#LARams
head coach Sean McVay is known for his photographic football memory ... but does it extend back to his
@MaristSchool
days? His high school head coach gave us 3 old plays to test McVay's ridiculous recall. Spoiler: he did well. Very well.
Man, this is absolutely heartbreaking: Trae Young, who was close with Kobe Bryant and Kobe's daughter Gianna, came off the floor pregame and shared a long hug with his mom.
Holy. Houston.
Jorge Soler just DESTROYED a ball at
#Braves
BP. Watch how far it goes, and hit the metal sign way above the 399 sign on the wall. Listen to the sound it makes.
The 🤯craziest🤯 football play of the season happened Week 1 in Georgia.
Loganville HS over Monroe Area in quadruple overtime … no look, backwards, over the head touchdown 😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫
Via
@TingznWingz
Cute — a dad and his son were trying to take a long distance selfie with Ronald Acuña Jr. while he was getting ready for live BP, so Acuña came into the stands and posed with them.
#Falcons
RB Devonta Freeman on
#Saints
coach Sean Payton making the ‘choke’ sign at him: “that man don’t know nothing about choking. He ain’t from where I’m from.”
I had never seen this -- a coach playing defense (??) on an inbounder from the other team. The player with the ball seems to be ... a little confused, too.
Vaughn Grissom said Braves third base coach Ron Washington had a simple message when Grissom was sent down to Triple-A:
“If you don’t like it, play better.”
.
@chaseelliott
on the massive welcome after his win: "I don't think I know this many people! I've come home pretty disappointed over the past couple years. Great to come home tonight and have one to enjoy."
@NASCARONFOX
@TeamHendrick
"Not really much surprises me anymore. But that is ... it's ridiculous."
----
Braves fans, you're gonna want to watch this: Charlie Morton on the 'ridiculous' offense, and quality of people in the clubhouse.
Here's Travis d'Arnaud, talking about how he'll miss eating ice cream with Freddie Freeman's son after games. Not your typical "it's part of the business" morning in the Braves clubhouse.
d'Arnaud was offered Freeman's corner locker in the clubhouse, he turned it down.
After
@LieutenantDans7
ripped a line drive off Charlie Morton during first live batting practice of spring training:
🔊"Alright I'm good, see y'all April 7th."
Moment
#UGA
fans will want to see from after the game -- Kirby Smart incredibly fired up hugging Jake Fromm. Smart said he and the QB had lunch a few times this week; Fromm's response to the moment ⬇️
For the Falcons ...
Ridder-led possessions:
Field goal
Punt
Punt
Punt
Fumble lost
Punt
Punt
Half
Heinicke-led possessions:
Field goal
Field goal
Touchdown
As promised:
#UGA
CB Deandre Baker after the game ... background: during the week, South Carolina WR Deebo Samuel said he didn't know who Baker -- a preseason first-team AP All-American -- was.
#Braves
TV ratings in Atlanta were, predictably, incredibly high. In the 9th inning, about 75% of TVs that were turned on in metro-Atlanta were tuned to the game.
NEW: Braves pitcher Kyle Wright was cleared today to start his throwing program, per Brian Snitker. Snit said Wright was really happy about getting that news from medical staff.
"100 is kind of insignificant to a lot of people. For a kid who was drafted in the 32nd round, never thought he'd be in the big leagues ... 10 years later to have 100 homers."
--Kevin Pillar, who hit the century mark with tonight's go-ahead homer for Braves
#Braves
pitcher Mike Soroka says he’s targeting a ‘late June, early July’ return. Said they’d always talked about it taking a year from surgery date to return.
Feels great, running with trainers, will begin long toss in next few weeks.
Thought
#UGA
QB Gunner Stockton had a new number -- pointed out by more astute media members he was likely playing CJ Stroud on the scout team.
Last time Georgia had a backup QB simulate a Heisman finalist was a guy named Stetson Bennett playing Baker Mayfield. Worked out.
💣💣💣 Ronald Acuña Jr. just hit one off the very, very top of the batter’s eye in dead center. Watch the reaction on the bottom right from Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia and others.
Kirk Cousins said he told
@kylepitts__
he could keep the
#8
jersey -- but would open up his checkbook if Pitts was ok giving it up.
Per Cousins, Pitts said: "I just want targets every game."
Cousins said: "Good answer."
The
#UGA
starting defense was ticked off to see their shutout lost late in the 4th quarter. Standard is set high. This great vid by
@bkfox5sports
omits some more ... colorful language he caught.
“We used to call ourselves a bag of misfit toys. Now we’re … actual toys. Toy Story.”
—
#Braves
reliever Luke Jackson on Atlanta’s bullpen not facing the traditional Spring Training doubts
The notion of this being an example of an Atlanta sports 'thing' is silly to me. Team loses their ace pitcher, loses 4 *more* starters, wins the division for the 3rd straight year, wins first playoff series since 2001, then lose in 7 games to a $100 million team?
This is pretty cool --
#Braves
center fielder
@MoneyyyMikeee
was an honorary captain for his alma mater Stockbridge High at their football playoff game tonight.
"Some players ... don't appreciate the jersey, what we've [done] for a long time. The injuries are not the problem."
Strong comments from
@JosefMartinez17
after Atlanta United's 3-0 loss tonight. Full answer below is worth a listen.
What if someone told you back in April that Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario and Tyler Matzek would be among the NLCS heroes for the Acuña/Soroka/Ozuna-less Braves?
The Braves came back from:
--3 runs down Tuesday
--3 runs down Wednesday
--4 runs down *on two separate occasions* Thursday
... to sweep the Mets.
What a series.
"It didn't affect me. I'm a positive guy."
We spoke to
#UGA
defensive lineman Jalen Carter for the first time since an ESPN NFL Draft analyst said NFL teams had concerns about Carter's "character issues."
Carter's teammates have very vocally had Carter's back.
Buford 5⭐️ defensive lineman Eddrick Houston says he finalized his decision *this morning* between Ohio State and Alabama after talking to Ryan Day around 9am. I asked what final sticking points were, his answer is below.
#Falcons
quarterback
@KurtBenkert
is trying out a new game ... and a new skill. The signal caller is learning American Sign Language as he gets ready to team up with 13-year-old deaf pro gamer
@EwokIts
in a
@FortniteGame
Celebrity Pro-Am.
More:
Julio Jones doubling up on the
#MixItUp
on his second touchdown of the game. Maybe a little mojo to get the
@Braves
offense as in-sync as
#11
and
#2
have been so far today.
Interesting from
#Falcons
rookie QB Desmond Ridder -- he surprised himself by how quickly he's picked up Atlanta's offense.
Said he's been saying play-calls into iPhone voice recorder app and listening back as a way to study.
Ozzie Albies just walked by the Falcons locker room leaving the stadium, and a kid totally lost it seeing him. Ozzie hugged him and took a picture. Kid kept yelling, “OZZIE I LOVE YOU!”
Anyway thought you might want to hear something nice!
Official: Brian Snitker just said moments ago, Michael Soroka WILL RETURN for the Braves tomorrow night in Oakland. It will be his first start since August 3rd, 2020 -- two Achilles surgeries ago.
Matt Ryan on
@680TheFan
says he wasn't affected by -- but definitely noticed -- amount of Buffalo fans in
@MBStadium
yesterday, said: 'that Bills mafia is real, I guess.'
#Falcons
DL
@GradyJarrett
had some strong words after today's game.
On slow start: "so what if they started fast? We've got four more quarters of ball to play."
On run D: "we need to address it if we want to have a good defense. If not, just sweep it under the rug."
"We're gonna be fine ... For the fans out there, we're ok. 2 and 2. Could it be better? Yes, 100%. Could it be worse ... yeah. That's football."
--Falcons d-lineman Calais Campbell
#Falcons
training camp play of the day comes courtesy of reserve tight end Parker Hesse (!) with a Moss'd-worthy catch (!!) in the corner of the end zone. Spent the last two seasons on the
#Titans
practice squad.
Trae Young is 22.
Kevin Huerter is 22.
John Collins is 23.
De'Andre Hunter is 23.
Good time to be a basketball fan in Atlanta. That was a fun run to cover. Hats off to the Bucks -- next season should be fun.
#Braves
OF Marcell Ozuna says he addressed the team about facing charges of domestic violence, and apologized to the team. His message to fans is that he is sorry and made a mistake. Acknowledged some fans won’t be happy he’s back.
Video to come.
Just out of the Atlanta United dressing room. They were very, very happy for the day Pity Martínez had. I could tweet a sound bite, but I think this video paints a better picture.
"Just being selfless. The ball didn't come my way, but I may have had to block to help spring someone else open, or run a route to get someone else open. It's selfless ball."
Here's Falcons TE Kyle Pitts, had two catches on three targets vs Rams
Sports at its best: a dramatic 5A state title game,
@MillerGroveHoop
senior Lorenzo Anderson dejected after a last second loss, and just about every
@WRHS_Basketball
player came over to console him. That's sportsmanship.
The only
#Gators
fan in the state of Georgia who can talk trash without repercussion this week: Augusta National chairman (and former Florida golfer) Fred Ridley.
Hall of Fame John Smoltz says he knows "people around here are tired of hearing about the
#Braves
" ... but he thinks Andruw Jones and Fred McGriff should join the crew in Cooperstown.
Cool moment from
@GoStripers
-- Charlie Culberson and Vaughn Grissom going over some defensive technique after infield drills.
I asked Charlie about this moment, he said it was easy. Why? "The same guy taught [both of us]: Wash."
Important update from Atlanta Falcons camp:
Bijan Robinson's name
🗣️Is technically pronounced bih-ZHAN
🗣️He, like most of us, says BEE-zhan
🗣️His mom says bih-ZHAN, and doesn't like all these people calling her son the wrong name
So, fans, good either way, but might make mom mad.
"I was somebody else's trash before Coach Quinn got here. I know I'm going to fight until the end, until we can't no more."
--
#Falcons
safety & captain
@Ricardo37Allen
on questions about Dan Quinn's future
Former
#Falcons
safety
@Ricardo37Allen
writes a thoughtful, positive message on Instagram after being released today -- 7 years after being cut the first time, he points out.
Says he's most proud of helping teammates "become strong men and not just* football players"
👀PLAY OF THE DAY👀 from
#Falcons
training camp --
@kylepitts__
with the tip drill catch! Rookie's been getting oohs and ahs from the crowd all morning long.
(Sometimes you just iso the right guy 🤷♂️)