THE FLETCH: GHSF Daily returns, Bourn trade praised by experts

As summer winds down, several local radio personalities are indulging on end-of-summer vacations. On 680 The Fan, Christopher Rude was on vacation earlier this week which means sidekick Perry Laurentino was forced to bring his commercial/interview/serious voice into work as he served as the point man on The Rude Awakening. It was nice to hear Perry not have to play the preposterous Anti-Atlanta role he is normally forced into with Rude serving as instigator. It was also nice having Perry run point because the show was actually talking sports, which I always think is a good thing, considering it is a sports talk radio station. Recently it seems that Sandra and Rude are auditioning to be the new morning show on B98.5 or Q100.

680 The Fan’s afternoon drive show Chuck & Chernoff also was missing a headliner as Matt Chernoff took a vacation. Former 790 The Zone midday host Brandon Adams filled in for Chernoff, and it was good to hear BA back on the radio. He has filled in on Chuck & Chernoff before, but his appearance on 680 means  ANOTHER 790 talent has jumped ship to 680. The exodus of talent from 790 leaving for 680 reminds me a bit of the WCW in the late 90s, pulling every single WWF free agent and even some regular players over to form a super station. As far as Brandon Adams is concerned, it is a shame that Adams and 790 couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle after the decision was made that Adams wanted to return to teaching. Adams’ partner Jeff Woolverton appeared randomly last football season, but Adams to my knowledge has not reappeared after Brandon & Woolvey left the airwaves. The Zone certainly could have used Adams this summer when Barnhart & Durham took time off. Adams would have been about nine thousand times better to team up with Hans opposed to Jamal Anderson. Then again, it would have been better for a 2×4 to fill in over Jamal Anderson. He once played in the NFL. Did you know that?

Perhaps he should play the lottery because 680’s John Kincade of Buck & Kincade fame, is down right soothsayerish. In early July, Kincade played a “would you or wouldn’t you” game, asking Braves fans if they’d trade Brandon Beachy for Michael Bourn. Well with last week’s trade for Bourn, it seemed as though Kincade hit the Braves’ needs right on the head. In his exercise, Kincade said he was trying to see if the Braves faithful would be willing to crack a few eggs to make an omelet. He seemed bewildered that Braves Country balked at the idea of sending Beachy out for Bourn, as most fans said they’d try and package other lower prospects out for a player like Bourn. Suffice to say, Wren sided with the fans and Houston agreed to take the three minor league pitchers, plus Schafer in exchange for Bourn.  While Kincade laughed at the time of the idea that the Braves could get someone like Bourn without giving up a top pitching prospect like Minor or Beachy, he was probably gloating that he called the trade a month before it happened. I would have tuned in to listen to his gloating, but with the new time slot…I had other things to do midday.

The Bourn trade was met with universal praise, from various Braves twitter feeds (such as Peter Moylan) to Boston.com to MSN Sports and yahoo! and of course ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark and David Schoenfield. Stark declared the Braves one of his “winners” of the trading deadline while Schoenfield, in his SweetSpot blog figured that the Braves got the better player. Schoenfield used Baseball Reference.com’s career numbers to look beyond the average, home runs and RBI numbers, which all show Philadelphia’s Hunter Pence has slugged more than Bourn. Schoenfield said in his blog, “If you factor in just hitting and baserunning, B-R says Bourn has been about 82 runs better than a replacement-level center fielder over the past three seasons; Pence about 73 runs better than a replacement-level right fielder. Factor in Bourn’s defense and he’s the more valuable player… As for the Braves, they get exactly what they needed — a leadoff hitter and center fielder. They’re a better club right now than two days ago. It just appears — for now — that they gave up a lot less to get their guy.”

It was interesting hearing the varying viewpoints of callers versus radio hosts in regards to the sudden announcement from Randy Moss, saying he would retire at the age of 34. Mike Bell of 790 The Zone seemed almost angry that Moss was quitting as he apparently never met his potential, wasting it. His co-host of the day David Archer disagreed, saying that Moss never wasted it, as it is hard to call it a waste when he set multiple records and finished just short of Jerry Rice in several others. Callers also ranged from defending Moss to saying he was a quitter and they were glad he was gone. The bottom line is Randy Moss was one of the three greatest receivers ever. Could he have been number one all-time? Quite possibly. However what he did on the field, the good and the bad, shouldn’t be taken away from him. You should only look at what he DID do. And that was be a dominant receiver that changed the game. He is a Hall of Famer if there ever was one.

Last Monday, August 1 marked the return of the Georgia High School Football Daily newsletter. If you don’t subscribe to the free email newsletter, what are you waiting for? Any high school football fan needs to wake up every morning to this in his/her email box as it has the best info one could ask for five days a week and it is an invaluable guide during the year. Todd Holcomb sends out the email newsletter and is one of the best high school football minds in the state. He is also a regular guest on GPB’s Sports Central XL.