Technical Tidbits 7/3

Ed. Note: Cade took a vacation day (just part of his great benefits package), so I'm filling in for him. I apologize in advance for the drop in quality.

The New York Jets put out a really great article last week about former Georgia Tech DT T.J. Barnes, as he continues to develop early in his NFL career. Part of that involves developing his 6'7", 365-pound body into a more lean, agile one. Barnes has been doing just that this offseason, saying that he cut out candy and has lost 25 pounds in 6 months. Somehow, a 340-pound frame sounds a lot more manageable than a 365-pound one, and I think you'll see a little more of Barnes playing (rather than sitting) in Jets games this fall.

You may have seen already, but DressHerInWhiteAndGold recently posted a FanPost with a great writeup (complete with photos) from when the Savannah branch of the Georgia Tech alumni network recently hosted a night with Joe Hamilton and Coach Lamar Owens. I don't want to spoil it, but there's some pretty cool stuff in there -- and those events typically end in you hearing what those closest to the program actually think, as opposed to what they typically want to tell the media.

SB Nation did a neat feature yesterday, talking about how Frank Beamer is that one guy that you invite to a party, where you're excited to see him, but who just never goes away. It's currently around 6am for Blacksburg's football party that started when he took over, and Beamer is still throwing down tequila shots with them as they stumble to the nearest Waffle House. I mean, it's not like it's a bad thing at all -- he's still winning. It's more just that he WILL NOT GO AWAY. (For the record, since Beamer took over in 1987, Georgia Tech has had 5 head coaches -- Bobby Ross, B*** L****, George O'Leary, Chan Gailey, and Paul Johnson.)

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO BRING YOU A UNIFORM THREAD

Play the video for full effect.

Oklahoma is just the latest college football program to update its classic, traditional uniforms in favor of recruiting benefits it might bring, Crimson and Cream Machine writes. It really is kinda sad that the world of college football (and those of the individuals making up that world) has evolved so much, from appreciating tradition and all of the pageantry that can be traced back for a century or more in a lot of cases, in favor of these new, shiny, occasionally ridiculous-looking things that have a check-looking logo embroidered on them. Welcome to the new age, where even programs like Oklahoma need a uniform update. Which begs the question -- who's next? I'm thinking the leading candidates in the "silly amounts of tradition but a likely suspect for a uniform alteration" department are Alabama, Texas, and USC. If any of them do end up altering their uniforms...wow. I might start working on a contingency plan now, although that idea might also just be influenced by the air raid siren still playing.

What are your thoughts on Oklahoma updating its uniforms? Is it really just a symptom of a larger phenomenon in college football? Is that good for the game or not? Let's. Talk. Uniforms.