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Technical Tidbits 1/8

In which D.J. White accepts an invitation to the East West Shrine Bowl.

By edac46
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia Tech basketball started off the season 0-2 for the fourth consecutive time in the Brian Gregory era earlier this week, falling by a final score of 89-84 at No. 24 Pittsburgh. A phenomenal performance by senior transfer Adam Smith -- who dropped 30 points, including 8 made three pointers -- was not quite enough for Tech to get over the ACC hump. There will be other opportunities to rebound this season, but the number shrinks after every single gut-wrenching loss. All there's left to do for the Pitt game is to chalk it up to another close loss. Shoot, we almost had it. This team is promising, right? Sure, but it doesn't matter until it translates into the win column. Head coach Brian Gregory's conference record now stands at 19 -53, good for a horrendous 26% winning percentage over 4+ years.

Georgia Tech baseball started off the preseason in good fashion, garnering a No. 21 rank in the nation according to the first poll of the year. That projection seems about right for the Jackets to start the season and is as much a reflection of the national respect commanded by Danny Hall's teams as anything else -- the Jackets have consistently been ranked in recent years but have not lived up to the hype. Tech reliever Zac Ryan, who finished last season with a strange total of 9 wins and 7 saves as the primary closer for the Jackets, was also named an All-American by Louisville Slugger. He should be the next in a successful line players at the back end of Tech's bullpen from recent years.

Former Georgia Tech cornerback D.J. White got some fantastic news of his own yesterday when it was announced that he had been extended -- and subsequently accepted -- an invitation to play in the 2016 East West Shrine Game. The game, played annually in St. Petersburg, FL, actually doubles as a fundraiser for the Shriners. I never quite put two and two together on that one until now. I'm not sure what I assumed the "shrine" portion of the name meant, but now we know for sure! The link in the Tweet, in case you aren't all about clicking shady shortened URLs, just goes to White's Georgia Tech profile page. I took one for the team by clicking it. You're all welcome.

I'll leave you today with former Georgia Tech B-Back commit Travis Custis, who recently announced that he will be finishing out his college career at West Georgia. Custis, a former top prospect for Paul Johnson, was to be the next in a long line of successful B-Backs on The Flats before a slew of issues derailed his potential Tech career before it even began. We have no reason to wish Custis anything but the best, so I hope he made the right decision for himself and will be happier in DII than he was previously.

Are there any other sponsorships similar to the Shriners running the East West Shrine Bowl that I totally whiffed on? If so, please enlighten me.