Sports Daily: More Braves misery

Let’s commiserate with our pal Ken Sugiura.

Quick links: Dodgers 6, Braves 5 | Cunningham’s take | Mavs 120, Hawks 118

KEN WEIGHS IN

Credit: Kevork Djansezian/AP

Credit: Kevork Djansezian/AP

Every Thursday, Sports Daily checks in with columnist Ken Sugiura. These week we’re asking him questions about the Braves, the Falcons and more.

1️⃣ Open-ended question here but … what’s your read on the Braves? Can they wake up?

I’m at a loss. And, as Michael Cunningham pointed out in his column, no team that has ever started 0-7 has ever gone on to make the playoffs. But I have to think that players like Austin Riley and Matt Olson can’t continue how they have and that things will even out.

There’s more to the Braves’ problems than bad luck — starting with the bullpen. And 0-7 is a huge hole to dig out from, and it’s hard to do anything but feel like the sky is falling. But let’s see how they’re doing after 20 games.

2️⃣ You were just in Palm Beach for the NFL meetings. I agree with your column arguing that the Falcons might as well keep Kirk Cousins around.

But is this situation really as cordial as Atlanta brass is suggesting? Not sure I buy it.

I’m not convinced either.

Like, the whole thing with his being in Cleveland last week and even acknowledging it on X/Twitter — I’m willing to believe that he actually wasn’t there to talk with the Browns (which is what the Browns said, although what else are they going to say?). But if that’s the case, you kind of should make that clear rather than let everyone think you actually were there to talk with the Browns.

I would think that Cousins eventually realizes this is his fate, and that what would seem his innate decency would compel him to at least not be a distraction.

Credit: Lynne Sladky/AP

Credit: Lynne Sladky/AP

3️⃣ Otherwise, how was Palm Beach? Tough location for an assignment.

It was brutal. Hanging out at a gorgeous resort hotel (the Breakers) with perfect weather. But I have to tell you about my flights there and back.

On the way down, after we had landed, the flight attendant was making the normal announcements when her tone totally changed and she started saying something like, “SIR, PLEASE SIT DOWN. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GET UP. PLEASE SIT DOWN.”

And then as people were waiting to get off (I was somewhere in the middle), you could hear two other passengers yelling at each other at the front about something or other and holding everything up.

(I think anyone who has ever been on Spirit is not surprised.)

More coverage: 10 topics addressed by Falcons coach Raheem Morris

And then, on the flight back, the flight attendant says something like, “We’d like to welcome back everyone who said that they would never fly Spirit again.” And then later, when she was making the announcement about not smoking in the lavatory, she says how it’s a $2,000 fine and “let’s face it: If you had $2,000 to waste, you’d be flying on Delta.”

I gave her a fist bump on the way out. That was some excellent material.

At the Breakers, a young woman named Amanda asked what was going on with all the NFL people. I told her it was an NFL owners meeting. She was telling me that she’s a big NFL fan and that her favorite team is the Cowboys, especially Tom Brady and Gronk. I thought that was impressive front-running. That’d be like saying your favorite team is the Dodgers and that you really like Derek Jeter.

4️⃣ If you could change one rule in the NFL or otherwise, what would it be? Gimme something good.

I thought of this in college. It would be really fun if you could make transactions during games.

Let’s say the Falcons are down 20-17 with 45 seconds left in the game, ball on their 10. It would be fun if Terry Fontenot or Raheem Morris could reach out to their counterparts and say, “If you give us one of your timeouts or let us advance the ball to our 35, we’ll give you a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft.”

Or some sort of deal like that. It would be even better if the negotiation was part of the broadcast.

“OK, we’ll let you start at the 40, but only if you give the ball to Bijan once, and on one play we get to use 12 players.”

That’s it for Ken today! Keep on reading for more sports news.

THE HOME STRETCH

Credit: LM Otero/AP

Credit: LM Otero/AP

The NBA released its schedule for its playoff play-in tournament. And if things hold, the Hawks would kick things off April 15 against the Magic in Orlando.

🏀 Atlanta sits at 36-40 after Thursday night’s 120-118 loss in Dallas (the Mavs’ Anthony Davis hit the game-winner with a little over three seconds left).

That’s good enough for eighth in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind Orlando and one game ahead of Miami.

🏀 Next up: A Saturday afternoon visit from the New York Knicks (3 p.m. on FanDuel Sports South).

COLLEGE HOOPS

👋 Next year’s ACC women’s tournament is headed to Gas South Arena in Duluth. That’s a departure from its longtime home in Greensboro, North Carolina.

👋 Georgia Tech’s Ibrahim Souare, a redshirt freshman who played in 30 games last season, intends to join teammates Nait George and Duncan Powell in the transfer portal.

MARCH TO THE MASTERS

Don’t look now: But the Masters Tournament tees off one week from today. The AJC will have a handful of journalists on the ground — but we’re already churning out plenty of coverage.

⛳ How to watch every round of the Masters

⛳ Georgia Tech connections run deep

⛳ UGA keeps pumping out contenders

⛳ 10 things every first-time visitor must do

I’ve never made it to the Masters — have you? What’s your favorite part? Check out that last link and let me know if there’s anything we missed.

TOP OF THE TABLE

Curious what made voters pick Little 5 Points’ Brewhouse Cafe as the best soccer bar in the U.S.? Check out this brand-new AJC video for an inside look.

▶️ Said Roger Bennett, founder of the Men in Blazers Media Network: “A great soccer bar is part community, part therapist’s office. They are physically in Atlanta, but for 90 minutes at a time they’re mentally transported to Manchester, or Turin, or Barcelona.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Kevork Djansezian/AP

Credit: Kevork Djansezian/AP

Another day, another Dodgers celebration photo.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Until next time.