offense. Maybe he is pressing too much, since this is his free-agent year. I am sure he will go on a hot streak soon! The Braves seem to be serious about making a run at the playoffs this year, recently bringing catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and outfielder Willie Harris from the minors, and sending outfielder Ryan Langerhans, 1st baseman Craig Wilson, and pitcher Mark Redman packing. As I am completing this column, I have just found out that the Braves bullpen has been dealt a huge loss. Lefty setup pitcher Mike Gonzalez will have Tommy John surgery, meaning he is lost until next season. Look for Tyler Yates or Chad Paronto to step into the hole left by the loss of Gonzalez.
Around the majors, Alex Rodriguez is off to a great start, but the Yankees are struggling. The Bronx Bombers are 9.5 games behind their rivals the Boston Red Sox and 9.5 games out of first place. Although they have key injuries to their pitchers and Jason Giambi is being investigated for remarks made to USA Today, the bright spots are A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Roger Clemens coming back to join the starting rotation. Slugger Barry Bonds has slumped since getting to 745 career home runs, 10 short of Hank Aaron’s record. It will be interesting to see the reaction when Bonds passes Aaron sometime this summer. Mr. Aaron has stated that he will not be in attendance when the record is broken.
The NBA playoffs have gotten underway and it has been incredible so far. Who would have thought that the Bulls would have beaten the Miami Heat in 4 games? I know I didn’t. The “Baby” Bulls dismantled the Heat by forcing Dwayne Wade to pass the ball more. I personally think that Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich is the only player that knows and understands how to play Dwayne’s game. Ben Wallace, PJ Brown, and Tyrus Thomas made Shaquille O’Neal look like a rookie during that series by getting him into foul trouble, by boxing him out, and by playing very good defense on him. The Bulls played great until the second round against the Pistons. The Pistons were leading the Bulls 3 games to none and it seemed certain the Pistons would win the series. However, the Bulls weren’t going to go quietly. The Bulls would win the next 2 games but the Pistons were a little aggravated by this so they closed out the series in game 6. So as of May 25, the Detroit Pistons are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers and The San Antonio Spurs are playing against the Utah Jazz. I think the NBA could possibly see a 2005 finals rematch of the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs. Even though the Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns who I previously picked to win the Finals, I will have to go with an Eastern Conference team and pick the Pistons. Hopefully I’ll be right!
The NBA held their draft lottery recently, and our Atlanta Hawks have an opportunity to draft 2 potential impact players in the 1st round, with the #3 and # 11 picks. Hawks GM Billy Knight is being quiet about which direction he may be leaning toward, however, it is obvious that the Hawks are still in need of a “true” point guard, as well as a dominant center. The most dominant center, Greg Oden, is sure to be gone at either 1 or 2. If Oden is drafted #1, then Kevin Durrant will certainly be picked #2. Names being discussed for the 3rd pick are Mike Conley, Jr. a point guard from Ohio State and Brandan Wright, a forward from UNC. This draft can make the Hawks into either contenders or pretenders very quickly. Hopefully, they will address their needs in the draft, or by a trade. A possibility may have been Roy Hibbert, a center from Georgetown. However, he recently removed his name from the draft, deciding to go back to school for his senior year.
Just when the Atlanta Falcons mini-camp was starting up, Michael Vick finds himself in trouble. He is being investigated for possible involvement and knowledge of an illegal dog-fighting ring that took place at a residence he owned in Virginia. So far, no charges have been filed against the Falcon’s QB. He really didn’t get specific when he talked about the allegations against him. Falcon’s owner Arthur Blank sat down and talked with Vick and told him to get things together or this could possibly be his last year in Atlanta. I doubt Vick will be traded because he has a lot of money on his remaining years left. Hopefully, all of this nonsense will blow by and people will never even remember this happening. I know he’s personally looking forward to this season and I’m sure he’ll make spectacular plays to keep the Georgia Dome roaring!
As always, thanks for your support! See you next month!