While they did pick Vance Walker out of Georgia Tech in the seventh round (210) and William Middleton from Furman University in the fifth round (138). Middleton is from Atlanta and played at Marist High School is too small (5′ 10″ and 193 lbs.) and too slow (4.46-40). It would have been better to take the Georgia wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi after trading Laurent Robinson to Dallas. The Falcons did pick up Kansas City tight end Tony Gonzalez on April 23rd. The Falcons offense could have used a little more fire power going into this season. Matt Ryan won the Rookie of the year award last season and along with Ravens QB Joe Flacco was the surprise of the league. This year’s team will not be a surprise and the Falcons have a tougher schedule.

Our Grade: C

Pitching is still the problem. It has been ever since Roger McDowell joined the club as the pitching coach. When Leo was there he was getting real mileage from the Braves pitchers. Frank Wren tried to bring in starting pitching and he actually did a very good job. Relief pitching  has been the problem for the last few years  and he did nothing to improve it. Trading Blaine Boyer this week did not help matters. If Hudson can come back later this year it will give the pitching staff a boost. Tom Glavine will most likely retire in the next week or two without being placed on the major league roster. Not tendering an offer to Smoltz may have been the right move but it was not popular with fans.

Looking at the infield position players we have very few holes, however due to injury those hole are huge. When Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones both went down at the same time just as they did last year. The bench has failed to even come close to picking up the slack. Martin Prado and Omar Infante are not getting the job done. While without injury the infield is pretty good, Chipper hasn’t played a full season  since 2003. When the starters are healthy the infield looks to be as good as any in baseball. Look for Chipper to play in 120 games or less this season.

In the outfield the Braves have to quality players in Jeff Francoeur and Matt Diaz. The pickup of Garret Anderson was not a good move. He doesn’t get good breaks on the ball and his effort is lacking. He is playing injured according to reports. The trial of Jordan Schafer started out well. but has since failed to materialize. His fielding skills are lacking and at the plate his hitting zone is full of holes. He may become a good player in time, just not at this time.

This years Braves team is not very good. It feels like the 70’s again in Atlanta.

The Bands Played.

Newnan, Ga.- Hundreds of  people flocked to the square for the Taste of Newnan on Thursday evening. It was an old fashioned good time to be had by all children and adults alike. Live bands played music from many generations and there was great food to be had from the likes of Texas Roadhouse to Chick Fil-a just to name a couple. If you enjoyed this you should visit Athens from June 25th-28th for Athfest. It is twice the size and you can have some really good beer with your food.

Atlanta, Ga.- Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day at every stadium on Wednesday. Turner Field was no exception and by rule all players wore number 42, this was very confusing for some trying to determine who was who on the field. While Mr. Robinson was deserving of the attention many felt this was a bit too much. The fact that the Braves lost 10-4 didn’t help matters much either.

Mitch Seabaugh speaks at the Tea Party.

Newnan, Ga- Senator Mitch Seabaugh speaks at the Newnan Tea Party held Wednesday at the City Hall in Newnan. He was one of many who stood behind the microphone at the protest event.

Newnan, GA-  The biggest question is not when but if Starship Adult Novelties and Gifts will be allowed to open in Coweta County. The county seems to think it is their job to keep Coweta free of adult businesses. The matter went in front of The Business Occupation Tax Rate Review and Appeal Committee on Monday afternoon and after hours of argument no decision was delivered.

Coweta County was represented by Attorney Scott Bergthold after they decided the ($250 per hour) Tennesse attorney was better than any in Georgia. Starhip was represented by Attorney Alan Begner. It was clear that neither attorney had ever been involved with this type meeting before. Bergthold acting as if he were in a courtroom and Begner did not have orders written but said he would submit them by Monday.

Private Investigators were called to the stand and issued testimony that all the other Starship locations were in violation of the county codes at their locations and stated by reason that they would violate the code in Coweta as well. Starship contends that you cannot look at violations in other locations and assume there will be violations here.

The committee decided to take a week to determine how to rule. This could go either way and It is  fully expected the ruling to go against Starship and a trial will be next. With all the facts known Coweta County would most likely lose in a courtroom battle. The case has already cost tax payers more than $25,000 in fees for the Tennessee attorney and they will most likely triple before this issue is laid to rest. How many others will challenge the obscenity and sexually-oriented business ordinances and at what cost to tax payers. Will Coweta County keep the high priced Tennessee attorney that wrote the new ordinace or change to a local attorney to save money in future cases?

Many feel that allowing Starshipto operate here will open the gates for future adult businesses, however the fact that a business can file law suits and be awarded loss of potential earnings may draw many business owners to the area in hopes of making money without ever opening in Coweta. Many others want Starship to open and are upset with the way Coweta handled the case.

Newnan, GA- American Freedom is always an issue. Taking  your 15 year old son to Ashley Park to shop and snap a few pictures and trying to enjoy the Easter displays that were really beautiful. Then we were told by the security guards that we were violating the law. I was stunned. My 15 year old was taking pictures of the flowers and Easter displays, was this breaking the law? The guard explained that we were commiting architectural theft. I have heard of the term but my son was not taking any pictures of the ugly buildings there. The movie theater looks nice and the fountain does as well but who wants a picture of the buildings there. They went on to explain that a person had to be in the picture for it to be within the rules of property owner Thomas Enterprise. So if anyone wondered why a 15 year old with a camera was taking your picture as you stood close to the flowers and displays it was because they said he was a thief if you were not in the picture. I took exception to my son being called a thief by the security personnel. In fact other than shopping at Best Buy and Barnes and Noble I do not think my family will return to Ashley Park. He did get this nice picture of the Greatest Flag on Earth flying high above Southtowne.

You can see the security guards image as he was telling us we were thieves. It is a sad day when taking a few pictures of flowers is stealing.

A couple examples of pictures we stole.

Newnan, Ga- The truth may never be known as to what happened to Willie Calvin Sutton while in custody at the Coweta County jail on Jan. 31, 2008. The real truth is only known by a select few and they are not talking. I have been told by several inside sources that Mr. Sutton was confined in a constraint chair that allows no movement and the chair is usually used for no more than 1 hour. We have been told that not only was Mr. Sutton confined in the chair for more than 8 hours but he was also tazed by officers while confined more than twice.  The Coweta County Sheriff’s office would make no offical statement when ask but several off duty Coweta County Sheriff Deputies were more than willing to talk as long as their names were not used in fear of being fired or singled out by their superiors and other officers. One Deputy said it is simple “They killed him”.  Some reports show that he died of natural causes but we do know the torture Mr. Sutton had to endure on the day of his death may not have been natural. (updates to come as we gather more info)

Timothy O’Brien of Whateverunique.com and assistant art director for the film Zombieland that recently shot scenes in Newnan gets the tank ready for filming. Zombieland is scheduled in theaters in October. Timothy also worked as a set designer for the pilot episode of Drop Dead Diva which cast recently in Newnan and will be shot in and around Peachtree City.