What A Wild Sports Weekend

By: Payton Towns III
How many people really picked Georgia to win the SEC Tournament and go on to get a spot in the Big Dance? That's what I thought.
For those who went to sleep early Friday and didn't wake up or watch television until late Saturday evening, you missed a lot.
First of all, there was that tornado that hit downtown Atlanta and did serious damage to the area around the Georgia Dome. It was something to see that because I've spent some time around the Dome when I've covered Dublin playing in the Final Four football playoffs the last two years.
Two years ago, when the Irish played Lovett, I remember the wind we faced as we walked down the side of the building to get to the media gate. That was a harsh wind we faced that day. I can only imagine what it was like Friday night. From what I've heard on the news, the wind was over 100 mph.
It was a good thing the Alabama/Mississippi State game went into overtime. If that game had ended on time or if it had been a blown out, people would have left early. And that would have put them outside the Dome in the middle of a twister. Many people would have died if they were outside.
But the good Lord helped out and many lives were saved because an Alabama player hit what many called an unbelievable shot to send the game into overtime.
I'm sure the video from inside the Dome will be studied by people looking at what a tornado does to buildings like that. In the video you can see where the wind was making the top of the Dome move like a small wave.
Various things fell from the ceiling and there was a big hole on the side. The catwalk above the court was swaying, causing players to run off the court. People were concerned with where their love ones were.
One hour later they finished that game and then the SEC postponed Georgia's game against Kentucky. After talking with Dome officials, it was decided that the remainder of the tournament needed to be moved. Kudos has to go to Georgia Tech, an ACC team, for stepping up and answering the call.
I'm sure it was strange for people to see the Georgia Bulldogs playing against someone other than the Yellow Jackets in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Bulldogs seemed to play like a team on a mission in the SEC tournament.
There's no secret that Bulldogs head coach Dennis Felton was on the hot seat. He needed his team to get into the Big Dance. For that to happen, he needed them to win the SEC title. And that's what happened.
Now Georgia has a date against Xavier. Some may say there's no way they can go far. I wouldn't.
As for NASCAR, I wasn't able to watch the second half of the race on Sunday. What I heard was Tony Stewart got wrecked by good friend Kevin Harvick. This set up a late race restart where race winner Jeff Burton was able to get around Denny Hamlin and win the race.
I've heard that Stewart and Harvick's spotters had harsh words for each other. It'll be interesting to see how these two respond to each other. Burton, who finished second in the spring race at Bristol last year, rolled into victory lane and giving Chevrolet its first victory of the year.
This means that all four manufacturers have won a race this year: Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 in a Dodge, Carl Edwards won the race at California and Las Vegas in a Ford and Kyle Busch won in Atlanta in a Toyota.
Maybe this NASCAR season is going to be just like the SEC tournament. You have to watch because you don't know what's going to happen next.