Thursday, November 9, 2017

Arthur Ingram III takes over top spot in local college football contest

The tenth weekend of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest came to a close on Saturday night and we now have a new name at the top of the local standings.

Hillcrest High School assistant football coach Arthur Ingram III jumped into sole possession of the No. 1 spot after finishing in third place the previous two weeks. Ricky Taylor dropped from first place into second place, and past champion Hunter Norris dropped from first place into the No. 3 spot.

Mike Dailey jumped from fifth place into fourth place, and Phig Newton dropped from third place into the No. 5 spot in the standings. “Murder Creek Man 78” remained in sixth place for the second straight week, and Travis Presley went from eighth place to seventh place.

Clint Hyde dropped one notch, going from No. 7 in the standings to eighth place. I remained in ninth place for the second straight week, and defending champion Drew Skipper remained in tenth place for the second week in a row.

With that said, if you’re playing in the contest and didn’t make the Top 10, don’t stop playing. The contest will run for a total of 14 weeks, and we’ve got six more weeks to go. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

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This coming Saturday, there will be eight football games involving SEC teams, and six of those games will feature head-to-head matchups between SEC opponents. Here are my predictions in those games. I like Alabama over Mississippi State, Georgia over Auburn, LSU over Arkansas, South Carolina over Florida, Vanderbilt over Kentucky, Missouri over Tennessee, Texas A&M over New Mexico and Ole Miss over Louisiana-LaFayette.
Last week: 8-1. So far this year: 68-16.

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The Atlanta Braves haven’t played a game in nearly six weeks, but the big news out of the Braves camp this week had to do with a pair of players who were officially taken off the team’s disabled list. Braves centerfielder Danny Santana and left-handed relief pitcher Jacob Lindgren were both reinstated off the 60-day disabled list on Friday.

Lindgren, a 24-year-old Mississippi native, missed the entire season last year after having Tommy John surgery on his elbow in August 2016. Lindgren is expected to be ready to go for spring training next year and is expected to make a strong push for a job in Atlanta’s bullpen.

Many Braves fans in the reading audience will remember that Santana, a 26-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, began last season with the Minnesota Twins, but got traded to the Braves in May. In September, he suffered a quadriceps injury and spent the last month and a half of the season on the disabled list. Like Lindgren, Santana is expected to be back to full speed by the start of spring training.


Opening Day will be here before you know it. In fact, it’ll start sooner next year than ever before. Major League Baseball released its 2018 schedule a few weeks ago, and Opening Day is set for March 29, which is the earliest Opening Day date in the history of Major League Baseball. This early start was put in place to allow every team to schedule three to four extra days off during the regular season. Also, every team is scheduled to open their regular season schedules on the same day for the first time since 1968. The Braves will open against the Philadelphia Phillies in Atlanta. 

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