Jon, I'm not sure if this'll make you laugh or cry...

[Ben E Lou]

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Buford
Post #32186

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 6px;" valign="top">I nominate Ball for Circle of Honor*</td><td style="padding: 6px;" class="" 1="" align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="bottom"></td></tr></tbody></table><hr color="#cccccc" noshade="noshade"><font size="2"> nm

<script language="javascript"> if (getCookie("HideSigs") != 1) { document.writeln('
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<font color=red><b>"To HELL with Tech!"
http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/'); } </script>http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/hacksawdawg/UGAretiredjerseys.jpg

[GrantDawg]

While watching the game, my brother-in-law said that Tony Taylor fumble recovery would be a play we'll be talking to our grandkids about in 2027. I said, we'd actually be explaining to our children why there was a statue of a Georgia Tech quarterback outside Sanford stadium.

[JonInMiddleGA]

SD, I think the picture is appropriate, except for the fact that (CantThrowThe) Ball really doesn't have the football skills of the other players in the picture. But I guess you can't deny the intangibles that Ball brought to the rivalry.

Meanwhile GD, I can think of the perfect model for that statue. Just use his worthless ass as the mold.

Sigh. Where have you gone A.J. Suggs? Donnie Davis? Todd Rampley? Darrel Gast? John Dewberry? Jim Bob Taylor?

[Ben E Lou]

Gotta give the Tech fans credit. In some cases, they've been pretty funny last night and this morning. My favorite has been seeing those who use R***** B*** every time they refer to him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gotta give the Tech fans credit. In some cases, they've been pretty funny last night and this morning. My favorite has been seeing those who use R***** B*** every time they refer to him.

I can't help but wonder how many teams have had four year starters who are more reviled than he-whose-name-should-not-be-spoken?

I can easily think of some QB's for whom the distaste has run as deep or deeper (FSU anybody?) but for four freakin' years? That's gotta be some pretty rarified company.

And perhaps also only at GT could we have village idiots in charge who give contract extensions to the penultimate village idiot responsible for pawning this chump off as a starting Division I QB. I mean, we're getting dangerously close to Bill Lewis territory here.

I wonder what Pepper Rogers is doing these days?

[JonInMiddleGA]

"We got to Reggie early. We knew he was going to give it to us, and that's how it went down," Georgia defensive lineman Ray Gant said. "He's a competitive guy and when he gets rattled and frustrated, he can't handle his emotions too well. We took advantage of that, and he pretty much gave us the game."

[Oilers9911]

Man, this guy's name just opens up so many avenues.
Cantthrowthe Ball
Turnoverthe Ball
Sucksa Ball

I imagine GT fans can add about 1000 more.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I imagine GT fans can add about 1000 more.

I'm partial to "Chan's Lovechild"

[Radii]

Gotta give the Tech fans credit. In some cases, they've been pretty funny last night and this morning. My favorite has been seeing those who use R***** B*** every time they refer to him.

You have to have a sense of humor about this kind of thing I think. How good could Tech have been the past couple of years without Ball? I really just try to never think about it. I like R***** B***, that's pretty good :D

[JeeberD]

Is that Hershel on the far left? If so...DAMN he's looking thin these days.

[cartman]

I can't help but wonder how many teams have had four year starters who are more reviled than he-whose-name-should-not-be-spoken?

If he started more than one game his freshman season, Chris Simms would be up for consideration.

[Ben E Lou]

I'm partial to "Chan's Lovechild"I mean really, does Reggie have info about Chan's porn collection or something? The fact that he was a four-year starter is even more mystifying that CMR's refusal to toss the sweep.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I mean really, does Reggie have info about Chan's porn collection or something? The fact that he was a four-year starter is even more mystifying that CMR's refusal to toss the sweep.

I've been wondering, semi-seriously, about this since Damarious Bilbo was moved to WR ... err ... DB ... err ... QB ... err ... WR.

[st.cronin]

How many D1 teams had better QBs than Reggie Ball this year? My WAG is there were at least 40.

[cartman]

How many D1 teams had better QBs than Reggie Ball this year? My WAG is there were at least 40.

If you go just by QB Rating, he is currently 89th, according to ESPN.

hxxp://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/sortables?stat=pass&sort=rat&season=2&year=2006&group=80

[JonInMiddleGA]

If you go just by QB Rating, he is currently 89th, according to ESPN.

And 110th of 112 in completion percentage.

[digamma]

I can't help but wonder how many teams have had four year starters who are more reviled than he-whose-name-should-not-be-spoken?

I can easily think of some QB's for whom the distaste has run as deep or deeper (FSU anybody?) but for four freakin' years? That's gotta be some pretty rarified company.

And perhaps also only at GT could we have village idiots in charge who give contract extensions to the penultimate village idiot responsible for pawning this chump off as a starting Division I QB. I mean, we're getting dangerously close to Bill Lewis territory here.

I wonder what Pepper Rogers is doing these days?

Yeah, playing in the conference championship game next weekend is going to suck.

There's no way I can defend Reggie's performance yesterday, but the kid has left everything he has on the football field for four years, and for that, he has my respect. I said at the beginning of the season that I was prepared to hitch my horse to Reggie this fall--as we all knew Gailey had--come hell or high water. Save a hurt performance against Clemson and yesterday, he's been pretty good. 20 TDs against 12 interceptions is a huge improvement. And, if Tech wins next week, he'll be the third GT quarterback to win an ACC title, the second to win one outright.

Reggie came in as a true freshman and won the job from Suggs and Bilbo. He was ACC rookie of the year and showed promise. He made very few, if any, strides his sophomore year, and Gailey opened the quarterback position heading into his junior year. Those following spring practice thought Taylor Bennett was poised to win the job that fall, but Reggie won it again. Last season was more of the same. Reggie went into this fall knowing the job was his, and by all accounts, worked very hard in the off-season. Again, yesterday sucked for him, but he's three or four times the quarterback he was last year. In many people's minds that still doesn't make him all that much.

But, like I said initially, he lays it all on the line, and that's all you can ask of him.

What is unfair though is to compare Gailey in any way, shape or form to Bill Lewis. Gailey came into a program that was a bit like the emperor with little to no clothes. O'Leary basically threw away his last season because he was focused on Notre Dame. Flunkgate also came to light--where O'Leary had been keeping players eligible by backloading their schedules--meaning they really weren't keeping pace on the progress toward degree requirement. Gailey lost 11 players, most starters or significant contributors because of that. Combine that with the scholarship penalties because of those infractions and the short recruiting year because of O'Leary's departure and Gailey really lost almost two full recruiting classes. He's still feeling the brunt of that.

I think some criticism of Gailey is fair. His offense is vanilla. He's had trouble getting out of the pro coaching mindset. He's not the most rah rah guy and because of that it's tough to get excited about him, but he's making strides. He held the ship steady during some rough times after O'Leary, and now he's got his team playing for a conference championship next weekend. He's got his best recruiting class to date, and next year will have his first team full of players that he had a full year to recruit--with a team that has 8 starters on each side of the ball coming back.

So, Jon, like I said the criticism of Reggie is fair--I recognize his shortcomings--the last four post-Thanksgiving Saturdays have been awful. But, we really disagree on the direction of the program.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yeah, playing in the conference championship game next weekend is going to suck.

Honestly digamma, it's virtually meaningless to me at this point. We've seen what the state of the ACC is this year, and it isn't pretty. It's still better than a lot of alternatives, but it isn't pretty.

Perform yesterday and at least there's reason to believe that maybe we're actually above the level of what's around us right now. The combination of things might carry some meaning. As it is though ... we can holler "ACC champs" all we want too, but the truth is that this team (or Wake) would have struggled to finish at .500 in the SEC.

but the kid has left everything he has on the football field for four years,

Unfortunately, he didn't have a whole lot to leave out there. He's essentially the same player right now that he was in his senior season at Stephenson HS.
And he was a running back playing QB then.

In many people's minds that still doesn't make him all that much.


You damned sure got that right.

What is unfair though is to compare Gailey in any way, shape or form to Bill Lewis.

Obviously we disagree on that point. I really don't have any greater sense of optimism about the program now than I had then.

Gailey has shown no ability at all to X & O consistently, nor has he solved the motivation issue, nor has he shown any sign of being able to coach players up (or select asst. coaches who can do so).

There is, admittedly, some reason for hope from the inbound recruiting class ... until I remember the three points above.

I sincerely believe that you could hand him the top player at every position in the country for three years running & he'd still manage to coach them down to little better than average.

Flat out, I wouldn't let this sumbitch coach 9-10 year olds in Saturday morning rec ball. And the only way he should be on the sidelines of a Division I game is if he fell out of the stands & over the rail from where he scored a good seat from a scalper. He makes CMR look like a cross between Halas & Walsh, and that is not an easy task.

But, we really disagree on the direction of the program.

New nominee for Understatement of the Year ;)