Good morning. This is Leadoff, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
If you want a last look inside the soon-to-be-demolished Georgia Dome, you'll have to get it this weekend or next.
The two weekends will feature the final public events in the 25-year-old stadium, which is slated for implosion this summer.
In preparation for the final events, 500 truck loads — 1.5 million pounds — of dirt have been brought into the building.
This weekend, for its next-to-last event, the Dome will host “Motofest,” which organizers are billing as “one of the most historic events in the 40-year-plus history of stadium motorcycle racing.” It marks the first time Supercross and Arenacross will be held in the same venue on the same weekend. Arenacross, normally held in smaller venues, comes to the Dome for the first time Friday. Supercross, an annual event in the Dome, will be held there for the last time Saturday. And an Arenacross Amateur Day will be held Sunday.
The following weekend — March 4 and 5 — will close down the Dome with two Monster Jam trucks shows.
After that, asset liquidation firm Schneider Industries will begin removing seats and other items, large and small, from the Dome for sale to fans and others. The firm will have until March 20 to complete the removal process.
“We’ll throw a few hundred men in there and get stuff out of there and into a warehouse and packaged up,” Dan Rosenthal, Schneider’s chief operating officer, said.
Then the process of demolishing the Dome, the Falcons' home since 1992, will begin.
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Got another glimpse of SunTrust Park on Wednesday. A lot of signage, including that on several parking decks, had been installed since our last look a couple of weeks earlier. Artificial turf had been installed in the plaza that connects the stadium and the mixed-use development. The lighted fountains in the plaza were operating.
As for grass on the playing field: That is scheduled to be installed in early March.
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On the night before the NBA trade deadline, the Hawks made a deal.
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What does Josh Pastner think of Georgia Tech's NCAA tournament chances?
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How many games will the Braves win this year?
FanGraphs has an answer, Michael Cunningham reports here.
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