ESPN Q&A with Georgia Tech OL Shaq Mason

CuseJacket

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Techster said:
Cue the inevitable annual message board, "This team will be so much better because guys are working harder and have better chemistry than they did the year before and the leadership is superior...blah, blah, blah..." based off of an offseason player interview.
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I agree with that sentiment 99% of the time. The difference in this case for me is the way the answer was worded. Shaq directly indicted last year as opposed to offering the ambiguous 'we grind so hard' and 'no pretenders'. The cynic in me wants someone to ask for once "why didn't the team work this hard last year?".

Also 99% chance I'm reading way too much into it and should just allow the preseason optimism to flow...
 
JohnnyMcKnight

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CuseJacket said:
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/71644/qa-with-georgia-tech-ol-shaq-mason

You’ve got two new starters on the line this year. How’s the group coming together so far this summer?

Shaq Mason: It’s coming together pretty good. We’re on a mission. We’re two steps ahead of where we were last year, which is a good sign.
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My question is:

Why would an OL made up of RS-Srs. and RS-Jrs. in their 4th and 5th years in the program perform at such a level that a much younger OL is described as being 2 steps ahead of that veteran OL from last yr., remember that this opinion is coming from arguably the best player on the OL for both years?
 
TampaGT

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JohnnyMcKnight said:
My question is:

Why would an OL made up of RS-Srs. and RS-Jrs. in their 4th and 5th years in the program perform at such a level that a much younger OL is described as being 2 steps ahead of that veteran OL from last yr., remember that this opinion is coming from arguably the best player on the OL for both years?
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Talent. The older guys knew the system but the maybe the younger guys have more talent. The younger guys didn't have the understanding of the O last year to beat out the older guys. But now with a year in the O under their belt they might be better as a group.
 

gtg936g

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Injuries on the OL killed us last year. If not out they were all banged up at some point. I thought we actually came through fall camp well last year with few injuries, then everything fell apart.
 
GTNavyNuke

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gtg936g said:
Injuries on the OL killed us last year. If not out they were all banged up at some point. I thought we actually came through fall camp well last year with few injuries, then everything fell apart.
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This is my recollection also. At this time last year, I recall the OL as being the strength and Vad as "The One".

I think most of our players are working their butts off. So are the players on other teams. If the new players and returning players aren't getting better, then we are going backwards with the loss of experience. (The second law applies sort of applies here; things will always get worse for you unless you are doing a lot to make them better for you at the expense of someone else.)
 
CuseJacket

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dressedcheeseside said:
It's real simple, guy who are optimists will like this stuff and guys who are pessimists will poo poo it like everything else in life.
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And here I am thinking there's a middle ground. I'm all for positive energy - I actually believe GT can win every game before it starts and want our team to believe it too. I've learned to ignore some of the same old, same old offseason chatter to keep some semblance of balance. Shaq's wording just struck me as pointed.
 
dressedcheeseside

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CuseJacket said:
And here I am thinking there's a middle ground. I'm all for positive energy - I actually believe GT can win every game before it starts and want our team to believe it too. I've learned to ignore some of the same old, same old offseason chatter to keep some semblance of balance. Shaq's wording just struck me as pointed.
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I agree, actually. What really makes these type of off season fluff pieces mean anything is specifics and details. What are they doing differently and why? Shaq gives us that, not just generic rah, rah stuff.
 
thwgjacket

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Cue the "anything positive said by our players inevitably means either nothing or something negative."
Here...
Techster said:
Cue the inevitable annual message board, "This team will be so much better because guys are working harder and have better chemistry than they did the year before and the leadership is superior...blah, blah, blah..." based off of an offseason player interview.
Click to expand...
...and here
JohnnyMcKnight said:
My question is:

Why would an OL made up of RS-Srs. and RS-Jrs. in their 4th and 5th years in the program perform at such a level that a much younger OL is described as being 2 steps ahead of that veteran OL from last yr., remember that this opinion is coming from arguably the best player on the OL for both years?
Click to expand...
 
yellojello

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Techster said:
Cue the inevitable annual message board, "This team will be so much better because guys are working harder and have better chemistry than they did the year before and the leadership is superior...blah, blah, blah..." based off of an offseason player interview.
Click to expand...

Too funny. I was just going to type that. Show me, don't tell me.
 
yellojello

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dressedcheeseside said:
It's real simple, guy who are optimists will like this stuff and guys who are pessimists will poo poo it like everything else in life.
Click to expand...

And guys who are realists will understand that truth is always somewhere in between. Do I want to believe we'll be better this year? You bet your behind that I want to. Do I have any control over that? Nope. Nada. Zilch. So I choose to be realistic. I hope we succeed beyond my wildest dreams, but I'll have to see it on the field. Quotes ain't gonna get me excited.
 
Longestday

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We had experience last year destroyed and negated by injury and position change.

Next year will be less experienced yet healthy. Conventional wisdom would say we would be worse. But, conventional wisdom said we would be good in 2013. I am going to pull a George Castansa and do the opposite of what I think.

We will be better...
 

Wrecker

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JohnnyMcKnight said:
My question is:

Why would an OL made up of RS-Srs. and RS-Jrs. in their 4th and 5th years in the program perform at such a level that a much younger OL is described as being 2 steps ahead of that veteran OL from last yr., remember that this opinion is coming from arguably the best player on the OL for both years?
Click to expand...

There were alot of injuries on that line last year and seemed like guys were just filling spots.
 
GT Man

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Techster said:
Cue the inevitable annual message board, "This team will be so much better because guys are working harder and have better chemistry than they did the year before and the leadership is superior...blah, blah, blah..." based off of an offseason player interview.
Click to expand...

Cue the same folks poo pooing any positive news we get.
 
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