Mike Berardino is a staff writer for The Augusta Chronicle.FILE

Web posted December 31, 1997

By Mike Berardino
Columnist

MIAMI -- It wasn't all business for Georgia Tech on this Carquest Bowl trip. As Martha Stewart would say, that's a good thing.

Yes, it was sort of embarrassing when a couple of senior starters, Ken Celaj and Ralph Hughes, got a little carried away, violated team rules and were suspended from their college finale.

But if the Yellow Jackets make a push for the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings next fall, they can credit some of their non-football activities -- during curfew hours -- in their six days in South Florida.

``Just being together this week helped us so much,'' Augustan Chris Brown, Tech's starting left tackle, said after Monday night's 35-30 win over West Virginia. ``We spent more time bonding down here than we ever have before. We'd never spent this much time just chilling.''

Being locked up for hours on end at the Embassy Suites wasn't so bad. Not when some Jackets were going room to room, gaining entrance and wreaking havoc.

There were scams and schemes and jams and screams.

There were laughs and taunts and jokes and confessions.

And just when you let your guard down, there was the Cookie Monster knocking at your door.

The Cookie Monster?

``Yeah, well, I guess that was me,'' Brown admitted, a sheepish grin curling his mustache.

His greatest coup? Had to be snatching some oatmeal raisin cookies from Jon Carman's stash. That's the same Jon Carman who goes 6-foot-8, 357 pounds and has been called by his coach, George O'Leary, the biggest human he's ever seen.

How on earth did Brown manage that heist?

``Aw, it was easy,'' he said. ``I just waited until he fell asleep.''

Not that the Cookie Monster restricted his scavenging to the sweet stuff. Brown, a redshirt freshman from Butler High School, also nabbed some potato chips from Ira Claxton, a freshman defensive tackle for the Jackets.

``They were low-fat potato chips,'' Brown clarified. ``Terrible. Just terrible. And he's supposed to be gaining weight.''

When not practicing or being quarantined in SpectraVision Land at the Embassy Suites, the Jackets burned off the calories on the go-kart circuit. You should have seen them wedging their massive frames into those tiny cars at the Grand Prix.

Monday night, Brown winced at the memory.

``I had friction burns on my legs from the steering wheel,'' he said. ``I couldn't even turn the wheel, so you know I came in last.''

Friction burns? Ouch.

Basically, these overgrown pawns in the NCAA's multi-billion dollar machine acted like kids. Which is really all they are.

The Jackets also got a little taste of the beach life. They made two different excursions to the sandy stuff. Down along Ocean Avenue in oh-so-trendy South Miami Beach, they walked past the home of the late Gianni Versace and generally made their presence felt.

``I know you play football,'' curious beachcombers would say. ``You have to play football. Who do you play for?''

When the Jackets answered, they could see a touch of disappointment on those tanned faces.

``Georgia Tech?'' they'd say. ``Where's that? Atlanta?''

Are the Cornhuskers and Volunteers getting similar treatment here this week? We think not. Then again, those are the nation's No. 2 and No. 3 teams, respectively. Everybody knows them. Everybody looks forward to the Orange Bowl.

Someday, the Jackets hope, they'll be the ones easily recognized. They'll be the household names. They'll be among the top teams.

``It could happen,'' Brown said. ``A lot could happen. We're young, and we're only going to get better.''

Six days of sightseeing and snack-stealing helped speed the process.