It's go time.
Braves
How good are the Braves rolling right now? The winners of five in a row, the Braves even got two hits Tuesday from Stinky Upton, which is 50 percent of his total from the previous 10 games.
Atlanta waxed poetically on Pittsburgh on Tuesday, staking an 11-3 win that allowed the Braves to keep pace with the white-hot Washington Nationals, who hold a six-game lead in the NL East because they have won eight straight.
The good: An offense that generated 11 hits and four walks - yes, four walks - was timely (6-for-14 with runners in scoring position) and powerful (four extra base hits).
The bad: Very little, other than the fact that Atlanta has not been able to make up any ground in the NL East because the only team hotter than the Braves is the Nationals.
The Uggla: Nothing new on our guy Danny. So there's that. And we mentioned Stinky getting his week's worth of hits Tuesday. That said, want to know the opposite of Uggla for this team? Where would the Braves be without Aaron Harang?
UTC offensive lineman Synjen Herren suffered an injury to his leg in a scrimmage and is recovering.College football scan
Here's five quicker items around the college football globe, and considering we are eight days away from UTC dropping the hammer, let's start there:
1) As TFP UTC football ace Stephen Hargis tells us today, UTC has back-up plans. That's a good thing. It also speaks to the transformation of a roster that five years ago was strapped to find competent starters and now has reliable reserves.
2) Braxton Miller is done for the year, and before you think his injured shoulder will derail the Buckeyes' title hopes, know this: Ohio State likely will be favored in every game on its schedule other than a November trip to Michigan State.
3) Notre Dame changed its uniforms for new athletic merchandise partner Under Armour. Here's a link http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81122308/. Thoughts?
4) Not surprisingly, the Iron Bowl tops the Forbes list of most expensive ticket for the upcoming college football season. Here's their list http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2014/08/19/auburn-at-alabama-is-college-footballs-most-expensive-ticket-for-2014/.
5) Interesting look at the role Gus Malzahn plays in his specialized version of the power-spread offense. Quick Rushmore of in-game offensive play callers in college football, and we'd go 1) Bobby Petrino; 2) Gus Malzahn; 3) Chad Morris; 4) Art Briles with a special emeritus spot for Steve Spurrier.
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Contest
We had a tie Tuesday. Jomo's position on the future of college football - as bleak as it is - was well reasoned. Sportsfan's position aptly tied together sports and movie quotes - something that is near and dear to our heart.
Gang, you each have two tickets to Thursday's Madaris Best of Preps Kickoff Classic at the front desk.
Not surprisingly, the Cleveland Browns were not ready to name a starting QB Tuesday as planned because their QB candidates were not ready to grape the job Monday. That decision was delayed until this morning when Brian Hoyer was awarded the job because he was not as unimpressive as Johnny Manziel. In Yoda terms, "A ringing endorsement that is not."
So it goes, and so it shall be. That said, we loved TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer's points and quotes about everyone's favorite punk Johnny Finger http://timesfreepress.com/news/2014/aug/20/wiedmer-wheres-manziels-mom-when-he-needs-her/.
Today's contest will be who has the most creative and potentially possible answer to this question:
In 10 years, Johnny Manziel will be _?
Go.
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This and that
- Speaking of TFP ace columnists, we enjoyed David Cook's Ice Challenge column this morning. Read it here. Here's a video of some of the big-name college coaches who have participated.
- Wow, from the "rehab is for quitters" file, there's this. Yes, it's a dude who showed up to serve his sentence for an alcohol-related offense wearing a T-shirt with his mug shot photo on it under the caption "Sponsored by Bud Light and the Somerset County Sheriff." Stay Classy, San Diego.
- The NFL is asking prospective Super Bowl halftime acts to pay them to perform. The only thing truly surprising about this - considering the outlandishness of the NFL being an 11-figure operation working in the tens of billions of dollars and aiming to be in the twenties of billions of dollars and wanting Katy Perry to cover the cost of the roadies and such - is that Rope-a-Dope Roger Goodell did not trot this out there during the Ray Rice fiasco.
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Today's question
Saw news that former American Idol punchline William Hung got married.
Way to go William and Mrs. Hung. We're going to stop right there.
Our question though, is it easier to be famous in today's society for being a side show or being a star attraction?
Go and remember the mailbag.