AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 31
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sights and sounds from the French Quarter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Orleans-After a couple of days hunkering down behind this computer, I finally got out last night and had a nice dinner in the French Quarter with a couple of AJC colleagues. I attended a function at Pat O’Brien’s, stood on the balcony and took a couple of sips off a Hurricane (not for the faint of heart), and did my obligatory walk down Bourbon Street on the way back to the hotel.
It’s really interesting what you see and hear when you get out amongst the folks. For example:
1. Hawaii’s here and their fans are great, but Georgia OWNS this town for the next two days: It was a Sunday night and a couple of our favorite places, like the Napoleon House, were closed. But that did not slow down the Bulldog Nation, who are already out in full force and barking their way through town. These guys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, already have their game face on. They want a win over Hawaii and a preseason Top Five for 2008. They will be ready tomorrow night.
2. Tenuta is going to be a hot coach: As soon as Georgia Tech’s Humanitarian Bowl is over today, look for Jon Tenuta to get pretty busy. SMU, which threw a ton of money at Paul Johnson trying to get him to come to Dallas instead of Georgia Tech, may want to talk to him about being their head coach. I predict he’ll land at LSU or Michigan as a DC.
3. Keep your eye on Auburn: Like the consummate poker player he is, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is always thinking several moves ahead. I’ve got the feeling that we’re going to see more of the new spread option attack, recently installed by new OC Tony Franklin, than most people think in tonight’s Chick-fil-A Bowl against Clemson. Now this is just me guessing out loud. But could it be that Tuberville wants recruits to see the new offense and get excited? It’s just something to think about tonight as you watch the game.
4. The national media loves Mark Richt: In an age where guys like Bobby Petrino get the headlines and embarrass the coaching profession, we here in Georgia, especially those of us in the media, are lucky to have a guy like Mark Richt as the head coach of the state university. That’s the message I get from my national media friends. You don’t have to worry about Coach Richt ever lying or deceiving or pitting one school against another to get a raise. Here’s the other thing my friends say: Take care of this guy and his family. Word here is that AD Damon Evans and President Michael Adams are going to do just that in the near future.
5. Old news department: There was a report out of Kansas City that with the brand new stadium being built by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the Cotton Bowl wants to become a BCS venue.
Well, duh. Atlanta, Orlando, Houston, and Tampa also want to be in the BCS. The question is, will the BCS get away from this “double-hosting” model (two BCS games in one city) in the next contract? The sponsors, like Allstate here in New Orleans and Tostitos at the Fiesta, don’t want that. The discussions on the future of the BCS, which will really crank up at a meeting of the commissioners in Miami next April, are going to be very interesting.
