Ramblin Wreck Roundtable - Round 1

The GT Blogger's "network" has banded together to bring you a new feature - the Roundtable. Fellow blogger over at Ramblin Racket came up with the idea after seeing some other college bloggers do it.


Basically, we develop a list of questions that each of us answers on our Blog at the same time. You get to go around and check out everyone's answers to the same questions. Once all the Blogs have posted their answers, I will post the links here.




Round 1 - Other Opinions (more to be linked as the are posted)
What's the Good Word
YellowBlazer's World
Ramblin Racket
Plez's World


So without further wait, here are my thoughts on round 1


1. (Single obligatory basketball question) What do you make of the ACC's postseason in basketball? Was the conference overrated, or did the teams just get unlucky draws in the tourney?
Unlucky draws - no way......... To be the best you must beat the best. That's how it is when you play with the big boys. The ACC just flat flopped in the big dance. But the disease spread to the women's side where UNC did a double/double on choke jobs with big leads, Duke ladies disappeared and even Maryland, the defending NC, bowed out. But hey, how can you criticize the only ACC team (UNC) that made a decent showing. The bottom line is that the ACC men's side was a league full of very good teams from top-to-bottom. Great? Not really. Just really good teams. Tons of youth came to haunt teams like Duke, GT and ultimately UNC. If there is no mass exodus of underage talent to the NBA (Young, Crittenton, Wright, Hansbrough, McRoberts - gone, Ellington, Costner, etc) then you're looking at a stronger league next season................... Hey, thank goodness for Clemson. They came oh so close to winning the NIT and being declared the 66th best team in the country.


2. On to football! Where will Georgia Tech be ranked in the preseason polls, and where do you think the Jackets should be ranked?
My guess is that the Jackets will be all over the board in terms of pre-season expectations. I think most polls will have us in the 20-40 range, and honestly, we probably belong somewhere around 25-30 in my mind. The defending Coastal Champs. Returning boatloads of starters. We'll get some decent consideration as we should. But let's earn it on the field.


3. All due credit to Tech's 2006 squad, but we benefited from Miami and other teams' lackluster seasons. Will the big-reputation programs like FSU and Miami be back in 2007?
Hey - the big boys don't stay down for long. I fully expect those teams to rebound. However, don't assume that their fall-off in recent seasons is ALL due to their own issues. Bottom-line is that other teams are just better. The Jackets were at their best last season with Coach Gailey's first real roster of his own guys. BC was good. Clemson is good. VT is good. Maryland will be stronger. UVA will be better. NCST will be better without the Chest. UNC will improve eventually with their new coach. Heck, Duke is like a live grenade rolling around on the floor - it's gonna go off on someone and you just hope it's not you. Hot potato folks.................. So yes, the big boys will be stronger, but so will a lot of other teams. It's just who's getting better faster.


4. Our out-of-conference schedule is exciting, with Notre Dame and Georgia bookending the season, and while Army is a cupcake, playing a military academy is kinda cool in my book. Which game are you more stoked about between ND and UGA? Also, what ACC games are you most excited about?
Tell you what - these are probably the two teams I hate the most in the entire country. So getting "stoked" for them is a weird emotion for me. My enjoyment of beating of them is far exceeded by my hatred for losing to them. Losing umpteen years in a row to UGAg is beyond frustrating at this point. Let's put it this way. I would enjoy beating Notre Dame more.......... and I would hate losing to UGAg more. Make sense?..................... In terms of ACC games. I attended the Clemson game last season and I want some serious revenge. Considering I live in Clemson territory, I think you can understand.


5. Lighting Round! (Cue "Eye of the Tiger") Name the first thing that comes to mind, as fast as you can:

Calvin Johnson: Leapard-gazelle-mutant-nobel-prize-winning, robotic, humanitarian, bionic, freakazoid..................... and a nice guy.

Tailgate Food: Ribs. Large, drippy, saucy racks of ribs.

Beesball: Hot dogs, CrackerJacks (ok, so my mind didn't get off the food thing)

Taylor Bennett: Southpaw Howdy-Doody. (Sorry TB, it said the first thing)


6. How do you deal with the football offseason? Prayer? Hibernation? Blogging?
I completely absorb myself in my kids, my wife, my work and my oh yes - the Blog.