Georgia sports fans, I’m sorry—it’s been a tough week for all of you. And I know, you may be used to this sort of disappointment by now, but I’m sure it still stings a bit. The Braves were so close, and then all of a sudden so far. Dawgs, I may just be a casual fan of the game, but those two guys probably didn’t need to go in motion there. And Falcons, poor Matt Bryant—feel better soon. And make sure you don’t forget about Georgia Tech getting buried by Duke or the Atlanta Hawks starting the preseason off 0-2.
It’s got to be tough—a real one-two punch, with a couple more punches afterwards. The Braves were looking good. After dropping game one to the Cardinals, they followed that up with 2 wins in the best of 5 series, outscoring them 10 runs to 6 overall. They’ve had some fun young players on the team this year who were a joy to watch; Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Dansby Swanson. But then game 4 came around and they couldn’t quite hold on. Then game 5 came down the shoot. And oh boy. My St. Louis Cardinals came ready to play, clearly the only of the two teams that did. They came into Atlanta and opened the game with a 10 run first inning—unwatchable for many Braves fans, I’m sure. The Braves did get one run though, ending the game 13-1, as well as ending their season and driving catcher Brian McCann straight into retirement.
But that was only the beginning. The Georgia Bulldogs geared up Saturday morning for what I’m sure they considered a pretty straight forward win. They came into the game against South Carolina, an often well-fought battle, as considerable favorites. But then South Carolina hung around. This was not unexpected through the first couple quarters, with a big Georgia sequence surely right around the corner. But South Carolina kept the lead, only until Georgia, at the end of a seemingly effortless drive, got a touchdown late in the 4th quarter to tie things up and send it into overtime. And that's when it got rough. South Carolina started OT off strong with an interception off Jake Fromm, his fourth turnover of the day. But the football gods smiled upon Georgia and pulled South Carolina’s game winning field goal wide. And they continued to smile, with Georgia holding South Carolina to a field goal to start 2OT. But then they stopped smiling. And Georgia began their possession with a run for no gain and two incomplete passes before Rodrigo Blankenship missed the game tying 42 yard field goal. A slow burning heartbreaker for what could have been a playoff contending Georgia football team.
But that’s all, right? Georgia sports fans have to catch a break, right? Wrong. In a thrilling week 6 matchup between the one win Atlanta Falcons and the one tie and one win Arizona Cardinals, with the Falcons being slight favorites, more drama unfolded. Shortly after halftime, the Cardinals had jumped up to a 17 point lead, but they could do little to hang on to it. A field goal and two Matt Ryan touchdowns quickly tied the game back up. But Kyler Murray, doing as he does, led his team down and took a one touchdown lead with under 6 minutes remaining. However, we all knew Matty Ice could not be stopped. Finishing off a 7 play, 75 yard drive with a touchdown—OT in their sights. But not if Pro Bowl kicker, Matt “Money Matt” Bryant had anything to say about it. Up to this point, Money Matt was 569-576 for extra points. And it is so unfortunate that he chose to tack another miss on at this time. Money Matt shanked the kick just wide, ultimately losing the game for his team. A heartbreaking individual error in a team sport.
To add further insult to injury, Georgia Tech was downed by Duke in quite a blowout. And a young and talented Atlanta Hawks team has yet to find their rhythm. This will hopefully change in due time though. It was a tough week for all those Georgia sports teams, but it just may turn around. Except for the Braves, their season is very much over. And the Falcons, not a lot to do after starting the season off 1-5. But maybe Georgia? We’ll see—losses to unranked opponents do not look too good on a record come playoff selection time. But maybe it will all turn around! Here’s to a better next week all you Georgia sports fans.