We're Baaaaaaaaaaack!

Yes, we are back. The OSG is back and we are badder than ever. We’ve missed everyone over the past several months, but we are damn glad that you are coming back. For those of you new to us, sit down, get comfortable and take a look around - the OSG is Sports, all Sports, nothing but Sports all the damn time!

We’ve been Busy...

There’s been a lot going on, in all of our lives and jobs and everything in between. For me, hell, I’ve been all over the place, the adventures still continue and in some cases they’ve been stranger than ever.

February…

I’m skipping January because J-Dub graciously posted my story about the Georgia/Hawaii Football game (The Sugar Bowl). Take a look if you have a minute, it was a lot of fun and there were a couple of funny photos in there.

The other big story was the Falcons hiring yet another new coach, Mike Smith. When he was hired, there was a collective “Huh?”, but as we’ve gotten to know the guy, we’ve grown to like him and wish him nothing but the best of luck - he’s going to need it.

February as usual was Braves Spring Training. Spring Training is always a lot of fun, probably one of my favorite things to cover and there are always a ton of interesting and fun stories to tell. This year, intrepid Sports Anchor Mark Harmon and I got to meet the Quilt Lady, she and her friends were a hoot. Their main objective- to get everyone who plays for the Braves to sign the Quilt.

There were a few other good laughs in there, family dinner with the other TV Crews is always a highlight, and this year was really special. It was WSB-TV Sports Anchor Bill Hartman’s last, he’s retiring in September (future column and possible OSG Radio Interview). Bill spent the evening at the Columbia Restaurant telling stories from when he got in the business back around 1969 or 70. Very cool stuff about things like Jerry Quarry and Muhammed Ali, historical stories, things that have never been talked about much, I can’t say enough about how much fun it is to hear Bill tell these stories.

March…

March, well, it certainly lived up to the “March Madness” nickname. Brother Wilkie touched on the Tornado-strewn SEC Basketball tournament, I was there as well and let me just say, “I’ve seen a lot of things, but I damn sure ain’t seen anything like that.” It was just a scheduling fluke that I wasn’t at the Georgia Dome when the tornado hit, with Georgia playing late (after 10pm) we decided not to go because we couldn’t turn anything for the 11pm News.

Standing on the floor of Georgia Tech’s basketball arena watching the SEC tournament on that Saturday had to be one of the most surreal things I’ve ever seen. Seeing Georgia win the first game against Kentucky wasn’t much of a surprise, you could tell 5 minutes in that it was going to happen. Seeing them win, then beat Mississippi State 4 hours later…no way. Seeing them win the next afternoon over Arkansas…never.

Three days later, I found myself on the floor of the (_____ insert phone company here) Arena in Washington D.C watching the Bulldogs prepare to play Xavier in the first round of the NCAA tournament and the only thing I could think was, "How the hell did this happen?"

April…

April didn’t offer tons of relief. Masters Week came a week later than normal, but it came…and went…and was over before we knew it. There really wasn’t a whole lot of intrigue or excitement, the tournament just kind of happened. I guess for lack of anything else, the highlight of the week was the new and improved press dining area (yes, they have one of those). It actually had food other than the traditional bagged sandwiches and it was pretty good.

The biggest of the strange sights of the past few months would have to be the Hawks and the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs. I’ve got to say, if you had said “How are the Hawks going to do against the Celtics in the Playoffs?” I would have said “They are going to get swept.” Well, not only did that not happen, they gave the city of Atlanta and the NBA world notice, “You better take us seriously.” I’ve got to say, the sight of a full Philips Arena and the deafening sound of the crowd was one of the most exciting settings I’ve been around in a long time. For game 3, I turn around and right behind me on the floor, Rapper T.I. and a little later I saw Jermaine Dupri in the crowd. There were old Hawks and new Falcons; it was an actual event surrounding a basketball game, something not seen in a long, long time in Atlanta.

The other highlight would be the NFL Draft. The Falcons picked former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan. Again, there were more than a few raised eyebrows over that one, but the more we see and interact with Ryan, the more we believe that he just may be the “Real Deal” (No, not Evander Holyfield).

May…

There hasn’t, thankfully, been as much going on in May and that quite frankly is a good thing. There have been the traditional Braves stories, a few football stories and a few other odds and ends - but no holy crap moments.

Today…

This brings us to today, the grand, triumphant return of the OSG. Hopefully it will be more successful than other such returns like the Four Horseman or Degeneration X but only time will tell. We just want you to keep reading, keep checking us out and keep in touch. We’ve got a lot of things that we are working on, if they are successful, you’ll be seeing us a lot more often in a bunch more places. Yes, like everyone else on the Internet, we have a plan for Global Domination, the plan is still coming together, but with your help it WILL come to fruition and we will be able to entertain and inform in the best way possible.

--Phil Cantor

"The time has come, my song is over, thought I’d something more to say”- Time (Pink Floyd)