Mercer v. Tech: Sibling Rivalry Continues

So, Old Gold & White travels down to Macon to matchup with my little bro's college, the Mercer Bears. We already pounded the Bears 17-3 at home in baseball and defeated the Bears in dramatic overtime fashion in front of a soldout Mercer Rec Center crowd. Hell, softball beat the female Bears as well. Now, we're going for the academic year sweep tonight at 6:00pm.

Let the beatings continue until Mercer cries for Mercy.

GT > Mercer and Softball sweeps Grand Opening

Georgia Tech bats found a rhythm against the Mercer Bears pulling out 5 homers and 18 hits against 8 different Mercer pitchers. GT's pitching staff got in on the ass kicking striking out 10 Maconites. Wednesday brings KSU to town for baseball.

There's a shadow looming on the horizon, however...ugag reached #1 in most baseball polls this week. It's looking like it could be a top 10 danceoff when the bullfrogs come to ATL on the 25th.

Also, softball took care of business against UT-Martin. The first ever games played on the new field represent a crisp new jewel in the crown of King Radakovich.

And theLegacy Athlete of the Day goes to Kristen Adkins who racked up four hits in the first softball game including a game winning homer. She also pitched the second game, receiving a win in the record books. Pretty impressive.

Tech v. Mercer at 4pm

Tech plays my little bro's college, Mercer, at 4:00pm today. The Jackets are looking to assert more of my brotherly dominance. Tech defeated Mercer at the beginning of the basketball season in dramatic overtime fashion in front of a sold out Mercer U. crowd.

Concerning baseball, Mercer is 5-5 and generally not very good. The Bears are batting 0.265 and giving up a 0.280 average to opponents. One offensive star for the Bears is Jacob Tanis who is leading the Bears with 4 homers but otherwise don't look for much production from the Bear bats.

Prediction: Tech 11, Mercer 4.

ATL midtown beat down

GT beats GSU by 20 to improve to 6-2 on the season. Gani takes care of business, as usual, and Iman adds 11 assists. Sweet. A nice little shining star in the stat lines is Brad Sheehan contributing 16 points. Do not underestimate the power of the 7' center. Tech now leads the series in the Midtown vs. Downtown Series 17-2 with the only losses being decided away from Georgia Tech before the dark times. Before the Empire.

I like seeing the games against instate teams. I know people that attended these schools and it gives a nice rivalry flavor to the game. It also gives you a challenge. These teams are stocked with kids that are jaded because they were "overlooked" by the big instate schools. So they're gonna play like they're in their conference tournament (see James Florence's performance for Mercer). They got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

You've also got the simple economics of the games. It's easy to attend a game in Macon. It's two hours right down 75 and a relatively nice campus to visit. It's really easy to attend a game at GSU being 10 minutes from GT's campus and right off 85. You assert your instate dominance and leave. Simple. Now, we must take care of business against the Cesspool. To Hell With Georgia.

Do you have any comments on pre-ACC bball action or just want to vent about the futilities in life? Post in the comments section.

Escapin' Macon

Tech won in an OT thriller against the Mercer Bears and we (Winfield/Dane/myself) were there to observe one of the most frustrating regulation periods since the Zam Experience. I've seen a few OT's against Wake, ugag, etc. but this one was the weirdest. GT never led in regulation. In fact, at 12:01 to go in the second half, Tech trailed by 18.

A GT fan next to me said, "They just want to go back to ATL." I didn't necessarily believe in this Negative Nancy's comment but I figured we'd need a Hell of a turnaround to pull it out of our ass. Then, Hotel Hewitt ceased. The signature full court press was unleashed. GT crawled back into it. 33 seconds left and Zach Peacock ties us up with two free throws.

OT was over before it started. The once loud crowd of 3,300 orange and black was deflated. The Bears were flat and GT finished the game with a 42-18 run capped by 11 points in OT to the Bears 5.

Final analysis: I think we're gonna be leaning more on Iman and our front court then I had previously thought. We were out hustled by the Mercer guards and lucky Mercer's got no depth. However, a win's a win. I think Paul learned a lot about our team on Saturday and I see us only improving our early game scoring here on out.

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.