TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of Georgia Tech Athletics
FROM: Dan Radakovich, Georgia Tech Director of Athletics
We’re only a couple of days from our big showdown at Clemson and what a strange week it has been. I have to tell you that I’m extremely proud of our football team for their well-conceived comments and their dedication to taking care of their own business in the wake of the coaching change at Clemson. I feel confident our team will go into the game with a great week of practice behind them and with solid preparation.
I hope to see many of you in the stands on Saturday and wish you all safe travels if you are heading up for the game. Coach Paul Johnson and his staff will take the team up on Friday for a walk-through at Memorial Stadium and then headquarter overnight in Greenville, S.C. Road trips with this regime are quite regimented and business-like. This short journey by bus will be no different.
I hope you have seen by now that our Homecoming game with Virginia on Oct. 25 has been set for 3:30. It’s really the perfect time to play given the events that surround the Homecoming game each year. Joe Irwin and his staff at the Alumni Association always do a wonderful job with all of the ancillary weekend activities. For a list of events for Homecoming 2008 click here.
As a side note on the Virginia game, dozens of college football coaches across the country, including Coach Johnson, will join to fight one opponent – Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy — on that day. By wearing an arm band with the Coach to Cure MD insignia, coaches will show their support for Coach to Cure Muscular Dystrophy, the American Football Coaches Association’s (AFCA) newest charitable project.
In a partnership with the Parent Project for Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), all coaches in the AFCA will participate in Coach to Cure MD – a one-day, game-day awareness event and fundraiser for Duchenne research. Football fans will be able to donate to muscular dystrophy research either online, outside stadiums, or by texting the word “CURE” to 90999. I salute Coach Johnson and his colleagues for taking on this fight.
On the marketing side, maybe you’ve caught a glimpse of our “Real Men Don’t Wear Orange” promotion – a two-game package for home games with orange-clad teams Virginia (Oct 25) and Miami (Nov, 20) — that affords the purchaser a $20 price reduction when buying both games. We really want to see Bobby Dodd Stadium packed with Georgia Tech fans on those two occasions. Our promotion’s name was not an attempt to disparage institutions like UVA or Miami. They just happen to share the same color…….Hey, come to think of it, so does Clemson.
One school that wouldn’t be caught dead in orange is our Nov. 1 opponent Florida State. That game is very nearly sold out and I am sure FSU will bring a large contingent into the fray. We should learn a kickoff time for that game this coming Monday.
Many of you avid fans are aware that CSS shows replays of Tech games every Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. and then again on Tuesday nights at 9. What you may not be aware of is that Comcast is also making these games available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via Comcast OnDemand. If you have a Comcast set-top box, then you probably get Comcast OnDemand. There are two versions, the full game that lasts 90 minutes and the recap, which is 12 minutes in duration.
With all this talk of football, I must tell you we are equally excited about the beginning of practice for our men’s and women’s basketball teams this week. For you men’s hoops season ticket holders, I hope you have gone online to Ramblinwreck.com/tickets or called our ticket office to renew your seats. Great things are ahead for Paul Hewitt and his team as this year’s edition will bring a running and gunning attack like we haven’t seen in a few years. And if recent media reports are accurate regarding the recruiting effort, you don’t want to give up that precious real estate inside the Thrillerdome.
And, if you are not a season ticket holder in men’s basketball but have been waiting to join the fun, this is your chance. We do have a limited number of seats available for season ticket purchases this year for the first time in a while. Follow the same procedure outlined above at our Ramblinwreck.com ticket site and order your season tickets today. You will be very glad you did. These will not be on the market very long.
At the same time, think about jumping on the express driven by women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph. With back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, this is one of the great success stories in our Georgia Tech athletic program. Season tickets are also available for our women’s games, and the Jackets will play one of the most challenging schedules in the nation this year.
The men’s and women’s basketball team will be signing autographs on top of Peter’s Parking Deck from 1:30-3:30pm on October 25th. Both teams will be signing new 2008-2009 posters. Scrimmages begin at the AMC immediately following the Tech-Virginia football game. Admission is free.
And just to show how well-rounded we are this week here at Tech, I even have a little baseball news to work in. The season may be a long ways away, but Danny Hall and his troops are in full swing this fall. That means it’s never too early to think about tournament passes to the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship which are on sale now.
This year’s Championship will be held at Durham Bulls Athletic Park from May 20-24 and will feature a round-robin format that assures each of the ACC’s eight competing teams of playing a minimum of three games. Full-tournament passes (all 13 games) are $120 apiece and may be purchased by calling (919) 956-BULL or via the ACC.com
Volleyball Hits The Road Until Halloween
Coach Bond Shymansky’s volleyball team will be on the road for its next four matches, but will return home Halloween night (7 p.m.) for a big match against Virginia Tech. Look for some special events surrounding that match in the coming weeks on RamblinWreck.com.
Cross Country In Indiana This Weekend
Our men’s and women’s cross country teams are in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday to run in the pre-NCAA meet. Terre Haute and Indiana State will host the NCAA championships on this course Nov. 24.
Women’s Tennis In Athens Next Weekend
Coach Bryan Shelton’s women’s tennis team has the weekend off, gearing up for next week’s ITA/South Region Championship in Athens, Ga. Play begins on Friday at the University of Georgia. Speaking of women’s tennis, former Yellow Jacket All-American Kristi Miller has been playing on the professional circuit in Spain. Read her blog entries from Spain.
Men’s Tennis In Chapel Hill
Coach Kenny Thorne’s men’s tennis team is in Chapel Hill, N.C. today participating in the opening round of the Wilson ITA Mideast Region Championship, which runs through Monday at the University of North Carolina. Thorne has a young but talented squad that is gearing up for the ITA National Indoors in November.
Swim Teams In Tallahassee
Coach Stu Wilson’s swimming and diving teams are in Tallahassee Saturday to take on the Florida State Seminoles. The men’s team is 2-0 on the season following a big dual meet win at Clemson.
Tringale Wins The Brickyard
Congratulations to Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale, who captured individual medalist honors earlier this week at the Brickyard Collegiate golf tournament in Macon, Ga. Tringale, who opened the tournament with a sizzling 67 in the opening round, led coach Bruce Heppler’s team to a second-place finish.
Game Day Recycling
The 1.03 tons of aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass that were collected at our last game on October 11 vs. Gardner-Webb puts us at a total of 4.5 tons so far this season. We are now very close to the half-way mark of our 10-ton goal! With the continued support of our faithful tailgaters, I know that we will make it.
Our next game during Homecoming Weekend will have a big impact on our Game Day Recycling program. We expect an action-packed game, outstanding participation from our alumni and record-breaking turnout from students, their families and fans. This is the ideal setting to break our previous recycling totals and we need your help to do this. Look for more student volunteers handing out blue recycling bags during Homecoming. Even with the excitement of the game and all of the activities don’t forget to RECYCLE!
