Connor Dunks

OGLETHORPE BASKETBALL: Will’s former teammate Connor Smith had his first college dunk Saturday night. He’s averaging 8 points and 23 minutes per game – 6th on the team. Connor is one of eight players to play in every game (one of three guards to do so). Oglethorpe is 18-1 for the season, losing only to LaGrange. They have beaten Berry, Swarthmore, and Emory. It’s their best start ever, and they’re ranked 23rd in Division III.

TECH BASKETBALL: I had wondered if GT coach Brian Gregory was overmatched in the ACC. He seems to always be signing players…several are lined up to come in for next season. They just might not be good enough to compete in the ACC. Earlier this year they couldn’t keep up with Dayton. At least Gregory’s contract isn’t huge like Hewitt’s or Johnson’s. I finally corrected the GT schedule in my calendar. I had the entire season messed up.

RAY GUY: My dad told me that when I was ten or eleven he took me to a high school all-star game in Macon. Ray Guy played in the game. I did not remember that. Guy was born in Swainsboro but played for Thomson High (see links)  Wiki and Pro Football Reference

Guy was the first punter to hit the Superdome scoreboard, during the 1976 Pro Bowl. Saints punter Russell Erxleben hit the scoreboard during a 1980 preseason game against the Dolphins. The scoreboard is no longer in the middle of the Superdome, but there is a similar scoreboard in the new Cowboys Stadium. Saints link

BRAVES ARBITRATION: If Heyward puts up huge numbers, then walks, people will forget that back in 2013 they were calling him the next Francoeur. So many make mountains out of molehills, like going to the arbitration hearing with Kimbrel and Heyward.

ELIMINATING THE PAT: Rex Robinson says that if the PAT isn’t worth anything, then long field goals should be worth more. Count 50 yarders as 4 points and 60 yarders as 5 points. Under 30 yarders could count two points.

Roger Goodell does have a point. So many people change the channel during PATs. Less than half of one percent are missed. I’d rather keep the PAT, even if it means moving it back ten or twenty yards. Make the guy who scored the touchdown attempt the kick. But that will never happen because of all the betting on football.

As usual Jeff Schultz goes way overboard, saying that most all special teams need to be eliminated. Special teams is where you see all the dumb plays, and supposedly where the injuries happen. But so often the outcome of a game hinges on a special team play.