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Technical Tidbits 8/15: Kuchar brings home bronze, Curry speaks for unity in Tech athletic department

Matt Kuchar just won the first bronze medal in golf in over a century.

By edac46
Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

Though former Tech standout Matt Kuchar didn't even know the format of the 2016 Rio Olympics golf events just a couple of weeks ago, nothing would deter him from orchestrating a masterful comeback to claim the bronze medal in the event yesterday afternoon. Though he still finished beneath Britain's Justin Rose and Sweden's Henrik Stenson on the final leaderboard, Kuchar shot a field-leading 63 in the final round in route to his first career medal. Despite the growing popularity of the game across the world, the 2016 Olympics are the first to host a golf event since the 1904 games in St. Louis; perhaps the highly-entertaining final round of this year's mini-tournament will be enough to keep golf a mainstay on the world stage. Kuchar, meanwhile, becomes the 11th American to medal in golf. The country with the next-highest medal count is Britain, with three.

There are a million different ways to diagnose Tech's current issues in the front office, but former Tech head coach Bill Curry sees one solution that stands out above all others: unity. Mike Bobinski did his best to dispel any rumors of dysfunction or lack of morale in his office upon his departure to Purdue, but the fact that so many people who are so close to the program are currently speaking out tells you everything there is to know about the athletic department's situation. Perhaps Curry summed it up best in the following quote:

"We major in moaning and complaining."

I sincerely hope that the state of Tech's front office is at least somewhat better than Curry makes it out to be, but it certainly sounds like the level of complaining and general lack of production has risen drastically. Perhaps it's some kind of strange culture or perhaps it's something completely different, but it really must change if the situation is anywhere near that bad. In the meantime, Tech will continue searching for the next guiding light for the quickly dimming program.

Just days after concluding his fruitful MLB career, Tech great Mark Teixeira was announced as the final member of the search team for a new athletic director. I remain impressed with the sheer diversity of this search committee, which now includes everyone from a current student to a potential MLB Hall of Famer, but I'm even more that Tech is continuing to bring back some of its best athletes following their professional careers. It began with Calvin Johnson, who became active on The Flats once again following his retirement from the Lions, and continued with the return of (the admittedly not retired but active nonetheless) Jarrett Jack. Those are the exact people that need to be visible on campus to excite both recruits and fans alike. Now we just need to get Tech to start a conversation with some members of Atlanta's rap scene and we'll be making strides in no time.

Have a great Monday!