The Culture is Real

flea77

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
934
Maybe I’m just missing something, but why does ANYONE get a ring without having won a conference or national championship?

Even an Orange Bowl or Rose Bowl ring is silly without a championship. So what...you win one game and get a ring? Just doesn’t make sense to me.
A bowl ring is more a memory of a good season, than the one game. No one on the GT team expected to get anything, heck it was hard enough for our players to get new socks...
 

bke1984

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,609
A bowl ring is more a memory of a good season, than the one game. No one on the GT team expected to get anything, heck it was hard enough for our players to get new socks...
I get the overarching point about the AA being cheap, and agree that it was ridiculous. I just struggle with the concept of rings for this purpose. Even if we say it’s rewarding a good season. Look, I enjoyed 2016, but we were 4-4 in conference and finished 5th in our division (out of seven teams). I get that we finished strong and beat uGA, but did that season and the Gator Bowl win really warrant such an accolade?
 

Milwaukee

Banned
Messages
7,277
Location
Milwaukee, WI
Maybe I’m just missing something, but why does ANYONE get a ring without having won a conference or national championship?

Even an Orange Bowl or Rose Bowl ring is silly without a championship. So what...you win one game and get a ring? Just doesn’t make sense to me.

‘14 squad doesn’t deserve a ring? I’m not saying I disagree or agree, but that’s what you’re saying.
 

BainbridgeJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,210
It’s not really an old/young divide at GT because we’ve historically been a very conservative, analytical, business-oriented Institute. We tend to admire the performance, the functionality, etc rather than the appearance. Elegant solutions to complex problems are “cool”, not the packaging or advertising. Perhaps times are changing and the flashy marketing type all show & no go philosophy is going to dominate. Not really sure this will be the case because at the end of the day you’ll still have a significant percentage of the fanbase that’s extremely analytical. After all, we were about 2 decades behind the times trading the more accurate slide rule for a calculator even with our technological prowess. I’m not sure high gloss marketing, fashion, “cool”, etc is in the average GT man’s DNA.
I think you just proved his point.
 

flea77

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
934
I get the overarching point about the AA being cheap, and agree that it was ridiculous. I just struggle with the concept of rings for this purpose. Even if we say it’s rewarding a good season. Look, I enjoyed 2016, but we were 4-4 in conference and finished 5th in our division (out of seven teams). I get that we finished strong and beat uGA, but did that season and the Gator Bowl win really warrant such an accolade?
Some schools spend the money on the things that players appreciate, some don't. Deserved or not you can bet the next bowl game GT wins, the new guy will try to make it important.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
If there is one thing that this thread teaches me, it’s that old people are awful with change.


The same people complaining about the new “have fun” culture are the same ones who would’ve been complaining when Bear Bryant allowed a black man to play on his team.

Different generation, same attitude. But I’m not hating on you oldies. In 40 years, I’m totally going to lose my mind when we use mind rays to pass the plays in (or something else)
Now, back up a bit. If by "have fun culture" you mean Clemson -- and it is so far beyond that simplicity you don't seem to get it, and you really should listen to Swinney talk sometime to learn what a really serious and smart guy he is, and how difficult and far flung his "culture" was to instill -- then I am all in as he would say. If you mean blaming the other guy, pushups on the sideline and posturing for cameras, I ain't. (Want an exercise? Try to find one example of Swinney seeming to blame Tommy Bowden for anything. He took his lumps and plowed ahead.)

I am willing to have any civil discourse on most any subject save religion -- a non-winner at the get-go -- but to conflate the so-far nebulous "have fun" culture -- your term -- with racial bigotry and hate is so far out of bounds it is demeaning. That is what kept African-Americans off the field at Alabama and Georgia Tech, even as Eddie Robinson at Grambling was conflicted between his quest for racial equality and the incredible athletic gifts segregation handed him as a result. Ask your many African-American friends for their views.

I am willing to accept an unfortunate and thoughtless choice of analogies because sometimes a mouth is running wide open when the brain is disengaged, particularly when the owner is new to adulthood.

As for change, I have an iPad and a cell phone, and even carry one of those debit card thingies, so take that. Next week my daughter promises to teach me to drive an automatic transmission. I think I can handle a coaching change. It is the quality of it that I question.

And of course hating on us "oldies". To suggest those of a certain age are bigots is hateful. while I would suggest those younger just need some maturity.

Now it 6 p.m. and my bed time.
 

GTG768B

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
141
I get the overarching point about the AA being cheap, and agree that it was ridiculous. I just struggle with the concept of rings for this purpose. Even if we say it’s rewarding a good season. Look, I enjoyed 2016, but we were 4-4 in conference and finished 5th in our division (out of seven teams). I get that we finished strong and beat uGA, but did that season and the Gator Bowl win really warrant such an accolade?

Did you play on that team? No? Then who the **** are you to say what they do and don't "deserve?" I ****ing hate our fanbase sometimes.
 

gt02

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
634
A bowl ring is more a memory of a good season, than the one game. No one on the GT team expected to get anything, heck it was hard enough for our players to get new socks...
was the lack of the ring due to the coach, or the AD?
 

bikeseat

GT Athlete
Messages
312
If we we’re screwing the program over this badly on a relatively inconsequential item one can only imagine how poorly the rest of the finances/operations were being run. Remember the fiasco with the Dublin game when the AD got shamed into changing the flight reservations?

The cargo plane story is like 75% true i think. We only heard after the fact from equipment guys about how we almost didnt take a normal delta flight. Not sure what the 100% truth is
 

MostDefinitely

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
41
Location
Massachusetts
... Elegant solutions to complex problems are “cool”, not the packaging or advertising. Perhaps times are changing and the flashy marketing type all show & no go philosophy is going to dominate. ...

Your comment here encapsulates what I find frustrating about the anti-Collins crowd. The implication that GT football under Collins is "all show & no go". I think this is the crux of the whole debate -- is Collins all style or is there substance to back it up. As a pro-Collins fan I think his culture has both style and substance and is laying a foundation for future success.

Time will tell, but we should give our new coach the benefit of the doubt for a few years. Many here seem unwilling to do that.
 

Augusta_Jacket

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
8,125
Location
Augusta, Georgia
Your comment here encapsulates what I find frustrating about the anti-Collins crowd. The implication that GT football under Collins is "all show & no go". I think this is the crux of the whole debate -- is Collins all style or is there substance to back it up. As a pro-Collins fan I think his culture has both style and substance and is laying a foundation for future success.

Time will tell, but we should give our new coach the benefit of the doubt for a few years. Many here seem unwilling to do that.

Not everyone who shares this opinion is "anti-Collins" though. I've seen a lot of posters advocating patience with him but also admitting that the used car salesman approach rubs them raw. I am one of them. I am hopeful Collins can be the next great GT coach, but I am not a fan at all of the theatrics. If all this leads to winning seasons and occasional ACCCG appearances, then I can live with it.
 

Oldgoldandwhite

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,845
Not everyone who shares this opinion is "anti-Collins" though. I've seen a lot of posters advocating patience with him but also admitting that the used car salesman approach rubs them raw. I am one of them. I am hopeful Collins can be the next great GT coach, but I am not a fan at all of the theatrics. If all this leads to winning seasons and occasional ACCCG appearances, then I can live with it.
Same here. Recruiting is probably 75-90 percent of the college game. But the number of great recruiters and great coaches can probably be counted on two hands.
 

deeznats

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
469
Not everyone who shares this opinion is "anti-Collins" though. I've seen a lot of posters advocating patience with him but also admitting that the used car salesman approach rubs them raw. I am one of them. I am hopeful Collins can be the next great GT coach, but I am not a fan at all of the theatrics. If all this leads to winning seasons and occasional ACCCG appearances, then I can live with it.

'Used car salesman' has such a negative connotation though... to the point where I don't how someone could use it and be supporting the program. A used car salesman is known for lying, being sleazy, and many other terrible attributes. There are so many other ways to phrase that that might be more accurate and not so damning. You could say Collins is flashy, too positive, unrealistic about the program, focusing on the wrong priorities, etc.

I also think @MostDefinitely hit the nail on the head with his comments.
 

Augusta_Jacket

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
8,125
Location
Augusta, Georgia
'Used car salesman' has such a negative connotation though... to the point where I don't how someone could use it and be supporting the program. A used car salesman is known for lying, being sleazy, and many other terrible attributes. There are so many other ways to phrase that that might be more accurate and not so damning. You could say Collins is flashy, too positive, unrealistic about the program, focusing on the wrong priorities, etc.

I also think @MostDefinitely hit the nail on the head with his comments.

You are certainly entitled to that opinion. I personally think it's an apropos descriptor because of the constant hyperbole and yet I still donate, buy my season tickets, and attend the games. Also, I don't see where any of those other descriptors are any less negative in their connotation. I have lobbied hard on these boards to give CGC time to get his recruits into place before we judge him.

In essence, what is being said is that everyone needs to either get in lockstep agreement and blindly support our coach or else be quiet. I reject that assertion, and as a STH & donor, I feel I have the right to voice my opinion, no matter how others may take it.
 
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