Morning folks. Have you sent in a mailbag question? I bet you haven't.
It's easy - got a question about sports or just about anything, shoot it along and we'll answer it here on Friday. Deal? Deal.
From the "Talks too much" studios, let's make the magic happen.
Tiger
So after a disastrous 82 in his first tournament of the year and yet another WD in his second, Tiger Woods has said he is going to take a break from the game.
How long that lasts is anyone's guess.
Tiger Woods grimaces after finishing the ninth hole during the second round of the Phoenix Open golf tournament, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) In Tiger's words on his website:
"My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. Like I've said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be back."
Most believe Tiger to return very soon. But to look at what he said - and to take him at the measure of his words - Tiger could never come back.
This is not to say he won't play again, but do any of us with any level of confidence think we will ever see Tiger storm the fairway again.
No, this is not about Tiger being Tiger again. That was more than and a decade ago, and his prime has past, and that has nothing to do with the injuries, the off-the-course dramas and the total loss of the intimidation factor.
Tiger will never be Tiger again because we don't know if anyone will every be early 2000s Tiger. It was historical and overwhelming and made golf must-watch TV.
But are we to a point where Tiger may not even be a contender again? In the nine tournaments he has played since early in the 2014 season, he has either issued the cut or WD-ed in seven of them.
That's not a contender, let alone a guy with designs on contending again at major championships.
Missing the weekend in seven of your last nine events is the resume of a Monday qualifier rather than a Hall of Famer.
Tiger will be back on the course in the next few weeks.
There's no timetable, though on when Tiger will be back contending on the course.
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Falcons get a break
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) moves into the end zone for a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) This has been a nice start to the offseason for the Atlanta Falcons.
First, they hired the guy they targeted from the start in Dan Quinn, the former Seattle defensive coordinator.
Now, news comes from the league office that the Falcons have the easiest schedule in the NFL next year.
Here's CBSsports.com's story on the rankings, done by 2014 records. Of course, the overall stinkitude of the NFC South and the AFC South - the eight teams in those two division have the eight easiest schedules by record - carries a ton of weight in this list.
Top five hardest schedules
1. Pittsburgh - 147-107-2 (.579 winning in 2014)
2. Cincinnati - 144-112 (.563 winning in 2014)
3. San Francisco - 143-112-1 (.561 winning in 2014)
4. Seattle - 142-112-2 (.559 winning in 2014)
5. Arizona - 142-113-1 (.557 winning in 2014)
Five easiest schedules
1. Atlanta - 104-150-2 (.409 winning percentage in 2014)
2. Indianapolis - 106-149-1 (.417 winning percentage in 2014)
3. Houston - 106-148-2 (.417 winning percentage in 2014)
4. Tampa Bay - 108-146-2 (.425 winning percentage in 2014)
5. New Orleans - 109-145-2 (.429 winning percentage in 2014)
If you are curious, here's a link to the opponents of each NFL team in 2015
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UT nets nice win
Now, that's a little more like we expected, Mr. Josh Richardson.
Tennessee guard Josh Richardson (1) holds the ball while defended by Georgia guard Kenny Gaines (12) during their game, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Athens Banner-Herald, AJ Reynolds) After a stinker Saturday in which he scored by two points in a UT loss, Richardson responded with a gem at Memorial gym at Vandy on Wednesday night as the Vols tippy-toed out of Nashville with a 76-73 overtime win.
Richardson's stat line was razor-sharp. He had 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Dude played 42 of the 45 minutes and was aces.
It was a very nice and needed win for Donnie Knoxville and Co., who improved to 14-9 overall and 6-5 in the SEC and stay on track to contend for a postseason spot.
And the Vols were more than a little bit fortunate to grab the victory, considering they rallied from 65-60 with less than 17 seconds to play and made the most of Vandy missing three of six free-throw attempts in the final moments of regulation.
Man, this UT bunch plays a ton of close games, you know?
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This and that
- Speaking of close games, your UTC Mocs will play at Wofford tonight in a big SoCon showdown.
- Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin fired more than a few shots at Oregon, the school to which EWU senior quarterback Vernon Adams will transfer. Oregon also happens to be the season-opener for EWU, so there's that
- Tip of the visor to TFP prep aces Ward Gossett and Lindsey Young for the stories on potential four-time state wrestling champs in today's TFP. Catch all the coverage from Franklin and Macon from Ward and Lindsey, respectively, here and in the paper. For you Twitter folks, their Tweets will have #bestofpreps.
- TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer has had a very good week. Today he tips his Cards cap to Jerry Tarkanian. Tark was an interesting dichotomy. Dude would break every rule but was by all accounts honest to a fault. Strange, too, that, as Weeds noted, he died in the same week as Dean Smith - two dominant figures of college hoops from that era and two strikingly different images, you know?
Macon County star linebacker Roquan Smith announces he is attending UCLA during a national signing day event at the school's gymnasium on Feb. 4, 2015, in Montezume, Ga. - Roquan Smith is scheduled to announce his college choice Friday. Yes, we're about 10 days from national signing day, but Smith reopened his recruitment after picking UCLA when he learned UCLA's defensive coordinator is taking a job with the Falcons. So it goes, and yet another troublesome wrinkle in the current signing day process.
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Today's question
February 12 is Georgia's birthday. Yes, the state of Georgia was founded on this day in 1733. It was the 13th colony. We remember this from our sixth-grade Georgia history class at Griffin Middle School. (We also saw it on the interwebs, so there's that.)
Rushmore of Georgia? It could be Georgia on My Mind. Could be Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach. Could be Georgia Bulldogs.
Rushmore of Georgia. Go - and remember the mailbag.