In the holiday spirit and keeping with his philanthropic ways, Warrick Dunn spent last week changing the lives of three single moms, giving each the keys to their very own, brand-new house. Through the Warrick Dunn Foundation and the Homes for the Holidays program, which he started in 2004, the current Tampa Bay and former Atlanta Falcon running back seeks to help struggling single mothers purchase homes, for which Dunn himself provides the down payment. Since the program’s inception, Dunn has assisted more than 74 single parents.
While we often view sports franchises as thriving businesses, that is not always the case, especially in today’s struggling economy. And while the major sports are still surviving, some of the smaller leagues and their respective teams are starting to feel the impact of our nation’s recent financial predicament. Unfortunately, one of those leagues is the United Soccer League and one of those teams is the Atlanta Silverbacks, as the franchise announced last week that its men’s team will sit out the 2009 season. Interestingly, in addition to the poor economy, team representatives cited the possibility of earning an MLS franchise as another reason for the team taking the year off. Either way, the city of Atlanta will be without men’s soccer in 2009.
In related news, women’s golf is also feeling the affects of the sputtering economy, as the LPGA Tour decided last week to cut three events and about $5 million in purses for the 2009 season. As a result, the Tour will feature only 31 tournaments next year, of which 11 will be of the international kind.
As for some upbeat news, the Atlanta Dream will be playing in 2009 and announced last week it will be doing so with a new assistant coach roaming the sidelines. Carol Ross, former head coach at the University of Mississippi and the winningest coach in University of Florida women’s basketball history, will join the Marynell Meadors-led staff next season. Ross will join fellow assistant coaches Fred Williams and Sue Panek on the bench next season. The team did not renew the contract of former assistant coach Katy Steding.
FINAL FOUR TO HIT ATLANTA
Good news for local college basketball fans surfaced last week when the NCAA announced Wednesday that Atlanta’s local Georgia Dome will host the 2013 Final Four. In addition to Atlanta, the league NCAA that New Orleans will host the final games in 2012, while Dallas-Forth Worth, Indianapolis and Houston will host in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. It will be the fourth time Atlanta has hosted the men’s Final Four.
College football fans in the state of Georgia are hardly used to rooting for anyone with the last name Meyer, but that will soon change. Nicki Meyer, the daughter of University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer, signed a letter of intent last Monday to play volleyball at Atlanta’s very own Georgia Tech. Nicki is currently a senior at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Fla., and led the Class 6A power to a state championship in her junior year.
In national sporting news, Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals won his second NL MVP award last week, cruising to victory over the likes of Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and Los Angeles outfielder Manny Ramirez. Despite his team’s disappointing fourth-place finish in the NL Central and playing most of the season with a sore right elbow, Pujols posted extremely impressive numbers, batting .357 in addition to recording 37 home runs and 116 RBIs. In the American League, Boston’s Dustin Pedroia took home MVP honors, one year after being named the league’s Rookie of the Year. On the year, Pedroia hit .326 with 17 homers and 83 RBIs, becoming the first AL second baseman to win the MVP since Chicago’s Nellie Fox did it in 1959.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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