Reheating Geezer Jock For You...
All-Star Suit A Joke; The Hawks Need A Beating To Be Any Good; Dansby Swanson Says
Geezer Jock is an inelegant title for a magazine. I wrote for that glossy publication from 2006-2008. The circulation rose to 100,000 before the recession wiped out advertising. People with a sense of humor loved the name and the content.
I am reheating Geezer Jock, this time as a newsletter. Will you look at it this morning, please? The first story is about a 68-year old, a physical therapist in Atlanta who flips tires as part of her workout.
I am going to tell some stories of remarkable athletes—and people—who happen to be older. I’ll have news and tips and other gems.
I will stick with Ball Atlanta because I can add to the sports debates around here.
What Is It About Texans Poking Their Heads In Our Business
In Arizona, the forensics team hired by the Republicans to investigate voter fraud is looking for evidence of bamboo among the ballots to prove the Democrats flew in ballots from Asia.
Meanwhile, a likewise stupefying group in Texas—not Georgia, mind you—is suing Major League Baseball for taking the 2021 All-Star Game out of Georgia. These Texas folks are suing on behalf of small businesses and all those people losing money because the game was moved to Denver because of the anti-voting rights bill.
Remember Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suing Georgia over election results? I live here. The man in Texas wanted to nullify my vote.
Here these Texans go again. I think the state is as big as it is because it has to hold a lot more rash people than the rest of the country.
The Texans are suing on behalf of “all those people” losing money from MLB’s decision , which I assume they mean the folks making $10 an hour without tips at the ballpark, or the maids at the hotels making $10?
This was in the press release by Job Creators Network.
Atlanta is 51% African-American, Denver is 9% African-American. U.S. Census data indicates there are roughly 7.5 times more African-American-owned businesses in Georgia than Colorado.
It was an attempt to argue that Major League Baseball was crippling minority business by moving the All-Star Game.
Dudes at Job Creators Network hear me: Blacks were in favor of MLB taking the game out of Atlanta. It was a response to the anti-Black voting legislation passed by the white men in the Georgia legislature. Blacks are not on your side with this, so don’t put out these stats of Atlanta 51 percent is African-American. Besides, the city of Atlanta may be 51 percent Black, but the Braves are in Cobb County now.
The lawsuit is about as ludicrous as the claim the game was worth $100 million in economic impact. Two days can generate that much revenue? No facts to support the claim of $100 million were given by Cobb County.
Denver is going to put on a splendid game. Major League Baseball owns the rights to the game and can do what it likes.
The Hawks Have To Get Knocked Around A Little
The Atlanta Hawks will take the next step to winning an NBA Championship on Sunday.
No, not this 2021 title. One in the future. They have to be broiled first, toasted by a superior, more ironed out, and veteran team.
Michael Jordan talked about it an interview in 2017. He said:
Jordan helped the Chicago Bulls win six crowns. But first, he and the Bulls were bounced out of the playoffs early six times. They lost to Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals in 1989 and 1990. Chicago won it in 1991.
The NBA has changed a lot with the roster maneuvering by players, but winning titles is still an art and a science. James showed the way with the Lakers in 2020, which is how LA’s roster skipped a few steps.
The Hawks aren’t there, not yet. The best-of-7 series with Philadelphia, which starts Sunday, is just another step. Atlanta has a better chance to win the series with the injury to Philly star center Joel Embiid, a finalist for MVP, but this team needs more steel to win the crown. They can beat Philly in seven now, but the Nets or Jazz?
I said this before, Utah is going to play Brooklyn in the Finals. The best defense vs. The best offense. Atlanta is neither…but closer than we thought after running the Knicks out of their own building. The Hawks are a team that could be in the top five of both offense and defense…next season, and then look out.
Dansby Swanson Crosses His Fingers. Freddie Factor.
“I think we’re going to get there.”
Dansby Swanson said that Wednesday night after a 5-3 loss to the Washington Nationals. The Braves are 26-29 and four games behind the Mets in the NL East after a 9-5 loss Friday night to the Dodgers, in which LA got four hits! It has been that kind of season.
The Panda, Pablo Sandoval, was excited with Freddie Freeman’s home run Friday night, but these are not fun times.
I have some thoughts about Swanson’s proclamation:
The Braves’ lineup is certainly not as deep as 2020. Marcell Ozuna is likely done for the season. He has the broken wrist and then legal trouble. The police saw his hands on his wife’s throat and Major League Baseball, I bet, will not let him back on the field in 2020.
It could be another six weeks before the bat—and glove—of catcher Travis d’Arnaud is back in the lineup after thumb surgery.
The expected centerfielder Cristian Pache is marooned in the minors after hitting .111 and getting injured.
The Braves just cannot find consistency in their starting pitching, which looms large with the problems in the every day lineup.
Drew Smyly is the most perplexing with his fogginess on two-strike pitches. I watched him Wednesday, ahead 0 balls, 2 strikes on the Nats’ Juan Soto, and then Smyly threw the ball down the middle and Soto rode it out of the park. The Braves lost 5-3. Smyly has given up home run after home run with two strikes.
Bryse Wilson got clipped around in Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday night giving up six hits, four walks, and five runs in five innings. Ian Anderson just had a second straight cruddy start against a good team, the Mets, then LA.
And there is the Freddie thing. And it is a thing.
Freeman, the 2020 National League MVP, is hitting .226. He does not have a terrific 3-hole hitter behind him. Ozuna was a bust and now gone and Freeman, hitting 2, is being worked. Freddie does not have bad at bats very often, but pitchers are really bearing down him. Ozuna (.213), became an easy out with a lack of discipline at the plate and pitchers could go after Freeman.
And then there is the contract thing. Freeman, 31, is a generational player, just like Chipper Jones, but now Liberty Media, the owner, is allowing MVFree to get out on the open market. Here come the Dodgers, Freddie’s hometown team. LA can do a big deal, six years at $120 million. The Dodgers are accustomed to these kinds of deals.
Are we witnessing a complete unraveling of the Braves?
It’s ok for Swanson to be positive, but 30 percent of the season is gone and the Braves are still missing the juice of the previous three seasons. There was a lot of speculation the Braves were getting it together after hammering the Pirates, 33-3, in a three-game series. It was the Pirates!