Syracuse Head Coach Takes Unfair Swing at Atlanta’s Winter Crisis

Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

It’s no secret that a dusting of snow or wintry mix can bring cities in the deep south to a screeching halt. During Tuesday’s snowstorm, Atlanta was hit particularly hard, having motorists and even buses full of schoolchildren stranded…even overnight.

#Hothlanta was on all the news outlets, for better or worse.

The reasons why this happened are an internal issue within the city and state, but the reaction of Syracuse head football coach Scott Shafer to this emergency is completely inexcusable.

Here is what Shafer had to say while on his recruiting trip here in Georgia (Tweets have since been deleted, but thanks to our friends at SBNation for capturing the ill-advised comments):

Softnosed, Scott? Really? This coming from the guy whose team lost 56-0 to Atlanta’s own Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets this past fall.

Pardon us, Scott, but perhaps you should realize that while snowstorms and icy conditions might be part of regular life in upstate New York, they aren’t even an annual occurrence here in Atlanta. To make light of the situation and take an unfair jab at a city that is part of a conference you just joined, is incomprehensible.

Let me give coach Shafer some examples of how “softnosed” we are here in Atlanta.

• Workers at Home Depot stores stayed overnight to keep stores open as shelters for those stranded by the weather.

• A couple (with their two young children in tow) gave birth to a baby in their car while stranded on the highway.

• National Guardsmen traversed the roads, rescuing those they could, and bringing food and gasoline to those in need.

• Residents opened up their homes to complete strangers who were walking in the dead of night after abandoning their cars.

• Middle school and high school students spent the night in their schools.

The list is endless how the citizens of the metro Atlanta area pulled together during a crisis brought on by nature (and poor planning by the government offices, but that’s for another day) and made sure that paralyzed didn’t mean dead inside.

I suppose taking pot-shots at the capital city of the state in which you are recruiting is a new #hardnosed technique. Hope it works out well for coach Shafer. Doesn’t look good so far though…

After deleting his #hardnosed opinion of Atlanta, he decided to try to make amends by saying he was “grinding” at a Waffle House. Gee…I feel all warm and fuzzy now.

I guess eating snow and car-seat crumbs is just too rough for him. #softnosed.

Oh by the way, coach…you play in a dome. Enjoy the central heat and air next season. Now that’s #softnosed.

For more on all the happenings in Georgia Tech Athletics, be sure to follow YellowJackedUp on Facebook, Twitter, and use our Android/iOS app to get updates directly from Fansided. Or you can receive email updates from Yellowjackedup.com, by completing the following form here.