The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find in informative, insightful and fun.
Ridder wants to get his daughter ready for flag football
Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder plans to get his daughter, Leighton, ready to play flag football, which will become an Olympic sport in 2028.
“We were at dinner last night, and it pulled up on the screen, and I showed my wife,” Ridder said. “My wife was like, ‘Oh my God, how cool would it be to play for Team USA?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be amazing,’ but where I first went to was my daughter.”
The Falcons have played a key role in helping to expand flag football in the state.
“The girls flag football here in Atlanta is huge,” Ridder said. “I thought that would be one cool thing. So, we’ve got to get the rock spinning a little more in the backyard, but that’s where my mind went to first.”
Caught mid-snack
It’s not uncommon for star NBA players to miss a game during the exhibition season.
It’s not unusual for the broadcast to pan to them during a matchup. But if you caught the Hawks taking on the Pacers on Monday, you would have seen that the Indiana feed for the game loved to catch guard Trae Young mid-snack.
Heading into his fifth season in the NBA, Young said that comes with the territory.
“I’m not looking for a camera looking at me,” Young said laughing. “I’m used to it now. And I always assume there’s a camera on me, I don’t really care. I know I was eating fruit snacks or something, so I didn’t do nothing crazy.”
Tech’s new-look offense
Georgia Tech is less than two weeks from making its (unofficial) debut under first-year coach Damon Stoudamire. The Yellow Jackets host Clark Atlanta on Nov. 1 for an exhibition at McCamish Pavilion, and that’s when Tech fans will get a first look at how Stoudamire’s squad does things on offense.
“I think we’re playing a lot faster,” Tech senior guard Kyle Sturdivant said. “Everything is pretty much read-based. The same principles kind of go hand-in-hand, just make the right play each possession you can.”
Tech ranked 10th in the ACC last season in scoring at 69.7, 11th in 3-point shooting (33.5%) and last in shooting (42.3%).
“It’s a lot about spacing, a lot about guys knocking down the open shot, guys making the right read,” Tech junior Miles Kelly said. “It’s kind of tailored to making 3′s, getting our bigs lobs – stuff like that. It should be real fun to watch.”
Credit: Chad Bishop/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Why can’t Braves beat Phillies when it counts?
The Phillies have finished 28 games behind the Braves across the past two regular seasons. Yet they’re 6-2 against them in the postseason. Why?
“That’s a good question; I’m trying to figure it out myself,” third baseman Austin Riley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the night the Braves were eliminated. “Obviously, they have a lot of good players over there. I feel like a lot of it has to do with this environment here in Philly. They feed off those fans and how loud it gets and those bigger moments. They’re a good ballclub.”
Citizens Bank Park is indeed a factor. The Phillies outscored the Braves 30-7 over four postseason games there in 2022-23. The Phillies haven’t lost to a National League opponent at home during those two years.
Also, Phillies MVP Bryce Harper was featured in our Atlanta villains series. He added to his legacy last week: Harper went 6-for-13 with three homers and five RBIs in the four-game NL Division Series. Over the past two postseasons, Harper is 14-for-29 with five homers and 10 RBIs in eight games against the Braves.
Harper just turned 31, and he’s signed through 2031. By the time his career is through, he’ll be remembered as one of the all-time great Braves villains.
Still no 1,000-yarder
Georgia tight end Brock Bowers’ injury is unfortunate all the way around. It also means a surprising fact likely will remain: Georgia hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Terrence Edwards in 2002. Bowers had 567 yards and appeared poised to reset that counter.
The injury also spoiled his bid to become a Heisman Trophy finalist. He likely wouldn’t have won the award – it’s too quarterback-centric now – but to even be invited to New York would’ve been a huge win for his position. Larry Kelley (Yale, 1936) and Leon Hart (Notre Dame, 1949) are the only tight ends to win the honor.
A game for a cause
The Georgia men’s basketball team will display their wares as a team for the first time Monday, when it plays host to Eastern Kentucky in an exhibition game that also will serve as a fundraiser.
General admission tickets are being sold for $5 on the georgiadogs.com website or can be reserved by calling the UGA ticket office at 706-542-1231. Proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross’ disaster-relief efforts, with a focus on those impacted in South Georgia by Hurricane Idalia. UGA students will be admitted free. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Entering their second season under coach Mike White, the Bulldogs were picked to finish 12th in the 14-team SEC in the league’s preseason media event this week in Birmingham, Alabama. During White’s first season in Athens, Georgia improved its win total by 10 from the previous season, which represented the second-largest increase of regular-season wins by any Power 5 program during the 2022-23 season.
The Bulldogs’ 2023-24 roster features six returnees, five transfers and five freshmen. Georgia was one of only three programs in the nation to have both its transfer and freshman classes ranked among the top 20 groups in the nation.
The team did a 10-day, four-game tour of Italy this summer, which the players say served as a bonding experience both on and off the court.
“It was a good experience for the whole team,” said Russel Tchewa, a 7-foot, 275-pound graduate transfer from South Florida. “I think we grew as a team. We got to see who everybody plays, got to know our teammates who we’re going to spend the whole year with. So, it was a good experience for everybody.”
It stands to be a challenging exhibition. Eastern Kentucky has been featured in ESPN’s bracketology reports all summer and was the preseason pick of both the league coaches and the media to win the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Colonels are led by Devontae Blanton and Isaiah Cozart, who were named the A-Sun’s preseason overall player and defensive player of the Year, respectively.
Ridder has his postgame rituals
After the games, Ridder tries to rewatch the game before dinner.
“I get the car ride home, and then we get home, and whether we make dinner or order dinner, I usually try to get it down before dinner,” Ridder said. “I just kind of buzz through it real quick because whether it’s a good play, bad play, or a missed play, I’ve got to get those out of the way or else it’s kind of hard to just enjoy from 7-10 o’clock on Sundays.”
He attacks the film, even the three-interception game last week against the Commanders, to help clear his mind.
“Yeah, I try to knock it out of the way as soon as possible,” Ridder said. “If my wife (Claire), my daughter (Leighton), and my family weren’t at the game, I’d probably just stay there and knock it out as quick as I could just so I could enjoy that hour ride home peacefully.”
Sometimes, Claire Ridder throws in a critique.
“Sometimes she likes to throw in her opinion one way or another,” Ridder said. “Sometimes, like I do with you guys, I just shake it off, nod it off, say thanks – I’ll get better. She does a great job of supporting me and being there for me whether it’s good or bad. She’s a great spouse for that.”
Ridder usually slips into his office to get the postgame film review completed.
“Usually, during my normal week of preparation, I’ll go into my office,” Ridder said. “This is while they’re in the living room watching their show, whatever it may be, but I’m just sitting there buzzing the film.”
-Staff writers Chad Bishop, Gabriel Burns, Chip Towers, D. Orlando Ledbetter and Lauren Williams contributed to this article.
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