Bradley’s Buzz: ESPN’s Dinich now likes Clemson over Tech
According to ESPN's ACC expert, Tech won't win this time. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Say this for Heather Dinich of ESPN.com: She’s consistent. She didn’t pick Georgia Tech to win the Coastal Division, and she’s not picking the Coastal champ to win the ACC title.
Ms. Dinich call her choice of Clemson over Tech in Tampa on Dec. 5 a “wacky prediction.” I wouldn’t call it wacky. I’d just call it misguided. You can make a case for Clemson. You can make a much better one for Tech.
Winning the ACC would put Clemson in the Orange Bowl. So where, according to Ms. Dinich, would Tech land? The Chick-fil-A? Nope. She has Georgia Tech falling behind Virginia Tech in the pecking order and landing in the Gator Bowl against a Big East opponent or Notre Dame. (I understand the Chick-fil-A might not want to have Georgia Tech for a second consecutive year, but I also understand that there would be local pressure from Jacket fans to keep Tech out of Jacksonvile.)
But … Notre Dame? Is it even bowl-eligible? And if so, is it bowl-worthy?
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339 comments Add your comment
GT LEE
November 22nd, 2009
2:47 pm
You have to get up pretty early to get over on Boogie Man………….He knows he stuff
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
2:48 pm
ashman –
You’re probably right. I was doing a lot of channel-flipping yesterday. Caught the end of the FSU game and the great UConn victory.
Clemson has a good team. I was pulling for them. Swinney’s a good guy. Glad they won the Atlantic; if you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best.
Willie Martinez
November 22nd, 2009
2:48 pm
I’m going to stop the second best rushing team in the nation.
M.Richt
November 22nd, 2009
2:48 pm
Shut-up WILLIE.
Not Disappointed
November 22nd, 2009
2:49 pm
Beating Georgia may not help the SOS rating, but it does the body alot of good! Like, “Campell Soup.” Um Um Good! Rambllin Wreck!
Not Disappointed
November 22nd, 2009
2:49 pm
excuse the typo..
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
2:51 pm
Not Disappointed – Georgia got 9 votes in the AP poll. That ought to count for something.
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 22nd, 2009
2:52 pm
UGA fans should be too ashamed to be talking today. THWG!!!!
ashman
November 22nd, 2009
2:53 pm
Delbert-the ACC championship game should be a great event between 2 good solid and streaking teams! May the best team win!
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
2:54 pm
GO TIGERS
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
2:54 pm
ashman – hopefully, they will both still be streaking Gotta take care of bidness next weekend.
4 jacks
November 22nd, 2009
2:55 pm
No surprise here. She just doesn’t like Tech. She whined when VT was beaten thus eliminating them from a possible chance to play in a national championship game, like they are the only ones from the conference that could possibly be good enough to play in such a game. She whined when Miami forgot that that the U was back and started losing. She has never given GT any credit and that is fine. Make no mistake, Clemson will be tough, but when we win, I will send her an email and tell her not to jump on our bandwagon as we do not want her and do not need her approval. She is quite honestly pathetic…sorta like the dogs at the cesspool. I wonder how many times she has strapped on a helmet and gone through spring training and fall practice. Oh, I see…NONE…why should I pay any attention to what she says. THWG & THWHD!!!!
AJC
November 22nd, 2009
2:55 pm
University of Georgia fires entire coaching staff. Football program dismantled. Will focus on gymnastics.
Buzzoff
November 22nd, 2009
2:56 pm
Heather predicted Duke upsetting GT early in the year. Right
Buzzoff
November 22nd, 2009
2:56 pm
Heather predicted Duke upsetting GT early in the year. Right
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
2:57 pm
I can’t figure out how the “other” Tigers dropped to #17 in the coaches’ poll but stayed at #8 in the BCS.
Joe Schmoe
November 22nd, 2009
2:57 pm
Heather Dinich is so Bush leauge. She just throws picks up there, and a lot of the times very uneducated. I want to know what her overall pick record. She has been in a love fest with Clemson for the past couple of weeks anyway.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
2:58 pm
Heather must have a a bad matriculation experience at GaTech.
tech fan
November 22nd, 2009
2:58 pm
She has always picked Georgia Tech to lose. They have proved her and everybody else wrong all year and on Dec. 5th they will do it again. GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!
Buzzme
November 22nd, 2009
2:59 pm
Heather predicted GT to lose against Duke early in the year and jumped on the Clemson bandwaggon right after we beat the chokies.
GT LEE
November 22nd, 2009
3:02 pm
I dont know if we need to face Clemson again.Im afraid of second time around .We wont have the luxury of being at BDstadium. Wish we were playing Boston Col. or Va Tech. We might be in trouble this time.Im really concerned.
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
3:04 pm
Buzzme…………….SHE MAY TURN OUT TO BE SMART AFTER ALL…………..
Tech Fan Since 1950
November 22nd, 2009
3:05 pm
ESPN will never admit it but there has been an obvious bias against Georgia Tech and the ACC in general this year (even against Clemson, until the Heisman situation’s lack of a true leading candidate this year and folks started jumping on the Spiller bandwagon to a degree). I think it is what I hate most about the BCS mentality. It doesn’t matter how good you are; everything must be based on ratings and match-ups and dollar power. You have to go along to get along it seems. Before retiring I worked in the media for more than 40 years, but I have never seen a time when there is so much business interfering with journalism and reality. The so-called experts who picked teams earlier in the year are just not going to admit they were wrong. The SEC is a good conference, but take away Alabama and Florida (I’m trying to ignore these two team’s cupcake schedules, especially this past weekend) and the SEC is no better than any other conference this year. It is said that perception is reality, but in the real, factual sporting world this year, I think some folks have just got it wrong. I only wish the NCAA would do its job and outlaw the BCS and give every team a chance to score on an even playing field.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
3:06 pm
Some selected NCAA stats prior to yesterday’s games:
Selected NCAA Passer Ratings
(Min 15 att/gm)
# 3 Mallett Ark. 164.96
# 8 Tebow UF 154.00
#15 McCoy TX 147.99
#36 Cox UGA 138.36
#40 McElroy Ala 137.24
Nesbitt GT 156.36 11.36 att/game
i think that all the clumpsin fans
November 22nd, 2009
3:06 pm
like boogerman’s picks.
i used to work with clemson fans and left alone they would pich their nose and eat it.
walk in on them an they would act like it was a mirage.
boogerman and his ‘picks’. lmao….
Not Disappointed
November 22nd, 2009
3:07 pm
Who wants to get over the Boogie Man? I respect his opinion. I also form my on opinion from his blogs. “Look, the Dawgs are having a bad year, which is sad. I actually like UGA. My brother is a dawg among dawgs; furthermore the only time I don’t pull for the pups is when they play Georgia Tech.” That being said, Who cares what the opinion of one ESPN person happens to be. I doesn’t matter if it’s male or female.
I know for a fact Clemson has improved since the beginning of the year. It can also be stated that Georgia Tech has improved on Offense and Defense. When it comes to who you like as a Coach in this game. I would pick Paul Johnson over Dabo 99 out of 100. Techs improvement and Coaching gives them the edge. It’s opinion, but it’s back by facts.
The ACCCG will be a good one.
FIRST, Let’s go out and beat UGA this week. With no injuries!
mtraininjax
November 22nd, 2009
3:13 pm
Dinich does not like Georgia Tech. Before GT beat VT, her favorite team was VT, and she jumped on the bandwagon with Beamer about GT’s chop blocks, she does not like GT. Perhaps Coach Johnson is not a Dinich favorite or did not return her calls for an interview, who knows, but she does not like Tech and has been calling for GT to lose to Clemson for weeks. She all but has her cubicle at ESPN rolled in Clemson Orange and Purple and has not had ANYTHING positive to say about Georgia Tech for weeks.
Joe Schmoe
November 22nd, 2009
3:19 pm
I remember after the VT game, Dinich basically didnt give Tech a chance to win the game predicting VT win, and Paul Johnson called her out about it. She does have some kind of grudge, I just dont know how far it goes.
Not Disappointed
November 22nd, 2009
3:19 pm
Dilbert, thanks for the info on the ratings as well..
jkmckay
November 22nd, 2009
3:24 pm
Heather Dinich don’t know squat!
GT LEE
November 22nd, 2009
3:25 pm
Lets not be so vain towards Boogie Man .Hes a Dawg fan, just calls it like he sees it,kinda like the most of us. What he says makes sense, for the most part. I enjoy his posts. Live and let live
Joe Schmoe
November 22nd, 2009
3:26 pm
I want to make it clear that Heather is about the only one at ESPN that is picking Clemson. See the link for ESPN bowl projections by Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections
bull dyke
November 22nd, 2009
3:30 pm
I think dinich wears a uga strap on!
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
3:40 pm
THANKS GT LEE ……..YOU ARE CLASS PERSON, HOWEVER SGOD JFD BVTDC OR WHATEVER THE HE## HE STANDS FOR HAS A PROBLEM. I THINK HE IS YELLOW NUZZ INCOGNITO ( OR DRAG ) AND NOT DISAP…..YEAH WE ARE HAVING A BADDDDD YEAR , NEXT WEEK MAY NOT LOOK GOOD BUT YOU NEVER KNOW . ALL I KNOW IS THAT CLEMSON COULD BE DANGEROUS
reebok
November 22nd, 2009
3:40 pm
if tech doesn’t beat georgia on saturday, i could give a rat’s a$$ about the ACC CG. we need to win the sate championship first, gang! GO JACKETS!
BuckheadNole
November 22nd, 2009
3:43 pm
Thanks for the comments above.
Seriously guys, Heather Dinich is a joke at ESPN. Yes, she’s a novelty being a decent looking young girl that wants to be a sports writer/reporter. Mark Shlabach hinted as much in an off-screen comment on SportsNite (I know one of the producers). Mark should know since he works with Heather on several projects together. Let’s face it, ESPN has been instructed to show diversity since becoming part of Walt Disney. At one time it was a “boys club” and a couple of lawsuits were aimed their way in the early days because of it. When WD got involved they hired a Director of Diversity to make sure they were perceived as being fair-minded in the hiring and advancement of personnel. However, the job of “Diversity” has the nickname “Adversity” within the ESPN, unspoken culture because of some controversial hiring decisions. Although HD wasn’t one of those controversial decisons (that I’m aware of) you can certainly see why she fit the Diversity goal for ESPN and their parent WD.
That being said, I don’t think any serious football minded fans should pay her or her predictions much attention. She was relegated to the ACC football beat because ESPN doesn’t think much of the ACC in football. You won’t see junior writers like Heather Dinich covering ACC basketball though, because the ESPN looks at ACC basketball in a completely different light.
If I were a Clemson fan I would be very concerned about her prediction for the ACCCG. Heather has been proven to be wrong too many times to be a credible opinion. She’s much better reporting sports than predicting outcomes.
I’m not pulling for either team in the ACCCG. I hope that there is a good turnout and it’s an exciting game. In that respect I think both Clemson and GT will do their parts. I think the best team (right now) is Tech but Clemson will have the best player on the field in Spiller, and he could be a difference maker. And, although Dabo made a couple of good hires in the off-season, he simply doesn’t have enough game experience for me to pick him over the crafty Johnson. But folks, this game could go either way. May the best team win!
Go Noles! Gator is on the menu!
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
3:45 pm
A couple of passer ratings from yesterdays’ games:
Parker Clemson 163.37
Cox Georgia 141.15
Cox’s was better than the 1st 10 games (138.36).
Not Disappointed
November 22nd, 2009
3:47 pm
GT Lee, I wasn’t mean towards “Boogie Man.”
W.A. Alexander
November 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
Who is this Dinich woman? What job does she hold? TV? Newspaper? Never heard of her.
But more to the point: Don’t even think about Clemson this week. Give all energy to planning for, practicing for, and beating Georgia, hopefully with lots of touchdowns.
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
3:48 pm
GATOR ON MENU? WHATS HE SMOKING
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
3:49 pm
LOOK AT ME. IM JUST A UGA TROLL THAT IS UPSET THAT GT IS HAVING A GOOD YEAR. I SAY IM A FAN OF THE FIGHTING JEAN SHORTS OF AUBURN WITH A LAKE, BUT I CANT HIDE THAT I WILL JUST GO FOR ANYONE THAT BEATS GT. IM SUCH A LOSER!
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
3:50 pm
Why be concerned about anybody’s opinion for the ACC CG? It’s not a “mythical championship”, it’s actually won on the field.
FRAUD ALERT
November 22nd, 2009
3:51 pm
GT LEE = BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2009
3:51 pm
Hard to believe the Falcons are still in this game…
Joe
November 22nd, 2009
3:52 pm
Tech will win. Let’s Go Yellow Jackets.
Joe Schmoe
November 22nd, 2009
3:54 pm
Is Booger just making multiple profiles to agree with his opinion? So sad!
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
3:57 pm
THE ONLY FRAUD ON THIS PAGE WAS AT 3:49 AND A LIE AT 3:51( SEE FRAUD ALERT) ASS-HATS LIKE YOU HATE WHEN SOMEONE AGREES WITH LOGIC
Alabama Jack
November 22nd, 2009
3:58 pm
Is it true all Walmarts in Georgia are closing for Thanksgiving since the dawg fans won;t be shopping?
Lee Atwater
November 22nd, 2009
3:59 pm
Hey BOOGIE is from Hartwell. There’s not much to do in Hartwell after summer so he’s got two local teams to possibly pull for: Clemson or Georgia. My guess is that he pulls for both. He’s a little wounded today from the Kentucky game so he’s put on the mantra of the Tigers since they seem to be winning. His posts are obviously very biased but who really cares? Nothing he says will change anything. Let him pull for the teams he likes. If you disagree do what most people do – ignore him.
BOOGIE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 22nd, 2009
4:00 pm
NO JOE NOT AT ALL…….PROBABLY YOU AT 3:51………..AND AGAIN ITS B-O-O-G-I-E