Wreck Ramblin

Dawan Landry gets top performance-based pay

Baltimore rookie safety Dawan Landry earned US$366,017 in performance-based pay for 2006, the most of any NFL player.

On Tuesday, the NFL released a list of the top 25 players who received the bonuses as part of the collective bargaining agreement. The system creates a supplemental fund for player compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary.

Landry, a fifth-round pick of the Ravens (146th overall) in last year's draft, earned a base salary of $275,000. He quickly became a starter and earned one vote for defensive rookie of the year.

"The performance-based pay system is especially beneficial to lower-salaried players," NFL executive vice-president of labour relations Harold Henderson said. "Under this system, if a player is making the minimum but plays in a high percentage of his teams plays, he stands to get a larger payout than a teammate with equal play time but a higher salary."

[CBC]

Former Tech star sentenced for vehicular homicide

Linda Lisska McJunkin, 31, former Brookwood High and GT track star, was sentenced to 10 years prison followed by 5 years probation for causing the deaths of two young men in October 2004.

When McJunkin is released, she must pay $250 a month for two years toward a victims' trust fund. She must also complete 500 hours of community service, including speaking to students about the dangers of drinking and driving. She has 120 days left with her family before she must report to a state prison.

On that fateful night in 2004, Linda Lisska McJunkin, armed with a master's degree and a strong work ethic, had just gotten her real estate license. She and her friends gathered at a Mexican restaurant, toasting her future over margaritas.

McJunkin's blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit when she got behind the wheel of her GMC Yukon SUV and turned the wrong way onto Ga. 400, causing a fiery crash in Alpharetta that killed Jeff Coursey, 20, and Corey Blackstone, 24.

While even relatives of the deceased pleaded for her to be allowed to stay with her 5-month-old daughter and husband; the judge said: "People have a capacity to forgive, but the state has a responsibility to see that people are punished over their actions," the judge said. She acknowledged that McJunkin didn't intend to kill anyone, but said she did intentionally drive drunk.

[AJC]

While WR much prefers to report good news about GT alum, there's an important lesson here for all of us.
 

J Jack wins again in ATL, vs. Hawks

The Hawks and the Portland Trail Blazers offered up the NBA version Friday night at Philips Arena, trading big baskets in a wild affair won by Portland 102-100 in overtime.

Former Georgia Tech star Jarrett Jack was huge down the stretch, finishing with 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds as the Blazers won on a back-to-back set.

The loss also overshadowed a breakout night for Hawks reserve guard Salim Stoudamire, who finished with a career-high 37 points on 14-for-20 shooting, including 6-for-9 on 3-pointers.

[AJC] [AP]

"Luuuuuke" S was also on the bench for the Trailblazers. His 10-day contract just expired. We'll see if he's signed for the rest of the season.

Eric Henderson has hopes for kids, Bengals

Before he left Cincinnati, Shaun Smith called him the next Adalius Thomas.

Indeed, Eric Henderson looks to be next in a line of Adalius maybes as he makes the move from defensive end to linebacker this spring. But Henderson, the little boy who said he wanted to die when his mother told him she would, wants to be a lot more than that.

Something grander, vaster. Ever since he made eye contact with the little orphan girl and her yearning eyes at a summer camp. The girl who disappeared into the crowd before he could comfort her at the place called “Camp Hope.”

The place he wants to bring to Cincinnati.

[Bengals]

A good read.

Mike Mooney passes

Big Mike Mooney, who played tackle at GT from '88 to '91 wearing #70 [helping GT win the UPI NC], and was drafted by the Houston Oilers in '92,  passed away in his sleep in California Friday morning, at the age of 37.   He leaves behind a wife and a couple of young children.

[TB, AJC] [Carrol County Times]

Phil Gordon is top pro poker player

Phil Gordon has a cooler life than anybody you know.

After graduating from Georgia Tech with a degree in computer science in 1991, Gordon joined Netsys Technologies, a California software company that later sold for $79 million - a sale that helped fund the start of Gordon's career as a professional poker player.

Now 36, Gordon - who has won more than $2 million in live poker tournaments - is trying to become the world's foremost poker teacher with a line of books and DVDs through the educational media company he founded, Expert Insight.

[RF, Des Moines Register, 28JAN07]

Card games are not really sports, even though ESPN shows them, but this is an interesting story on a GT alum.

Chris Bosh an All-Star starter

LeBron James, the MVP of last year's NBA All-Star Game, led all players with more than 2.5 million votes for the Feb. 18 game in Las Vegas, and he'll be joined among the Eastern Conference starters by a former Georgia Tech forward.

James was followed by the Toronto Raptors' Chris Bosh in voting for the Eastern Conference forwards, receiving 1,091,263 votes in results announced Thursday to become a starter for the first time.

[AP, 26JAN07]

Jack suffers minor concussion in car wreck

Trail Blazers guard Jarrett Jack will not play tonight against Sacramento after suffering a concussion in a car accident this morning in front of the Trail Blazers practice facility in Tualatin.

The accident happened shortly before the team's 10 a.m. shootaround at the facility. Jack was driving the car of team video coordinator Kaleb Canales when he was involved in the accident. After the accident, Jack complained that he didn't feel well, and after being taken to the hospital in an ambulance, it was revealed that he suffered a minor concussion, and no other injuries.

[AP, 1/12/07]

Ray Beck, 1931-2007

Ray Beck, a high school, college and NFL great from Cedartown, died Tuesday at a Rome hospital at age 75 after an extended illness.

In 1951, he helped Georgia Tech to an 11-0-1 season that included a 17-14 victory over Baylor in the Orange Bowl. That season at Georgia Tech was part of a streak of 30 games without a loss.

Beck, who also played in the Senior Bowl and College All-Star game, was selected as a guard on the Bobby Dodd-Era Team (1945-1966) and is a member of the All-Time Georgia Tech Team and Georgia Tech Hall of Fame.

He was a member of the Giants’ 1956 World Championship team that defeated the Chicago Bears, 56-7.

A member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in which he also served as a director, Beck was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., in 1997.

Rome News-Herald, 1/10/07] [Matt Winkeljohn, AJC, 1/09/07]

Garry Betty, 1958-2007

Garry Betty, the president and chief executive of EarthLink Inc., has died from complications of cancer, the Internet service provider said Wednesday. He was 49.

Betty joined EarthLink in 1996 and oversaw the company’s growth from a regional service provider with 500,000 subscribers to one with more than five million.

Betty graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He stayed involved with the school, and last year chaired the Georgia Tech Advisory Board, an influential panel that provides counsel to the university’s president.

He also donated money to the university and has been active in helping Georgia Tech develop academic and research programs.

"It’s unusual that a sitting CEO would devote as much time as Garry did" to the university, said Rich DeMillo, dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing.

[Mike Stobber, AP, 1/4/07]  [AJC obit] [Tribute registry]

RIP