Welcome back: 2010 Falcons commence season with preseason tilt with KC Chiefs

After two weeks of hitting each other while sweating under the blistering heat at their training facilities in Flowery Branch, the Falcons will get their 2010 season underway on Friday when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs at the Georgia Dome.

The Falcons took part in a final walkthrough on Thursday and head coach Mike Smith wanted to make sure his team was healthy and wanted to evaluate the younger talent instead of installing a full game plan against the Chiefs.

“We haven’t spent a whole lot of time in terms of preparing a game plan for Kansas City,” Smith said. “We’re going to go out there and do the things that we feel like we need to do. We did expose them to a little bit of the 3-4 defense because of the different blocking schemes. But until we get to Game 3, we’re not going to do a whole lot of game planning.”

80 Falcons players are on the roster and majority of them will see a good amount of playing time. There are few veteran players that will not see the field such as Michael Jenkins who suffered a shoulder injury on Friday at the Friday Night Lights event at North Gwinnett High School. Other players that are ruled out for Friday’s game are Harry Douglass who is coming off a torn ACL injury from last season and Dunta Robinson who has not take part in practice all week.

“I think [Harry Douglass] is on track to possibly play next week.” Smith said. “That’s the plan. If nothing changes, then he’ll get some limited snaps in the ball game next week.”
There could be from nine to 11 players that will not play on Friday including Brian Williams who, like Douglass is coming of a knee injury. Also, Jerious Norwood could not play in the game, due to the fact he has not practiced all week.

WHAT TO EXPECT…

If fans are looking to see a lot of playing time from the first team offense and first team defense, they will be disappointed because they will see the field for only one series in the first quarter, at most. This first preseason game gives the coaching staff an opportunity to evaluated some of the younger talent on the roster and see how they do in a real game for the first time.

All eyes will be on first round pick Sean Weatherspoon who will start at the weak outside linebacker spot. Despite being on the first team defense, he should see a good amount of playing time just from an evaluation standpoint.

Another rookie to keep an eye on is Kerry Meier who will see a lot of action due to the Jenkins injury and Douglass not playing on Friday as well. Out of all the rookies on the roster Meier maybe the most impressive.

There has also been a lot buzz about the play of Jamaal Anderson as of late and many are saying that he is having a great camp. He will start at defensive end on Friday, but expect him to get some work at the defensive tackle spot. In fact, out of all the starters on defense, he may see the most reps due to the lack of depth.

“Jamaal has had to get a whole bunch of reps simply because we have been light at the defensive tackle position,” Smith said after practice on Wednesday morning. He played a lot longer than we anticipated he would in the scrimmage, and I think he is going to have to pull some extra time in the game on Friday night, simply because of the numbers we have available on the defensive side.”

Kickoff for the game will be at 8:00 p.m. The Falcons will have Saturday off and will then be back at it on Sunday and Monday before the New England Patriots come to town on Tuesday for two combined practices before their meeting at the Georgia Dome on Thursday.

12,000 Falcons fans flock to North Gwinnett for Friday Night Lights

The Falcons wrapped up their first full week of training camp and they ended the week with a treat for the fans with a scrimmage at North Gwinnett High School. Here's my recap of the event. Oh, and be sure to check me out on Sunday from 2-5 on 790 the Zone for Score Atlanta Sports Sunday Show. You can listen online at www.790thezone.com.


It’s almost here. After a week of walk-throughs and drills, the 2010 Atlanta Falcons finally got to put on the pads and play some football, as their annual Friday Night Lights took place on Friday night at North Gwinnett High School.

It was an opportunity for fans who could not make it out to their training facilities in Flowery Branch to watch the team scrimmage and get up close and personal with their favorite players.

The team was split into two, red (offense) vs. white (defense) and head coach Mike Smith had his own point system so the defense had an equal opportunity to score points in the scrimmage. Before the intrasquad scrimmage, the defense was making plays during camp. But this time it was the offense’s turn to shine as they defeated the defense 39-22.

“[The defense] is going get into the swing of things before we do,” Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli said after the scrimmage. “For us it’s timing, and it’s just getting into the swing of things. So we’ll get there.”

One of the things the Falcons coaches were taking notice was the play of the younger talent. Guys such as Brandyn Harvey and Dominique Franks were able to make some big plays, but the two who stood out the most were running backs Antone Smith and Dimitri Nance who shared time with Jason Snelling.

“Some of our young players had an opportunity to get extended playing time and I think the running backs did a really good job,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “I thought those guys ran the ball well.

Another player that stepped up his game is wide receiver Kerry Meier who made some big plays while working with the first team.

“Kerry is doing a good job for us,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said who sat most of the second half. “He’s been working hard, studying real hard, been learning the offense, getting better day-by-day.”

Meier may have to better quick because Michael Jenkins went down with a shoulder injury early in the scrimmage. Jenkins will be looked at on Saturday but it’s not expected to be serious.

As good as the team looked, one aspect Smith was worried about is tackling because there were more missed tackles than he would have liked.

“This is the first time we had live tackling,” Smith said. “I think we’ll a lot of improvement between now and next week.”

At halftime about 500 youth cheerleaders performed who were part of the North Gwinnett youth cheerleading program. After the game, fans were treated to fireworks and a full-team autograph session. Total attendance for the event was over 12,000 which is close to the numbers last year which took place at Brookwood and the year prior to that when it was at Mill Creek.

The Falcons will have a mock game on Saturday at their headquarters in Flowery Branch where all the players will go through a rundown of a real NFL game. The event is open to the public and will kickoff at 12:00 p.m. The Falcons will have their first preseason game at the Georgia Dome on Friday when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs. The game will kickoff at 8:00 p.m.

Falcons training camp begins with full participation

Camp is in session for the Atlanta Falcons with 2010 traning camp beginning Friday and they got off on the right foot with full particaption during the morning practice. I did not make the morning session, but I was able to attend the one in the afternoon and I had to say the team looks pretty sharp. Here's my recap on Day 1 which you can find on www.scoreatl.com.


The 2010 NFL season officially started for the Falcons on Friday, as training camp opened at their facilities in Flowery Branch. Since head coach Mike Smith took over the helm in 2008, the expectations for the Falcons have been high. But this year is different because they are coming off a 9-7 campaign which made it the first time this team had back-to-back winning seasons. And they were able to accomplish that feat with the majority of their players injured.

The first practice was at 8:30 in the morning on Friday and fans got a treat because all Falcons players that were on the roster participated, including Brian Williams, Harry Douglas and Peria Jerry who are all coming off of knee injuries. So there is no question the No. 1 objective for the Falcons during training camp.

“The biggest thing for us is to stay healthy, especially in the first 10 days of training camp,” said Smith after the first practice. “I think it’s going to be very important that we stay healthy and that’s one of our main objectives.”

Coach Smith also mentioned the other objective is to advance as a team offensively and defensively. Offensively, it starts with Matt Ryan who is coming off a solid second year, but he knows the offense as a whole needs to improve in order to make the next step.

“We need to be more consistent on first and second down, Ryan said after the morning session. “We need to be more consistent on third down. We need to be more consistent in the red zone. And those are all things that I think we’re going to work really hard at.”

Another objective was to have the rookies in camp and ready ago and once again, the Falcons officials did a good job getting all their draft picks signed and ready to go before camp began. So all eyes were one Sean Weatherspoon who signed a less than 24 hours before the Friday morning session.

“My main goal was to make sure I made this practice,” Weatherspoon said. “You don’t want to miss any time on the field. It was a big deal getting there and I was very excited that I’m here.”

The afternoon session started at 3:30 p.m. and it the team did the same drills as the morning practice, but Jerry, Williams, Douglass and Tony Gonzalez all sat out.

One of the highlights during camp was Matt Ryan first pass of the seven-on-seven drills picked off by Mike Peterson and taken back to the house for a touchdown. That would be the only mistake Ryan would make and looked flawless in the rest of the drill as well as the two team sessions.

Another note from the afternoon session is rookies Kerry Meier and Weatherspoon got a lot of work with the first team offense and defense, respectively. And with Gonzalez out, Justin Peele and rookie TE from Clemson Michael Palmer saw a lot of action with the first-team offense and bother came up with clutch catches.

Even though Jerry did not participate, he was excited to get back on the field.
“It was good getting back out with the team and the D-line [defensive line],” said Jerry after the afternoon practice. Just communicating with the guys, and talking with the guys as well as running around was fun.”

The Falcons will have two-a-day practices from Saturday-Tuesday and will have one practice on Wednesday afternoon. They will have two sessions on Thursday and on Friday, they will kick off Allstate All-Access weekend with Friday Night Lights at North Gwinnett High School at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, the Falcons will host a mock game at Flowery Branch at 12:00 p.m. Their first preseason game will be against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Georgia Dome on August 13.

Recap of Hawks draft night

Here's a blog I wrote for Score Atlanta on the Hawks draft picks. Make sure to pick up your copy of Score Atlanta at any QuickTrip location in the metro Atlanta area and check out scoreatl.com for the latest on Atlanta sports.


Another draft is in the books for the Atlanta Hawks and some would say they really had a solid night. They picked at No. 24 in the first round and selected Damion James ─ a forward from Texas ─ but he was not a Hawk for long, as he was traded to the New Jersey Nets. The Hawks received in the deal the second of their first-round picks (No. 27) and their second-round pick (No. 31). The Nets then selected guard Jordan Crawford from Xavier at No. 27 and at pick No. 31 they selected center Tibor Pleiss from Germany, who the Hawks sold to the Oklahoma City Thunder for $3 million. For the Hawks, they selected Pape Sy a forward from Senegal for their second-round pick.

I have to say I agree with the pundits because the Hawks end up with a one of the best scoring guards that were not in the lottery and he is a guy that is not afraid to make the tough shot. Crawford is also an explosive jumper that can attack the rim (LeBron James can second that notion).

Crawford only spent one year at Xavier, but made an instant impact, leading the team and the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring with 20.5 points per game. He led Xavier to a NCAA tournament appearance and averaged 29 points in three games. As a result, he was named to the All-West Region team.

Crawford coming to Atlanta is no doubt a great move, but two questions have to be addressed. The first is with Crawford selected, is Joe Johnson on the way out? I think that still remains to be seen because I think Johnson could end up signing with the Hawks if he likes the direction this team is headed. On the other hand, he may feel with the selection of Crawford could mean the Hawks are moving on, which would give Johnson the opportunity to look at other teams.
The other question is if the Hawks were so high on Crawford, why did they not originally pick him when he was on the board? Well, in this case it’s all about money. By singing the 27th pick instead of the 24th the Hawks will save $90,000 a year in salary. And if the Hawks are going to make any other moves this off season, they need as much money saved as possible.

As far as the Hawks’ second-round choice, Sy, he played professional basketball over in France and the Hawks’ scouts in Europe really like his potential. He came to Atlanta for a workout recently and head coach Larry Drew like his game so much and he was nervous that other teams would catch on to what Drew had seen. But like Crawford, Sy fell into the Hawks laps.

So overall, it was a good night for the Hawks. They grabbed an athletic wingman that can score, a Frenchman with tremendous upside and $3 million. Even if the team doesn’t sign Johnson, they still have plenty of talent and could be one of the top teams one again in the Eastern Conference if the veterans continue to improve and if Crawford plays like he did at Xavier.

MMA expert Alexia Krause previews upcoming Strikeforce event

Now, I'm not a MMA expert, but I am a fan and try to keep up with it as much as I can. It's exciting, violent and intense. In fact, I will make it my duty to watch UFC 116, as the main event will be Brock Lesnar against Shane Carwin for the undisputed heavyweight championship. But before that, Strikeforce will have their event on June 26 and it includes a great main event match between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight showdown. For more on this match and the rest of the card here's MMA expert Alexia Krause who is making her debut on the Atlanta Sports Guy blog.



The Strikeforce event on June 26th is bound to be one for the books as Strikeforce mixed martial arts joins up with M-1 Global to bring some of the toughest fighters in the world together within one caged ring. This is an extra special event because it combines Strikeforce MMA with M-1 Global, which allows it to be a complete world showcase of some of the world's best fighters. This showcase has a huge title card as Fedor Emelianenko (who is actually a co-owner of M-1 Global) takes on Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight bout that promises to entertain.

Fedor Emelianenko- also known as "The Last Emperor"- holds a record of 31-1. His only recorded loss comes from the fact that his fight with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a gash in the opening seconds of the fight. Even though he has a loss to tarnish his undefeated streak, "The Last Emperor" understands that numbers don't mean anything when you're inside the cage.

Fedor has been at the top as the best heavyweight in the world for the better part of the last decade. He has taken down Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Mark Coleman, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on his way there. On June 26th, he goes up against Fabricio Werdum (the number 9 heavyweight in the world) for a showdown that's bound to define the two fighters and the event.

Even though Emelianenko is among the top heavyweights in the world, he will have a lot on his hands going up against the jiu-jitsu technician, Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is known as "Vai Cavalo" or "Leading Horse" which speaks to his wild and free nature in the ring. It looks like Emelianenko will be tasked with taming Werdum if he wants that victory.

Despite this exciting main card, the June 26th Strikeforce will feature much more heated action. In fact, many more people are looking forward to the top woman in the world, Cris "Cyborg" Santos taking on Jan Finney. Most feel that Cyborg will take out Finney pretty easily and glide on to an effortless victory (even more so considering that Finney's nickname is "Cuddles"), but Finney has been known to be scrappy making the fight a good one to watch.

Plus, seeing Cris Cyborg in action is always an event in itself:



With some of the best male heavyweight and female featherweight fighters clashing on the same night, the June 26th Strikeforce event is destined to be an exciting evening for MMA fans.

Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she's been obsessed with MMA. As a result, she has joined forces with MMA Industries- purveyors of widely popular MMA training gloves and shirts. Alexia has been writing about the latest developments in MMA equipment for the past few years, and continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world.

The Top 10 UGA Commits

If you don't know already, I'm on a radio show every Sunday from 2-5 (you can listen on 790 am or go on their website). I also contribute on another show every Tuesday which focuses on recruiting. So last night I was on the air as I introduced my list of the top 11 UGA commits for the class of 2011. If you missed the show (which is possible considering the show airs from 7-9 at night), here it is without further ado.

11. David Andrews (C, Wesleyan) – Has great technique and has the intelligence that you need in a center. Is not real big, standing at 6-2 and 276 pounds, but will have time to grow when he gets on campus next year.

10. Justin Scott-Wesley (WR, Mitchell Co.) – Wesley is a receiver that can make the tough catch in the middle of the field. Has good speed and plays with no fear. The only area where he needs to improve is route running, but he will make a standout receiver on the next level.

9. Zach Witchett (WR, Washington) – Like Justin Scott-Wesley, Zach Witchett is a downfield threat that is lightning fast. He has great body control and knows where to go to get open. Needs to improve route running, but with another year at the position, he should be able to do just that.

8. Devin Bowman (CB, Ridgeland) – Devin Bowman has played the majority of his high school career as a running back, but has the size and agility to be a cornerback at the next level. One more year at the corner position will help his fundamental skills such as jamming ability and back pedaling, but can be an elite corner when he leaves the college ranks.

7. Armarlo Herrera (LB, North Clayton) – This linebacker from North Clayton can hit and hit you hard. He also knows where to be at all times and has exceptional speed. Pass coverage is something he can improve on, but be a major player as an inside linebacker for the 3-4 defense.

6. Sterling Bailey (DE, East Hall) – Sterling Bailey is an end that just gets after the quarterback. He has quick feet and is extremely athletic. He would like to get stronger at the point of attack, but would fit well in the 3-4 scheme.

5. Chirs Conley (WR, North Paulding) – Standing at 6-2, 185, Chris Conley could be the next A.J. Green if he continues to improve. He has great hands and can snatch balls out of the air. He should continue to improve his footwork this season and if that happens he will play for UGA right away.

4. Christian Lemay (QB, Butler (NC)) – There are not many quarterbacks in the country that are better than Christian LeMay. He is a natural leader that has rocket arm. With him along with Hutston Mason and Aaron Murray, the QB position should be a non-issue for UGA for awhile.

3. Corey Moore (S, Griffin) – Corey Moore made a huge impact at the safety position last year. He hit hard and is a tough as they come. He is raw at the position and will look to improve his coverage skills this upcoming season.

2. Chris Sanders (ATH, Tucker) – Chris Sanders can play a variety of positions, but he is at his best safety. He is tough and can cover the entire field because of his speed. He has all the tools to be a free safety at the college level.

1. Nick Marshall (ATH, Wilcox Co.) – If you haven’t seen Nick Marshall play, then you are missing out because he is just a football player. He has blazing speed, and has great size to play quarterback or safety. UGA is recruiting him to play safety, but don’t be surprised to see him play on the other side of the ball like Branden Smith did for the Dawgs last year.


I have done a hand full of these lists over the last few months, so I will post those over the next few weeks as football season gets closer.

Atlanta: A pro football headquarters or a college football mecca?

I know it’s been awhile since I posted my last blog, but now that’s it’s the summertime and I don’t have as much work to do as I did during the high school sports season, I will try to post more blogs that are focused on football.

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog that college football expert Tony Barnhart wrote about Atlanta being a college football city or a pro football city. He asked which event would you rather see – The Atlanta Falcons taking on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game or No. 1 Alabama taking on No. 2 Florida for the SEC Championship.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Most fans would chose to see the Falcons in the NFC Championship because it’s the hometown team one win away from the Super Bowl. But if Georgia was No. 1 or No. 2 in the polls and were playing the SEC title game, then it would be a different story.

Here’s what I would choose. I love Georgia and I would like for them to win a national championship someday. But I can’t go against the Falcons because I have more of a connection with them than with UGA. But that doesn’t mean that it would be a hard decision.

Here’s my point. Most fans would choose the SEC title game because Barnhart got it right when he said that Atlanta is a college football town. Always has been and probably always will be. But what I would ask him is can’t Atlanta be both a college and pro football town? Why should we have to choose one or the other? Why can’t we appreciate both levels of football the same?

Look, I’ll be honest and say I’m more of a pro football fan than college (only by a slim margin). But I love going to college football games in Athens or on the Flats. In fact, I went the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff game, the SEC Championship and the Chick-fil-A Bowl last year and I had a blast. I especially love watching games on Saturday from noon to 1 a.m. But one thing that you have to understand about me is I love the game of football – high school, college or pro.

Atlanta is a melting pot when it comes to college football fans because there are quite a few fans that root for of alums of schools such as Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson, Florida, Florida State and Auburn. But why not support the Falcons the way that you support your college team. Sure, the Falcons have not won a Super Bowl and they have been inconsistent when it comes to winning seasons. But they are a team on the rise and I think they will reach a Super Bowl in the next two years. You can bank on it.

That’s all I have to say about that topic. I will have more topics concerning football in the next few weeks. I will also have a high school, college and pro football preview in the next month and rank some of the top players at each level.