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Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Honesty’s Gailey’s strong suit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Chan Gailey is an unappreciated treasure at Georgia Tech for many reasons. Those trips to bowl games after each of his five seasons with the Yellow Jackets. Taking what has become a deceptively solid football program to the ACC championship game last year. A stint in the NFL, where 11 of the 14 seasons he was a coach of any kind in the league concluded in the playoffs.
Even so, the primary reason why those in the Tech Nation should cherish Gailey more than they do is his character.
There is his straightforward tongue, for instance. Few of his peers would ignore the land mines surrounding the following questions and answer them without fear of blowing up.
Given your lengthy flirtation earlier this year with becoming the head guy of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Miami Dolphins, do recruits and their parents ask you about that? If they do, what do you tell them? And how long will you be with the Jackets, by the way?
“All of that comes up, and I tell them that, in this day and age, nothing is guaranteed,” Gailey, 55, said without hesitation behind his meticulously organized desk. Outside the window in his office, you can see the whole field at Bobby Dodd Stadium. That’s where Gailey may or may not be in 2010, when his Tech contract is slated to expire.
Added Gailey, “I tell [recruits and their parents] straight up that, if there is somebody out there next year [in the NFL] that offers me an exorbitant amount of money and it’s a good owner and good people, I’m going to talk to them. That doesn’t mean I’m going, but I’m probably going to talk to them.
“I’ve got a great job, and I love it here, and I’d love to retire here. That’s what I’d like to do, but you can’t say ‘never’ in this business.”
Such honesty must be a requirement for those from Americus, Ga. Dan Reeves also is as blunt as they come, and he once coached Gailey in Little League. Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich isn’t from Americus, but the Monaca, Pa., native was equally blunt when he said he hasn’t a problem with any of Gailey’s answers to those questions.
Then again, Radakovich shouldn’t. It is better to have the anti-Nick Saban, as in somebody who will tell you what he actually believes instead of what he figures you wish to hear for the moment.
“What’s happening in our business is that if you’re not that honest, then at some point and time, people will come back and give you a little bit of the hypocrite side,” Radakovich said. “There are opportunities that surface for people in our athletics department. There could be a better circumstance out there for them and their families. But here’s the bigger issue: Just as we ask of our student-athletes, we ask of our coaches and others that, while you’re here, you give us 100 percent effort, and you make us better every day.”
Exhibit A: Gailey.
Courtesy of steady recruiting by Gailey’s regime, the Jackets will return eight starters from a defense led by accomplished coordinator Jon Tenuta. They’ll also have seven holdovers on offense, including ACC rushing leader Tashard Choice. Plus, they’ll have Taylor Bennett replacing the erratic Reggie Ball at quarterback.
Here’s something else: The old days of the Jackets battling Northwestern, Stanford and Vanderbilt for recruits have been replaced by Jonathan Dwyer bringing his running to Tech instead of Florida and by coveted defensive end Jason Peters choosing Tech over hometown LSU.
According to most recruiting services, the Jackets’ 2007 class ranked among the nation’s elite, and maybe at the top of the ACC. Whether Gailey will be around to see it through is another story.
“Out of respect for the Wayne Huizengas and the Dan Rooneys, if they call you, you’ve got to talk to them,” said Gailey, adding that he hasn’t received many angry e-mails, calls or looks from Tech fans since his old bosses with the Steelers and Dolphins flew him to their towns for those job interviews. Gailey smiled, saying, “The majority of Tech people are very entrepreneurial. They understand that, if somebody is willing to give you an outstanding business deal, you need to talk to them.”
Then Gailey showed his devout Christian side, saying, “I’m one of those that firmly believes you are where you’re supposed to be. I’m supposed to be at Georgia Tech right now. Maybe I don’t know all the reasons, but I’m sure they’ll become obvious as time goes on.”
It’s already obvious: Gailey is supposed to keep Tech vibrant and rising.
Which he has.
Permalink | Comments (49) | Categories: Tech / ACC, Terence Moore
Don’t let fans run amuck
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
It took a while, but leagues, conferences and teams have begun to understand how to stifle abusive fans: Kick ‘em out forever.
Or at least try.
We’ve had two wonderful examples of the way this should work this week. For instance: The bosses at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama just slapped a permanent ban on 14 creeps who were arrested for participating in the massive beer-can pelting of Jeff Gordon’s car after he won Sunday’s race.
Now, you know and I know what’s going to happen. Many of those creeps will have their buddies buy tickets for them. Those creeps realize Talladega track officials don’t have the manpower or the time to monitor everybody who enters the gates - not with more than 160,000 or so folks attending an average race.
It’s a start, though. The same goes for New York Mets officials who just banned a creep from Shea Stadium for three years. During a game last month against the Braves, that creep shined a high-powered flashlight at the eyes of Braves Tim Hudson and Edgar Renteria. And now that creep will spend 15 days in jail, along with receiving that ban.
Here’s another suggestion: Teams should place mug shots of these creeps around their stadiums and ticket outlets.
Those creeps still might not get the message, but potential creeps eventually will.
Permalink | Comments (52) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
These Braves appear built to take punch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Brian McCann stuck his glove in front of a swinging bat and left soon after with a throbbing hand. Not good.
Edgar Renteria took a pregnant turn around first base with two outs and got trapped in a rundown, prompting Craig Wilson to inch off the bag at third and eventually get smothered between third and home. Not smart.
Mark Redman, who has devolved into this rotation’s festering boil, was eradicated after 54 pitches in 1-2/3 innings, which generally is not considered a good nine-inning pace, unless you’re into 292-pitch games. And losses.
This must have been what John Smoltz was talking about earlier Tuesday when he said, “We’re going to look ugly at times this season.”
The Braves’ game against Philadelphia on Tuesday night qualified as a gentle reminder that even if it’s not 2006 all over again, it’s certainly not 1995, either.
But there is something different about this team, “a uniqueness,” as Smoltz said. “It’s not scared. It’s not overconfident. It’s just there.”
There, in first place. That doesn’t mean a lot on May 2. But there’s no reason to think the Braves are going away. They’re 8-3 against New York and Philadelphia, even after Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to the Phillies. Where are they going?
If the Braves can start 16-10 — a start they’ve equaled only once since 2001 — when significant things go wrong, what happens when more things go right?
They have lost a starter, Mike Hampton. Regardless of whether you expected Hampton to win seven games or 10 or 15, he was this team’s projected third starter. Now, the young Chuck James is third behind Smoltz and Tim Hudson, and they’re followed by Kyle Davies (who can be good, in theory) and Redman (who can be good, perhaps in the fast-food industry).
Redman’s ERA through five starts: 10.62. If he gets a sixth start, it confirms he has pictures.
The No. 1 closer, Bob Wickman, is on the disabled list with a bad back. Having a pudgy closer on the DL with a bad back is never a good sign, particularly a month into the season. Bad backs seldom go away.
The first left-field platoon system blew up. The team gave up on Ryan Langerhans and traded him to Oakland for cash and two parking attendants.
McCann got hit on the hand. His backup, Brayan Pena, got hit in the head and, according to manager Bobby Cox, “He didn’t know where he was for a while.”
He’s where they are: In first place.
At some point, the Braves are going to need help at the back end of the rotation. They might be able to survive the Wickman thing, given the two safety nets under him, Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez.
McCann: The X-rays were negative. Of course. He has a bruised left ring finger, not multiple fractures, which could’ve been the case, after getting hit on the hand by Rod Barajas (the catcher’s interference in the second loaded the bases and led to a three-run inning). So the bottom didn’t fall out — again.
“You can get very optimistic or very pessimistic based on [what’s happened],” Smoltz said. “But last year there wasn’t a lot of optimism. There were just glaring things. You could deflect it all you wanted, but we just weren’t good enough. Now, a closer goes down, but we’ve got a backup. A couple of starters struggle, but we’ve got guys at the top who can carry us for a while.
“We’re just getting by in some areas. But we are getting by.”
Kelly Johnson, the new leadoff man, was hitting .150 in the first 11 games. He hit .478 in the next 13. He’s strong at second base, even if his manager, Bobby Cox, might be prone to hyperbole. Cox: “He’s playing defense as good as I’ve ever seen. I’m talking Mazeroski, Hubbard, Lemke.” (Johnson appreciates the comparison. So do Glenn Hubbard and Mark Lemke.)
Yes, they can look bad. But after taking an early 3-0 lead, it really was only another Redman implosion that separated them from victory.
Jeff Francoeur, who’s suddenly hitting for average, believes the team “felt a little revived” in the spring.
“Guys were used to doing everything businesslike,” he said. “Then we went through an awful year — well, awful for us. But it’s been nice so far.”
Redman’s starts, notwithstanding.
Permalink | Comments (41) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Jeff Schultz
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