Georgia Tech: A New Low

Good news: I was unable to find the Tech game on my TV. I get Fox Sports South, but it said something else was being shown. Should’ve checked. Another network showed as having the Tech game, but when you turned it on it said it was blocked. I tried the ACC Network and ESPN and others, but never found it. I followed the game on my phone and computer. 

Probably for the best. Saw where a Tech defender intercepted a pass, then fumbled the ball back to Pitt. Heard there were unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on both sides. Then Tech head coach Geoff Collins pulled away from his postgame handshake with the Pitt coach, and dismissed it with the media after the game. Not a good look.

I’m getting old. Maybe this is a “get off my lawn” comment. Collins is a new generation head coach, focused on making Tech attractive to Generation Z players. For this he’s gotten a pass from the Atlanta media (and Tech alumni). Whatever. Kirby Smart is a little more old school. Saban is Saban. Saban’s success puts him above the fray. The media aren’t hard on him. They know they’ll never dent his armor.

Your friend Dabo is almost as successful as Saban, but the media constantly attacks Swinney - in part because of his outspoken Christianity. I can’t understand why so many Christians dislike Dabo. Like Saban, Dabo wants to win. Is it wrong for a coach to be all about his own team? Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer were that way, and took heat while winning. When you’re on top, people want to knock you down a peg. 

Gus Malzahn also gets heat, as did Mark Richt. Coaches that work to develop their players into men, nut just football players. These days Christian coaches are attacked all the more. Sign of the times.

Is Geoff Collins an upgrade over Paul Johnson? The jury is still out. Collins is a better recruiter and promoter. Better with the fans and media and players. Johnson was better with the X’s and O’s. Let’s hope Tech gets another top 25 recruiting class. They sure look undisciplined on the field. Too many penalties. With the exception of Clemson, Tech should be able to compete with their ACC opponents.

And if all this isn't bad enough, it gets worse. After playing last night, Tech cancelled next week's game against Miami. Not because of covid, but because of injuries. Don't they have 80 on scholarship? Plus walkons! Don't the young guys need playing time? Sounds like Tech is tired of losing. So they quit? Giving up? That sound you're hearing is Bobby Dodd and John Heisman rolling over in their graves. 

Many ACC schools have gotten new head coaches around the same time Tech did. David Cutcliffe is the right fit for Duke. Miami obviously got the right man. Same with North Carolina. FSU will take a few years to turn it around, but seems to have a good coach. Pitt has beaten Tech in four of the last five games. We’ll see about Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Anywho. Thursday night Ceil cooked a sausage and bean dish. I went to bed at 9:30. Wrote our family Christmas letter. Slow day at work. At least nine people are out, over half the people in my vicinity.

Saturday night we’re going to a small Christmas dinner at the Cho’s. Traditional Korean food.

Working on my scrapbook calendar. Every year I get the At A Glance Monthly Planner, an 8 x 11 booklet with each month spread out over two full pages. So each day gets a two inch square block to write in what’s happening. I usually tape the monthly Braves schedule on each month, and tape other mementoes and pictures I collect throughout the year. On the inside front cover I’ll add stickers I find. By the end of the year the calendar is quite thick. The 2020 calendar has 50 pages, inside cover to inside cover, so after the 24 pages of calendar there’s lots of additional pages to put stuff. One page has the US map, so I usually color in all the states our family visits. Our administrative specialist knows which calendar I like (it’s the same one our GM likes) so the last few years she’s ordered it for me without even asking. I don’t have all 50 pages fully filled, but I’m getting close. 

I was reading on Twitter. Someone said The Gospel was love. Now love is great, but it’s not the Christian gospel. Someone else corrected them: the Gospel is believing in Jesus, who died to save us from our sins.

ROBERTO CLEMENTE  [SABR Bio] his 3,000th hit was his last in the majors, on 30-Sep-1972, a double off the Mets’ Jon Matlack. No other major league player had more hits 1960-1969 than he did. He had 1,877 hits in the 1960s. His aggregate batting average (.328) and triple total (99) also paced the majors that decade. He hit his 2,000th career hit off a future Hall of Famer, CHC’s Fergie Jenkins on 02-Sep-1966 in the 5th inning. It was an upper-deck, opposite-field homer to right at Forbes Field  His nephew spent some time in the majors at the end of the twentieth century. Edgard Clemente is his nephew. He was an outfielder for the Rockies and Angels and is now the owner of Prime Hitting in Orlando.