AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 08 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBad memories from Duke ‘03
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was at the Duke game in 2003 when we lost 41-17.
I’d just bought a new Jeep and was looking for a good reason for a roadtrip in my new wheels. Duke didn’t sound like a compelling opponent, but the Blue Devils did provide a destination. So I grabbed one of my old college buddies (and his new girlfriend) and we hopped in the Jeep and headed to Durham.
What a miserable … MISERABLE … road trip. Talk about a long drive home. I never want to do that again. There was some debate about whether the new Jeep or the new girl was the jinx on that trip. Surely we’d angered the football Gods in some way and the loss to Duke was a sign of some sort.
Today, the Jeep has about 60k miles on it and my buddy has married the girlfriend … so both are still around. We’re not taking either to Durham for a 2007 replay of the 2003 debacle though. Nope…not gonna do it.
Duke 2007
There’s really not alot to talk about here. We have to beat Duke … period.
There is no need to compare units or stats or records. We have to beat Duke.
‘Nuff said!
Tech ‘Fans’
I’ve come to the conclusion that we have one of the shakiest fan bases in collegiate sports. There’s no resolution, there’s no fortitude, there’s no tenacity in a fan base that leaves a stadium in the third quarter of a game. Boo’ing a public service announcement? You have to be kidding me. It was an embarassment.
Some of our top recruits, a national television audience, and the national media saw a pathetic GT fan base that was willing to give up and leave early while their team was still on the field.
Winning Out
As I said in my earlier blog … Coach Gailey is in a position where he needs to win out. I stand by that statement and I’m fervently hoping that he’s able to do it. An 8-4 record with a win over UGA and a decent bowl game sets our program up to potentially string back to back 9 win seasons together.
If Chan can secure 8+ wins this season there is no way he’s asked to step down or pushed out the door. You simply don’t fire a coach who guides a team to 8-9 wins a season in spite of hurdles like probation, injury, and poor fan support.
If this staff can stay together and weather the probation period while also improving on the recruiting trail … then the future is bright, regardless of how dark and dismal the recent losses have been.
But again … all of my hopes and expectations will be dashed and moot if we lose one or more of the next three games.
We have to get to 8-4 if we’re going to get a chance at that ninth win!
Gailey has to deliver.
Hoops
Looking at the schedule, we have a brutal stretch starting 11/27 that will see us on the road at Indiana and Vandy before returning home to host Kansas on 12/18. We’re going to know a lot about our basketball team before Christmas rolls around.
Comments
By RAMBLE ON!
November 8, 2007 10:48 PM | Link to this
Chris I too made that road trip to Duke. You are correct on the fan base as well. I didn’t boo Chan, I was gone. I had to leave, having keep my original season tickets and not improve seats to stay together with other holders, we are now in the visters section (Nice!). Too much J.D. and VT fans around, things were getting out of hand. The fleabag game will be ugly. I wouldn’t have booed Chan though. He’s not going to win out. He can’t beat the fleabags because he treats it as just another game. Maybe this year he will, since his job will be riding on it. If only we would, it would change all these ‘fans’ attitude. I didn’t want to have to change coaches again, looks like we have to though.
By techster
November 9, 2007 7:47 AM | Link to this
I became a tech fan 1n 1951. The Golden era. It is hard to follow a team for 56 years like a dope addict waiting for his or hers next fix. I have seen several coaches changes, and after every one we would lose seven games or more for multiple year. There is no messiah out there. We have a stadium half the size of most universities we play, and I for one believe given enough patience and time. Chan Gailey will win consistently, if he doesn’t leave in disgust with the whiners and b***. We have a good team, that needs a few more key players to go there. If you are a tech fan then shut up about Chan Gailey and pray for this good man, and to hell with everybody but our yellow jackets
By theDude47
November 9, 2007 9:16 AM | Link to this
I would like to say that I did boo the public service announcement. I did not boo the specific message or players; I booed Chan! The fact was our team was not at all prepared for the game, we were outcoached, and our offense looked like it was still in high school. Our fan base is divided because of Chan and him not being able to beat Georgia. When you lose to your main rival 6 years in a row, fans will not be the least bit happy. Chan has brought in his own players year in and year out and the best we can do is 7-5! (9-5 last year was really a fluke!) The only way to get our fan base back is to fire Gailey and put a quality product back on the field. Our games against UNC and Georgia are going to be ugly. I can’t bring myself to hope that we lose, but if Chan gets fired because of it, I won’t be complaining!
By addicted
November 9, 2007 10:13 AM | Link to this
What can you attribute calling a timeout on the first snap after a 12 day break to? Only answer I can think of is poor coaching. I think that was the tipping point. People had hope before then, but after that it was simply a lot of frustration for everyone involved.
By DK
November 9, 2007 10:14 AM | Link to this
Chan needs to learn how to build a fire under the butts of his players… His teams don’t start games with any sense of urgency.
By Wes King
November 9, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
Chan has simply gotta go. He refuses to change….. his arrogance is our down fall, I’m afraid?
By GT80
November 9, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
I left with 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. I stayed to see one last turnover and got it. And if I had remained I would have booed the picture of Chan on the big screen. Enough is enough.
If Chan wins out and finally beat UGA then of course he stays. But do you really expect that to happen? If so, I’ll be pleasantly surprised and I’ll accept another year of Chan.
By gt45
November 9, 2007 11:59 AM | Link to this
My guess is we stumble with Carolina and beat Ga. That has been the tune all year-beat the teams we’re suppose to lose to, win against the teams we aren’t. It’s been Gailey’s theme. I left late in the third quarter that game, simply because I was too sick to watch anymore. I pull too hard for this school to watch such unpreparedness and lack of fire. I would not have booed, though. A lot can be said about our fans. I don’t know what it would take for a lot of these people to stand up and show some sort of emotion. I believe some don’t even have a pulse. There is nothing wrong with making some sort of noise during the game, but you would have a hard time convincing many of these zombies. I actually overheard someone call me a redneck at one game, because of my constant screaming, and I don’t even chew-anymore! I’m not sorry if I offend them, but I’m usually too hoarse by the third quarter!
By JD
November 9, 2007 12:11 PM | Link to this
I agree with you that GT fans aren’t great. Much as I love the Jackets, it is tough to say we have great fans when they don’t show up for Samford. At least show up for the start of the home opener. As for Chan, if he wins out he has to stay. We can’t send a message to other coaches that we fire those that win - see what happened to Nebraska.
By Wreckin & Thrashin
November 9, 2007 2:11 PM | Link to this
These “bad” fans are sick and tired of Chan the Man and are waiting him to be fired. I hope these “bad” fans don’t buy tickets next year if Chan is around and send a message to Radakovich.
By old gold engineer
November 9, 2007 3:09 PM | Link to this
I was there to the bitter end last Thursday and had a rather miserable 3 1/2 hour ride home. I don’t know if it was received by anyone that can do anything about it, but I think the fans sent a very clear message regarding their disappointment with the way the game turned out. Maybe the message will trickle down to the Head Coach that the fans (the people that pay the bills) are expecting better results and he better figure out some different ways to do things. I would suggest starting with demanding better play from the QB. If Bennett can not get it done, then give Booker, Manley, Nesbitt etc. a chance.
I agree that Coach Gailey needs to deliver wins in the remaining games. Can the team win them all? Absolutely! Will they? I wouldn’t bet on it.
By Blue Fox
November 9, 2007 3:52 PM | Link to this
Gailey’s initial failings (lousy recruiting, calling the plays, disregarding players’ academics, etc.) have been corrected. If you think Tech is going to absorb the ~$3.6M to buy out the last 3 years of his contract, forget it. Tech’s NEVER paid off but one coach (Bobby Cremins), and that was a no-brain case. One thing is certain: if Bill Curry had been named AD two years ago, Gailey would no longer be coach (see Terrence Moore’s article in today’s AJC).
By old nerd
November 9, 2007 4:04 PM | Link to this
things at tech will change. pathos is not compensated enough to sustain itself.
By Old Guard
November 9, 2007 4:11 PM | Link to this
This talk of “weak fan base” is ridiculous. The thing that distinguishes fans is not some genetic quality - it’s the factors surrounding the program, over time, that reinforce either loyal or not-so-loyal behavior. Period. That said, Tech fans didn’t show a dark/evil side when Gailey’s image was booed the other night - they simply reacted to year after year of inconsistent, and at times downright embarrasing, results. Let’s don’t forget that Chan led the effort that resulted in the worst loss in the series history to UGA (and five, going on six straight to the Dawgs), the worst bowl loss in the school’s history, the loss to Duke referenced in the story, and on and on. In short, for every quality win his teams have produced, there has been a sorry loss to offset it.
If Gailey loses to Georgia again, the number of fans who feel anger toward the Athletic Department will only grow. Gailey needs to be fired, and Dave Braine sued.
By CW
November 9, 2007 4:52 PM | Link to this
BAD FANS? Are you kidding me? We haven’t fielded a decent QB since George Godsey graduated AND WE’RE BAD FANS. Our team beats a ranked team one week and then breaks Duke’s 30 game conference losing streak the next week, AND WE’RE BAD FANS? We haven’t beaten Georgia in six years AND WE’RE BAD FANS? Calvin Johnson is the best player in CFB last year and he goes a couple games without a catch AND WE’RE BAD FANS? Our team doesn’t get in the game against UVa and MD until the 3rd quarter AND WE’RE BAD FANS.
Go ask George O’Leary, Bobby Ross and Ralph Friedgen if they think Tech has bad fans. Old Guard has it right. The problem at Tech is NOT with the fans.
By Gailey Can't Coach
November 9, 2007 10:13 PM | Link to this
Are you kidding me? You get a phone call from your boss or your wife or something Chris Boggs? Or did Chandler Gailey take you out for a steak dinner?
Tech ‘Fans’ - “I’ve come to the conclusion that we have one of the shakiest fan bases in collegiate sports. There’s no resolution, there’s no fortitude, there’s no tenacity in a fan base that leaves a stadium in the third quarter of a game. Boo’ing a public service announcement? You have to be kidding me. It was an embarassment. Some of our top recruits, a national television audience, and the national media saw a pathetic GT fan base that was willing to give up and leave early while their team was still on the field.”
This is from a guy who’s such a DEVOTED TECH FAN that he’s AFRAID to get in his vehicle and drive to the DUKE game BECAUSE of Chandler Gailey’s Crowning Achievement: LEADING GT TO END DUKE’S PREVIOUS WINLESS STREAK!
How DARE you call Tech Fans (those of us who actually read your stuff) an embarrassment?!?! Gailey LOSING to Duke…Gailey LOSING to UGAy EVERY YEAR…Gailey PUNTING AWAY the ACC Championship to Grobe on 4th down with 2 min to play…That P.O.S. game coached by Gailey last Thurs night…THOSE ARE TRUE EMBARRASSMENTS that fans of other schools — Michigan, FLA, USC, even UGAy — would’ve gone APESHITE over YEARS AGO!!
When ANY FANS spend their hard-earned dollars for a sports ticket, they have a right to expect that a competitive team with a competent head coach shows up that aren’t OVERSHADOWED by a Rap Concert at halftime…And they can LEAVE whenever there is no compelling reason to STAY!
Do you really think our top recruits, a national TV audience and the national media actually stuck around to watch Beamer shake Gailey’s hand at the end and say, “Chan, it’s been fun…I’m gonna miss you.”???
Here’s a CLUE - If ANY of our recruits saw that MAULING, Gailey just helped them narrow their decision down to one less school. The TV audience didn’t stick around as long as the fans in the stands…And the “national media”? Well, the ESPN Crew were JOKING about Bennett dressing up as the GAY TELETUBBIE for Halloween…Up until the point where Fowler said, “Well, Georgia Tech got taken to the shed tonight!” Now, exactly WHICH PART of that COMPLETE EMBARRASSMENT that seemed like it would NEVER END is the fault of our “shakiest fan base?” Right, NONE!
You did see the “game” last Thurs night right?? You know, the one you’re all up in arms about now by attacking Tech Fans for their embarrassing behavior?? That’s right…You DID! In fact, YOU PUT YOUR THOUGHTS ONLINE FOR ALL TO SEE…Including our “top recruits” and any Tech Fans still left. Let’s see…I believe I quote you here:
No excuse for this
But after last night…Chan hasn’t left me with a leg to stand on. Any attempt to spin this season’s results would be gold tinted homerism of the highest degree.
I don’t care who is coaching the offense and calling plays…you move the ball and score more than this 2007 team has been doing.
Defensively we’ve taken 2 steps back despite fielding potentially the best defensive line talent we’ve had in a decade and a solid linebacker corps.
They haven’t quit or given up and that speaks to the quality of the young men wearing the uniform. They honestly deserve better from the coaches at this point.
Chan Gailey only really has one option at this point…win out or step aside.
I’m so glad we have you as a Model Tech Fan so you can beat us over the head for not towing the line. So you kept your seat til the bitter end…So you didn’t openly BOO Chandler Gailey and that HORRIBLE SPECTACLE. You WAITED until the next day — after having time to consider your words and actions — and then posted the above online…
Frankly, I’m embarrassed for you and your split personality…SHAKY is the word that comes to mind.
If your next piece has no APOLOGY directed to Tech Fans, then you can add me to the list of those who formerly read your stuff…
By stings to lose
November 10, 2007 8:36 PM | Link to this
I was there in 03 and today… everything was different…Duke could not run today like one guy did in 03. Tech moved the ball today both with the pass and run. Even the weather was changed…it was almost cold today. But it was fun!
By gt guy
November 10, 2007 9:47 PM | Link to this
Gailey Can’t Coach: that was a brilliant post. Everything you said is true.
By yellowblood
November 13, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this
This team has talent and a coaching staff that dosen’t know how to use it which is the problem that UGA has always had. Once again it is proven that who you recruit is not the factor that the coaching stafff is. Just like Bum Phillips used to say about Don Shula ” He can take you’en and beat his’en and then take his’en and beat you’en”.
By Factoid
November 13, 2007 3:11 PM | Link to this
Yeah Yellowblood, and UGA sure does manage to take thereun and beat yourun…what is it now 17 out of the last 21 times? Doesn’t seem to matter about their coaching when it comes to kicking your little sissy azzes now does it?