Last week, Rivals.com ranked the top 100 high-school football teams in all the country and four teams from the Peach State were included. The top-ranked team from Georgia was Lowndes, which earned the 21st ranking. Northside-Warner Robins followed as the 63rd-ranked team while Buford High School (No. 79) and Cairo (No. 91) closed out the list for the State of Georgia. Trinity High School from Euless, Tex., earned the No. 1 spot on the list.
Early last week, NASCAR announced plans to race under the lights at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Labor Day weekend. As a result, Atlanta Motor Speedway will move its October NASCAR Sprint Cup race date to Sept. 5-6. The event will be the first scheduled Sprint Cup series night race in AMC history. In addition to the Labor Day event, AMS also has dates set for March’s Kobalt Tools 500 race weekend. The Kobalt Tools 500 is the first of two AMS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2009.
Former Braves pitching great Greg Maddux switched jerseys once again, getting traded from the San Diego Padres back to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This marks the second time in three seasons that Maddux has been dealt to the Dodgers midseason. In return for Maddux, the Padres will choose between two minor leaguers or cash as compensation by Oct. 15. In addition, the Dodgers will pay a portion of Maddux’s remaining $2.2 million salary. Maddux’s 353 wins rank ninth all-time and he is 6-9 with 3.99 ERA in 26 starts this season.
RIVALS RANKINGS
Rivals.com recently came out with their lists ranking the top 25 college football players in the country at each position and both major Georgia schools were represented. The Yellow Jackets had two players make the list, as Rivals.com believes defensive tackle Vance Walker is the sixth-best defensive lineman in the country while they have offensive tackle Andrew Gardner ranked as the 19th-best offensive lineman in America. The Bulldogs placed three players and a coach on the list. Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno was the highest-ranked Dawg, earning the No. 2 spot on the Rivals running back list. Joining Moreno in the rankings were Geno Atkins, who earned the 10th rank on the defensive lineman list, and Dannell Ellerbe, who earned the 17th spot in the rankings for linebackers. Finally, according to Rivals.com, Georgia lead man Mark Richt is the sixth-best head coach in all the country.
The start of the college football season is upon us and Georgia Tech’s considerable on-field advantage over Jacksonville State in the opener recently became even more pronounced. Last week it was announced that four Gamecocks have been suspended for their opener against Tech. Offensive lineman Tyler Ogletree, tight end Deonte Carter, and linebackers Alexander Henderson and Jared Stewart will all miss Week 1 action. The specific policies each violated were not disclosed. Last year, Stewart and Henderson both started games for the Gamecocks and Carter was listed as the team’s starting tight end heading into 2008.
RULE CHANGES
The NCAA recently announced it has banned the horse-collar tackle from the game. Following the lead of the NFL, which banned the tackle a few years ago, the NCAA accepted the proposal made by its Football Rules Committee. Other changes announced last Wednesday include a clarification of rules on chop blocks, and the implementation of a 40-second play clock that will start as soon as the ball is ruled dead.
Additionally, Major League umpires voted Tuesday against implementing instant replay into the game. The umpires are upset that MLB wants them to discuss replays with umpire supervisors in New York before making a decision on whether to reverse a call. Umpires have also been disgruntled over the fact that the replay equipment will force them to leave the field of action.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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