Friday, October 24, 2003

Wa - who?

After an outstanding victory over a good Maryland team (GT coaching product, of course), the Jackets have to be happy with where they are and I'd like to remind everyone HOW BAD things looked three months ago. I know I am simply blown away. Here are a few snippets of my ramblings from just before the season started:

"I couldn't agree more with the decision to essentially jettison the season early and often in favor of getting a youg QB some reps for the future. Let's be realistic: who thinks we'll beat BYU in their house, then Auburn, then Clemson, then FSU? Maybe we go 1-3 there, but wouldn't you feel better if we had done that with a freshman QB and a former QB playing tight end or whatever? I pity Greg Gathers who worked to come back from the kidney ailment for this. I'm thinking Shawn Jones when I think of this new kid. Since I've heard virtually nothing about him and haven't seen him play, that tells you something about my expectations for this year and maybe next."

Interestingly, we DID go 1-3 in a weird way, but now this. I was also implying that Mr. Gailey was trying to provide cover for himself with the decision to bring in Ball--the old "wait until next year" defense. Boy, was I wrong...along with alot of others. That guy--and the people he's put around him--can flat coach. Finally, this ringing endorsement sent to some friends via email in mid-August:

"Remember where you read it first...Georgia Tech will beat:

Vanderbilt!

...and...Duke!

this year. That's it. Season tickets are still available by calling 1-800-TECHTIX."


I'm as enthusiastic a fan as there is, and I honestly believed that Tech was on the way to a 2-9 debacle of a season. Who wouldn't have? Lose ten players, QB with zero experience, lost Gathers to a terrible disease, coach under fire already for a team that "quit" according to some against Georgia, then got spanked by a bad WAC team, THEN you go out and lose to a decent BYU team with more monsters ahead on the schedule?!?!?

Appreciate what this team has done. Outstanding efforts on all fronts...and yes, I still think of Reggie as a Shawn Jones who struggled through his first season and he'll probably do the same this year despite the promise so far. If you can't get behind this team (no matter what happens for the rest of the year), you better hand over your tickets to someone who can. Enjoy the rest, then let's take it to Duke as though they're FSU--no letdowns, Jackets! Let's also hope the Terps win out by beating UVA, Wake, and NC State to separate the pack a little bit.

You'll read more reasons to hate Virginia in the coming weeks, but I need none. 41-38, baby :)

Fear the bee!