Oh boy. It's our turn to host the ACC Roundtable. While we are busy compiling answers and suffering through insults from the other bloggers, FTRS reader ChrisinIndy took a shot at our questions. Look for a Roundtable Roundup Thursday morning. As more responses come in we will blatantly copy Block-C and update the list from around the ACC.
From Old Virginia | Testudo Times | College Game Balls | Tomahawk Nation
Jim Young, ACC Sports Journal | Block-C | BCInterruption
Yet Another NCSU Blog | Tar Heel Mania | On the B.Rink | Gobbler Country
1. Alright fellas, this is your turn to apologize to the Boston College Eagles who went to Hell and back and have now arrived as the 3rd team for the ACC (and only team in the Atlantic) to be bowl eligible. You know you were snickering in the preseason. Also, give a high five to Mark Herzlich for finishing his last treatment of chemo.
Apologize? Apologize to a team that beat Northeastern, Kent State, and Central Michigan on their way to a 6-3 record? C'mon, man. It's really hard for me to apologize to anybody that lost to VPI by 34 and the Domers at all, but I guess I'd buy them a beer and a pat on the back for beating FSU. The fact that they're leading the Atlantic is kinda like Crash Davis hitting the most homers in the minors. Cool stat, but in the long run...it doesn't mean a whole lot. Seriously, Herzlich is a great story and we wish him well in his return. It's hard to not pull for a guy like that.
2. An Orange Bowl victory over a Boise/ TCU or an Orange Bowl victory over a Penn State/ Cincy team - which means more for the conference? Is there even a difference?
Wow...that's a great question. Look, like most Tech people, I'm a numbers guy. The average Strength of Schedule of TCU, Blue Turf U, and Cincy is 56th (GT is 30th). Let's face it, three of the four are overrated (clap clap clap clap...clap clap) teams that are successful due to quirky offenses and weaker than average schedules. A huge part of me wants to beat all three so that we can prove how easy they had it all year....but a bigger part of me wants to beat PSU so that we can all laugh when we beat JoPa with the offense that he thought up in 1946.
Verdict: Penn State. The big 10 sucks and it needs to be exposed to the world.
3. Enough with the CJ Spillers, the Christian Ponders, and the Jacory Harrises. We wanna talk defense. Who is the defensive POTY thus far in the ACC?
Kam Chancellor, hands down. Psyche! He only wins Crybaby of the Year for bitching about non-existent chop blocks while leading his team to consecutive losses and one of the worst conference meltdowns in recent memory.
The easy choice here is to pick Luke Kuechl from BC for leading the conference with 94 total tackles as a freshman. However, I like guys that lead multiple categories. One guy leads the conference in sacks, tackles for loss, and being on the wrong end of double teams--our own
Derrick Morgan. Don't look at me like that. I'm not being a GT homer--the numbers don't lie. We all know that the guy gets double teamed on almost every pass play and he is still leading the conference by a sack and a half. On top of that, he has 12.5 tackles for loss this year, 11 of which were solo, and won the Lott Trophy player of the week after the Clemson game.
4. Recently, Bird
compared the Atlantic to the Big 12 North.Is this a fair comparison? The Coastal is currently 8-2 against the Atlantic. There are still 8 interdivision games left. Can the Atlantic redeem itself this season?
Jesus, this is like going to UGA and being forced to kiss either your sister or your mom. Both are equally as harrowing (and arousing for UGAy readers). Let's face it, they're both really bad. If you examine both sub-conferences in depth, you find:
ACC Atlantic: Losses to Notre Dame, Baylor (Big 12 South), Middle Tennessee, Rutgers, Navy, and close calls to Jax State and James Madison
Big XII North: Losses to Toledo, Louisiana-Lafayette, UCLA, West Virginia, Houston, and Arkansas.
Looking at the losses, it would seem that the Big XII North is better. However, when I saw the below quote on the Big XII website, I changed my mind.
The following should NOT be used in text when referencing the Big 12:
Big XII
Big Twelve
Anyone who is that self-important is worse than anyone in the ACC, including Miami.
5. Tailgating is essential to all things football. In Atlanta, the tailgating game of choice is cornhole. What is your game of choice to pass the time?
Not gonna lie, Cornhole is some fun stuff. The only way I can improve on that is to throw in the 'Loser Must' bet. In this variation, the losing team must imbibe a shot of the worst liquor that happens to be at hand, i.e. MD 20/20, Canadian Club, or Lord Calvert. It's amazing how drinking a really bad whisky makes you throw better. Or puke, whichever comes first.
6. Let's cut to the chase. There are two kinds of people: sheep and sharks. Sharks are winners and they don't look back 'cause they don't have necks. Necks are for sheep. Is your team full of sharks or is your team full of sheep?
When you run the Wreckbone, you can't look anywhere but straight ahead. Otherwise, you miss your read and pitch it to some free safety who thinks he knew the play before the snap because he saw the B-back's eye twitch. Sheep look behind them all the time because they're worried that something might be sneaking up on 'em. That's not happening in Atlanta. Look, we may run the option, but this ain't your daddy's GT anymore. We don't look back and we don't get sheared.
7. Create a cocktail in the spirit of your school and explain it to us. Non-edible ingredients are allowed and encouraged.
GT has directions for making whisky in our fight song, so we will start with a *generous* portion of Maker's Mark. Freeze a little of
this inside some ice cubes so that the flavor soaks in slowly, add in about four shots of
this, and a squeeze of
this. Just to make it better, use
this as a coaster.
