Wreck Ramblin

WR will not be updated today

Due to time constraints, Wreck Ramblin will not be updated today.

Using the links in the message locked at the top, and a little eye scanning, you'll easily find the same articles normally posted here.

As mentioned in the top post, WR is now being updated only as time allows, which might be mostly on Saturday and Sunday. This will result in a dramatic dropoff in readership, but it has to be done, for practical reasons.

Apologies (and thanks) to those who routinely vist WR.

Highlight video of UVA at GT

GTAA has released the highlight video of of the UVA game. It's the top item on the linked list.

[GTAA]

Hokie fans strive for loud, hostile reception for GT

"If Lane Stadium is NOT a rowdy, intrusive, impossible-to-audible type of environment there is a very good chance that Virginia Tech loses this game."

A letter encouraging a high noise level is circulating on Hokie boards. It notes GT player comments about the noise during last year's 51-7 rout and their desire to go ahead and quiet the crowd this year.

A even better GT goal is to have them booing their team at the end of the half, as some of them did last week vs. Cincy, followed by early exits of Hokie fans in the fourth quarter.

[MadJay at TechSuperfans, 9/27/2006]

What do high grad rates mean, relatively speaking?

"After all, what graduation rate do you want for your team? The assumption is the higher the better, but at some point doesn’t a very high graduation rate for a given school or team raise the question of whether graduation from that school means anything? If one school is demanding, and another is less demanding, how do you compare their graduation rates?"

It really is comparing apples and oranges.

[Mike Knobler, AJC, 9/27/2006]

Techsideline preview of GT vs Hokies

Virginia Tech has proven the last two seasons that the road to the ACC Championship Game goes through Blacksburg. If you want to represent the ACC in the BCS, you're going to have to talk to the Hokies about it first. Georgia Tech will do just that on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets are a big time sleeper this year, and they see the ACC as being wide open this year. This is their best chance to win the conference since the days of George O'Leary, and who knows when they'll have the chance again.

Both Chris and Will predict GT will win a close, low-scoring game.

[Chris Coleman, Techsideline, 9/27/2006] link to pdf roster card at the link

ABC coverage map for GT vs Hokies

ABC coverage map for Saturday's regional games

Blacksburg incident better explained

Andrew Kinney paints a clearing picture of the situation under which two Hokie players came to be suspended against GT.

With people crowding Draper on both sides, every now and then the periodic car would try to squeeze its way down the street, which was literally jampacked with people. These drivers were frowned upon by those congregating outside of the clubs, for with each approaching car, everyone amongst the street would have to move out of the way accordingly. After a few vehicles, this got to be an annoying task. Another reason these drivers were frowned upon was due to the fact that EVERYONE standing there amongst the street was well aware that these approaching drivers could simply go a different way.

[Blacksburg Beacon, 9/27/2006]

GT must beat Hokies to regain respect

"If those associated with the Georgia Tech football program wish folks to take them seriously again, they must win Saturday in Blacksburg, Va."

[Terence Moore, AJC, 9/27/2006]

GT backup kicker can block and tackle also

Troy Garside expected to play on Georgia Tech's special teams. He's a kicker, after all.

But Garside wasn't kicking when he took the field against Troy and Virginia. He was trying to block punts and block for punt and kickoff returners. He's also a backup on the kickoff coverage team.

[Mike Knobler, AJC, 9/27/2006]

Graduation rates for all ACC & SEC schools

Percentage of athletes who originally enrolled in 1996-99 who earned a degree within six years of enrollment (schools aren't penalized for players who left in good academic standing with eligibility remaining. (This is the GSR the NCAA uses, which is higher than the "Fed" rate.)

GT showed significant improvement. The football figure was up two points to 55 percent, men's basketball was up 11 points to 42 percent, women's basketball was up two points to 64 percent and baseball as up a whopping 22 points to 65 percent.

The Yellow Jackets ranked second-lowest among Atlantic Coast Conference football teams and third lowest among the conference's men's basketball teams. UGhA was worse, with a shocking 9% grad rate for basketball.

[AJC, 9/27/2006]