After learning the Atlanta Silverbacks and their 2009 season were just another casualty of the American economy, Atlanta soccer fans finally have something to cheer about. That’s because on July 22, AC Milan, a seven-time European Champion, will showcase its skills at the Georgia Dome in a showdown with Club America. The game, which is scheduled for 7 p.m., will be televised on ESPN2.
Last week, Mel Kiper released his top-five senior draft prospects at each position and two local standouts made the cut. According to Kiper, ESPN’s so-called draft guru, Georgia Tech receiver Demaryius Thomas is the fourth-best prospect at his position. Though Thomas is not yet a junior, he is a third-year sophomore, making him eligible for the list. The team in Athens also received some recognition from Kiper, as Bulldog defensive tackle Geno Atkins is the fourth-best junior tackle in the country. In 2008, Thomas caught 39 passes for 627 yards and three touchdowns, while Atkins recorded 34 tackles (7.5 for a loss) to go along with a fumble recovery.
The State of Georgia was dreadfully absent from March Madness in 2009, with both Georgia and Georgia Tech coming up short of the Big Dance. Even if such history repeats itself in 2010, however, the state will have a role in postseason play next March and beyond. Last Tuesday, Atlantic Sun commissioner Ted Gumbart announced that Mercer University will host the A-Sun tournament championship for the next two years. Two other A-Sun schools, Jacksonville and Belmont, made bids for the tournament.
GOING GREEN
As part of Philips Arena’s inaugural Green Week, the Atlanta Thrashers, Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena joined The Home Depot last week in a special tree-planting project at Vine City Park, an area hit particularly hard by the tornado of 2008. Prominent members from each organization participated, including Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers owner Rutherford Seydel, Thrash, Harry the Hawk, Atlanta Spirit employees and associates from The Home Depot. In addition to planting trees, the group also built a community bulletin board and installed bollards to help maintain the piece land.
In other Thrasher-related news, if you’re a girl, enjoy skating and don’t mind and/or like the idea of cleaning ice, now’s the time to start getting in shape, as May 13, the day for Blue Crew Auditions, is right around the corner. Registration costs $25 a person and auditions will begin on Wednesday and run through Sunday. Those trying out must be at least 19 years of age.
In a similar vein, the Thrashers will also be selecting their “7th Man”, given annually to the winner of the team’s biggest-fan competition, in the coming month. If you feel you are the team’s ultimate advocate, submit an essay to Thrashers.com explaining why you should be the team’s 7th Man. In addition to being named the team’s No. 1 fan, the winner of the contest will get to take the ice to meet his or her favorite player, leave with a jersey, attend a morning skate-around next season as a V.I.P. guest, and receive a special behind-the-scenes tour of Philips Arena. The winner will be announced on April 11 and his or her photo will hang throughout Philips Arena for the entire 2009-10 season.
While the media is quick to jump on Terrell Owens anytime he does something we disapprove of, T.O. rarely gets a fair shake when it comes to his community work. Well, here’s to some change. The star wideout missed the start of the Bills’ voluntary offseason conditioning program last week to attend the sixth annual National Alzheimer’s Gala. Believe it or not, T.O. not only attended the shindig, but took home some hardware in the process. For his efforts to raise awareness in the fight against the disease, Owens received the Alzheimer’s Association’s (AA) first Young Champions Award last Wednesday evening. The AA is of particular interest to Owens considering his grandmother suffers from Alzheimer’s.
Janovitz can be reached at aewalt@scoreatl.com.
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