Last week, the SEC media gathered, asked questions and made preseason predictions for the upcoming college football season. Out of 70 media representatives, 45 picked the Florida Gators to win the SEC East while 23 writers picked the Georgia Bulldogs. The remaining two votes went to the Tennessee Volunteers. Out of the West, 48 writers chose the Auburn Tigers to win the division. Florida led all schools with 36 votes to win the SEC Championship, while Georgia (18) barely edged out Auburn (13) for the second most votes. As for the media’s votes with concern to individual accolades, Georgia placed five players on the First- and Second-Team All-SEC lists, including Knowshon Moreno, Dannell Ellerbe, Mohamed Massaquoi, Matthew Stafford and Asher Allen. There were no unanimous players chosen, as Florida Gator Percy Harvin joined Knowshon Moreno as the leading vote getter with 68.
In other SEC football news, Conference Commissioner Mike Slive announced that the league has postponed its decision on television and multimedia rights until this fall. TV deals with CBS, ESPN, Raycom Sports and FSN South run out at the end of the academic year and Slive has hinted at the possibility of an SEC Network similar to those started by the Mountain West and Big Ten conferences as well as by the NFL. Slive’s main goals are to provide the conference with national exposure and to air events in sports other than football and basketball.
ARENA FOOTBALL NEWS
In last Sunday’s AFL ArenaBowl, the Philadelphia Soul held onto a 59-56 lead to defeat the defending champion San Jose SaberCats. Trying to become the first team since the 1995-96 Tampa Bay Storm to win consecutive AFL titles, San Jose lost for the first time in four Arena Bowl appearances.
In related news, AFL Commissioner David Baker surprisingly resigned just two days before the ArenaBowl. At 55 years of age, Baker spent the last 12 years as League Commissioner. Under Baker’s watchful eyes, the AFL has become a profitable league with attendance, TV ratings and merchandise sales all increasing over the last year. Ed Policy, his former Deputy Commissioner, will assume the Commissioner’s role while a committee seeks a permanent successor.
DANCING IN 2008
The Thrashers and Hawks recently selected members for the Blue Crew and A-Town Dancers for the upcoming season, and we couldn’t be more relieved; we’ve been waiting to check out the new talent all summer long. Out of 43 finalists, the Hawks selected a lucky 17 to make up the 2008-09 A-Town Dancers while the Thrashers chose 19 for this year’s Blue Crew. Go to AtlantaHawks.com and AtlantaThrashers.com – you will be impressed.
Georgia Tech center Ra’Sean Dickey recently became yet another in a growing list of American basketball players who have decided to take their games abroad. Dickey joins high school point guard and California native Brandon Jennings overseas as well as former Hawk Josh Childress. Dickey will be giving up his senior season to play professionally in the Ukraine. While European teams have yet to steal a player at the elite level away from American basketball, there is no doubt a new standard has been set for fringe players to traverse national borders in hopes of more money or better opportunity to showcase their skills.
In exciting news, Gary Stokan, President of the Atlanta Sports Council, was recently named one of the top 25 Innovators and Influencers in Sports Events Magazine’s July issue. The honor was given to 25 people who have excelled, in one way or another, in the sports community throughout their professional careers. Joining Stokan were other Sports Commissions Presidents, such as Don Shumacher, the head of the National Association of Sports Commissions, and Tom Jerstedt of the NCAA. Also on the list were nationally renowned sports figures, including Peter Ueberroth (USOC), Billie Jean King and former Nebraska football head coach Tom Osborne.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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