Eight Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

I had a busy weekend making trips to both Knoxville and Nashville so I only think 8 things this week. That is just how it goes sometime.

1. Georgia Thoughts


A kick to the gut game Wednesday night in Athens that we gave away followed by a unreal win in Thompson-Boling arena for the first time since I was a freshmen in college. (That was 10 years ago). Where Georgia was most successful on Saturday was on the boards. Georgia limited Tennessee to just 9 offensive boards, their second-lowest tally of the season.  Safe to say coach Fox  challenged his team to perform better on the defensive glass after they had yielded 23 offensive-rebounds to Vanderbilt in Athens on Wednesday.  The Dawgs responded by keeping the Vols off the boards, and winning the rebounding battle 35-27. If we can get anything consistently from Jeremy Price down low we have an opportunity to make a run. However, that is easier said than done.

I did make the trip to Knoxville and I was impressed with Thompson-Boling arena. It was my first time inside Thompson-Boling since I was a student manager for the baseball team and we would shower inside T.B.A. on getaway day. The building has since been renovated and I think they did a really nice job and the luxury boxes and Loge Suites are really nice, those are the ones that take up one half of the upper level. From what I was told overall capacity was reduced from 25,000 to 20,800 as they also got rid of the last couple of rows of bleachers in the upper level. Furthermore, tons of banners hanging in the rafters from the Women's team. This is similar to Athens where Gymnastics has all the banners in the building. I am still impressed they sell 20,000 a game for both women's and men's basketball. That is unreal.

Another opportunity for the Dawgs as we have two more weeks of regular season SEC play. This week Georgia visits Florida during the week before hosting South Carolina Saturday night in the Stegasorous.The trip to Gainesville will not be easy as we are 11-20 all time in the O'Dome. However, with the way we have played on the road this season and the Gators potentially missing Chandler Parsons...who knows what will happen. I do know if we can hold serve at home these final two home games we will hit twenty wins and should find the Dawgs dancing in March.

2. Baseball Thoughts
a. It is no secret I think Carlos Gonzalez is one of the best players in baseball, but when I saw these numbers I was a little concerned. For starters, CarGo has only had 1 season of greatness. In addition his BABIP is very high (.384), causing some to question if he was more lucky than good.
b. Other people look his road numbers as cause for concern. Last season he had a line of 289-8-41-41 in 71 games. However, I do not worry about that road line as much as others because .289 is still respectable and with Coors Field as his home ballpark you have to expect some drop off when the Rockies leave the friendly confines of Coors Field. 
c. Is it me or are we seeing and hearing a lot of weight loss/gain numbers this spring? It seem like more than usual. Here are a couple of the countless of numbers that I have found intriguing: The Panda, Pablo Sandoval, lost 38 lbs, body fat down 11%. He now weighs 240 with 19%. The next intriguing weight loss is AROD who has weighed in at 223 lbs. which is down from 233 at end of last year. Body fat dropped from 12 percent to 9. Lastly, Padres 3B Chase Headley reported heavier/stronger at 222 pounds after offseason program. Played most of 2010 at 201, 202 pounds.
d. The Pirates won 17 games last year on the road (64 loses). This is the worst in baseball since expansion in 1961 to 162 games.
e. Carlos Marmol K/9 mark of 15.99 is best mark in baseball history, min 50 IP. He had more Ks than Blanton, Lowe, Arroyo, Carmona. Those other guys are starting pitchers while Marmol is a closer.

f. Joel Hanrahan in 2010: K/9 of 12.92 included a 13.50 K/9 and a 4.00 K/BB ratio over his last 33 appearances. He should be the Pirates closer this season.

g. Nick Cafardo in the Sunday Globe Baseball Notes gives us his list of the top 30 managers in baseball. What are everyone's thoughts?

h. I had no idea Damon and Manny were so close in all-time hits. The two are only separated by just two hits (2,573-2,571) in Manny’s favor. Most career hits combined by a set of teammates?

i. For the Rays last season, Jason Bartlett hit .254 with four homers. For the Brewers last season, Yovani Gallardo hit .254 with four homers and went 14-7 with a 3.84 ERA.
j. Through the first four years of his career, Tim Lincecum is 56-27 (.675) with a 3.04 ERA, pretty darn close to Giants Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, who was 62-31 (.667) with a 3.05 ERA in his first four seasons.
k. Pretty neat to see Under Armour being names the "Official Performance Footwear" of MLB. Say what you want about MLB but they have done a great job finding different sponsors for each part of the uniform. Majestic is official provider of the uniform while Nike is the official provider of all the apparel that is not the uniform. (Undershirts, etc). Who thought you could sell the uniform three different ways?
l. Some of the top baseball players that have been wearing the UnderArmour brand include Buster Posey, Jonathon Papelbon, Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Wieters, Jose Reyes, and Nick Markakis.
m.Monday was a big day in Baseball history as on that date in 1968 MLB announced a minimum annual salary of $10,000. Boy those times sure have changed.



3. 2011 College Football A Dream Season
This is my early breakdown of the top games of the 2011 season and if I could watch any game, any weekend this is what I would choose. I tried to look at National game of interests but my SEC bias and love is to strong.

September 3rd- Georgia-Boise State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Are the Dawgs back? Last time UGA opened with Boise we won the SEC and was an Auburn 4th and 19th completion away from maybe playing for the National Championship. (My worst memory in Sanford Stadium)

September 10th- Alabama at Penn State Happy Vally, Pa. Two of College Football classic teams (along with classic uniforms) match-up in a great setting in central Pennsylvania.

September 17th- Oklahoma-Florida St in Tallahassee. Potential for #1 versus #2 the third week of the season. Wow. If it is not #1 versus #2 it will be a top 5 matchup.

September 24th-Florida State at Clemson- The game known as the Bowden Bowl for the longest of times currently does not have a Bowden on staff at either school. Tough conference opener for the Noles on the road especially after playing Oklahoma the week before. For what its worth Clemson does host Auburn at home the week before. (more on this subject later).

October 1st-Alabama-Florida in the Swamp. Two of the last three national champions. We have witnessed some classics between these two the past few years. The SEC's two flagship programs. As a UGA guy it hurts writing that last sentence.

October 8th-Ohio State at Nebraska in Lincoln. Holy smokes what a game. These two have the potential to play each other in two months at the first ever Big 10 championship game in Indy.

October 15th-Florida at Auburn-Underrated rivalry by SEC standards. This game has seen Spurrier kick a 40 yard field goal to win the Heisman Trophy. Who can forget Auburn kicker Wes Byrum making the game winning field goal twice in 2007 and then run off the field doing the Gator Chomp. This game seems to always come to a kick.

October 22nd- USC at Notre Dame-Both schools combined have produced the most national titles (21), Heisman trophy winners (14),All-Americans, College Football Hall of Famers and future NFL Hall of Famers (21)than any other collegiate series.

October 29th-Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville. This statement has been written for about 18 years but it is time to change the balance of power in this rivalry to the school from the state of Georgia.

November 5th-LSU at Alabama- The Crimson Tide leads the head-to-head series at 45–24–5, but the series is split evenly at 14-14-1 over the last 29 seasons, including 2-2 during Saban's 4-year tenure at Alabama.

November 12th-Auburn at Georgia- The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry- Auburn holds 54-52-8 lead in the rivalry. However, Georgia leads the cumulative score by thirty-eight points: 1,809-1,771, or a per-game average of 15.86-15.53.

November 19th-Southern Cal at Oregon-One of college football's most prolific offense's against what has been one of it's best defenses. Can Monte Kiffin stop the fast break offense?

November 26th-Alabama at Auburn- The amount of fist-fights for this game will be in the 1000's. (I am talking in the stands, at tailgates, at malls in Mobile) The Alabama National Guard might need to be called in. And no I am not kidding.

December 3rd- SEC Championship in Atlanta. Usually the winner plays in the National Championship Game thus a defacto Semi-final game.

December 10th- Army-Navy in Landover, Md (Fed Ex Field-home of the Washington Redskins). I went to this game this past season in Philly. This game stands for such much more than a football game. Great pageantry. Something every college football fan should witness once.

4. Spring Training Fun Facts

a. The Florida Grapefruit and Arizona Cactus leagues are a 50-50 split, with 15 teams training in each of the two states. With 15 in each place look for more split squad games and off days as an odd number has to be a schedule maker worst nightmare. (This is why we have 16 NL teams and 14 AL teams).
b. The only double-decker spring training baseball stadium in Florida, would be at the home of the Atlanta Braves which is Champion Stadium at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Champion Stadium is also the state’s tallest spring training ballpark at 100 feet high.
c. Only one Grapefruit League teams share a stadium and that would be the Cardinals and Marlins in Jupiter, Florida. Both the Twins and Red Sox train in the city of Ft. Myers but play at different ballparks.
d. In Arizona we have 10 Cactus League teams share five spring training sites. The Reds and Indians train together at Goodyear, Arizona. The Royals and Rangers both train at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Az. The Padres and Mariners call the Peoria Sports Complex home. Camelback Ranch is the home of both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. Arizona and Colorado share a facility at the brand new Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Az.
e. Do not ask me why this is more commonplace in Arizona than Florida. My only guess would be cheaper land and more readily available land for these complexes in Arizona than in Florida. But who knows.
f. This year Washington National pitcher John Lannon got to spring training by taking Amtrak from metro DC to Samford, Fl. Pretty cool story.
g. The Yankees train in Tampa, but the Tampa Bay Rays train 94 miles away in Port Charlotte.

5. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to while cruising the mean streets of metropolitan Sylvania is Black by Pearl Jam. If memory serves me correct I do believe that the greatest kicker in Screven County history Donald Sheppard was also a big fan of Pearl Jam back in the day. Last week's trivia question was to name the top 10 home run hitters in Braves history. Co-worker Bob and Donald came the closest each naming seven a piece. The list includes:
1. Hank Aaron 733
2. Eddie Matthews 493
3. Chipper Jones 436
4. Dale Murphy 371
5. Andruw Jones 368
6. Joe Adcock 239
7. Bob Horner 215
8. Javy Lopez 214
9. Wally Berger 199
10. Del Crandall 170

This week's trivia question is The Atlanta Braves took the longest to have a player achieve 50+ home
runs in a season, at 130 years when Andruw Jones hit 51 in 2005.

Can you name the 11 other teams that have never had a player hit 50+ home runs in a season? (5-AL, 6-NL)

I was able to name 8 of the 11.


6. College Football Notes
a. Does anyone realize that the Irish will play Navy in Dublin, Georgia Ireland to open up the 2012 season. How are both schools pulling this off? How much of my tax dollars will be used to shuttle big time Naval officers to Ireland? What about the security issues of keeping safe future officers in the United States military?
b. Notre Dame that same season also plays a neutral site game in Chicago at Soldier Field against the University of Miami. The boys from better hope winter does not come early to the midwest. Just saying.
c. Why does the ACC wait until February to release its football schedule? UGA knows it conference and non-conference schedule for the next four to five seasons. In addition the ACC needs to do a better job of designing a schedule to benefit its stronger teams.
d. The Captain touched on this issue this past mid week with this very informative post.LINK IT
e. Here are some examples, why does Florida State have to play Oklahoma at home the week before traveling to Clemson?
f. Virgina Tech opens up with four cupcakes before back to back homes games against Clemson and Miami. Why do they not break up those cupcakes and split the Clemson and Miami games?
g. Why does ACC make Virginia finish with Florida State and Virginia Tech? Why is North Carolina partnered with the same Clemson-Miami back to back game issue that Virginia Tech faces.
h. How about this stretch for Clemson? Out of conference versus Auburn at home, Florida State at home, Virginia Tech on the road. Who at Clemson angered someone at the conference office?
i. Is this the case of basketball minded guys putting together a football schedule? Their might be something to this thought. Need to more research on how and who designs the ACC football schedule.
j. Let's look at how the SEC schedules its marquee games. Let's look at UGA where our four biggest games (my opinion) are Boise State, Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech. Boise is first game of the season so we have all summer, this is the third year UGA has had a bye week before Florida in last 20 years (we are 3-1 with the bye week). Just as a reminder we only have three wins against the Gators in the past 20 years. We play New Mexico State before Auburn and Kentucky before Tech.
k. Alabama's four biggest games are at Penn State, Tennessee, at Florida and at Auburn. They play Kent State before traveling to Penn State. They play at Ole Miss before the 3rd Saturday in October. Before the tide roll into Florida they host Arkansas at home. Before the Iron Bowl the Tide play host to Georgia Southern.
l. Auburn's four biggest games are Florida, at LSU, at UGA, and home to Bama. The tigers schedule is tougher by SEC standards but a capcake last season when everything came together and NCAA rules did not apply anymore. Before hosting Florida the Tigers play at Arkansas. After the Florida game they travel to LSU. Not easy or fun. However, the War Turkey's have a bye before UGA and play Samford not Stanford before the Iron Bowl.
m. LSU four biggest games in 2011 include Oregon, Florida, Auburn and Alabama. This is another tough schedule by SEC standards as the Bayou Bengals also visit Morgantown, West Virginia and the Mountaineers in 2011. The Tigers open with Oregon so they have all summer to prepare. Before the Tigers host the Gators, UK will visit the Bayou. LSU must visit Tennessee before Auburn. However, they have a bye week before Alabama.
n. The one team that did get the short end of the scheduling stick is Florida. However, they have not left the state for an out of conference since the early 90's. Plus they are Florida so who cares. The Gators have five really big games this season in Bama, at LSU, at Auburn, Georgia and Florida State. They get a bye before the Dawgs and Furman before the Noles. However, the must play Bama, LSU, Auburn in a row.
o. I know I used this line before but after looking at that schedule no wonder Urban Meyer wanted to "spend more time with his family."
p. Wednesday was a very bad day for Auburn Tigers. For one it was confirmed that the oaks in Toomer's Corner were poisoned and said to be dying. I could go on and on on this topic but I would think no one at Florida would poison UGA or no one at Georgia would poison Smokey the Tennessee mascot. I would also like to think no one at South Carolina would chip or crack Howard's Rock. Furthermore, you would think no Clemson Tiger would poison the South Carolina live mascot Big Spur but who knows. I know the person who did this was not a Bama alumni or season ticket holder but nonetheless where are we as a society.
q. With that being said, any time I see a real Yellow Jacket.....I attack with Raid.
r. Back to Auburn's bad day on Wednesday Thayer Evans, reported that NCAA was investigating coach Trooper Taylor (the jumping jack hat backwards guy) for possible recruiting violations.
s. I like to take everything Evans writes with a grain of salt so no telling the truth but their is a quote in the article that we will see as the quote of the week.
t. Whether true or not this is not a sentence you want written about your program; In December, Lorio told FOXSports.com that several coaches and students saw Robinson show off cash and a new iPhone at school after making an unofficial visit to Auburn earlier in the year.
u. Again this is all circumstantial and has not been proven yet. However, it seems like a lot of smoke for a fire that has yet to be confirmed.


7. College Hoops Power 5
1. Duke- I pray to god the NCAA does not give them the easiest road to a championship like last season.
2. Ohio State- Only two losses were at Wisconsin and at Purdue.
3. Pittsburgh-First road loss was this season was the Garden against the Johnnies. You can't hold that against them.
4. San Diego State- Roomdawg says this could be a 7-2 upset in tourney. I say they could be Final Four team.
5. BYU- They travel to San Diego on Saturday in a rematch of the classic they played earlier this season.

8. Extracurricular Activities
a. Nashville, Tn keeps getting cooler and cooler everytime I visit. Another awesome time on Saturday night. I need to make more trips besides what seems like almost once every two years. I do know I will be going back in October (unless the Braves are playing in NLCS which I hope is the case).
b. Otter's chicken fingers needs to open a location closer to downtown Atlanta than out in the burbs....just saying.
c. If I could only watch one television show a week it would be the Amazing Race. Is it me or does the show seem to get better and better each season. I am worried about the Cowboys as they are one of my favorite competitors and it will be real difficult for them to come back and not get eliminated.
d. However, it is the Amazing Race and crazy happens all the time. For the first stage of the race the racers have gone to Sidney, Australia. How have I never been to Australia before? First thing their summer is our winter so December, January, and February are the times to go.
e. Furthermore, I have yet to talk to anyone who has gone to Australia and not have an amazing time.
f. How I Met Your Mother was decent last night. They have had a good run of about 4-5 episodes in a row so it is tough to bring your A game every week. Seinfeld might be only show that was awesome every episode.
g. Speaking of HIMYM I need to rant on Ted. He spends a majority of the episodes wanting a serious relationship and has soon as he gets in one he flees. He did this last week when he went to Minnesota for no reason. Why does that happen?
h. If I were only allowed to watch two shows a week the second one would be Modern Family. I love every character and Cam's line at the start of last week's episode might have been the best one in show history.
i. If you could watch only two shows what would they be?


Tweet of The Week
This week's tweet comes from @jspriggsdakid who is Jordon Spriggs who is a defensive back for Auburn.
man who is good at writing papers??????????? i pay.........

If I was an Auburn football player I would think I am invincible and that rules do not matter because I will get away with them thus I might see why Jordon does not think they are big deal.


Text of The Week
From the best baseball coach in Screven Coount history...
Am I only person not impressed with Blake Griffin jumping over the car. We've seen guys jump from twice as far back from free throw line. I could jump over hood of the KIA and I'm washed up with sh!tty knees.
I think the most impressive part was Baron Davis fitting inside a KIA. Coach Smoak wished he had my calves....what does that mean?


Quote of The Week
This week's quote of the week comes from Lydia Robinson who is the grandmother of Greg Robinson the athlete whose recruitment to Auburn is being investigated by the NCAA. (See article above) Safe to say she is not big fan of Auburn. The quote is from the article.

She said Auburn's coaches "weren't very intelligent" and was especially critical of Taylor, who she says "got a lot of lies in there when he was talking."

That reminds me of the old joke, how do you know so and so is lying? Their lips are moving.


Picture of The Week
If you look behind the basketball you will find a handsome devil in a red sweatervest. Sitted next to me is one Tyler Graham, Alex Ingle and Andrew Walters.  A-list crew.

The Captain Returns - to rant about FSU's 2011 Football Schedule

Today the ACC's College Football Blogger at ESPN posted a message saying, in essence, that FSU fan's should quit whining about the recently released ACC and 2011 Football Schedule. I had a bit of an issue with something she said:

"In order to be the best, Florida State -- and Clemson and Virginia Tech and anyone else who wants to join the club -- has to beat the best. Line up an SEC schedule and knock 'em down, just like Auburn did last year, Alabama the year before, Florida, LSU and so on..."

Well let's just take a look at those tough SEC Schedules:

2010 Auburn:
-Road Games? 4 road games all year.
-OOC Schedule? 2 Sun Belt teams and an FCS team (2 of those in the middle of the SEC schedule). 1 non-conference BCS opponent.
-Juggernaut Arkansas State the week before their game AT Mississippi State on short rest
-10 days of rest before Clemson their only non-SEC BCS opponent.
-Full two weeks off before Bama, their biggest rival

2009 Alabama:
-Road Games? 4 road games all year (Played a Neutral site in SEC-riffic Atlanta vs. VA Tech - who do you imagine had the home crowd feel there?)
-OOC Schedule? 2 Sun Belt Teams and an FCS team. 1 non-conference BCS opponent.
-Full offseason of rest/preparation before their only non-SEC BCS opponent.
-No short rest games. None. period.
-FCS laugher a week before their HOME game against Auburn, their biggest rival

2008 Florida:
-Road Games? 4 games all year (played a neutral site game against UGA, in the State of Florida, "neutral", right....)
-OOC Schedule? a WAC and an FCS team and really stepped up relative to the rest of the SEC and played two non-conference, BCS opponents
-No short rest games. None. Period.
-2 weeks off before road game at Tennessee (Rival), 2 weeks off after home game against LSU (Rival)
-FCS laugher a week before their game against FSU, their biggest rival

And now 2011 FSU:

-Road Games? 5 Road games
-OOC Schedule? 2 FCS Teams, No. 1 team in the nation, and an SEC team. 2 non-conference BCS Opponents
-No week off after playing the No. 1 team in nation and before playing biggest division rival, a team FSU hasn't beaten in their place in 10 years.
-3 days rest after other significant division rival (NC State) & before longest geographical road trip in the conference (Tally to Boston).
-ZERO Rest before a Rival or a Marquee opponent.
-ZERO benefit of an FCS laugher before ROAD game against biggest rival, Florida

I agree with her point as a whole. The schedule is the schedule. Play it to the best of your ability, beat who you're supposed to beat, make some breaks and beat a team maybe you're not supposed to and maybe you're in the national title discussion. But please don't get caught in the trap of throwing up other schedules without doing full research. It's clear the schedules she referenced were just not as tough as the one FSU faces this year.

However, "toughness" can be relative, so I'll just say this: none of those other three schedules she referenced were laid out as nonsensically as FSU's 2011 schedule. The SEC wouldn't and doesn't do that to their title favorites, why did the ACC?

*note: I didn't compare LSU's 2007 schedule b/c that was a juggernaut. It was the only schedule she referenced that actually helped her point. She was just blindly throwing mud against the wall and hoping it would stick with the other schedules.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

1. Georgia Thoughts
A 1-1 week for the Dawgs and if I had to choose which game to win it would have been the South Carolina game. On Tuesday night we lost a tough game to Xavier when we did not get any breaks, but at the same time you have to create your on breaks. In the last two contests against the Musketeers, Xavier has shot 60 free throws, we have shot 20. Yes, I believe you can call that fair.

On Saturday it was a tale of two halves for the Dawgs. In what was a strange game to say the least, with Georgia cruising into the half with a 28-9 lead, only to let Carolina out score them 47-32 after the break.  But after all the dust settled in the Colonial Life Center, Georgia came out on top with the 60-56 win. I have said it before and I will say it again; a win is a win is a win.

Next week gets bigger as the Dawgs will play both SEC teams from the Volunteer State. Wednesday night the Commodores visit Athens in a huge game with the winner having the inside track at the #2 seed out of the SEC East in the SEC tourament. This is important as the first two seeds in each division get a first round bye. Even more important is the fact Vandy has an RPI of 15 so a win would look good on the NCAA resume.

Then on Saturday the Dawgs make a trip to Knoxville in a game that will be broadcast Nationally on CBS. Tennessee has an RPI of 25 so again the Dawgs have a great opportunity. We should have/could have won the first game if for not a Brian Williams over the back non-call. Time to take care of business.

Here is how the SEC East stacks up for the rest of the season.
EAST ............. W-L ....... RPI
Florida ………. 9-2 ….…..11
Tennessee, at LSU, Georgia, at Kentucky, Alabama, at Vanderbilt
Georgia ……... 6-4 .…..…43
Vanderbilt, at Tennessee, at Florida, South Carolina, LSU, at Alabama
Vanderbilt …. 6-4 …......15
At Georgia, at Auburn, Tennessee, at LSU, at Kentucky, Florida
Kentucky ……. 5-5 …..... 14
Mississippi St., S. Carolina, at Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt, at Tennessee
Tennessee ….. 5-5 .….... 25
S. Carolina, Georgia, at Vanderbilt, Mississippi St., at S. Carolina, Kentucky
S. Carolina .... 4-6 ….....120
At Tennessee, at Kentucky, Ole Miss, at Georgia, Tennessee, at Miss. St.

2. Baseball Thoughts
a. A couple of the greatest words in the English language. Pitchers and Catchers report today.
b. ESPN Radio is doing a great job today by having a baseball guest every hour from 6:00 am to 10:00. Safe to say I will have some podcasts for the trip to Athens Wednesday night.
c. I picked on Mark Reynolds a little last week but among third basemen the last 3 years he first in home runs (104), 4th in RBI (284), 2nd in runs (264), and 3rd w/ 185 extra base hits. He is probably first in K's as well.
d. Over the past five years only one hurler has five seasons of 14 wins, 200 innings pitched, and 120 Ks - Roy Halladay. Only three others have reached those totals four times - Dan Haren, CC Sabathia and Bronson Arroyo.
e. How does Mr. Arroyo get in with that group?
f.  Earlier this week Jayson Stark tweeted out his all-Unemployed team. Pretty fascinating group of players that could probably win around 70 games by themselves. Here are the players on Stark's team.
g. Starting infield on Stark's All-Unemployed Team: 1B Russell Branyan 2B David Eckstein, SS Orlando Cabrera, 3B Willy Aybar, C Bengie Molina
h. Rotation for All-Unemployed Team: Jeremy Bonderman, Kevin Millwood, Daniel Cabrera, Pedro Martinez, Jarrod Washburn
i. All Unemployed Outfield: LF Scott Podsednik, CF Jay Payton, RF Ryan Church, DH Nick Johnson
j. Bullpen for Stark's All-Unemployed Team: Chad Durbin, Manny Delcarmen, Mike Lincoln, Alfredo Aceves, Elmer Dessens, Scot Shields.
k. Wasn't Matt Lincoln a big time prospect like three or four years ago?
l. How about this Buster Olney quote: "A lot to be excited about with the Braves. Atlanta should have a strong pitching staff; the Braves just added Dan Uggla; Jason Heyward is a year older; Chipper Jones seems to be progressing well in his injury rehabilitation. The battle for the NL East title figures to be fierce, and a lot of fun." Why is that not the quote of the week?
m. Even though he pitches for the Red Sox one of my favorite players in baseball is Jon Lester. How about the stats Lester has against the AL East. He is 13-0 against the Orioles (2.33 ERA), 9-3 against Tampa Bay (3.80), 7-4 against the Blue Jays (3.43), and 6-1 against the Yankees (3.28). That’s 35-8 with a 3.19 ERA.
n. Last season, Red Sox closer and former Mississippi State Bulldog Johnathan Papelbon had a 2.12 ERA in the 16 games he pitched on no rest, a 5.40 ERA in the 18 games he pitched on one day of rest, and a 7.36 ERA when he pitched on two days’ rest. Those numbers do not make any sense.
o. I have started reading Bill Madden's book on George Steinbrenner and even though I am only one chapter in I am absolutely fascinated so far. Everyone knows that Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million dollars, do you know how much of his money was put up? Only $186,000.
p. Another thing that fascinates me about this book is the references to the New York restaurant Elaine's. The reason this intrigues me is I would walk by Elaine's on the way to lawyer Dan's. For those not familiar with Elaine's it is a restaurant/bar on the Upper East Side that is the hangout to Woody Allen, George Steinbrenner, etc.
q. Great read from LA Times writer Bill Plaschke and he discusses how he loves to eat lunch at Dodger Stadium. I have the same opportunity to do this at Turner Field every day and never take advantage. That is an awful job by me.
r. Here is one more outstanding baseball read. It is part 1 of a conversation Braves Beat writer David O'Brien had with Freddi Gonzalez. The interviewed happened after the two rode motorcycles together through the North Georgia mountains. Here is part two.
s. Only two center fielders who hit .300 last year - Josh Hamilton (.359) and Carlos Gonzalez (.336). Oddly, only one player who spent the majority of his time at DH last year hit .300, and that was the even .300 mark of Vladimir Guerrero.
t. The AL leading walk leader was the Athletics' Daric Barton with 110. That total of 110 is the same as the combined marks of Brandon Inge (54) and Ian Kinsler (56). It's also the same as the combined marks of Robinson Cano (57) and Curtis Granderson (53) OR Denard Span (60) and Vernon Wells (50).
u. Both Aaron Hill and Kelly Johnson hit 26 homeruns last season as second basemen. Hill had three fewer RBI than Johnson, 68 to 71, but there was a massive .200 point difference in their OPS - Hill was at .665 while Johnson was way up at .865, a mark that was third at the position behind only Robinson Cano (.914) and Dan Uggla (.877).

v. How did Braves get Dan Uggla for only Infante and Dunn?
w. Brett Cecil won 15 games last season despite not getting his first win until April 23rd. Cecil's win total was fifth in the AL. Amazingly, of the 14 pitchers in the Junior Circuit who won at least 15 games, seven of them were left-handed: CC Sabathia, David Price, Jon Lester, Cecil, John Danks, Gio Gonzalez and C.J. Wilson. Two more lefties also won 14 games in Francisco Liriano and Ricky Romero.
x. The league leading WHIP with men in scoring position was .79 which was posted by the NL Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay. His current Phillies teammate Roy Oswalt was third at 0.91, just behind another righty from the NL who pitches in the NL East - Josh Johnson (0.89). The best mark by an AL hurler was by the Twins... Brian Duensing (0.92). 
y. Who in the heck is Brian Duensing?
z. The last Braves’ first baseman to serve with the Braves for five years or more is Fred McGriff. He was acquired in 1993 and played with the Braves through 1997. Can Freddie Freeman reverse the trend?

3. Hodgepodge of Thoughts
a. Kind of sad to see that Jerry Sloan retired as the coach of the Jazz on Thursday. What a living legend in the NBA. For those that do not think his feud with Darren Williams did not play a role then they are out of their mind.
b. Sloan's first point guard made $300,000 in 1988. His final point guard made nearly 50X more. ($14.9 million)
c. Here are a few things that existed in Jerry Sloan's 1st year as NBA coach: the scoring leader: George Gervin. The Kansas City Kings were 2nd in Midwest. and the Rookie of the Year was hick from French Lick named Larry Bird.
d. I watched some of the Heat-Celtics game Sunday and if the Heat can not beat the banged up Celtics then the Heat have some serious issues.
e. I saw this stat on Sunday and was shocked. Rajon Rondo has a .491 career shooting percentage, Steve Nash is .490.
f. College Baseball gets going next weekend. My Dawgs start the season with a visit to the alma mater of my parentals Stetson University in Deland, Florida.
g. Not sure what to make of the Dawgs next season but it is a very big and important season for Coach Perno. Everytime he has had a make or break season he has responded with a trip to the College World Series.
h. Said news on Friday when Cal announced that they would not reinstate their baseball program. A university with the resources of Cal should have a baseball team.
i. Also look for more coverage of college baseball this season as ESPN will broadcast a Thursday night game of the week. I think UGA and Vandy will play each other this season in one of the Thursday games. Also the Big 10 Network will televise 30 games on the Big 10 Network.
j. I failed to mention the games that are normally on ESPN U, CSS and Fox Sports South.
k. Another reason to hate the University of Texas. In 2012 any baseball game not televised by a network will be televised by the newly created Longhorn Network. That is ridiculous.
l. In total the The SEC has 68 games and the ACC will probably have around 25-30. Then you have the Big12, with six total televised games.
m. Safe to say that's one of about 50 reasons why you have three Big12 schools that have expressed interest in bolting to the SEC. More exposure. Safe to say that includes more than baseball, basketball and football.


4. Gridiron-NFL and College
a. I looked at a couple of different SEC teams 2011 schedules and I am very intrigued about the opportunities that the Dawgs have in 2011 as we only have four games outside the state of Georgia. This includes trips to Knoxville, Nashville, Oxford and Jacksonville.
b. In addition, dodging Alabama, Arkansas and LSU from the West certainly doesn’t hurt.  Biggest negative is that the Dawgs are tied with Alabama for the most conference opponents which have bye weeks before playing, with three. However, we do get a Bye week before Florida.
c. After looking at the Gators schedule I see why Urban Meyer wanted to spend time with his family. The Gators draw Alabama, LSU and Auburn from the West this season. They play those three on consecutive weekends and LSU and Auburn are road games.  Furthermore, South Carolina is a road game.  Last season showed FSU is close to being back. Good luck Muschamp.
d. The defending national champions Auburn Tigers step up their schedule in 2011 with trips to Clemson, Baton Rouge, Fayeteville and Athens, Ga. Furthermore, they drop Kentucky off the schedule and add Florida. They also lose a boat load of talent.
e. Things look a little more difficult for Bama in 2011. Early season schedule is similar to last year’s, except for the fact the Tide travel to Happy Valley to play Penn State.  As for conference games, ‘Bama drops South Carolina for Vanderbilt. Arkansas and LSU have to travel to Tuscaloosa (and Alabama’s bye week comes before the LSU game).  Florida is a road game.  They’ve scheduled Georgia Southern the week before the Iron Bowl, which can be a pain in the butt trying to prepare for that offense. 
f. I also read this week where celebration will be a live ball foul instead of dead ball foul thus touchdowns now have the opportunity to be taken off the board. This is going to cost some team a game next season and it could turn into the most talked about story in college football.
g. We need to get celebration defined...how come when Tim Tebow went crazy it was not a penalty but when AJ Green looked at the student section it was a penalty?
h. What about when coaches like Auburn's Trooper Taylor do jumping jacks on the sideline all game. That looks excessive to me.
i. A lot of ploys in the NFL going on right now. I still think it is tough to ask the players to play more games and cut their piece of the pie from 59% to 40%.
j. Why did the Owners ever agree to sharing the 59% of their revenues with the players in the first place? That is ridiculous.
k. This is the first weekend without football since early in August when I was in Cincinnati watching the Braves and Reds. Man was that a long time ago. Good trip however.

5. My 5 Favorite Places in the SEC
1. Calhoun's-Knoxville, TN- On the banks of the Tennessee river are some of the best ribs and secenery. When I was a student manager for the baseball team at UGA I was always jealous that Tennessee's baseball team had Calhoun's as a post game meal. I may or may not have talked one of their managers into grabbing me a plate on getaway day in 2003. Looking forward to lunch here on Saturday.
2. Dreamland BBQ-Tuscaloosa, Al-Ain't nothing like em nowhere. This is the original where the only options on the menu are full slab of ribs, half slab of ribs or rib sandwich. Some of the best sweet tea one can taste.
3. The Hoffbrau-Fayetville, Ark- One of the best burgers and steak places in the SEC. Fayeteville is underrated as far as SEC towns go the problem is no one can get to it as it is in the middle of nowhere.
4. Mike Anderson's Seafood-Baton Rouge, Louisiana-The CBS or ESPN broadcast crew eats here every Friday night before a football game on the Bayou. Some of the best seafood I have ever eaten.
5. Otters Chicken Fingers-Nashville, Tn- One of the best chicken fingers you will find in the South. They have the best Honey Mustard dipping sauce around. An Otters has opened up in the suburbs of Atlanta but I have yet to make the trip for a Big Boy Box. I will be in Nashville next weekend and an Otter's visit is in my future.

Just missed: Rama Jamma (Tuscaloosa), Joe Bologna's (Lexington), Cheeburger Cheeburger (Auburn) and Ballywho Grill (Gainesville).

6. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to includes Jane Says by Jane's Addiction.Last week no one knew the single season home run leaders for the Royals, Marlins, and New York Mets. Co-worker Bob did get the closest of all the entries. Steve Balboni was the all-time leader for the Royals. Gary Sheffield was the leader of the Marlins. Carlos Beltran and Todd Hundley have each hit 41 home runs which is the most in a season for the Boyze from Quinze. This weeks trivia question is name the top 10 home run hitters in Braves history. Notice I said Braves not Milwaukee or Atlanta or Boston.


7. College Hoops Notes
a. Georgia Tech is ranked 305th in the nation in field goal percentage. That would be just ahead of Sacramento State....way to much talent in this state for the two flagship programs to be as bad as they have been.
b. If this does not prove that statement true what will? On Tuesday the 76ers trio of Norcross' Jodie Meeks, South Gwinnett's Lou Williams & Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young combined for 52 points -13 more than ALL Hawks starters. The Hawks would lose 117-83 on Tuesday night.
c. If I told you one team was 6-6 in conference, 14-10 overall, 3-6 versus AP 25 and had RPI of 48. No what about this team 6-4 in conference, 17-7 overall, 1-3 versus AP 25 and had RPI of 43. What team would you think was the better team?
d. Well the team with the RPI of 48 is Michigan State and the team with the RPI of 43 is Georgia.
e. Other teams with an RPI higher than Michigan State, Harvard, Missouri State, Boston College, UAB, Cleveland State and Colorado State.
f. No idea why I am picking on Michigan State, except to say they are not the top team they are normally year after year. Also they are not a lock to get into tournament but if they do we all know they could make a deep tourney run.
g. What are everyone's thoughts on this team? 15-10 overall, 6-6 in conference RPI of 59. That would be Marquette. Another team not a lock to make the tourney.
h. How cool is The Pavilion where Villanova plays its on campus basketball games? The basketball court only takes up half the space of the building; it is expandable as an indoor track facility and recreation center.
i. How crazy was the Purdue-Wisconsin game Saturday afternoon? This is the eighth time a school has beaten the No. 1 team in both football and basketball in the same season.Who keeps track of stats like that?
j. Ohio State started the 2nd half on fire, making nine of their first 10 shots and outscoring the Badgers by 13 points to go up 47-32. The last 13 minutes were another story as the Buckeyes shot just 30 percent the rest of the way while being outscored by 19 points.
k. Baylor fell to 8-2 in its past 10 games against its three in-state Big 12 opponents.Quietly they have turned things around from the disaster that was the 2002-2003 basketball season.

l. The Morris brothers for the Kansas Jayhawks were pretty impressive on Saturday as each recorded double-doubles as Markieff had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus 16 points, 11 rebounds. It's the fourth time this season the brothers have had double-doubles in the same game, and they've done it in both games against Iowa State.
m. The Jayhawks are on a roll as they heir past five games by double digits. Four of them have been by at least 20 points. Iowa State is not butter and they are not on a roll as the Cyclones have lost seven straight, its longest losing streak since dropping eight straight during the 2001-02 season.
n. I wonder if anyone is missing Larry Eustachy in Ames? Speaking of Eustachy he is now the coach of Southern Miss and has led the Golden Eagles to an 18-5 record this season and an RPI in the low 50's. Not to shabby.
o. San Diego State has won five straight games since suffering its lone loss of the season Jan. 26 at BYU. At 25-1, San Diego State is one win shy of tying its single-season school record of 26 wins, set two seasons ago.


8. College Hoops Power 5
1. Ohio State- I can not knock them off from the top spot for losing at Kohl Center. If the NCAA ranked teams they should have the Buckeyes as overall #1. Thus I have them as my top team.
2. Texas-The Longhorns are 10-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since the inception of the league.
3. Kansas-Kansas has won 24 games for the fifth straight season.
4. Duke- Duke extended its home win streak to 33 games, the longest active home win streak in the nation. The Blue Devils are 62-2 at home since the start of the 2007-08 season, with the only two losses coming to UNC.
5.Pitt- Have never made a Final Four run under Jamie Dixon, is this the year?

9. What I Read This Week
This first read of the week takes an inside look at the US Secret Service. The Secret Service known for not allowing access granted the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder unprecedented access as the Service pulls off keeping two-thirds of the world's leaders safe while they visit New York City every September. I love when I am at an event where there is Secret Service present, mostly because I am fascinated with guys talking into their watch. So awesome. This is probably my favorite article in What I Read This Week since last summer. Very fascinating.

The second article of the week comes from Tom Friend of ESPN.com and profiles William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Very sad read of what has happened to one of the great defensive players in the 80's. What makes this story even more sad is that everything is self-inflicted. Hard to believe what has happened to The Fridge.

10. Extracurricular Activies
a. I saw a screening of Just Go With It earlier last week. It was a typical Sandler movie where he out punts is coverage and somehow, someway gets the girl in the end.
b. Everyone should know what I think of Ms. Andy Roddick (Brooklyn Decker) put her acting skills were better than I had imagined going in to the movie.
c. All in all the movie was better and funnier than I thought going in. Not as fun or funny as No Strings Attached but still worth a viewing. Also, no red blooded American male will be disapointed with couple scenes of Jennifer Anniston and Brooklyn Decker entering and exiting water.
d. By the way Dan Patrick shows up like he does in all Sandler movies and he was absolutely hilarious. How many people thought he was committing career suicide by leaving ESPN years ago? That guy is on top of the world.
e. DP also hosted the Sports Illustrated Selection show on the 101 Network Friday night. It must be good to be DP right now.
f. Also on Saturday I went and watched The Fighter and it is the best movie I have watched in a long time. Wahlberg did an amazing job getting his body in shape for this movie and I am amazed how much bigger the muscle in his left arm was compared to his right arm. (I might have been the only person to pick up on this).
g. Christian Bale was the real star of the movie for his portrayal of Dicky Eklund. If he does not win an award for the job he did in this movie there should be an investigation.
h. Judging by the previews it does not look like we are having any good movies come out anytime soon.
i. I absolutely had a blast on Friday night with my former boss with the Colts was in town. He used to be a student manager for South Carolina football so a lot of good Lou Holtz stories were told.
j. I was definitely more awesome than disaster.
k. You should get what you expect with the Grammy's, at least I did. I do not understand those who excpect it to be such a great show. It never has been why should it be one now?
l. I do not get or see the fascination Lady Gaga? She has a sound similar to Madonna, the only thing is the queen of pop was talented not a nut case.
m. I think I might have sounded like a really old man in the last comment. Now you kids get off my lawn.
n. The power of twitter continues as I was able to learn that Florida QB Coach Scott Loefller had taken the position as offensive coordinator at Temple. The reason that I credit Twitter is that I was able to learn before Loeffler's cousin who is a co-worker. He was not intrigued with me breaking news about the family.
o. Speaking of twitter you all should follow me @justinwjohnson, the Captain @bigbodyss, my buddy Brice @brice2173 and my buddy Todd @toddeaston20
p. What was Cee-Lo wearing last night? Aint that some sh..................
q. Dissapointed my girl Hillary Scott with Lady A straightened and darkened her hair. Bigger fan of the curls and lighter hair but I am always a fan of the curls and lighter hair. With that being said I seriously doubt she cares or seeks my approval.
r. When did John Mayer become a dead ringer for Johnny Depp?
s. Mick Jagger absolutely rocked it on The Grammy's last night. I need to see him perform in person.
t. I got multiple comments about Hawaii 5-0 and everyone seems to enjoy the show. Tonight Nick Lachey comes out of hiding or wherever he has been for these past few years to guest star. No way I can miss that can I?

Tweet of The Week
@notthefakesvp who is the real Scott Van Pelt texted this last night during the Grammy's
I think she is just trying to dress like all portions of the grand slam breffuss. I am going to work tomorrow dressed as red velvet cupcake

Great use of breffus. I am glad I am not the only one.


Quote of The Week
Comes from Penguins owner and NHL Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux....

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

The game he was referencing was The Islanders and Penguins contest on Friday night where both teams combined for 346 penalty minutes according to the NHL's game summary. That is the 2nd most penalty minutes in a single game since the 2000-01 season.

Text of The Week
From my great friend Brice on Saturday letting me know what Hayden (his son) was doing.

The kid is in the yard taking BP off the tee! He was on the physically unable to play list last year so he has started spring training!

Brice is right those injured last season can start spring training early. That's good parenting.

Picture of The Week
Comes from SI_Vault on twitter. He calls it the best photo of an extra point you will ever see...I can not help but agree. By the way if you are on twitter you should follow @si_vault.

Ten Things JJ Thinks He Thinks

1. Superbowl Thoughts
Halfway through the second quarter I thought we were about to see a dud of a game but we ended up seeing a pretty decent game. Was the game as good as the past few years? No. However, it was not a dud like many Super Bowls of my childhood. I am happy for the roomdawg who was able to see his team win a Super Bowl. The last two years the boys of Apt 425 have witnessed their teams make Super Bowl runs. Unfortunately my Colts lost last season. Safe to say the roomdawg will not allow any Chicago Bear to move in anytime soon.

I hate to see Charles Woodson get hurt, but it was clear that the Packers were his team and the pain and wincing he showed while trying to celebrate was unreal. Before leaving the game late in the second quarter with a collarbone injury, cornerback Charles Woodson played an important role for the defense of the Packers. Woodson was on the field for 30 snaps and was able to penetrate the offensive backfield on 7 of those plays. Against five rushes, the Packers allowed just 1.7 yards per carry and collected three tackles for loss when Woodson was a part of run-blitz pressure. None bad for a safety.

While Woodson left his mark on the game in two quarters of play Pittsburgh's marque defender did nothing to help the Steelers. Troy Polamalu has made a name for himself all season by causing havoc around the line of scrimmage. In the Super Bowl, the Defensive Player of the Year lined up within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage on only three of the Packers' 55 offensive snaps and didn't record a tackle until the fourth quarter. Polamalu was ineffective in the passing game as well - Aaron Rodgers completed 2-of-3 passes for 20 yards when Polamalu blitzed. Not good for one of the premier players in the NFL. Not good at all.

I was talking with co-worker Dan earlier on Monday and the question was asked, "who would you rather have in their prime? Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers? We both went with Rodgers. For one he can do everything that Favre can do, his escapeability is better than Favre's and he is the more cerebral of the two. A Cal guy should always be smarter than the Southern Miss guy. 

Peter King in his Monday Morning QB does an outstanding job recaping the Super Bowl and complaining about the weather despite getting paid to work the Super Bowl. Intriguing read nonetheless.

2. The Business of the Super Bowl
a. It was announced Monday that the Super Bowl averaged 111 million viewers and had 162.9 million viewers in total. Nice night to sell ads for Fox.
b. Roger Goodell says Super Bowl XLV was most watched in television history which drew some good twitter response from Grant Wahl who said it was not close the World Cup final drew more viewers. I liked Richard Deitsch response, "if I had to guess, the most watched TV program of alltime is CCTV's coverage of Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies."
c. I guess that would be my guess as well.
d. Then their is this stat: 15% of televisions that were on last night in Milwaukee, DIDN'T HAVE the Super Bowl on it. Can you tell me what these people were watching? Was their a special on Marquette or the Brewers?
e. While the Super Bowl arguably might have had the most viewers it did not have the best rating. 8 Super Bowls had higher ratings than Sunday night's 46 household rating. Basically that means more people watched the Super Bowl than ever before but with more channels less percentage of people watched the Super Bowl.
f. Great stat from Darren Rovell. StubHub: Avg. Super Bowl 45 ticket sold for $3,559. Here are other averages: 44 ($2,386), 43 ($2,402), 42 ($3,536), 41 ($4,004)
g. If you are on twitter and do not follow Darren Rovell you probably should. He tweeted Friday afternoon that he had Chick-Fil-A for the first time on Friday afternoon. I cried a little bit for him.
h. Every year the length of the National Anthem is one of the bigger bets is Vegas and in the online community. This year it got tricky as Staten Island's pride and joy Christina Aguilera performance was timed by Bodog 1:53.7 (under) Bookmaker.com? 1:54.02 (over). This is a big problem when over under is 1:54. Well the people at Sportsbook.com decided to pay both the under and over bets since they could not determine a time. That will probably never happen again.
i. I think next year they will have a note on over/under bets on National Anthem that says singer must sing correct words for action.
j. Another story that received a lot of play on Sunday was the ticket snafu where 400 people were shut out from seeing the game. What a nightmare situation where a total of 1,250 seats were in affected area. 850 fans could be moved. How does this happen?
k. The NFL has done a decent job of trying to satisfy the 400 who were left without tickets by giving them a refund of three times the face value (its a shame most paid more than that) and free tickets to next year's Super Bowl. Here is a copy of the letter the NFL gave fans Sunday night. Safe to say it was put together quickly. The 400 fans were also given free food and allowed on the field for the postgame celebration. As for those 2,000 fans who had to wait until gametime to get into their seats - they'll be getting $800 back. What a nightmare.
l. All in all the NFL did a good job out of an awful situation. However, if you were bumped from your flight and missed your daughters wedding would 4 first class tickets make everything okay?
m. Seconds shown of Skechers shoes in Kardashian ad? THREE. But really who is counting anyway?
n. Northwestern Mutual in downtown Milwaukee left certain office lights on Sunday night. So awesome this must be clicked.
o. This is even better and has to be watched.
p. Sunday night my Dad emailed me and asked if Jerry Jones gets anything from hosting the Super Bowl? I know he could use the Super Bowl for some help with public financing his stadium, etc but does the NFL cut Mr. Jones a check for the use of his stadium? Does anyone know?

3. Georgia Hoop Thoughts
A 2-0 week this week following an awful 0-2 week that could have easily been an 1-1 week. The Hoop Dawgs came into the week with a 3-4 SEC record and their NCAA tournament hopes on the ropes.  They didn’t earn too many style points, but they did win both games and they are now 5-4 in the conference and in 3rd place in the SEC East. The good news surrounding the Hoop Dawgs right now is we have now won back to back games in the SEC for the first time since the 2008 SEC Tournament. For those that do not recall the 2008 SEC Tournament that is when a tornado blew through downtown and the SEC moved the tournament to Georgia Tech. By the way UGA won two games in one day during that tournament.

Another huge week for the Dawgs as they have a visit to Columbia on Saturday which has never been a fun place for UGA. However, Tuesday night will be just as important even though the game is out of conference. The Xavier Mustketeers visit the Classic City and bring a top 50 RPI with them. This is a team that probably will be dancing in March so a win for the Dawgs could go a very long way in the eyes of the Committee. The more we win, the bigger the games get each week.

4. National Signing Day

a. I am absolutely thrilled to death over the recruiting class the Dawgs were able to bring in. In my opinion the addition of John Jenkins might be what we need to build something special in Athens.
b. I love this quote from Richt on Jenkins. "This guy is exactly what we need to really make this 3-4 (defense) go. John is the cherry on top (of the recruiting class). He’s a big, massive guy who can play the center of our 3-4 defense. This is the first year we had to recruit a guy like him. To get a player who I think is the No. 1 nose in America is awesome."
c. In case you were wondering, Boise State’s starting center is 5’11″ and weighs 285 pounds.  (He was a first-team All-WAC selection.). (ht to the Senator and his great blog for the last nugget)
d. How tough is it to recruit in the SEC? The SEC had four of the top ten classes, seven of the top twenty classes, and nine of the top twenty-five classes.

e. As impressive as that all is, Scout.com has Vanderbilt with the SEC’s lowest rated class.  The Commodores finished forty-fifth nationally. That is unreal.

f. Of the top 25 players in the state of Georgia this season, 12 signed with UGA, 3 signed with Auburn, 2 signed with Bama, 2 signed with Tennessee, 1 signed with Cal, Florida State, Notre Dame, Stanford and Georgia Tech. Also one of the top twenty-five signed with a junior college.

g. I do not care what kindof gimicky high school offense Paul Johnson runs he needs to sign more than one of the state's best twenty five players.

h. How awesome is it that Florida did not sign any of the top 25  players in the state of Georgia this year? When is the last time that has happened?

i. I wish the guys from Georgia that signed with Auburn and Bama would have signed with Florida State. When FSU really had it rolling they were signing tons of players from South Georgia. I would rather FSU get those players than Auburn or Alabama.

j. I love when Nick Saban says one thing but does another.“In the Southeastern Conference when a guy commits, that just makes them a target. It isn’t like that everywhere in the country. It’s really not, but it is that way here, so we expect it. We are not really upset about it when it happens. We just try to manage it.”
k. By the way coach Saban you have had at least one recruit the past two seasons commit to another school before signing with you.

l. If this had happened in Athens, the AJC would have a heart attack and make it seem like the world was coming to an end.“[Cornerback Marcus] Roberson took his official visit to Gainesville on Jan. 21, and he was hosted by Janoris Jenkins. Several hours into the visit, Jenkins was arrested for marijuana possession.” Roberson eventually signed with Florida, by the way.I am confident he will not have a problem fitting in.
m. On a side note it will be interesting to read some comments in the future from University of Florida writers now that Urban Meyer is not around to bully those on the Gators beat.


5. Baseball Notes
a. How great is the fact that when you all are reading this the Braves equipment truck will already be on I-75 headed to the Sunshine State. Baseball will be here before we know it and if we are ready or not.
b. Through 168 major league games Cameron Maybin is hitting .246 with 13 homers, 45 RBI, 93 runs scored and 19 thefts. Why does it seem a majority of that damage has come against the Braves?

c. Only three players have hit at least .300 each of the last five seasons.I bet we all could have named Ichiro and Pujols but Matt Holliday is also on that list.

d. Only three players have hit 20 home runs for the past ten seasons. We all could name Pujols and A-Rod. However, the real question is how many could name Carlos Lee.

e. On a side note Carlos Lee has one of my favorite nicknames in baseball in El Caballo. Do not ask why I think that is awesome, it just is.

f.. How crazy are the stats new Oriole third basemen Mark Reynolds puts up every season? Last season in 499 at-bats he hit 32 homers and drove home 85. Reynolds also hit .199 an struckout 211 times. Just as a reference Prince Fielder had 32 homers and 83 RBIs in 578 at-bats last season.

g. Buck Showalter might go crazy with all those K's next season in Baltimore.

h. Speaking of the O's they have quietly put together what could be one of the more impressive lineups in not only the AL East but in all of baseball. Here is how they matchup Catcher-Matt Wieters, First Base- Derek Lee, Second Base- Brian Roberts, Third Base-Mark Reynolds, Short Stop- JJ Hardy, Left Field- Luke Scott, Center Field-Adam Jones and in Right Field-Nick Markakis. The Designated Hitter will be Vlad Guerrero. You have speed and power and unfortunately a lot of strikeouts.

i. The O's do make a visit to Turner Field this summer. Could be a fun weekend in early July.

j. From 2008-10, Dan Haren is only of 3 to win 12 games w/ ERA under 3.95 and at least 200 Ks each yr. Others are – Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay.
k. Peter Gammons posed this question via twitter...Michael Young has averaged 199 hits per yearr. He's 34, doesn't walk. If he averages 190 hits next 6 years, he gets to 3000. He won a gold glove at both SS & 2B...HOF?........I say he compares to Biggio who I think is a Hall of Famer.

l. I do not have any numbers to back this up but if I had to choose one for the Hall of Fame I would choose Biggio over Bagwell.

m. For those that have an auction style fantasy draft in the near future read this good article and two words...good luck.

n. Here is a really good read on Brooks Conrad. Love this quote from his mom...“Don’t ever come home in a clean uniform,”

6. Halftime
This week's song that Smoak and myself used to rock out to includes Jason's Aldean Dirt Road Anthem. (The video comes from Aldean's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, in my next life I want to be a writer for a late night tv-show). I know I normally give songs from the late 90's or early 2000's but when Smoak and myself were hanging together in October he was all over this song and now it is becoming a big hit. You can not get a thing past this guy. Speaking of Jason Aldean, I read somewhere last week that he has an English Bulldog named "Athens" how awesome is that? Congrats are in order to the greatest kicker in Screven County History who knew that Don Sutton had the most wins in Dodgers history. This week's trivia question, name the single season home run leaders for the Royals, Marlins, and New York Mets. Because I am in the giving mood here is a hint; two people share the record for the New York Mets.

7. NFL Power 12
1. Green Bay Packers-I think if the NY Giants beat the Packers in week 16 we might have the G-Men as our number one team today. But they didn't.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers-Three Super Bowl appearances in five years is unreal. How smart are the Roney's to hire Mike Tomlin over Russ Grimm or Ken Wisenhunt?
3. New York Jets-The better of the Championship Game losers. I still think the Pats beat them 85-90 times out of 100. We can say we saw two of those 10-15 times this season.
4. Chicago Bears- A lot of people want Lovie ran out of town but if he can get a second seed in the NFC with those cast of characters he had this season, the guy can coach.
5. New England Patriots- Until this season which was uncapped the Pats always had one of the lowest payrolls in football...how come they get a hall pass for this? Especially when you consider they have not won a Super Bowl since I was a student at the University of Georgia.
6. Atlanta Falcons-The second best season in franchise history gets remembered for a choke job against New Orleans and a no show job against the Packers.
7. Baltimore Ravens- Pretty strong words from Flacco this week after they fired his position coach. This team needs to figure out how to beat the Steelers so they can get home field.
8. Indianapolis Colts- If they can cover a kickoff we get two less weeks of the Jets. Also, their special teams has been awful since I was an intern and worked with the special teams. Just saying.
9. Philadelphia Eagles- I know Kolb wants a trade but no way Andy Reid moves him this off-season.
10. Kansas City Chiefs-How bad were the West in both the AFC and NFC this season?
11. New Orleans Saints-How did they lose to the Seahawks?
12. Seattle Seahawks-I could care less they won in the first round. Do not blame Seahawks blame the NFC West for being awful.


8. College Hoops Power 5
1. Ohio State- Sullinger is the second best player in the country behind The Jimmer.
2. Texas- Texas won at Kansas thus the higher ranking.
3. Kansas- For this team to go through what they have been through the past few weeks and not skip a beat says something.
4. Duke- I watched some of their game against NC State Saturday evening and they out hustled the Wolfpack all game. Amazing how hard they play.
5. Pitt-The real question I will ask repeatedly between now and March, can Jamie Dixon get his talented Pitt Panthers to the Final Four?

9. What I Read This Week
Couple of great articles that I read this past week. This first article comes from Esquire and takes a look at NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I am pretty fascinated by Mayor Bloomberg,  for one he is a billionaire who takes the Subway to work every day. Second his annual salary is only $1 a day but when you are a billionaire, you can do that. Third Bloomberg depending the issue he is considered liberal, conservative, elitist, idealistic or pragmatic. Fascinating read and his green initiatives are in my opinion genius.

The second article of the week comes from The Wall Street Journal and does not look at finance, banking or stocks and bonds. It profiles my favorite college basketball commentator Bill Raftery. Raftery is well known for closing the hotel bar at night and opening up the gym the next morning. I want to spend one winter with this guy traveling the Big East. ONIONS!!!!!!!!

10. Extracurricular Activities
a. Thoughts on the tittle for this section?
b. Reason #2697 Twitter is so great and that you all should follow me @justinwjohnson is finding articles like this one late on a Friday night. The article in question looks at the final scene of The Sopranos and comes to the conclusion with the evidence presented that Tony died at the very end. Fascinating read that gives ton of background and makes me miss one of my favorite television shows of my adult life.
c. The first thing I learned from the article is that Sopranos creator David Chase is about 6 times smarter than me and I think I am pretty smart.
d. While we are discussing the Sopranos one of my favorite all-time episodes is Pine Barrons when Christopher and Paulie get lost in the South Jersey forest with a former member of the Russian Ministry of the Interior's special forces. Christopher and Paulie clearly shoot the Russian but we never get confirmation that the Russian died. I have always wondered what happened to the Russian? Also, what happened to Paulie's Cadillac that they drove down in to South Jersey?
e. Speaking of great shows How I Met Your Mother was brand new this week and was hilarious. Katy Perry made a guest appearance and showed their might be more to her career than singer. She is a very talented entertainer. By the way as much as I enjoy HIMYM it does not belong in the same breath as The Sopranos.
f. Ms. Perry is so hot as well. That should not have to be said, just understood.
g. I am big Real Sports fan and I absolutely loved the profile on Peter King. You should know I got the idea for the Ten Things from Peter King and his Monday Morning QB.
h. I am fascinated how King does his NBC duties every Sunday night and then heads straight to his hotel room where for the next six hours he will write the MMQB. His leaves his hotel room at 5:30 enough time to make the 6:00 Acela Express to Boston where he will put the final touches of his column before posting around 7:45-8:00 every Monday morning.
i. By the way I think the Las Vegas Hilton is the coolest place on earth to watch an NFL Sunday playout. The second coolest place might be the NBC studios with Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Peter King and Mike Florio.
j. This past weekend it seemed like I spent more time OTP than ITP. I do not think that is a good thing.
k. I need to find a new place between Atlanta and Athens to grab quick bite to eat than Chick-fil-a in Monroe. Nothing wrong with Chick-fil-a in Monroe but sometimes it is good to change things up.
l. Am I the only one who loves Hawaii 5-0 on CBS at Monday night? Someone please tell me that they also enjoy that show, I can not be the only one.
m. I was hoping to see the Chicago Code but I missed it Monday night. Did anyone see it? Is it worth my time?

Quote of The Week
An email from co-worker Dan to BJ after co-worker Dan booked a room the two are sharing on a future road trip.
We are booked. I believe you owe me $46.46 for the room. No rush on the money the juice won’t start running for 1 week.

Tweet of The Week
This week's tweet comes from @PANTSSteve who is Steve Young the writer for Letterman not the former Niner QB.

BUSH AT THE GAME: After three bites of snack, prematurely put up "Nachos Accomplished" banner


Text of The Week
This week's text comes from Todd Easton from the Big Apple...
"If there is anything better than national signing day and national sweater vest day falling on the same day?"


Photo of The Week
Below you will find the smartest guy in Green Bay...I wish we could hold this guy to his poster and he lose his season tickets