Technical Tidbits 10/15

Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson has acknowledged that he submitted a few of the penalties called against the Jackets during their Saturday loss against Duke for further review by the ACC. Tech was plagued by penalties during the game, many of which came as a result of questionable calls at key moments for both the offense and defense. The targeting penalty which was called against Corey Griffin seemed to be a good call at first glance, but upon review it did appear that the tackle was a clean one, albeit not the best judgement call from Griffin. As for the incomplete pass to Deandre Smelter, I had no question in my mind when the play happened that it was an incomplete pass. I was honestly surprised when people began booing and it went upstairs for review just because the ball, from my viewpoint at least, clearly hit the ground before control was established. At any rate, both of those plays were huge momentum killers for the Jackets and surely played some role in their eventual loss to the Blue Devils.

Georgia Tech has officially unveiled their 2015 baseball schedule, and it appears to be one of the most challenging in recent history for the Jackets. While no schedule is a cakewalk when you are playing the ACC, a premier baseball conference, this season's just seems to go above and beyond -- the Jackets will play series against Clemson, UNC, Notre Dame, Louisville, and Auburn among others. If you aren't familiar with the college baseball landscape, just know that almost all of those teams (and most of the teams on Tech's schedule) are poised for huge 2015 seasons. The offense will have to play much more consistently this time around if Tech hopes to repeat as champions of the ACC.

On the heels of Todd Gurley's suspension for selling his autograph for profit, similar allegations have come up against a certain athlete who may or may not have a name which rhymes with Wameis Jinston. While this case is at a similar magnitude as that of Gurley, some writers are urging you not to read into the matter and to stop pursuing these stories all together. Upon reading the headline, I really thought that the article would be some shallow narrative about how we should just recognize that the rules are stupid and ignore them. In short, that would have made me mad. However, upon reading the article I found that there are people who advocate on the side of these athletes and are a) not fans of the impacted team and b) bring actual facts to the table which don't involve justifying the disregard for rules. There are two sides to every story, and this is John Hancock fiasco is no exception.

Well, Georgia Tech is no longer undefeated and that means that the Jackets now headline every upset watch list in America, including that of ESPN. Tech is a 2.5 point favorite over the humbling, bumbling Tar Heels. You may recall that the last time Tech payed a visit to Chapel Hill that they came away with a record-setting 68-50 win. The sad part is that the Heels, still a favorite to win the national championship despite a 2-4 start (this being their breakout season, after all), still haven't learned how to play defense. If I'm Larry Fedora then I'd be out searching for the next defensive coordinator to guide the Tar Heels. May I suggest Al Groh?

What do you think about the whole autograph scandal in sports? What about the questionable penalties?

Have a great Wednesday!