LATEST STORIES FROM BRAVES AND BIRDS
Mourinho's Fleet Arrives at Midway
Barcelona and Real Madrid meet this evening for the ninth time in the last ten months. Real Madrid have won only one of the previous nine meetings, that in extra time at the Mestalla in the Copa del Rey Final last spring. Los Merengues are five points clear of their hated enemy in La Liga, which one would think would be cause for celebration among their fans. Instead, discontent...
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19 days ago
Discuss
Dirk Koetter and the Coaching Bell Curve
My column about Dirk Koetter ran on Friday. The point is simply that we really don't know much about most coaches because they are highly dependent on context:Take Dirk Koetter as an example. What do we really know about him based on his resume? When he was at Boise State, he was instrumental in that program's emergence from I-AA to becoming a non-BCS conference power. He...
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22 days ago
Guys, The Roadblocks on 316 Are Not Necessary
I took a quick run this morning at the rumor that the Falcons are interested in Todd Grantham. I guess if you are replacing one former Georgia defensive coordinator, you might as well do so by making another one, right? Aside from the facts that Grantham's scheme is a bad fit for the Falcons' personnel and the team has neither the draft picks nor the cap space to re-tool...
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January 12, 2012
Phil Jackson & Bela Guttmann
Jonathan Wilson’s latest article, which asks whether Barcelona will be a victim of Bela Guttmann’s famous three-year rule, is worth a look. Here is the gist: "The third year," the great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann always said, "is fatal." If a manager stays at a club more than that, he said, his players tend to become bored and/or complacent and...
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January 12, 2012
Quick Thoughts on the National Title Game
Braves & Birds Ballot - Week 16 Rank Team Delta 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 2 2 LSU Tigers -1 3 Oklahoma St. Cowboys -1 4 Oregon Ducks ...
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January 10, 2012
Mularkey Fuera!
You know that when I am channeling the ever-disgruntled fans at Atletico Madrid,* then thinks are not going well. Here's the column. As usual, I am complaining about the focus on Michael Turner:Leaving the playoff struggles aside, the most basic criticism of Mularkey is that he doesn't understand the strengths of his own attack. The Falcons are at their best when Matt...
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January 09, 2012
Customary Invective About New York
You didn't really think that I would let a week like this go by without a paragraph on my love for New York sports culture, did you? Adrift on a sea of potential ennui, there is one subject that in my experience unites Atlanta sports fans: we hate New York teams. I've yet to encounter a non-Big Apple transplant Atlantan who views the teams from New York with anything but...
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January 06, 2012
No Really, You Go Ahead And Blow Your Own Foot Off. I’ll Be Here In The Corner, Doing A Lot Of Nothing
On May 6, 2009, I sat in this room, in front of this computer, and wondered about the meaning of my team winning a big game when it had been both outplayed and the beneficiary of at least one notable close call. In that instance, Andres Iniesta hit a 93rd minute winner past Petr Cech to send Barcelona to Rome. Iniesta’s shot was Barca’s first on target in the match...
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January 04, 2012
No Really, You Go Ahead And Blow Your Own Foot Off. I’ll Be Here In The Corner, Doing A Lot Of Nothing
On May 6, 2009, I sat in this room, in front of this computer, and wondered about the meaning of my team winning a big game when it had been both outplayed and the beneficiary of at least one notable close call. In that instance, Andres Iniesta hit a 93rd minute winner past Petr Cech to send Barcelona to Rome. Iniesta’s shot was Barca’s first on target in the match...
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January 04, 2012
Mark Richt and the Cult of the Field Goal
My column about the import of Richt's colossal mistake against Michigan State is up at SB Nation. The criticism of the decision not to attack in the first overtime is obvious; here is the attempt to contextualize:Richt's shockingly conservative disposition during the end-game of the Outback Bowl was and remains indefensible, but the passage of time reminds me of one truism...
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January 03, 2012
The Scott-Delany Pact
An agreement between two powers that are separated by flat plains? I'm in!My main reaction is that college football needs more agreements like this. At present, there is a race to the bottom in terms of non-conference schedules. With: (a) poll voters somewhat unwilling to reward teams for play tough non-conference schedules; (b) a plentiful supply of outmatched opponents as...
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December 29, 2011
My New Digs
In case you missed it, I am going to be writing on a weekly basis for SB Nation's Atlanta site. The plan is to put up my Atlanta-centric posts - the local pro sports collectives, along with SEC football - up on that site and the unrelated content - Michigan football, Barca, the occasional complaint about Peter King ignoring the Red Army - will stay here. I will try to link...
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December 29, 2011
Brazil Goes to the Map Room
My favorite movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark. My parents dragged me to it when I was six years old. I say "dragged" because I wanted to see Clash of the Titans instead. Based on the picture of Indiana Jones in the newspaper wearing a Middle Eastern headdress,* I feared that the movie was going to be an extension of Sunday School, which I was already mature enough to...
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December 22, 2011
Leo Messi, Meet Larry Templeton
Presented without comment for your review: Chris Farley - Japanese Game Show- Watch more Funny Videos at Vodpod.The back story on the Messi interview.
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December 20, 2011
The Dwight Howard Pipedream
Two weeks ago, I started a post agreeing with Jeff Schultz that the Hawks should make a play for Dwight Howard and then, in the process of writing it, realized that Howard would never come here because he would end up in a situation that is worse than the one he was leaving in Orlando. Here was my conclusion:Additionally, Howard has to be thinking that the biggest obstacle to gaining...
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December 15, 2011
Five-Star Temptresses
I like to imagine that Saturday night was a little instance of karma biting the University of Texas in the rear end for playing every card in their hand (to use T. Boone Pickens’ apt phrase) and chasing off one-third of the Big XII. A week after losing to Baylor by 24 – a loss that was the Horns’ second in a row to the Bears after having beaten Baylor every year since...
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December 12, 2011
We Meet Again
After taking a four-month break to cut swaths through Europe and, in Barca's case, drop points on the road with alarming frequency, Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola's Barcelona will have a little get-together on Saturday at 4 p.m. Light refreshments and occasional eye-gouges will be served. The proceedings will be broadcast on GolTV, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3...
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December 09, 2011
Forced Evolution: Pep Guardiola, Mack Brown, and Urban Meyer
If you're interested in the other football, Barcelona, evolution, or just an interesting discussion about how tactical changes occur over time, then I highly recommend Kevin Alexander's new piece at Slide Rule Pass. His basic thrust is to put Barcelona's style into context, tracing back the major innovations in football from Herbert Chapman's W-M at Arsenal through the Magnificent...
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December 07, 2011
The Best Team Wins the Championship? What Kind of Communist Notion is That?
It’s too bad that this article resides behind ESPN’s paywall and is full of untrustworthy notions like “computer rankings,” because Brian Fremeau makes a very good, basic point about college football’s structure: it is more likely to crown the most deserving team. Fremeau notes that according to the Massey Rating composite, the BCS has consistently crowned the team...
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December 06, 2011
The Original Title Comparing Gary Danielson to a Famous Propagandist Violated Godwin’s Law and was Deleted
Braves & Birds Ballot - Week 15 Rank Team Delta 1 LSU Tigers -- 2 Oklahoma St. Cowboys 1 3 Alabama Crimson Tide -1 4 USC Trojans ...
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December 04, 2011
Once Every Eight Years...
Michigan beats Ohio State and I agree with a "trade for this superstar" column from Jeff Schultz. In this case, he wants the Hawks to acquire Dwight Howard. His reasoning is that Howard is not going to re-sign with the Magic, so the Hawks should offer that the Magic pick any two players for Howard. Schultz suggests scenarios that would involve Joe Johnson, which made...
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December 01, 2011
Money Doesn't Talk, It Builds Luxury Boxes
Jon Chait has an interesting piece up regarding the question of paying revenue-generating college athletes. In response to Taylor Branch and the chorus of writers who have used the Sandusky scandal to attack college sports in general, Chait makes the point that football and basketball players from high-revenue programs are subsidizing non-revenue athletes:Branch's article, like...
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November 30, 2011
Revisiting Georgia's Winning Streak
Another week, another criticism of one of my favorite blogger's optimism about what Georgia has proved this year. Here is Blutarsky on Georgia's mindset for the SEC Championship Game:What I mean is that this is a game in which Georgia shouldn’t be burdened by timidity and uncertainty. There’s no reason to wave Logan Gray out there to fair catch punts. Richt doesn...
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November 29, 2011
The Ship Comes In
Braves & Birds Ballot - Week 14RankTeamDelta1LSU Tigers--2Alabama Crimson Tide--3Oklahoma St. Cowboys--4USC Trojans 25Oregon Ducks 26Virginia Tech Hokies 57Stanford Cardinal 38Oklahoma Sooners -39Houston Cougars--10Wisconsin Badgers -211Boise St. Broncos 312Georgia Bulldogs 413Michigan St. Spartans -114Michigan Wolverines 115Arkansas Razorbackstd<td style="border-bottom...
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November 28, 2011
If 9-6 is the “Lame of the Century,” then what is 38-35?
Braves & Birds Ballot - Week 13 Rank Team Delta 1 LSU Tigers -- 2 Alabama Crimson Tide 1 3 Oklahoma St. Cowboys -1 4 Arkansas Razorbacks...
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November 20, 2011
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