I doubt many people saw the warning Wednesday night from the state's Department of Health.
Those watching the Braves-Phillies game were advised not to eat or drink during the game for fear of choking, and that they should see a medical professional if or when their throats tightened during game.
There was also a notice sent out to state law enforcement officials to patrol bridges with a little more frequency.
As of Friday afternoon, there were no reports of Braves fans asphyxiating or jumping. But we can't get in to everybody's head.
YA THINK?
NCAA president Mark Emmert has been offering some views lately on all of this absurd college conference expansion.
"Tis is not the NFL, the NBA, it's not a business."
I know. I've said that.
"I think what came across (with realignment) is that all we care about is money and what we can do that is to our advantage," Emmert said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "Nobody was talking about what this is going to do for student-athletes or intercollegiate athletic programs. It was all about let's make a deal."
I know. I've said that.
"We shouldn't say money isn't important," he said. "It is very important to fund intercollegiate athletics because universities can no longer afford to take money out of their regular budgets to subsidize sports. Money's not evil. It's what you do with the money that's evil."
I know. Greed is bad, and yes, we question the intentions.
Gee, Mark, somebody wrote as much not long ago, hoping against hope that some logic would prevail.
And then when it didn't, somebody reiterated silly dreams again all of a few weeks later.
Since then, assorted athletics directors have discussed travel and schedules and logistics and all that.
Haven't really heard about the missed class time that scheduling tweaks will lead to.
"Hey, you already gotta go to southeast Texas, how about stopping off here Oklahoma or Missouri or north Texas?
"Class time, shmass time."
And then we have new Tennessee AD Dave Hart:
"You can't be reactive in this business, and that's what it is. I know sometimes people are offended by the term 'business,' but there is a business aspect to intercollegiate athletics that you have to be cognizant of and be ready to position yourself as well as you possibly can."
We know it's a business. Conference realignment as it's going is bad, bad business, as we'll see soon enough.
And remember this prediction from that either sermon, that having shed tradition and integrity to the curb for perceived profits, we'll be back in here in 10-15 years re-realigning, and it'll make sense.
Like it did before Texas and ESPN went to dinner, whispered sweet lying nothings, and did the deed.
Come on, college officials, try to keep up with me.
PEACH STATERS
Mississippi State at Georgia: It was note here in the preseason that MSU was a wild-card for Georgia.
Now, look for Georgia to do to State what it should have done to Ole Miss.
State is struggling, needing OT last week to beat Louisiana Tech. And now the BulldogsWest are playing in a town where they haven't won since Vince Dooley was muddling around on Auburn's staff.
Georgia 37-14.
Georgia Tech at N.C. State: State pretty much sucks, and head coach Tom O'Brien is on the clock.
It'll tick louder. State is 109th nationally in run defense (against the likes of Liberty, Wake Forest, South Alabama and Cincinnati and Cincinnati) while Tech is first in run offense.
Ouch.
The over-under is 50,000: will 50,000 people show up for this game? State is off a 44-14 whipping by Cincinnati.
Tech, continuing to prove that the size of the city doesn't matter, couldn't crack 48,000 at home as a ranked team against a conference opponent that was 3-0 on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.
Georgia Southern at Elon: Let's hope the tailgating mixers have caffeine.
Elon's a decent team, 3-1, but not decent enough for the Eagles. Plus, Southern knows who has won two of the last three meetings: Elon.
GSU 44-20.
KICKIN IT OFF
Clemson at Virginia Tech: I don't know why, but there's something about Clemson.
And, uh, Clemson plays in a pretty rowdy place on a good Saturday. One has to figure about half of the Tigers have been to Virginia Tech, so this isn't terribly new.
Clemson 23-21.
Nebraska at Wisconsin: If it isn't Blacksburg, the place to be is Madison.
Auburn at South Carolina: Gut feeling is this is the week USCE shows why it's the pick in the East.
And feel sorry for the defenders who have to deal with Auburn's Michael Dyer and USCE's Marcus Lattimore.
USCE 31-20.
Texas at Iowa State: No real prediction here, just the hope that ISU beats the Greedhorns.
Alabama at Florida: OK, if not Blacksburg or Madison, then Gainesville.
I've been waiting to see the Florida I expected, and haven't. I might tonight, but that'll be more because of how good Bama's defense in rather than any inefficiency from the Gators.
But it could also serve as a blueprint for Florida's next two opponents, LSU and Auburn. And then comes the Cocktail Party.
Alabama 27-18.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
Is it a safe bet to think Braves fans are looking at the fairly absurd departure of Terry Francona in Boston and sorta wishing it might've happened a year ago?
Even with what happened - i.e. the third-highest payroll in baseball playing like the Orioles (except for the final series) - Francona right now is a step up from Fredi Gonzalez.
Then again, maybe Francona was becoming too much of a player's coach, too much like, well, Bobby Cox. Reports out of Boston are that he lost the clubhouse, which usually means the clubhouse has some losers in it.
Managers manage what they're given by, you know, general managers and front-office types.
It's safe to say that philosophy led to the Braves collapse. It's safe to say that a lack of substance on the roster led to the Red Sox collapse. ...
Horrible shows: ESPN's "Around the Nation" and Fox's "New football show", all following the weak lead of "First Take."
It's as if all these goobers had been kicked out of the drama club in high school, so silly and squealy and exaggerated is almost everything they do.
Cliches, weak writing, poor slapstick and swing-and-miss humor plus lines you can see coming before the show starts. ...
Only one ACC home game this weekend is a lock to have more than 50,000 on hand, Clemson at Virginia Tech.
Wake Forest at Boston College - yeah, that move from the Big East was a wise one - may not get 40,000, unless they give away Red Sox voodoo dolls.
Duke is at Florida International, which is kind of sad. No chance.
Maryland hosts Towson, which is just north of Baltimore. Now, Towson folks might push the crowd over 50,000 if the Tigers - a I-AA team from the Colonial Athletic Association - smell the upset. Note: Towson is 23rd in one of the two major polls.
Miami, which lost to Kansas State in front of 44,000 home fans, hosts Bethune-Cookman, a I-AA team.
The second-largest crowd for an ACC team this week will be for North Carolina's visit to East Carolina.
Idaho at Virginia? Sponsored by No-Doz. ...
But hey, the ACC will really get rolling when Pitt and Syracuse join the conference, right? Pittsburgh, like BC, hasn't been all that much to talk about in the Big East. Two conference titles in the entire conference history isn't exceptionally inspiring.
The Orange haven't been relevant since 2001.
And neither draws well. Note that the Carrier Dome capacity is 49,262.
But we know that we don't know what the conferences and ADs are "thinking." ...
The Seminoles have another nickname, courtesy of Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:
"Florida State star cornerback Greg Reid was arrested earlier this week – and then had charges dropped – after a friend of Reid's tried to evade police while riding Reid's scooter.
"Welcome to FSU – Fleeing Scooter University."
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