Mailbag 4/12

CTjacket: With the news the Mark Teixeira’s number is being retired, who is the one former athlete that you would like to see finish their degree and have their number retired?

Ben: I would love to see 21 retired in football for Calvin Johnson, but unfortunately, he doesn’t qualify, even if he were to earn a degree. Granted, I don’t think Teixeira technically qualifies either, because I don’t think Georgia Tech won the baseball championship while he was at Tech. I could be wrong in that, but his Wikipedia didn’t mention anything about it in his college career section, and I didn’t look any further.

Jack: We actually covered this on today’s Scions of the Southland, Tex already had the performance qualifications covered, he just needed to graduate. If you need proof that he did, here’s us graduating at the same ceremony last May:

Of note, Tech baseball has “honored numbers” for those that don’t meet the qualifications for retired numbers. Those guys are Nomar Garciaparra, Kevin Brown, and Randy Carroll. Teixeira’s 23 was formerly an honored number.

jabsterjacket: Related, what would it take to get a football number retired today in light of Clint Castleberry’s career and military history?

Ben: I’m glad you asked! As alluded to in my previous answer, there are several criteria a player must meet in order to be nominated:

6. Nominees must meet the following criteria to allow a nomination to be submitted to the committee:

– Nominee must have received a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech.

– Nominee must have accomplished ONE of the following …

– Earned a National Player of the Year award recognized by the NCAA

– Earned a National Award (e.g. – Biletnikoff Award, Davey O’Brien Award) recognized by the NCAA

– Earned a First-Team All-America designation by an organization recognized by the NCAA AND,

– his/her team must have won a national championship AND,

– he/she was named Outstanding Player of the national championship event (e.g. – Final Four MVP).

– Nominee must have represented and continue to represent Georgia Tech in the highest possible manner in all endeavors within sports as well as his/her personal life.

You can read more information about the whole process here.

Gway79: Other than no one getting seriously injured, what are you having to see during the spring game?

Ben: I’m really excited to see the quarterbacks play. I’m incredibly intrigued by Haynes King and want to see what he can do. Beyond that, I want to see how Zachs Gibson and Pyron (assuming his collarbone has healed) have grown and if the offensive line will give them any more help.

Jack: Seeing straight up football without any gimmicks will be promising to me. It’s just spring, now is the time to master all the little things. I’m not an X’s and O’s master or anything like that, but I know enough to see if a team can pass the eye test or not. Some bad decisions may happen just because it’s been a bit since these guys played at game speed, but I want to see proficiency in the basics.

Buffalo_Warrior: What do you think Stoudamire can do differently than Pastner to get this program finally moving upward?

I haven’t seen anything yet from his brief tenure but have you heard anything about potential coaching moves or player visits?

Ben: In Basketball, a lot comes down to how well you can recruit. Ultimately, that was Pastner’s downfall. He made big promises and could not follow through. If he can follow through in that regard, I think Tech men’s basketball has a chance to get a lot better.