AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 27
Monday, November 27, 2006
Whom was Ball trying to kid?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I wouldn’t normally spend a lot of time looking back on a game that was played two days earlier, especially with a conference championship game coming up, but … sorry; I’m having a hard time digesting the Tech-Georgia game.
Tashard Choice rushed for 148 yards, Tech allowed a modest 84 rushing yards, a palatable 171 passing yards, dominated in special teams (44.6-yard punting average to 27.7, added a 53-yard kickoff return, made two field goals while Ely-Kelso missed one) — and still the Jackets lost.
That doesn’t happen often unless something strange takes place, like a whopping turnover edge (3-1 deficit’s not exactly whopping, but it sure is close), the other team returns a turnover for a score (happened), or the one primary element that I haven’t listed is drastically askew.
It was. Reggie Ball played as poorly as I can imagine a D-I quarterback playing against a worthy opponent and still have his team in the game. All three turnovers were his, even though I’m still not getting the fumble Georgia returned for the touchdown (the ball might’ve still been loose under that pile; I’m not sure).
To be fair, dropped passes were a problem. James Johnson dropped a long one down each sideline, including a ball on Tech’s last possession that was thrown, if not perfectly, then darn close. That play alone would’ve moved Tech to roughly midfield.
But there were a lot of bad throws, including the would-be touchdown to Calvin Johnson when he had to twist around just to get his hands on it, even though it was a short throw. A lot times, he catches that ball, but Oliver whacked him or the ball to break it up.
Decisions with the ball, whether trying to run, or run to gain time to pass, were poor throughout.
And although it doesn’t have anything to do with the game itself, Reggie’s countenance with the media afterward was ghastly. To suggest that Georgia is not a rival, that it just another game, was atrocious. Reggie said that all that rivalry stuff is the media’s doing.
Reggie, that game’s been determined to be a rivalry by thousands and thousands of players, fans, coaches and media members in scores of games over many years pre-dating your arrival on Earth by many decades. It is not a figment of anyone’s imagination. To dismiss the rivalry label in such a cavalier notion does a disservice to teammates, not to mention players on the other team, fans, coaches and both institutions.
You’re privileged to be on scholarship, and play in a game many dream of but cannot. To say that it’s not different than playing against a bunch of old ladies in a game of flag football, as you did, is again, bone-headed.
That Reggie did all this while peppering his comments with “dog” was offensive. Reggie has been characterized a lot of ways while at Tech, and there’s no denying that he’s taken a heap of critical analysis. But he hasn’t helped himself with his mouth, on or off the field.
In reality, Reggie knows the Georgia game is not just another game, and he played like it, which is to say he pressed. Chan Gailey was very tight-lipped after that game, figuratively and literally. He admitted that Reggie didn’t play as well as he’s played in some past games. Asked if he thought his quarterback pressed because this was a big game, Chan said, “I think he competes hard in most every game, and in big games he really competes extra hard.”
It doesn’t take a linguistics expert to read between the lines. Reggie pushed because of the nature of the game. The results were absolutely disastrous.
I was wrong in a post-game blog in saying the game wasn’t as close as the score. It was. That’s the downside of being asked to provide instant analysis.
I hope I’m wrong about this: Whether you believe it or not, Reggie has taken on a greater leadership role this season in the locker room, and I don’t know if he’s still in a position to pull that off.
His preseason sermons, some dating back to last winter and spring, have provided a directional arrow of sorts. Even after that game, in a totally disconsolate locker room, he was allegedly telling teammates to blow off the Georgia game because Tech has the more important ACC title game coming up.
Maybe the timing of that particular speech was wrong. Maybe it was right.
But isn’t it possible to wonder whether it was coming from the wrong messenger? No matter what teammates think of Reggie’s performance on the field, his actions off of it both while blowing the Georgia game off in the guise of getting ready for the next game and then suggesting it was just another game — and one in which the other players simply made more plays — was inauthentic.
How effective can a leader be when he’s made the egregious mistake of becoming the one thing that can render all else almost weightless — disingenuous?
