Post-July 4th Post

Let's start with some American-style quotes:

We already run the misfits outta our country. We sent 'em back to England. -- Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day! -- Bill Pullman in Independence Day

Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost, and will never lose a war... because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. -- George C. Scott in Patton

I went to ATL this past weekend to relax and forget about my current homestead in the Cackalack. It was a relaxing sports weekend other than the Tennis stuff (that I don't really care about) and McNair's shooting, which I actually am interested in.

I followed the Titans inaugural season in 1999 with the likes of Eddie George, Derrick Mason, Frank Wycheck, Jevon Kearse, Yancey Thigpen, and more. I followed them 'cause the Falcons dropped to 5-11 in 1999. The Titans were the second closest team to ATL and had superstar Air McNair leading the way. I watched the Music City Miracle live on a small antenna-fed, black/white tv. We lost power after an ice storm right before the AFC title game so I had to hook up a A/C power converter in my dad's Suburban to watch the Jacksonville game.

Needless to say, Air McNair has a special place in my sports maturation. McNair and the Titans kept me interested in pro football as the Falcons proceeded to go 16-30 from 1999-2001. I would attribute a lot of my current fanaticism to McNair's stay in Nashville. Either way, I put away a few lagers for America and McNair on Saturday Night.

Monday News Links

Mark Teixeira made the MLB All Star team, catching and surpassing Kevin Youklis in the fan voting. I understand the voting for Mark. He had more RBI's and homers. Fans want runs and Teixeira produces runs.

Here's an interesting article about former GT Athletes and their TV/Radio ventures. Players to note, are John Salley, Ryan Stewart, and Dorsey Levens.

SI's 50 Richest Athletes - GT Represented...

Sports Illustrated released an article with the 50 highest paid American athletes of 2009. GT had Starbury and Teixeira represented on the the list at #17 and #14, respectively. I went through the list and broke down the players by college/conference. It's pretty interesting seeing the way sports pay their players as well. No surprise to me is that 22 of the 50 athletes are NBA guys, 14 are from the MLB, 9 from the NFL, 3 from the PGA, and Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon finish the list off. The highest paid is obviously Tiger by almost double.

8 of the top 50 are from the ACC, which ain't too shabby. Especially considering it's three different sports. The Pac 10 has 6 of the top 50, the Big East has 5 all from the NBA, the SEC has 4, and the Big 12 and Big 10 both have 2 represented. This means that 20 of the top 50 highest paid American athletes didn't attend a four year university before going pro. Pretty interesting.

The most represented university on the list of athletes was UNC with 3. GT's 2 were tied with Tennessee, Syracuse, and Arizona. There were 19 Division I universities with only one representative in the top 50. No one from uga made the list...

I thought the article was interesting. Any thoughts?

Tuesday Linkage

The crime rate is soaring around the GT campus. Makes sense. There are no low-skill jobs 'cause NO ONE is hiring. Ask my little brother. Hence, burglary (a low-skill job) is becoming more and more prevalent. My window got busted out at the local Japanese steakhouse about 2 weeks ago (in Flo-town). I didn't have anything in the car but let it be a warning to you all. Make sure you keep your I-pods and change in your pockets, not your console, when you leave your car for Hibachi.

Congrats to David Duval for finishing Second in the U.S. Open. Duval is now $559,830 richer. Of course, that's before taxes.

Also, the Yankees come to ATL this week along with Tech great Mark Teixeira. The guy is a diesel. I wish he had stayed with the Braves. And since I like to combine Wieters with Teixeira as a general rule, here's a good AJC article about Baltimore-Wieters-mania.

Teixeira, Wieters, and Other Baseball Updates

After struggling to start the season, Mark Teixeira has taken off for the Yankees. He's leading the team with 17 homers and 50 RBI's. That's 1/6th of the Yankees' total RBI's and 1/5th of the Yankees' total homers. Not bad.

Matt Wieters came into the Baltimore organization as a super heralded college star... Currently, he's batting a lowly 0.167 and only has 4 hits in 7 game appearances. He's only a rookie but he'll need a helluva lot more improvement to stay in the bigs. I've been told by Orioles fans that his defense is superb, however.

Now here's a quick NCAA baseball tourney conference update:
1. SEC: 23-11 (67.6%)
2. ACC: 21-11 (65.6%)
3. PAC 10: 7-4 (63.6%)
4. Big 12: 15-14 (51.7%)
5. Big East: 3-3 (50.0%)
6. Big 10: 4-6 (40.0%)
7. Other: 41-65 (38.5%)

The Big East's lone team, Louisville, was eliminated. The SEC has two teams out of eight already in the CWS alongside Cal State-Fullerton. Good luck to UVA, Clemson, and UNC. You're the ACC's only hope.

Deck McGuire and other baseball news

Deck McGuire was named ACC Pitcher of the Year for 2009. This is the first time a Jacket has been dubbed Pitcher of the Year. Pretty cool and some good exposure for GT's (at times) average pitching. I think Winfield will agree that our pitching has been part of the reason we haven't gone all the way in Omaha...

Also, since A-Rod's return, Mark Teixeira is batting .341 and last night he hit two homers. Mark leads the Yankees with 28 RBI's this season. So that should make you feel a bit better.

Updates on Tech alum in pro sports

Currently, there've been some rough patches for Tech alum in the major pro sports. Mark Teixeira is struggling as a Yankee batting a lowly .211 in the New York "Homerun Derby Park." He's got three homers helpin' out his slugging percentage. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, Mark'll pull through and justify his contract to the Yankees.

Everyone's favorite name, Nomar Garciaparra, isn't doing much better batting a .179 for the 5-8 Oakland A's.

For completion's sake, Varitek is batting a .250, which isn't great but ain't too bad for a catcher.

In two playoff games for the Celtics, Stephon Marbury has only scored 2 points but he pulled down a few boards and got a few assists in the first game of the series. Otherwise, the playoffs have been like the rest of Marbury's tenure at the Celtics - less than stellar.

Will Bynum, on the other hand, has become a pretty good bench player for the Pistons and is putting in some solid minutes in a desperate effort against the unstoppable Cavaliers. Like I said a few weeks ago, I never thought the tiny man from our Final Four run would be the most successful NBAer when all of those players ran out of eligibility.

Thoughts on NBA playoffs or MLB are welcome.

When Johnson speaks, people listen

Very good article by Barnhart at the AJC. If you have time to read a couple minutes, read it. It's reassuring knowing that former players are solidly backing CPJ - something Gailey never really had.

And in case you haven't noticed, Mark Teixeira was booed mercilessly by his hometown Orioles fans in the Yankees' first series in Baltimore. I don't really get the anger that Northeastern fans have when it comes to baseball. I understand that he "looked" at a Baltimore deal but the Orioles weren't bringing the dough.

You'd never see Atlanta fans booing an Atlanta native that signs with Mets/Phillies. Plus, every time a former ATL great comes back to Turner Field, he usually receives an ovation for his services rendered. I think the sadder part is that Mark went 0-4 with 5 LOB meaning if he doesn't get his act together, the Yankee fans are gonna boo him, too.

Side note - that 7th inning for the Braves yesterday was terrible. Not quite as terrible as Tech's pounding received by GSU yesterday but still pretty terrible.

Teixeira and Braves news

I'm sorry but I've got to post my thoughts about baseball despite it being ~40 days away. Teixeira goes to the Yankees. ATL Braves legend Smoltz to the Red Sox. I understand that people want money but geez Louise. I don't want Smoltz to pull a Brett Favre. I grew up 37 miles from Fulton County. I've attended at least 100 Braves' games in my life. I've always had a strong dispassion for the Twins, Kirby Puckett, the Phillies, John Kruk, and the Expos. The Expos mostly because they should've technically ended the Braves consecutive pennants but the Strike saved us. The Yankees/Red Sox fall into a special category in my dislike list.

Smoltz and Teixeira are basically going to the two biggest douchebag fanbases ever. They'll get mad hate for every little mistake they make because of their hype. Oh well. It's business. I hate to say it but I'd do the same. I hope Smoltz wins a ring and it'll be hard to root against him if the Braves interleague against the Red Sox. Teixeira...and the Evil Empire? Damnit.

Any thoughts on recent MLB transactions involving your local club or GT alums? Feel free to comment.