Vol 90, No. 5

VOL. 90 | NO. 05 10 / 25 / 22

Stacey Abrams and Raphael Warnock at Georgia State

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In A&L: Does AI Art Dream of Artifical Sheep? Pg. 8 United Student Organization Holds First Induction Ceremony Pg. 4

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THE BLOTTER

October 25, 2022

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/NEWS

CRIME BLOTTER Monday, OCT 17th

Thursday, OCT 20th

On Monday, a GSU-afflilated person was the victim of Vandalism. This occurred at G Parking Deck at 8:39AM.

On Thursday, a GSU Student was the victim of Motor Vehicle Theft. This occured at G Parking Deck between 7:30PM-11:30PM. The investigation is still active.

“As if Mondays weren’t bad enough”

Tuesday, OCT18th

“Quiet down man I have an exam tomorrow!”

On Tuesday, a GSU Student reported a disturbance at University Commons. This occurred between 11:25AM-12:56PM. The investigation is still active.

NEWS BRIEFS

“GTA: Grand Theft Atlanta”

“I don’t they serve that kind of lettuce at the dining hall”

On Monday, two GSU-afflilated offenders were given a warning for criminal trespass and drug law violations. This occurred at 10:15PM at Piedmont Central.

LOCAL

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Rapper Bryson Tiller makes appearance on Campus.

Wells Fargo workers push for company wide unionization

Ukraine on the heels of another victory against Russia

On Monday, Oct. 17th, music artist Bryson Tiller made an abrupt appearance on campus. Tiller showed up in Unity Plaza to play music to the hundreds of Georgia State Student surrounding him.

The impromptu show caused traffic restrictions around the heart of campus.

Wells Fargo workers seek to unionize after the most recent string of fraudulent actions allegedly committed by the company. Workers at the mega-bank say the company has committed numerous overtime pay violations, among other workplace violations.

Ukraine continues its counter-offensive against Russia. After weeks of stunning victories, the invaded nation is on the cusp of pushing back Russian forces from the southern city of Kherson. Support for the war is at an alltime low in the Russian public, the superpower continues to lose thousands of lives and billions of dollars in the conflict.

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Ai generated impression of the Georgia State Green space

News

4 October 25, 2022

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PHOTO BY: IRA LIVNAT | THE SIGNAL

“I am a person of influence, you will know my name” The USO unifies student led organizations and brings much needed change.

DAVID HOFFMAN Staff Reporter

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he SGA hosted its first induction ceremony for the United Student Organization last Monday. The United Student Organization, or USO, is a collaborative group of student-led organizations that aims to provide aid for student organizations where it’s needed and encourage cross-collaboration between groups.

Various groups, clubs, teams, organizations, honor societies, alliances and members of Greek life were among the inducted. Inductees were informed about students’ impact when they are brought together by a common goal. Speaker and Student Engagement Coordinator Kirk Johnson spoke with the crowd about the story of seven students during the height of the pandemic. Johnson spoke about the power that those students had, sharing the encouraging message “I am a person of influence; you will know my name” with attendees.

The USO hopes to help student organizations process GSU’s confusing systems and methods. Whether that be by providing help finding a venue to host meetings or finding a local restaurant to cater events. If a certain group knows a specific procedure, that information can be shared to help countless other organizations that are facing the same issue. This is what the USO is aiming to achieve.

The USO also shares great networking experiences with those involved. It is often difficult for organizations to navigate the complex bureaucracy that exists at GSU. The knowledge of knowing whom to email about issues, when to speak up and how to make sure you’re not being left out of the loop is extremely valuable. In

addition, the networking opportunities between student organizations themselves are also extremely beneficial to have. Collaboration between multiple groups increases student engagement and helps with campus life at GSU. Another goal of the USO is to give student-run organizations more help when it comes to funding. All students attending GSU contribute to the funding of student organizations with their student fees. However, these funds are rarely taken advantage of. Only a small amount of what is dedicated to these organizations is received.

Ira Livnat, the Executive Vice President of the SGA spoke at the induction ceremony sharing his previous experience of getting funding for his organization Panther Hackers which he ran his freshman year in 2018.

Livnat discussed his struggle with getting the funding that he requested and how despite the school having six million dollars worth of funding for student organizations that year, his organization was only getting twenty percent of what they asked for. “Either we don’t know how to ask for it or what we’re asking for we can’t get funded. When you start to look at it from a bird’s eye view you start to see that all of these organizations are doing similar things and that they could benefit from their collaboration you start to understand why there is a need for the USO.” Moments like the one Livnat faced are what led to the USO’s founding last year. The need for a governing student body that prevents student organizations from drowning is huge.

The USO plans on meeting no less than three times a year. At

these meetings, organizations can come and pitch their events to other organizations that might have a common interest. They then can work together and collaborate on the event, as well as split the cost of funding between the SGA and the collaborating organizations. Representatives at these meetings can also lay out and explain the issues that their organization is facing. The USO can then coordinate with the representative on how to solve their issue and get whatever they need.

Senator Tanjanae Walker, chair of the Student Engagement Committee and organizer of the ceremony, spoke to us about the next steps for the USO. As someone working heavily to bring the USO to life, Senator Walker plans to appoint officers and complete the USO’s governing documents so that the organization can implement the changes they have been preaching. They also discussed how the USO plans on growing and expanding to include more student-led organizations, “There are fifteen of us and we are going to hopefully encourage the other four hundred plus registered student organizations to join as well. We want to get all of them in a room at least once before the end of the school year”.

The USO has its first formal meeting scheduled for November 29. Organizations that have yet to come forth with a representative for their group are heavily encouraged to attend the meeting or speak with the SGA. Their office is located on the second floor of Student Center West.

OPINIONS

October 25, 2022

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Forgive and forget

Forgiveness plan and its inadequacy.

TERRANCE DAVIS Staff Columnist

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he $300 billion student loan forgiveness plan is ramping up as the U.S. Department of Education has just launched the beta version of the student debt relief application form. Hopeful students will have to wait a few more weeks, as the plan is facing a series of lawsuits from different groups and claims from state legislatures that claim the project would harm tax revenue.

While delays to the plan are frustrating enough, the bill itself also proves to be insufficient in tackling the national student debt, which currently sits at a whopping 1.73 trillion dollars. It goes without saying that $300 billion would barely make a dent. On top of this, the plan seems to lack any further student debt reform as indicated by the statement that free community college along with other proposed Build Back Better programs will not be introduced, ensuring that our national student debt will shortly return to where it was before the forgiveness plan, with the next generation of college students replacing those who are being relieved of their debts now.

It is made evident by all of this that our federal government has little to no interest in making college more accessible to some of its most disadvantaged citizens and even less interest in doing what every other comparable nation has been able to do, make University education free. Interestingly, there was a time when state universities in the United States were tuition free. This sounds fantastical in 2022 but this practice continued into the late 1960s, so what brought it to an end?

As with many of the struggles which America continues to struggle with, this can be attributed to the one and only Ronald Reagan. Then governor of California, Reagan, in 1966, proposed a plan for the University of California System to charge tuition to attend schools. It must be said that the timing of this is no coincidence, with the 1960s seeing much political turmoil occurring daily. The civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the idea of nuclear annihilation lingered in the background of daily life, radicalizing many young, educated Americans to become more distrustful of the government, leading to the emergence of student groups and nationwide protests with the support of grassroots activist groups like the Black Panthers and The Young Lord’s Organization. The prevalence of such activity happening on college campuses demonstrated the power of education to inspire ideas on how to create a more fair and equitable society.

Ronald Reagan was having none of this, going as far as to state that he wanted to “get rid of undesirables. Those there to agitate and not to study might think twice before they pay tuition… they might think twice how much they want to pay to carry a picket sign.” Reagan’s obliteration of free college was successful, hurling us into the current debt nightmare we find ourselves in. With the new pay-to-play model of education, tuition has also gotten more expensive, propping up an entire indus-

PHOTO BY: HUNTER LASERNA | THE SIGNAL

try around student debt that is based on predatory inclusion.

The crushing debt that our population faces also serves to reinforce already existing racial and gender disparities, with black students being 20% more likely to borrow than their white counterparts. Opportunity for rising college students can feel dangerously thin as many people are unable to find jobs in their preferred field or do their studied profession out of profit, rather than for the wellbeing of others. One coil rebuts that those who are worried about job security can simply go to trade school. This rhetoric seeks to place the blame on individuals for having the “wrong” passions and does very little to investigate why so many industries are unable to (or more likely unwilling) put to work the most educated generation of people in human history.

Providing free education has proven to have countless benefits for countries that implement it but the government of the United States is more than happy with stifling the educational, social, and economic power of its working class, all of which have the chance to be increased through a college education.

The Jeffrey Dahmer Craze

Should we be encouraging the remaking of Jeffrey Dahmer-related content?

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KADIATOU DIALLO Staff Columnist

ctober is now in full swing, and with that comes Halloween. Media revolving around the likes of Ted Bundy and Jack the Ripper start re-circulating the internet. Although, this time around, people have had a particular obsession with Jeffrey Dahmer: The Milwaukee Monster. We have seen so many adaptations to his story come and go, and not surprisingly, Netflix recently released another one: Monster-The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The series addresses how he notoriously killed 17 men and boys of color.

Haven’t we seen enough? There have been quite a few adaptations in the past. These cinematic adaptations are sickening to watch and they have helped keep the story alive. We must not forget his atrocities and the institutions in place that allowed him to get away with it. In truth, if it weren’t for the release of the new series, I would have never known that he targeted people of color or the role that the police played through their negligence. I think that this story is an essential lesson in history that we shouldn’t make the mistake of forgetting. However, I worry that not addressing the truth of what happened is erasure.

This being said, I am tired and disgusted with the approach we have taken in these adaptations.

When we centralize him in these adaptations, we are taking the focus away from the horrors that were committed. It gives him this appeal as if he is a misunderstood individual, which somehow makes the murders he committed justified. It allows people to romanticize him as if he is some damaged, yet love-

able main character. Let’s not forget he is a murderer, one who recognized his actions as wrong yet continued anyways.

We should approach the story from a different perspective, such as bringing light to the victims and their families; giving them a platform, and not just for one episode. Why not dig deeper into the police and how our nation’s institutions failed these people? Why are we trying to humanize Dahmer instead of the men and boys he killed? These people had families that suffered a significant loss from their passing. Why not give space to allow the victim’s families to heal and not have to relive their trauma in such a poor fashion?

Rita Isabell, sister to one of the victims, came out with an essay (Insider) in which she stated how she would have felt better about the Netflix series if it had somehow benefited the victims’ families. They are still affected by what happened and the cinematic adaptations; thus, Netflix should have been more sensitive to their wishes. They could have at least provided financial compensation to the descendants of said victims.

Netflix benefited from the internet’s fascination with true crime and decided to capitalize on that by making a drama series about this story. They failed to recognize that it’s not just about Dahmer; it involves many more people. Their interpretation was distasteful. We should be telling the whole story.

This Week’s Spread: News WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/NEWS

Stacey Abrams and Raphael Warnock’s Campaign Trails Intersect at Georgia State And it wasn’t administration who was running most of the show. It was students.

PHOTO BY: TRENT LEGASPI | THE SIGNAL

October 25, 2022

TONI ODEJIMI Staff Reporter

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andidate Stacey Abrams and Senator Raphael Warnock recently spoke at Georgia State University as par t of their cam paign tour. Their visit happening during the star t of early voting wasn’t coincidental.

Both events were hosted by the Young Democrats at Georgia State. They are an organization focused on the amplification of Democratic ideals and candidates to Georgia State’s student body.

Other students decked in Abrams and Warnock crewnecks also helped with ironing out event logistics.

Warnock’s speech was on Oct. 17, with students packed into the Speaker ’s Auditorium as they listened to the senator ’s words echo off the walls.

Student loan debt forgiveness was one of War nock’s talking points. The senator went to More house College on what he called a “full faith schol arship.” Through financial aid, he was able to grad uate.

While Warnock did push the president to cancel $10,000 of debt, even he admitted that the amount was a temporary solution to a grander issue.

“For decades, this has been a problem with the cost of college far outpacing the rest of the econo my,” said Warnock.

He proposed to lower the cost of college as a whole and increase the amount of Pell Grants given.

A Pell Grant is a financial aid program that doesn’t need to be repaid to the federal government.

Warnock stepped into office as the political cli mate around Georgia was changing. By a slim mar gin, Georgia voted in two Democrats into the Sen ate, which hadn’t been done since 2000. Warnock urged his crowd to repeat those results this year.

He wanted them to take to the polls, and to do so as early as possible.

Something that both Abrams and Warnock emphasized was the power of young voters.

“All of the great movements in the history of our country, have always been fueled by the passion

and the idealism… of young people,” said Warnock.

Abrams had those young people shouting her name as she stepped out of the black van on October 20. They swarmed her, parading her down the Greenspace as they filed into the Speaker ’s Auditorium.

Before Abrams’ speech, Makita Hemingway, the Democratic candidate for the Commissioner of Ag riculture, talked about the Democratic candidates as a whole. The Commissioner of Agriculture governs over marketing and production of food.

To Hemingway, it wasn’t just about her getting elected, but about voting Democrat up and down the ballot.

Democratic Secretary of State candidate Bee Nguyen criticized the Republican-suppor ted bill SB 202, and how it set barriers to the voting process.

The bill criminalized giving water to voters and re moved the “secure drop boxes” that were used extensively during the pandemic.

“They understand that voting is the most power ful non-violent tool that we have,” said Nguyen.

Abrams’ speech was only thir teen minutes long.

The promises that she delivered to the audience were expansive. Like her promise to expand Medic aid in Georgia. Medicaid is a program used to help with the financial costs of healthcare not covered under Medicare. Keeping hospitals open and im proving eligibility for the program was just par t of her solution to keep Georgians healthy.

Affordable housing was also promised in her campaign speech. She plans to allocate the $400 million that Kemp is “sitting on” to keep people from being evicted.

She plans to expand the Hope scholarship to make it needs-based by fall 2023. Improvements to childcare and increasing funds for education were also topics she touched on. Abrams didn’t just dump her laundry list of policies on the students, she also took time to attack Governor Brian Kemp for his supposed “inaction”.

She was referencing Kemp’s tax cut issued on April 26. Georgia.gov said it will cut taxes from 5.75% to 4.99% in seven years and that a billion dollars went back into Georgians’ hands. Abrams claimed that the billion mostly touched the hands of Georgia’s wealthiest.

“Brian Kemp doesn’t care, I do. Brian Kemp won’t help, I will,” said Abrams.

People cheered for Abrams and skipped class to cling to every word of her speech.

But why a bunch of students fought for bigname Democratic candidates and a rap duo to visit the school comes down to one thing. Cynicism.

“We’re hosting these events because there’s a lot of… cynicism with students when it comes to elections,” said Gabriel Delille, member of the Young Democrats.

He explained that getting the candidates on campus makes them more visible to the students.

Not only can the candidates tailor their message to a younger voting poll, but the students feel seen by the people representing them.

“I felt like seeing a celebrity. And I’ve been at Georgia State for three years and haven’t seen that,” said Anna Wallace.

The Young Democrats gave Wallace that “celeb rity” moment. They were also able to allow students to interact with the candidates that they see on T V. Students heard about candidates on the down-bal lot, which doesn’t get as much recognition as the governor and senate races.

With voting booths sectioned off to Dahlberg Hall, students could cast their votes early and make their voices heard. To the ones who refuse to pen their name to a ballot, Delille had this to say to them.

“The decision that ’s being made in that golden capitol will affect you and future generations.”

ARTS & LIVING

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/ARTSANDLIVING

October 25, 2022

Does AI Art Dream of Artificial Sheep?

What does AI Art mean for the future of art.

DESMOND LEAKE Senior Editor

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I art is currently the topic that dominates much of the art discussion on the internet, as recently thanks to websites such as Wombo.art and Artbreeder the greater public conscience has become aware of its existence. It’s widespread enough that rapper Yung Lean used AI art to generate the cover for his single “Lazy Summer Day” and “Chinese Restaurant.”

AI art works by allowing users to put in a text prompt, and then the AI will attempt to generate an image based on those qualities. Of course, this relies on AI learning various aesthetics from already existing art as well, which is a source of controversy. A lot of the discussion surrounding AI art surround whether its ethical, and whether AI Artists are “real” artists.

Digital artist bobbamilk touched on some of the common sentiments regarding some artist’s thoughts on AI art.

“I think that it’s {AI Art} all really generic and boring and I see a lot of people prefer it over real art,” she said. “It feels bad that art isn’t as valued by people as it should be and people like me are in danger because of Ais.” She also mentions the problems with art theft, referencing an incident where a Twitch streamer had their in progress sketch stolen and subsequently “finished” by putting it through one of the AI art generators. Furthermore, most AI art requires existing art to study and reference for the purpose of generating art, which in of itself could be said to be art theft. A recent CNN article discussed how Stable Diffusion used artists like Tara McPherson’s work without her knowledge to create references for art. While not nearly as blatant as the Twitch streamer incident, one must wonder whether this isn’t just the world’s most expansive plagiarism effort.

With a slightly more positive take,artist Grace Bishop discussed the merits of AI art.

It’s a cool medium but it lacks the intentionality that a human would inject into art,” she said. “But, AI art is just another vehicle for artists to consider.”

Of course, there is the question that everyone is probably wondering: does it look good? Looking up AI Art on twitter, it seems to mostly just be anime style drawings of women broken up by the oc-

PHOTO BY: HUNTER LASERNA | THE S IGNAL

AI GENERATED IMAGE OF POUNCE

casional landscape drawing. In fact, there are so many drawings of anime style women that there’s an PHOTO HUNTER LASERNAof| THE SIGNAL entirely separate hashtag on Twitter for it. Generally, there areBY: some dead giveaways the art being AI generated, such as the malformed hands with extra or missing fingers, but the art style is relatively consistent. It’s hard to say whether AI art looks boring compared to the man-made art, but a comparison between a stolen AI art drawing and the one finished by the artist makes the shortcomings of AI art much more apparent.

AI art brings a ton of new questions to the field of whether it’s just blatant thievery or just new innovations in the field. As AI continues to get better and better, eventually society will have to reckon with the potential ethical and legal issues it brings if AI ARt becomes indistinguishable from human art.

Zach Bryan turns pain into beauty with “American Heartbreak”

Zach Bryan brings back heartfelt country GRACE BRASWELL Associate Arts & Living Editor

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ain creates us. It flows through our veins, keeps us on our toes, leaves us weak and makes us strong. Some people choose to bury pain deep inside of them, never to see the light of day. Others, like rustic singer-songwriter Zach Bryan, twist that deeply aching pain into something raw, real and beautiful.

Bryan, who released his latest full-length album “American Heartbreak” in late May, has been trending just about everywhere. The largely unpretentious Navy veteran weaves tales of love, loss, heartache and pain in every single track on the 34-song folk/rock/country album.

Previously, Bryan recorded two other full-length albums titled “DeAnn” and “Elisabeth,” both of which follow that same acoustic, singer-songwriter style of production. Bryan recorded and released these albums while in the Navy before being honorably discharged from serving.

“DeAnn,” his first studio album named after his mother’s middle name, released three years after the death of his mother, Annette, who struggled with alcohol addiction, which strained relationships.

The heart-wrenching songs off his first two albums bring a new life to his mother, keeping her close to him through the ragged words he belts over the shaggy sound of an old acoustic guitar. Turning away from the ideology of performing for fame or an absurd amount of money, Bryan keeps a humble heart embedded within his career, keeping authenticity in his work and music. He is a songwriter at his core, yearning to write, record and play the words living inside his chest.

“Songwriting is such a massive part of this,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “If you’re missing out on it, what the hell are you doing? You’re just performing. You’re an actor.”

“American Heartbreak” is a no skip album, flowing from track to track with an elegance that not many artists can accomplish. Songs such as “Late July,” “Cold Damn Vampires” and “Half-Grown” ap-

peal to the unguarded heart, telling stories that feel more like a release of long-bottled emotions than anything else. The most popular song on the album with over 134 million streams on Spotify, “Something in the Orange,” redefines vulnerability, giving pain a way to inhabit the world in a kinder, softer light. The opening of the song pulls listeners in with phrases such as “It’ll be fine by dusk light I’m telling you, baby. These things eat at your bones and drive your young mind crazy. When you place your head between my collar and jaw, I don’t know much but there’s no weight at all.” The descriptions in Bryan’s songs are what make them so relatable, sparking up memories and putting words to the feelings we develop during some of the most prominent moments of our lives.

Other songs on the album, such as “If She Wants a Cowboy” and “Younger Years” keep the album lively and upbeat, all-the-while keeping carrying on the heart filled personality of the album. These scream-worthy songs keep boots tapping, bodies swaying and hearts swelling, especially in a live setting. Fans come to Zach Bryan concerts dressed in white tees, jeans and a well-loved pair of work boots to dance, cry and love their way through the rollercoaster of emotions that comes from Bryan’s work.

Since the five months after “American Heartbreak” released, Bryan proceeded to release even more music on top of his 34-track masterpiece, including an EP titled “Summertime Blues” and two singles titled “Burn, Burn, Burn” and “Starved,” which includes a studio version of the song, a demo and a version recorded live from Detroit.

Bryan can’t seem to put down the pen and paper, which is perfectly fine for his fans and the rest of the world as Bryan continues to grow in popularity for his authentic, pain-rooted music that sprouts something breathtakingly rare.

SPORTS

October 25, 2022

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The Race for the NL East.

The Braves sweep the Mets in NL East deciding series.

TIM GAGE Staff Reporter

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PHOTO BY: TRENT LEGASPI | THE SIGNAL

A Panthers Who’s Who

New Players, New Coaches and A New Arena!

SKYLER HILL Staff Reporter

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n Oct. 31, the GSU Sports Arena of 1973 will no longer be and the 2022 GSU Convocation Center will officially be the home of Panthers’ basketball. The legendary 3rd floor, Decatur St. Sports Arena will finally be put to rest. In with the new, out with the old. This year Georgia State’s men’s basketball program will be playing all home games down in Summerhill.

It’s an extremely exciting year for the program. There’s a new coaching staff, new players, some returning players and a new arena. This year’s squad represents new beginnings. It’s set to be one of the most hyped up teams Georgia State has seen in its entire program’s history.

After finishing last year’s regular season on a roll and going on to win the Sun Belt Conference championship, the team went on to play in the NCAA tournament where the Panthers met the number one overall seed, the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Like many expected, the season ended that day and immediately after the Panthers held a “road work ahead” sign for the world to see. It was time for construction and a rebuild. Former head coach, Rob Lanier took an offer to become the head coach at Southern Methodist University and brought his staff down with him. Lanier left a plethora of vacancies open that new head coach Jonas Hayes quickly filled.

Hayes comes from the Atlanta area, so heading back to the city is just like heading back home. As they say, “home is where the heart is.” Hayes is familiar with the program and knows the shoes he’ll be filling here at the helm of a program that has cemented itself throughout the past decade.

The team has done great things over the

years: six NCAA tournament appearances, eight regular season conference championships and six SBC championships. Don’t forget the historic run by Ron Hunter’s 2015 squad.

Hayes has a long history of coaching, but his most recent stint before GSU comes from the Xavier University Musketeers.

He worked six years as an assistant coach at Xavier until Head Coach Travis Steele was fired at the end of the 2021-2022 regular season. Hayes was elevated to an interim head coaching role right before the Musketeers entered the NIT tournament and began walking on water. He beat Texas A&M at the Garden in New York and made national headlines. The time had come for Hayes to become a head coach. Soon after winning the NIT championship, Georgia State called and the rest is history. Last year’s team was sneaky good and surprised the entire SBC as they went on a 10-game win streak to punch themselves a ticket to the big dance.

Fans across the nation watching the tournament last March had the opportunity to see the Panther’s weakness stick out like a sore thumb. If your memory allows, Georgia State was down by two going into halftime against the number one team in the country on college basketball’s largest stage.

The Panthers were utterly destroyed in the paint in the second half as Drew Timme scored 22 individually in the second half.

Coming into this new season, Georgia State won’t have center Jalen Thomas as he entered the transfer portal and forward Eliel Nsoseme graduated. Over the offseason, Hayes recruited 6’10 center, Edward Nnamoko from Riviera Prep in Miami.

Based on the information known about

Nnamoka thus far, he should pick up where Thomas and Nsoseme left off.

Over the offseason, the program lost seven guys - either to the transfer portal or to graduation. Seniors Corey Allen, Kane Williams, Justin Roberts and Eliel Nsoseme all made up for a total of 47.3 points per game for the Panther’s offense. They played a pivotal role in this team’s success last year.

When they left it seemed like the program was destined for a rebuild.

That couldn’t have been further from the truth. Over the offseason, Hayes came into Atlanta swinging like a Gervonta Davis fight at the MGM Grand. In Gervonta’s style, Hayes landed the program two important transfers: Dwon Odom and Brenden Tucker.

Dwon Odom played under Coach Hayes at Xavier and also happens to be a hometown guy. During his two years in Cincinnati, he averaged 6.4 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 2.5 APG. He improved his shooting stats tremendously during his second year in college, so the potential for a breakout season is there. He’s an athletic 6’1 guard, with great athleticism and a tremendous penetrator. Odom will have two years of eligibility left with the Atlanta program.

Brenden Tucker, also a hometown kid, comes from the College of Charleston. Last year, Tucker averaged 11.2 ppg and shot 39% from three. Tucker, a 6’3 shooting guard will be able to spread the floor and force opposing teams to gameplan for his shooting threat. The pair between the two transfers could prove to be lethal.

A couple of familiar faces remain, yet nothing is the same. Georgia State and associates, prepare yourselves. Basketball is back.

he Braves had a tumultuous off-season after winning their first World Series since 1996. Losing franchise legend Freddie Freeman to free agency, many around the baseball world felt that even with the acquisition of all-star first basemen Matt Olson, the Braves would struggle without Freeman in the locker room.

The 2022 Braves did not allow the noise to infiltrate the clubhouse. Alex Anthopoulos has locked up almost all the young talent on the roster for the next decade. When a clubhouse has a true leader at the helm that shows infinite trust in the young core by investing time and money into each one of them, it creates a winning formula.

The Braves had multiple rookies playing key roles this season. Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider and Vaugh Grissom all showed that they are elite-level MLB talent. Most rosters with any post-season hopes do not have rookies playing in key roles because of how hard it is for them to acclimate to the speed of the major league.

The Braves had two rookies leading the NL in rookie of the year, voting in Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider. They were so prolific throughout the 2022 season that they inked big-money deals in the middle of their first season in the majors.

Veteran Players like Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr. stepped up in the absence of Freeman. All are taking on a more prominent role as leaders within the clubhouse and upping their play on the field.

The team’s core is young, ranging from 22 to 28 years old; the Braves will have control of most of them throughout their prime. It is difficult in the modern era to keep a core together with the number of money teams can throw at players during free agency.

The Braves were humming

from the opening day of the 2022 season. The most games all season, the Braves were under .500 was four, which was in late May. They held a winning record for most of the season and ended 41 games above .500.

The NL east was one of the most competitive divisions in baseball.

The Braves and the Mets finished the season with a staggering 101 wins, while the Phillies were highly competitive, winning 87 games and obtaining a wild card spot.

Most pundits around the league had the Mets running away with the NL east halfway through the season, but after a back-half run by the Braves, the division came down to the last series of the regular season between the Mets and Braves.

A three-game series at Truist Park with the division on the line. The regular season was so balanced that even after 160plus games, it all came down to the last minute. After trailing the Mets all season long in the standings, the Braves won the series in a three-game sweep that put them atop the NL East standings.

“If the Mets win all three games, they will clinch the NL East title,” MLB Beat Writer Anthony Dicomo said. If they win two of three, they will have an effective magic number of one, making them prohibitive favorites to win the division. Even if the Mets win only one of three, they’ll remain in control of their destiny.”

They are back-to-back NL east champs and staring down another trip to the NLDS. The Braves needed a sweep to control their destiny and found a way to do just that. Escaping the Wild card and getting rest time is a massive win for any team. After the rigors of a 165game season, any time to reset and relax is appreciated by every team member. The Braves showed they are here to stay and that last season was not a flash in the pan.

THE KICKBACK

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2022 Puzzle #1

Puzzle #1

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Fill in the puzzle so that every row across, every column down and every 9 by 9 box contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Fill in the puzzle so that every row across, every column down and every 9 by 9 box contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Copyright © 2022 Printable Creative - https://printablecreative.com | For personal use only.

Copyright © 2022 Printable Creative - https://printablecreative.com | For personal use only.

Copyright © 2022 Printable Creative - https://printablecreative.com | For personal use only.

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