Monday, December 20, 2004

GT LONG WAY FROM 1991 WIN

Interesting story on the last time GT played in Orlando (I was there). Evidently nobody is talking about that game, that team, that trip. Evidently the current team is more proud of their 8-game bowl streak than they would be playing for the National Championship. Am I reading that wrong?

The national championship team wasn't the bowl juggernaut the 2004 team is, though. Georgia Tech's berth in the Citrus Bowl after the 1990 season was its first in five seasons, while the current Yellow Jacket players have never missed playing in a bowl. Georgia Tech's program is making a school-record eighth consecutive bowl appearance.


"We seniors didn't want to be the ones to snap that streak," safety James Butler said.



No doubt each accomplishment is important in its own right. But would I rather go 0-16 in the ACC in the years pre-ceeding the national championship of the 1990 season, then get the big prize, or would I rather develop a consistent program that can go to 8+ bowls in a row, knowing that many of those bowls are mid-level "mediocre" bowls added as a product of money-grubbing system?


Actually I would prefer a combination of the two. I would prefer to consistently field a competitive team. I NEVER want to be at the bottom like we were in the late 80's. However, after fielding a competitive team, I would like to see progress each season, which is hopefully measured primarily in wins/losses.


The Chan Gailey era HAS been marked by improvement in my opinion, just not in wins/losses quite yet. We have no RE-gressed, but we have not progressed either. But the jury is out. I see academic progress, student-athlete progress, recruiting progress, coaching progress, player development progress and I even see progress on the field of play. Ultimately it should translate into more wins. Hopefully it will. Patience will be the order of the day.