Falcons star Jonathan Babineaux will now look to display his many skills beyond the football field, as the fourth-year defensive tackle announced last week his plans to become a regular feature commentator on 95.5 TheBeat FM. His new segment—which will cover sports, current events, music and entertainment—will be titled “In the Know with Babineaux” and will run every Monday morning at 7:55 a.m.
Fort Valley State University finds itself in the beginning stages of a coaching search, as Deondri Clark stepped down last week as the team’s head football coach. Clark was hired in 2006 to serve as the school’s athletic director and head football coach during a time of transition for the program. A national search has already begun and Wilson Gossier, FVSU’s interim compliance officer, will handle football operations until a new coach is found.
Good news surfaced last week for those of you interested in hunting, fishing and efficiency. That’s because last Wednesday, Georgia’s new online recreational licensing system went live on the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division Web site (www.georgiawildlife.com). Those looking to purchase, renew or replace fishing and hunting licenses can now do so simply by logging in to the new system and following the appropriate steps. More changes are on the way as well, as beginning in January all participating retail agents will begin selling licenses under the new system; currently 400 retail agents have signed up to participate in the new system.
UPSET SPECIAL
In exciting upset news, Mercer basketball defeated SEC big boy Alabama on Sunday night, stealing a 72-69 road victory in the Crimson Tide’s season opener. In addition to stealing the ball with nine seconds left and hitting two free throws to ice the game, James Florence led Mercer in scoring with 23 points. In what may have been the difference in the game, the Bears out-rebounded ‘Bama 56-38.
Giving in to Atlanta’s overwhelming passion for soccer, I felt obligated to report that last week Landon Donovan was voted the top U.S. soccer player of 2008. In bringing home the hardware, Donovan became the first five-time winner of the Honda Player of the Year award. The vote was conducted last Tuesday and included a nationwide panel of journalists. Captaining the Los Angeles Galaxy, Donovan led Major League Soccer in scoring this year and is the career scoring leader for the United States.
ON THE DIAMOND
Though he didn’t win, Braves pitcher Jair Jurrjens had an impressive showing in the National League Rookie of the Year race, finishing third behind Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto and Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Soto won the award after receiving 31 of 32 first-place votes, while Jurrjens garnered six second-place votes and 16 third-place votes. On the year, the Braves righty posted a 3.68 ERA (first among all Major League rookie pitchers), winning 13 games (also tops among all rookie pitchers) while striking out 139 batters.
In other player-of-the-year news, San Francisco second-year righty Tim Lincecum became the newest owner of a National League Cy Young Award, receiving 23 or 32 first-place votes and 137 points in the balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America last week. On the season, the 24-year-old went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a major league-best 265 strikeouts. Arizona’s Brandon Webb finished second to Lincecum with 73 points.
In other professional baseball news, Joe Maddon won the American League Manager of the Year Award after helping lead the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series only one year removed from when the team posted the worst record in MLB. For guiding the Cubs to the National League’s top regular-season record, Lou Piniella was honored as the National League’s Manager of the Year.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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