Mailbag 1/14

Talk about the Brent Key stuff. - Notwima13

Ben: That’s not a question.

Akshay: no u

Jake: It all reads like a soap opera to me. I don’t know how much of what was said was true, or relevant, but I do know I’m glad to still have him on staff.

Carter: Brent Key (born August 1, 1978) is an American college football coach and former player. Key is currently the Associate Head Coach and Run Game Coordinator along with coaching the Offensive Line at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.

What are the criteria Tech has to meet to get permission from the ACC to resume athletic activities, and when do you think that will happen? - SullyGT

Akshay: Here are the guidelines straight from the horse’s mouth. The important pieces:

Pursuant to CDC guidance, a team member identified through contact tracing and required to quarantine must complete one of the following three options after consultation with local and state public health officials: Quarantine can end after Day 14 without required testing; Quarantine can end after Day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring; or (w)hen diagnostic testing resources are sufficient and available, then quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring. The specimen may be collected and tested within 48 hours before the time of planned quarantine discontinuation (e.g., in anticipation of testing delays), but quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than after Day 7.

Pursuant to CDC guidance, a team member who tests positive for COVID-19 shall be isolated for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms/positive test and at least 1 day (i.e., 24 hours) has passed since recovery defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement of respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath).

Based on the MAG’s consultation with multiple cardiologists, at a minimum, every student-athlete, symptomatic or otherwise, who tested positive shall undergo a cardiac evaluation that includes an electrocardiogram (ECG), a troponin test, and an echocardiogram after isolation and before a phased return to exercise and re-acclimatization.

If you start the clock on January 5th, which is when the first positive test was announced, then (in theory) the person who tested positive would be out of COVID protocol by Friday (1/15), while those pinged by contact tracing would also be available to return by that date at the earliest. It’s important to note that this timeline assumes that there’s only one positive test this whole time — it’s unclear if there have been more within the team since January 5th, and it’s not like any athletic departments across the country have been particularly forthwith about these details, sooooooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Jake: Tin foil hat time, after Akshay’s helpful answer. Wake is shut down for a month with COVID issues. We play them. Then we get shut down. Coincidence? I think NOT.

Is Saturday’s game against NCSU likely to be postponed as well? - SullyGT

Akshay: Given the above, it either gets played with a skeleton crew OR it’s postponed. I’m willing to put money on the latter outcome.

Jake: Going to be completely honest, I was thinking it was already cancelled. Since we have to travel, it might be more likely to scrub it than send a team fresh off COVID watch. Or not completely off COVID watch.

If we suddenly can resume activities on a game day, do we have to play it cold with a week (or weeks) off without practice or would it get postponed? - SullyGT

Akshay: I think you would see the game postponed, but the guidelines do not state a specific process for this.

Jake: Hmmmm. I don’t think I would even want them to do that? This has been such a weird year...

Which comedians are in your CD carousel? - DressHerInWhiteAndGold

Ben: I love a good DND podcast! My favorite is The Adventure Zone. On my trip down to Savannah, I also became a basic [Beastie Boys] and started listening to a true crime podcast called Morbid that was pretty interesting.

Jake: Uh, well, I haven’t bought a CD in quite a bit, but John Mulaney has to be my top comedian, that’s for sure. Everything he does is so well done, I just wish he had a bit more in his portfolio. Otherwise, I like Bert Kreischer and whichever guys Netflix seems to think I’d like, too, but none quite like Mulaney. Honestly, though, the “Netflix cornering the stand-up market” dealio is pretty great, and a solid way to be entertained/find new comedians.

Carter: I know CDs were around for a long time, but I’m pretty sure CD players stopped being a default feature in cars and computers a few years back.

Jake again: Yeah, I went and checked after I read that - no CD player in my car.

Jake P.: The Jake Caucus is undefeated. I don’t have a CD, and enjoy both John Mulaney and Bert Kreischer. I also enjoy some of Jim Gaffigan’s work as well.

Hey guys,

Hope you are all feeling well. I’m mailing you before the CFB championship has started. speaking to future y’all I hope it was an exciting game and not a total blowout (as long as Ohio State lost, because I have a vendetta against them this year).

I just got back from a trip to see my sister get married. It went well and everyone was happy. I realized when I got back though how much I missed my home mattress. I even saw a chiropractor when I got back because of how stiff my neck and upper back was. I don’t have anything too fancy, just a queen size casper I enjoy sleeping on but it works for me. Brings me to my question, what is your dream mattress. talking size and brand, or if your happy with your current one feel free to describe that.

I guess you could also do pillows, but that might be overkill (i got a memory foam pillow just to cover all my bases). May the future treat you well friends.

Sincerely,

Alford Hitchrichard (submitted via email)

Ben: I got a memory foam mattress a couple years back and I love it! I also sprung for a pillow that has cooling gels in it.

Akshay: I have more or less the same setup as you, and honestly, it’s all very comfortable. Some memory foam mattresses feel like sleeping on bricks, but I think Casper has hit the right mix of firmness and cushion.

Jake: I live in off-campus student housing still and they just replaced all the mattresses in my building with brand-new, rock hard mattresses. I am a big fan of the queen mattress size that we have, but, man, sleeping on slate every night has turned my back into Rice Krispies or something. Back when I was on campus, I also had a pretty hard bed, but had a fantastic mattress pad, so it was a nice combination of firm and soft. Honestly, I’ll probably try to do something similar once I’m in my “I’m done with school and in the real world now” apartment. I’m not sure what brand I bought of pillows (I got three because I was going to get two but they were on sale and I don’t regret that at all, a third is nice to have) but those, at least, are pretty excellent. I think it’s a bit ironic that going on trips usually results in the reverse of my current predicament - great mattress, horrible pillows - but go figure.

Carter: Right now we’re sleeping on a queen size Purple mattress, but my fianceé wants to upgrade to a king so there’s room for us and the cat, so that’s what we’ll be doing whenever we buy our next house.

With the following home slate in 2021, which one is most likely to be played at MBS?

9/4 N. Illinois

9/11 Kennesaw St

11/27 georgie

TBA UNCheat

TBA Boston College

TBA VA Tech

TBA Pittsburgh (some of my friends from the city call it “Bitchburgh”) - GTSMURF

Ben: I think it’ll be an early season match-up, so I would imagine it would be Northern Illinois.

Carter: Not a single one of these deserves that treatment, so look forward to Tech sweating it out against Kennensaw for 60+ minutes in Atlanta United’s home this September.

Akshay: I could see a November game versus UNC being shifted to MBS — there’s a sizable contingent of UNC fans around these parts that would travel in for that (of course, if full capacity games are a thing by then)

Jake P.: I’m thinking it’ll be later in the season against UNC or Virginia Tech. If things go well for Tech, and UNC performing below-expectations, it might be a good one to watch.

Jake: UNC, just for the hype they had this year and them being able to bill that well. Any other year, I’d say Virginia Tech. Also, I hadn’t thought about it until right now, but I missed playing those dudes this year, and I don’t think we talked about that enough this year. Gotta rekindle that hate a bit.

Since ugag lost their home game with us last year, I believe ADTS will agree to move COFH to MBS this year. Thoughts? - GTSMURF

Ben:

Carter:

Akshay: He should not do this. Movement of COFH to MBS costs Tech Atlanta market/mind/culture/etc. share. There is no guarantee the 2021 football season will have full capacity games (I hope it will and I think the chances are relatively high that it does, but still) — Tech may have the same hit to the wallet that Athens did in 2020 (if not, worse) if the game is played with reduced capacity at BDS.

Jake: That would be terrible and I would hate that. You don’t give up the marquee game that ends up as a glorified home game for the other team (sorry, but it’s true) in the most prominent setting in 500 miles of the city, if not the whole country. That would only reinforce the “u[sic]ga Atlanta” nonsense jargon. I wish I was wrong, but I doubt I am.