Who’s ready for another hate-filled Black Friday?
Clean Old-Fashioned Hate, that is.
We found out last night that this year’s Georgia-Georgia Tech football game is slated for the Friday after Thanksgiving, just like last season. And this one’s at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Some folks will surely fuss, or worry about hijacking high school football’s night to shine. But I think it’s fun.
Here’s to new spins on old traditions!
Quick links: T-Wolves 100, Hawks 92 | Bijan joins Pro Bowl Games | Dwight Howard’s mansion hits the market
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THE BIG DOOR PRIZE
Credit: Atlanta Braves
Credit: Atlanta Braves
It’s hard to beat the magnetic schedule.
Forthright. Practical. An unwavering old friend clinging to the fridge, helping make sense of another long baseball season.
But in terms of putting butts in seats? Fair to middlin’.
Thus, the rising tide of bobbleheads, replica jewelry, free hats and T-shirt jerseys — all of which the Atlanta Braves plan to give away before games this season.
The team unveiled its new list this week and it’s pretty fun: A Chris Sale bobblehead where he’s holding his Cy Young Award and wearing a crown. Old-school Chipper Jones. Vinyl records endorsed by Spencer Strider. Ronald Acuña Jr. in that wild pink suit he wore to All-Star game festivities in 2023.
You’ll find a bigger sampling below and (very) full schedule here. But it all got me thinking about a far more important question:
🤔 What’s your favorite piece of sports memorabilia? And what’s the story behind it?
I’m frankly not a huge collector, but I have a few pretty good pieces.
My “Sid Slid” bobblehead (commemorating Sid Bream’s dramatic play in the 1992 NLCS, umpire and diving catcher included) always makes me think of watching games with my dad.
I’ve loved the rap group Outkast since I started illegally downloading their music at an … inappropriately young age. When the Braves gave away an Outkast bobblehead a few years back, I waited in line for hours with my buddy Jon — and still had to beg, barter and nearly steal to get one.
My son, 5 at the time, helped scoop up the bits of confetti we brought home from the 2021 World Series parade.
The thing is this: Plenty of folks collect sports memorabilia (free or otherwise) as a lot more than a hobby. They stack things up just to say they have them. Or to sell them.
The teams give it away to drive attendance (it’s a couple of years old, but this analysis suggests bobbleheads can increase weekday attendance by as much as 25%).
The real joy in this stuff, though, is in how it makes you feel. Who you were with when you got it, or when you watched a certain player.
The memories are where it’s at.
Here’s when you can make some more:
👑 Bobbleheads: Chris Sale (April 9); Chipper Jones 2000 All-Star game (April 22); Raisel Iglesias (May 8); Marcell Ozuna (May 14); Reynaldo Lopez (Aug. 4); Ronald Acuna Jr. (Sept. 22)
🏟️ Other stuff: Magnet schedules (April 4 and 5); Truist Park replica (June 4); cord hat (July 21); Spencer Strider vinyl records (Aug. 19); 1995 World Series replica ring (Aug. 22)
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TRIVIA TIME
🤔 I mentioned my “Sid Slid” bobblehead above. Who was the Pirates catcher who couldn’t quite make the tag that day?
Answer at bottom of newsletter.
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BIJAN GOES BOWLING
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
With Saquon Barkley headed to the Super Bowl with the Eagles, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson got the nod to replace him at the forthcoming Pro Bowl Games.
What exactly are the Pro Bowl Games, you ask? Well, they’re a desperate attempt to revive any interest whatsoever in the Pro Bowl. But beyond that …
🏈 There’s a skills competition involving everything from dodgeball and relay races to a Madden (the video game) tournament. That’s Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
🏈 Then there’s a flag football game at 3 p.m. Sunday, also on ESPN. All live from lovely Orlando!
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OK, PROVE IT!
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said Monday that his “football brain is in a completely different place” than it was during his previous Atlanta stop. He also said he wants to create a scheme “that has never been done before.”
📝 Columnist Michael Cunningham won’t believe Ulbrich’s capable of turning things around until he sees it.
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DRUMROLL, PLEASE
📊 Yesterday I asked y’all who you think will win the Super Bowl. And in a pretty close contest, the majority chose … the Philadelphia Eagles!
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MAKE IT FIVE
Credit: Abbie Parr/AP
Credit: Abbie Parr/AP
The Hawks didn’t have Trae Young, Jalen Johnson or Dyson Daniels last night, and De’Andre Hunter’s career-high 35 points weren’t enough to save them from a fifth straight loss — this one a 100-92 defeat at the hands of the Timberwolves.
Atlanta native Anthony Edwards scored 23 for Minnesota.
❄️ The Hawks are back home to take on the Rockets tonight, in a game previously postponed by snow (7:30 on FanDuel Sports South).
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MORE HOOPS
🏀 Georgia men’s basketball tries to snap its four-game losing streak when it hosts SEC bottom-feeder South Carolina (7 p.m. on SEC Network).
🏀 The Georgia Tech men get back to it after a restful weekend, traveling to South Bend to take on Notre Dame (9 p.m. on ACC Network)
Semi-related: Sports Daily reader Joyce emailed to ask if I could give some props to the top-ranked Auburn men. “There are many, many Auburn folks living in ATL area and Georgia!” she said.
Which is true! So, uh … War Eagle?
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PREP NOTES
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The professional weirdos at Savannah Bananas baseball begin their new season this weekend in Arizona — and this photo from a 2024 appearance at Gwinnett County’s Coolray Field sums up the vibe pretty well.
The team comes to Truist Park on March 29-30.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
Our ticket waitlist is over 3 million names long. We're confident in what we are seeing in terms of demand.
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Oh, and the trivia answer is Mike LaValliere. Tough one!
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