Herschel Walker easily defeats Scott Carson to win second MMA fight

This is a quick recap I did on the Herschel Walker win against Scott Carson for SB Nation Atlanta.

Does Herschel Walker ever get tired of winning? It doesn't look like it, because he was able to pick up his second MMA win by defeating Scott Carson in the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event on Saturday night.

Honestly, this fight was one sided as soon as the opening bell rang. In fact, according to Michael David Smith who covered the event for mmafighting.com, Carson did not even try to punch back. Walker threw punches at Carson as soon as the fight got started. Then Walker slammed Carson on the ground and started whaling on him, which forced the referee to stop the match a little over three minutes in.

Here's what Walker told Smith after the match:

"I was OK. I've got to be on offense. Being a young MMA fighter I've got to control what I'm doing in the cage."

He certainly had control in the fight, and he improves his MMA record to 2-0. So with the win, the question is how far can he go with MMA? Will he face a much younger opponent that has more experience? And if he continues to win, could he compete for a title? Only time will tell, but knowing Walker's work ethic and dedication, anything is possible for the 48-year old.

For more on this match as well as MMA, go to SB Nation's MMA hub.

Herschel Walker gears up for second MMA fight on Saturday

This can be found on SB Nation Atlanta. I will post a recap of the fight Sunday morning. It's no secret Herschel Walker is 48 years old and the opponent he is facing, Scott Carson, is 40. So there is talk around the MMA world that Walker is only fighting because they think it's a publicity stunt. But Walker, who will turn 49 in March has said that this is real and if you were to come to his training sessions, you would see he is not joking around. That said, Carson is not the most feared opponent in MMA, and the reason for that is he has only competed in one MMA event in the last 10 years. So that has done little to justify Walker's seriousness of the sport. But he also says that he is doing this to challenge himself. He's not going to compete for titles, he just wants to get better at the sport because he has fallen in love with it. As far as the outcome goes, Carson is a guy that has been in five MMA matches and has won four of them. He has trained with the likes of Chick Liddell, Jake Shields and Tim Kennedy. Some injuries have forced him to not have the career he would have hoped for, and he is coming off a tough loss to Lorenz Larkin back in June. Walker won his first ever MMA match to Greg Nagy back in January. But like any inexperienced MMA fighter, he has a lot to learn, which could give the advantage to Carson. So this has a chance to be a good match, but it will come down to fundamentals. For more on this match as well as MMA, go to SB Nation's MMA hub.

Ray Drew will not be a nember of UGA's Dream Team

Here's a quick blog I did for SB Nation - Atlanta yesterday talking about Ray Drew who is one of the top college football prospects in Georgia.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt has put together a "dream team" of recruits that he thinks will help get Georgia back to their winning ways. They have done a good job so far by grabbing star prospects from Valdosta High School, Jay Rome and Malcolm Mitchell. But the Bulldogs got a hit to the gut, as super star prospect Ray Drew is possibly ruling out Georgia as his college of choice.

Drew broke the news last night on Score Atlanta's The Official Visit, a recruiting radio show on 790 the Zone. One of the things he mentioned about Georgia is he is not sure how he will fit into the 3-4 defensive scheme. He also said that Georgia is looking to put him as a outside linebacker rather than his natural position, defensive end.

Many have said Drew is the best prospect in the state, and some have gone further and said he is one of the 10 best prospects in the country. He is set to make his decision on Friday. Some of the finalists could be Auburn, LSU and Clemson.

For more on this, you can go to the Sports by Fletch blog, which is ran by Fletcher Proctor, the co-host of the Official Visit. He has quotes from the interview with Drew.

Despite bad loss to Green Bay, Falcons will be okay

I know it hurts more than anyone could imagine.

If you were at the Georgia Dome or watching the Falcons take a beating against the Green Bay Packers last Saturday, there is a lot of pain and emotion that still runs through your veins. Many people want to point the blame at Matt Ryan, Mike Smith, Mike Mularkey, Brian Van Gorder, Christopher Owens or the entire defensive unit.

Now, I have covered the Falcons for Score Atlanta since 2006 and I have seen my share of highs and I have definitely seen my share of lows. I think they deserve some of the blame because the entire team did not play well. But I don’t want people to forget what this team has done over the course of the 2010 season. What this Falcons team has done is put together a 13-win season, which is something they have not done since 1998 when they won 14 and went on to the Super Bowl. And because they won 13 games, they won their division and clinch the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

When I was on 790 the Zone the day after the game, many callers were upset with the team, and they thought the team needed an overhaul. I’ll go back to my point that the Falcons won 13 games and won their division, so to say that major personnel changes need to be made will not solve the problem because the personnel has been great on offense, defense and special teams. Yes, the front office will make some moves in the draft and free agency, but they are going to keep the core group of players as well as the coaching staff because they have improved each year since 2008.

In the last three seasons, the Falcons have won 34 games which, is the most in Falcons history in a three-year span. They have been in first or second place in the NFC South during that span and have not lost three consecutive games during that span as well.

What the Falcons are trying to do is build a team that wins on a consistent basis. General manager Thomas Dimitroff has done a great job putting the pieces in place, but it takes more time to build a team. Dimitroff along with Smith will work hard this offeason to get the right players in Flowery Branch and the 2011 season will be just as good, if not better than 2010.

I understand that the team under Smith is 0-2 in the playoffs and Smith even said that the team played poorly and you are ultimately judge by what you do in the post season. But Falcons fans should be thankful where this team is now because after the 2007 season, many thought this team is five years away from being in a position to win a division title. They have accomplished that, but now it’s time to take the next step and that is to make some noise in the playoffs. This Falcons team has a chance to be an elite team in the next two years if they can improve and find a ways to win football games in January and possibly February.

If you listened to the radio show on 790 the Zone that featured Fletcher Proctor and myself on Sunday, you heard give us individual grades for the Falcons. For my next Falcons blog, I will go more in-depth with the grades including an overall grade for the team in 2010.

Milton takes care of Washington powerhouse at Marriott Invitational

Norcross High School hosted the third annual Marriott Invitational where some of the best basketball teams in Georgia showcased their talent to the rest of the country. The last game of the event took place on Saturday, as Milton, the top-ranked team in Class 5A, squared off against Rainier Beach, one of the premier programs in Seattle. Rainier Beach has talented players on their roster, but it wasn’t enough, as Milton came away with a 66-50 win.

Milton, who is the defending Class 5A state champions, got off to a fast start with a 8-0 run. Evan Nolte opened the scoring with a three-pointer and Dai-Jon Parker was able to follow, scoring six of his 22 points in the first. Rainier Beach was able to keep the game within reach after the first half, with the scoring being 30-22. They were able to get quality production from Michael Middlebrooks who scored eight points in the first half. Middlebrooks finished the night with 18 points and was named the team’s Most Outstanding Player.

But a slow third quarter doomed the Bears, as Milton got on a 7-0 run and was able to increase their lead to as much as 20 points midway through the quarter. Rainier Beach was able to cut the lead down to 13 in the fourth quarter, but never could maintain the offensive momentum and Milton was able to capitalize.

One of the problems for Rainer Beach is two of their starters did not score at all and they virtually got all their points from Middlebrooks and L.C. White who scored 17 points in the loss. They have one player that is committed to play at the college level and that’s Hikeem Stewart who will play for Washington next season. He only scored five points and was held to zero points in the second half.

As for Milton, it was another solid performance against an athletic team that gave the Eagles everything they had. Parker was named the team’s Most Outstanding Player and Nolte had a productive game as well, scoring 14 points in the win. Four players from Milton have committed to play college ball for next season including Parker, Julian Royal, Shannon Scott and Jordan Loyd. Parker will play for Vanderbilt, Royal will join Georgia Tech, Scott will dawn the Ohio State colors and Loyd will go to Furman.

Milton has improved their record to 16-2 and they have won six games in a row. However, this week will be their toughest test to date. They will face Northview on Tuesday, Centennial on Friday and Saturday will be their biggest game of the year as they face Wheeler which will be on Milton’s home court.

Aaron Rodgers takes apart Falcons in divisional round of the playoffs

Everything was set up for the Falcons to advance to the NFC Championship. They had the week off, they had home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and they were facing the Green Bay Packers who were coming off an emotional win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round. However, the Packers came into the game against the Falcons with an agenda, scoring 28 points in the second quarter en route to a 48-21 win over the Falcons to earn a spot in the NFC title game.

“It’s extremely hard in this league to get the outcome that you want when we play the type of football that we played today,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “Very uncharacteristic when it comes to turnovers, protecting the football and winning third down on defense.”

Smith is right on all three accounts. The Falcons turned the ball over four times, they could not get the Green Bay offense of the field and because of that, the Falcons only had possession for just 21 minutes when they average over 32 minutes per game.

The first quarter started in typical Falcons fashion when it comes to jumping on the board early. They were able to score first when Michael Turner scored on a 12-yard touchdown run. The score was set up thanks to the defense forcing a turnover, as Stephen Nicholas forced a Greg Jennings fumble which was recovered by Brent Grimes.

“We thought that the first quarter of the game went fairly well,” Smith said. “But one we got into the second quarter, it started to go away from us.”

Green Bay got the scoring started in the second quarter, producing a 13-play, 81-yard drive which ended with an Aaron Rodgers 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson. The Falcons would answer on the ensuing kickoff as Eric Weems scores on a 102-yard return to tie the game at 14.

That’s when the Packers made their move and they would score on their next drive with a Rodgers 20-yard pass to James Jones to break the tie. The play of the game came in the Falcons next offensive series when Matt Ryan threw an interceptions to Tramon Williams which he returned 70 yards for the score to end the half. That was Ryan’s second pick of the game, as he threw his first pick to Williams in the end zone earlier in the second quarter which led to the Rodgers 20-yard TD pass to Jones.

“It was just not a very good decision on my part,” Ryan said, talking about the second pick he threw to Williams. We’re in field goal range at that point. I just needed to throw the ball away.”

Green Bay was able to add more to their lead in the third quarter with 14 additional points. The Packers opened the quarter with a 12-play 80-yard drive which ended with a Rodgers 7-yard touchdown run to increase the Packers lead to 21. Later in the quarter, Rodgers threw his third touchdown pass of the game to John Kuhn to go up by 28.

“They were a better team today,” Tony Gonzalez said who only had one catch for seven yards in the loss. “I don’t think there’s any dispute. The game wasn’t even close.”

All around, it was not a good day for the Falcons. The offense only gained 194 yards and the defense could never get off the field, as the Green Bay offense converting 8-of-12 on third downs. In fact the Packers did not punt one time during the game.

“We ran into hot quarterback playing at a high level,” Smith said talking about Rodgers who scored four total touchdowns in the win. “We obviously had a hard time stopping them.”

The Packers will face either the Seattle Seahawks or the Chicago Bears depending on the outcome of their game on Sunday. As for the Falcons, they will go home with a bad taste in their mouth, but all is not lost. They finish the regular season with a 13-3 record and their fourth division title in franchise history. While it may not be their ultimate goal, they have come a long way since the 2007 when this franchise was in disarray.

“I love this team,” Gonzalez said who could retire after this season. “I love the future of this team. It’s just the beginning of something great.”

Gonzalez along with Ryan, Roddy White, Turner, Weems, John Abraham and Ovie Mughelli will take part in the Pro Bowl which will be played in Hawaii two weeks from Sunday.

Falcons face Green Bay in first home playoff game since 2004

The divisional round of the NFL playoffs kicks off this Saturday and the Falcons will face the Green Bay Packers at the Georgia Dome to see who will move on and play in the NFC Championship game next Sunday. Falcons are favorite to win by 2.5 points and have they already have an advantage due to having last week off and resting their starters the second half of the last game of the season against Carolina. However, they are facing a Green Bay team that is playing their best football lately, coming off a huge win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field last week.

The last time these two teams got together was right after Thanksgiving and the Falcons came away with a 20-17 win with Matt Bryant kicking a 47-yard game-winning field goal with nine seconds left. It was a game where both quarterback played well, as Matt Ryan completed 24-of-28 of his passes while Aaron Rodgers threw for 344 yards while adding 51 yards on the ground.

Since that game, both teams went in different directions to get to where they are now. The Packers went on to beat San Francisco soundly, but had two tough losses against Detroit and New England. Part of the reason they lost those two games was Rodgers suffered a concussion in the game against Detroit and missed almost all of that game along with the New England game. He came back on December 26 and led the Packers to a 45-17 drubbing over the New York Giants and they went on to win against the Chicago Bears 10-3 to clinch the last wild card spot.

The Falcons on the other hand had better luck than the Packers when it comes to staying healthy and winning games. After the win against the Packers, they went on the road for three straight weeks and defeated Tampa Bay, Carolina and Seattle. They came back home and lost to New Orleans, but bounced back the following week to defeat Carolina and with that win, they clinched the NFC South title for the first time since 2004 and the No. 1 seed in the postseason for the first time since 1980.

So based on those paths one would think the Falcons should cruise past Green Bay. Well, that’s not the case because a lot of media experts picked Green Bay to play in the Super Bowl before the season began and they seem to be hitting their stride at the right time. One of the key factors in their win last week was the emergence of a running game. Rookie James Starks rushed for 23 carries for 123 yards which helped Rodgers be more effective in the pocket, throwing for three touchdowns in the win.

But as good as the Packers are on offense, the defense is the strength of the team. Clay Matthews was named Defensive Player of the Year by Sporting News and Charles Woodson is the reigning AP Defensive Player of the Year. They also have A.J. Hawk, Nick Collins and B.J. Raji who have made plays all year long.

The Falcons also have a good balance on offense and defense, which helped them notch a 13-3 record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The key for the Falcons offense to be successful against Green Bay is using Michael Tuner as much as possible. If Turner is able to get going early, it will open so many opportunities for Ryan to get the ball to Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, Michael Jenkins and Harry Douglass.

On the flip side, the Falcons defensive line has to get pressure on Rodgers if they want to win. But they also have to make sure to keep the running game in check because Starks is coming into the game with some momentum. If John Abraham and company can get to Rodgers early and often, he will not have the 344-yard performance like he did when these two teams met in November.

Based on the talent for both teams, it’s a coin flip when it comes to deciding who the winner is going to be. Falcons do have the edge because of the Dome field advantage, but the after beating Philadelphia last week, Green Bay feels like they can beat anybody, anytime, anywhere. One thing is for sure, it has the makings to be a classic game and whoever is in the Georgia Dome to watch this game will get their money’s worth.