Go Army, Beat Navy!

The unfounded hero-worship of Coach Paul Johnson has indeed become a nauseating phenomenon. Every insignificant word or gesture offered by this dumpy, belligerent mass of cliches and arrogance is seemingly another reason for a certain segment of Tech fandom to erupt in goosebumps while shrieking in womanly delight, "I love our coach!" This cult-like fanaticism has managed even to entail a strange reverence of Johnson's previous coaching stops, with Tech fans overnight emerging as "Wal-Mart" supporters of Georgia Southern and US Naval Academy athletics.

And while the latter circumstance may appear harmless on its surface, in reality the Johnson slurper-lemmings, through their support of other teams that run the Cheese-Ball Offense, actively root against the fortunes of Georgia Tech football. Simply put, the more teams that have success using the "Spread Option," the more teams we will see adopting it, and so will this compromise Tech's distinct advantage in running an offense no one ever sees.

Thankfully the proliferation of Johnson's offense has stagnated in the major college ranks. Louisiana-Lafayette recently flirted with Tech OL coach Mike Sewak, but its search looks to have settled elsewhere. Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper was rumored two weeks ago to be in line for the Vanderbilt job, much to the dismay of Commodore fans, but this was later exposed as a provocative hoax. No major universities have otherwise shown interest in the Paul Johnson Way, likely because they have a stake in promoting an exciting and winning brand of football.

It should be mentioned in passing(no pun intended) that Vanderbilt has instead chosen Life by pursuing the country's most dynamic offensive assistant, Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. And for the first time ever I find myself envious of Commodore fans. The Kool-Aid slurpers are always asking me, "Who could we get if we fired Paul Johnson?" Well there's your answer. Oh but it's such a blast leading the nation in rushing yardage.

When Bobby Ross was hired did Tech fans start rooting for Maryland? When Bill Lewis was hired, did they root for East Carolina? When Chan Gailey arrived did fans raise the white and gold pom-poms for the Troy Trojans? What, then, is the fascination with the posterity of Coach Paul Johnson?

A dose of reality is in order Tech fans. Not only is there no inherent reason to root for either Navy or Georgia Southern, but you now possess specific reasons to cheer against them and any other team that promotes Johnson's system. Those who deny these simple facts are NOT being fans of Georgia Tech football, but fans of Paul Johnson, Paul Johnson's offense, and Paul Johnson's tree of assistant coaches.

So as you're watching the Army-Navy game today, ask yourself Tech fans: Who have you really been rooting for?

The answer may surprise you.