FRIDAY YOUTUBE: TAKE A KNEE, CHAN.
Chan Gailey remains the coach so willfully bland it’s hard to get to infuriated at him over anything, really. What one can do with free clearance is laugh at him, especially in those moments when he decides to do something un-Chantastic, like gamble with strategy. There’s nothing better than watching someone disinclined to wagering bust out the crazy stick and fly in the face of the odds–it’s like watching a Mormon melt down and lose the family nest egg at the blackjack tables in Vegas. It’s saddening, disturbing, and funny all wrapped into one unwieldy metaphorical hush puppy.
Watching Jim Tressel do this last season in the title game versus Florida was close…but nothing really tops the succinct poetry of this clip from Gailey Year Zero, or the exceptionally prescient bit of commentary that precedes it.
Enjoy your weekend, and remember: sometimes, you just have to take a knee.









1
Out of Conference says:
It’s like watching in aslow motion your boat trailer in the rear view come unhitched on Alligator Alley and drift very slowly into the median, then WHAM- in normal speed, trailer blows apart and boat explodes in a flurry of fiberglass, fittings, lead keel, and mast/spar pieces.
You see the trailer in the rear view- you know what’s coming, and there’s not a cod-damned thing you can do about it.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:03 pm
2
JacketDan says:
I think I’ve moved to your side of town Swindle. Now I have to hunt you down and give you a congratulatory nut punch for this.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:03 pm
3
Oops Pow Surprise says:
So the “GT” on the quarterback’s helmet probably doesn’t stand for “great thrower,” then?
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:13 pm
4
Alex says:
I think it’s more like watching in slow motion as the trailer housing your car mascot come unhitched on the road and drift very slowly into the median, then WHAM- trailer blows apart and the Rambling Wreck explodes in a flurry of metal, canvass, and vintage gin stains, never to Ramble again.
You see the trailer in the rear view- you know what’s coming, and there’s not a cod-damned thing you can do about it.
OOC, please excuse me for pseudo-copying, but I felt it was rather topical.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
5
skinnyphatman says:
You will not run me down sir! No way can you ruin the historic and memorable 2001 Silicon Valley Football Classic championship season! I mean afterall, Tech could have joined the swelling ranks of the dozen or so teams who did not make a bowl game that year.
And, I had the sound off, so I can only speculate what was said prior to the play, but I imagine it was something about the continuous and multiple Changasims that the tech nation has experienced over the years since he took the helm.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:18 pm
6
Oops Pow Surprise says:
#5 – “…I imagine it was something about the continuous and multiple Changasims that the tech nation has experienced over the years since he took the helm.”
Would you call that Chantric sex?
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:20 pm
7
skinnyphatman says:
And we lost… Other than that it was Chantastic!
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:20 pm
8
Chris says:
#5 -
Hey now, that Silicon Valley Classic was after the ‘02 season. We had to suffer through AJ Suggs at QB that season, and Damarius Bilbo at QB for the bowl game. It’s a shame he couldn’t run an offense, because he could run and had a damn cannon attached to his shoulder.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
9
jebushchrist says:
You say whatever you want about Chan Gailey, but that man will lose on his own terms! A lot.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
10
Orangeblood says:
So, you’re saying there are brief moments when he’s not thinking about pudding?
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:31 pm
11
skinnyphatman says:
# 8, I’ll take your word for it. ramblinwreck.com actually lists it as the 2001 SVFC, but also shows the 2001 Seattle Bowl. I will have to check out my nogin, hard to believe that I could have those two confused.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:32 pm
12
Brian says:
1) Those are Bourbon Stains, not gin.
2) We’ve got a real OC now.
3) Gailey is not a fur trader or whatever you want to call the new “riverboat gambler” slang, clearly.
4) Why you gots to be pickin’ on Kazakhstan on a Friday? GT has the hatred of the same teams as UF…UGA, FSU, etc.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:41 pm
13
sb says:
Brian, there is indeed something to be said for shared hatred. And Chan is also a Gator alum, both of which, from my standpoint, counts for… well, something. I don’t know what. You see, my thoughts are a little slurred right now because I have started my weekend of 100 cocktails…not because I have earned them with a blazing wit displayed on this blog, but rather because I like the idea and the opportunity has presented itself with wife and kids out of town and two buddies imminent arrival to carry me into retro-post adolescent, butthead, infantile drinking games and idiot carousing. Damn the bad luck, and have a great weekend!
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
14
Jeff says:
To be fair that was a damn good Fresno State team, well, except for Oregon State beating them 59-19 and Boise State beating them 67-21.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:02 pm
15
Kanu says:
Paul Teutel, Sr. versus Chan?
No contest.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
16
Kecalf Bailey says:
Chan Gailey……..the consummate professional.
Chan and I have some mutual friends, believe it or not, from his days with the USFL Birmingham Fire. We call those the “Golden Years.”
June 22nd, 2007 at 7:25 pm
17
Mosby says:
How anyone can bitch about AJ Suggs after the past four years or Reggie Ball is baffling. Chan is our really belated punishment for 222-0, IMO.
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:30 pm
18
Jorgé the Bass Player says:
Folks in Columbus used to boo John Cooper for not chasing points before halftime, and for a hot tub commercial made in ‘88 that still causes old-timers around here to hurl whiskey bottles at the fireplace.
Thanks to Chan, Coach Cooper looked like a genius on national television, which almost makes up for that record against Michigan. Cheers.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:17 pm
19
NewAZTiger says:
Orson,
There is some tasty juice with the Hoover football program. Troll the boards.
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:32 am
20
DirkDawggler says:
Bring back Reggie Ball!
Sincerely,
The Georgia Bulldog Nation
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:56 pm
21
CFB Authority says:
All of this from the guy who started Reggie Ball willingly. I mean, I don’t assume people were holding his children hostage to persuade him to fight their Atlanta JiBall.
I think Gailey has the best job in the country. Never going to be fired, will never have less than 7 wins.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:12 pm
22
A.G. says:
Georgia Tech….meets expectations….
On Time…Under Budget…Acceptable Defects….
I submit that the decline of GT football is commensurate with the loss of America’s status as a scientific and technological power. When GT was good, we were destroying cities with atomic bombs, and putting people on the moon.
Too many lawyers and politicans in our universities….
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:59 pm
23
Whohah says:
Only thing that comes to mind, after an entire weekend of thinking, is the Kids in the Hall sketch called “Stay Down”:
http://www.kithfan.org/work/transcripts/three/staydown.html
“Yoohoo! Hello, loyal subject! We strongly recommend you to stay down.”
June 24th, 2007 at 3:26 am
24
gosouthgohard says:
ouch… they say time heals all wounds, but that was before youtube.
June 24th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
25
Chris says:
#17:
While Reggie was bad because he was inconsistent and we never knew what was coming next, AJ was bad because he was simply bad. We knew what was coming and we didn’t like it one bit. Reggie at least kept us on our toes and made us think he might not fuck up the next play.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:33 am
26
Chris says:
#20:
Dear Georgia Bulldog Nation,
Not until you bring back Donnan and Quincy Carter.
Sincerely,
The SEC and Georgia Tech
June 25th, 2007 at 8:37 am
27
Brian says:
Oh yea, when AJ Suggs realized he sucked after this season, he got some hair brained idea to try to make the golf team. (He did not) Also, if anyone wants to scope it out, I think he’s got an acoustic act with himself and plays around Atlanta in Virginia Highlands and shit, I think. I spotted it in creative loafing a couple years ago.
June 25th, 2007 at 9:22 am
28
Matt says:
Suggs actually led his high school team to a GA state championship and Fulmer first recruited him as the next Peyton. Of course, like so many other QBs, he tanked at College speed and he later transferred to Tech, in desperate need of a QB after Godsey. Except for an NC State win, 2002 was a pretty awful season and that clip was one of something like 7 interceptions in that bowl game.
I knew one of his old roommates and heard he was a cool enough guy. Too bad, you always want the bad players to also have sucky personalities so you can really hate them, kinda like Reggie…
June 26th, 2007 at 9:04 am