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Friday, August 4, 2006
Tech AD Radakovich anxious for opener
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
This was the first day on Dan Radakovich’s new job, which began a little over five months ago, when it really begins to count. Football was cranking up. The players were reporting to the Georgia Tech campus. News ferrets were infiltrating the premises. You could feel the electricity in the air. No one was feeling it more than Dan Radakovich himself.
“I wish September the second was tomorrow,” he said, in a voice drenched with enthusiasm.
While Chan Gailey wouldn’t share that ebullience, Sept. 2 will be the most monumental date in his checkered life of college coaching. Notre Dame comes to town. Georgia Tech-Notre Dame will be the main course on the nation’s evening menu, kickoff at 8 o’clock — Notre Dame, projected to be No. l in the nation by a lot of soothsayers. Brady Quinn vs. Reggie Ball. Offhand, it may read like a mismatch, but Reggie looks at it as the launching of his campaign to let America realize who he is.
But, this is Dan Radakovich’s story, and he feels the itch to get on with it. What a break-in day for a fellow on his first job as a Division I-A athletics director. (He’s not allowed to escape it. Each day he enters his office, there’s a reminder on his secretary’s desk: “Teresa Irish.” It is true, that is her name.)
Radakovich (you say it “Rad-uh-KO-vich”) arrived at Georgia Tech in late February, somewhat of a surprise to old-line alumni who greeted the announcement with a clenched-fist mindset. Radakovich never flinched, though he did make his appearance on crutches, result of a recent surgery. He didn’t come without credentials. He has served in college athletics from coast to coast, from Miami to Long Beach, with stops at South Carolina and LSU en route, and along the way been the custodian of staggering budgets.
It was his chance to have his own department, but there was more. “It’s because of where it is, Atlanta, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the glorious history of Georgia Tech,” he said. “This is an oasis. The old is held in high respect, but the institute is on the cutting edge.
“You need to understand you don’t change things in the blink of an eye. Deliberate is the key word. Be cautious. Don’t rush. That’s the reason I’m so looking forward to breaking in with such a big game. I want to see how this works. You don’t have to create passion. The passion is already here. That’s part of what college athletics is, the passion to educate and entertain.”
Radakovich grew up in western Pennsylvania, spawning ground for many a great athlete, quarterback heaven for college recruiters. When he made his choice he never left the territory, it was Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 90 miles from his Aliquippa home. Indiana, Pa., is known mainly as the hometown of the actor James Stewart, “And, the Christmas tree capital of the world,” Radakovich said, and he chuckled.
At Georgia Tech, Radakovich follows in a short line of historic athletics directors, beginning with John Heisman, immortalized by the trophy bearing his name. Next came Bill Alexander, then Bobby Dodd, and in time, Homer Rice. Radakovich follows the embattled Dave Braine, forced out by illness, among other factors.
The new man presents an impressive figure, tall, trim, handsome, amiable, having established all those qualities and residency in the area of east Cobb. He has spent time doing the meeting circuit, “About 50 of them, I’d guess,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people, and there’s more to do. It takes time, and as I said, I’m a deliberate person. I enjoy getting up every morning and going to work.”
Chan Gailey is accustomed to tough openers, Auburn twice and Brigham Young another year. “It’s nothing new to him,” said the boss.
But this is Notre Dame, 33rd time these two have played, first since ‘99, and the eyes of America will be on Bobby Dodd Stadium. But consider this: wherever Radakovich has gone, prosperity ha s followed, or continued. “You’ll never find a man better prepared to become an athtletics director.”
Mike McGee, who employed him at South Carolina, said it.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Furman Bisher, Tech / ACC
Trade of Andruw likely eventually
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The Braves have a decision to make. Chances are, they’ve already made it. Chances are, they won’t trade Andruw Jones — this month. But they might in November, or next July.
Assuming Jones goes nowhere this weekend after being claimed on waivers, the Braves will only have tabled the greater issue. His contract expires after next season. He’s going to cost a fortune to keep — he’s scheduled to make $13.5 million in 2007, and he’s represented by the dreaded Scott Boras — and the Braves are looking like a franchise approaching a crossroads.
It’s one thing to invest so heavily in a player when you’re making the playoffs every blessed year, but the Braves have become a sub-.500 team in a not-very-strong league. They have holes in their rotation and bullpen — both Bob Wickman and Danys Baez are free-agents-to-be — and issues aplenty with their everyday eight.
Is Ryan Langerhans anything more than a fourth outfielder? Is Jeff Francoeur going to learn the strike zone anytime soon? Is Adam LaRoche’s hot streak a sign of real maturity or simply a false spring? Is there a place for Marcus Giles in this infield? Is Willy Aybar the eternal prospect the Dodgers believed him to be or the leadoff-man-of-the-future the Braves insist he is? Is Chipper Jones ever apt to play seven consecutive games without hurting himself?
With so much in flux, could the Braves realistically consider trading their one constant? The answer is yes. If it weren’t, would John Schuerholz even have listened to Boston’s pre-deadline proposal? Wouldn’t he have just said, “Sorry, not for sale”?
Andruw Jones is a proven All-Star. He should have won the MVP last year. He hits for power and patrols center field like nobody since Willie Mays. But Jones, for all his strengths, is not quite Willie Mays. He doesn’t hit .300 (or even .280). He doesn’t steal bases. He’ll turn 30 next spring, and 30, as baseball historians can attest, is a tricky age.
Prevailing wisdom holds that it’s better to trade a player a year too soon than a year too late, but in an age where guys play longer than ever it’s conceivable Jones could have five big years remaining.
Then again, Dale Murphy’s last banner season came when he was 31. Then again, Cincinnati traded Frank Robinson to Baltimore in 1965, Reds’ GM Bill DeWitt claiming Robinson was “an old 30.” The codger won the Triple Crown the next year and remained a pillar of splendid Orioles teams into the 1970s.
The guess here is that Jones will emulate F-Robby more than Murph, but that isn’t to say he’s immovable. The Braves keep letting big names walk away — Glavine, Maddux, Sheffield, Lopez, Drew, Furcal — for nothing. If the Braves come to believe they won’t be able to re-sign Jones, they’ll owe it to their future to try and get something in return.
Say the Braves, the heralded Aybar and their revamped bullpen notwithstanding, miss the playoffs. Wouldn’t November be the time to begin serious talks with some deep-pocketed suitor like the Red Sox, or the Angels, or the White Sox, who have starting pitching galore? (A miffed Jones said Friday he’d veto any trade once he becomes a 10-and-5 man, but he might feel differently when he calms down.) Why wait until next July and put yourself in the position of the Nationals, who wound with nada for Alfonso Soriano?
Assuming Liberty Media indeed buys the team, the Braves will surely have less to spend, not more. Of their six biggest-money guys, five would be difficult to deal: Mike Hampton because he’s hurt; Tim Hudson because nobody is crying for a No. 1 starter with a 5.22 ERA; Edgar Renteria because he makes $10 million but isn’t a real run-producer; Chipper because nobody wants his fat contract; and John Smoltz because you can’t rebuild a rotation by trading your only real starter.
That leaves only Andruw Jones as a legitimate lever for rapid retooling. The time to trade him hasn’t yet arrived, but it might not be far off.
Permalink | Comments (75) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Mark Bradley
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