Awkward in Urnge

Former UT receiver Josh Smith had this to say about his deposed head coach:

“I’m just gonna be honest. I had multiple meetings with Coach Jones, and he knows how I feel. He was … I just never felt like he was himself. I always felt like he put a front on. I mean, he was in such a hard position that I probably would, too, honestly, so I can’t really say anything too bad about him. I do respect him for all the hard work he put into UT, but I honestly wanted the real him.

“I wanted just to be able to, like, laugh, and, like, have a conversation with him, and I just felt like I couldn’t ever do that, or anybody ever could. It was just always too serious, or we were in trouble…”

Booch a patent phony?  Who’da thunk it?

“Buzz always wears black Converse high tops and white gloves.”

Not any more.

Georgia Tech’s move to Adidas as its apparel provider has come with widespread anticipation and approval. There is at least one small cost to the changeover from Russell Athletic, which becomes official Sunday.

Buzz will no longer wear his trademark Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers. Come football season, Buzz’s feet will be adorned in custom Adidas sneakers, part of the company’s efforts to make its three-stripe brand as visible as possible.

For Tech fans bound to tradition, it may be a defeat at the hands of commerce.

I suppose clown shoes are out of the question… unless Adidas has a better sense of humor than I suspect.

Congrats. Now keep it going.

Ain’t nothin’ but appreciation for this.

The University of Georgia finished No. 8 in the 2017-18 edition of the Learfield NACDA Directors’ Cup, the all-sports competition ranking collegiate athletic programs. The final rankings were released Saturday following the completion of the College World Series.

Georgia posted its 21st-consecutive top-20 effort, making UGA one of only six Division I schools to finish in the top 20 every year since 1997-98. The other schools to do so are Florida, North Carolina, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.

“I’m very happy for our student-athletes, coaches and support staff for this top-10 finish,” said Greg McGarity, UGA’s J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics. “We shared so many memorable experiences across the board this year in NCAA competition, and the Cup is an indicator of our commitment to a broad-based athletic program.”

During 2017-18, 16 of Georgia’s 20 sports included in the Directors’ Cup scored points for UGA. Nine programs posted top-10 efforts.

There’s no reason a school with Georgia’s resources shouldn’t finish top ten on a regular basis.  Which is why I find it kind of funny that the press release doesn’t mention the last time before this season Georgia athletics managed that kind of performance.