Did The AJC Just Say THAT?

Okay, I know the feeding frenzy isn't quite yet at a fever pitch, but I thought I would throw out a little nugget of total disrespect about the Tech program . . . in today's local Atlanta paper (aka "the fish wrap") of all places.


In their daily section of UGAg news, Georgia is stepping up to renew one of their longest and most storied rivalries with the return to a 12-game season starting next year . . .


"Georgia will travel to Clemson in 2013, with the Tigers playing at Sanford Stadium the next year. The scheduling falls in line with Georgia's philosophy to play at least one quality nonconference opponent."


Huh? Does this writer know something about the dissolution of the Tech-UGAg annual series that the rest of the public doesn't yet know? I believe that the author, Carter Strickland, hasn't been the beat writer for very long (Chip Towers, another UGAg homer, is/was their lead guy for a long while), but wouldn't you at least believe he would try to think about the back-handed implications of that comment on ALL his readers? If I read that correctly (and, yes, I graduated from Tech and didn't major in journalism or English), I'd say that this author is calling the Tech game on UGAg's schedule as a non-quality game, something along the lines of Louisiana-Monroe or Troy.


Of course the Tech-UGAg game is going nowhere and everyone simply thinks about Tech and UGAg's other three non-conference games to be scheduled every year besides their annual throwdown, but . . .


Now, my real chance to vent about my hometown paper: Frankly, I know I'm not alone in believing that the AJC wants Georgia to do well. For Tech to do well, that's okay, but their readership really soars when there's big Georgia news to report, consistently and repeatably. So, that's where their focus goes and they lay it on thick to their readership. But this just ticks me off because it's more than just a lack of respect, it's shoddy journalism and "homer-ism".


Of course, maybe he was simply writing a story at the same level of intelligence of his audience.