Bowl Games, Journalists & the Same Old Question.....

The final installment of the CPJ interview at ACC Sports Journal. Great stuff here:

On the doubters:

"The big mantra now is the bowl game. We can’t win a bowl game, because the opponent gets extra time to prepare. You’re better off not even responding. I want to say, “What about the three bowl games you lost in a row before I got here? Was that because of extra time?” And those weren’t the Orange Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Bowl. I got a news flash for you: If you’re playing in the Orange Bowl, you’re playing against a good team. You’re not getting the s**t beat out of you by Fresno in Boise." Zing.....first time CPJ has ever really taken a shot at Gailey & Co.

"It’s never going to change. I’ve realized that as I’ve gotten older, that you’re never going to convince some people."

"Iowa didn’t do anything different than anybody else in the Orange Bowl. We missed some reads, they whipped our tails up front, and they just beat us. We didn’t make any plays, and they did. And we still had a chance in the fourth quarter. And oh, by the way, Iowa didn’t lose a game last year when they had their quarterback. It wasn’t like we rolled in there and lost to New Mexico State or somebody."

On the ACC vs. SEC:

"The problem with the league is there hasn’t been a marquee team, a top-five team consistently. To me, that’s the difference between the perceptions of the ACC and the SEC.

If you look at the head-to-head records, I think the ACC is on top. But we have not had a team that was on the same level as the Alabama, Florida, LSU national championship teams. Top to bottom, there’s not a lot of difference. If you look at the NFL draft the last 10 years, the ACC has had more guys taken in the first round than the SEC. But the perception wouldn’t be that.

Until you have a national championship team or a team that is predominately top 10, that’s the way it’s going to be." All we lack is that elite team. Hell, the ACC Coastal is infinitely tougher this year than the SEC East.....

And I promise you, he was never betting on the ponies at the track.....not with his competitive nature.......