Dec. 26, 2008
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech Football team returned from holiday break and practiced for an hour and a half at the Rose Bowl Fields Friday morning in a light mist as preparations heated up for the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl, New Year’s Eve against LSU (7:30 p.m./ESPN).
After practice, the Yellow Jackets moved their headquarters about two miles down the road to the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. After receiving their room keys, the players were whisked away to a ballroom where they picked up their bowl gifts – always a great part of the players’ bowl experience.
Pretty soon after checking in, it was time for the Chick-fil-A Bowl Team Welcome Party at the ESPN Zone in Buckhead. The team was greeted by the Chick-fil-A Bowl staff and then it was time to dig in to the buffet dinner. As you can imagine, when two football teams get together at a buffet, a lot of food was consumed. Fortunately for the ESPN Zone staff, LSU went there before Georgia Tech did so they did have a little catch-up time!
After dinner, the players went upstairs to the game room and spent over an hour playing all of the video games and sports-themed games that the ESPN Zone has to offer. If you think they are competitive on the football field, you should see some of the battles going on while playing all of the games.
From there, it was back to the hotel where the players had some free time to spend with their families. Chick-fil-A provides a player hospitality suite in the hotel where they can go and unwind while watching other bowl games, playing video and arcade games or grabbing a snack.
Saturday will be another busy day with a morning practice scheduled and then a trip to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in the afternoon. At night, Georgia Tech will battle LSU in the Georgia Power Family Feud.
Be sure to check back all week leading up to the big New Year’s Eve game. www.ramblinwreck.com will have all of your behind-the-scenes action from the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
