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Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Jackets think Emerald Bowl is no gem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The Georgia Tech players are doing their best to put on a united happy face, but sometimes one of them breaks ranks. During a media gathering Wednesday, publicist Mike Stamus — acting as the interviewer in Tech’s satellite feed package — asked tailback P.J. Daniels what he thought when he learned the Jackets were bound for the Emerald Bowl.
Said Daniels: “We got screwed.”
Said Stamus, turning to his cameraman: “We won’t use that part.”
The Jackets have become connoisseurs, for want of a better word, of the far-flung fete. Over the last five winters, Tech has been an invited guest in Seattle, San Jose, Boise and now San Francisco. (Last December’s rare appearance in the Eastern Time Zone — the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando — happened only because Virginia decided to take exams rather than travel the week before Christmas.) That’s some recruiting pitch: Sign with us, young man, and you’ll cover more Western terrain than Lewis and Clark.
“I’d never been to California before my freshman year [meaning the Silicon Valley Classic],” said Chris Reis, the safety from Roswell. “And I’d never been to Boise [the Humanitarian Bowl].”
These weren’t complaints Reis was issuing; they were, on the contrary, endorsements of the broadening that comes with travel. Every collegiate player’s preference would be to suit up in Pasadena on Jan. 4, 2006, but only the heavyweights Southern Cal and Texas get to do that. “You always want to be in a bigger bowl,” Reis said. Failing that, what’s wrong with seeing some sights and making a few memories?
“I don’t think any of the guys wanted to go to Boise,” Daniels said, “but that was a great trip. A lot of us had never snow-skiied or snowmobiled before. I think about that a lot.”
He also has reason to recall the game itself. Daniels gained 307 yards against Tulsa that day, the second-biggest rushing yield in school history. So maybe something good with happen against Utah in SBC Park, which isn’t the place the 49ers play but is instead the baseball stadium that nuzzles up to San Francisco Bay. (And please, no jokes about Reggie Ball overthrowing Calvin Johnson so egregiously that the ball splashes in McCovey Cove.)
Speaking of whom: Ball can cite chapter and verse on how a mediocre bowl can generate an outsized return. He arrived in Orlando not sure if he’d be Tech’s quarterback in 2005, and he left as the bowl MVP, left having thrown a hammerlock on the job. Some Jackets will think unkind thoughts about the Emerald — which is named for a snack nut, not some rare gem — but not Mr. Ball.
“It’s just an opportunity to play another game,” he said. “That’s all I wanted. Once I knew we had that, I was satisfied.”
Is Tech too good for its bowl? Absolutely. You beat two Top 10 teams and finish the regular season in the Top 25, and your reward is a 6-5 opponent on a Thursday afternoon in Barry Bonds’ bailiwick? “I thought we’d be going somewhere else,” Daniels said, “but this is just how everything unfolded. Other teams didn’t go where they thought they would — Boston College, for example. You have to make the best of it.”
And surely the Jackets will. The Silicon Valley flop against Fresno State notwithstanding, they’ve become the scourge of the lower-rung bowls. They’ve won their last two postseason games by the aggregate score of 103-24, and they should hang five or six touchdowns on Utah. And they’ll ride the famous trolley and take a tour of Alcatraz and come back with a big trophy and be home in plenty of time to watch the big bowls on TV.
Permalink | Comments (152) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Tech / ACC
Food for thought: Cox or Schuerholz?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff D'Alessio
Hey all, AJC college sports editor Jeff D’Alessio here. Lots of good feedback so far. Keep it coming. We’re whittling down the list.
Here’s another couple questions for you to ponder as we ponder our Sports Person of the Year pick: Who deserves more credit for the Braves’ improbable 14th consecutive division title: Bobby Cox, who managed the Baby Braves to the NL East crown, or general manager John Schuerholz, who assembled the team?
And which player deserves more consideration — hometown hero Jeff Francoeur or home run hitter Andruw Jones?
Permalink | Comments (73) | Categories: Sports Person of the Year
Steinbrenner again shows why he’s the best
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
All hail, King George. As if it wasn’t already apparent, Mr. Steinbrenner is the greatest owner in baseball history.
No, sports history.
This Johnny Damon thing is just another example of how Steinbrenner will do whatever he thinks is necessary to keep the Yankees working toward world championships.
That’s opposed to, oh, say, toward division titles (hello, Braves).
It’s all about mindset. Steinbrenner HAS to win, but the majority of his peers in sports only would LIKE to win. Even during the 1980s and parts of the 1990s, when the Boss used to throw foolish money at big names, his heart always was in the right place.
Now the Yankees are talking about a new Murderers’ Row of Damon, followed by Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui … I mean, wow. Teams are shivering already, and not because of the December breezes.
Commissioner Bud Selig should hand this year’s World Series trophy to Steinbrenner right now — just for his effort, if nothing else.
Permalink | Comments (24) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
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