Fourth Down Bits and Pieces

Our fourth down consultant is back with a few thoughts on Jackets past and now.

Know Your Jackets

I don’t know if anybody besides me realized it or cared, but a few weeks ago, my Detroit Lions won a game. Why should a Barrel of Rum follower care? Because Will Heller (CE ’02) caught a 24 yard pass on 2^nd and 9 with 2:21 left to seal it for the Lions. Matthew Stafford has learned that his only path to success is to utilize all the Jackets he can find. For this reason, he will be successful.

Will Heller came to us from Marist in 1999. High school teammates Hugh Reilly and Kelly Rhino convinced Will to come to Tech. He turned down his only scholarship offer, from Furman, for the possibility of playing for the Yellow Jackets. He made the team as a walk on, played as a true freshman, and also had significant playing time under George O’Leary. Mostly used a blocker in Chan Gailey’s…uh…’offense’; he accumulated 17 career receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown.

After starting his NFL career as an undrafted free agent, Will is now in his seventh season with the league and has missed only 4 games in the last 3-plus seasons. He’s played with Tampa, Miami, and Seattlebefore coming to Detroit this year. By my count, he’s one of 22 Jackets currently in the NFL. In addition, we also have two players in the UFL. And, lest we forget, Kerry Watkins is a 5 time CFL All-Star with theMontreal Alouettes.

Sometimes Atlanta Sports Bias Feels Good

How often have we lamented the fact that the Athens Rough Riders featuring The Ginger Ninja get press bias in the Atlanta media? Under normal conditions, I try to avoid reading or listening to other people’s commentary about Georgia. The Georgia fans that call talk radio are the most insufferable of retarded freak show specimens you’ll find anywhere. But these ain’t normal conditions.

The Rough Riders are having a tough year (two years defensively). Willie Martinez is running the sieve on defense and giving up points by the bushel. Richt is getting heat for not making a mid-season coaching change (which isn’t going to happen by the way).

The offense seems to be getting worse by the game. They’ve lost two straight, and they’re 3-3 for the first time since Ray Goff’s last season. The rednecks are getting restless. Even Damen Evans now has “concerns”. In my commutes so far this week, I have heard the following actual quotes from callers on the radio:

Georgia just don’t have that desire you need to stop those other guys who have that desire.

That coach of ours needs to fire these boys up. That’s what the do at LSU and Bama.

Florida really ain’t got better players than us, 'cept maybe that Tebow kid. We should be a better team. We just don’t got no one to get them motivated.

I’m not sayin’ I want Donnan back, but…. <sorry, I laughed so hard at that point, I missed what came next>

It’s fine if he wants to be a preacher. He just needs to open up a church instead of coach football.

Radio Gold, I tell you. Radio Gold…

An Ass Wipe of a Mascot

There is one thing that annoys me more than the pro-georgia bias in this town. It’s the way people act about that sorry-ass dog breed those retards in Athens picked as a mascot. The English Bulldog is not cute or cuddly. It is the ugliest thing in the canine world. It snores loudly and farts constantly. It overheats and dies quickly. It has an ungodly number of health issues. It ranks along side the bloodhound as one of the dumbest breeds in the world. The difference being that a bloodhound was specifically bred for a useful purpose in service to humans. The bulldog was bred for bull baiting, which makes their lineage about as noble as the pitbull’s.