Coleman Poje is from Atlanta, but first he had to spend his first two years of college in Colorado Springs, Colo. to realize that ultimately he belonged back home at Tech. Poje had grown up playing baseball and football, and he was set on playing both sports at the collegiate level.

“Throughout high school I was hoping to play both football and baseball in college, so the schools that were recruiting me were a lot smaller scale, just because I wasn’t an excellent football player by the time high school came around. As a result, I was looking more into Ivy League schools and D-II, D-III, but I really wanted to play D-I sports,” Poje said.

Poje said that basketball and baseball came easier to him at first, but the challenge of baseball was one that had always intrigued him since he started playing.

“I never really was the best player on baseball teams growing up. I just enjoyed the challenge of trying to get better every day. I guess it was the challenge of trying to get better that kept driving me to keep playing,” Poje said.

Ultimately, Poje was able to convert his efforts getting better at baseball to an offer to play the sport at the Division I level he so coveted. He decided to forego the opportunity to play football, and he applied to the United States Air Force Academy with the promise that if he was accepted, he would be able to play baseball there during his time in the Academy.

“I met Coach Kaz [Mike Kazlausky] from Air Force, and he pretty much said if I could get into the Academy then I would have a spot on the team. … My brother had gone to the Air Force academy, so I knew what I was getting into. That was my only D-I offer and I decided to go with that.” And so Poje headed off to Colorado Springs.

Poje spent two years at Air Force, and while he was there, he made a total of 31 starts, hit for a 0.218 batting average with two home runs and 11 RBIs, and earned Academic All-Conference honors as a civil engineer twice. Poje says that the challenge of doing all that and preparing to eventually serve in the armed forces, was a very unique challenge, shaping his view of college life.

“There are a lot of rules you have to follow there, a lot of guidelines, a lot of inconvenient things that they throw at you throughout your day just to see how you might respond. If you let that get to you, you’re going to be miserable there. The biggest thing I think that I was able to learn while I was there is that when those things come up, you just have to keep on rolling and that it’s not a big deal,” Poje said.

While he learned how to deal with those little things, Poje ultimately learned that the Air Force wasn’t for him while talking to one of his friends.

“One of my roommates, my best friend on the baseball team, had been talking about transferring. During that process, he ended up talking me into thinking a lot more about leaving. After those two years, I realized I wasn’t in love with being in the Air Force anymore. I stepped out on faith and decided to see what would happen. I felt comfortable about making that decision when I did,” Poje said.

He decided to transfer to Tech without any guarantees of playing on the baseball team. Poje recounts how he was fortunate to be able to make the team, and he appreciates the NCAA mandated redshirt year he had to take after transferring.

“I really thought it was an outside chance that I would get a chance to keep playing baseball. I didn’t know the status of the Tech baseball team at the time and if they needed outfielders or really what they needed. So I showed up and was more just lucky that they had a spot for me right away. Honestly, it’s good that I had that year to sit out because I was able to grow a lot in my abilities with the coaching staff here,” Poje said.

Poje initially struggled with being and out of the lineup on a game-to-game basis, but he still posted good numbers making four starts, hitting 0.214 with two home runs and eight RBIs. Going forward, he knows that he has to accept the fact that he might not start on many days. Asked about his goals for this season, he has his sights set on the College World Series in Omaha.

“Our goal is definitely to go to Omaha and win,” Poje said. “Obviously we’ve had a great start, winning our first four this season against some good opponents, so we need to keep that rolling. I’ll continue to play my role, whatever that may be. On days I do get a start, I’ll go out there and perform to the best of my ability. By staying positive, that’s how I’m going to help the team get to Omaha.”

This Sunday, the 2017 NASCAR season begins in Daytona Beach, FL at Daytona International Speedway. Around 470 miles away, in Charlotte, N.C., former Tech offensive lineman Eason Fromayan is preparing for his chance to work for one of those teams that raced in Florida.

This is not news to most people; throughout December news of his new career path was all over ESPN and NASCAR media alike. That coverage has given him the publicity he needs to be recognized by a lot of organizations.

“I got a lot of visibility, I guess, through all the bowl game appearances, … being on ESPN and all those different things. So my name got out there pretty quick to all the big teams,” Fromayan said.

That visibility should help Fromayan in getting recruited in a world that is remarkably similar to the one he has just come from.

“It’s kind of like football recruiting,” he said, “there’s certain times of the year where it’ll be hot and certain times when it’s not. Right now, it’s kind of a down time, but then … in the summer like in May, June, July, August, that’s when the programs really start picking up and finding personnel for the following season.”

While this season may not be the year Fromayan breaks into the pit, things are looking up for him. His path is both unique and not. On one hand, he is yet another college athlete transferring to life on pit road, which has surprisingly already been done multiple times. But at the same time he is the first one to understand what he is getting into. He has been a NASCAR fan his entire life, cheering for Jeff Gordon as long as he can remember.

Unfortunately, he will never get the chance to work in the pit for Gordon, who retired in 2015. Instead, he simply wants to work for “any team that’s capable of winning,” not always an easy thing to find in a sport where funding differentiates champions from also-rans.

Many may wonder what purpose a former offensive lineman could serve on pit road. Outside of Tech, the position is not necessarily seen as one of the more athletic positions in football. However, his unique experience on a more athletic, quicker line has set him up perfectly for the world of pit road.

The need for big, strong and athletic pit members is consistent, and Fromayan’s body type is perfect for lifting and moving jacks and fuel tanks.

“Jackman and fueler is what I train for. It’s what fits my body type being a previous lineman at Tech,” Fromayan said of the way his time on The Flats prepared him for a vastly different sport.

The jackman is in charge of using the 20-pound hydraulic jack to raise both sides of the car to change the tires, this is where Fromayan’s speed comes in. The fueler, or gas man, is where his strength applies. The gas man is in charge on emptying two 12-gallon cans, both of which weigh 81 pounds, into the car for refueling.

While the future is bright there are still steps that need to be made. First, Fromayan needs to be picked up by one of the many organizations that own drivers in all levels of professional racing. From  relatively minor circuits with low pay and even less attention to the premier Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, there are openings. And of course, Fromayan will have to prove himself in the lower ranks before powerhouses such as Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports (once home to the racer Fromayan idolized) open their doors.

After he gets recruited he must then work his way up through the ranks in the sport.

“Within an organization,” Fromayan said, “there’s the big main organization and [you work] your way through their development program up to their top level team. It’s a lot like baseball, or a lot like going from high school football to college football to the National Football League.”

Indeed, the path Fromayan has chosen to take is an unconventional one. Few athletes grow up wanting to be a member of a pit crew, and fewer still have the ability and commitment to act on that ambition. But Fromayan has done both, and that puts him in a unique position amongst former Tech athletes. He has gone from hauling defensive linemen to hauling heavy machinery.

The road ahead may be long, but Fromayan seems to be adequately prepared. The only thing left for him to do is to keep practicing and keep moving forward.

The new queer punk band Bitter has already made a splash on the local scene. Vocalist and guitarist Maritza, lead guitarist Chava, drummer Zo, and bassist Camila released their eponymous debut album on Pup Sounds on Feb. 10. Their next show is opening for Priests at the Drunken Unicorn on March 4.

Technique: How did you all meet and decide to form the band?

Bitter: We all ended up playing at a house show together last summer, fell in love with each others’ music and started talking. From there we decided to start a new project, got together and started playing Maritza’s songs.

A little later we realized that most of us had matched with each other on Tinder, so we kinda met each other via the web before meeting in person.

Technique: How did you choose your name?

Bitter: It’s pretty self explanatory, we’re just bitter.

Technique: What has being a new band in the Atlanta music scene been like?

Bitter: It has been a truly welcoming experience so far! Any time we’ve played venues like Drunken Unicorn, the Earl, Mammal there’s been an overwhelmingly positive response. People reach out to us and we’ve made tons of new friends and met lots of other wonderful musicians. It already feels like home.

We’ve also definitely enjoyed the diversity that the Atlanta music scene has to offer as far as representation of women, people of color, queers. It’s not quite as white guy dominated as other cities, but of course there’s still a long ways to go.

Technique: What interested you in playing music, especially this genre?

Bitter: For us that’s kind of like saying, “how did you get interested in eating, sleeping, and breathing?” We’re geared more towards punk because it is really fun to be able to be loud and make as much space for yourself
as possible.

Technique: What has your experience been occupying a genre dominated by males?

Bitter: A good bit of “mansplaining” has occurred, but we have had an opportunity to meet good male musicians that are respectful and socially aware. If anything it just brings out our feminist roots more.

Technique: What do you see as the role of music and musicians in the current political climate?

Bitter: We need to keep making art, even more than we ever had, especially as people of color. Our art and presence is a form of resistance because we are living in a time where people of color are constantly being silenced.

Technique: How do your Latinx and/or queer identities inform your music?

Bitter: 100 percent, especially our presence. There is nothing about our music that is not either Latina or queer. We also want to write more songs in Spanish to represent the Latinx community.

Technique: What or who has been inspiring you lately? What kind of music do you listen to in your spare time?

Bitter: Local Atlanta bands like Cinema Novo and Art School Jocks give us life! Other bands
like Palace, Mitski, Mannequin Pussy, Cafe Tacvba, Hello Ocho, Chicano Batman inspire us as well. We mostly listen to punk rock, Spanish punk rock, Indie/Alternative.

Technique: Which song is your favorite on the album?

Bitter: “Sorry I’m Late” because it was a really interesting song to write. It’s also one of our favorite songs to perform because we scream one part together, and it has a lot of volume dynamics and rhythm changes.

Technique: What are your future plans?

Bitter: Hopefully go on tour this summer, make a new album (we’ve already started writing), and continue to be loving and supportive of each other in all of our adventures and endeavors.

Chris Distefano is an American comic who hails from Brooklyn and got his doctorate in physical therapy from New York Institute of Technology.

He made an interesting career leap from being a pediatric physical therapist at a school to becoming a comic — performing stand-up all across the country and signing a three year contract with MTV to star in the show “Guy Code.” His most recent venture is writing his own show, “Distefano,” which CBS picked up to do a pilot.

Technique: How does someone go from having a doctorate in physical therapy and being a pediatric physical therapist to pursuing a career in comedy?

Distefano: Well, I guess I just took a leap of faith. What happened was I started doing stand-up comedy my last year of physical therapy school in 2009. And then I was doing stand-up every single night. I was doing like 20 shows a week.

I basically worked as a physical therapist in the school with the kids from about 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. then go hit the open mics from 5 p.m. to sometimes midnight. I’d try to get on any show I could, and sometimes the last show would be at two in the morning and that would be the only spot where a new comedian could get on. Then I would wake up and go to work the next day.

So I kept doing that, and then I got on this show on MTV called “Guy Code,” which turned into a real big hit especially amongst college kids. It got to the point where I was on TV a lot.

The principal of the school I was working at was like, “Look, some of the parents have seen your show, and you’re talking about what’s the guy code to, like, boners and then you’re coming in and working in a school. That’s just a conflict of interest, so you’re just going to have to choose.”

I had a long talk about it with my family, and my dad was the one who convinced me. He was like, “Look, you already got your doctorate degree, you love working with the kids, you will always come back to the school and help out, but it seems like you are going to be given the chance to pursue your real dream — which is comedy and entertainment — so, in a way the principal is kind of giving you an opportunity to really jump two feet in to pursue
your dreams.”

So, that’s what I did. I left, said goodbye to the kids — I keep in touch with them to this day — go back in the summer and visit them and all that — but I jumped two feet in. It took about two weeks, which was crazy. I remember I had about $180 dollars in my bank account.

My dad was like, “You can stay in my basement. Whatever. Go live your dream. You are 25 years old, go take your shot.”

So, I did and then, MTV signed for three years and paid me three times the salary I was making before working at the school.

So, it was just a week or two of living from paycheck to paycheck. And then MTV came in and then kind of saved me and I’ve been doing it [comedy] ever since. …”

Technique: What is your favorite part about doing stand-up?

Distefano: I was an athlete my whole life. I started playing basketball when I was like five years old and played all the way through college. So, that’s what I focused on everyday. Basketball and sports got me excited.

Stand-up comedy has basically replaced that in my head. That’s why I’m 40 pounds heavier than when I was playing ball because the newest thing I’m obsessed with is yelling jokes and eating chicken wings at two in the morning. But, it is what it is.

I love the adrenaline rush it gives you, and it is very cathartic and therapeutic for me. It’s weird, I have the most anxiety when I’m off stage, but as soon as I get on stage, it is usually the calmest I feel all day.

Technique: Congratulations on getting your show “Distefano” picked up by CVS. What were you doing when you found out?

Distefano: Well, CBS actually offered us the show right in the room. So, we kind of knew. The announcement came when it came. We already knew, but we couldn’t tell anybody.

But when they made the official, official news I was feeding my daughter pudding. It was a good time to like officially know and see it on social media that we got the pilot.

Because no matter what happens with the pilot — I mean I hope that I get a show on for 10 years — but even if I don’t, just this opportunity is cool enough.

Technique: How is casting for the show going?

Distefano: It’s great. We just cast Annie Potts to be my mom,  and Diane Guerrero is playing my girlfriend. So we have two great stars on it and are still going through the casting process to fill the other roles.

It’s been amazing for me because all of my career has been auditioning, but now I’m on the other side of the camera. I feel like I’m learning a lot about the business, so I’m trying to embrace it as much as I can.

Technique: How did you come up with the idea for the show? How long did it take, and where did you draw inspiration from?

Distefano: It’s basically based off my real life. I have a baby — a young daughter, she’s almost two now. Her mom is Puerto Rican. She and I met, and she got pregnant right away.

So I went from being a single bachelor kind of guy to having a step son, which  she had from a previous relationship, my own daughter and a new girlfriend.

We had only known each other for about 10 months before the baby was born because that’s how fast all of it went. So, it was crazy to say the least.

At the time, I was doing stand-up. All my stand-up is about my life — I try to stay autobiographical with it. The guys who created “How I Met Your Mother,” Craig Thomas and Carter Bayes, saw me and told me that they thought there was a show here.

So, I’d go to their office a couple of times a week for a few weeks. I would just talk about my life and tell my story. Those guys are just amazing at creating TV shows, so they created a pilot episode about me.

It covers being married to a Puerto Rican girl, having a baby right away, having a stepson, merging the Latino and Italian cultures and trying to get to know someone while you are raising a newborn baby that you have with that person.

Technique: How does your family feel about being portrayed on television?

Distefano: They’re cool with it. Yeah, they’re portrayed on it, but it’s TV, so it’s also like an embellished version. And it’s not just me and my family: the other writers also bring their experiences to the table.

So, we’re just using the relationships and loosely basing characters on them. It’s not like a reality show. Nobody would ever know anybody’s real name or actual real story. So, they’re cool with it. They just want me to succeed and hopefully get this show on the air.

Technique: What is it like to work with Carter Bayes and Craig Thomas?

Distefano: They are legends. They created “How I Met Your Mother,” an epic show that went on for nine seasons. They are the coolest guys to work with.

I can do stand up, that’s one thing. I can write all my own jokes and come up with all that stuff, but to write a TV show is a completely different muscle and a completely different set of skills that those guys are amazing at. We’re trying to combine what I can do with what they can do and create a great show.

Technique: You started your television career on MTV, which targets a vastly different audience than CBS. How is it different working for both networks, and what has been the biggest
challenge catering to this new audience?

Distefano: MTV is for more high school and college kids, so I’m not going to talk to them about being a parent and doing my taxes. Because that’s not relatable.

I’ll tell them what it was like when I was their age and funny things I used to do. I would try to lower my maturity a little, but still say smart things because you know, a lot of these kids are really smart kids.

A lot of them have never even been to a comedy show before, so they don’t even really know what to expect, whereas CBS is a bit of an older audience where I feel like I can talk about what is going on in my life right now.

Teenagers don’t care that I need to take three fish-oil pills to stay heart healthy, you know? So, I get to talk about what is going on in my life right now for CBS, whereas with MTV I talked about what happened to me. I’m more present with CBS.

Technique: What is the most unique quality about your show that will make it a success?

Distefano: I think a mixing of cultures — a Latina woman and white guy — being on a sitcom as young parents hasn’t been done. And not just mixing our cultures, but seeing if we’re even going to make it because we had the baby right away without even knowing each other.

Now, we have to be forced to try and make this thing work and seeing if that’s going to happen or not is hopefully what keeps the viewer interested. And falling in love with our story and seeing how it all ends and works out.

Because it is hard when you just know someone for a month and, you don’t know, there could be major red flags about that person that would have you running for the hills if you didn’t have a kid. But you do have a kid, so you have to figure out ways to get around the wall. So, that’s what I’m hoping makes it stand out and feel different.

Technique: You are very accomplished in terms of academia and comedy. So, what’s your next goal? What’s next on the plate?

Distefano: My immediate goal is to get this show on the air and have the show be successful. But I ultimately want to get to a place where I can have my daughter play sports, maybe like soccer or basketball or whatever she wants to play, and be her coach. That is what I want to do.

Every genre of music has its own negative stereotypes attached to it. Fans of classical music are pretentious, those of rock are head-banging jocks and pop music is profit-driven garbage. While these stereotypes are typically false, they still haunt their respective genres, subjecting fans and artists to ridicule.

Jazz, on the other hand, has no negative stereotypes attached to it. Jazz is simply cool. Jazz musicians are cool, and jazz fans are cool. It is difficult to bash jazz because the genre is the humanity in music, extracted and refined to its
purest form.

On Feb. 17, the Vijay Iyer Trio gave a performance at the Ferst Center which confirmed this characterization of jazz. The group consists of composer-pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.

The titular frontman of the trio, Vijay Iyer, is considered among the leading composers and pianists in the jazz community.

He has earned a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Album for the trio’s 2009 album “Historicity,” as well as a MacArthur Fellowship and a professorship at Harvard University for lifelong achievement as a composer. Iyer’s playing was smooth and balanced, fluctuating throughout each song in tempo and intensity and setting the pace for the entire band throughout the performance.

The respected frontman’s songwriting skills were on full display during the show, as the group samples different songs from his repertoire, which demonstrates his ability to write songs of varying tones and structures. Iyer’s songs exhibit a diverse array of styles and sounds, yet every song is characterized by a complexity that probably comes from the classical violin training the composer received as a child.

While the performance was defined by Iyer’s songwriting and playing styles, the frontman’s greatest quality is his humble readiness to share the stage with his bandmates.

Iyer was generous with the performance space, locating his piano far to the side of the stage and allowing Crump and Sorey to take center stage, both musically and physically, for much of the show. During the show, Sorey displayed his passion and musical skill with the intensity of his drumming and with the innovation he employed to extract unique and fascinating sounds from his drum set.

The drummer performed exciting and spectacular drum solos that drew applause and standing ovations from the audience. When he was not awing the crowd with his quick strokes, he was tapping his fingers on the snare drum or striking the upturned edge of his cymbals to draw beautiful and original sounds out of his set.

If anything, Sorey’s playing took center stage too forcefully. Drum solos were frequent and long during the performance, and even in the breaks between these solos, Sorey’s playing often drowned out Crump and Iyer, throwing the group’s sound out of balance and keeping the other artists from showing off their performance abilities.

While in this sense, Sorey’s intensity supplied the show’s only disappointment, the drummer’s personality and passion were still a highlight of the performance.

Bassist Stephan Crump, while a more traditional musician than Sorey, exhibited great passion as he swung to the beat of his upright bass. Crump was so engaged in his playing that by the intermission he had worked up such a sweat that he needed a change
of clothes.

This passion and commitment to the music is what unites the Vijay Iyer Trio into one body. All three musicians share the appearance of men who do what they do simply because they love doing it.

Iyer summed this up perfectly just after the intermission, when he apologized sarcastically for forgetting to mention any song titles during the performance. Iyer pointed out that “we like playing music,” and when he asked the audience if they wished the group to stop playing during the rest of the performance to announce song titles, he was met with a
resounding “no.”

It is this passion that makes jazz the most human musical genre. Like Vijay Iyer and his group, most jazz musicians are not in it to make money. If they were, they would be making radio-friendly pop tunes. Instead, jazz is written and played by those who wish only to make beautiful music that connects audiences to artists.

Katherine Heigl’s path to the new legal drama “Doubt” has been riddled with stumbles, from poorly rated movies such as “Jenny’s Wedding” to her most recent TV appearance as the main character in NBC’s short-lived thriller “State of Affairs.”

Since her tumultuous departure from the beloved “Grey’s Anatomy,” Heigl has had trouble finding hit characters. “Doubt” premiered Feb. 15 on CBS and is the second new legal show on the network, finding company with Michael Weatherly’s (“NCIS”) “Bull” since “The Good
Wife” ended.

“Doubt” follows Heigl’s character Sadie Ellis, a defense attorney, and other lawyers at her firm, including Dule Hill (“Psych”), Laverne Cox (“Orange is the New Black”) and Elliott Gould (“MASH”). Heigl and Hill’s characters represent Dr. Billy Brennan, played by Steven Pasquale (“Rescue Me”).

In the show, Brannan is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, which occurred 15 years ago. The premise, as outlined in the trailer that built up the anticipation of the show, portrays Ellis on the slow track to fall in love with her client, who may or may not be a murderer.

The cast of the show is quite talented, so it is a shame that such an ensemble is wasted on the writing. There are moments of inspired conversation, such as Ellis explaining that she will “fight because most people won’t.”

In fact, the writers seem to have bouts of motivational and poingant lines, from pep-talks, to calls for justice peppered throughout the pilot. Heigl does act the part of Ellis exceptionally and seems well suited for the role. It is reminiscent of her character Izzy in “Grey’s.”

The problem is the plot. The “reasonable doubt” referred to by the title is a reference to Dr. Brennan’s case, as that is all that is needed to get him off the hook for the murder. Since we are innocent until proven guilty, as long as their is no air-tight evidence, the case can be won.

The title also refers to the “doubt” in his innocence and in the relationship between Ellis
and Dr. Brennan.

Presumably, if written differently, or maybe if a different actor took upon the role of Dr. Brennan and could overcome the script, the audience could connect with
the plot.

As is stands, the tenuousness of everything that the creators were aiming for does not come across as they might have hoped. Much like a jury, it is easy to pick a side on the case, deciding if one believes Dr. Brennan is innocent.

The other aspect, the possibly budding relationship, brings up a feeling of disinterest, rather
than intrigue.

Instead of focusing on this case, the secondary plot lines seemed much more interesting. Cox’s ground-breaking character as a transgender lawyer, has a case involving a man pleading insanity due to his schizophrenia.

The professional camaraderie and competition between the lawyers lends to far more interesting writing than the romantic story line. If the series chooses not to follow Dr. Brennan’s case the entire season, there may be a chance for it to truly be great.

The tertiary characters that are new to the law firm have vastly more interesting stories than Hill’s character who left his dog outside a deli, and was dumped as a result. The writers and creators have a lot of material to work with, they just seem to prioritize the actors over the quality of their lives.

The show does not seem to posses the dark grittiness that “The Good Wife” exuded or the successful balance of soapy drama like in “Grey’s Anatomy.” “Doubt” seems to be quite doubtful of its own personality.

The pilot makes a weak case for the continuation of the show and may result in another cancellation under Heigl’s belt. It would be a shame, considering the
wonderful cast.

If the creators widen their horizon and spotlight the other stories they have created, “Doubt” could become quite a compelling legal drama. The show has the potential to win a spot among the greats like “Law and Order” or “JAG.”

On a late December evening in 2016, Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor to the Trump administration, made a call to the Russian Ambassador to the United States. Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak discussed, amongst many things, the sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia due to the alleged interference the Kremlin had with the 2016 presidential election. This conversation alone was not the catalyst for Flynn’s resignation on Monday, Feb. 13. It was later announced that Flynn had misled then Vice President-Elect Mike Pence about the conversation with Kislyak. Flynn defended this, saying that due to the fast pace of the transition period as the incoming national security advisor, the flow of information inadvertently went awry.

The circumstances surrounding Michael Flynn’s resignation differ quite substantially depending on which source in the Trump Administration was being asked about it. In his statement prior to his resignation, Flynn remained confident that the President and Vice-President had accepted his apology for this mistake, and that all was back to normal. In an interview with MSNBC in the afternoon of the 13th, Kellyanne Conway claimed that Flynn had the “full confidence of the White House” behind him. However, in his press briefing on the morning of Feb. 14, Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed that “the president was very concerned that Gen. Flynn had misled the vice president and others.”

This differentiation in the information that flows from the white house is not an isolated incident in the first month of the Trump administration.

While the Flynn resignation occurred in the middle of February, the public began to get clued in on the supposed circumstances behind the phone conversation with the Russian ambassador in January — before Donald Trump was even inaugurated. On Jan. 13, Sean Spicer told reporters that the call between Flynn and Kislyak only covered a post-inaugural call between Putin and Trump; he told reports “that was it, plain and simple.” Then, Pence told Face The Nation on Jan. 15  that Flynn “did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.” The cycle continued through January, with Spicer telling multiple different reporters that the phone call with Kislyak had little to do with the sanctions and only regarded pleasantries between the two countries.

It was also revealed by Sally Yates, the former attorney general, that the Justice Department had warned the White House about the conversation that Flynn had with Kislyak, saying that it may have made him more vulnerable to blackmail from the Kremlin. This risk assessment stems from the lack of communication that Flynn had with others in the transition team and later the administration. It also raises the question of what role Flynn could play in speaking to foreign officials during the transition team, since he was still considered a private citizen, despite having been chosen as the national-security advisor on Nov. 18.

Despite all of this, in an interview with The Washington Post on Feb. 8, Flynn decisively denied discussing the sanctions with the Russian ambassador. On Feb. 9, through a spokesperson to the Washington Post, Flynn backpedaled and said he “couldn’t be certain that the topic [of the sanctions] never came up.”

There are a few different ways that the resignation Michael Flynn could play into the current sphere of controversies waiting to potentially boil over in the Trump Administration. On one side, there is the possibility that President Trump sweeps this under the rug of “fake news” as he has been wont to do over the past month with circumstances that are possibly lurid to his cause. On the other side, the congressional democrats possibly have more fuel for their cries for a private investigation into Russia’s involvement with election. While the call that Flynn made to Ambassador Kislyak may not have had anything to do directly with the Russian hacking, it still puts Russian ties to the Trump administration in the front of the public’s mind and into the top of every news cycle. Having public support will be integral to the Democrats’ cause if they want to continue to press for an outside investigation in concurrence with the internal congressional investigation.

When the ACC pulled all neutral-site championships from the state of North Carolina in response to the state’s controversial bathroom bill (and other states’ responses), Tech became an unexpected beneficiary. The McAuley Aquatic Center, once host to the 1996 Olympics, became the home of the 2017 ACC Swim and Dive Championships.

That event, which started on Feb. 13, brought teams from all over the eastern seaboard to compete in a variety of events.

Earlier this season, Tech Head Coach Courtney Hart indicated that hosting the Championships would offer the team advantages and pose disadvantages. She listed familiarity with the facility and procedures as significant assets, while she was concerned that not traveling would lull the Jackets into a false sense of security.

For swimmer Iris Wang, hosting the event was more personal. According to Wang, the convenience of travel to Atlanta (as compared to Greensboro, N.C., the originally intended site) made it more likely that her family abroad in China could attend.

Over the first few days (Thursday’s events occurred after press time), the Jackets have seen both the ups and downs of competition. The men sit at No. 5 of 13 eligible teams, while the women are a less promising No. 11.

With that in mind, here are some of the biggest takeaways from the first few days of action at one of the biggest swimming events of the year for Coach Hart and her talented team of swimmers and divers. Records were set, and the path for the last two days has been made clear.

Records Fall

While Tech has not quite matched up to some of the finest teams across the conference so far, it has bested many of its own records, on both the men’s and women’s sides. On Wednesday alone, the team set seven new school records, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com.

Particularly impressive was the work of senior Maddie Paschal of LaGrange, Ga., who broke her own record in the 100-meter backstroke twice within an hour and contributed to a record-setting relay effort. In her final conference championship, Paschal made her exit a memorable one.

“We’re excited to see how tomorrow plays out and finish out the ACCs with even more impressive times,” said sophomore Laura Branton, who played a part in breaking three of seven records on the day, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com.

On the men’s side, diver Matt Casillas notched a score of 341.40 to advance, the highest in NCAA Zone Diving Championships history. Casillas’ mark was one of the Wednesday’s highlights across the board for the team.

The Path Ahead

Thursday evening will bring about a number of final events, from freestyle to butterfly. The day will conclude with an awards ceremony directly after those competitions finish. The Jackets will have competed in yet another ACC Championship.

Hitters:

Returning juniors Kel Johnson, Trevor Craport and Wade Bailey, the Jackets look to continue their dominance at the plate. Both Johnson and Craport were named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America teams; Johnson was named to the second team and Craport was listed on the third team.

Last year saw Johnson increase his batting average with the addition of a significant increase in at-bats. This year, Johnson should look to continue increasing his batting average while also returning some much needed power into the lineup.

With the loss of Matt Gonzalez, someone will have to step up in terms of run production. Last year, Gonzalez and Johnson were tied as the team leaders in home runs and RBIs. To fill the spot, Johnson and Craport will both need to step up, but sophomore Brandt Stallings is also a strong candidate.

In his freshman year, Stallings played in 47 of 63 games with 144 at-bats, about 100 fewer than Johnson. In those at bats, Stallings posted a .299 batting average, 7 home runs and 33 RBIs. This year, Stallings should grab an increased share of at-bats, allowing him to bring those stats higher.

As a team, Tech finished second in the ACC in batting average and home runs while leading the league in at-bats.

There is not much room for improvement this year, but the loss of Gonzalez hurts Tech’s lineup. There is also room to improve in several key categories: walks, strike outs and on-base percentage (OBP).

Last year Tech drew 205 walks, good for a tie at second-to-last in the conference. That lack of walks also contributes to a low OBP despite the great batting average. If Tech were to shore up this weakness specifically, they could go a long ways towards elevating their already strong hitting to another level.

Among the top three hitting teams in the ACC last year, Tech had the largest amount of strikeouts with 422. The next closest of those tops teams is Louisville with 314 strikeouts. While a power-hitting team such as Tech is expected to strike out more, the aim is always improvement, especially if it can bring Tech to a higher caliber.

Overall, if Johnson, Craport and Bailey continue to trend upward, Tech should see more even more hitting success this season. If the team can increase production, then what has been a weaker pitching staff may be covered.

Pitchers:

With the departure of three of best pitchers from last year’s team in right-hander’s Matthew Gorst, Cole Pitts and Brandon Gold, Tech’s pitching rotation will be in need of someone to step up; last season Gold pitched 105.1 innings, by far the most on the team. Additionally, Gorst was the only bright spot in a poor postseason last year.

In terms of starters, look for senior left-hander Ben Parr to possibly move up into the starting rotation. Parr pitched 60.1 innings last year with a 4.18 ERA. Most of his time was spent in relief, so he only started three games, but those came later in the season with one even being during their time at the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

Another to look out for is sophomore right-hander Jake Lee. Lee appeared in 19 games last year, starting seven of them. His ERA was 6.80 over 45.0 innings, but coming off of a freshman year in which he was able to get a lot of time on the mound, his ERA should go down and his innings pitched should go up.

Finally, there is sophomore right-hander Keyton Gibson. Gibson made five starts in 20 games last year, posting a 4.40 ERA in 43.0 innings pitched. While he made most of his appearances in relief, his starts showed promise, and, much like Lee, he should see more time on the mound this season.

A main problem for Tech over the last few seasons has been injuries on the mound, specifically Tommy John surgery. That trend unfortunately continues this year with sophomore Tristin English being declared out for the season after undergoing the infamous surgery, a serious concern.

Last season, the Jackets were third-to-last in overall ERA. Among the other stats, they were last in the league in walks allowed, tied for last in hits allowed and second-to-last in home runs allowed. All are concerning stats for a team that looks to compete in one of the toughest divisions in the country.

If Tech wants to compete at the top, they must fix the problem with pitching. Coach Danny Hall and pitching coach Jason Howell have routinely churned out less than stellar pitching staffs but have recruited such incoming freshmen as lefties Jay Shadday and Connor Thomas and righties Andy Archer and Garrett Gooden.

Overall, pitching has been the biggest point of weakness for the Jackets over the past few years, and this year does not look much different.

Who is Ben Lammers? On the court, a terror, striking fear into the heart of diminutive guards who dare announce their presence in the paint. An offensive stalwart with enough of a shot to draw consistent attention and the ability to finish inside.

Off the court, Lammers is far from a presence. The lanky junior almost seems out of place at press conferences. While coach Josh Pastner enthusiastically breaks down key situations from the game and explains various decisions, Lammers semi-audibly offers his thoughts, his 6’10” frame hunched over the microphone.

Bill Belichick would be proud.

However, Lammers is more than an interesting specimen, and he certainly serves a greater purpose than a sideshow. From seemingly nothing, the Texas native has become the heart of the 2016–17 Tech basketball team.

The last two seasons have been a tale of two Lammers. In 2015, he was but an afterthought on a team loaded with experience. Marcus Georges-Hunt (now playing out a 10-day contract with the  Miami Heat) was the primary scoring option, and Adam Smith and Nick Jacobs served as perfectly good secondary options.

So when Georges-Hunt and Smith and Jacobs (and Charles Mitchell, for that matter) left the Flats, it was certainly expected that Lammers would rise up to meet the challenge.

Few, if any, predicted that he would go from averaging a tick under four points per game to drawing the attention of virtually every defense the Jackets face.

The change? The sort of suggestion that would draw the envy of most amateur basketball players but seemed to run contrary to Lammers’ deferential personality: get the ball and then keep shooting it. Rinse and repeat as often as possible.

Last year, Lammers was reluctant to shoot even when put on the floor. He played 533 minutes over the course of the season but attempted a meager 87 shots, or one for every 6.13 minutes. This year, he has more than doubled that rate: over 857 minutes of play and attempting 287 shots, one for every 2.99 minutes.

There is no doubt that Lammers’ efficiency has dipped a bit as a result; his .655 shooting percentage led the team last season. This year, he is averaging .526 from the field, which is excellent (second on the team, in fact, and first among all players with 15 or more field goal attempts), which is a definite step down.

Lammers’ offense is far from perfect. At times, his shots are ill-advised. Desperation heaves at the shot clock seem to come at least a few times each game.

However, those shots are largely a function of his crucial role in the Jackets offense. If anyone can take advantage of those moments, it is Lammers. Moreover, his growth into a powerhouse hasn’t gone unnoticed. Each game, it seems as though commentators go out of their way to sing his praises. Perhaps more importantly, he has drawn the respect of opposing coaches each week, particularly as the season has worn on.

Take the legendary Rick Pitino, whose then-No. 9 Cardinals trumped the Jackets 65-50 at McCamish Pavilion. The Jackets’ loss came despite the impressive effort of Lammers, who put up 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line. Many of those points came in a run that narrowed a 15-point Cardinals lead into a three-point contest midway through the second half of the game.

“I just think he’s one of the most improved players, not only in the conference but the country,” Pitino said after the game, courtesy of myAJC.com.

Lammers’ distinguishing characteristic is not one particular skill but his balanced game.

“He does it all that you’d want from a big man,” Pitino said.

Indeed, Lammers’ surge is not the only factor that has allowed this year’s Jackets team to overachieve. Equally unpredictable was Josh Okogie’s emergence as a legitimate ACC Rookie of the Year candidate, and Josh Pastner’s newfound ability to win games in crucial spots.

Still, there is no doubt that the Jackets have been lucky to receive the boost Lammers has given them, from his more assertive offense to impressive defense, ranking second in D-I basketball with 3.24 blocks per game, courtesy of NCAA.com. With another year of eligiblity remaining, his arrow points straight up.

With the way Lammers is playing, his career might stretch beyond his time at McCamish.

There are no dearth of quality professional prospects, but at this rate, Lammers will be an enticing package for a team looking for an early-contributing big man.