Tennis Center lacks accessibility
As a recent graduate of Tech, I cannot agree with the statement, “The Bill Moore Tennis Center is one of the only varsity venues that students have access to” [“Tennis Center demolition,” printed Nov. 12] Access is so limited as to be meaningless. On paper, students are allowed to play on the weekends, but hours are restricted and contingent on a CRC staff member actually being there. If it’s “too cold,” then the gate will remain padlocked, and the only way to play is to jump a section of the fence that doesn’t have barbed wire. During the weekdays, the courts are locked even when no varsity athlete is practicing. In fact, to play at all during the weekdays requires joining (paying) the Tennis Club.
When I asked the CRC if I could borrow the key to unlock the gate, I was told that I could not because I was not a Tennis Club officer. Yet, the CRC does not trust the officers any more than non-officers since they still require the officers to surrender their BuzzCards as collateral for the key. Furthermore, when I repeatedly contacted CRC management asking for increased flexibility regarding access to the Bill Moore Tennis Center, none of my messages ever received a response.
Some may ask whether this is even an issue given that there are courts on Peters Parking Deck. The attitudes of Tennis Club officers and CRC staff members say it all; if you come to Bill Moore without proper tennis shoes, they will redirect you to Peters Parking Deck. Translation: they do not give a crap about how Peters Parking Deck’s courts are maintained.
I can only hope that the new tennis center will not be as restrictive as Bill Moore was.
Alex Young
MGT Alum 2010
Football season reveals larger flaws
For a lot of us here at Tech, this football season has been the biggest letdown in our time at the Institute. Coming off the school’s first ACC Championship season since the Jackets won the National Title in 1990, we had high hopes in our team’s ability to repeat as conference champions and send the Ramblin’ Wreck faithful back to Miami for Orange Bowl redemption after last year’s lackluster performance. I will admit to you all that I honestly thought we would be sitting pretty at 9-1 overall right now, boasting a solid Top-10 BCS ranking, our only loss having come at the hands of the Hokies.
The 2010 season has become what we must now defend as a rebuilding year (As will be the case in 2011 and 2012), words not even thought about 12 weeks ago when we returned from break and began researching the best of Charlotte, N.C. But why did it come to this? You cannot point the finger at just one person, but problems on both sides of the football account for the Yellow Jackets’ fall from the grace of the football gods.
Let me start with defense. I was one of the founding fathers of the “Al Groh Must Go” bandwagon, but have slighted my opinion, deflecting most of the blame from the man still on another ACC team’s payroll (Conspiracy, anyone?). Undoubtedly, the 3-4 defense is not working at any level even close to what we expected. The stout, pre-2008 Georgia Tech defense of Jon Tenuta is lost and forgotten. We have forgotten how to be aggressive off the ball, creating pressure for the opponent’s offense, forcing the mistakes that come along with the poor caliber of play that is synonymous with NCAA football.
It is hard to watch an NFL game and not see one of Jon Tenuta’s Jackets making an impact on defense. Tenuta and Chan Gailey were brilliant recruiters, scoring a great recruiting class annually and churning out players into the NFL just as regularly. But Paul Johnson failed to pick up on the concept of the “pro-factory” that was Tech. Yes, he was able to take Gailey and Tenuta’s players and coach them to an ACC Championship in only two years, but all those guys are gone now and Paul Johnson’s subpar recruiting abilities are overshadowing his coaching excellence. That is why Al Groh is really here. The former NY Jets head coach is here to tell these high school seniors that Tech is the best place to be if they want to make a career out of football. Paul Johnson cannot do that. He runs an offense that is radically different than 96 percent of the NCAA-FBS and 100 percent of the NFL and has never seen the sunrise as a member of an NFL organization.
On the other hand, Groh is a former NFL head coach, running the defense of the best in the NFL. The fact the Groh hasn’t had the time to recruit the players he needs to succeed is the reason why we will see him in the White and Old Gold for the foreseeable future.
Other than a major upset in Athens, I cannot foresee anything positive coming as a result of this season. Al Groh is going to have to make promises he can be sure he can keep to players that probably don’t want to join a losing team, while Paul Johnson is going to have to really be a man and admit that the double-wing set triple option is inherently flawed. If changes do not come, expect a new face on the sideline carrying the clipboard (Please give us Bill Cowher). Until then, the best we can do is hope that a new hero emerges from the locker room and leads the Bad News Bees to some measureable success as a mediocre team in a mediocre conference.
Robert Whelen
Fourth-year MGT
Partisan politics stretches beyond D.C.
The article in last week’s paper regarding the Democratic party was enlightening [“Dems. must now regroup,” printed Nov. 12], but a stark example of partisan politics. One of the greatest and gravest issues right now is that politicians, like the people they represent, are so focused on their own parties that issues are ignored. The author calls for Republicans to “pursue a more centrist, bipartisan agenda” and complains about the “polarization of Congress.” However, the author also states that the Democrats must regain control of The House in order to “solve the most pressing issues of our time” and move America forward into the 21st century. I don’t intend to criticize the ability of the Democratic Party or the author’s endorsement of them, but to point out that the very thing that poisons our government’s effectiveness is just as much a problem at home as it is in Washington.
John Bartz
Fourth-year CS