Goodbye Bobby

I don't know the man, but I wish I did. I've never met him before, but I wish I had. Bobby Cox, the legendary manager of the Atlanta Braves was ushered off into retirement Monday night as the Braves fell to the San Francisco Giants, losing the series 3-1.

Bobby Cox was the like the grandfather of a city. Turning on a Braves game and seeing Bobby sitting in the dugout or leaning against that rail yelling, "c'mon kid" at every one of his players became a rite of passage every Spring. It brought us a sense of comfort. The world was on it's axis. Bobby in that dugout was as much a part of the fabric of Atlanta as Lenox Mall and the Christmas Tree. Piedmont Park and the Dogwood Festival. The Varsity and hotdogs.

When Spring Training began for Braves fans there was always hope - hope that was generated from a sense of stability. That's what Bobby Cox did for this organization...he brought stability. Fitting that as Turner Field said it's goodbye to Bobby Monday night, they played a tribute video with the song, "Like A Rock" by Bob Seger. Sure, some players changed every year, trades were made in the middle of pennant runs, but the one constant was Bobby. Yeah, fans had their opinions on chess moves he made or didn't make in postseason games over the years, but Bobby survived the criticism and kept coming back year after year. It was all he knew. He was going to walk away on his own terms.

Which brings us to Monday Night. Bobby took the podium for one last time after the game and as expected he got a little emotional when talking about addressing his players after the loss. He had to bite his bottom lip to hold back the tears. Bobby was visibly embarrassed. As he put it, "a grown man shouldn't do this..." It's no surprise the one topic which struck an emotional chord with Bobby was having to talk about his guys. The ultimate "player's manager" 'til the end.

When Opening Day arrives next Spring, it will feel strange to players and fans alike to not see Bobby in that dugout. When the umpire shouts, "play ball" you can bet there will be a grandfather sitting in his house, probably with his grandkids, watching the game, biting his bottom lip...

Thoughts From Saturday's Couch...

I still contend, until college football has a playoff system, Saturdays will continue to have more storylines than Sundays. The games right now mean a whole lot more in September/October then they do in the NFL.

Thanks to the two televisions , and some fast thumb action on the remotes, I had the chance to watch and digest a lot of games this past Saturday. Here are some random thoughts:

It's blasphemy to say this, and most sportswriters down South would certainly never admit it, but has anybody noticed the S.E.C. is rather weak this year? Looks to me like a one trick pony named Roll Tide. There is some really bad football being played in this conference, primarily in the S.E.C. East. Who is having a rougher Sunday morning, Mark Richt, Urban Meyer or Derek Dooley?

Just when you thought losing to Miss.State was rock bottom for Georgia, they dug a little deeper and found there is still room to fall. Losing at Colorado registered pretty loudly on the Mark 'Richter Scale' with Bulldog alumni! I'm not even sure beating the Gators this year would be considered a quality win. Anybody seen their offense lately? Talk about an un-Godly (Tebow reference) performance against Alabama!

As for what's going on in Knoxville...well, Derek Dooley went from 'signature win' to 'I can't believe our coach had 13 guys on the freakin field! Lane Kiffin isn't that dumb!' Rather ironic Les Miles is in charge of this Tiger program because that dude has 9 lives like a cat! LSU may be undefeated right now, but they have certainly failed 'the eye test'. They have not looked good, primarily because their quarterback play has been so mediocre.

It's clear that Alabama is going to win the SEC West and take on some mediocre team from the SEC East and clean their clock at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Finally, who is the genius at ABC that felt the urge to jam a Notre Dame/Boston College game down our throats on the East Coast? I understand the power of the Irish Catholic church, but I heard from Rick Sanchez at CNN, Jews run the networks anyway! So what gives?!? (I kid because I can...) The entire East Coast missed the most exciting game of the night, a battle of two top ten teams: Stanford vs. Oregon. Ask an SEC fan who LaMichael James is and you'll get a blank stare. He's the 5-9, 185 pound running back that ripped off 257 yards and 3 TD's vs. Stanford on Saturday. He's the guy who is now in the Heisman mix with Michigan's Denard Robinson. (Which by the way, do yourself a favor and set aside time to watch Denard...it's like Reggie bush all over again. I wonder if his parents have a mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan?)

That's all for now....stay tuned next week when I analyze whether or not Nick Saban has the ability to smile.....