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A32 sports
Diahuebs 24 Maart 2022

Gut punch for the A-T-L: Freeman, Ryan both depart

Chipper Jones, faded into re- the Braves no longer an op- and plenty of holes to fill,
tirement. tion, the free agent agreed to the Falcons bafflingly made
a six-year, $162 million con- a pitch for quarterback De-
Freeman was called up from tract with the Los Angeles shaun Watson. They looked
the minors in 2010 and was Dodgers. like the favorite for the Geor-
just 21 when he took over gia native when he narrowed
as the starting first baseman It was clear he never really his choices to the Falcons and
the following season. He expected to leave the Braves. the rival New Orleans Saints,
showed his commitment to only to have Watson change
the organization by signing “I had no idea that was go- his mind and agree to a mam-
an eight-year contract right ing to happen, anything like moth deal with the Cleveland
as the Braves were beginning that,” Freeman said while Browns.
a painful rebuilding job. being introduced as the new-
est member of the Dodgers. Instead of getting Ryan’s suc-
By 2018, with Freeman sur- “When I got told, my emo- cessor, the Falcons wound up
(AP) — It was a 1-2 punch rounded by a new group of tions were all over the place. looking downright foolish.
to the gut for Atlanta’s Ryan spent 14 seasons as young stars, the Braves were I couldn’t really speak for a
sports fans. the Falcons’ QB, a model of back on top of the NL East. couple of hours, trying to fig- There was no way Matty Ice
consistency who can make ure out what was going on.” was staying in Atlanta after
In the space of an extraordi- a pretty strong case as the Last season, they won their such a public humiliation, al-
nary week, two of the city’s team’s greatest player ever. first World Series title in 26 Even without Freeman, the lowing the Indianapolis Colts
most beloved sports figures years, with Freeman playing a Braves still look like one of to pluck him away for a sin-
— Freddie Freeman and He certainly came along at starring role in the postseason baseball’s top teams. gle, second-day draft pick.
Matt Ryan — were gone. just the right time, the skinny and, appropriately enough,
kid out of Boston College catching the final out of their In addition to locking up a By Tuesday, he was already in
Freeman departed first, his who steadied a franchise that championship-clinching vic- worthy replacement at first Indy, holding up his blue No.
hopes of playing an entire had been rocked by Michael tory in Houston. base — Olson was an All-Star 2 jersey.
career with the World Series Vick’s dogfighting convic- who belted 39 homers with
champion Braves dashed by tion and Bobby Petrino’s Freeman made it clear that 111 RBIs last season — they Back in Atlanta, the Falcons
contract negotiations that abandonment of the head he wanted to stay with the signed the Dodgers’ long- are in a full-scale rebuild-
went awry. coaching position after just Braves, which made it all time closer, Kenley Jansen, ing mode, having signed first
13 games. the more jarring last week and brought back postseason rounder-turned-journeyman
Then came Ryan, traded by when the team suddenly an- hero Eddie Rosario. Marcus Mariota as their new
the Falcons on Monday for The very first pass of Ryan’s nounced a trade for another quarterback.
a piddling third-round draft professional career was a 62- first baseman. The outlook for the Falcons
pick after the NFL team’s yard touchdown to Michael in the post-Ryan era doesn’t Still, it was all rather hard
clumsy attempt to line up his Jenkins. When he led an Atlanta dealt four of its top look nearly so promising. to process. Ryan, a Philadel-
successor at quarterback blew improbable comeback vic- prospects to the Oakland phia native, put down serious
up in its face. tory over the Chicago Bears, Athletics for Matt Olson, This team has never seemed roots in Atlanta with his wife,
it was clear this rookie was who was quickly signed to to fully recover from blowing Sarah, and their twin sons,
A pair of MVPs with a com- something special. the biggest contract in fran- a 28-3 lead in the 2017 Su- nicknamed the “Ice Cubes.”
bined 26 seasons between chise history — an eight-year, per Bowl. Even with Ryan,
them will now take the field Freeman also had “it,” step- $168-million package. they’ve endured four straight A gut punch, indeed.
against the A-T-L. ping up to become the face of losing seasons.
the Braves after the last link By all accounts, Freeman was
It will be strange, indeed. to the franchise’s greatest era, as shocked as anyone. With With huge salary cap issues

Man gets life in prison for murder of NBA’s Lorenzen Wright

(AP) — A jury on Mon- told his mother, Deborah covered.
day convicted a Tennessee Marion, that the trial might
man in the slaying of for- not bring her closure but to Turner had already pleaded
mer NBA player Loren- “celebrate the good” about guilty to possessing a weap-
zen Wright, whose bullet- her son. on as a convicted felon af-
riddled body was found in ter he was found with two
a field nearly 12 years ago Outside the courtroom, guns when he was arrested
in his hometown of Mem- Marion told reporters she in Wright’s killing in 2017.
phis. was elated with the verdict. Turner is serving a 16-year
She said she would visit her prison sentence on the sepa-
The 12-person jury delib- son’s grave Monday night. rate gun charge.
erated for about two hours
before it found Billy Ray “It’ll never be closure, be- Prosecutors allege Wright’s
Turner guilty of first-degree cause I’ll never see my son ex-wife, Sherra Wright, mas-
murder, attempted murder again,” Marion said. “This is terminded a plan to kill her
and conspiracy in the death just some satisfaction for me ex-husband and recruited
of Wright, a 6-foot, 11-inch and my family.” Turner and her cousin, Jim-
center who played 13 seasons mie Martin, to help her.
in the NBA before he retired The slaying is one of the
after the 2008-2009 season. most highly publicized mur- Turner and Sherra Wright
Judge Lee Coffee sentenced der cases in Memphis history. were indicted in Decem-
Turner, 51, to life in prison Wright’s decomposing body ber 2017, more than seven
for the murder conviction. was found riddled with bul- years after the killing. Sherra
He will be sentenced for the let wounds in a swampy field Wright entered a surprise
other charges at a later date. in east Memphis on July 28, guilty plea to facilitation of
2010. The 34-year-old father murder in July 2019 and was
Coffee called Wright “a sa- of six had been missing for sentenced to 30 years in pris-
cred son” of Memphis and days before his body was dis- on.