Inappropriate comments during recruiting

71YellowJacket

71YellowJacket

Damn Good Rat
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
1,262
Several posters have cautioned us not to make comments before Feb 5 or we will hurt recruiting, the team, Georgia Tech.

At first, being a Tech man, my first reaction was agreement; let’s not do anything that might cause a recruit to have second thoughts. Then, after thinking a bit more, I’m not so sure.

If a recruit reads this material what will he think; that many of our fans are upset with Dave Braine and the coaching staff? This is news only found here?

Why because we lost several games badly? One thing I’m sure about, the recruits know our won-loss record and have received considerable information about what went wrong and how it can be fixed from numerous sources before ever surfing here ( if indeed they ever do).

Why because he might find out here about the tough academic standards and narrow curriculum? Is this where they learn about Tech’s standards?

Sometimes, I feel like a used-car salesman, let’s not show the kid what’s wrong with this wreck until he has put down his money, then it’s OK if he finds out it’s missing an engine.

I wouldn’t want them buy a car from us without knowing everything we know about it; good and bad. After all, they all will soon be Tech man.
 
They also won't have to look here to know that there is some unrest amongst tech fans. All they need to do is pickup a newspaper, listen to sports talk radio, or just know some tech fans.
 
I don't know to what extent recruits peruse message boards and , if they do, what stock they put into what they read. I tend to think, given the access to and promotion of computer technology in their schools, that it is very likely they visit from time to time.

If so, it would be much more eye-opening to see the discussions develop than to read or hear general media reports of "disgruntled" or "restless" fans. Some of these athletes have the maturity to recognize it for what it is--a forum to vent, rant, rave, discuss, etc GT sports. However, remember that these are kids who very well could be influenced by such.

I teach high school, and I have coached kids who have gone through the recruiting process. I know that sometimes it takes the smallest minutia (often seemingly trivial) to encourage or discourage a kid.

71, I appreciate your analogy. I see it more like this:
CCG and staff are indeed selling the product. However, I believe that they go over the ins and outs and try to sell the product as is. Certainly they put a shine on the ol' Wreck, but I don't think they are trying to sell a lemon.
 
Agree 71Bee!

They saw the losses on national TV and heard the comments by the announcers. They read the papers. They talk to each other and follow college teams during the season. They did not have to come here to find that out.

What they can find here is the VERY PASSIONATE FANS who WILL be in the stands to support them no matter what! You've done it in all your years, I've done it (I went to every game home and away when we were 1-10 in 1981)and everyone else here has probably done the same during some part of their time being a Tech fan. Heck, I remember going to Columbia, SC to play South Carolina in the early 80's when they were good and we were LOUSY and being harassed about Tech even thinking we could play the game of football and be on the same field as them. We've taken a lot of abuse from opposing fans, but we sure have maintained our due diligence in our support! Our fans in the stands, how many times have we discussed the importance of that on this board. I not going to stop going because I have disagreement with how our team was coached ... NEVER! Never did it then and would never do it now.

I know because of my association with former Tech players - how many times they have said to me, "you have to be an unbelievably true fan to come to those games when nobody was there and we were getting killed each week!" Never say die!

I believe recruits READ our passion for wanting our team to be successful and that we will be there for them cheering them on!

We're doing well in recruiting for a couple of reasons ... the school and its academic rewards, our most recent history of success on the playing field, the city of Atlanta and the opportunity to play early, and yes even the coaches. I'd like to stress the opportunity to play early because I hear that all the time from the ex-players I know well.

It's funny - North Carolina is having a very good recruiting year - I think they won 4 games. Players are gravitating to them because they know they have an opportunity to get playing time early.

Miss. State had one of its worse years in recent memory and Jackie Sherrill has probably got one of his best classes in 10 years - all spots are open because of the poor season in 2002. Again, early playing time.
 
Yes, they may log on and find passionate fans. But, they may also log on and find fans that confuse insults for passion.

But, I'm sure we all have pure motives.
 
71 Bee et al,

I think you are comparing apples and oranges.

"If a recruit reads this material what will he think; that many of our fans are upset with Dave Braine and the coaching staff? This is news only found here? "

No it's not just news here. A recruit can indeed discover that from numerous sources. And it's probably not all bad for recruits to know that we as fans want the program to be better. BUT...its one thing to understand all that and its completely another thing to see longtime fans say things like "been a fan for 35 years and the last two games were the worst performance I've ever seen." "Chan can't get it done - he has not shown the ability to coach up players." "He'll only be here for three years then we'll have to rebuild again."

Why would a kid want to come here if our own fans have given up on a coach? What makes him think we won't also give up on him? If he's already getting hints of a coaching change, why would he bother?

Having said all that, my problem is not so much the bashing of the coaching staff as it is the disrespect to some of the recruits we are getting. If I was being recruited and saw that on a board - I'd look somewhere else because I wouldn't want to play for people who only appreciate you if you have some arbitrary ranking next to your name (like 3-4 stars) or only want you if others (e.g. FSU, UT, UGA) want you.

Thankfully most kids must realize that a vocal minority can make a big noise yet not be representative.

I'd say that to a certain extent recruiting is EXACTLY like being a used car salesman or a salesman of any other type for that matter. It's just a matter of how the salesperson wants to approach it.

What exactly is a "Tech man?" I don't know about you, but I don't have any distinguishing features that someone could look at and say he's a "Tech man."
 
Originally posted by Dr. B:
Yes, they may log on and find passionate fans. But, they may also log on and find fans that confuse insults for passion.

But, I'm sure we all have pure motives.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Dr. B:
Hit the nail on the head - "pure motives."
 
ncjacket, I believe we have all been given some direction by the operators of this board to cease jokes at the coach and school and I intend to comply with that directive you can take it up with them.
Now to address your comments about Curry and the state of our program under him we know in the seven years he was coach that we had one good season and that was in 1985. He had a decent season in 1984 and his last season here in 1986 he went 6-6, which seemed to me as a step back.
We know that his recruiting was atrocious his last two years because coach Ross said on many occasions that if he had been told the true state of our program that he wouldn't have taken the job. Obviously I am a poor communicator or you didn't read my post because I never denied that there was no success but if you will reread my post I spoke about so many FALSE STARTS. I thought I developed what I meant by that. One coach like Curry in 1980-81 had records of 1-11
and 1-10-1 and finally had a decent team in 1984, not good however but in 1985 we had a good season
and then dropped to 6-6 in 1986 and he skipped and it was 1989 before we had another decent team and finally the great team in 1990 and after 1991 we changed coaches and then the bottom fell out. This is my definition of false starts. Have enough success and then boom, we are back into a big time rebuilding project. I don't know whether Chan will be successful or not but I have seen nothing to give me optimism. By the way Coach Ross never implied that he was misled by Coach Rice but according to Ross at one of his addresses to the TD club he said that Homer Rice had directed Bill Curry to be upfront with Ross and Ross said flat out that Curry did not.
 
Coach Curry was a nice man but a mediocre coach. He only had one good year - 1985, All-American Bowl (got us into 1 bowl game) and we beat Michigan State. Those were the days when we kept coaches for a long time because fans were content on that then. Those days are gone. Programs will not do that anymore.

Ross took over a downtrodden program back then. 18,000 people in the stands was awful!
 
what is said on this board is not going to effect recruiting at all, it is already going to ---- in a hand basket. any school who claims to be a big time program will not accept what happened to us last season, we either compete or become a basketball school. the right person can right this ship if that person is brought in before we drop anchor.
 
Originally posted by getwrecked:
71 Bee et al,


I'd say that to a certain extent recruiting is EXACTLY like being a used car salesman or a salesman of any other type for that matter. It's just a matter of how the salesperson wants to approach it.

What exactly is a "Tech man?" I don't know about you, but I don't have any distinguishing features that someone could look at and say he's a "Tech man."
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">When I used the phrase used car salesmen, I was referring to the dishonorable practice of hiding the truth; not that all used car salesmen would do this.

What is a Tech Man?

You probably missed the following answer to that question asked originally by bellyseries and ylojk8 in my (the 75th) response to my brother Tech Man ylojk8's treatise of the theory of negativity.
Originally posted by 71Bee:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Originally posted by bellyseries:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Originally posted by 71Bee:
Ylojk8,

Here is a positive comment for you.

I'm positive that Chan is not the man. But hey, just my opinion. Only time will prove me wrong, not your opinion.

I do think there are more than a few Gailey supporters here who cannot separate support from Tech from support for GTAA and its employees. This does surprise me but I coming around to accepting that as just the way it is.

You may find this even more surprising, as a Tech man, I have a stronger, more lasting connection to you and all other Tech grads than I ever will for the hired help.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Okay, 71, let me get this straight: You "are" Ga Tech, but Chan Gailey, hired help, is not?

There is a distinction between "Ga Tech" as it exists at any momemt (in its employees in the GTAA, for instance, and presumably , its faculty) and the "real", Platonic, Ga Tech?

I'm not sure where this leaves Bobby Dodd, for instance, but if it's a way of NOT supporting the program while claiming to be a "real" Tech man, it's pretty spiffy.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Bellyseries and ylojk8,

My first impulse was a quick quip, but thought the better of it and decided to try to put my thoughts together in a manner most would understand.

Georgia Tech is not brick buildings, football and baseball fields, stadiums, or songs. These are all the outward vestiges of something far more lasting; a school spirit which I believe is as real as anything attached to the institute. The core of this spirit is every Tech man and woman, bound forever by a bond formed by four and plus years of a common trial completed with our graduation. Once completed, never to be broken or dissolved by time or events.

As one of many, in this respect I am Georgia Tech.

Yes we also have many fans devoted and avid followers of our sports teams. Some are also avid followers and supporters of our institute beyond our sports teams. They have a special place in all our hearts.

There are also a long line of loyal and dedicated employees of our institution who have served it long and well; academics, administration, and employees of the athletic association. A few of these by the actions and long service deserve honor and recognition as long as there is a Georgia Tech. Bobby Dodd, W.A. Alexander, John Heisman, Dean Griffin are just a few of those worthy to be so honored.

Perhaps someday, Chan Gailey will be worthy of such an honor.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">
 
To all who were posting what IMO were tasteless jokes.....most of the posters on this board knew they were tasteless and did not have to be told by the moderators to stop. It speaks volumes about the level that things have sunk to around here when the moderators on this board have to publically tell posters to cease and desist
 
I now live in San Antonio Texas and talk up Tech as much as I can. I have discovered well not discovered for I felt sure I knew it all the time BUT people here know Tech, and speak of Tech in glowing terms. Thank god most don't know of this or any other board that is Tech oriented. Here again a big BUT I'm sure the kids do as this area is very heavy into sports and follow it all the time. So I feel we should keep the talking down about the coaches, AA, and DB. It will only confuse these kids who some day may be on our recruting list.
 
Well, to me a true Tech Man or Woman is the one's that sit in the stands regardless of whether we have inclement weather or if the Temp. is 100 degrees and sit there until the bitter end regardless of the way things are going on the field. It's not easy to go to Athens and get blown out without a whimper from our guys and then have to listen to the derisive taunting by the Dawg fans. Yes, I will never forget the feeling and I hope I never have to endure that again. I can take a loss when our team stands up like men and fight for every inch of real extate
but I can't take it when they lay down and quit.
We went through that from the last three years of Pepper until 1984 under Curry and then again the first two years under Ross and once he got our program going our AD hired a snake oil salesman that took us down the tube. The question that is forcing itself upon us is, do we have another SNAKE OIL salesman. This is what is causing such an uproar from the old Tech fans. UGA can get a bad coach such as GOOF and Donnan and they still win from 7 to 10 games but when we bring in a dud
the bottom drops out.
This is what causes such cynicism among the OLD Tech fans, we see some false starts that seems that we are on a recovery and after a couple of years we change horses and "HERE WE GO AGAIN".
This is wearing on those of us that are OLD and in poor health and that make extreme sacrifices to just be there and then it turns into a study in how not to play the game.
 
Big Buck, I found it very interesting that equate the last 2 games this past year with the last few years under Pepper, the first few under Curry and the first few under Ross. I would agree. Where we seem to differ is that I also remember both Curry and Ross getting that straightened out and don't see why Chan can't as well. You seem (at least to me) to leap to the conclusion that he can't without any more evidence. That's really where we disagree.

I don't think discussion of the season and coaching staff is inappropriate. What I do think is inappropriate is the language and message some send. It's perfectly all right in my mind to question decisions made, personnel choices, etc. But what goes over the line to me are the personal insults directed at our coaches and way some can't seem to post on any topic without getting a shot in. I am also amazed by some of the jokes that have been on here the last week of so. I can't ever remember fans telling those kinds of jokes about THEIR OWN COACH.
 
I think SpellingBee said it best. CG and the boys are handling things just fine and doing what is needed to make this program even more outstanding, and bring another ACC championship home. 1998 seems so far away, but so sweet on my memory. This year should be great! And as for these boards affecting recruits.....I highly doubt that this message board is on the minds of the kids. I believe that ESPN, Fox Sports South, and so forth have a bigger impact by the very fact they reach a larger audience.
 
Internet message boards are the reality of college sports now, and recruiting will have to adapt. Sure, recruits can and do get on this message board, and sure they'll read some shots at Gailey and the program in general, but it's nothing they won't see on the message boards of any other program except maybe the one that just won the national championship.
 
Originally posted by UncleOJ:
Internet message boards are the reality of college sports now, and recruiting will have to adapt. Sure, recruits can and do get on this message board, and sure they'll read some shots at Gailey and the program in general, but it's nothing they won't see on the message boards of any other program except maybe the one that just won the national championship.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Good post UncleOJ,

Wonder if there is a correlation between the percentage of negative posts and how poorly a team played the last season.
wink.gif
 
83Jacket, thank you for what I believe ought to be the "Post of the Day".....funny how so often just a few words get overlooked......you aptly phrased TRUTH. Thank you.
 
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