ACC Roundtable: Part Deux

It's the second installment of the ACC Roundtable in which blogs from across the ACC come together for a few segments of lively banter and discussion regarding our conference. This week's roundtable is hosted by Tar Heel Mania. So click over to his site for links to the other responses from across the league. Posted below are our answers to this weeks questions. Leave your comments below!

1. Okay, first things first: could someone please explain what the hell just happened this past Saturday?

The answer, my friends, is ACC parity. Who else can explain Virginia getting raped by USC and then getting back on track and rattling off a winning streak? Explain Maryland losing to Middle Tennessee State and then shutting out Wake Forest! It's parity. It's what makes the SEC so good! Eventually we won't have to play anyone outside of conference because we will beat up on each other so often! Look out "elite" conferences, there's a new dog on top!

2. Good Maryland, Bad Maryland, we've seen a fair share of both in 2008. Good Maryland may be the best team in the ACC, while Bad Maryland could probably lose by 20 to anyone left on their schedule. Which Maryland do we see for the rest of the season and where do you expect the Terps to finish?

Maryland may be beginning to feel the hunger and the fire of potentially winning the division but it's too late. The schedule is too difficult for and up and down team to remain consistent. For the Terps to have a legitimate chance at taking the Atlantic, they gotta go at least 4-1 for their rest of the season. Not happening. Florida State, Virginia Tech, and the ever dangerous BC Eagles will be too much for the Terps to handle to make a legitimate run. Look for them to play the spoiler role for the rest of the year. (ACC Parityyyyyyyy!)

3. Injuries are a part of college football, but they seem to have ravaged ACC offenses this year. Wake Forest has been without Sam Swank, Clemson is without C.J. Spiller, UNC is without T.J. Yates and Brandon Tate, Virginia Tech is without Kenny Lewis Jr., and NC State is without?just about everybody. Which team misses their fallen star(s) most and why?

Clemson is a mess with or without Thunder and Lightning. Sam Swank is clutch but just field goals can't win games, they just give you respect when you're getting shut out. Biggest loss so far this year has been Tyler Yates of North Carolina. With him, the Heels would have arguably beaten Virginia Tech and the roles of the positions of the two teams would be flip-flopped and us Jacket fans would be the biggest BC bandwagoners this week. Instead we're Noles fans and UNC seems to be on the outside looking in.

4. Last one: the pretty much unanimous division champs were Virginia Tech and Wake Forest last week. Given all the craziness that just happened, give us your updated ACC Championship scenario.

We're stickin' to our guns and staying with Boston College from the Atlantic. As for the coastal, it's almost to close to call right now. This Saturday will organize a few things out for us as Virginia (who controls their destiny) comes to Atlanta and Florida State plays the Hokies. So this week, things seem to be lookin' good for us but winning out the the conference schedule is very difficult. Will it happen? Probably not. Could it happen? Hellz yeah it can! Let's make the call: Georgia Tech from the Coastal and Boston College from the Atlantic for a rematch in Tampa! Who would have thought that The Legacy would ever say: GO NOLES! BEAT THE HOKIES!

Guest Blogger: Wahoo Edition

This week's Guest Blogger is Brendan at From Old Virginia. We sent him a few questions regarding UVA and posted below are his answers. The same things will be over at his site later this afternoon. Read below and you might actually learn something (We did!) Enjoy! Post your comments below. Click here to read our Q&A with Brendan.



1. The Georgia Tech/Virginia game is usually a game where the home teamwins. What does UVA bring and what do they have to do to break this pattern and keep their win streak alive?


Frankly, this is because the (Insert Team Here)/Virginia game is usually a game where the home team wins. Our problems on the road run deeper than just Georgia Tech, though Bobby Dodd does happen to bring out this quality more so than most stadiums. From a football standpoint, we have to keep doing what we've been doing: use Cedric Peerman as the hammer and Marc Verica as the staple gun. We need to keep getting better at run-blocking, because we're not good at it. And from a football standpoint, the defensive line needs to occupy the point of attack and not get knocked off the line of scrimmage, which is the entire foundation of the 3-4 defense but even more crucial against the Paul Johnson offense.But our road problems are a source of much lamentation among the Wahoo faithful. Sometimes I get the feeling the game is lost before kickoff. Our success on the road almost always has less to do with the X's and O's and more with the psychological aspect of whatever it is that bothers us away from the friendly confines of Scott Stadium.


2. Al Groh always seems to find himself on the hot seat at some point in aseason. What are your thoughts and opinions on what he has done for the UVA football program.


George Welsh brought the program out of the Dark Ages and through the '80s and '90s....and kind of left it in the early '90s when he retired. Al Groh brought us into the new millenium, and started right away by putting names on the jerseys and those little half-stripes on the helmets. This has been a mixed bag, as his call to the students to stop wearing ties to the game and start looking like football fans has resulted in a serious shortage of sundresses in the stands, which is a tremendous loss to the UVA community.But I think his greatest contribution has been to keep expectations high. He hasn't always met them, but we could have been North Carolina. That used to be a *program*. Then Mack Brown left and Carl Torbush came in; it is hard to replace a coach that's been wildly successful and Torbush wasn't up to the task, and UNC's expectations dropped to the point where six years of John Bunting seemed perfectly acceptable. Groh hasn't let that happen, and it would have been easy to do so when replacing a near-legend like George Welsh. When he leaves, which I think will be soonish, he'll leave behind a quality program and a quality legacy, but a small aftertaste of unmet expectations. Which I think is healthy for the program.


3. The Cavaliers control their destiny. Read their future and predict their next 5 games.


All your readers can play along at home; all you need is a coin and the strength to flip it, five times. I'll take my best stab at this: in the next four, we win at home (Miami, Clemson) and lose the road games (GT, Wake.) I hate to admit it but given our history, this week is screaming loss. GT and Wake are just too good to have bad days against us in their own place. But Miami really isn't a good team and Clemson will probably have mailed in the season by then.Then we have Virginia Tech. Our offense and their offense are equally bad; their defense is better, and we're on the road. That would add up to a loss, but it's way too early for me to get all emo about our chances in a rivalry game like that. So, UVA 7, Virginia Tech 3, for a 7-5 season and a place in some undercard bowl like, oh, the E*****d or Music City.


4. How do you *really feel* about your fight song?


Fight song, or Good Old Song? The thing about this is, at points in the game when most schools are playing a rousing Sousa-esque brass band anthem to awesomeness, we are singing what sounds remarkably like Auld Lang Syne to the untrained ear, except that Robert Burns was a preemptive copycat. The GOS passes for our fight song since it's what's familiar to people, but it's not *technically* the fight song. And I like it well enough that my blog's name quotes it. I mean, it's not just a song, it's a ritual; you might as well ask if they should replace the Ramblin' Wreck with a Ford Focus.The *actual* fight song is called the Cavalier Song, and not widely-known; neither the words nor the tune are well-entrenched in Wahoo lore.

A History Lesson in Tradition: The T-Book

In an effort to inform, educate and teach as many people as possible, The Legacy crew brings back some of their more popular posts from the "old days". Today, the history of the T-book. The resource for Georgia Tech history and traditions.

As Dane let all of you know last night, the T-book is back on campus at Georgia Tech. Many of you might not actually know what the T-book is or what it was. Here's the information and the history on the book and what it means to the Institute.

The Early Printings

The first T-book was published in 1906 by the YMCA. The purpose of the book was to serve mainly as a student handbook and a guide to the school for all the incoming freshman. The organization continued to publish the T-book until the 1968-1969 school year. The hard, physical edition of the T-book was finished for 40 years. However, a legacy was left by the T-book pioneers as the University of Florida developed their own version of the T-book (called the F-book). The F-book is more of what the T-book was originally, a student handbook that discusses all organizations, clubs, athletics and traditions.

Online Edition

In the early 2000's, the T-book morphed into an online "Rat's Guide to Tech" and more of a living document that editors could constantly update. Access was available to all through the internet but unfortunately updates and advertising were hard to come by and the site was not updated as much as some had hoped. Knowledge and information about Georgia Tech traditions and history began to fall by the wayside.

Now

After researching the history and the legacy that the T-book created and left behind the Ramblin' Reck Club
has brought the T-book back. Georgia Tech has been without the T-book for nearly 40 years and it is time to end the drought. Today, the T-book talks about the history of Georgia Tech and the traditions that make the Institute so unique. Personal letters to the owners are written by Football Coach Paul Johnson, Men's Basketball Coach Paul Hewitt, Athletic Director Dan Radakovich, Interim p\President Gary Schuster, and SGA President Nick Wellkamp.

The T-book is comprised of two parts. The first part is history. Timelines and letters, famous athletes and coaches of old can all be found in the front half. The second part is for the student. It is time for the owner of the T-book to "Complete the Tradition". To complete the tradition, the student must take a picture of themselves doing the tradition and then paste their own personal picture into their book in the space allotted. This allows everyone to not only learn about the traditions that make Georgia Tech so unique but they also get to partake in them.

So for the 2008-2009 a tradition hasn't been started, rather it has been picked up and continued.

Editor's Note: The 2008-2009 T-Book is now online. Click below!

Click Here to see the 2008-2009 T-Book!

Other History Lessons in Tradition: Buzz and the Yellow Jackets and the Ramblin' Wreck

Clemson [late] Post Game Thoughts

Well Dane had school and I had work so it was a hectic Monday. Let's recap!


Clemson was a ridiculously awesome weekend. Arrived Friday afternoon, and tailgated on through the night and morning. The game itself was even better. Watched the recap Sunday morning, here are some thoughts:

1. Our defense is sick.
2. Our offensive line still needs work....this is clearly the biggest problem facing us right now.
3. Even with our O-Line struggles, the game is proof that the triple option gives us plenty of chances to win the big one. 1 play, 1 play is what we need. The one big play. Time and time again, Paul Johnson shows us why he is so confident. And time and time again, we become more confident. Let's walk the Paul Johnson walk!

Here's the highlight video

Clemson Thoughts

It's one of those days at work right now so look for updates later this afternoon. But for now, we all know the game was exciting as hell. What are your thoughts and opinions on the game? the future? the players,etc?

Post in the comments!