TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of Georgia Tech Athletics
FROM: Dan Radakovich, Georgia Tech Director of Athletics
It has been very encouraging to listen and read the words of many of our football players with regard to their desire to improve and finish the season on a strong note. Even in the face of the loss to Clemson on Saturday, our student-athletes remained upbeat about the prospects the rest of the way.
The season has reached its boiling point and I can tell you from seeing our team this week that these players and coaches are focused and determined. We all know the tough task and environment we face at Virginia Tech next week. I expect nothing short of a tremendous effort from the Yellow Jackets next Thursday night on ESPN.
I am really looking forward to our next home game as well, when Miami visits Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 13th. For a number of reasons, this should be one of the best games of the year. We are really in need of a great crowd to support our team in this ACC Coastal Division matchup. Our games with Miami always prove to be highly entertaining. Bring your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors and enjoy great college football on the Flats. For ticket information, click here .
Ticket System Maintenance
One note about purchasing tickets online: Our online ticketing system will be undergoing improvement and maintenance from mid-day Thursday through mid-day Friday this week. We should be up and running by Friday afternoon. I appreciate your patience and understanding and hope you’ll log-in to make your purchases when we bring the system back up.
1990 National Champions Reunion
Aside from the great football game Nov. 13, we are welcoming our 1990 National Championship team on the 20th anniversary of claiming the title. More than 100 players, coaches and support staff will be on hand for the festivities. The group will gather with head coach Bobby Ross on Friday night for a grand get-together, and then be interwoven into our game day activities at the stadium on Saturday. This should prove to be a day all Yellow Jackets can share in the pride of this great accomplishment. Make your plans to be a part of this historical celebration. There will be a pregame autograph session with these national champion stars as part of Wreckfest prior to the game.
Men’s Basketball Heating Up
Thanks to the Tech basketball fans who braved the downtown traffic to attend our Hoopfest event last Friday night. A good time was had by all and we got a glimpse of the fast-break basketball coach Paul Hewitt’s team will display in the season ahead. We have an exhibition game scheduled for next Friday night, November 5th vs. Clark Atlanta and the season begins in earnest on November 12th vs. Charleston Southern. Great season tickets in all price levels remain available. Click here for tickets.
Women’s Basketball a Hit on and Off the Court
MaChelle Joseph’s women’s team may be loaded with their best roster ever, coming off four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history. They also open the regular season on the 12th at 5 p.m. vs. Georgia State as part of a doubleheader with the men (7:30 tip). Marquee early dates for the Yellow Jackets include a home court showdown with Maya Moore and UConn on November 21 at 2 p.m., and rival Georgia on the Flats on December 5 – also at 2 p.m. Tickets to all of these great home matchups are for sale. Click here for tickets.
Off the court, you may have caught this wonderful story which appeared on Fox 5’s Wednesday’s Child. I hope you’ll take a minute to watch this feature.
I am so proud of the difference our student-athletes are making in the city of Atlanta and beyond.
McCamish Pavilion Web Site
Both our men’s and women’s teams will be playing their last season in the venerable Alexander Memorial Coliseum as we now know it. Construction begins on the McCamish Pavilion at the conclusion of this season. We have constructed a web page dedicated to the new facility. This site will be updated periodically as more and more information becomes available regarding the progress of the planning and construction.
Volleyball Climbing the Charts
Congratulations to Tonya Johnson’s Volleyball Yellow Jackets for their streak of good fortune. Winners of six of the last seven conference matches, our team has surged into a tie for third place in the ACC with a 7-4 league record and a 14-9 mark overall. Only Duke and North Carolina stand ahead of us. The team travels to Wake Forest and Duke this weekend for key road matches.
Golfers Win in a Runaway
And what a victory for our Georgia Tech golf program this week when Bruce Heppler’s team captured a runaway first-place finish at the U.S. Collegiate Championship played at the Golf Club of Georgia. Tech’s James White broke the competitive course record in the tournament’s first round with a sizzling 10-under par 62. The Jackets nearly lapped the field, which consisted of seven of the nation’s top 20 teams. They led wire-to-wire, putting away the title Tuesday by a tournament- and school-record 27 shots for a 54-hole total of 28-under-par 836, pushing the team to one of Georgia Tech’s most impressive victories ever. White won the medalist title by five shots.
Cool Holiday Gifts
I have mentioned in this space a time or two that Georgia Tech and the 93rd PGA Championship have partnered together. There is now an exclusive limited edition merchandise offer to Tech fans and alumni. For a limited time you have the opportunity to purchase dual logo PGA Championship apparel. A quality selection of shirts and hats for men and women is available by visiting the official Georgia Tech Ramblinwreck online store by clicking on the link below.
This unique one-time apparel is the perfect gift for the Georgia Tech golf fan especially during the holidays. The PGA Championship is one of golf’s four major championships. Next year’s event at the Atlanta Athletic Club will mark only the third time that this prestigious event has been contested in the state of Georgia. Visit www.pga2011.com for more information.
Cross Country Headed To ACCs
This weekend the men’s and women’s cross country teams will head to Boston, Mass. to compete in the ACC Championships held at the prestigious Franklin Park on Saturday, October 30. This marks the first time that the Jackets will compete in Boston and the first time that the ACC Championships have been held there. Tech is coming off of one of its best races of the season, entering the conference meet.
Swimming and Diving To Host `Rival Meet’
After splitting with Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic last Saturday, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads will return to the pool when they host a `Rival Meet’ against Georgia and Emory in a mid-week match up on Wednesday, November 3 at 5 p.m. The Jackets and Bulldogs have not met since the 2007 season, while both the men’s and women’s teams defeated Emory last season on Senior Day. Make sure to come out and support your Jackets!
Tech Wins Doubles Title at USTA/ITA Southeast Regional
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team added another title to its accomplishments this fall when Kevin King and Juan Spir, the nation’s 43rd-ranked doubles team, captured their first collegiate title by defeating Yellow Jacket teammates Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith, 8-6, in the finals of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional at the University of Florida.
King, a junior from Peachtree City, Ga., and Spir, a sophomore from Medellin, Colombia, qualified to play in the 2010 USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, taking place Nov. 4-7, at the new indoor facilities at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located in Flushing, N.Y.
Earlier this fall, Guillermo Gomez won the singles crown at the Southern Intercollegiate Champinships in Athens, Ga. The nation’s fourth-ranked player, Gomez will be in the singles draw for the USTA/ITA Indoors.
Ngo Wins Consolation Title at USTA/ITA Regional
After dropping her first match of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championship, Georgia Tech women’s tennis player Viet Ha Ngo rallied to win her next five matches and the consolation championship over teammate Caroline Lilley, 6-2, 7-6(1), earlier this week at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
