Posts
Let's see what's up in the world of Tech sports. First, I have to mention that there are some issues with the Chatterbox. For some people, including myself, it will not post what I submit. I think the host for that service is about to croak and I am looking for another chatterbox now. Have patience.
FOOTBALL
The annual Peachstate Pigskin Preview at the Georgia Sports Hall-of-Fame took place on Wed, with reps from the football schools in the state. PJ Daniels and Chris Reis represented the Jackets. They seemed to do a great job, and they seem to really like all the recent off-the-field issues:
"I really like adversity and I really like negativity because without that, you would never know how to build or how to grow as a team or how to love each other," Daniels said.
Well, alrighty then. There must be lots of love flowing on the campus of Georgia Tech these days. If that Athletic Department has the same philosophy then I bet you could charge on Pay-per-View just to see what goes on in those offices. The only problem - it's not "free love". It's gonna cost us this time............ The good news is that all the pre-season issues and lack of props for the team is being used as motivation. Nothingn like playing with a chip on your shoulder.............. An old, I mean really old guy, David "Red" Barron, was inducted to the Northeast Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
Barron, a native of Habersham, was a standout football player during his collegiate career at Georgia Tech from 1918-1922. His great performances as a player earned him a spot in the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1956.
Does GT play 2nd fiddle to UGA in football. Well, typically yes. Here's an article about the Cubs/White Sox that actually mentions GT/UGA as a parallel and slams us:
You’re like Georgia Tech fans, who actually have the words "To hell with Georgia!" in their official fight song. Georgia just admires its SEC championship rings.
Chris Reis comments on instant replay......... Here, Chris comments on a 5th year of eligibility......
HOOPS
Last night in summer league action, Luke Schenscher played 10 minutes, went 1-2 (2pts), had a couple of boards, a turnover and 5 fouls. Talk about making use of your time! Will Bynum played 20 minutes and had an unimpressive stat line - 0-3, 0 pts, 1 assist, 3 boards. However, as posted earlier, the Celtics liked what they saw and have made a "limited financial committment" to Will to keep him around through at least some of the training camp in October. That's fantastic. For Will, it ain't about the money.................. yet..............For clarification, Ismai'l Muhammad has made the Dallas Mavericks "B team". So he will get his shot on the same team as Keith Langford.............. On the recruiting front, there will be an interesting battle for a kid named Gani Lawal in 2007. He's high on GT, UGA, Duke, KY and UNC. However, he seems to be Paul Hewitt's #1 target and he's high on the Jackets. He's a hometown kid, will play at Norcross in the fall (with Jodie Meeks by the way). He's 6'8" 210lb and gets compared to Chris Bosh a lot. Scout.com lists him as the #10 prospect in the nation. Rivals.com lists him as #14. He's likely to rise even higher. He is the best player in the state in his class. He's a top student with high GPA/test scores. This kid has huge upside. So the interesting battle will be to see if Tech can keep him in the backyard while competing against the heavy hitters of Duke, UNC and KY. Usually when Duke or UNC decides they want a kid, they usually get him. I don't like it any more than you do, but it's a fact. So stay tuned to that battle. On a side note, Gani was at Tech last week visiting with Coach Hewitt at the same time as Javaris Crittenton. Lawal claims he will commit in May, which is WAY earlier than Coach Hewitt has ever gotten a recruit, so we will see............ Ok, now this is funny. An article about the age-limit and what high-schooler's think about it. Notice this from Jonathon Scheyer, a Duke commit:
Duke recruit Jonathan Scheyer said he doesn't feel the rule would affect scores of players. He added that he felt good about choosing the college route because the Duke coaching staff gave him their outlook on his college career and a possible NBA career."(Coach Mike Krzyzewski) laid out my whole life for me, what he saw for me, right in front of my eyes," said Scheyer, a rising senior at Glenbrook North High in Northbrook, Ill.
I can see it now - Coach K says - "Jon, I'm not just a basketball coach. I'm a shaper of young men. That's why I use American Express. Oh whoops, wrong pitch... Jon, you come to Duke and you can win a lot of games son. Well, you can watch my better players win a lot of games. Then when you have graduated, after only having to take a sub-standard number of credit hours, you can have your shot at the NBA dream. Like most of my former players, you can sit on an NBA bench, toil as a practice dummy, and get used to the phrase journeyman. You won't win championships, because only Danny Ferry did that, but you'll draw a paycheck. And everytime they ask, you can hype me as the best that ever was, so I can continue to acheive god-like status. So Jon, what do you think? You want to be a part of that don't you? You WILL be a part of that right? You do know I could have coached the Lakers. I know people. Don't make a mistake Jon. Make the right choice. I know people at American Express. I'll get your credit limit lowered. I can impact your credit score. Do you know how hard it is to buy a bloated multi-million dollar crib with bad credit Jon?"........... Ok, I got a little carried away, but it was fun.............
FYI - Georgia Tech assistant coach was at the ABCD camp on Wed. So was Paul Hewitt............ Javaris Crittenton scored 28 points in an afternoon game on Thurs.......... Paul Hewitt was named as "3rd Vice President" of the Black Coaches Association (BCA)............ Recruit Sherron Collins still talks about GT, and still speaks with fellow Crane Prep graduate Will Bynum, but with the Crittenton commit and potential academic issues, don't look for Collins to wear a Jacket uniform....... Hey, here's a 15-year old recruit - Howard Thompkins III - who considers Javaris Crittenton like an older brother. Howard is 15 years, 6'7", and no doubt being watched closedly by Paul Hewitt & staf........ Here's more on recruiting and some GT targets........ Here's more on the semi-sad story on Randolph Morris from Gregg Doyel, including this GTech mention:
When he committed to the Wildcats, Morris said Kentucky would be an easier school than Georgia Tech. Embarrassing, but acceptable. Young men say stupid things. Old men say stupid things. Everyone moved on.
BEESBALL
Matt Murton gets called up to the Cubs - CONGRATS!!!! Murton, 23, was hitting .342 with eight homers, 17 doubles and 46 RBIs at West Tenn. Irony of ironies, he replaces Cory Patterson who gets sent down - who also happens to be the brother of Cub's minor leaguer and another former Jacket Eric Patterson. Small world............ Mark Teixeira is honored by being chosen as the lone USA representative for the All-Star Game Home Run Derby. The Derby changes formats this season, with an international flavor, as 8 countries are represented. Here's the full line-up - "Teixeira will join a field for Monday's event that includes Major League home run leader Andruw Jones (representing the Netherlands), Boston DH David Ortiz (Dominican Republic), Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu (Venezuela), Pittsburgh's Jason Bay (Canada), Detroit's Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) and Milwaukee's Carlos Lee (Panama)." . I'm sorry, but this format stinks. Put the best HR hitters in that game - period. Will this new format reduce the possibility of a magic night like McGuire at Fenway or Sosa at..... I forget where, but he belted a bunch. Of course, with the 'roids now on the down-low, it's probably the right thing to do. Once again, hitting 40 HR's in a season will become an unusual accomplishment.........................
GOLF
GT assistant coach Brandon Goethals is named to the new head golf coach at U of Pacific. He has been an assistant for 4 years. Congrats!!!! Outstanding job.......
OUTSIDE THE HIVE
Had to post this one. Talk about a sports fan........ Want to know about Boston College and the school's origins. Here you go....... Remember Roscoe Crosby? He was going to be the next major 2-sport star - baseball and football. His college choice came down to Clemson and GT. He chose Clemson. Things have not worked out, but he still chases his dream..........