Hollywood bias against Tech
by BirdGT on Apr 12, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
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PrintI enjoy watching movies. I particularly like watching the Oscar winning movies just to see what all the hub-bub is about. So I sat down to watch the Blindside with my girlfriend. Things are going well. The movie isn't too bad. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but basically it was less of a sports movie and more of a feel-good movie.
Anyways, we get to about the half way point and I hear "Georgia Tech" called out in the background noise during a scene in the main family's living room. The camera pans around and I see Luke Schenscher staring at me from the living room television. After a quick rewind session, which the g/f didn't approve of, I see that Tech is playing at uga. It's the 2003 game that saw #3 Tech lose in double OT to the remnants of the Jim Harrick Era. Miami, Tennessee, Clemson, Auburn, LSU, Georgie, Arkansas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State got face time as their recruiters visited the protagonist during recruiting visits... Georgia Tech, in typical Hollywood fashion, was portrayed in a losing effort.
Let's recap Georgia Tech in recent sports-pop culture history:
1993, The Program - James Caan coaches the ESU Timberwolves. In the final regular season game, the ESU Timberwolves are matched up with Georgia Tech. Tech leads 10-0 at the half but Caan pulls an ace out of his sleeve against Bill Lewis' hapless bunch. He puts his star QB played by Craig Scheffer back in the game. ESU rallies and defeats the villainous Yellow Jackets.
1993, Rudy - Based in the 1975 season, Rudy Ruettiger finally gets to play football after toiling away for years at Holy Cross academically and as a scrub on Notre Dame's practice squad. Rudy's final and only opportunity to play, of course, was against Georgia Tech. He notches his only statistic, a sack against Georgia Tech's Rudy Allen.
2002, Drumline - There are way too many Tech references in this movie. First off, a ton of the scenes are shot in the saddest place in the world - the GT library. Second, one of the main characters in the movie calls out Tech's drumline with the quote, "I could've been a P1 at Tech or UGA in a minute..." Not only is the Tech library falsely portrayed as a place to meet women in the movie (TRIPLE BURN) but the movie features the least musically talented drumline ever assembled and they actually try to talk smack about our marching band. Haters.
2004, Scrubs - John Ritter played the main character's father in the show. When Ritter died in real life, they paid memorial to Ritter with an episode in the middle of Season 4 called My Cake. During My Cake, the Scrubs characters go about easing their mental anguish by watching the 1999 Tech-Duke game. The only play shown is Spencer Romine getting tackled on a scramble. Based on the dialogue of the doctors watching the game, they're cheering against Tech and for Duke.
2009, The Blind Side - The only basketball game footage shown throughout the whole movie is a game where Georgia Tech loses to Georgie in double OT. There must be a uga alum hidden somewhere in the cast and crew of this flick.
The conspiracy continues.
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I thought the game in the background
was the 2005 game at ugag where the refs screwed us and it was our first loss of he season in double OT
corrected it
…
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
In some cases, like Rudy (and Drumline too?), we are the badass motherfuckers who were upset. Nothing wrong with being the badass motherfuckers. Eh; upsets happen. That’s what makes compelling story.
'75 Rudy game was a matchup of two 6-2 football teams...
I think we were definitely unlucky in Rudy as that was a historical account. The Program, however, definitely chose us for our recognizable name and logos.
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Devil's Advocate
Not sports-related at all, but there’s that one hot broad from GT who Al Pacino introduces Keanu Reeves to; “Babs is from Georgia Tech. Your neck of the woods.”
Of course, she was hot enough that the scene was unrealistic.
interesting point
but not quite a sports reference…
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Tech recruited Smash Williams in Friday Night Lights
Smash had Tech ranked in the tier right below TMU and Bama, his top two choices.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
I always thought
you (Ted) were a fan of Gilmore Girls. I heard you and Jose would stay up late on Tuesday nights to watch it together.
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
It's possible I am not remembering it accurately,
but there’s a scene in Knute Rockne, All American (1940) that shows the Notre Dame team triumphantly getting off a train after a stunning road upset over Georgia Tech. There’s no game footage, but the thought is there.
Just because we are paranoid . . .
doesn’t mean we aren’t justified in wanting more positive representations of Tech in the movies. These things seem to go in waves. The trend in recent years seems to be decidedly against portraying Tech in a positive way. I’ m still looking for that Clark Gable clip . . .
by Atlanta's original team on Apr 12, 2010 4:21 PM EDT reply actions
maybe someone will
eventually make the Mario West story of walk on to D-I starter to Harlem Globetrotters to NBA starter
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Let's break this thing down
Rudy’s a true story, so we can’t do anything about that. Drumline is based in Atlanta, so of course Nick Cannon takes a shot, though if he were up on his culture he’d go home every night and study film of the Budweiser song. The main character on Scrubs hates sports, so of course he’s a Duke fan.
The Program is the most interesting one … IMDB says it was filmed in 1992, which means it was probably conceived of in 1991, right after Tech won the national title. They couldn’t go with Miami, even though Miami won it in 91, 89, and 87, because the Program is freaking ABOUT Miami — roid rage, barfights, drugs, lady-beatin’, a quarterback named Joe KANE. We’ll take this one as a giant compliment — Hollywood thought of us as both (A) end boss material AND (B) the anti-Hurricanes.
The one that bugs me is the Blind Side. The whole thing is of course an enormous, shadowy ESPN/BCS conspiracy to puff up the SEC, the conference where every poor kid gets a chance to be a star and white people get to buy studs for their favorite colleges. (Remember the part where Bobby Petrino teaches Michael Oher’s cousins how to fly fish?) In their effort to lionize the SEC, they subconsciously bombard the viewer with non-representative, out of context footage of SEC basketball. What better way to promote the SEC than to show one of its worse teams beating an ACC team? Thinking back on the scene, I just caught myself daydreaming about the glory and tradition of SEC basketball! Subliminal imagery at its most devious.
Just you wait — soon enough we’ll get to see The CPJ Story, starring either the army guy from Avatar or Tom Lister, Jr.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
I think the weirder part
about Scrubs is how far removed whoever came up with that scene was from sports. The three guys watching the Tech game were wearing Detroit Red Wings jerseys… However, the 1999 Duke was a ridiculous shootout.
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Well I watched the episode.
Dad dies, brothers feel bad, it’s time to “be men and drink beer”
by Winfield Featherston on Apr 12, 2010 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Apparently Tom Lister, Jr was also in some Star Trek movies.
Sorry for accidental stereotyping. I only knew him as Deebo from Friday.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
100% true
Deebo was seen working out on campus at the AA earlier this year. Maybe it’s already in the works
by Yellow Jackette on Apr 13, 2010 8:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Rudy is true only in part
Notre Dame is portrayed as a national powerhouse looking for an undefeated season and Tech is portrayed as a national power and the last stumbling block in their quest. What I thought was missing in the dialogue was the fact that Tech had beaten Notre Dame recently ( I think it was the previous year) and that would have made the rest of the story line more credible.
by Atlanta's original team on Apr 13, 2010 7:54 AM EDT up reply actions
dont forget about
John Wayne whistling Ramblin Reck….
and on a side not… Rudy was offsides
by The_GT_LineageX11 on Apr 12, 2010 7:30 PM EDT reply actions
There was this early '80's soft core porn flick
that had one guy telling another guy that only Football players and Sluts went to Georgia Tech. I remember seeing it at the Frat House in 1982 (we were one of the first with Playboy on cable).
It was about the same time as Koo Stark’s softcore porn flick (she was Prince Andrew’s squeeze).
College-the best 4 years of your life.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Apr 12, 2010 8:06 PM EDT reply actions
Ok guys blindside thought. No one can tell we lost that game without looking it up. I saw that it was tech and thought that was cool. I was unable to identify uga without reading this. To the average viewer it’s just gt playing basketball and we are recognizable which I think is pretty cool
by TCUFAN28 on Apr 12, 2010 8:44 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Yes
If it’s random, it’s harmless. If it’s actually the game that was on tv when that event was actually taking place, then that’s even more interesting. If someone went and picked out this game as background filler, then you’d have to admit there’s something fishy.
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Winfield just brought up an uppercut and right hook to this theory
Legend of Bagger Vance – 2000
Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius – 2004
Two excellent portrayals of Bobby Jones and numerous mentions of Georgia Tech (despite the fact that Matt Damon’s character stole BJ’s self-called stroke story).
The Perfect Car: 201 cubic inches, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Recent watched both of those
Not bad at all, on either one. The way Charlize Theron says “Gawgia Tech”, mmm yes please.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
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