Braves final stand
We all loved the finish.
Atlanta needing a strong final week-plus and facing a must-win scenario in game 162 of the season.
It was drama and ‘er’ month baseball at its best. The short-staffed, injury-riddled Braves delivered their best when they needed it most.
That was Monday.
Tuesday brought the harsh reality that emotion ruled to end the regular season, but talent ranks above all come the playoffs.
And of course Atlanta’s 4-0 Game 1 loss to San Diego — which got a moon shot homer from Fernando Tatis (who has to make the Rushmore of Fernandos, right?) and a dazzling 12-K playoff debut from Michael King — was shadowed by the latest injury bug that has plagued the Braves all season.
Chris Sale was left off the wildcard roster because of back trouble.
So, with the season on the line, and the staff’s ace (Spencer Strider) on the IL since April and the league best pitcher all season (Sale) unavailable, the Braves turn to Max Fried.
Unless the Braves can rally and win tonight and Thursday, this likely will be Fried’s last start in a Braves uniform. The free-agent-to-be or the Braves front office types have not even discussed his next contract.
So go to it, boys. We’ll be watching.
But at some point the injuries are just too much to overcome, and that’s the way it feels with the Sale stuff, you know?
Great sports time
Man, what a week in sports. We had, in the last 48 hours, a smorgasbord of tremendous sports action.
> We had a rescheduled MLB DH that decided the postseason fate for three teams in games 161 and 162;
> We had two Monday Night Football games that included Jared Goff becoming the first NFL QB to complete all his passes (minimum 10 attempts) in history as well as The South Beach Snoozer of Mason Rudolph v Brett Hundley;
> We have NBA training camps opening as well as the NHL about to start;
> The MLB wildcard round is across the dial from Tuesday through Thursday;
> College football is in full swing;
> The WNBA playoffs are here, too.
Is there a better sports month than October?
I say nope.
Sooner rather than later
We have all thought it during the landscape overhaul that has engulfed college football over the last couple of years:
› The playoff expanding, and teams and leagues jockeying for more bids and guarantees.
› The transfer portal allowing Miami to have a nine-year veteran tight end, giving QB free agency a new meaning (unless you are Hugh Freeze, of course) and even turning the word “portalling” into a thing.
› NIL, which still has few regulations and never-ending impacts on the game.
We all kinda thought it was not if but when will the power schools break away and do their own thing and keep the megabucks for themselves.
It appears, according to this story in The Athletic, a framework is being developed by a committee of some sports heavyweights.
Of the details of college football’s “Super League,” which reportedly would have the dreadful name of “College Student Football League,” there are some eye-poppers.
The top 72 FBS teams would compete in the Power 12 Conference — named because it would be 12 six-team, geographically-based divisions — atop the food chain.
The other 64 FBS teams, well, good luck to you guys in the Group of 8. The top teams in the Group of 8 would be in line for promotion to the Power 12, not unlike European soccer’s format.
Granted, there still is a long way to go for this to become a reality — and I don’t believe for a second Greg Sankey (leg) is going to sit idly by and let this unfold without being a major player in the works — but Tuesday’s announcement of this plan can’t be dismissed if for no other reason than the power brokers (like UT benefactor and Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam) on the committee who crafted it.
Also on the committee are Grant Hill as well as supportive “ambassadors” like UT AD Danny White, UNC AD Bubba Cunningham and West Virginia President Gordon Gee among others
(If you are wondering, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Vandy and Louisville would be in the MidSouth division. Florida, FSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami and UCF would be in the Southeast Division.)
The goal of this system is pretty clear: It has designs on trying give uniform rules across the sport and control costs (yes, a salary cap was included).
Not sure if it’s doable, but I’m also not sure the current state of college football is doable long term for the entire sport either.
Thoughts?
This and that
› To answer your question, nope, did not watch a single moment of the VP debate.
› Davante Adams wants a trade. Hmm, if you are the Chiefs, do you not send multiple picks to Las Vegas for Adams? What about, say, the Commanders, and Adams would like spiffy running routes for Jayden Daniels, right?
› A type of firefly is to be considered as possibly being the first species on the federal Endangered list. Man, who didn’t love catching fireflies on a summer night as a kid? Oh, wait. Uh oh.
› Been a hard week in terms of celebrity deaths. Now we learn that John Amos, the patriarch of “Good Times” as well as Mr. McDowell in the sidesplittingly funny “Coming to America,” has died. He was 84, and very good at his craft.
› Daniel-Day Lewis is getting back into acting. I was unaware he had retired. It would be nice to retire, I think. At least for a couple of years. Then I think I would get a little bored. Thoughts?
› You know the rules. Here’s Paschall with a preview of UT’s defensive schemes to slow down Arkansas QB1 Talyen Green.
Today’s questions
Which way Wednesday starts this way:
› Which sports month is the best? I’m voting for October.
› Which will happen first, college football breaking into the Power 12 and the rest, or the college football playoff expanding again?
› Which injury hurt the Braves the most this season?
› Which drew your TV attention last night, Braves or VP debate or other?
Answer some which ways, ask some which ways.
As for today, Oct. 2, let’s review.
“The Bridge over the River Kwai” premiered on this day in 1957. Tremendous feature film.
“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” was released on this day in 1902.
Gandhi would have been 155 today.
Sting is 73. Maury Wills would have been 92.
Tom Petty died on this day in 2017.
Steve Sabol, the NFL Films founder, would have been 82. Does he make the NFL all-time Rushmore of non-players, coaches, owners?
Go and remember the mailbag.