The Friday Five.....

We're preparing for tomorrow's tilt with Ghana's Black Stars as only true Americans can: listening to this while drinking whiskey and searching the interweb for a Captain America suit. Full on patriotic fervor at the Barrel today. But enough futbol, on to football:

• just wanted to put Joshua Nesbitt's feats of strength into perspective for everyone. UNC LB Bruce Carter is being touted by ESPN's Bruce Feldman as the #1 "workout warrior" in this year's class. Impressive stuff & the 240 pound linebacker is quite the force. In fact, Carter just broke his own record for a LB at Carolina by power cleaning 376#. So let's see, Carolina has a LB that power cleans 376 while our QB power cleans 350 (and could do more but they won't let him). So when Nesbitt busts through the hole & into the second level on the midline, there's a pretty good chance somebody is gonna' get punished by #9 in white & gold. I've always said he looks like a LB.....
• Uh oh for the Fridge. His biggest ally is now at NC State which leaves him, coming off a miserable 2-10 season, hanging in the wind. That's a lot of man just hanging out there exposed.....I'd really like to see Freidgen back doing what he does best: running an offense. Let's just hope it's not for someone we play regularly.....
• Former Jacket Gary Guyton gettin' paid by Belichek & Co. Good for him.....
• An interesting look over at SEC blog Team Speed Kills on average star rankings for recruits at SEC schools. Bama, Florida, & even LSU have cashed in on their recruiting haul in the last ten years with National Championships. Seems our friends in Athens may be squandering some talent if you believe the recruiting services. That could well end up being the issue with Richt's whole "Dream Team" approach this year: if you get those guys you better win & win big or you're setting yourself up for a huge letdown & a disappointed fan base down the line.....
• the AJC's Doug Roberson continues his position-by-position look at Tech with a post on our safeties. If there's one thing we have it's a load of talent at safety. Right now there are five guys in the mix to start for only two slots: Jarrard Tarrant, Cooper Taylor, Mario Edwards, Jemea Thomas & Isaiah Johnson. And that doesn't include highly touted incoming freshman Fred Holton. Any of those five are excellent options. I will tell you that I see Tarrant as more of a nickel back as he's got great ball skills but is not the most physical player. We've got experience in Taylor & Edwards & a ton of raw ability in Thomas & Johnson. However the battle shakes out, we're in very good shape at safety both this year & in the near future.
• In the "back-handed compliments department" noted Mutt homer & AJC recruiting writer Chip Towers opines: "Based on its commitments so far, Tech’s 2011 class would appear to be par with its recruiting of previous years. So far all the Jackets’ commitments are all three-star-rated recruits or less. But all that could change very quickly if the Jackets land some of the targets they’re in on. In addition to five-stars Steward and Grant, Tech already knows it will get a visit this summer from 5-star running back James Wilder Jr. of Tampa. Five-star cornerback Doran Grant of Akron, Ohio, list the Yellow jackets among his favorite. They also lead for four-star DE Stephon Tuitt of Monroe and are in on several other highly-touted prospects. Before it’s over this could be a very non-traditional class for the defending ACC champs." (my highlight). So if we ever get ANY talent at all we might be dangerous.........[sarcasm button off]
• In the "Kiss of Death" category, sweet Heather says we're going to beat Georgia up in Athens this season. I appreciate her flawed logic (Murray will be seasoned after 10 games) but it will come down to much more than just our superiority at QB. Let's hope she's right. We're really doomed if Lee Corso picks us.......
• And while we're speaking of Heather, she thinks Josh Nesbitt is the 8th best player in the ACC this year. It's a stretch to think there are seven better players in the ACC this year than Joshua. There's certainly no one more important to his team. Keep doubting.....
• Finally, while we'd like to go back to the Orange Bowl this year (particularly now that it is the Reese's Orange Bowl) we have to think a trip to El Paso would be at the very least interesting. Oh, snap, the Hyundai Sun Bowl!!!! We could even take the Hyundai over to Ciudad Juarez & take in a few drug killings & general mayhem. That right there is a bowl trip......A tip of the cap to Senor Swofford & the ACC for lining up that affiliation.......

Enjoy the weekend & remember, USA, USA, USA.......and to our Ghanian friends.....we're comin' for you, bitches........