Hamilton vs. Burr. Biggie vs. 2pac. Rocky vs. Apollo. American history is littered with legendary duels where only one can emerge the victor.

On Feb. 17, the mild-mannered and noodle-armed English teacher, Andy Campbell (Charlie Day, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), will square off against axe-wielding, no-holds-barred Ron Strickland (Ice Cube, “21 Jump Street”) in New Line Cinema’s newest comedy, “Fist Fight.”

Featuring a strong supporting cast of Jillian Bell (“Workaholics”), Tracy Morgan (“30 Rock”) and Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), “Fist Fight” is a throwback to the after school fist fights of high school movies but with a twist: the two brawling it out in the parking lot are teachers, not students.

On the last day of school, in the midst of senior pranks and dysfunctional school administrators, Campbell just wants to make it through to the dismissal bell and get home to his wife Maggie (JoAnna Garcia, “Once Upon a Time”), who is pregnant with their second child.

While just trying to do the right thing, he implicates Strickland, getting Strickland fired. Strickland challenges Campbell to a fist fight with the immortal words: “After school. Parking lot. It’s on.”

As Campbell braves the rest of the day, Campbell consults his colleagues, guidance counselor Holly Grossman and gym coach Crawford (played by Bell and Morgan, respectively), both of whom deal with their own set of problems.

Grossman occasionally dabbles in meth and nymphomania, while Crawford’s students have recently mowed a sixty-yard popular anatomical appendage onto the football field.

Sprinkled atop this bawdy mix of characters are the senior pranks themselves, from releasing a horse into the school hallways to playing heterosexual male-targeted adult content on the classroom TVs in the middle of class. For the actors themselves, the characters and script were the main draw.

“I saw the script and I called Newline, and I said I want to do this thing and they said, ‘Ok great,’” Day said in a conference with other college newspapers to promote the film. “I usually look at the overall story. Am I interested in the story? Then I look at the characters — do I like the characters? Do I think I could do something with it? And then when I read this script, it was exciting for me to just play the guy in the story … I also liked that I got to be a little bit more of a normal person in a sea of crazy people.”

Day, who is otherwise known for eating milksteak and jellybeans as Charlie on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” was already acquainted with “Fist Fight” director Richie Keen, who directed episodes of “It’s Always Sunny.”

“We weren’t too sure about Richie Keen [at first],” Day said, “but he cut together this really funny trailer with existing footage of Ice Cube and I in movies.”

Keen created a fake trailer that won over the “Fist Fight” producers due to his incredible passion for the project.

Another obstacle, according to Day, was finding other actors and fitting the movie into their
schedules.

“Jillian has a show and Tracy is doing his standup, so we were trying to get everyone in the same place,” Day said.

They even made changes to the script to adapt to the cast: Bell’s character Grossman was originally written as a man.

“We wanted a funny woman in the movie,” Day said, who also serves as executive producer. “We wanted Jillian in the movie. So Richie and I changed that part.”

“I read it, and it definitely was the weirdest character I’ve ever been offered to play,” said Bell. “And I love playing odd women.”

“Fist Fight” is also part of Tracy Morgan’s return to the silver screen following a serious car accident in 2014.

“Coming from my situation, it frightened me to do a movie,” he said. “I didn’t know if my comedic timing was back. I didn’t know if the confidence was there.  Then Charlie Day and Jillian and Richie Keen, they gave me
confidence.”

Two may enter but only one will emerge victorious from the #teacherfight when “Fist Fight” hits theaters.

In accordance with Donald Trump’s campaign promises, the president nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy on the supreme court left by the unexpected death of Antonin Scalia almost a year ago. Gorsuch, 49, is a graduate from Columbia, Harvard, and Oxford, has clerked for two justices of the supreme court and since 2006 has served on the 10th circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado. While many liberals are intending on digging their heels in on his hearings, if confirmed he will not upset the said “balance” of the Supreme Court with five conservative leaning justices and four liberal leaning justices. Many are more concerned at the prospect of President Trump filling a vacancy that could be left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Justice Anthony Kennedy in the coming years. If that were to happen, the supposed balance that has become precedent in recent years on the Supreme Court could be completely shifted to have total conservative dominance. If this were to come to fruition, the new balance of power could threaten decisions like Roe v. Wade.

On orders from the Senate majority leader in 2016, congressional republicans made it their goal to stall any and all hopes of Merrick Garland, former President Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy left by Scalia, from getting even a confirmation hearing. The issue then became a go-to topic in any of the stump speeches given by the Trump campaign during the fall election season. The campaign used the issue to urge any republican voter with precautions toward Trump to still vote for a republican party since they would be the only ones to uphold the legacy of Antonin Scalia in the Supreme Court. The republicans are now urging the democrats to confirm Gorsuch despite the fact that the republicans were less than willing to cooperate with President Obama with his nominee for the seat.

Since Gorsuch is quite young, at only 49 years old, so he could possibly set the tone for the court for a generation of decisions to come. Maybe not for the “50 years” that President Trump remarked in his announcement of Gorsuch, but for a long time nonetheless. While he was raised in the west, which if he were confirmed would bring some geological diversity to the Supreme Court, Gorsuch lived in Washington D.C. during his teenage years since his mother was appointed by Reagan to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Staunch socially conservative republicans, and even liberals for that matter, have high praise for Gorsuch, even if it may be for different reasons. Many in the judicial community praise him for being a good listener, and for not skewing the facts to adhere to his own opinion when that may be in his best interest.

Melissa Hart, a constitutional law professor at University of Colorado Boulder, said “I do think he’s a relatively good choice. Any nominee put forward by this president is going to have views that concern liberal groups. And therefore, that, relatively, is important. He’s a conservative judge, certainly. But he’s a conservative judge and a very decent man.”

Another praise in the legal community is that Judge Gorsuch’s writing is on par with that of the later Justice Scalia, his opinions are “exceptionally clear” the SCOTUSblog, a leader in Supreme Court news, wrote.

On the national level, Judge Gorsuch is known for such decisions like in the case of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, in which he ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby and their religious freedom. The case involved the Department of Health and Human Services and for-profit secular companies, stating that the companies were required to provide contraceptive coverage in their employee benefit packages. Gorsuch sided with the companies, and more broadly for religious freedom, stating that “All of us face the problem of complicity. All of us must answer for ourselves whether and to what degree we are willing to be involved in the wrongdoing of others. For some, religion provides an essential source of guidance both about what constitutes wrongful conduct and the degree to which those who assist others in committing wrongful conduct themselves bear moral culpability.” This essentially means that he believed that companies should be allowed to challenge the Department of Health and Human Services ruling on employee health benefit packages based on religious views. The case went all the way through the justice system to the Supreme Court and in a 5-4 decision siding with Hobby Lobby, the court shared the Opinion of Judge Gorsuch.
If the Democrats decide to filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination, that means he would need 60 votes in the senate to be confirmed. Currently the republicans hold 52 seats in the senate.

To many, video games are an enjoyable way to pass time, nothing more and nothing less. To a select few highly talented and committed players, they can be a means for serious competition.

Such is the case of Allen Chen, a Tech alum who has made a name for himself playing multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs), such as Defense of the Ancients (DotA) and League of Legends (LoL). Chen sat down with the Technique to discuss his experiences in eSports.

Technique: When and how did you start playing League of Legends?

Chen: So, back in middle school, I played Warcraft 3. Well, after playing Warcraft 3, people were like, “DotA DotA DotA.” So I tried it and loved it.

I played DotA until the rise of League of Legends. In one of my DotA games, someone was using internet speech, and saying things like “lol,” but he wasn’t using it in the way I perceived as the correct usage of the acronym. They were like, “Dude, League of Legends is a new game.”

One day, I was just so bored of DotA for some reason, and I figured I would try League out. Installed it, downloaded it, played it. Played [the champion] Jax for my first game. I had no idea what I was doing,  … and then I just played another one, and then even though I kept talking trash about it, I just kept playing it, you know what I mean? A lot of the people I talk to are like, “Yo, League of Legends is an awful game.” Then you play until level 30 and start playing ranked.

Even now, people will still say League sucks. I say League sucks, and I just keep playing. That was about two months after beta was over. So it was like the release of the game, two months after beta is done, I found League. I’ve played since then, but in my first two years, it was an on and off period where I wouldn’t play. In fact, freshman year, I told one of my high school friends about League of Legends, and I was at like level 20 at the time, and he went from level 1 to 30 before I even hit 30. It was pretty funny.

Technique: Have you always played Marksman/ADC or did you play another role before that?

Chen: Up until Season 4, I was a fill main. It was pick order when you found a game. I would say everyone played fill to an extent, except for some people who only played one thing. I was pretty much a fill main until diamond rank, which was a number back then, 2200 or something like that.

I would just play literally every role; it was three champions per role. I was stuck at diamond V for the longest time until I asked my friend who was much higher than me [on the ladder], “Dude, how do I get higher? I can’t get higher.”

He told me to [focus on] one role, and I couldn’t pick, so he was just like, “I’ll give you a role. AD [attack damage] carry, go.”

So I started playing AD carry, and got to diamond I in Season 4.

Technique: When in your time did you first start playing League of Legends competitively with the eSports team, and what was it like?

Chen: When I first got here as freshman, I was not that good. The old guard Georgia Tech team was really good. They were top four in the nation, like we were last year. In their time, there was this Texas tournament they went to, and they were still in form when I got here, so there was pretty much no chance of me playing.

The way it worked, as I perceived it, was that there’s no set structure. It was just who could come up with the best team and beat out everyone else. Biding my time, I went on the Georgia Tech Facebook group, and I was like “Are there any teams that I can play with, because I want to play for Georgia Tech.”

So, Ji Pedro Moon, he’s “AZNDEVIL” in game, he saw my rank and said, “I’m going to take you and three other players, and we’ll just play in the B leagues this year.” So we played that freshman year and we actually got first or second in the second tier division. There were a bunch of different little tournaments going on, and we were winning them.

So at the start of the second year after Gamefest, [a Tech-run event,] I knew who all the players were. I was like, “Super team’s coming up.” I pretty much told everyone who wasn’t on the old guard that I was making a super team, and we were going to beat the old guard and represent Tech.

So then, I handpicked my members. I was like, “I want you, and I want you.” Then we needed a support and a jungle. They told me who were the best in that position. Remember Alliance? That was pretty much what it was. We beat the old guard team and became the Tech team. That’s pretty much how I got my foot in the door for competitive collegiate.

Technique: Once you got on the team, how was your experience in collegiate LoL?

Chen: I did it for two years. The first year, we didn’t really know what we were doing. We lost to Texas A&M in the finals for the South. A bunch of stuff went wrong; we didn’t make it. The second year, it was just as disorganized except that I took more of a leading role. What I said goes, “Practice, now. If you want a day off, you’ve gotta tell us 24 hours before hand.”

It was just stuff like that. It was pretty much strict, strict practice, still no structure. But with that brute force practice every day, we would beat A&M, so we went to PAX. Going to PAX was a really cool experience because everyone was like, “Holy s**t,
we’re travelling.”

First of all, money. Second of all, we’re getting flown out to play League of Legends at a gaming convention. Then, we also played on stage, so that was really cool. I think the biggest part about PAX for me was meeting the
other teams.

They’re not just like names that you just kind of flame in game. It’s funny how you’re like, “Dude this guy sucks!” Then you see in real life, and you’re like, “Oh, I’m a big fan. Nice to meet you.” That was really funny, but playing on stage was like the defining moment for me, I would say.

It was much different than playing online, and it’s obvious that’s true. But to know exactly why it’s different is like another story all together, for me at least. Playing on stage gave me that feeling of, ‘I wanna play on stage again.’ Then we lost and I was like, ‘I never want to lose again.’ I think part of my competitive spirit for beyond collegiate League of Legends grew from there, a big part of that at least.

Technique: Georgia Tech is pretty rigorous; how did you balance school work with getting better at League?

Chen: We would play every night except Friday for like two hours. Right after practice was over I would just do homework until it was done. If homework was due that night, I would’ve done it during the day. My social life was just like homework and League and that was pretty much it. In my free time I would play League of Legends of course. In League of Legends you can tilt after losing a bunch of games in a row. Whenever I would get tilted, whenever I would lose two games in a row, I was like, ‘Alright, guess it’s homework time.’ Then I would come back to League when I was done with whatever homework I was doing.

Technique: Is there a specific player you look up to or model your style of play after?

Chen: I think I look up to pretty much all the pros in League of Legends because they’re like, doing what I want to do. They’re an example of making it big I guess. I admire all of them for that, but if I had to specifically pick out people who I admire more it’d obviously be the top tier players like Sneaky, Doublelift and Stixxay. Especially the recent rookies, like Stixxay. He was new in the spring split of last year and now he’s like top three, that’s really cool; same thing with Biofrost. All of the new players with high drive and are obviously getting better are the ones I look up to the most.

Technique: You were recently named as a sub for the Challenger team Tempo Storm, what has that experience been like?

Chen: I guess in order to talk about that we have to talk about after the collegiate scene. Since I was graduating in the fall, I couldn’t play for this year for Georgia Tech. You have to be full time both semesters, and I wouldn’t be full time in the spring. So I started looking for Challenger teams, and after making Youtube videos and posting them to Reddit teams started contacting me. I was lucky to have the best two coaches I’ve known thus far contact me, and they were a part of Flash Point Esports. Which is like one of the teams below Challenger Series that’s just playing for small tournaments. I was with them and eventually the team disbanded as most of them do and [the coaches] went on to Tempo Storm. They invited me as a sub since they were pretty much the coaching staff, I guess you could say they built the team with the resources that Tempo Storm had and they had like all of the say in the decisions. So they wanted me as a sub since they had imported Freeze. It’s kind of like real life because of all the connections and stuff.

Technique: Right now what do you think you need to improve on the most?

Chen: In order to get to the next level, hmm. So players have good days and bad days and there are average days too. I think the goal is always to see if your best compares to everyone’s average, and if it does then you need to bring your average up to your best. So that’s what I’m working on right now.

Technique: Who do you want to play against the most?

Chen: I wanna play against CLG’s bot lane, it’s the first that comes to mind. Usually I’d say TSM, but I’ve actually already played against TSM in scrims. In an official match it would be cool, but I’ve never played against CLG. CLG is known as the team that stays together; it’s the family. They have the best synergy and that’s the kind of team I look up to the most; the team that stays together and grows together. I wanna feel what it’s like to play against an actual fully cohesive team.

Technique: Who’s your favorite champion to play right now?

Chen: Kog’Maw, I love playing Kog’Maw. Especially in the lower ranks people are like, ‘Dude, this guy’s scripting.’ That’s always funny, but Kog’Maw is like super fun and I think he’s super underrated, especially if you take Stormraider’s Surge. I’m a big fan of Kog’Maw. It’s so easy, you just press W and they die.

Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. There has been a massive lack of it over the past few months ever since Donald Trump was elected as President. And no, I am DEFINITELY not talking about empathy for him for being President, and it being a difficult job. He signed up for this position knowing what he was getting into, so there’ll be no empathy from me. Rather, I am talking about empathy from his supporters for those who are in REAL fear.

Let’s start at the beginning of the timeline to when he first gets elected. There were a lot of people who were upset at him winning and Hillary subsequently losing, myself included. Then, we get the gloating of those who supported him (my favorite one was someone saying that freedom was going to be reinstated … when that person is a straight, white male), telling us that we should accept his upcoming presidency and that we are complaining “libtards” or “snowflakes” (P.S., thanks Tomi Lahren for that term, whose name I will purposefully misspell because she would definitely misspell mine). The main problem with simply accepting his presidency was that there were many people who were in undeniable fear that something discriminatory would happen to them. Some Muslim women were scared that they would be attacked for wearing a hijab. People in the LGBTQ+ community were frightened of their rights going unnoticed. I could absolutely keep going with many different groups, but that is not the point of this. There was absolutely no empathy from the other side about these real, immediate fears, even though these fears were perfectly reasonable and justified.

Fast forward two and a half months later, and today we are in the middle of probably one of the biggest injustices this country has ever seen in recent years. Amidst at least 17 different executive actions over the course of a week, the Muslim ban stands out. This executive order effectively stops any Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. and prevents anyone immigrating from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya from entering the country for 90 days. Permanent residents are not outright banned, but they will still be subject to increased screenings, although they have already been previously vetted during the green card process. Now, in the past 20 years, not one immigrant to the U.S. from any of these countries has attacked or killed an American citizen. So, he did not pick the right ones? I am shocked. So. Shocked.

The bigger issue is that none of this was necessary. Refugees and immigrants from these seven countries and other Muslim-majority countries already have to go through an intensive screening process to come to America. You or your family may not be directly affected by the current ban, but channel some inner empathy and imagine this.

Every year, your family files for immigration visas for your extended family in Iran, so they can have the opportunity to come and visit. After many years, your grandmother’s visa is finally approved, and she is able to come to the U.S. after a very long time! However, while she is in the air, an executive order is signed, and in a layover in Qatar, she is sent back to Iran because of the regulations that were put in place literally hours ago. How would that feel? Terrible, right? Your family would be aching like crazy. Sadly, this has been the reality for many people and is only the tip of the iceberg of all that has happened.

The lack of empathy that I have seen for people in these situations from his supporters has been absolutely astounding. There has been nasty rhetoric like “go back to where you came from,” “America doesn’t want your kind,” or “this is not your country” directed at innocent people. This is unfair; they did not choose where they came from, in the way that people do not have control of their sexual identity or the color of their skin. It is just how their cards were dealt.

Now, I would be a total hypocrite if I did not try to look at the other side and see where they are coming from. Quite a few supporters are operating out of fear and think that this form of religious discrimination is okay because then the country that they love will be safe. For example, this weekend I had a former elementary school music teacher, who supports this ban, tell me on Facebook that while she is sorry about some of the things that are happening to these communities, she is afraid that people from these countries will bomb our country and harm her daughter. Her fear and other people’s fears are misplaced and misguided. Immigrants, persecuted or otherwise, who want to come to this country do it because they want to better their lives in some way, whether that be to start their lives anew, seek out opportunities, or even just visit parts of their family that they never get to see. They do not do so with the intent of destroying other’s lives.

Immigration is a beautiful thing which I am so thankful for. If it weren’t for my parents emigrating from Iran to the U.S. in the late 1970s, I may never have existed. The same situation applies to so many people across the country and especially at Georgia Tech. The fact that there is an order banning immigrants of these Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States is completely un-American, and does the total opposite of making America great again.

The Jackets were back in Hawaii last week. Near the beginning of each spring season, Coach Bruce Heppler took along a team of five and one individual to compete in the Amer Ari Invitational. This year, the tournament was held in Waikoloa, Hawaii, on the Big Island.

Tech is currently ranked No. 26 in the country and will join seven top 25 teams. The large field featured Oklahoma State (No. 4), Stanford (No. 6), Southern Cal (No. 7), Auburn (No. 8), Texas (No. 11), Texas Tech (No. 17) and defending NCAA champion Oregon (No. 22). This tournament presents a unique opportunity for the coaching staff with regards to both player development and recruiting. Per head coach Bruce Heppler, over 80 high schools were in attendance. As one of the few East coast universities in attendance, Tech was in a great position to gain exposure to potential recruits.

The tournament also presented a unique opportunity for younger players on the golf team to gain valuable experience golfing in a completely different part of the country. Coach Heppler emphasized how this is the first time traveling this far for many of his players, and that it would be a fantastic opportunity for them to learn and grow. For the players who qualified to compete in Hawaii, they had the opportunity to not only play golf, but also meet various friends of Tech golf, those who make the team’s success possible year after year.

The qualifying rounds for the tournament were marked by long, intense competition. Each of the eleven golfers on the team played six rounds of golf. The lowest score in each of the first three rounds and the second three rounds were guaranteed a spot on the team, and subsequent spots were determined by the next lowest scores. In an unprecedented turn of  events, three freshmen qualified to compete at the Amer Ali Invitational this year.

Andy Ogletree, Tyler Strafaci and Luke Schniederjans (brother of PGA tour golfer and Tech alumnus Ollie Schniederjans) took up three of the five spots for team stroke play. Rounding out the team were juniors James Clark and Michael Pisciotta. Junior Chris Petefish also competed individually. This talented freshman class spent the fall pushing each other and older members of the team during qualifying rounds for tournaments, with each shining in his own unique moments. This is the first event where three freshmen are competing together. In Heppler’s view, this is the natural next step in the growth of these student-athletes. As they begin to take more spots for themselves, they will ensure that any team Tech sends to a tournament will be in form and performing at a high level. As the level of performance up and down the team roster increases, iron will sharpen iron and Tech will be a better team overall.

While the Jackets have the requisite individual skill to hold their own against any of the top teams in the country, the last pieces of development that Coach Heppler is looking for come in the form of teamwork, accountability and leadership. In match-play events last fall, where individuals from different teams compete directly against each other, Tech succeeded in soundly defeating Georgia (No. 14) 8.5-3.5 and Stanford (No. 6) 8-4. The key moving forward will be for the Jackets to be able to aggregate the individual talent to create a team that is greater than the sum of its parts, which are significant in and of themselves.

As the spring season gets under way, the Jackets have a packed schedule to look forward to. They will be competing in the Puerto Rico Classic on February 19-21 and the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Florida soon after (March 10-12). The long term goal for Tech golf at this point is to continue to improve in the tournaments leading up to the ACC Championship in late April.

Success in that will ultimately lead to an NCAA Regional berth and an NCAA Championship appearance if the season goes as Heppler would like. The first steps towards determining whether that goal will become reality will be taken thousands of miles in Waikoloa over the next few days. Heppler’s history suggests the Jackets are well prepared.

High expectations meet Tech baseball to start these 2017 season, thanks in large to the play of junior outfielder Kel Johnson. The Palmetto, Ga. native has received more than his fair share of All-ACC and All-American preseason buzz, and his play will likely determine how far the Jackets go in conference and national play.

Johnson talked to the Technique about his introduction to the sport, what goes through his mind in key moments and the dynamics of the locker room during the season.

Technique: When did you start playing baseball and what drew you to it?

Johnson: I started playing when I was four years old. It was my mom originally who wanted to get me in a sport, and her father had always been a baseball player. She had been a softball player, and I guess it came to her mind right off the bat. She signed me up and I started playing and she said when I first started playing, she thought she was going to have to have to sign me up for a different sport because I was sitting in the outfield, picking clover and watching airplanes. But things progressed and I stuck with it, and I built up a love for the game. It became where I didn’t want to play any other sports, I just wanted to put all my focus towards baseball, and over the years, that’s how it’s been.

Technique: Do you have any baseball role models, players you try to pattern your game after when you’re on the field?

Johnson: Well, I would certainly say that I look up to a lot of the Major League Baseball players, guys that’ve come through Georgia Tech before me, like Mark Teixeira, Matt Wieters and many of the other greats. [Former player] Mike Nickes actually helps out coaching us, and he was a great — and Coach Brian Prince —who were both guys who went on to have great professional careers. And just, you know, those guys and being able to work with them, being able to watch the way they go about things.

And Coach Hall’s from — just the way he knows baseball, the knowledge of the game, and everything he does for our team is just something that really rubs off on the rest of the team. It really goes around.

Technique: What’s your favorite part of every baseball game?

Johnson: Well goodness, that’s a tough one. Every game’s different. You have your big moments, the high-pressure situations, and those are the ones you have to live for. That adrenaline rush, that excitement, that has to be the best part of any game, when you come up in those times.

It can’t be something that you’re scared to be presented with, it can’t be something that you shy away from, you have to want those opportunities, you have to be excited that it came down to you, whether it’s the final out or whatever it may be. I’d say those are the times, those are the days when — say you’re put in a situation like that and it goes in your favor … those are the days that I believe you live for.

Technique: So have you had any moments like that, any moments that stick out in your mind as, “I’ll probably remember this when I’m 80?”

Johnson: That’s a difficult question. During my career here, there’s been so many great wins, so many great games.

One specific [game] I remember was the Friday night game this past year, against North Carolina, at North Carolina. At the time, they were ranked Number Four in the country, and we played just unbelievable baseball. … When I walked off the field and just looked at the atmosphere and thought about that night, that one stands out in my mind.

Technique: What goes on in your mind when you’re in a really high-pressure situation?

Johnson: Just have to slow things down. Everything can start going really fast; that’s baseball in general. You just have to slow it down, trust your talent, not try to be somebody you’re not, try not to do too much, just trust your talent, relax, breathe. Play against the baseball, don’t worry about who’s on the mound, don’t worry about who’s in the stands, just go out there and play the game like you know how to play it — like we’ve been doing all our lives.

Technique: Do you have any pre-game or post-game rituals?

Johnson: I’ve been asked if I’m superstitious like that, and I wouldn’t say I’m a superstitious person. I wouldn’t say I’m ritualistic. I would just say that I have a routine. I am a big believer in routine, and I do the same thing every game — pregame, same preparation, same warm-up, and then on deck circle … I have the same steps that I go through to get myself physically and mentally ready for an at bat, and I wouldn’t think of it so much as superstition, but I do know that if I don’t go through that process, it can affect my success.

Technique: Tell us a little about that process.

Johnson: It starts in the dugout. You gotta start getting ready mentally for an at bat before you’re actually on deck, because the way I see it, you get three or four at bats in a game, but your team could get 40 or 50.

If you’re in tune in the dugout throughout the game … you’re thinking with the pitcher, you’re thinking about pitchers, you’re watching his release point, you’re doing all these things, then it can really tune you up. By the time you get an at bat, you’ve already walked through a bunch of at bats and you’re ready to go.

And then on deck, it’s just getting loose, getting your muscles ready to fire, and actually physically going through the timing and all that with the pitcher to really be ready to have a competitive advantage when you get in
the box.

Technique: What kind of relationship do you and your teammates have with each other?

Johnson: [In] baseball, we have a lot of great guys. We have a lot of spirit in the locker room and in the dugout. It’s a very fun group here at Georgia Tech. There were times last year, I recall, where the camera would pan over to the dugout, and you would just never know what the guys would be doing. They’d either be clapping in unison, staring into the lens or doing something hilarious, and we’d go back and watch the tape and just crack up.

So there’s a lot of things, a lot of chants, a lot of little pranks particularly geared towards the freshmen, just cutting up with them and giving them a hard time, we’ve all been through it.

Technique: What’s the best prank you’ve pulled?

Johnson: Oh, well, goodness. That’s a tough one. There was one I particularly remember. A guy stepped on a piece of tape, a freshman last year, he stepped on a piece of tape in the dugout and his spike went through the piece of tape and it was hanging off the back of his shoe, about five or six inches. So somebody found a lighter and went and lit the piece of tape. So we’re all sitting there and he has no idea — he’s got his arms up on the rail watching the game. The flame starts billowing, about eight inches, ten inches and then about a foot tall.

We’re just sitting there and we’re like, at what point do we need to tell this guy, because it’s about to burn his shoe and his pants. Finally, we go up and he looks down and just panics and starts running everywhere and stomping it and it was hilarious. Just little stuff like that, any time there’s an opportunity, we don’t let it slip.

Technique: How do you balance being an athlete with Tech’s intensive coursework?

Johnson: It does take time management and balancing for sure. You can’t be wasting time, whether it be nights or weekends or whenever it might be. You have to stay focused, you have to be serious about your work and your ball and workouts. Those have to be your top three priorities, and everything just kind of has to fall to the wayside. That’s really it; you’ve just got to be determined and decide how badly you want to do it. Because if not, you’re going to end up really struggling in one of the key areas that you’re trying
to pursue.

Technique: What are your personal and team goals for the upcoming season?

Johnson: We have high expectations. Being Tech, we think very highly of the program here, and I think it’s going to be a great season. It’s a very fun team, we’ve got great chemistry, we’ve got a good freshman class, I think there’s going to be contributors from every class this year. We’ve had a great lineup in recent years and I don’t see that changing this year.

Paul Johnson made no bones about it.

“The conference tries to screw us every way they can,” complained Johnson, courtesy of ajc.com. “It happens every year. It has to be intentional. There’s no other explanation for it.”

The ‘it’ Johnson refers to is the fact that three of Tech’s opponents will play the Jackets coming off a bye week, tops in the conference. Keeping in mind how uncommon the Jackets’ triple option offense is (and how an extra week of preparation can make all the difference), it is not difficult to understand Johnson’s ire.

Yet the Jackets have more looming on the horizon than a few inconveniently-timed contests. From an opening match versus an SEC power to a date with the reigning national champions, Tech’s 2017 schedule promises, if nothing else, excitement.

The Jackets will start the season at the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they will compete against Tennessee for the first time in 30 years. Tied with Georgia and Kentucky at third place in the east division standings of the SEC, Tennessee will be Tech’s first of three consecutive out of conference matchups at the start of next season.

Competition between the ACC and the SEC has fueled conversation for awhile now, and Tech made a statement last season by beating Vanderbilt, Georgia and Kentucky, the last in the TaxSlayer Bowl. But the Volunteers, looking at a future beyond graduating senior passer Josh Dobbs, will not afford them a fourth such win without a fight.

Fans that hoped the Jackets would get a break with two easier out of conference games after opening the season against Tennessee will be sorely disappointed. Though Jacksonville State and the University of Central Florida do not seem like the most formidable opponents, underestimating them would be a grave mistake.

Jacksonville State only lost two games last season (albeit at the FCS level). UCF finished the season at 6-7, but with former Oregan offensive coordinator Scott Frost at the helm, the Knights are not a team to be taken lightly in any given week. UCF is also the former employer of current Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury.

These games give way to a conference schedule that rivals any in college football in terms of rigor. Home contests against Pitt and North Carolina look more winnable than a season ago. The Panthers lose quarterback Nathan Peterman and running back James Conner to the NFL, while the Tar Heels will have to make do without quarterback Mitch Trubisky and receiver Ryan Switzer. Nevertheless, the Jackets must break losing streaks against both.

Miami, Wake Forest and Clemson all have bye weeks before their scheduled games against the Jackets. Apart from their bye week before Miami, there will be no reprieve before Tech will have to meet Wake Forest and Clemson on the field.

Virginia Tech, ranked first in the coastal division, and Duke, ranked last, will be the last two ACC games of 2017 for Tech. Duke’s abysmal conference standing leaves many fans with a false sense of security, but one need look no further than the second half of last season’s matchup as a reminder to take the Blue Devils seriously.

As is tradition, the Jackets will end their regular season by playing host to the Georgia Bulldogs. While the Jackets pulled off a 28-27 squeaker in Athens, Tech has not defended their home turf successfully since 1999.

The Bulldogs will not make that feat easy; sophomore Jacob Eason is regarded as one of the finest young passers in the country and is suitably backed by recruit Jake Fromm.

Repeating a 9-4 record with a new quarterback will not be easy for Tech, let alone topping it. But if last year’s overachievement proved anything, perhaps it is that some optimism has been earned.

About a six minute drive from Tech stands a glimpse into the future of how humanity gets its food. The Museum of Design Atlanta’s newest exhibit “Food by Design: Sustaining the Future” opened Jan. 25 and showcases ways that designers have tackled issues pertaining to how the United States gets its fresh produce.

From agricultural revolutions to grocery store innovations to urban gardens, “Food by Design” focuses on sustainable methods of growing food and transporting it to the consumer.

The main hallway that visitors first walk down features urban agriculture, which is how cities and areas with high population density can grow their own food for themselves and their neighbors.

Atlanta recently joined cities like Boston and Chicago in passing a progressive city ordinance that allows residents to grow their own food, obtain a business license to sell that food and take out small loans to support their growing agriculture business.

This 2014 ordinance aimed to revitalize communities by offering a way to turn empty, unused land into small, market gardens.

Farmers market revolutions and food transport innovations await visitors in a room to the right of the main hallway. Here, the grocery store undergoes a twenty-first century makeover.

Indoor vertical farms stores are being piloted in Germany, and virtual grocery stores in Chicago and Philadelphia allow shoppers to select items and schedule deliveries on their smartphones.

The future of farmers markets could include new ways to transport fresh produce and small, urban field markets stationed along mass transit routes in major cities.

These innovations could help solve urban issues like “food deserts,” which are areas and communities without access to a grocery store or fresh produce.

Food deserts are already a problem in Atlanta neighborhoods, with dozens located in Norcross, Decatur, Douglasville, Lithonia, and Union City. Many of these areas are low-income, and residents may not have access to reliable transportation or their commute may take a significant amount of time.

Tech even has its hand in determining the future of food. At the end of the main hallway a, startup from Tech alumni Alex Weiss and Rowan Subasignhe named Replantable is featured. The display features a nanofarm that allows people to grow fresh produce in their own home.

Replantable only uses $1 worth of electricity per month, has no pumps or filters to clean and can be stacked with other nanofarm units to create a living, organic wall inside a tiny urban apartment. Replantable is located just before an entire room dedicated to revolutions in food itself. Innovators as small as local designers and as large as international corporations are working on new developments in what people eat, from vertical home gardens watered by a rocking chair to IBM’s cognitive cooking system.

Just off the center of the room is a 3D printer that can print in chocolate and sensors that can detect when fruit on trees are ripe for the picking.

Everywhere visitors look, design is revolutionizing how consumers get their food.

Aside from a glimpse into how the agricultural-industrial landscape could change in the next few years, “Food by Design” is also a largely local undertaking.

The exhibit was designed and executed by local graphic artists and designers. MODA has worked with everyone from illustrators to farmers to give visitors an immersive and informative walk into the future.

As Atlanta is slated to become one of the US’s next megacities, it will have to adapt to an influx of population while also not having the space to produce food for everyone. MODA offers solutions to help large, urban areas tackle food deserts and sustainable production in a time when urbanization and increased population density is on the rise.

As students at an institution dedicated to innovation and problem solving, “Food by Design” is a relevant and fascinating way to look at how designers, engineers and scientists come together to offer inventive and revolutionary solutions.

“Food by Design” will be on exhibit until May 7. Tickets are only $5 with a student ID. The next Family Free Day is Feb. 12 and features a sprouting valentines activity.

“Archie” comics have been on newsstands and grocery check-out lines since 1941. The CW network premiered “Riverdale” on Jan. 26 as a thriller take on the lovable comic characters.

The teen drama is set in the town of Riverdale with characters from “Archie” such as the namesake played by K. J. Apa (“A Dog’s Purpose”) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”).

The pilot, “Chapter One: The River’s Edge,” began with a seemingly normal narrated flyby of a small town but quickly devolves into an eerie first acquaintance with Riverdale.

The Blossom twins embark on an early morning Fourth of July boat ride — an activity usually reserved for couples. The portrayal immediately drew a tenuous cloud of doubt above their relationship.

The outcome of the suspicious boat ride leaves one twin, Jason (Trevor Stines), dead and the other, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch, “The Curse of Sleeping Beauty”), soaked and traumatized on the shore. It seems everyone in Riverdale has secrets, from how Archie spent his free time in the summer to how the Blossom twin truly died.

Since actors with previous experience that includes some hits were cast as the parents of the main characters, the show will likely branch off into subplots as Veronica’s mother (Marisol Nichols, “24”) and Archie’s father (Luke Perry, “90210”), among others, have their lives melodramatically intertwine.

The most interesting plot line thus far seems to stem from Jughead. He narrated the opening and seems to be following the sordid tale of the Blossom tragedy in the river as he writes a novel about Riverdale. His character may have the most depth and intriguing possibilities for the future.

Cole Sprouse may be the only reason CW continues with this series, along with the fascinating and already so complicated friendship between Betty (Lili Reinhart, “The Good Neighbor”) and Veronica (Camila Mendes).

The “Archie” comics on the small screen and in a much darker world is the publicity stunt keeping the show afloat as the writers borrow storylines from teen dramas of the past, like “Gossip Girl” and “90210.”

The stylistic homages to the original comics, such as the usage of a diner as a common hang-out and letterman jackets, brought the town of Riverdale to a fuzzy intersection of the 90s and the present.

Even with the comics as source material, the show feels like another take at “Veronica Mars.” Jughead’s journalistic qualities parallel Kristen Bell’s (“Frozen”) character, and the death of Amanda Seyfried’s (“Les Miserables”) character was a revolving mystery for many episodes.

Even though the creators and writers decided to make use of a humongous number of clichés, this choice is tempered by the self-awareness of exaggerated reflection of current culture.

One of Veronica’s lines exhibited this bumping against the fourth wall: “You may be a stock character from a ‘90s teen movie, but I’m not.”

Other than the titular characters and town, little else is the same from the comics — unless secretly Jughead was a budding novelist and murder mysteries were a halftime pleasure during the innocent children’s comic.

The whole episode is a small town teenage experience overly dramatized with scandals, shady lighting and dark lipstick thrown in.

This medley places the show in the category of a guilty pleasure similar to “Pretty Little Liars,” with the haunting enigma of a dead boy overlaid with the usual teen necessities such as
cheerleading try-outs and school dances.

When one plans to attend a performance by an East African band at a university theatre, he expects a sophisticated evening full of thoughtful cultural appreciation. Those who showed up to Georgia State’s Rialto theatre on Jan. 28 expecting such an experience from the Nile Project were in for a pleasant surprise.

The Nile Project, a multinational and multicultural group of musicians who collaborate to encourage cooperation among the nations that straddle and rely upon the Nile River, delivered a show that was fast-paced, rhythmic and, most of all, fun. The full group consists of over 30 musicians, but only a portion of the group performed at Tech.

In their songs, which are generally long and rhythmic, but in every other respect quite diverse, the musicians wedded an upbeat vibe to a hopeful message.

Each song consisted of three or four distinct sections that bore little similarity to one another but were strung together in a long musical collage. Certain sections were upbeat and fast paced, reminding Western audiences of modern dance music, while others were soulful and passionate, reminiscent of Western music genres from soft rock to soul.

While these slower, more pensive sections often have lyrics dealing with pain, suffering and a longing for a more perfect world, the songs themselves are always framed by upbeat sections, making each track exciting and fun.

The musicians in the troupe have made it clear that their shows are intended to be fun and
entertaining, not merely serious and educational.

At times, the group called upon the audience to come to the front and dance, saving the crowd from the awkwardness of not knowing when to dance and when to sit.

Though the Nile Project has a serious objective, the musicians are free from pretension. From their concert demeanor it is clear that they do not want a serious, quiet audience; rather, they want an audience that has as much fun as they do. The ultimate goal of the Nile Project is to achieve progress
through entertainment.

The story and message of the Nile Project are nearly as captivating and inspiring as the music which the troupe performs. The Nile Project began in late 2010 as a multifaceted attempt at encouraging cooperation among the Nile states.

Additionally, the group aims to spread awareness of the issues facing the massive population that relies upon the Nile for its sustenance and livelihood. The project consists of three separate entities: the titular music group, a network of university chapters that educate students on Nile issues and a network of scholars and state officials who collaborate on water policy in the region.

The band, which serves as the face of the Nile Project, is a unique group of musicians from different cultural backgrounds, and they combine distinct musical traditions into one euphonic musical sensation.

The arrangements used by the Nile Project were possibly even more complex and impressive than the structure of the songs themselves.

The group consisted of 11 musicians, and while all 11 were rarely on stage at once, the sheer size of the arrangements lent the songs a volume and power that easily filled the relatively large Rialto. In addition to this power, the vast arrangements gave the songs a sonic complexity unrivaled in modern popular music.

The 12 musicians played over a dozen instruments and added vocals in ten different languages, allowing the group to construct complex and layered songs from a series of simple rhythms played on a diverse array of instruments.

Vocal styles ranged between and within individual songs, from modern pop-style singing to passionate howling, which sounded almost like an Islamic call to prayer.

The traditional African instruments played by most of the group members shared the stage with an electric guitar and electric bass, two symbols of Western pop music. This apparent juxtaposition of traditional African instruments and vocal styles with guitars and pop style singing symbolized the other goal of the Nile Project.

The Nile Project is not just about spreading hope and raising awareness: it is also about
building unity. By showing how electric guitars can complement Ouds and Krars, the group reminded its audience that though they may be different from East Africans in appearance, culture and religion, everyone is a member of the same human race.

Such a message of unity has never been more dearly needed than it is now, as Mina Girgis, the Nile Project CEO, reminded the audience at the beginning of the show. This show kicked off their American tour, but Girgis noted that the tour may be their
last here.

The Sudanese members of the band will no longer be able to enter the country due to President Trump’s recent executive orders. In such a world, everyone could use a reminder that cultural differences should be opportunities, not obstacles.