5-at-10: Hudson's serious injury, a relevant Big Ten proposal, Rocky 7 and the Mocs as the team to beat

Was it Sartre or Twain that mused, "We believe children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way" back in the day? No, that's right, it was the man you know better as Joe the Police Man from the 'What's Going Down' episode of "That's My Mama," Mr. Randy Watson.

That boy is good. Good and terrible.

From the "Talks too much" studios, let your soul glow.

Hudson's done - are the Braves?

photo Atlanta Braves' Tim Hudson is helped by a trainer after being injured on a play at first base during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Wednesday, July 24, 2013, in New York.

It was an expensive win for the Atlanta Braves in New York on Wednesday. The Braves' 8-2 win over the Mets was marred by the fact that veteran starting pitcher Tim Hudson was severely injured.

Hudson broke his right ankle when Eric Young Jr. stepped on Hudson's leg on a play at first base. It was one of those replays you only need to see once. It also cracked the foundation upon which these Braves are built.

Follow along:

We know the Braves are going to struggle at times to score runs. We know they will strike out a bunch. We know they have a lock-down closer at the back end of the bullpen. We know they can be special defensively. These are the facts. This formula has produced the largest divisional lead in baseball because they have five starting pitchers that go out there everyday, and 90 percent of the time give the Braves a chance to win. Until the last week, the rotation of Hudson, Maholm, Medlen, Minor and Teheran have been solid and reliable.

Now, Paul Maholm is on the DL with an arm bruise and Hudson is done for the year. Yes, Brandon Beachy had another solid minor league rehab start Wednesday, but the core strength of the Braves regular-season success has taken another blow.

Plus, by all accounts, Hudson was the team's clubhouse leader.

One of the amazing things about these Braves' run has been their ability to absorb every injury so far and handled them in stride.

Can they do it again?

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Big Ten's pitch

Hey, we've been as critical/comical about the Big Ten as anyone.

Their logo was junk. Their hypocrisy is laughable - hard to call the SEC thugs when THE Ohio State is the college sports version of the Bad News Bears and should be sponsored by Chico's Bail Bonds. The Legends and The Leaders? Well, those jokes wrote themselves.

Still, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany landed some solid strokes in his statements for reform Wednesday.

Delany's four-point plan included:

• Allowing former athletes to return to school to complete their degrees on the school's dime: This absolutely needs to happen.

• Juggle the 20-hour rule during the season: It's downright laughable to present a 20-hour limit for athletes in season when travel and practice and the like are considered.

• Address freshman eligibility and at-risk students: Delany stopped short of turning back the clock and making all freshmen ineligible, but a staggered level of eligibility and admission requirements deserves exploration.

• Miscellaneous expenses for athletes: Delany admitted that it has Title IX hurdles but he was firm that he was focused on all sports, not just football and hoops.

The last one is going to be near impossible for most of college athletic programs - there simply is not enough money there for 90-percent of Division I schools to pay their players.

Still the other items are worthy of discussion.

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Rocky's next generation

photo Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire are shown in a scene from the 1976 film "Rocky."

We had a lot of fun talking about underrated sports movies here and on the radio show yesterday. Thanks for playing along - and for those of you who can't listen to Press Row on 105.1 FM or on espnchattanooga.com, feel free to send the sports editor questions on The Twitter at @jgreesontfp.

Not to double up on the movie riff, but word came down Wednesday that the seventh installment in the Rocky series is now in the works, and before you blow a gasket, the premise is pretty intriguing.

The name of the movie is 'Creed' and it follows the path of Apollo Creed's grandson on his way to boxing glory. Of course the young Creed needs a trainer, and we'll give you two guesses who he seeks out? Nope not Bob Hope nor Mitch Kumstein, our old college roomate who was kicked out of school for night-putting, just putting at night with the 15-year-old daughter of the dean.

Yep, young Creed finds Rocky Balboa, who is out of boxing (probably has returned to Wall Street or his dental practice). Balboa returns to help the grandson of his former-nemesis-turned-best-friend.

Admit it, you're interested in that story line.

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This and that

Arkansas-Oklahoma State Live Blog

- Your UTC Mocs are picked to win the SoCon by the league's coaches. UTC had five defensive players and one offensive player picked on the preseason All-SoCon first team. Wow. Buckle up Mocs and embrace being the hunted rather than the hunter.

- The Los Angeles Dodgers are smoking hot. The Dodgers have now won 10 consecutive road games after scoring an unearned run in the ninth to tie the game and scoring five in the 10th to complete the sweep of Toronto with an 8-3 win Wednesday night. Good times. The Dodgers were in last place in the NL West on June 21. Now, after winning 23 of their last 28 games, they lead the division by 1.5 games.

- Nice addition for the Memphis Grizzlies, adding Mike Miller as a legit outside shooting threat to help balance the inside strength of Gasol and Z-Bo. Hey, if Downtown Patrick Brown approves of the move, you know it has to be good.

- The NASCAR truck series got in the dirt Wednesday. Good for them. NASCAR needs to reconnect to its roots. This was a fun a start. Somewhere Dale Earnhardt Sr. is smiling behind his sunglasses - and then he wrecked St. Peter's chariot coming off turn 3 at Cloudland Raceway and just smirked and said, "Rubbin's racin' my man."

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Today's question

Gang, please remember the mailbag, and feel to discuss whatever strikes your fancy.

If you need talking points, here are but three:

• What is the worst sports injury you can remember watching live? The Tim Krumrie leg injury in the Super Bowl was the first thing that came to mind watching Hudson's ankle last night.

• We have a former SEC football official on Press Row today. What questions would you want to hear from a former college football referee?

• If Apollo Creed's grandson, Drago's grandson, Clubber Lang's grandson, Chong Li's grandson (Bloodsport), Louden Swain's grandson (Vision Quest) and Daniel LaRusso's grandson (Karate Kid) were dropped in the Octagon for a battle royale, who wins?

Discuss and remember Friday's mailbag and to listen to Press Row today from 1-3 p.m. on ESPN radio 105.1 FM.

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