SB Nation User Blog: NCT

A few thoughts before I venture out into the rain

NCT — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:26:18 -0000

Both of my grandfathers were solid Tech fans: one got his general engineering degree there in the 1920s; the other would have gone to school there if going to college had been an option (he was a brilliant man and a natural engineer). The latter grandfather's sister married a Tech graduate, and his older son earned his chemical engineering degree from Tech. The other son went to North Georgia, but has been a Tech fan all his life, and his son is a Tech alumnus.

My father became a Georgia fan when his family moved to Athens while he was in high school. While at Athens High (first over off Prince Avenue, and then in the "new" facility off Milledge), my dad started attending the games. Unfortunately, this was at the beginning of The Drought. Dad went on to enroll at the University and was an undergraduate for the '53, '54, '55, and '56 seasons. During that span, Georgia was 1-3 against Florida, 0-4 against Auburn, and 0-4 against Tech. My mother was a little more fortunate: as she was two years behind my father, she was an undergraduate when The Drought was broken in '57 and got to see a Georgia victory in Athens in the following, her senior, year.

My folks had three sons. The first two went to Georgia Tech. My father has said he and my mother had to keep trying until they got it right, and in 1984, I matriculated at the University (and did my best to even things out by earning two degrees). Lo and behold, after six consecutive victories over Tech, I arrived just in time to see the streak end in an 18-35 beating in Athens. We lost the 1985 game, too, and I was beginning to wonder if there was a Generational Curse that I'd inherited from my father. Thankfully, we didn't lose every game while I was a student, but during those seven years, Georgia had a losing record (3-4).

But today is not about my woes, having undertaken my own season tickets during the meat of the Goff years. It's about my dad and those of his era who have enjoyed watching the series mature in a manner completely dominated by Georgia in every way. Georgia now leads in victories and points scored. Georgia has more victories and points in Athens; more victories and points in Atlanta. But Tech holds the longest streak. It's time for that to end.

I could add lots of reasons why I hate Tech and why all victories over Tech are important. But this is about The Drought. It's time to take from the Trade School the one point of pride they have in the series, and let them carry the burden of a drought for a while.

Wreck Tech!

Knowshon Moreno leap | ajc.com

NCT — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:16:10 -0000

Knowshon Moreno leap | ajc.com

Beautiful photo of The Hurdle

Georgia Athletics: Fleeting Thoughts

NCT — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:46:05 -0000

Georgia Athletics: Fleeting Thoughts

David Ching's "replacement" -- check out the clever observation about turning the lights down at lunch during the SEC Media Days.

Omaha.com CWS - fun human interest story

NCT — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:03:31 -0000

Omaha.com CWS - fun human interest story

From AJC: AP photo of Lyle Allen leaping to prevent a home run in the 4th inning of the CWS, game...

NCT — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:31:48 -0000

From AJC: AP photo of Lyle Allen leaping to prevent a home run in the 4th inning of the CWS, game 1, final series.

OnlineAthens.com | DogBytes | Baseball | Kaltefleiter: Dogs reaffirm shift in power 06/03/08

NCT — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:15:56 -0000

OnlineAthens.com | DogBytes | Baseball | Kaltefleiter: Dogs reaffirm shift in power 06/03/08

Link includes video of regional final highlights and press conference.

Some video of the "coaches' tour" White House press conference including footage of Richt...

NCT — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:51:34 -0000

WKRG.com Video

Some video of the "coaches' tour" White House press conference including footage of Richt in action

Black

NCT — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:22:31 -0000

I realize there is a lot of skepticism about the possibility of the Dogs wearing black jerseys on the field. It's gimmicky. It's an uncharacteristic stunt. It's a potential distraction from the task at hand. For those fans who might also say it goes against tradition, I offer this snapshot of Frankie Sinkwich's official Heisman portrait, borrowed strictly for educational purposes from http://www.heisman.com:

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

NCT — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:27:04 -0000

The ESPN announcers, Pat Forde's column, and now The Red & Black (Forde and R&B links below) have all cited Georgia's 23-3 "true" road record in the SEC under Richt. First, it's painful enough that we have to qualify this stellar record by excluding Jacksonville. And with that out of the way...

If I'm not mistaken (hence the title of the diary), our record since the beginning of 2001 on SEC opponents' home fields is 19-3, including one loss in each of Lexington, Auburn, and Baton Rouge (and at least one win in every SEC stadium except the Swamp and Death Valley). Our over-all record since 2001 on opponents' home fields is 23-3, but those 23 wins include one win at Clemson and three at Historic Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Am I miscounting? Or is ESPN crediting ACC losses to the SEC?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3032206&sportCat=ncf
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2007/09/24/Sports/Dogs-Win.Overtime.Clo se.Call.At.bama-2985625.shtml

Eye Candy

NCT — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:41:58 -0000

It is my understanding that DawgSports is for the entertainment and (college football) education of its readers. Kyle and MaconDawg have shown themselves to be knowledgeable and funny (if, in Kyle's case, a little lacking with some basic understanding of musical instrumentation). These are the two most important things to me when deciding how to spend my internet time for college (and, specifically, UGA) football information.

Part of the entertainment of any visually-oriented website is, prima facie (in a literal sense), its visual aesthetics. Clearly, many readers appreciate female beauty. It would appear that at least one reader finds the gratuitous (and whether it is really "gratuitous" is an open question, as it serves the purpose of enhancing the visual aesthetics of the site) use of images of female beauty a little troublesome. If I understand correctly, it is, in fact, the use of the images (and the use's possible gratuitous nature) that is troublesome, and not the images themselves.

This is, perhaps, a fundamental question of theology, and I don't think this website is the best place to hash out the subtleties of the issue. But that won't stop me from giving it a brief (I'm a lawyer, too) treatment.

I heretofore have (I believe) avoided discussion or even mention of religion in my handful of posts on this site, because -- well, do I really have to offer an explanation for that? I am a Christian, and I can offer only my personal experience as a follower of Christ (which experience is a combination of my time with scripture, my time with the world around me, and my time in prayer and contemplation -- that's my Method). I believe it is the principal duty of all Christians to love God and love each other (two sides of the same coin). I may understand that duty differently from someone else. Differences in such understanding are to be expected, inasmuch as we are each independent manifestations of the image of God and not mental clones of one another.

But I ramble (not like a wreck, but like an undisciplined lawyer).

To me, there is a distinction between the gratuitous use of sexual imagery to appeal solely to prurient interests (did I mention I'm a lawyer?) and the use of images that are merely attractive.

Put another way, it's not the teat; it's the tumidity.

But prurience is in the eye of the beholder, perhaps. We may assume that some people out there "get off" on pictures of kittens or body-painted shirtless boys or bulldogs or scoreboards or any number of images, both perverse and harmless.

If Kyle and MDawg displayed images of kittens or body-painted shirtless boys or bulldogs or scoreboards or beautiful women with the clear intent to (or even with the reckless disregard for the likelihood that they might) distract me from my principal duties (see above), and if I felt so distracted, I would both discontinue my visits and question the morality of these two gentlemen (almost certainly, I would do that questioning silently).

Taken in context, however, it is quite clear to this beholder that the pictures of bulldogs are an attempt to appeal to interests shared by the majority of the site's readers and to enhance the visual appeal of the site and not an attempt to distract any reader from his moral center.

And by context, by the way, I mean the totality of the words that pour forth from these talented and prolific writers. As with our understanding of the character of our alma mater's head coach, the thoughtfulness (both latent and patent) with which the words on this site are selected provide a sense of comfort that, in addition to allegiance to the Bulldog Nation, we share (unexpectedly but not shockingly) a common set of basic human values.

I mentioned my experience in the world. I am familiar with slippery slopes. Suffice it to say that I understand there are certain situations I must avoid in order to prevent a downward slide into dangerous territory. G-rated pictures of cute chicks are not, for me, one of those slopes (neither, by the way, are bulldogs, scoreboards, shirtless boys, or kittens). If they were, I'd have to cancel my ISP subscription. The images used on this site are clearly not red carpets leading to common slippery slopes, even though they might push a rare button here or there.

Too many Paulists would have us believe that the way to salvation is through following a black-and-white set of rules. It is much simpler, but much more difficult, to eschew the set of rules in favor of the Christian path of figuring out what it means to love. As for me, I will forego the danger of Paulist shariah in favor of personal responsibility to God.

One final thought: how in the world can it possibly be more troubling from a Christian standpoint to use pictures of attractive and fully-clothed women than to repeatedly profess hatred for someone/something (Auburn)? (I hate Auburn, too. I find neither troubling.)