Why America NEEDS GT to be elite

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
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1,656
As evidenced by the groundswell of support GT seemed to get from the media and public this week, people want a team like GT to rise up and do something special.

But I believe a lot of people don't even realize that they want it. GT is the anti-FSU/OSU/UGAg. When we join the elites, finish in the top 10, and challenge for a nat'l title in the next two years, just watch.

America NEEDS a team with real integrity to win it all. College football needs it, as well. Colin Cowherd would disagree, but I think people would eat up a Cinderella story like GT. Just imagine the E:60 story on how GT's athletes are actually students. Profiles on kids like D.J. White, Synjyn Days (as opposed to the Winstons and Manziels).

And we are on the cusp. The past two weeks proved it. I say this with a straight face, and no hyperbole: A GT title run through the CFP in the next year or two would make college football better, and would impact kids like the ones I coach in middle school, who truly believe college football is only about glory and $$ everywhere in the country.
 

takethepoints

Helluva Engineer
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5,916
I think it would be a good story for the viewing audience, but I think college football is institutional now.

What I mean by that is that the incentives for the kind of behavior we see in the factory programs are widely supported by organizations - athletic departments, athletic associations, media outlets - that are (you might have noticed) remarkably impervious to popular sentiment. They know that most people watch football to be entertained and that, while they may tut-tut about the problems with big time athletics, they don't really put that at the top of their lists when it comes to who they watch and when. The result is that the people who run these institutions feel, correctly, largely free of constraints coming from their supporters or anywhere else. It would take making football and the rest of the big time sports a political issue - something that hasn't happened since Theodore Roosevelt's administration - to get them to sit up and take notice.

For all that, I do think you're right about Tech as an example of what can be done by running a clean program with brains being a beneficial one. I hope you're right about our making a run at the MNC.
 

stinger 1957

Helluva Engineer
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1,331
I think you are right about this and I think we may see a move in attitude about how people behave and act going fwd, think there is a real awakening just waiting to happen and we could be a big part of that IMO.
 

GlennW

Helluva Engineer
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1,189
It sure would make that pitch to the kids easier; come to Tech and play for Conference and National Championships; you can still get a shot at a pro career; and those who graduate can go on and become a millionaire. Stanford, and maybe Notre Dame, could pitch this to recruits, but, now we can legitimately.
 
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Location
Middle, Ga
As evidenced by the groundswell of support GT seemed to get from the media and public this week, people want a team like GT to rise up and do something special.

But I believe a lot of people don't even realize that they want it. GT is the anti-FSU/OSU/UGAg. When we join the elites, finish in the top 10, and challenge for a nat'l title in the next two years, just watch.

America NEEDS a team with real integrity to win it all. College football needs it, as well. Colin Cowherd would disagree, but I think people would eat up a Cinderella story like GT. Just imagine the E:60 story on how GT's athletes are actually students. Profiles on kids like D.J. White, Synjyn Days (as opposed to the Winstons and Manziels).

And we are on the cusp. The past two weeks proved it. I say this with a straight face, and no hyperbole: A GT title run through the CFP in the next year or two would make college football better, and would impact kids like the ones I coach in middle school, who truly believe college football is only about glory and $$ everywhere in the country.
It's called being consistent which tech has really never been when it comes to winning at the highest level. Until the elite kids figure out that not everyone goes to a sec school and becomes the super star then it want change much. We need to just win and be proud of who we are. We are not a minor league system for the NFL(bama,Uga,ND,USC etc).
 

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
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1,656
GT will always be swimming the Amazon upstream. That idea excites some guys, those are the guys we need to go after.

I agree. And its what makes me proud to root for GT. If I was a fan of a factory school, I believe my "fandom" would have waned in recent years.

This is why I think it would be good for college football, and for aspiring student-athletes. People want an alternative narrative, they just may not realize it. I mean, they never made a movie about the team that stays in the top 5 every year...
 

Ash

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
766
I think the rise of Stanford fit the storyline you are wanting. Tech could fit that bill too. But while I agree that college football needs a program like Tech's to be successful, I don't think there is enough support outside the program to make it happen. Self interest still rules. We were the benefit of that this week only because of the anti-FSU sentiment going around.

In other words, yes, we can do it, but we are going to have to earn it on our own.
 
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