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Saturday, October 13, 2018

Sports and Social

This past Monday morning of course Steak and the 680 gang were going on and on about their beloved 1-4 Falcons. Nothing about the number two team in the country. Finally they moved on to Sunday’s playoff game, which took place right across the street from their studio.  Sandra said the Braves walked 27 times. Finneran said he could do without Nick Markakis, who led the league in doubles. Steak went on and on about the Dodgers trading for Manny Machado, never mentioning the five prospects they surrendered or that he’s an ultra-expensive free agent this off-season. No analysis, or why the trade may have been good for the rich Dodgers but one the Braves could never have pulled off. Nor did Steak mention how the Dodgers might be able to sign Machado for the long term, but not the Braves.
 
Atlanta may be in a position this off-season to have the money to sign a big contract like Machado, and perhaps he should be their target. Or Camargo could play short if the third base prospect is ready. Do the Braves re-sign Markakis? Do they move Ender and sign a corner infielder? Whither Suzuki? Albies needs to be re-taught how to remove the holes from his swing. It goes unsaid that quality relievers are needed for the bullpen. Perhaps Julio Teheran will be moved to the bullpen. And the Braves will never advance much further unless they quit walking so many batters.
 
Was an interesting looking Tech game to watch. Tech’s wearing gold helmets, white jerseys, and navy pants. Knowing Tech would be wearing white jerseys, Duke decided to wear grey helmets and jerseys and royal blue pants. The Blue Devils could’ve worn royal jerseys with white or royal helmets and saved the grey for some other day. The officials could've penalize Duke if the jerseys hadn’t contrasted enough. I emailed Georgia Tech voicing my displease with the navy pants but have yet to receive a response.
 
Article in Sports Illustrated about the option. Lots of quotes from Paul Johnson. They think the option is doomed because of new rules outlawing the chop block. Come to think of it I haven’t heard of a chop block penalty all season. Johnson said he knows he’s on the tail end of the craze, but likes that he’s one of the very few to run it. A few years ago Johnson considered switching to the shotgun option, but correctly knew that under center the ball hits the line of scrimmage quicker. He is right – so often you’ll see someone like Clemson run the ball of short yardage and get stuffed, because the handoff takes place five yards behind the line of scrimmage.
 
Max Howell was a good’un. These days in the afternoons on 680 Chuck Oliver knows more about college football than anyone I’ve ever heard. His coworkers tell stories of trips to broadcast games in a place like Las Vegas. Everyone goes out on the town the night before the game – except Chuck, who stays in his room to watch whatever obscure football game is on TV, like Weber State vs. Towson State. 680’s Chris Dimino knows more baseball than anyone I’ve heard. Smoltz is a good announcer and tells good, topical stories, but Dimino knows history as well as the current stuff.
 
I’ve been better about not stopping for fast food for the last week or so, but Ceil is headed out of town and the fridge isn’t stocked that well. My first fast food choice is Taco Bell (stopped there last Saturday, and the usual ok service was super slow). Just downloaded the Wendys app on my phone and there’s plenty of good deals there, but the Wendys and Taco Bell closest to work both closed due to such poor service. The next closest Wendys also has terrible service, as does the Wendys in East Cobb. Another East Cobb Wendys closed due to bad service.
 
In East Cobb next to a thriving Moes a Burger King closed down because of poor service. They tore it down and built another fast food restaurant from the ground up. Looked very nice. They sent out coupons. They closed down after a year. The Houlihans had been in business for years, one of the few nice restaurants in East Cobb. It closed and now a Jason’s Deli is opening it it’s place. I think the Uncle Maddio’s Pizza only lasted a year before they closed. The Chucky Cheese Pizza closed. Also the Del Taco, which always had bad service. It was right next to an Arbys and Panda Express. The Panda Express is always crowded, as is Chipotle. A tough business to be in. Gotta be trendy and in a good location.  
 
Monday lunch at the Medlock Tavern. Great bar food but I had a salad with chicken. Every single customer was a middle aged man. All the waitresses are in their 30’s or 40’s, wearing skimpy black outfits. Kinda creepy. There was one older lady on the patio. Otherwise Medlock Tavern is a good lunch option. Taco Mac is more crowded, and it’s hard to hear in there. Duluth Diner is ok. Lots of options and the food is good, but maybe not great.

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