Technical Tidbits 10/22

One of the brightest spots of the entire 2015 season to this point has been true freshman Brant Mitchell, who has stepped up and established himself as one of the top linebackers on the entire team despite becoming a Yellow Jacket just months ago. Mitchell, one of four linebacker commits from the massive 2015 recruiting class, quickly outplayed fellow freshmen Anree Saint-Amour, Vic Alexander, and Tyler Cooksey for playing time. I'll gladly eat crow on the topic of Mitchell, who I truly felt would need a redshirt season before being able to contribute at all for the Jackets. If he continues on this path, Brant very well could be the next success story of a relatively low-rated recruit excelling on The Flats. I hope he can keep it up and see no reason why he couldn't.

Paul Johnson picked up commitment number ten of the recruiting cycle yesterday when Macon wide receiver Steve Dolphus announced his intentions to play at Georgia Tech. Dolphus, a three-star prospect, measures in at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds and will hopefully add to Tech's depth at the wide receiver position, a unit which has struggled so far this season. Dolphus isn't quite Darren Waller -- the current Raven has an inch and 25 pounds on him -- but will still present a matchup problem in a college football landscape which continues to heavily favor small, quick defensive backs over their physical counterparts. Click here to see the FTRS breakdown of Dolphus' commitment.

In response to the recent criticism of Georgia Tech's fight song, the GTSGA conducted an investigation of its own into whether or not the faction of the student and alumni base wanting to make a change were a minority or a majority. The results can be seen in the graphic below, obtained from the GTSGA's Facebook page.

Almost everyone is clearly opposed to changing the words of the fight song, with 71.29% of voters voicing their support for the current lyrics. Among those who voted, Georgia Tech faculty members and graduates seem to be the most in favor of changing the song. I'm very grateful to the GTSGA for conducting this study; I was very interested in whether or not the creators of the petition were a majority and we now have a definitive answer.

But whatever you do, don't ask for the opinion of this obvious social crusader from Fusion.net who obviously takes it upon himself to sarcastically point out everything he dislikes about the song aside from the lyric in question. Among those things that the author, Patrick Hogan, points out is the extremely profane and clearly offensive use of the term "helluva" in the song. Oh, no! Don't corrupt our impressionable youth with the word helluva! But seriously, take your social activism and apply it to something that is actually offensive. May I suggest starting with literally any song that has been produced in the past decade? It never ceases to amaze me how selectively offended people are. Sure, let's laud Snoop Dogg and Chief Keef for their contributions to music while antagonizing a harmless fight song! Progress! I'm so glad we have priorities in order as a society. Let's look at some specific quotes from the enlightening article:

The proposed change in the song, which tells the story of an alcoholic "Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech,"

Seriously, am I living in Puritan New England right now? Alcohol? How taboo! Hypersensitivity should be illegal.

So fear not students, no one is going to force you to imply you might want to send your daughters to college. Tradition is safe.

Yeah, that's where you might want to do your homework before you embarrass yourself. Let's make a deal, Fusion: you keep "reporting" the "news" and we'll maintain our "traditions". Alright? That's an article from a man who assumes that excluding women from Georgia Tech is a tradition. Get off my lawn.

Am I wrong for being so critical of the article surrounding the fight song? Do you agree or disagree with the points brought up by the author?