All good things must come to an end and this week, several regular seasons do just that.
For area high school softball teams — with the exception of the Class AA’s No. 1-ranked Buford Wolves softball team which begins defense of its Region 6-AA title Tuesday — this week will serve as the final tune-up before the region tournaments begin next week.
Still in the thick of it
One of the more famous calls by Larry Munson, former voice of the Georgia Bulldogs football team, was made after Lindsay Scott scored a winning touchdown in the waning seconds against Florida in 1980: "We were gone. I gave up, you did too. We were out of it and gone. Miracle!"
That quote comes to mind when discussing the Braves final week of the regular season.
Tonight, Atlanta begins a seven-game homestand that, when completed, will also mark the end of a tumultous regular season.
The hope for a playoff berth is still alive for the boys of summer, however, because they have battled back to within 2« games of the Colorado Rockies for the wild card spot thanks in part to a current six-game winning streak.
The Braves begin a three-game series against the Florida Marlins tonight and finish out the homestand and regular season with a four-game series against the Washington Nationals — a team they finished off a sweep of Sunday — beginning Thursday.
Jair Jurrjens (13-10) takes the hill tonight against the Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez (3-7).
On the gridiron
High school football enters Week 7 and among the more interesting matchups coming Friday is White County at North Hall.
The Trojans (2-2, 1-0 Region 7A-AAA) ran their way to a 45-21 rout of Class AAA’s No. 7-ranked Creekview last Friday and will have to play just as energized offensively this week against a White County defense that has allowed one touchdown or below in three of its first four games.
In fact, if it weren’t for the 42 points they surrended to No. 1-ranked Gainesville, the Warriors points allowed per game average would be well below their current 13.8.
In college football action, Georgia plays host to No. 4-ranked LSU which turned in a mediocre offensive performance (263 total yards and only 30 rushing yards) in a 30-26 win against Mississippi State.
The No. 18 Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0 SEC) are coming off a last-second 20-17 win against Arizona State in which A.J. Green amassed 153 yards receiving and a touchdown for his second-straight 100-yard performance.
A good showing is a must Saturday if for no other reason than to boost the Bulldogs confidence and keep them undefeated in Southeastern Conference play heading into a three-game road trip that includes games against SEC opponents Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida.
Georgia Tech picked up a big win against No. 18 North Carolina this past Saturday and are hoping to carry that momentum into Starkville, Miss. where it will face Mississippi State on Saturday.
The No. 25 Jackets (3-1, 2-1 ACC) will continue conference play Oct. 10 when they travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on Florida State.
In the NFL, the Falcons have a week off to recover from their first loss of the season before returning to action Oct. 11 at San Francisco.