Matt’s Blog

Let’s get the week started off right. Here’s an article I wrote for the Technique’s “To Hell With Georgia” edition this year. The THWUGA edition is is a spoof of UGA’s student newspaper, think theonion.com compared with cnn.com. Enjoy!

Mark Richt Endorses Ford Trucks; Automaker Seeks Federal Bailout

WASHINGTON, DC – In testimony before congress last week Ford Motor Company President and CEO Allan Mullay detailed his company’s desperate need for an emergency bailout due largely to what he describes as the “catastrophic effect of Mark Richt’s endorsement of Ford trucks.” Mullay pleaded with lawmakers to pass a bridge loan package of nearly $25 billion to help keep Ford afloat stating, “The effects of Mark Richt’s comments on our company cannot be overstated.” Analysts agreed indicating that the total cost of the endorsement may top $50 billion before the automaker is able to recover. News of the imminent bankruptcy sent Ford stock plummeting in a dive that one investor described as “nearly as meteoric as the fall from U[sic]GA’s pre-season football ranking.”

The commercial in question began airing prior to the 2008 college football season and features Mark Richt, the head coach of the football team at the University[sic] of Georgia expressing his endorsement of Ford trucks. In an opening line comprised mostly of monosyllabic words, reportedly a favorite of the head coach, Richt declares: “I believe that sweat feeds the soul.” He goes on to express several of his key opinions and concludes by emphasizing: “I believe in Ford trucks.”

Richt responded to allegations that he had caused the near collapse of a major US automaker by stating, “I stand by everything I said except that whole mental toughness part. Mental toughness is for wimps!” When asked what he meant by the phrase “Georgia Saturdays, build Ford tough” he clarified that “Ford trucks are as rock-solid as the feeling of despair in Athens on Saturdays when your team only beats Auburn by 4 points, loses to Alabama by 11 points or loses to Florida by 39 points.”

The commercial, widely available both on TV and the internet had clearly impacted consumer confidence. Dan Williamson, a Ford Dealership owner in Los Angeles, California stated that sales this quarter were “flatter than Uga VI’s EKG reading.” He continued, “You’d think more Georgia fans would be buying Ford trucks just because Mark Richt told them to, but no.” Stephen Jackson, a small business owner in New Bedford Massachusetts, explained to reporters, “I was going to replace my company’s fleet with Ford trucks. I was impressed when he said ‘I believe in outworking the competition.’ But then I asked myself, ‘does winning by 7 points over South Carolina really qualify as outworking?’ And then there’s Florida? Seriously? Even Georgia Tech can beat teams from Florida.”

Many “students” found some aspects of the commercial confusing. U[sic]GA 34^th year campus wildlife studies major Clyde McDermott took issue with the commercial’s claim that Ford trucks had been on top of their game for 31 years. “We haven’t won a national championship since 1980 which is like… um.. a bunch more years than 31.” Others felt that more effective representatives could have been employed. “Ford might not be in so much trouble if they had stuck to their roots,” says Brandon Kearse GT Ramblin’ Wreck driver, “the wreck’s been going strong for nearly 80 years, outlasting 6 Ugas.” The wreck, a 1930’s Ford Model –A, is the well-recognized and highly regarded mascot of U[sic]GA’s in-state rival the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mullay explained that the idea for the now-infamous commercial arose out of a retreat for top company executives. “We all got completely wasted up at my cabin one night and Bill Ford said ‘You know, we should have Mark endorse our trucks.’ and we all thought it was funny, but I never thought it would actually happen.” Responsibility for the commercial has yet to be established. “It’s pretty much a blame game down here” says Anna Neugyn, a Ford employee, “finding the responsible party is harder than keeping U[sic]GA football players out of jail on alcohol-related charges.”

Mullay stated that overseas sales remained largely unaffected. “We haven’t seen as big a losses in our foreign markets, probably because no one knows about U[sic]GA over there.”

Not everyone was upset with the commercial though. GM and Chrysler officials are reportedly in talks with Richt to extend the commercial run as long as possible. GM chief Rick Wagner praised the spot and calling Richt “our most effective representative.”

Ford’s stock was trading at 0.11 a share at the close of the market Tuesday, which is coincidentally the average GPA for students at U[sic]GA.

I hate that my roommate’s last drive out as wreck driver was marred by the classless “prayer” the U-Miami players decided to have:

• Before the game.
• In front of our student section.
• Directly in the way of our mascot.

I really hate this sort of thing. Prayer at football games is fine, just as long as it’s intended to glorify God and not men. Which usually means it’s done unobtrusively (center of the field, not in the opposing endzone), after the game (so it’s not about who wins), and involves both teams. I can’t believe how angry this video made me.

At least we won.

I hope the offensive line notes the choice of “Extra Coverage” hint hint…

As the GTAA would have it Bobby Dodd will be whiter than a Star Trek nerd for tonight’s game against Miami. I suppose that having everyone in the stadium wearing the same color is supposed to build team spirit or some such thing. Probably not a bad ideal as Georgia Tech is notorious for having a rather dirty-looking crowd with no real standard football game color. Understandable when there’s like 50,000 different intrepretations of “gold” not to mention the grey, dark blue, navy blue, royal blue… and of course black (shudder).

Anyways, to help students dress appropriately SGA funded some t-shirts.

Which seemed like a good idea this summer when it was somewhere 90 degrees outside with 1-million percent humidity. But now that it’s going to be like one-third of that temperature the t-shirt idea dosen’t seem quite so neat now does it? That’s ok though, we always have this option:

Sigh, I refuse to buy a jacket just for this game. I swear this is just a chance for the bookstore to make some extra money.

He also posted a video about how he made that custom controller but I’m not that nerdy… oh wait I am:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

So, for the first time in eight years I did not vote for the man who was elected as our President. While many of my fellow political ideologues have expressed frustrations ranging from apathetic to really extreme frankly, I’m just glad that it’s finally over.

Now, for the most part during the campaigns I refrained from comment on the various candidates. I maintain no delusions that I have anything approaching a major platform from which to voice my opinion. The “readers” of this blog are mostly friends and family and so I saw no compelling reason to instigate major debate with speculation on the performance of those not-yet-elected. Now that the people have spoken though, I have some observations that I felt strongly enough about to share.

In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit that my political leanings are fairly strongly towards the conservative/libertarian side of things, and that on almost every issue I find myself directly opposed to President-Elect Obama. These opinions are not the result of some die-hard dedication to the Republican agenda (if such a thing exists anymore), but instead are based on my individual beliefs tempered by my own observations and my understanding of the way things work. I think it’s imperative that everyone think for themselves and not allow anyone, right or left, to write or speak their views for them. This is one of the key reasons I publish this blog.

That said, this isn’t an anti-Obama post. This is simply my reaction to the actions of those around me and my observations of the challenges facing Obama and all Americans as we move into this new political era.

On Outrage

I noticed two primary emotions among my friends who supported Obama immediately following the election. The first was joy (understandable, if slightly annoying) and the second was outrage. The outrage perplexed me a little. After all Obama won, what was there to be outraged over? His margin? I was somewhat confused until I remembered how much white people love to be offended.

Apparently those on the right weren’t nice enough when Barack Obama’s victory was announced. I know, I’m spoiling all the fun. Now don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of nasty, racist and inappropriate things said around me in reaction to Obama’s victory. But you can’t honestly expect me to believe that Democrats are blameless in their behavior towards the McCain-Palin ticket? And let’s not get into the response to Bush’s first or second elections which saw grossly inappropriate sentiment expressed for 8 years.

I would advise Obama supporters thusly: Welcome to being the party in power. You should probably prepare yourselves for a lot nastier criticism than has been expressed in the past few days.

And while we’re on the topic of respect for the President-Elect, I would like to take a brief moment to address the use of the “pray for our leaders” talk that’s been going around the Christian circles. Often this is accompanied by the Romans 13:1-5 admonition that you respect those in authority over you. Before I continue let me be clear: Do I plan on obeying the law? Yes. Do I plan on praying for and supporting President-Elect Obama? Yes, I believe 1 Timorthy 2:1-4 speaks directly to the prayerful support of our leaders. However, I must admit that I find people who expressed what was at best sly disdain for our sitting President and at worst a call for outright rebellion (impeachment), who have now turned to the “God commands you to respect Obama” a bit rich.

On Hope

A good deal of the Obama campaign centered around Hope (or was it change? I can never keep it straight…) But hope for what? A better world? A perfect world? While I was greatly impressed by the passion that Obama ignites in his followers I would hope that he, and all people, would recognize that there is only true source of hope, Jesus Christ (Psalm 130:2, Psalm 146: 5, 2 Thessalonians 2:12).

I’ve been reading in Romans the past few weeks and I cam across the following which I think is of particular relevance here:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Romans 8:18-27

The hope in this sense is not in the alleviation of our suffering through some political or sociological means. It is through “our present sufferings” that we are delivered into the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. If we possess the facilities to address or redress suffering in some capacity, then we should do so but only with the understanding that we cannot manifest God’s Kindgom of our own power, that duty is reserved for God Himself. To say: we cannot immanentize the eschaton. We read that, “hope that is seen is no hope at all” which is to say that we cannot hope in what we already have. If our hope is in Christ, then we cannot expect His promises to be fulfilled through any other means or our hope is not in Him. In other words, if Obama was capable of resolving all ailments then there would be no need for hope in God. Knowing this to be absurd in light of the previous passage is one thing, but the falseness of the claim seems less clear in the zealous words of our President-Elect.

Obama once made a claim that, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” While I certainly understand the passion to encourage our own self-motivation to address the issues facing our country, I also think it important to stress that “we” are not the complete solution. If history has proven anything it’s that we as humans are utterly incapable of solving our own problems. Yes we may have averted disasters, or cured diseases, or won wars and defeated evil. But we still get sick, we still fight against evil and we still die. We will never achieve deliverance from the consequences and horrors of this life through our own effort, but through the power of Christ Jesus expressed in His sacrifice for us on the cross (Titus 2:13). Truly He is the one we’ve been waiting for.

To Conclude

I have written far more on this subject than I originally intended to so I will conclude with the eloquent words of a man with whom, on this subject, I completely agree:

I’m very proud to have supported Senator McCain and the only regret is that more Americans didn’t share my conviction that he would have made an outstanding President. I not only recognize, but respect that we are a nation in which the people choose and tonight they have chosen Senator Obama. He was not my choice, but he will be my President and I will pray for him to lead this great nation with God’s help and grace. He will face serious challenges to lead our country and he will need all Americans to give him a chance.

Governor Mike Huckabee, November 5, 2008

[HT: loswhit]

So Georgia Tech’s football team has finally beat the Seminoles. Amazing considering both the length of our loosing streak and the abysmally low expectations that were made about GT and the beginning of the season.

Now I don’t usually write about football for two reasons. First, I know nothing about football. Well maybe not nothing, I do know how the game works and what penalties are bad and such. But when it comes to stats and strategy and all those other things I generally sit back and let those with the expert knowledge make fools of people like me who know nothing but unlike me don’t keep their mouths shut. The second reason is that for a long time there wasn’t much to talk about in the world of GT football save how much I hated Chan Gailey and his piss-poor coaching. Talking about that would have gotten really boring, because he sucked the same amount each time we played so there would have been no variation.

But as I’ve patiently watched our team this year I’ve come to some realizations that I wanted to share. I must admit, at the start of the season I wasn’t expecting much. Not that I didn’t have hope that things would go well, I just figured that it would take a while for Coach Johnson to get out team up to speed. Well… that and I was constantly told that it wasn’t just Chan’s fault that our team lost, it was the players too. So naturally I figured that having the same players would mean that we wouldn’t see major improvement until Coach Johnson was able to fill out the roster with guys that fit his program.

Even so I maintained a tentative hope throughout the early season starting with our first legitimate win against Boston College. A hope which was bolstered by subsequent wins against Mississippi State, Duke and Clemson. I realized that regardless of our performance this season, which has already far exceeded expectations, I believe that Coach Johnson is one of the best things to happen to Georgia Tech football in a long time.

I like Paul Johnson for a lot of reasons. He’s passionate (some might say mean), he’s driven and he’s old-school. I remember overhearing a conversation between an Athletic Association staffer and a campus police officer early this summer regarding Coach Johnson’s changes to the program. The staffer was detailing the military-inspired discipline and focus Coach Johnson brought to the program. Just the thing needed for a team that saw false starts and offsides penalties repeated every game like clockwork and suffered from a quarterback who couldn’t count the number of downs in a drive. I also heard rumors of changes to the practice schedule from easy and optional to grueling and mandatory. It warmed my heart every time I got up early to run before work to hear the shrill bark of coach’s whistles wafting over from the practice fields.

Perhaps the largest source of consternation for most fans was what is (now affectionately) known as the “Triple Option” or just “the Option.” Frankly when I heard people freaking out over Paul Johnson’s use of the TO at Navy I couldn’t understand what the big deal was. Maybe I didn’t understand things enough (a distinct possibility) but I figured that Dan Radakovich knew what he was doing. After all, he did can Chan. I figured that the Option couldn’t be all that bad or Johnson would have been run out of college football long ago. But as I’ve watched the Option in action over the last few weeks I began to realize something. Something that came to a head as I read post-game articles from the FSU victory this weekend.

I really like the Option.

While many regard the Triple Option as an outdated technique, I think it’s perfect for Tech. There are several reasons:

Weird... but Passionate

First, it’s not stylish. No one else is doing it, and some might even call the Option a little weird. But that’s ok because here at Tech we’re all a little weird. We’re all about pushing the envelope and trying new things (or old things in new ways). Just look at the wreck parade. We really like doing things that no one else is and we’re not always concerned with the best-looking thing just the most effective.

Which leads me to point number two, the Option is effective. Just ask Jacksonville State, Boston College, Clemson… you get the idea. Yes, we lost a couple already. Might even loose more. But this is year one, just imagine how things are going to be in year two, or three, or ten. Here at Tech we like our success, and so far the Option is a winner.

But the most important thing is that at Georgia Tech, we don’t quit. For students who are more than willing to pull an all-nigher (or two) to finish an assignment, we have little pity for a coach or players or a team that won’t express the same dedication on the field. To me the Option represents a hard-core, old-school approach that seeks to win at any cost. We’ll run the ball to the right or the left or up the middle or we might even throw it, but no matter what we will fight. And Coach Johnson exudes dedication on the field, both in his empassioned rebuking of mistakes and his masterful employment of an offensive system that many said was better suited for the scrap heap.

It would be foolish to expect to win all the time. Any good Georgia Tech student knows this. But what we do want is passionate dedication to fight, no matter what the odds. I had hoped to get through this post without resorting to the tired “Perfect Option” line, but the more I think about it the more I realize that Paul Johnson and his “antequated” systems couldn’t be any more perfect for Georgia Tech.

Go Jackets, to Hell with Georgia!