Game of the Year: Part One

Bama is the best team in the country. Better than Texas. Obviously better than UGA. Ohio State and Michigan usually can’t win the big one. Bama was so many weapons. RB, WR, defense. QB Jalen Milroe should win the Heisman. Who is better than him? Texas QB has missed 2+ games, and the Longhorns won both without him.

Did you stay up to the end of the game? The Dawgs came back. I was concerned that they would quit. What started as a rout turned into a nail biter. Though UGA fell far behind early, I thought the Dawgs should’ve pounded the ball inside on the ground more, especially in the first half and early in the second. QB Beck kept finding himself in too many 2nd & 10 and 3rd & long situations. Despite throwing 3 interceptions, losing a fumble, and creating a safety by intentionally grounding the ball while in the end zone, Beck was able get the Dawgs back in the game.

The Dawgs were missing 9 players due to injuries. ABC kept showing OL Tate Ratlidge on the sidelines. His absence alone was the difference between victory and defeat.

We watched the game at my other friend Reid’s house watching the game, with his neighbors and friends. Ten people in all. Lots to eat: turkey chili with rice, cornbread, salad, chips and dips, brownies, rice krispy treats. A late evening, with the game ending around 1130.

Saturday morning Anna was at The Avenue for a event at her High Country store, and I met up with her afterward. It was my first time back at The Avenue since they reconfigured it, with a large common area where ESPN College GameDay was playing (below). Nick Saban’s wife Miss Terry was the guest picker. She scolded Nick for picking against their friend Deion Sanders. She picked Colorado and was right – Nick’s pick for UCF to win was wrong.

I watched a good chunk of the Texas @ Mississippi State game. Bulldogs were able to keep it close due to at least ten penalties on the offensive line. Arch looked good, firing accurate passes downfield  and making several good runs, including a 26 yard scamper that ended with a dive to the pylon. Looked like a TD to me, but he was ruled down at the one yard line.

In only their second meeting ever, Clemson breezed by Stanford. The Cardinal had a time traveling cross country, as the Greenville SC airport was closed for much of Friday. Tiger QB Cade Klubnick may be the ACC player of the year.

Auburn couldn’t hold their lead. FSU got routed by SMU, and QB DJU was finally benched. Noles fall to 1-4. Kentucky looked good again, upsetting #6 Ole Miss in Vaught-Hemingway.

USC beat Wisconsin. Not sure how good Wisconsin is. I’ve even forgotten what their mascot is. The Badgers?

Despite a lack of offense, the Falcons edged the hated Saints on Koo’s 58 yard field goal.

We watched pretty much the entire game.

When Koo nailed a 53 yarder earlier in the game I noticed the kick would’ve been good from at least five yards further, as it landed in the net.

Afterwards we watched most of the Chiefs@Chargers. The Bolts kept it close most of the game, despite QB Herbert’s lack of mobility. Rookie WR Ladd McConkey made several good plays. KC kicker Harrison Butker is the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history. He kicked three field goals against the Chargers, and just missed on a 65 yarder at the end of the first half. Ceil said she wants a Harrison Butker jersey. She's never  before ever said she wanted anyone's jersey.

Watched a little of the Bills @ Ravens. Was surprised that Baltimore had such an easy time.

Spike Lee was courtside, taunting Kelsey Plum and the Aces, like they were Reggie Miller and the Pacers. Hard to believe that was over 35 years ago. I noticed Holly Rowe had made it to NYC for the game, after covering GA@AL late the previous evening.

BREAKING: the Braves clinched a spot in the playoffs this evening, thanks to emergency starter Grant Holmes, pitching for a second straight day when ace Chris Sale fell victim to back spasms.

Talk about your drama. The first three pitchers to toe the rubber in game two had also pitched yesterday, and the fourth was Saturday night's starting pitcher. Braves may need to pitch another emergency starter tomorrow night in San Diego.

Will Brian Snitker retire after this season? I doubt it. Even after making it back into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, for the 7th straight season.

TY COBB [SABR Bio] was player/manager of DET 1921-1926. Cobb’s runs total of 2,245, which had stood as the record since 1928, until he was passed by Rickey Henderson in 2001, his final total ending at 2,295. Cobb was famous for responding to autograph requests. “Letters in museums and private collections make abundantly clear that Cobb responded to his young fans, sometimes with handwritten letters that ran to five pages. He always told them he was honored by their autograph requests.” From Who Was Ty Cobb?  The History We Know That’s Wrong.by Charles Leerhsen. Cobb garnered the most votes in the very first Hall of Fame class.

Player           1936 Voting Pct Last Year

Ty Cobb                  222  98.2%   1928

Babe Ruth               215  95.1%   1935

Honus Wagner        215  95.1%   1917

Christy Mathewson 205  90.7%   1916

Walter Johnson       189  83.6%  1927 

DENISON: Israel’s current conflict with Hezbollah started when the terrorist group began bombing northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas’s genocidal invasion on October 7. Nearly 80,000 Israelis living near the Lebanese border have been forced to flee. Israel’s goal is to enable them to return to their homes in peace.                             

Total QB Rating

Tomorrow I’ll recap some of the weekend games. Here’s the current ESPN total QB rating.

1. 95.8 Blake Horvath Navy

2. 92.7 Cam Ward Miami

4. 89.1 Cade Klubnik Clemson junior

5. 87.6 Jalen Milroe Alabama transfer

7. 86.5 Jalen Dart Ole Miss senior

8. 85.8 Arch Manning Texas redshirt freshman

13. 84.4 Haynes King GT transfer

16. 81.3 Carson Beck UGA senior

18. 80.2 Dillon Gabriel Oregon transfer

25. 76.4 Dylan Raiola Nebraska freshman

26. 75.4 Nico Iamaleava Tenn freshman

28. 73.4 Gevani McCoy Oregon State why DJU transferred

42. 69.6 Shedeur Sanders Colorado transfer

56. 61.9 Seth Henigan Memphis

63. 57.9 Payton Thorne Auburn

70. 55.8 JC French Georgia Southern

72. 54.3 Brock Vandagriff Kentucky UGA transfer

83. 49.9 Christian Veilleux Georgia State

87. 47.9 Taisun Phommachanh Mass Clemson GT transfer

95. 41.0 LaNorris Sellers SC

110. 34.3 DJ Uiagalelei FSU transfer Ore State Clemson

My usher friend Larry was just awarded the Walter Banks Award as the Braves Employee of the Year.

After Max Fried pitched his gem on Friday night someone I never heard of tweeted a list of the lefty's accomplishments. I added the following reply, which proceeded to completely blow up the platform with it's popularity - perhaps my most prolific tweet ever. It's the ones you never suspect that go viral, am I right? 

I didn't even realize I'd accidentally included a picture of Freddie Freeman (white jersey). Crazy that Freddie and Max have almost identical swing.

Then Travis d'Arnaud walked off last night's game, bringing the Braves within one win of a playoff birth.

After losing today, the Braves only have to win one of Monday's two games. If Spencer S falters in game one, the Braves will unleash Chris Sale in the nightcap - where Sale can put a bow on his Cy Young candidacy, no matter what the often-wrong MLB Network says.

Lots of storm damage. My customer's plant was hit. Not sure about two of our main vendor's, but a third vendor in Conyers will be closed tomorrow due to a chemical plant fire. What's going on?

Forget the additional 663,000 criminals who have illegally entered our country - are you okay with an additional 31,000 rapists and murderers on the streets? That's an additional 620 rapists and murderers per state - and I can assure you that Alaska and Rhode Island and several other states aren't getting their fair share. What are you going to do about it?

Adoption

Adoption, Foster Care, and the care of a church
Clay Smith JFBC
Ephesians 1:5-6

The book "Experiencing God" says to join places where God is moving

Fostering is a more temporary arrangement than adoption. Both are needed. Over 500 kids are currently fostered in Cobb with 400 in hotels. In the early church infanticide was frequent

James 1:27
Isaiah 1:17

The doctrine of the image of God: we should love and care for all people because they are made in the image of God. What does the Bible say about how we as Christians are adopted by God.

Ephesians 1:3-14 is the longest run on sentence in the Bible

God's blessing…

1. What: we are adopted as sons and daughters v 4 in love - fits both with v 4 and 5 love = agape, Godly love.

V 5 God predestined, predetermined his plan before the creation of the world. Predestined used 6 times in the NT. Emphasis not on who, but what they are predestined to…that those of us in Christ would be adopted as son sons and daughters. That's why we should care about adoption.

The Romans were willing to let adoption happen. The father was the head of the family, the judge and jury. Could allow his children to be sold to other families. This was in Paul's mind when he wrote this verse.

Not all people are children of God. Eph 2:1-3 some are sons of disobedience, of lust, of wrath. Without Christ we deserve hell. But with God we are eternally his children

2. How: through Jesus Christ, our mediator, our reconciler. We were separated by sin. Jesus allows us to be reunited with God

Eph 5:21 not just that our sins are forgiven, but that we can live with God for eternity.

3. Why: to praise his glorious grace, to glorify him for eternity.V 5 it brings the Father great pleasure to adopt us.

V 6 God favored us
Luke 1 Mary was favored by God, the same Greek word in both verses

Because we are adopted by God, it should bother us.

How can a church help adopted families?
1. Learn
2. Give to these ministries. In the US adoption costs $25000-$55000. JFBC has helped 32 families adopt 37 children.
3. Pray and care, come alongside, disciple, support. Hard to foster a child without being surrounded by a good support group.

Sunday School
1. Give a Biblical analogy similar to the fruit of the apple tree being more apple trees.

A. John 15 I am the vine you are the branches.

B. Mark 4 the soil (1) birds ate the seeds (2)  rocky soil plants grew then died (3) other vines choked out the sprouts (4) good soil the sprouts thrived.

C. Mustard seed

D. 2 Timothy 2:2 in the things you have heard from me…

2. When Jesus said all authority has been given to me, what did Jesus do with that authority? Jesus gave this authority to his disciples, and to us. Jesus used the authority to bind Satan.

3. Should we interpret the great commission as a command for the church at large, or to individual believers?  Paul reminds us that everyone isn't called to go, some stay behind to support. We're not all called to be foreign missionaries.

Acts 1:8…to Judea, …and the ends of the earth

21 in Sunday School
Worship: 9 on stage. 4 guitars

Whatever Happened to Don Bessilieu?

When I was at Tech, the Jackets had a beast of a safety, Don Bessilieu. He also doubled as the team's straight-on kickoff man, which was kind of odd. Don went on to play for the Dolphins, Cardinals, and Raiders, plus for two teams in the WFL – including a reunion with his Tech head coach Pepper Rodgers in Memphis.

I recently saw a beast of a tackle that Don had made back for Miami in the day, literally lifting a Bears kickoff returner up over his head and slamming him to the ground. The play was lighting up social media. 

Don succumbed to drug use late In his career, which followed him into retirement. Six years ago, when he was 62 Don was busted for cocaine possession near his hometown of Columbus.

Decided I needed a real Titleist cap to wear to play golf, so I ordered one from Poshmark. It's brand new, but a little more slouchy than I would've liked. As usual, I may be late to the party. Will and Caleb wear these fancy caps with logos I'm not familiar with.

Happened to be looking at a coworker Danny's social media. We're not friends, so I officially snooping. Saw something incredibly interesting – he may have known former Falcon DE John Zook. Now I have to tell him that I was snooping on him, so I can ask him about Zook. Danny is cool, so it will only be embarrassing for me.

Almost talked myself out of going to the Braves game Tuesday, but decided I needed the adventure in my life.

C hasn't been watching many Hallmark movies lately. She's been watching a BBC series called "Death in Paradise" about a all work no play London detective transplanted to a laid back tropical island, that seems to have a murder just about every week. I watch it out of one eye while playing on my laptop. C also watches football and The Voice.

Stayed at the office working on stuff past 6 pm Monday evening. Stopped by Dollar Tree. Ceil cooked Mexican, and I piled everying up over a bed of chips. Good stuff. Watched Jaguars@Bills. Should've checked out the Bengals but didn't.

Skipped the gym Tuesday morning because I walked 3+ miles in the heat to and from the Braves game.

Man I left the office Wednesday at 2 pm and headed out on the highway. Rain and traffic bad. Mark had given us the option of waiting until next week, but only when both C and I were out in traffic with our GPSs telling us that we would be late was I able to convince C that we should reschedule. I didn't want to return to the office on Peachtree Industrial so I turned west over to Spaulding. Decided to stop at Wendys, and then decided to just go home.

With the storm coming I finally decided to clean out the garage, and fit both cars inside. That was a big task. Also waxed my car, no small task either. Supper was Ceil's sausage pasta. She watched Death in Paradise, then I turned on a Peyton Manning Bill Belichick program.

Angel Reese Inexplicably Received 4th Place WNBA MVP Vote which confounded the writer of this article.

A long term study found no evidence of Darwinian evolution.  

SHOHEI OHTANI [B-R Bio] was the first player to win a league MVP unanimously twice, in 2021 & 2023. He's very likely to do it again in 2024. In only seven seasons in the majors, he complied a higher WAR value than Hall of Famers Trevor Hoffman, Harold Baines, Lee Smith, Rich Gossage, Bruce Sutter or Catfish Hunter. Ohtani's WAR was 42.9. He played for the Nippon Ham Fighters for 5 seasons in Japan.

My Top 50 Sitcoms

I see all these lists of greatest sitcoms of all time, and haven't heard of half the shows. So I decided to make up my own personal favorites. Could've cut off the list at 40 and would have been good – the rest are basically honorable mentions.

1. Seinfeld

2. MASH Alda Alda

3. Newhart

4. The Andy Griffin Show

5. Young Sheldon

6. The Middle

7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

8. Square Pegs Sarah Jessica Parker

9. The Big Bang Theory

10. Happy Days Henry Winkler

11. Fresh Off the Boat

12. The Kids Are All Right

13. The Bob Newhart Show

14. The Dick Van Dyke Show

15. The Wonder Years

16. Cheers Ted Danson

17. Friends Jennifer Anniston

18. iCarly

19. The Neighborhood Cedric the Entertainer

20. Gilligans Island Bob Denver

21. The Cosby Show

22. Laverne & Shirley

23. Family Ties Michael J Fox

24. I Love Lucy

25. Drake & Josh

26. Victorious

27. Coach

28. Perfect Strangers

29. 30 Rock

30. Parks & Recreation

31. The Office

32. Fraser

33. 2 Broke Girls

34. Threes Company

35. How I Met Your Mother

36. The Brady Bunch Florence Henderson

37. New Girl

38. Hannah Montana Miley Cyrus

39. Green Acres Eva Gabor

40. Petticoat Junction

41. Mork & Mindy Robin Williams

42. The Flying Nun Sally Field

43. The Fresh Prince of Belair Will Smith

44. Night Court Harry Anderson

45. Bosom Buddies Tom Hanks

46. My Mother the Car Jerry Van Dyke

47. Family Affair

48. McHales Navy Ernest Borgnine

49. My Three Sons

50. Doby Gillis Bob Denver

51. Gidget Sally Field

52. Mr Belvedere Bob Uecker

53. The Honeymooners Jackie Gleason

54. Family Matters

55. The Nanny

56. Mr. Ed

57. Sanford & Son

STAN MUSIAL [SABR Bio] was passed by Barry Bonds for most career extra base hits by a left-handed batter. Musial finished with 1377, the all-time record when he retired in 1963. Bonds and righties Hank Aaron & Albert Pujols all have more. Full list. Musial finished in the top two for MVP voting seven times. He won in 1943, 1946* & 1948. He finished just behind Jackie Robinson (1949), Jim Konstanty (1950), Roy Campanella (1951), and Henry Aaron (1957). In 1946 the 2 votes that went to teammate Enos Slaughter prevented Musial from winning the award unanimously. Stan was the first player to play at least 1000 games in both the infield and outfield. He played 1890 in the outfield and 1016 at 1B. Musial also pitched to one batter in a G in 1952.

DENISON: 22% say publicly that they trust the government to tell them the truth. However, when asked in a way that preserves their anonymity, it turns out only 4% actually feel this way. 24% say publicly that they trust the media to tell them the truth, but only 7% say the same in private. This is deeply troubling on two levels: the degree of distrust we feel toward our government, media, and society, and the degree of distrust we feel even to share our true feelings in public.

Jeremiah 9:23-24: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.

This earliest evidence of Christianity is being called the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls

Braves Mets: I'm Not Blooper

I left the office at 345 Tuesday afternoon. The usual heavy traffic on 285 west. Parked and walked to the stadium, arriving just before 5 pm.

On the way I had a nice chat with a stadium employee, who loved her job. She encouraged me to apply for a job. I found an unusually short line at the 1st Base Gate, and only had to wait 30 minutes for the gates to open.

The gate giveaway was replica City Connect jerseys, either Acuna, Albies, or Olson – all size large. I wanted an Olson because I like how number 28 looks more than 13 or 1. Didn't really matter, because I'll be giving the jersey to Will. Outside the ballpark the apartments next door were giving away knockoff Blooper t-shirts and towels, so I ducked into the A-List office for a bag to carry them all in. I wound up giving the t-shirt and towel to coworker Rachel.

Made a beeline for the Braves Clubhouse Store, and beat the long line that usually forms before games. $200.00 jerseys were 50% off, and everything else 25% off. I browsed the caps and bucket hats and chains, but didn't see anything I just had to have.

I circled the stadium clockwise, stopping for a free Designated Driver Coke. I saw my new usher friend, but she was too busy for me to say hello. Sat in the outfield and watched batting practice for a bit.

Food and drink was 50% off before first pitch, but I wasn't that hungry. Missed another golden opportunity. One guy did get himself something that looked tasty. Me and an Emergency Medical person were watching him eat. I told her that she might have an emergency once he finished eating. Hope he didn't spill anything on his new Braves jersey.

I remembered to visit Blooper's Clubhouse to get my photo taken with Blooper. When Bloopy pointed to the camera I did the same, forgetting I was holding my goody bag. Still a decent photo. My friend Rob and I have a thing going where he acts like me and Blooper are the same person. Also took a photo of the Mascot Security Guard for Will – that's his dream job.

After all that I still made it up to my seat by 630 – a full 50 minutes before the game started. Had a nice chat with the season ticket holder to my left, and the old guy to my right. Both attend like 54 games every season, and were interested in how many games I attend. I sheepishly replied "about once a month".

I spend the rest of the time before the game watching the video board, clearing out my email folders, entering contests, checking and posting on social media, and snapping more pictures. With such avid fans sitting around me, when the game started I made it a point to focus on the game more than my phone. Gave me a chance to familiarize myself with the stats for players on both teams.

The Mets started Ronald Acuna's younger brother Luisangel at shortstop, and he made several nice plays in the field. Earlier this year one of the Mets minor league teams gave away a double bobblehead with Luisangel and his father, who used to pitch for the Mets back in the day.

A good game to watch. Rookie Schwellenbach pitched a gem, retiring ten of the 26 hitters he faced on 3 or fewer piches – including four batters on just one pitch.

Not sure if any of the home runs were during the RaceTrac home run inning.

Walked back to my car and stopped by Chickfila on the way home for a free cookie.

Lifted weighs at the gym this morning.

Big win for the Braves.