Mailbag 7/15

Which would you prefer: (a) A conference-only football season with no fans in the Fall or (b) A full regular football season in the Spring?

Ben: I think with either option, you’re going to see players opt out. In the Fall, it will be because players don’t want to risk contracting the coronavirus, and in the Spring, players don’t want to hurt their draft stock so close to the draft or won’t want to play two seasons so close together, especially if the NCAA offers some sort of waiver. Given the choice, though, I think having a season in the Spring would be the safer option. If they try to play in the Fall, I don’t think a season will happen.

Jake P.: I would much rather have a conference-only season in the fall. If they push college football to the spring, I’m not sure how March Madness will work with a presumed mid-March start to the football season. No basketball on Saturdays? Not to mention college baseball getting completely [OUT-EFFORTED] by a spring football season.

Levi: I’d pick the spring season if only to say that I saw the only spring football season to my grandchildren. Otherwise, it is the smarter move. Not a lot of smarts going around these days.

Jake: It wouldn’t be on brand for me to not hem and haw about how a spring season would take the oxygen out of my beat even more than it usually does, but here I am. Except now, baseball and basketball also get sacrificed to the alter that is football. But, is it the smarter thing to do? Probably. Would the fall be rough without this bit of normalcy? Probably. So, do I prefer fall? Yes. But do I think spring would be better? Also yes.

Jeff: Looking at it from a purely football standpoint I'd say the Spring is best. The schools still lose revenue for each game they don't play on TV. You would have a lot players projected in early rounds of the draft sit out but that might not be a bad thing for GT.

Which streaming service is the best?

Ben: I don’t know if it’s quite worth the money, but I’ve been very impressed with HBO Max thus far. I was grandfathered in as I already had HBO, and they have a ton of content, whether you want to watch stuff like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air all the way to DC Universe content, like Doom Patrol, which I highly recommend.

Jake P.: I’m a huge Netflix fan. I should say though that Netflix is the only streaming service I have a subscription to currently.

Levi: I’ll advocate that Hulu has quietly creeped to the top. Maybe just for me, they still have my old favorites: Family Guy, Always Sunny, South Park, Seinfeld, The League, etc. For new content, Netflix reigns supreme.

Jake: Levi has got the right opinion on this one. Add 30 Rock to that list of shows and you’ve got my tests represented. To me, the only major downside is the two-tiered/still-has-ads subscription I have via my Spotify. Also, I can only get Psych on Amazon Video. Still, hands down, Hulu has shows I care about, and have always cared about, while Netflix used to have that dominant lineup.

Jeff: I cut cable a few year back and went with Hulu Live and I love it. Netflix probably comes in second with Amazon in third. I get Disney+ free right now but a lot of it's content is on Hulu since it was bought by Disney.

Which isn’t worth the subscription fee?

Ben: You know how I mentioned the DC Universe steaming app? Yeah, it’s that. They don’t have the content they used to have, and at this point, it seems like it probably won’t be around much longer now.

Levi: I already watched everything on Disney plus and cancelled it. Sorry, just not enough content.

Jake: BUT HAMILTON! Read that with a dose of sarcasm, sure, but that was worth me stealing my sister’s for the weekend. But, other than that and the Simpsons, though they are a good draw, not much going for it. I still think ESPN+ is less worthwhile.

Jeff: As mentioned above Hulu has a lot of the Disney+ shows but it doesn't have a lot of the movies so I keep it for that. YouTube TV and Apple TV seem the most useless to me because their only draw is original content that I have no interest in.

With a potential schedule change, could the Jackets be better positioned than previously thought? I know we would seemingly still have 3/5 of our ranked opponents, but trading out u(sic)ga and UCF for ACC opponents could put us over the 6-win total. Thoughts?

Ben: I still Tech is a fringe-bowl team. Also if we’re only seeing conference play, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that bowl games (as we know them) will be happening. We’ll probably get a College Football Playoff, but if the season is conference-only, I don’t see anything outside of that.

Jake P.: Funny how you assume Gardner-Webb is a guaranteed win. In all seriousness, it would completely depend on which teams replace the non-cons. If Louisville and FSU are two of the three new teams, six wins would still be a huge challenge. If Boston College and Wake take two-thirds of the non-con spots, six wins looks a little easier. Who knows?

Levi: I am quietly terrified that the other school will cancel our series. We haven’t been competitive in years and missing even one could be a good excuse to move on. I’m not convinced that is in our best interest.

Jake: Sounds like we can’t duck Athens even if we tried. But, nevertheless, regardless of what that new schedule is, I’d prefer to never see UCF on a schedule of ours ever again. Clearly we have major disaster luck between the two of us.

Jeff: I don't think we see Georgia get dropped. It seems the ACC and SEC are considering keeping the regional rivalries in tact. Another ACC team would be more challenging than our FCS for and depending on the team swapping out UCF would be a push.

Wait, Spring Football? What am I supposed to do during Capital One Bowl-less week?

Ben: Watch highlights from Tech’s 2014 season.

Jake P.: Watch every single bowl game from the 2019-20 cycle. Polish all of the bowls in your kitchen. Find a way to safely bowl (Wii Sports bowling is a lot of fun).

Levi: Talk to your family, or eat a salad you heathen.

Jake: By then, Ben’s history of bowls will be a made-for-Netflix docuseries, so just watch that!

Jeff: Whatever you normal routine is every other week or play download Civilization VI and not even realize time has passed.