A Georgia Tech/ Miami Conversation with Gobbler Country

Yesterday during Miami's whoopin', Furrer4heisman, from Gobbler Country and I traded text messages. The conversation was so ridiculous, I had to share it:

2:35 PM EST

Me: Out of work for the day. Thirty minutes from whiskey
Gobbler: Ha ha. I’m still a few hours away. Give it hell.

7:04 PM

Gobbler: Getting’ dranked

7:18 PM EST

Me: Helll Yeah!

7:33 PM EST --(Team just runs out of tunnel)

Gobbler: Fuckin’ love yalls secondary fight song
Me: Up with the white and gold?
Gobbler: Fuck yes

7:57 PM--(I believe this was J. Dwyer's 25 yard 1st down conversion)

Me: suck on that!
Gobbler: You can’t fucking arm tackle j dwyer son! Woo! Drunk!

8:02 PM

Gobbler: Gee running plays that use their speed against them. What a concept. Fuck you Stinespring.

8:07 PM--(It took me forever to figure out where this came from. Then I realized that Mark Texeira and Jason Varitek were at the game and had been shown on tv)

Gobbler: Fuck Mark Texeira. Fuck you fucking prick. Worse piece of shit ever.


Sidenote: T.I. and supposedly Ludacris were also in attendance. Downtown Atlanta, Nighttime, Celebrities all over the field with 112 recruits watching us dominate...can you ask for a better game?


8:11 PM--(Roddy Jones runs his first long run of the night)


Me: Nation, meet Roddy Jones

8:18 PM --(Don't remember honestly)

Gobbler: You need a QB with two good legs if the O-line is going to suck like that.

8: 22 PM --(Pick 6 Michael Johnson!)

Me: Meet Michael Johnson
Gobbler: Michael Johnson is my main mother fucker!!!

8:47 PM --(Instant Replay confirms the call on the field, it is a catch)

Gobbler: What? You guys just got fucked.

8:54 PM

Gobbler: J dwyer all up in this bitch
Me: Word

9:29 PM--(This was sent after it took me 2 hours to put two-and-two together when Dane told me "Nikke Meyer is behind us". She was using her volleyball recruiting visit.)

Me: Nikki Meyer is here fyi. As in Urban’s daughter. Right behind me.
Gobbler: Niiiice. I’ve seen those photos. Is she 18 yet?
Me: Not yet I don’t think.
Gobbler: Even better

10:08 PM--(The Blowout continues..)

Gobbler: Snoopy Dance!
Me: I don’t think anyone expected this

10:09 PM--(Lucas Cox rumbles for a big gain)

Gobbler: White running backs are the wave of the future!
Gobbler: I’m having so much fn and I’m in my living room.

10:20 PM--(End of the 3rd quarter)

Gobbler: when you say BUDWEISER…you’ve said it all!

10: 58 PM --(Jackets win!)

Me: You’re welcome

11:03 PM

Gobbler: Wooo fuckin hooooo! Thanks Jackets!

12: 18 AM --(And back to Nikki Meyer)

Gobbler: If you know what’s good for you, you got photos of urban’s daughter to post tomorrow
Me: Damn it!
Gobbler: You…Dumb…Fuck

Note: Rumor has it that Nikki leaves Saturday night. Volleyball has senior night that evening. To those who care, I'll see what I can do.

Dear Virginia, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina

You're welcome. We have now done a big thing for you. Please return the favor by promptly losing this weekend.

Thank you.

Memorable Darryl Richard (AKA The Ambassador) quotes from last night (From HD's latest article):

On the ACC being a crazy conference:

"Who knows, in this conference, I'm telling you, the way they play hot potato
with the trophy, don't be surprised if somebody gives it up on Saturday and we
get to sit there and watch them do it," Richard said, grinning after his team's 41-23 throttling of Miami. "It's great to just sit back and
watch. That's what we're going to do, sit back and watch."

On what needs to happen for Tech to win the Coastal:

"We need NC State to handle North Carolina, if Clemson wants to play in a
bowl game this year they're going to take care of Virginia, and hopefully
Virginia gets something done in Blacksburg," he said without taking a breath,
knowing there are currently five teams in the Coastal Division with three
losses."

On Pre-season expectations:

"Everybody pretty much laughed at us when we were killing ourselves in the
offseason," Richard said. "Look at me now. Who has the last laugh?"

On CPJ being Coach of the Year:

"How many people thought he was going to get it done?" Richard asked. "I
mean, not only are we bowl eligible, but now we really have a chance to play in
the championship game by a guy who came in and changed the offense from a pro
style to an option-based spread. Let's be honest, if you can show me a better
candidate, I would like to hear it, and I would definitely refute a lot of the
facts people might put up, but he's done a hell of a job here."

Pat Nix sucks!

ACC Roundtable #4 has been posted.

More to come later today.

Funny things, because I am excited about today

Quick portrait of the average Miami fan - http://bbuzzoff.com/forum3/10227.html

Read this, note the name, then read this.

Maybe more to come.

More on why today is a great day to be a living, breathing football fan

Winfield and I had a discussion earlier in the year, and it basically came down to what school from Florida we would rather beat this year. Winfield, being the lifelong fan, said FSU no doubt. While I appreciated the history, I had to admit that I wanted this game more. As a fairly new Tech fan, I haven't seen us lose to Miami. I'm building my own Georgia Tech legacy, and this series is huge in it. I could have kissed Taylor Bennett last year when he ran two touchdowns in. The come-from-behind Homecoming win in 2006 was an instant cure for my hangover from a night that left pumpkin smashed in every crevasse of my apartment foyer. The upset of 2005 is still high on my list of "holy shit!" football memories, and with us playing on the national stage this year, I just couldn't shake how much I wanted this game.

I have to say, now that it is here, I think I might still feel the same.

Let me paint a picture for you.

In the 4 hours I have been awake, at least half of the students I have seen have been clad in pristine white. Looking out of the library window, the bare twigs and slowly withering leaves of the trees stand out against the white horizon that turns into a beautiful, cloudless blue the farther you look up. It looks cold. It looks like football season. The sun is low in the south, lighting up half of the skyscrapers that will eventually turn in to monolithic candles, lighting up the Atlanta skyline tonight.

In about 8 hours, sirens will scream from the north of campus. They hail the Yellow Jacket football squad, who will run a gauntlet of bright white that's almost as loud as the fanfare around them. Mixing with the scent of fallen leaves will be the fumes from the Reck, leaving Yellow Jacket Alley smelling like victory, and the temperature outside will begin its steep decline into the kind of cold that almost hurts, but brings with it the comfort of the Autumn season. That parade was for the players. The next is for the fans.

Two hours later, the Ramblin' Reck will take its place at the top of Bobby Dodd Way, leading the fans who have made the trek not just across campus, but from across the nation to Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant field. The sun will be setting, lighting fire to the sky one last time before it gives way to the strange glow of the city at night. Inside the stadium, the dark skies and the glowing field lights will let the thousands of those clad in today's colors to glow a bright bluish-white. The skyline will look like it normally does for night games - breathtaking. It is one of the most amazing views I have ever had the pleasure to see, which is only made more gorgeous by what is happening on the field in front of me. The roar of the crowd will thicken. The band will march into place. The players will stare out of the entrance, caged momentarily by the grumble of the Reck's engine.

As the crisp Atlanta cold takes hold of everyone's breath, the Ramblin' Reck will burst onto the field, with our warriors in white close behind.

Given what we've already experienced, the game could almost be considered inconsequential. However, for three and half hours, it will be the most exciting, most important thing in existence for the 22 players on the field and the thousands who are in attendance.


Thank God for college football. It's great to be a Yellow Jacket.

WHITE OUT TONIGHT!

Alright Tech fans it's time to show the nation that we have pride in our school and that we can unite together.

Don't be like douchebag "fan" Tony Yetman who says

“I view it as being a stunt that, candidly, I would have thought our school was
above, especially after you saw the way the most recent blackout worked in
Athens.”

What is he trying to prove? That he is cooler than Georgia Tech? He proves that he sucks.

Be ridiculous and go crazy. Be a true Tech fan and SUPPORT THE JACKETS!

The Macon Telegraphy's Coley Harvey gives a little history of the "White Out" here.

GAME DAY

Ok, so I have been busy/recovering from the ridiculous weekend in North Carolina two weekends ago, so I have kind of been slacking on the posts. However, waking up at 4:30 in the morning in order to deck out in white for the local morning news is more than enough motivation to get back in the writing groove.

First off, to anyone not wearing white tonight - screw you, you officially lose status as fans, at least for the night. Special exceptions go to old people who never use the internet and cannot read the jumbotron at other games. However, there is no excuse for anyone else.

Secondly, I will come out and say I don't feel good about this game. Don't hold it against me, I am just really worried that we may not get any footing on offense, and we may have our defense out on the field too long. We cannot afford to give them the ball within 40 yards 3 times (a la UNC), or even punt the ball that much. Miami's tackles looked pretty capable last Thursday against VT, and with linebackers like Darryl Sharpton staring us down, I get nervous. When you consider we are eighth in the conference in converting 3rd downs, and Miami has held their last three opponents to 21.1% of third down conversions, I get really, really nervous. Did I mention that there's a pretty good chance that Nesbitt won't play tonight? That's enough of being a negative Nancy, though.

The good news- we absolutely CAN win this game. Miami may be 12-1 on Thursday nights, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean as much to them as our 3 game streak against the 'Canes do to us. Throw in the national spotlight, the picturesque Atlanta setting for a cold NIGHTTIME game, and the effect the White-Out will have on the momentum of the game - it's easy to see the perfect gametime atmosphere that is fast approaching.

Screw it, I have no predicitons. That's a lie, I have one - today is going to be a great day to be a Yellow Jacket. Screw the U, fear the I, and to Hell with georgia!

Miami Irrational Game Preview

We attempted valiantly to find a Miami Guest Blogger but got no responses. They are either assholes or they are scared stiff of our penetrating questions.

Irrational Game Preview!

What: Miami at Georgia Tech: WHITE OUT!
When: Thursday 7:30PM
TV: ESPN
Will The Legacy Crew be there? Hellz yes!
Will The Legacy Crew be wearing white? You know it!

This Thursday we battle for our ACC lives (along with Virginia Tech’s and Virginia’s) for our faint breath of life for the ACC Championship Game. It will be cold. It had better be white. SUCK IT UP!

Miami Wins If: Patrick Nix learns how to run an offense. If Miami’s D-Line can get through our seemingly “Swiss Cheese” O-Line and get to Jaybo (Yes, I said Jaybo!)

Georgia Tech Wins If: We hold on to the ball. (duh) UNC was the epitome of our season. We rank 117th out of 118 when it comes to fumbles. That’s embarrassing. Tech wins if our defense remembers its former self (Lights out!). Jahi and Vance are back. The secondary praises God for Jahi’s return. The time has come for Jaybo to grow up on national television!

Sidenotes: Miami is 15-1 on Thursday Nights (or is it 13?) Either way, it’s good. Tech has beaten the ‘Canes 3 years in a row.

Irrational Scoring Prediction: The off-week helps the Jackets immensely and the cold hurts Miami’s combo of quarterbacks as we option it down their throats

Georgia Tech 17 Miami 10

Ethical dilemma

This week we are presented with an ethical dilemma that does not involve women, drinking, or escaping the law. The question is simply do we play/risk Josh Nesbitt against the Canes or do we rest him for ugag? Jaybo is clearly a competent backup in that he knows the system but he simply isn't a game breaker like Nesbitt.

In my opinion, Tech handles Miami with a healthy Nesbitt. Hell, Tech has a good shot against ugag with a 100% Nesbitt.

So do we rest him and risk our 1/500 shot at the ACCCG or do we play him, possibly beat Miami, but have a severely weakened offense against the dogs?

According to the AJC, Jahi will most likely be back as will Vance. Both players lining up against the Canes will be huge.

ACC Roundtable #4

This weeks Roundtable is brought to by Brendan at From Old Virginia. The ACC Roundtable is a discussion amongst a group of bloggers who represent the ACC. In addition to us and From Old Virginia, they are:

Block-C (Clemson)
Gobbler Country (Virginia Tech)
College Game Balls (Virginia Tech)
BC Interruption (Boston College)
Tar Heel Mania (North Carolina)

Below are our responses to this week's assortment of questions. Enjoy and post your comments below!

1. Take a look into your team's past, as far back as you like. If you could pick one game and change its outcome, which would you choose and why?

If there was one game recently, it would have to be the 2006 UGAg game. A win there gives us a ton of momentum going to Jacksonville the following week. A win there means Chan's tenure finally turned the corner after all of the off-the-field crap he had to deal with. It was a game a lot of GT fans were really hurt by because it was the first time in a long time that GT was much better than UGAg leading into the game and poor team management ultimately led us to a loss. 2006 really was a defining year for Chan because it was one of the best assembled GT teams since Joe Hamilton. There were a lot of junior and seniors on the team including the defensive/offensive backfield not to mention All-World, nay, All-Universe Calvin Johnson.The 2006 season saw Chan grow in a lot of GT fans hearts. Everyone finally saw the maturation of all of his players. Ultimately, however, the season ended with more off-the-field issues (Reggie/Kenny Scott academics and Pat Nix/ Jon Tenuta dislike for each other) along with three heartbreaking losses. A lot of GT fans can relate straight back to that Thanksgiving weekend game for the loss of momentum going in to the ACCCG and the eventual termination of Chan in '07.

Historically, there are two others that would've been nice 1) GT could've used a win in Chapel Hill in 1990 to really cement that MNC and 2) Bobby Dodd's final season really deserved a W over the bastards from Athens, which would've probably led to the '66 MNC.

2. What non-ACC program most resembles yours?

There aren't many teams are similar to us in the country. Most teams that string together several winning seasons usually continually grow and improve and the coach departs or the team reaches a stable 10 win plateau. So in the W/L, I wouldn't compare us to many teams because we have very few extremely bad seasons and very few extremely good seasons.
I would like to compare us to the perennial underdog, non-flagship schools out there such as Texas Tech, Oregon State, or OK State. Teams that have severe disadvantages in fan numbers in their home states but still continue to compete with the instate football factories. I'd be willing to argue with fans from most of these schools that GT is probably one of the more successful non-flagship teams in college football history.

Look at some notable non-flagship winning percentages - Texas Tech vs. UT-A (25%), K. State vs. Kansas (34%), Oregon St. vs. Oregon (41%), OK State vs. OU (17%), Tulane vs. LSU (23%), Vandy vs. UT-K (27%), Iowa State vs Iowa (35%). FYI GT is 37% against the dogs. Thankfully, GT has never fallen into some of these teams' situations of losing 15-20 straight to their most hated opponent. That would be like watching Deliverance over and over every day for four-fifths of my lifetime. Either way hats off to the non-flagships. Keep on fighting the good fight.


3. Which do you prefer? The ACC of 2008: not too well respected around the nation, but a conference in which almost any team has a shot at the conference title? Or the ACC of 1998: getting plenty of respect from football pundits as a good conference, but dominated by one hegemonic superpower that we all hate?

There are pros and cons to both. But in the end, we see the truth. We would rather take the ACC of 2008, where all the teams seemed to have turned the corner to good and great teams. We're staying with what we've said all year: "It's ACC parity!" It's not mediocrity. Eventually the media will catch on! Everyone is beating everyone and we could theoretically have 10 teams bowl eligible. The media will soon see how the conference has improved itself as a whole and will rely on the conference rather than that one "hegemonic superpower."


4. Hey, it's basketball season! What are your expectations for your team? What kind of season would make you happy?

GT will be the thorn in everyones side this season. A seasoned point guard in Mo Miller returns with a great front count in Lawal, Aminu, and Peacock along with the addition of McDonald's All-American Iman Shumpert. We can see GT middling in the ACC this year and having a small chance to make the NCAA's. We won't be a Jarrett Jack and Co. show stopper type team but we'll be exciting to watch and we see this team having some of the best continuity that we've had since Jack, Ish, and BJ left in '05.

Weekend in Review

Ah bye weeks. A Saturday in which you get to sleep in, roll out of bed, crack open a beer and turn on football. And then not move more than 20 feet from the couch until midnight after College Gameday Final. Isn't it great? The ACC's "Season of Chaos" picked back up on Thursday and continued into the weekend. But let's review what happened:The Miami Hurricanes thrust themselves on to the top of the ACC Coastal Divsion with a stellar win over Virginia Tech and a UNC meltdown against Maryland...another typical day in the ACC. Virginia Tech just feels numb. Good 'Ole Gobbler Country, instead of bemoaning the loss to Miami and all things wrong with Hokie Nation, the man gets drunk. Drink it in Gobbler, whiskey turns all things numb to the world.

The game of the week was clearly North Carolina's choke job against Maryland. I mean, hey if you have any piece of the ACC Coastal lead, you're going to choke. Mike over at Tar Heel Mania, however, seemed to have kept his composure. Yeah dude, we just gotta accept the fact that it just wasn't to be. (shakes head)

Current ACC Standings:



From Old Virginia comes up with 16 scenarios that he believes could decide the division. Althought he forgets to talk about us. Yep, we're not out of it yet. We must beat Miami! Here's our scenario, where we only hold 25% of it in our own hands:

• 1) GT beats Miami
• 2a) UNC loses to NCSU 2b) UNC loses to Duke
• 3a) UVA loses to Clemson, beats VT 3b) VT loses to Duke, beats UVA

Here's the AJC's Beat Blog on "Coastal Craziness".

The Atlantic Division is just about as much of a mess as the Coastal especially with Boston College beating Florida State during its "Blackout".

It's not boring mediocre football I tell you! ACC Parityyyyyy!

Volleyball

The volleyball team got swept by the state of Florida this past weekend, losing in a heartbreaking 5 to Miami on Friday and getting beat by FSU 3-1. The Legacy Crew is still proud of the Volleybees and plans on representing at SENIOR NIGHT THIS SATURDAY AT 7:30. ALL TECH FANS MUST BEE THERE! The biggest factor for the team seemed as if they just could not seem to close when they needed too.

Basketball

On Friday, basketball got officially under way with Gani Lawal leading the Jackets with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Jackets routed Winston-Salem State 92-47. Lots of big men, kind of sloppy with our ball-handling (basketball players must hang out with football players). Our depth runs out quickly it seems, but as usual, we are forever the optimists, we expect improvement.
Next Game: @ Mercer 1pm this Saturday! SOLD OUT

The women's basketball team began their trek for the 4th straight NCAA Tournament appearance by beating Troy 73-49 on Friday as well. On Sunday, they traveled to #1 UCONN and lost 82-71. In the top-heavy world of Women's Basketball, we aren't quite there yet.

Not gonna let 'em catch the MARTA rider...

Looking ahead this week past football to our cagers, we see an unusual road trip to instate Mercer University. The Mercer Bears are a firey little squad in the heartland of the state set right at the birthplace of the Allman Brothers - Macon, GA. The Bears are 16-25 all-time against Tech and have a 7-9 record in Macon against the Jackets. The two teams have not met since 1999.

Mercer is headlined by James Florence, the 6'1" giant killer that led the Bears in minutes, shots, and points per game last season. Florence scored 30 in Mercer's upset of USC last year and 23 in the win against Alabama this year. He will be the primary focus of CPH's defense. If we can shut him down, the game will be cake.

Did I mention my little brother goes to Mercer and we need to beat them to display my superiority over him?

Prediction: Mercer plays tough but loses in the 2nd half. Tech played at GSU close in '07 but this year's Tech team is stronger and has more continuity (a phrase I will repeat many more times). Tech 90 - Mercer 65.