Florida-Georgia this year is all about Mark Richt.
The Bulldogs coach doesn't have to win on Halloween. But, for Richt's own good, the team must look prepared. With enough creativity on offense to combat the Gators' fierce defense. And with enough scheming from Richt and his beleaguered defensive coordinator, Willie Martinez, to stonewall Florida's sputtering attack.
Good news: The Atlanta Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk is out for a month.
Bad news: Kovalchuk is out for a month.
Why it's good and bad: Were he declared out of for much longer with a broken right foot, the Thrashers could have kissed the season -- and probably Kovalchuk himself -- goodbye. But this team isn't exactly a given for the playoffs, so a few extra defeats while he's rehabbing could be the difference between an eighth seed and a seed-less summer.
Some conclusions to be drawn by the Dallas Cowboys' 37-21 spanking of the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday:
1. Cornerback Brian Williams' season-ending injury a week ago is painful not just to him. Wide receiver Miles Austin, a household name only at his address, torched the secondary, during Tony Romo's 21-for-29 day. It must brace for aerial attacks the rest of the season.
Georgia Tech won a doubleheader Saturday.
Well, not technically. The days of football twinbills are long gone. But Clemson's 40-37 overtime win was just as tasty for the Yellow Jackets as their 34-9 crushing of Virginia.
The key to the Atlanta Hawks NBA season, which ignites Wednesday with a home gig against the Indiana Pacers, is . . . the Washington Wizards.
Well, not the only key, but one as large as the ceremonial key to the city handed out by mayors.
So Georgia Tech has not won at Virginia since 1990. So what?
So Thomas Jefferson's school started 0-3, with losses to William and Mary (but not Joseph) and Southern Miss? So what.
What matters when the Jackets and Cavs convene at high noon Saturday:
The Atlanta Falcons are westward-bound to play the Dallas Cowboys in America's most lavish stadium after learning that one of their own targeted stadium sites northeast of the city has gotten a thumbs-down.If these Atlanta Falcons follow up one winning season with another, a modest feat the franchise has yet to accomplish, they can look back on consecutive plays Sunday against the Chicago Bears on NBC prime-time that helped make it possible.It was throwback Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium when Georgia Tech played No. 4 Virginia Tech. On second thought, maybe any term with throw doesn't fit.Georgia football coach Mark Richt and his staff will take an unpaid furlough day this week, as mandated by the state. Had UGA lost Saturday to Vanderbilt, Dawg Nation might have encouraged them to stretch stretch the off-day through the rest of the season.The first tangible reward for the Atlanta Falcons' awesome 2008 season arrives Sunday with a national TV gig against the Chicago Bears. Prime time and Falcons haven't been used much in the same sentence since Deion Sanders (a.k.a, Prime Time) played here.--How bad the other team is doing. Only Florida demolishes Georgia like this. Only the Gators prompt the question: Which was worse, the Bulldogs' offense or defense?The Atlanta Falcons come off their absurdly early bye week for a left coast game with the San Francisco 49ers, who are a Brett Favre pass-and-answered-prayer from being undefeated.Bobby Bowden of Florida State and Lane Kiffin of Tennessee are the two most discussed -- and cussed -- college coaches in the South, if not the nation. (Though, in deference to Bowden, some cussing is on the dadgummit level.)The Georgia Dome is bubbling up in the news, a day or two after U2 blew the roof off the joint. Georgia Tech and Georgia might play there, and the Atlanta Falcons might leave it. 
