Jackets Nip Heels

Nice road win for Tech, after starting QB Haynes King left the game with an injury and UNC came back to tie the game after being behind by 10 points. GT defense seemed to run out of gas. Nice to score the late 68 yard game-winning TD run with 16 seconds remaining, on former GT head coach Geoff Collins' UNC defense.

Might've been a  good strategy for Tech to keep QB Haynes King's helmet on, instead of his ball cap, to throw off UNC, as if he might be coming back into the game.

For the most part the Jackets just kept running the ball, and the Heels rarely were able to stop them. Tech finished with 370 yards rushing, a season high. Matt Harpring's son, a young tight end, had a key reception.

GT head coach Brent Key is doing a great job, and I suppose his assistants are as well, like offensive coordinator Chris Weinke. Key is supposed to be a great recruiter, which is sorely need at Tech. One thing I did not like during the game was how GT defenders kept faking injuries to stop the clock. But since there is no penalty for faking an injury2, Key is just using the system to his team’s advantage. Can’t argue with that.

Tech wore white face masks with their white helmets, which was a huge improvement over the dark masks. First time in GT history the Jackets wore white masks. Very nice. Too bad the GT helmet logo wasn't gold to match the jersey numbers. Now they need to wear gold masks with their gold helmets. Watch them wear something crazy against Notre Dame.

Clemson took care of Wake Forest. Both GT and Clemson were playing at the same time. C kept wanting me to flip back to the Clemson game even though Clemson was at halftime and GT was already playing the second half.

I kept it on GT. She finally pulled up the game on her phone, but quit watching since Clemson had such a big lead. She fell asleep and missed the exciting Tech game.

Notre Dame won big over Louisville. Louisville beat Georgia Tech. Will the Jackets hang close to the Irish? Will GT QB King be able to play on Saturday? Not sure how good a passer the backup is. Notre Dame will cram the line of scrimmage and dare the Jackets to pass. GT has a freshman QB Aaron Philo from Prince Ave Academy, who broke all of Brock Vandagriff and Trevor Lawrence’s class A records.

Gamecocks put a scare into Bama, but were unable to tie the game with a 2 point conversion. They did look good wearing their traditional uniforms.

I'm confident Bama will be able to  get their act together for the stretch run.

UGA keeps saying they want to run the ball, but keeps calling one pass play after another. Many think QB Carson Beck is having an off year, but he had lost all his receiving core from last year.

Longhorn QB Quinn Ewers appears to have shaken off some early rust against Oklahoma. After giving up a first quarter field goal, Texas outscored Oklahoma 34-0. Are the Longhorns that good? Were the Dawgs holding back, or did they really struggle against Mississippi State? Where they looking ahead to Texas? I think UGA will give the Horns a good game.

Social media is all over Kirby for pushing the Miss State QB, but it was evident Smart was completely focused on the referee.

Man Florida sure gave the mighty Vols a scare on Saturday, before flopping in overtime. Was sure glad to see Ohio State lose to Oregon.

Last week unranked USC lost to woeful Minnesota. This week they took number 4 Penn State to overtime. Besides Texas, I’m not sure there are many super times in college football this season.

I made it to the end of Vandy / Kentucky. In the second half the announcers mentioned that the injured player was back on the sidelines in his “travel clothes”. Might’ve had a concussion but that’s all. Vandy has a tough schedule the rest of the way: after Ball State they got Texas, Auburn, SC, LSU, and Tennessee. Would like to see them bump off all of those guys, but at least Auburn and SC for sure. They’ll need one more SEC win to get bowl eligible, but these days some bowls take 5 win teams.

DENISON: What is going on at CBS? Culture has jettisoned its belief in objective truth for what Stephen Colbert calls “truthiness,” defined as “the belief in what you feel to be true rather than what the facts will support”. Some journalists believe their value no longer lies in reporting the news but in changing society.

ME: does Colbert, a former Sunday School teacher, want his guests to come on his show and lie?

DON DRYSDALE [SABR Bio] was the first Hall of Famer to die outside the United States. Drysdale passed away in Montreal where he was to broadcast a game on 02-Jul-1993. His body was found in his hotel room, victim of a heart attack. At the time of his retirement in 1969, he was the career leader in hitting batters with pitches: 154 batters. He was the first Cy Young Award winner to have a teammate win the award the following season. Drysdale won in 1962 and teammate Sandy Koufax was the 1963 (& 1965 & 1966) winner.

Diversity AND Inclusivity?

I am an old fart, and perhaps the world is passing me by. Lots of things going on that just don’t make sense to me. You could say I am a knucklehead. Don't know how to fire a shotgun. If you read my blog, you probably already knew this about me.

Large corporations like mine are seeking to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace. I’m fine with uniting people with shared interests, identities, and backgrounds – but isn’t diversity kind of the opposite of inclusiveness? A group of a certain race or life experience isn’t diverse, its homogenous. To have a diverse group of employees you’d want to include people of different races, religions, and life experiences. In my experience, in general people tend to naturally group off by skin color or religion or life experience – and that’s okay in my book. But if you want a diverse world of people living and working all together in harmony, at some point all these people of various races and creeds and life experience are going to have to leave their individual groups and mix in all together and work toward a common goal, be it peace or profit or whatever. Isn’t that right?

What am I missing? Is it wrong for a company or organization or government or airline or manufacturer to want to hire the best most qualified individuals regardless of race, creed, or color? 

I challenge you to read this in-depth look at critical race theory.

Matthew had just returned from his guys’ trip on Monday. They had flown into Philadelphia and also spent time in Delaware, New Jersey, NYC, and Brooklyn. It was his first trip up to the northeast. He and a buddy golfed at his dad’s country club in Delaware. His friend’s parents live near Joe Biden. They said they saw Bryce Harper when they were getting cheesesteaks in Phlly.

Wednesday: we ate leftovers and had a peaceful evening. We had already retired to Lennie's garage apartment by the time Anna and Matthew arrived to spend the night at Ceil's parents house.

Thursday: worked all morning. Anna's cousins came to visit. 

LEFTY GROVE [SABR Bio] has the highest lifetime WAR of any left-handed pitcher: 106.8 which is 26th overall among all players. Randy Johnson at 101.1 is the next highest lefty pitcher. No one won more season ERA titles than Grove, who won AL ERA crowns for PHA in 1926 (2.51), 1929 (2.81), 1930 (2.54), 1931 (2.06), and 1932 (2.84). Also for Boston in 1935 (2.79), 1936 (2.81), 1938 (3.08), & 1939 (2.54). Grove won 31 games in 1931 for the A’s, which hasn’t been equaled by a left-handed thrower since then.

Never Complain. Never Explain.

Never Complain; Never Explain. This article popped up just after I received a particularly frustrating request at work. No need to explain because your friends don’t need an explanation, and your enemies won’t believe you anyway (and will twist the info and use it against you). Explaining gives power away. No matter how good your argument is, you show weakness just by explaining it. Explaining is just an attempt to gain someone’s approval.

Part of my job is to work to make the part inventory showing in our new computer system matches what’s actually at our outside processors. We have about a dozen processors manufacturing 300+ active parts, with raw material shipping in every day, then consumed to make parts every day, that then are shipped to other processors for painting and plating every day, with the finished parts shipping to the customer every day as needed. Management expects all these movements to be updated in our system with the same staffing level we had managing our old computer system, when only a fraction of all this updating had previously been required. Sure sales are down in this economy, but it takes just as much work to move 50 pieces of each part as it does one hundred (here I go explaining myself).

A recent review of 60 active parts at one processor showed over 1.1 million pounds of inventory in stock. What showed in our computer was only 6000 pounds off – a difference of only half of one percent. That’s pretty damn good.

Man has been working to modify the weather for decades.

War in the Middle East. The US pummeled by hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters - right when we approach a pivotal election. The “comet of the century” is passing Earth this weekend. A “second moon” is now orbiting our planet. Astronomers are witnessing an “interesting alignment of constellations and stars” – does this relate to events written about in the Book of Revelation? Are all these things happening at the same time just a coincidence?

If man-made pollution is the cause of “climate change”, wouldn’t countries like China (where pollution is far worse than in the US), be experiencing far more severe hurricanes, wildfires, and heatwaves? The United States already takes far more steps to fight pollution than any other industrialized country in the world. At some point other countries like China and Russia are going to have to join the movement. Volcanic eruptions blast far more pollutants into the atmosphere than man made factories (and private jets), but you never hear activists talking about that.

Lennie's Funeral

Lennie’s funeral was a graveside service. The family met at Corrine’s house and drove the mile over to Macedonia Baptist Church in Agelus SC, about 6 miles from Jefferson. Since Corrine was riding in our car, Phil kept coming over with instructions on where to park from the funeral home. Finally I just had Phil drive Corrine, Ceil, and Matthew, and I rode with Dic Dac, Teresa, Vic, and Laura.

My nephew Ben officiated the funeral, and Dic Dac added several personal remarks. I had not known that Lennie had played baseball at Clemson. Before adding scripture, Ben also shared personal stories. After the service I pointed out a couple of graves to Matthew: Lennie’s son was Phil’s age, who had died in 1977. Aunt Edie had passed away in 1999, so Anna and Matthew and Vic had no memory of going to her house for Thanksgiving and Easter. Vic thinks about her when she drives by her house.

Hopefully Aunt Corrine was able to appreciate the service. She remarked on some of the people who attended, including a sheriff who had once worked at a store that Lennie had owned. Ladies from the church brought lots of food to the house: chicken salad, ham and turkey, fresh tomatoes and other sandwich fixings, sausage balls, a cheese ball, brownies, several cakes and other desserts, chips, etc. Winnie and Goose got to run free out in the back fields, with Lennie's old sailboat as a backdrop.

The land where Lennie's ancestral home is located has been in the Middleton family since 1750. The house was where Lennie and Ceil's mother and aunt were all born in the house. When the highway was widened Lennie had the house moved several hundred yards back off the road, with two rows of trees planted to line the driveway.

The house and land will stay in the family: Beau recently renovated a house on Church Street in Jefferson. Of the 12 cousins, seven made it back to the funeral (plus two spouses). Laura was there representing husband Zane, who had stop by to visit with Corrine before heading to Charlotte for his flight to Canada. Afterwards when I rode back to Jefferson with Phil, Teresa, Vic, and Laura I mentioned how the service only could have been better if Zane had been there to speak.

I wasn’t able to leave Angelus until after 630 pm. Stopped for gas in Lugoff and drove straight through, getting home at 1122. Averaged 40.4 mpg and could’ve done better had I taken my time. Unloaded the car, opened the mail, and was in bed by midnight. Skipped the gym this morning. Ceil and Winnie drive back today.

Before leaving to head back, Matthew had loaded a large painting of Jack Nicklaus winning the 86 Masters into my back seat. It had been sitting up in Ceil’s parent’s attic for years. The new cabinets Ceil is having installed in our living room has a large open space for a piece of art – and the Nicklaus painting fit the space perfectly. I don’t thing Ceil will agree.

After being off work yesterday afternoon and working remotely all week, I started the day with 72 emails in my in box. This morning I was able to get it down to 18 emails.

R.I.P. Uncle Lennie

 

Uncle Lennie's funeral was today at Macedonia Baptist Church in Angelus. Dic Dac spoke, and Ben officiated. Lennie was buried there at the church cemetery near Aunt Edie and Aunt Louise. Pretty sure Lennie graduated from Clemson, and later taught at the University of Florida and Miami, where he participated in sailing regattas. While crewing for a friend he met his future wife Corrine, a flight attendant for Pan Am who regularly flew to Paris.

TOP: the view from Lennie's garage apartment, looking east at sunrise.

BELOW: looking out west from Lennie's house at sunset, where Jordan's wedding reception was held.

Meanwhile down in Florida, Hurricane Milton ripped the fabric roof off Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Perhaps this will lead to a new stadium for the successful team, who usually finishes last in home attendance. No word on damage to the Braves spring training complex several miles south of Tampa - though that's the least of anyone's worries right now. 

Two views of the between the legs assist the Hawks top draft pick made in his first exhibition game on Tuesday night. The young rookie from France received rave reviews for his passing and smooth shooting. Some predicted that he would become an all star. 

Pretty sure I have this Mark Jackson card, that is now worth two dollars instead of one. Some hucksters are receiving more).

I famously fail to review books before reading them, instead literally judging them by their covers. Such is the case with this book about a Korean teen forced to return to her ancestoral home from her beloved NYC. Actually not bad. I get to indulge in Korean culture, one of my favorite pastimes.  

Sunrise this past Sunday morning.

2024 2025 Bowl Schedule

With the new 12 team college football playoff, there appear to be even more postseason games than ever this year. Depending on Georgia’s final ranking, the Dawgs could play as many as 7 of their final 8 games in Athens or Atlanta.

12.06 FRI 800 Mtn West championship

12.07 SAT 700 SEC Championship Atlanta

12.07 SAT 800 ACC Championship Charlotte

12.07 SAT 800 Ben Ten championship Indianapolis

12.07 SAT Big 12 championship Arlington

12.14 SAT noon Celebration Bowl Atlanta

12.14 SAT 330 Army Navy game Landover MD

12.14 SAT 900 Camellia Bowl Montgomery

12.17 TUE 900 Frisco Bowl Texas

12.18 WED 530 Boca Raton Bowl

12.18 WED 900 LA Bowl

12.19 THU 700 New Orleans Bowl

12.20 FRI noon Cure Bowl Orlando

12.20 FRI 330 Gasparilla Bowl Tampa

12.20 FRI 800 on campus playoff

12.21 SAT 1200 on campus playoff

12.21 SAT 400 on campus playoff

12.21 SAT 8 pm on campus playoff

5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, 8 vs 9

12.23 MON 1100 Myrtle Beach Bowl Conway SC

12.23 MON 230 Potato Bowl Boise

12.24 TUE 800 Hawaii Bowl

12.26 THU 200 Detroit Bowl

12.26 THU 530 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Phoenix

12.26 THU 900 68 Ventures Bowl Mobile

12.27 FRI 1200 Armed Forces Bowl Ft Worth

12.27 FRI 330 Birmingham Bowl

12.27 FRI 700 Liberty Bowl Memphis

12.27 FRI 800 Holiday Bowl San Diego

12.27 FRI 1030 Las Vegas Bowl

12.28 SAT 1100 Fenway Bowl Boston

12.28 SAT noon Pinstripe Bowl NYC

12.28 SAT 215 New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque

12.28 SAT 330 PopTarts Bowl Orlando

12.28 SAT 430 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Tucson

12.28 SAT 545 Military Bowl Annapolis

12.28 SAT 730 Alamo Bowl San Antonio

12.28 SAT 915 Independence Bowl Shreveport

12.30 MON 230 Music City Bowl Nashville

12.31 TUE noon Reliaquest Bowl Tampa

12.31 TUE 200 Sun Bowl El Paso

12.31 TUE 300 Citrus Bowl Orlando

12.31 TUE 330 Texas Bowl Houston

12.31 TUE 730 Fiesta Bowl playoff quarterfinal

1.01 WED 100 Peach Bowl playoff quarterfinal

1.01 WED 500 Rose Bowl playoff quarterfinal

1.01 WED 845 Sugar Bowl playoff quarterfinal

1 vs (8 or 9)

2 vs (7 or 10)

3 vs (6 or 11)

4 vs (5 vs 12)

1.02 THU 730 Gator Bowl Jacksonville

1.03 FRI 400 First Responder Bowl Dallas

1.03 FRI 730 Duke’s Mayo Bowl Charlotte

1.04 SAT 1100 Bahamas Bowl Nassau

1.09 THU 730 Orange Bowl playoff semifinal

1.10 FRI 730 Cotton Bowl playoff semifinal

(1 vs 4 bracket and 2 vs 3 bracket)

1.20 MON 730 national championship in Atlanta

1.30 THU 800 East West Shrine Bowl Arlington

https://bowlseason.com/sports/bowl/schedule/2024-25

Let's Just Keep On Talkin Bout Football

Jackets need to come back with a win from Chapel Hill. UNC defense is ranked 101st in the nation. They’ve lost 3 in a row. Former GT head coach Geoff Collins in the UNC defensive coordinator, but he may be fired before the end of the season.

Lots of good games this weekend. Look for Bama to blow out the Gamecocks, a team that usually plays Bama close. Kirby using the Vandy upset to tell his Dawgs to not take lowly Miss State lightly. UGA offense needs to have an explosive game. Having a WR in jail isn’t helping. Texas QB Quinn Ewers should return to face Oklahoma. Can Vandy keep it rolling against the Wildcats in Lexington? Falcons should get another win on Sunday in Charlotte. Panthers have a beat up offensive line.

1200 GT @ UNC

1200 Clemson @ Wake Forest

1200 SC @ Alabama

0330 Texas vs Oklahoma

0330 Old Dominion @ Georgia State

0330 Stanford @ Notre Dame

0415 Miss State @ UGA

0700 Florida @ Tennessee

0745 Vandy @ Kentucky

0425 Falcons @ Carolina

GOLF: next month Caitlin Clark will be playing in the pro am of Annika’s LGPA tournament.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/41665019/caitlin-clark-tee-lpga-pro-annika__;!!AE29DT8V!RTfF8ptEYHxyy7KLMbtnTOF0bOVfwS-hSlIUMLJTzYUSBLJlakIU4oGfnlnzfAJ1p5ke7w4sTnxFH8UySJw$

Lennie’s obituary.

https://www.baumgartnerfh.com/obituaries/Lennie-S-Middleton?obId=33297338

Georgia Tech unveiled a plan to pump $500 million in upgrades into Grant Field and other athletic facilities, like the old O’Keefe gym where volleyball is played. Plans call for a huge new jumbotron scoreboard behind the south end zone, so big that it could potentially block out the scenic view of downtown Atlanta.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/georgia-tech-bobby-dodd-stadium-football-basketball-renovations-videoboard-in-works__;!!AE29DT8V!WUd9xjvO11K60vKUbPckUruY9Lw7iQM4jMTrXbJ8igxx54UL3Aj_gcTk_soKzoDtfnDthC5KUsefFaLQNRE$

FSU QB DJU might return for a 6th season of college football. He’s not going to make any money in the NFL, so he might as well cash in when he can. Not sure FSU will extend his big money NIL contract for a second season. The guy is going to stick around forever, kinda like Booger in "Revenge of the Nerds".

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://athlonsports.com/college/florida-state-seminoles/report-reveals-former-five-star-could-possibly-return-for-a-sixth-college-football-season__;!!AE29DT8V!UuyiXMl0vItpBJEoy-CGWM9vgeYUtzbO7jARzcJsn0LpLmAlCR2kcJpkyzcMnfcP2D3P9VPB1lwtyrrCBRE$

JFBC pastor Clay Smith preached in Texas this past weekend, after defending his PHD dissertation at his seminary. Did I say that right? Not sure who preached at Johnson Ferry.

Some people think the government is creating and directing these hurricanes in an effort to eliminate certain blocks over voters. There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on in our country and around the world, but I don’t think the US has the technology to control hurricanes. Yet. Would be just as likely for God to be using these hurricanes and earthquakes and such as a warning for the approaching end times.

That said, some people are going on almost 2 weeks without power. First time in my life that I can remember such a powerful hurricane to  come so far inland and cause such devastation. I’ve seen charts where the national media is covering Helene far less on a day to day basis than they did Katrina.

Man I hate to get political, but what I am hearing and seeing every day is just so frustrating. A presidential candidate that can’t speak a coherent sentence, so the media just edits together something to make her sound credible. The politicians and media just think we are all idiots. Many of us are. And so many people just don’t care. One day it’s gonna be me that gets silenced. How bout we just keep on talking about football?

Hey Don - our friend David is having open heart surgery way over at Northside Gwinnett this week. His doctor recommended the place. The stints he had put in back in December just weren't doing the job. 

Now retired coworker Randy is in the hospital, in Southeast Georgia. He just moved there, so it's doubtful he knows many people. Sucks getting old.

C ate lunch at Beth’s Country Cooking again. It’s a buffet if you eat there, but I passed. I don't even feel like postin no pretty pictures today.

Dewey Defeats Truman

Number One ranked Alabama could not come back, and lost to a resurgent Vandy this past Saturday.

Vandy students marched the goalposts three miles down Broadway and tossed it into the river.

In fact, two of the top four and 5 of the top 11 lost on Saturday.

Dawgs beat Auburn. 

Jackets had to come from behind to beat Duke. 

Tech is a much faster team than they used to be. They show more enthusiasm for the game. They hit harder, So much improvement under Coach Key. 

Clemson beat FSU in Tallahassee. See one FSU fan's comments below. 

Arkansas fans also stormed the field, after beating #4 Tennessee. Vols were without their freshman sensation QB.  

Miami edged Cal, thanks to several interesting calls by the ACC refs. No targeting. No linemen downfield. No facemask penalty, Poor spots. Is the ACC trying to get a second team into the playoff? The Canes have an easy schedule: FSU, Duke, Wake Forest, Syracuse. But the Jackets and Louisville better watch out for more questionable officiating. But I'm not so sure beating Cal shows that a team is good. The Bears had come in to the game with only one loss, but it was to woeful FSU.

USC: welcome to the Big Ten. The Trojans lost to 2-3 Minnesota. Wait till they have to play Ohio State and Michigan. 

Former UGA TE Brock Bowers scored his first touchdown on Sunday.