AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > May > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USThe look of a champion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Tulsa World has some good pictures of Amanda McDowell winning the NCAA tennis championship. They’re part of a slideshow from the whole tournament; McDowell is in photos 105, 106, 115 and 116 at this link.
Incidentally, here’s a look inside the glamorous world of college tennis: Amanda McDowell met her championship match opponent, Baylor’s Zuzana Zemanova, the night before their match. They were doing their laundry at the hotel. Awkward? Not according to McDowell, who said they hit it off.
My colleague Todd Holcomb says he thinks McDowell is the first player who grew up in Georgia to win an NCAA tennis title since Lisa Spain of Moultrie in 1984. McDowell’s achievement is a credit not only to her but to her coaches, including, of course, Bryan Shelton. With last year’s team title and this year’s individual title, Shelton is sure to be highly sought-after. Tech has done well to keep him; it might have to work to continue keeping him.
Permalink | Comments (15) | Post your comment | Categories: tennis
Comments
By old gold engineer
May 28, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
Coach Shelton is setting a pretty high standard for our other coaches. Congratulations to both him and Amanda McDowell.
By Jason
May 28, 2008 4:42 PM | Link to this
If I’m not mistaken Shelton played for Tech so it will not be as hard to keep him as it will be for others to lure him away.
By 31906jacket
May 28, 2008 5:26 PM | Link to this
Great Job Amanda!!! The Yellow Jacket family is proud of you and Coach Shelton.
By Gary
May 28, 2008 8:14 PM | Link to this
Congrats. Not a GT Fan by any means, but I always like to see local kids win Championships that they work hard for and deserve. It shows how well the athletic product in the state of Georgia really is.
By RAMBLE ON!!!
May 28, 2008 11:21 PM | Link to this
Nice job Amanda!
I see 3 Individual and 3 Team National Championship.
Nice resume.
Sorry to hear Kristin Flowers is transferring, why is that Mike?
By Branding Guru
May 29, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this
Congrats to Amanda and Tech!
On another note - For as much that has been made about D-Rad and running the AD as a business - seems like someone would put the GT logo on the uniforms for the highest profile Tech team (based on NCAA Champioships). I looked at the link provided and all the other schools got it right including the prominent placement of the big G. Business/Marketing 101 - PLease promote the values and the success of the Insitute - I don’t think we are that well known -colors alone do not cut it. Do something good put a GT logo on the uniforms. If this takes too much time skip the Big Boi halftime show coordination and order uniforms with a logo. Feels like I graduated from Nike U - I saw the swoosh, but no GT.
By Wrecker1
May 29, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
Amen Brandon. While we’re at it why don’t we get ALL our teams in the correct SCHOOL colors. Bump that blue. I look at some of our teams (baseball, softball, track) and I can’t even tell they’re GEORGIA TECH unless I happen to see a GT on the caps. A yellow jacket on the cap or uniform doesn’t cut it. Anybody can be a yellow jacket especially when they’re not wearing WHITE AND GOLD!!!
By Helluva
May 29, 2008 9:59 PM | Link to this
It’s a shame…. that more comments are not posted here. I went to Tech with both current tennis coaches — Thorne and Shelton — and remember them to be consummate student athletes — excelling on the court and valuing their classwork as well (both were engineering grads as I recall). Tech is fortunate to have them both back coaching.
Amanda McDowell is the pride of GA Tech, Marist, and, should be, of Atlanta and GA. But it is also a shame that the premiere college in Georgia (Emory doesn’t count — it is arguably the southernmost nothern school — nice that Goizueta could pull himself up by his bootstraps and then proceed to donate even more Coke money to a sliver spoon institution like Emory) is largely ignored by residents of the state and, consequently, by this news outlet — the (UG)AJC.
It is truly dismaying that the residents of this state continue to embrace a mediocre institution like UGA all because of football results. It really underscores the poor education results that the state of Georgia has garnered in the past and continues to do so.
They say things go in cycles — how long before frat parties, football, average education, and looking like clones (anyone seen my croakies and my New Balance?) falls out of favor? A fund for the stimulus of original thought should be started for that “university” in Athens…
By STUPID BUG
May 30, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this
Emory does count Helluva, just because it is a better school than yours does not mean you can discount it. They are the premier educational institution in this state, not Tech.
Typical stuck up Tech fan.
By Eagle
May 30, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this
Helluva, First off: Although Emory is comprised largely of northerners, it is still mostly made up of students from the south and was founded based on many southern values. So yes, Emory is the best school in the state of Georgia and is not a completely northern school. I dont understand your reasoning behind your rant about UGA’s academic qualities. It is praised because of its prestigious history, so what if it is not as highly ranked as Tech. This to me sounds like an incredibly sore Tech fan who cannot seem to get over the fact that his alma mater has and is 2nd in the state of Georgia. You must come to your senses and realize that the reason you are not thought of so highly is because of your students. A relatively small percentage of your school cares about how well your sports are when compared to UGA. I am not saying all tech sports are bad, it is a school with most of its athletes from Georgia. By the way, this isn’t a biased opinion considering I am an Emory student. Back on the right track: Congrats to Amanda McDowell on her accomplishments
By College Sports Fan
May 30, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this
I read where Todd Holcomb says he thinks McDowell is the first player who grew up in Georgia to win an NCAA tennis title since Lisa Spain of Moultrie in 1984.
That may well be the truth, however I think Al Parker at UGA won an NCAA tennis title in the mid 1980’s and I do remember that he grew up not too far from Athens. He was a sharp kid who I believe held a 4.0 in Accounting when he graduated.
Perhaps you can check it out and let us know.
By ArkyTech
May 31, 2008 1:50 AM | Link to this
Um, this is nice, but the NCAA Regionals started today. GT won in Athens, the Mutts lost to the David Libscomp Bison or whatever, and the Mutt’s beat writers are doing the GT victory story for the AJC. Anybody else see any storylines here?
By ArkyTech
May 31, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this
OK, we had a live blog from Jacksonville last week for a meaningless game between Tech and Clempson. Now the Jackets are a few miles to the east of Atlanta in the NCAA Regional and there’s not even an updated post, news, notes, etc.
And this is considered a “major newspaper”?????????
It’s no wonder so many Techies have chips on their shoulders for the AJC’s “coverage” of the Jackets.
By Who cares?
May 31, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this
Okay, ArkyTech,
Wait for it…………………………………………………………………………..WHO CARES?!
By Who cares?
May 31, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
yep. WHO CARES?