Sports Gone South

Gone Racin’, For A Bit

By Jay Busbee | February 15, 2008

Hey there. Quiet around these parts, we know. We had an amazing opportunity literally drop into our laps this week–no, seriously, we were holding a laptop and we nearly dropped it when we got the email. We’re handling temporary editor duties over at Yahoo!’s NASCAR blog, “From the Marbles.” We’ll be there through Daytona and, good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise, for a little longer than that. Stop on by and chat a spell.

(And no, that’s not our grandpappy. Smartass.)

Topics: NASCAR | Comments Off

Dead Tiger Coachin’

By Jay Busbee | February 8, 2008

In a move not entirely unexpected, the LSU Tigers have canned coach John Brady, but–in an unusual and humiliating move–he will coach the Tigers against Tennessee on Saturday, presumably with his desk already cleared out and the car out of ol’ Red Stick idling outside the arena.

Can’t say we’d take our firing with similar grace…unless he’s planning some sort of scorched-earth, play-the-waterboy-and-set-the-floor-on-fire exit, he’s a better man than us. We salute you, John Brady. Good luck walking that Green Mile.

Topics: Basketball, LSU | Comments Off

Cross-Promotion, Ho!

By Jay Busbee | January 29, 2008

Tracking events of late at Right Down Peachtree and Sports Gone South…

A reason for Dawgs and Jackets fans to watch the Senior Bowl.
It’s a Mike Smith-a-rama as the Falcons announce their new head coach.
Atlanta’s WNBA team has a Dreamy new name. (Sorry about that one.)
Why Memphis deserves its No. 1 ranking.
FSU hockey is…is…wait, what were we talking about again?
Selling our good name for hockey swag. (That still hasn’t shown up, by the way.)
A good week to be our friend.
We already know Falcons quarterbacks don’t make the wisest choices. Apparently, it’s genetic.

Topics: Cross-Promotion | Comments Off

Karma’s Already Chewed Up The Falcons QBs; Now It’s Going For Their Families

By Jay Busbee | January 24, 2008

Fascinating–in the dogs-eating-peanut-butter sense of the word–story out of Atlanta this week, as it turns out the father of Falcons QB D.J. Shockley got canned from his job as a high school coach for having naughty photos of a school administrator on his computer:

A North Clayton High School student was trying to fix the football coach’s computer last month when he stumbled upon racy photos of an assistant principal. He downloaded them to his iPod and started showing them to other students during school. The photos, taken by the football coach, found their way onto the Internet and prompted an internal investigation.

A couple things: first, is there anything less titillating (ha!) than the phrase “racy photos of an assistant principal”? Second, this kid is dead. D-E-D dead. He started the ball rolling on the firing of a guy whose son happens to play NFL football. Think there won’t be some recriminations? We’re thinking that ipod’s going to need to be surgically removed from somewhere before long.

Oh, and for those of you keeping score at home, the score for Falcons QBs goes like this: Michael Vick, doggone; Byron Leftwich, injured fifteen seconds after stepping onto the Georgia Dome turf; DJ Shockley, dad got fired and humiliated; and Joey Harrington, still Joey Harrington. Ouch.

Topics: Disturbing, Falcons | Comments Off

It’s A Good Week To Be A Friend Of Sports Gone South

By Jay Busbee | January 24, 2008

Got a bit of love for some bloggin’ buds today. We’re breaking into the mainstream, if you hadn’t noticed, and here are a couple of opening salvos:

-Jordi Scrubbings over at The Serious Tip got himself a mention on CNBC, of all places, and was thisclose to getting interviewed on TV. I know! A blogger on TV! Awesome, huh?

-Eric Angevine of Storming The Floor is the new author of The College Basketball Closer over at Deadspin. Get over there and show him some love, because those commenters can be vicious. We wouldn’t go so far as to say that they’re the type of folks who’d shoot slingshots at tigers, but they’d sure talk about doing it.

Anyway, congrats to both Jordi and Eric, two deserving cats who’re destined for great things. Go cut you a slice of destiny, gentlemen!

Topics: Blogitocracy | 1 Comment »

Hockey? South Of Philly? That’ll NEVER Catch On!

By Jay Busbee | January 23, 2008

Hey, guess what! This weekend is the NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta. (You didn’t know that? For shame.) Anyway, since hockey these days has a lower profile than that “You Are The Weakest Link” chick, they’re pulling out all the stops to make sure you’re aware that, you know, hockey still exists.

To wit: the Versus network’s doing one of those cute new viral marketing schemes that all the kids are talking about these days. But instead of embedding, say, movie trailers in otherwise innocuous sites, they’re going straight at it, asking bloggers to, you know, pony up some bandwidth for the cause.

Nice idea. Then we realized, “Hey! We have a blog!” (Two, actually.) So, here’s one of those fancy little banners for the All-Star Game. Click on it and see what happens:

Sports Gone South. We’ll do anything for free stuff. Especially food. Got any extra cold cuts, Versus?

Topics: hockey | Comments Off

Florida State Hockey Knows Which Side Its Biscuit In The Basket Is Buttered On…

By Jay Busbee | January 23, 2008

…or something. Gosh, we bet that ice is cold.

(Hat tip to The Big Lead.)

Topics: Florida State, hockey | Comments Off

Why The University Of Memphis Deserves A No. 1 Ranking

By Jay Busbee | January 22, 2008

Memphis is the No. 1 team in college basketball right now, and if you don’t understand the significance of that, friends, you don’t know Memphis.

We love the Bluff City. We went to grad school at the U of M, we set one of our novels there, and we channel our inner Faulkner by drinking in the Peabody lobby as often as we can. Memphis has a reputation for basketball greatness–the ’72 team that ran into an ungodly Bill Walton in the championship, the star-crossed ’85-’86 team, the shoulda-couldas with Penny Hardaway and Lorenzen Wright in the ’90s–but they’ve never quite been able to clear the big hurdle.

Why? We submit that there’s something in the makeup of the city. Allow us, if you will, to quote ourselves (again) on why this ranking is so important:

In its existence, Memphis has been a home for every halfwit sports league from Canadian League Football to Donkey Basketball, with a stunning roster of defunct or departed teams — The Showboats, the RiverKings, the Pharaohs, the Chicks, the Houn’dawgs, the Maniax, the Xplorers, the Blues, the Fire, the Hot Shots, the Tams, the Sounds, the Americans, the Rogues, the Rockers, and on and on and on. The pre-Titan Houston Oilers used Memphis like A-Rod uses handy blondes, popping down I-40 for football games and then scooting back to Nashville the moment the clock reached all zeroes. (Which led to the really embarrassing scene of Memphis standing out on Nashville’s lawn screaming for the Titans to come out, and the Titans telling the kids to go to bed, nothing’s wrong, and Nashville telling the Titans that if they didn’t get that WHORE off the lawn right now, they could just go LIVE with her on Beale Street, and…)

We’re not alone. Consider how the Commercial Appeal’s Geoff Calkins started his column today:

Go ahead, take a another look. It really does say what you think it says:

1. Memphis.

That’s right:

1. Memphis.

Can’t quite believe it, can you?

1. Memphis.

And the ranking isn’t for crime rates, obesity or public corruption…

You get the idea. Anyway, now Memphis is No. 1, and deservedly so. Riding that ranking for another ten weeks won’t be easy, but if ever a Bluff City team had the horses to do it, it’s this one. Friends, start prepping your Elvis metaphors now.

Topics: Basketball, Memphis | Comments Off

Notes From The Old Guard: The Bluff City Rules

By Jay Busbee | January 20, 2008

Breading, flouring and frying up what the (mostly) Southern mainstream media’s reporting these days:

-The University of Memphis is now No. 1 in college hoops (presumably). Expect to read more about this here. [Memphis Commercial Appeal]

-LSU celebrates its national championship win on a cold day, and one dignitary mentions how he went from “a soul brother to a cold brother to a fudgesicle.” With a line like that, we sure hope he’s black. [Baton Rouge Advocate]

-West Virginia’s problem–a coach with a wandering eye–could one day befall Michigan. How far are we from installing those collars on coaches that blow their heads off if they stray too far from campus? [Charlotte.com]

-File under “Numbingly Obvious”: Chris Chambers is happy he’s playing in the AFC championship for San Diego, and not still stuck on 1-15 Miami. [Miami Herald]

And in the world beyond sports–really, there apparently is one:

The monster in Cloverfield? Bin Laden. Betcha didn’t see that one coming…Giuliani’s curious “you guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up” strategy is starting to spring leaks…Looking for that big tax rebate this year? Maybe yes, maybe no…Sam the Butcher has sliced his last meat.

Topics: Notes From The Old Guard | Comments Off

The Week That Was: Cross-Promotion, Ho!

By Jay Busbee | January 20, 2008

For those who came in late, here’s what was shaking at Sports Gone South and Right Down Peachtree this week:

Thoughts on a fine essay over at FreeDarko about mythbuilding and our pro athletes.
Your Weekend Threesome: Foo Fighters, Seven Mary Three, The Meters.

At Sports Gone South:

The Hawks Liveblog, Second Annual Edition. Melo, AI, dead Skyhawks, and dancers that could make a preacher burn his collar.
Is LSU the finest college program of the decade? Baton Rouge says yes, Excel says hold on.
Don’t get too comfortable being a Gator.

And at Right Down Peachtree: