Copyright The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plus: The Freeze, Falcons sacks and Nique’s son Hey y’all. We’ve got a pretty packed slate in and around the old ATL this weekend (not including Georgia Tech football’s journey to Boston College and the Hawks’ ongoing four-game road trip). Care to start today’s discussion with some made-up internet slop instead? NEWSFEED NONSENSE A selection of AI or otherwise fabricated images from Facebook fan pages like "The Dawg Pound," "Falcons Fury" and "Tomahawk Territory." The misinformation on such pages ranges from the mundane to the outrageous. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart did not find twin babies by the side of the road and raise them as his own. Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna does not have a “long-lost cousin” fighting in the Ukrainian army. Kicker Parker Romo is no longer on the Falcons — and definitely was not named one of Time magazine’s “100 most influential people in global sports.” All of it, in fact, amounts to nonsense plucked from “fan pages” peddling sports-related falsehoods on Facebook these days. You’ve probably seen them. They’re called things like The Dawg Pound, Falcons Fury and Tomahawk Territory. Some of the posts are outrageous, with squirrelly AI imagery along for the ride. Some are more believable — coaches fired, game times changed, someone complaining about officiating — but just as fabricated. Thousands of people follow them. 🤔 Frankly, that cheeses me off. Why does this insanity even exist? Mike Lewis, a professor of marketing at Emory University who studies sports and fandom, sees the pages as a sort of offshoot from the world of politics — where rage bait and other inflammatory content flood social media feeds faster than Ronald Acuña Jr. rounds the bases. “When you think about social media more broadly, the currency is more engagement,” Lewis told me. And to get engagement? “You can do great content or you can tick people off. Ticking people off is pretty easy.” Lewis theorized that many of the pages are purely aimed at seizing on that phenomenon and, eventually, allowing whoever’s running them to monetize the page or sell it off. More views and likes and comments and shares = more cash. It’s also possible that nefarious measures (data-stealing malware, scammy shopping sites, etc.) are baked in. Which, of course, called for a little more investigating 🤔 In a feat of unparalleled journalistic bravery, I scrolled through and clicked on a few links. Most of them just sent my browser spinning and failed to load anything. One of them went to an unfamiliar site asking me to verify my humanness; I panicked, closed it out and called it a day. After regrouping, I emailed the addresses listed for all three pages mentioned above. They did not exist. And the listed phone numbers? All connected to very real but very unrelated businesses. One page sent would-be callers to … the Allman Brothers museum in Macon. Sweet Melissa, what a mess. “A lot of people are just kind of desperate for attention,” Lewis said. “Just kind of trying to move that needle for no real purpose.” So how can you tell nonsense from news? To start, look out for misspellings and other errors. Anything (including photos) that doesn’t look quite right probably isn’t. And before sharing, always double check with news sources you know to be credible. You wouldn’t want to confuse Uncle Jimmy even more than he already is, now would you? Enjoying the Win Column? Forward to a friend and tell them to sign up! ABOUT THAT ACTION-PACKED WEEKEND … 🏆 High school football playoffs: The road to the Benz officially starts Friday. Here’s what you need to know about the first-round matchups in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and Class A, Division I. Lots more coverage, including live updates, to come at ajc.com/varsity. And don’t forget: You’ve got until noon Friday to fill out your brackets for our Playoff Challenge. 🏀 Clean Old-Fashioned (Hardwood) Hate: Georgia and Georgia Tech men’s basketball teams square off in Athens on Friday (9 p.m. on SEC Network). The Jackets needed overtime to dispatch Maryland Eastern Shore earlier this month, but otherwise it’ll represent the first real test for either team. More on a particularly viral Bulldog hoopster in a bit. 💪 UGA hooks horns with Texas: No. 5 Georgia football wraps up its SEC slate by welcoming Texas into Sanford Stadium for the first time on Saturday (7:30 p.m. on ABC). The 10th-ranked Longhorns are trying to stay in the College Football Playoff picture while avenging last season’s pair of losses to the Bulldogs. We’ll have live updates on DawgNation.com. 🫣 Falcons look for revenge: The 3-6 Falcons return home from a largely disastrous road trip — and the Carolina Panthers, who manhandled Atlanta in Week 3, await. If the Falcons have any hope of turning their season around, it begins with the three-game stretch that also includes matchups with the Saints and Jets. Watch at 1 p.m. Sunday on Fox. More Dirty Birds coverage momentarily. DON’T BEAT THE FREEZE. BE THE FREEZE. A 2024 iteration of the Freeze outlasts a fan. The Braves are in search of a new Freeze. The original warning track warrior, Nigel Talton, retired his cleats a few years back. Whoever’s been embarrassing poorly conditioned fans since then is gone, too. Please consider the following proof of my worthiness for the position. Height: 6-foot-1. Weight: 230 pounds, give or take. (OK, give.) Exercise frequency: One to five times a month. Athletic experience, Part I: Would’ve made the eighth-grade basketball team if I didn’t trip and break my wrist. Athletic experience, Part II: Star of the AJC softball team, earning the nickname “White Lightning.” And, uh, definitely not in an ironic way. Shin splints. I know what you’re thinking, but the listing says the ideal candidate needs to be “confident,” “charismatic,” and available to “sprint while racing a fan on the field.” It doesn’t say you have to win those races. 🏃♂️➡️ Applications and more details here, with “in-person auditions” scheduled for Dec. 13. Godspeed, y’all. SEEKING SOCCER SOBRIQUETS It’s official, folks: Atlanta and Arthur Blank are getting another team. Uncle Arthur is primed to pony up about $330 million to bring a National Women’s Soccer League expansion franchise to town by 2028. It’ll be the league’s 17th team and our first pro women’s soccer club since the Atlanta Beat (remember that radio commercial?) departed in 2003. ⚽ But here’s the important question: What should the team be called? Shoot me your most creative suggestions and maybe we’ll do a roundup next week. FALCONS SACKS, IN CONTEXT A chart showing the Falcons' 2025 sack total through nine games compared to recent full seasons. The Falcons did Falcons things in Berlin. Michael Penix Jr. and the offense were terrible and, sadly, the snarkiest German phrases I included in last week’s newsletter proved extremely relevant. 📈 There is this, though: Atlanta recorded seven sacks against the Colts, all from different players — and the team is just about on pace to match its best-ever season on the pass-rushing front. Through nine games, the Falcons’ 29 total sacks rank fifth in the NFL. That number already matches or eclipses season-long totals from seven of Atlanta’s last 13 campaigns. It also puts things on schedule for about 55 sacks, which would match the franchise-best performance of 1997. A long way to go yet, and we’re also working with 17 games vs. the 16 they played way back when. But the chart above really puts the previous struggles into context, no? (Bonus points if you guessed that Brandon Dorlus and Zach Harrison lead the way with 4.5 sacks apiece.) ASK A BEAT REPORTER, LEGENDARY OFFSPRING EDITION Georgia forward Jake Wilkins dunks before an exhibition game against Georgia State. Have y’all seen Jake Wilkins, son of Bulldog and Hawks legend Dominique? The 6-foot-9 freshman from Grayson High is already balling out in Athens, averaging about 14 points in 17 minutes of playing time — while unafraid to replicate dad’s flair for throwing down. A windmill off an alley-oop? Really? With Wilkins’ dunks already garnering national attention, I figured it’d be worthwhile checking in with Olivia Sayer, a former intern who’s currently providing the AJC’s Hoop Dawgs coverage. 🤔 The question, more or less: How are fans soaking things in so far? “Most fans know who Jake Wilkins’ father is, and if they don’t, his No. 21 jersey enshrined in the Stegeman Coliseum rafters should give them an idea. “The younger Wilkins already appears to be a fan favorite, as the crowd rises after each dunk. But the aspect I most enjoy listening to is the anticipation. Fans almost fall silent each time he receives the ball with a wide-open lane, eagerly anticipating his next highlight-reel play. “Then, when Wilkins slams it into the net, the crowd erupts.” Already? Lit. And despite all that, Olivia says the younger Wilkins is maintaining “a humble persona.” The occasional nudge from coach Mike White doesn’t hurt, either. “I’ll remind Jake, I know our fans probably enjoyed it, but it was still just two points,” he said. PHOTO OF THE WEEK A member of UGA Spirit Squad was shocked to see former Florida quarterback and SEC Network host Tim Tebow behind her on the Sanford Stadium sidelines. Fun fact: I was in the room at SEC Media Days in 2008 (I think?) when a radio shock jock asked Tebow if he was “saving himself for marriage.” Tebow blushed and started talking about passing routes. Good times. Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com. Until next time.
