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Mailbag 6/18

This week's mailbag covers coaching futures, local sports "heroes", and...well...we're really not too sure what this other part is, but see for yourself.

By Joey Weaver
Danny Karnik/Georgia Tech Athletics

Ah, BJ Upton. How do you feel about him? I say we sign Cris Christie and let him play center field for a defensive upgrade.

Not really a fan of him lately. It's one thing to struggle, own up to it, keep your head down, and keep working hard. It's another to start yelling at the umpire (sometimes wildly inappropriately), mouth off in interviews, criticize the fans, and whine that you should be hitting second in the batting order. Dude, I get that you're frustrated, but you're being an ass about it.

Speaking of caring, everyone is now in love with Dan Uggla? When he came up to bat the whole stadium exploded into applause.

I actually like Dan Uggla and always have since he's been with the Braves. Yes, he's a strikeout machine. Yes, he's exploring new depths for a hitter, after being a pretty awesome hitter in Miami. But contrary to Upton, any time you go interview Dan, he's like, "Yeah, I've been pretty awful lately. The fans and my teammates deserve better. I'm going to keep working." Amazing how that sounds better than, "Screw you guys, you don't know my problems," or "They need to invest in Lasik surgery for every umpire ever because it's like they think I don't know where the strike zone is," or "My struggles are due to everyone else's shortcomings."

(Myles) Autry and Whitehead -- Are both not on campus with the other frosh right now?

They're not. Both are still finishing up some outstanding coursework. Autry in particular tweeted out yesterday that he'll be on campus shortly. I'm told his issue the need to get his GPA up a bit, but that it's more reflective of his early high school career. I think Whitehead plans to be there in early August for camp.

Whitehead I think we knew about, but what’s going on with Autry? Is he going to pull a Custis?

No, nothing to worry about there. Again, it'll be resolved shortly. If we get to mid-July and Myles is still in question, we might need to reevaluate a bit. The Custis situation was entirely different though.

How many wins (and what wins) would declare CPJ safe for the foreseeable future?

I think if CPJ can win 10 games, one being uga, that he will be safe for 2015 at the very least.

How many wins/losses would put him on the hot seat?

I think he's on the hot seat as it stands, but I think that 8 wins keeps him there without losing his job. 9 wins is a bit of a grey area for me, and I think part of that would depend on who the losses are to.

How many wins/losses would result in his departure after this year?

I think 7 or fewer wins means he's out. Remember though, that's just, like, my opinion, man.

How many wins/losses the next three years would result in his contract not being re-upped?

Assuming he's not re-upped by then, I think he probably needs to average 9 wins per year. The only reasons I can think that he would keep his job with less is due to mercy over a tough schedule in 2015, or high APR ratings, which are going to be tough to project given the volume of players that have left the program lately. Academic performance is something the administration values enough that it could save him if he's short of an average of 9 wins.

You are at a Black Tie dinner at The Biltmore Hotel Atlanta, a blimp is attached to one of the twin towers on the roof, the year is (whatever). The GT related speaker is SO good that YOU invented time travel to go forward and/or backward in time JUST TO BE HERE THIS NIGHT"!

You are enthralled to be in the same room with___________ , and your life will forever be changed by sitting at the knee of this great Yellow Jacket of the past or future.

To whom are we listening this momentous night?

Heisman?
Alexander?
Dodd?
Castleberry?
Stumpy and Bear?
Spider Salley?
Randolph Scott?
Arthur Murray?
Winfield’s Great Grandfather?
AOT’s great granddaughter who discovers room temperature super conductivity?
Dr. J.S. Coon?
Dean George C. Griffin

It is a trick question: there IS a George P. Burdell and he’s been walking Sideways (sideways) across North Ave for years, and the stories he has to tell! It is a trick question: you are the speaker, and you just (coached GT to a BCSNCG/finalized the Unified Theory of Gravity/discovered the Pre-Zeroeth law of Thermodynamics)

...

So I'm not really sure where to start this one, but here goes.

From the statue dedication, Bobby Dodd sounds fantastic -- like a guy I really would have enjoyed having a chance to meet and listen to.