Well, after four Yuengling beers, a Georgia Bulldogs' pummeling of LSU (sorry, Dickie!), and a Falcons' victory over the Carolina Panthers, I can't guarantee any sort of coherence for the rest of this entry. So, please forgive me if this goes too far astray...

The Braves ended their season by taking the series against the Cubs, winning 2 of 3 but losing the last game to Greg Maddux, who last pitched against the Braves 12 years ago. He didn't fare too well, giving up 6 runs in 6 innings, but Paul Byrd - apparently - was worse. Final score 10-8, and Maddux gets his 16th win of the season. Personally, I'm happy for Maddux, as the Braves pretty much just played their reserves (Thomas has 2 homeruns, though) and let the regulars rest. The Cubs were done, anyway, so it wasn't a game the Braves needed to win.

In fact, in losing, the Braves actually made me a winner. Last month, on September 3, I predicted the Braves would go 18 and 12 over the last 30 games and beat the Marlins easily for the Division Championship. Well, after some shaky series, it turns out the B's actually proved me right.

Here's my original breakdown for the last 30 games:

1. Montreal (3 Games): Braves take 2
2. Philadelphia (4 Games): Braves take 3
3. Montreal (3 Games): Braves take 2
4. NY Mets (5 Games): Braves take 4
5. Florida (3 Games): Braves take 1
6. Cincinnati (3 Games): Braves take 1
7. Florida (3 Games): Braves take 2
8. NY Mets (3 Games) Braves take 2
9. Chicago Cubs (3 Games) Braves take 1

And here's what actually happened:

1. vs. Montreal: Braves took 2 of 3
2. vs. Philly: Braves won 1 of 4
3. vs. Montreal: B's won all 3
4. vs. New York Mets: Braves lost series, taking 2 of 5
5. vs. Florida: Won series, took 2 of 3
6. vs. Cincy: As I thought, Braves only win 1 of 3
7. vs. Florida: Braves sweep Fish, 3 wins
8. vs. New York Mets: Win series, take 2 of 3
9. vs. Chicago: kicked Cubs out of playoffs, winning 2 of 3

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And, to ice off the weekend, the Atlanta Falcons proved that they're contenders by beating the Carolina Panthers handily, 27-10. (See the photograph of my TV set for proof. You'll note immediately that I don't have cable... I spend a lot of time moving rabbit ears...) So, the Falcons are now a stunning 4-0 and look like a much better team than last year. In fact, they and the Eagles may be the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the NFC.

Falcons vs. Panthers

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All photos copyright Jamie Bishop, 2004.