30 November 2006

FREE CRAP

SportsGamer reports that, as of yesterday, EA was giving away alternate uniforms for download for NCAA 2007 on XBOX Live! Marketplace. Clemson is among the teams with new unis to download. No word on what uniform it is, but I'm pretty sure it's the purple alternate uni. Not that big of a deal but it's nice to see the company that charges money to download tutorials and wallpapers of their games is giving something away.

Update: As of last Thursday evening, I couldn't find shit about this on XBOX Live Marketplace. LIARS!

Updated Update: Apparently, the new unis were uploaded by EA late last night/early this morning, can someone confirm this?? I haven't any access to my XBOX right now. - Willy Mac

Last Update: It's true. Go to XBOX Live Marketplace and go to the "Newly Released Downloads" section and it should be under "NCAA 07" - Willy Mac

How much purple can your Xbox 360 handle?

BASKETBALL AND COWGIRLS

Ahh, the first Clemson basketball post on DFIG. Expect many more of these as the season goes on. At the first sign of a downfall (probably in middle or late February), expect to see me jump off the bandwagon and do a barrel roll so as to avoid being skinned up too badly by the untamed earth. Until then, enjoy.

Last night, Clemson didn't let the ACC down in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge by crushing Minnesota's bones and making eggnog out of their innards beating them by a score of 90 - 68. This bumps our squad up to an 8-0 record for the year and another great start to the season. Let's just hope James Mays can stay in school and OP can keep it together.

An impressive bullet point in the game was that our bench outscored their bench 40 - 5. Another very impressive note is that K.C. Rivers came off the bench and rattled off 22 points draining five shots from beyond the arc and going a prefect 5-5 in free throws. I'm so glad that K.C. is showing signs of life and I hope he keeps it up when we go into conference play. The sophomore is really starting to stand out and could help fill the gap and step up next year to take the place of Vernon Hamilton.

K.C. Rivers... Mere mortal or 3-point machine???

Something the Tiger's do need to step up is the field goal percentage. Last night we only had 46.5% shooting from the field. Our free throw percentage did seem to be improved at 66.7% but both of those numbers are terrible if we want to have a good season in conference this year. To counter this point, the Tigers created 24... yes, count em again... 24 turnovers. I don't know if that's just our awesome defense or Minnesota's terrible offense. It's still early though and pending we don't lose to South Carolina or a very good Wofford team, we could hope to be the proud owners of a perfect record going into conference play.

The next game on the schedule is at South Carolina this Sunday at 1pm EST which you should be able to catch on FSN. After that we have Wofford at home next Tuesday at 7:30pm EST. If you're in the area, you should try and catch it seeing as our home attendance this year in basketball is comparable to that of attendance at a Wake Forest... or even worse... Duke football game.

Let's just hope for once we don't get out hopes up. A friend on The Rant (whose handle happens to be "PissedOffMoFo") told me "
Dan Scott will tell us that Clemson's basketball team is poised to do something special this season. And when they trip and fall, we'll be told that our expectations are too high and how dare anyone expect a team to win." My response to this: "EXACTLY. F*ck the homers and f*ck Dan Scott and his big ol' cheeseburger belly. He's too fat to even be on radio... which is sad. His show gets interupted by his throat fat putting a slow strangle-hold on his trachea causing him to breathe every so heavily."

"This is Dan Scott.... *gaaaasp* And you're listening to... *gasp* Cruise Control here on the Drive... *gaasp* *gulp* *lick* 104.9.... (Takes a large bite out of double quarter pounder."

To get that mental image of Dan Scott's morbidly obese, tomato shaped body out of your head, I would like to state that I am very appreciative that the Rally Cats decided to go with a cowgirl theme at the Appalachian State game last week.

I've said it before and I'll say it many more times to come... Thank god for Rally Cats.

GO JACKETS!??

From the Charleston Post & Courier today,

"The Gator Bowl has agreed to select Georgia Tech over Clemson if the Yellow Jackets lose Saturday's Atlantic Coast Conference title game in Jacksonville, Fla.

Mike Hartley, chairman of the Gator Bowl's selection committee, said the bowl and the ACC have resolved a dispute over contrasting interpretations of a new "one-loss rule" the conference applies to its bowl-selection process.

The rule would bar the Gator from taking Clemson (8-4, 5-3) over Georgia Tech (9-3, 7-1) because the Yellow Jackets have two more ACC wins. The Gator Bowl Association strongly sought an exemption to the rule because it didn't want the loser of the ACC title game to end up back at Alltel Stadium for the Jan. 1 bowl."

Earlier this week it looked as if Clemson to the Gator Bowl to possibly play Texas or West Virginia was nearly a done deal. The Gator didn't want Tech because their fans don't travel well, especially if they've just been to the stadium a month before for the ACCCG. The ACC has come to an agreement with the Gator that they will buy any unsold tickets from Georgia Tech's allotment if Tech loses the ACCCG and misses out an Orange Bowl bid. This leaves Clemson fans having to root for Tech versus the Deacs on Saturday. I'm a big fan of Jim Grobe. The guy is a class act and I was one of the few people on Tigernet picking them to do well this year (I said 2nd in the division, sue me.). It sucks to root for the Jackets, but the alternative is to have Clemson go back to the Champs Sports Bowl, to the Music City Bowl, or to the Car Care bowl.

Before the rabid fans start spouting off about the ACC conspiring to screw Clemson over, stop and look at the facts. A league must protects its members, and if you're a Georgia Tech administrator and you hear this talk about the Gator dropping you from a bowl you are contractually obligated to be in, you are sure as hell going to turn to the league directors for help. Clearly an agreement was reached to keep an ACC team in the Gator Bowl, and we know that the league has crappy enough bowl tie-ins as it is and can't afford poor relations with another one. At 8-4, I don't think Clemson deserves a shot at the Gator, but dread the thought of watching a matchup with Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

So Clemson fans, break out your pocket protectors and English-Gujarati phrasebook to converse with your fellow Jacket fans and root for the Engineers on Saturday. If you need a ticket to the game, there's a guy outside Alltel Stadium wearing a ACC Commish jacket and sporting a Lego man haircut who's got some tickets he needs to unload.

28 November 2006

GOOD TO GREAT


When I took over a certain venerable student organization at Clemson, a good friend of mine gave me an important book. Good to Great by Jim Collins is an important analysis of what makes great companies excel and why some companies never reach the top of the mountain. The business principals exuded in the book can be applied to anything; a small company, a fraternity or sorority, even a football team. While some Clemson fans take a fascist view of fandom, “Real fans don’t question their coaches,” as one of the faithful stated, others are openly questioning Bowden’s ability to lead Clemson to an ACC title and beyond. While the primary question is clearly Bowden’s leadership aptitude, some fans would like to instead question one’s qualifications for even beginning to ponder the coaching ability of Tommy Bowden.

Socrates said “the unexamined life is not worth living,” and I think this goes not just for introspection but for honest questioning of authority and political dissent. Simply stated, you and I have the right to question our coaches for the same reasons we should question our government: they ultimately rely on our financial support, if left unchecked they’ll ultimately become corrupt, and it’s just our goddamned God-given right. I don’t have to be a politician to know our politicians are f*cking up and I don’t have to be a coach to know our coaches are f*cking up all the same.

Now that I’ve dispelled the absolutely ignorant notion that “real fans” shouldn’t question their coaches, let’s take a structured look at Bowden and staff and how they stack up using Jim Collins’s Good to Great diagnostic tool. Collins states that building a great organization is a process of four stages consisting of two principles each.


Stage 1: Disciplined People


Level 5 Leadership:
Collins states that a Level 5 Leader is “ambitious, foremost for the cause, displaying a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will”

Tommy: At the start of his Clemson campaign, Tommy was known for his ambition, certainly not his humility. While I don’t feel a coach needs to necessarily be humble to succeed (See: Spurrier, Steven Orr), and that any lack of humility should be earned through championships, I’d like to see a coach not have to be humbled by nearly being fired for ineptitude like Tommy was in 2003. I can’t say for sure whether Tommy has the professional will to reach greatness, he has stated more than once that he wants to be out of coaching at 60, and at the pace he’s going we’ll have just enough facilities to satisfy him by the time he retires.


First Who… Then What: Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off, the right people in the right seats, and only then do you figure out where the hell the bus is going.

Tommy: Rich Rodriguez was the right guy, but we couldn’t help but lose him to his alma mater, that’s understandable. Tommy has shuffled through numerous OCs and DCs in his tenure. While I feel Koening is the right guy in the right seat, I think Spence is best getting the Rosa Parks treatment or getting the f*ck off the bus altogether. Currently we have no special teams coach, and considering 2 out of our 4 losses this season can be attributed at least partially to special teams woes, I’d say this is a poor example of personnel management. That’s one big seat that’s sitting empty. I’d also like to see better development of our quarterbacks after the Proctor conundrum. Sure Korn is the second coming, but he’ll still need to hone his skills.


Stage 2: Disciplined Thought


Confront The Brutal Facts:
“Retain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties” and “confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Tommy: Tommy confronted his current reality and demanded, and got, top notch facilities. He claimed that we couldn’t recruit with the big boys without them. Recent recruiting classes have proven him right in most people’s opinion. I think he’s done well in this facet of leadership, but at the same time how one frames the brutal facts of one’s current reality is important too. This edges into excuse-making territory. All week prior to the USC loss this year we heard sound bites about how our 66% winning percentage versus our rival was bound to begin to even out sometime. True or not, that’s not what a coach needs to be saying prior to a matchup with a big rival. Also, nobody wants to hear the word ‘parity’ thrown around by Bowden as an excuse for losing anymore.


The Hedgehog Concept: “the Hedgehog Concept is an operating model that reflects understanding of three intersecting circles: what you can be the best in the world at, what you are deeply passionate about, and what best drives your economic resource engine.”

Tommy: Without a doubt, winning is what best drives his “economic resource engine.” While maybe he is in the business because he got help from daddy, I’d like to think he has a deep passion for coaching. Clearly he can’t and won’t be best in the world at it. Here we encounter a problem. His best, which to this point has been 8ish wins a season, may just not be good enough.


Stage 3: Disciplined Action


Culture Of Discipline: Described as “disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and take disciplined action,” an environment where people don’t have jobs; they have responsibilities.

Tommy: Who has the responsibility for special teams? Who is the dedicated QB coach? Wouldn’t halftime adjustments, clock management, and playcalling fall under disciplined actions? Clemson definitely needs a lot of work here.


The Flywheel: There’s no magic bullet to success, no one act to achieve greatness, instead Collins likens the pursuit more to “relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel in one direction” until it finally moves the way you want it.

Tommy: Facilities, recruiting, and winning are the big building blocks to success here. Two are taken care of, and with 8 wins a pop, the flywheel is ever so slowly creaking along. More wins will get it really rolling.


Stage 4: Building Greatness To Last


Clock Building, Not Time Telling: Build an organization to last through future leaders instead of building it all around oneself.

Tommy: Having not exactly reached “greatness,” I don’t feel that this one applies. Also it is a rare occasion that a coach sets up a program to be successful under a series of successors. Building greatness around a single coach is the name of the game.


Preserve The Core And Stimulate Progress: Preserve the barrier between “what we stand for” (which should never change) and “how we do things” (which should never stop changing).

Tommy: I think we know what he stands for: a fairly solid program with competitive facilities that graduates players and recruits kids who generally keep out of trouble. I’d like to see the bar for “what we stand for” set a little higher, i.e. competing for the ACC title yearly. Once Tommy figures out how to do that we can assess whether the ways we achieve that need tweaking.


Summary: Core deficiencies in personnel create a rotten foundation for disciplined thought and action. There’s no one stage where Bowden has excelled. Much like his record, he’s proven to be just above average in what it takes to go from good to great. Next season, I feel, is his make-or-break year. 10 wins or bust, Tommy, no more excuses. The facilities are here, the recruits are here, now the coaching needs to step up and match pace.

27 November 2006

THE MACALLAN FINE OAK CUP

Chili has officially pulled away. What is interesting is that the fight for the rest of the field has gotten interesting seeing as Lola is letting herself go. Can she hold on??? The season is 14 weeks, not just 12 and a half.

Last Week's Results

South Carolina @ #24 Clemson - South Carolina
#16 Georgia Tech @ Georgia - Georgia
#4 Florida @ Florida State - Florida
#6 Notre Dame @ #3 The REAL USC - USC
#20 Wake Forest @ Maryland - Wake Forest
North Carolina @ Duke - North Carolina
Texas A&M @ #11 Texas (Friday @ Noon, ABC) - Texas A&M
#9 LSU @ #5 Arkansas (Friday @ 2:30, CBS) - LSU
#18 Boston College @ Miami (Thursday @ 7:30, ESPN) - Miami
DIV 1-AA: Furman @ Montana State (Sunday)
- Montana State

On the week
1 Brad -3
T2 Chili -4
T2 NoleCC -4
4 Willy Mac -5
T5
Sambo -6
T5 Fishtacos -6
7 Lola -7

Overall
1 Chili -33
2 Lola -45
3 Brad -47
4 Willy Mac -49

Prepping for next year
1 NoleCC - Looks to be a formidable opponent for next year.
T2 Fishtacos - Rough week.
T2 Sambo - Rough week as well.
4 Uttles - Where on earth have you been???

This weeks games are as follows
Army @ Navy
#13 Rutgers @ #15 West Virginia
#8 Arkansas vs. #4 Florida (SEC Title)
#16 Wake Forest vs. #23 Georgia Tech (ACC Title)
#19 Nebraska vs. #8 Oklahoma (Big 12 Title)
#2 USC @ UCLA
Oregon State @ #24 Hawaii
Conneticut @ #6 Louisville
Stanford @ # 21 California
Div 1-AA: Montana State @ Appalachian State

Get your picks in by noon (EST) on Saturday.

Chili's Picks:
Navy
WVU
Florida
WF
OU
USC
Hawaii
Louisville
Cal
App State

Willy Mac's Picks
Army @ Navy - Navy
#13 Rutgers @ #15 West Virginia - West Virginia
#8 Arkansas vs. #4 Florida (SEC Title) - Arkansas
#16 Wake Forest vs. #23 Georgia Tech (ACC Title) - Wake Forest
#19 Nebraska vs. #8 Oklahoma (Big 12 Title) - Oklahoma
#2 USC @ UCLA - USC
Oregon State @ #24 Hawaii - Oregon
Conneticut @ #6 Louisville - Louisville
Stanford @ # 21 California - California
Div 1-AA: Montana State @ Appalachian State - App State

26 November 2006

FUCKNUGGETS.

I'm not surprised by the outcome of Saturday's game, but I am incredibly disappointed. Fire Bowden? Keep Bowden? Personnel changes? It was clear from the game that, while SC has formidable talent, we have more. We got outcoached and it wouldn't have taken a great coach to coach over the heads of our staff, but Sakerlina just happened to have one. (Not to mention a couple of flubbed calls that would've given Clemson the ball. Twice.)
I don't have a lot of commentary on the game right now, so maybe the faithful readers can add some of their own. Leave your thoughts in the comments section of this post and I'll put them on the front page. For now, here's a writeup from that fishwrap The State.

24 November 2006

USC GAME PREVIEW

South Carolina (6-5, 3-5) @ #24 Clemson (8-3, 5-3 ACC), Saturday, November 25th, Noon, ESPNHD, XM Satellite Radio ch 191-193.

The Line: Clemson -5

Edge goes to:

Offense: Push

Defense: Clemson

Special Teams: South Carolina

Intangibles: South Carolina... They're due. They're more than due. They've been playing well against good teams (almost beating Auburn, Arkansas, and Florida) and Clemson hasn't. USC HAS to win this game. They MUST get this monkey off of their back. They've been Clemson's bitch for 1,460 straight days. Yes I factored in the leap year, so as of tomorrow they will have been Clemson's bitch for 1,461 days.


Our panel of DFIG "experts" say:

Willy Mac:

Amazingly through all the food, alcohol, and sleeping, Chili and I have somehow managed to make our preview post a whopping fourteen hours before the game. This aside, this is going to be the same old sad story for us unfortunately. Much like in past games, our success will rely solely on Tommy Bowden and Rob Spence’s stubbornness and Will Proctor’s cocksuridness… if that’s even a word… which Microsoft is telling me otherwise… f*ck you Bill Gates. We can sit here, and sulk, and think about the honest truth that is an ass whooping waiting in the wings to swoop down and jump on us tomorrow, or we can think about the positives. We’ve had double the time to prepare for this game and I think fourteen days is plenty of time for Tommy Bowden to work all of the stubborn prick out of his system. Carolina has been playing up and we’ve been playing down… but I think two weeks is enough of a break for our Tiger’s to get it in gear. Hopefully... HOPEFULLY... Some changes have been made on the offensive side of the ball. The defense will see a lot of time tomorrow but I think that the play of some of our younger guys will pull us through another close one.

Clemson 20, South Carolina 17
Spurrier to Miami at the end of the season

Mark my words, if tomorrow's game gets out of hand for either side, there WILL be another fight.

Chili:

I was disappointed when Clemson lost to VT this year, but I still held hope that this could be a special season. After the Maryland game, all hope for anything out of the ordinary was lost. The Tigers kept themselves respectable by eeking by NC State. While hope of a good bowl game is gone, we can still put a nice gold star next to this season's record if Clemson can knock off a good Sakerlina squad. Speaking of Sakerlina, some idiot Gamecock just discovered my Gamecocks Say the Dumbest Sh*t post and made a mini rambling and incoherent comment about it, again ballyhooing Carolina's ability to lure the Gameday crew without mentioning that all the crew could talk about was how lame USC's showing was compared to ours. A poster prior to him summed up Gameday's interest in USC pretty perfectly by saying they came to USC more for their coach and for the visiting team than they did the Cocks. Anybody who throws out the "rival school's alumni delivering pizza" line proves them self to be an unoriginal hack unworthy of our full wrath. Okay, all that was besides the point. While many Tigernetters are taking USC lightly and just breaking out their .txt file of old Gamecock jokes, Clemson should absolutely be ready for a battle come Saturday. Sakerlina faired respectably against Arkansas, a team with an offense similar to ours. Our O hasn't sizzled lately and hopefully much tweaking has been done to the system. Offensively, Carolina is starting Blake Mitchell, who has performed well lately but might find it tough to do so with Gaines Adams in his face. Sidney Rice is always a threat, and we may see Syvelle Newton worked back into the O a little bit after some time playing defense. Sakerlina's run defense isn't quite as good as advertised except for the middle, where we will have a tough time running. Hopefully Proctor will keep their D honest by throwing some 15-20 yard passes and you can bet we'll see some screens whether you want them or not. James Davis should be rested enough to make up for 3 subpar games where he managed but a combined rushing total of around 154 yards. I hate to be wishy-washy, but I really don't know how to guage this game. We know what Sakerlina team will show up; the same one that has played some top teams close. The question is whether we'll see the Clemson team that bulldozed GT and prior teams, or the Clemson team that looked lost offensively versus VT, UMd, and NCSU. Will the real Clemson please stand up?

If Clemson shows up: Clemson 32, Sakerlina 24

21 November 2006

THIS IS WHAT WE DO WITH OUR FREE TIME

Tully and I have some pretty amusing IM chats and always talked about posting one just for random shits n giggles. Here's one from today as we ponder the frailty of human life.

Tully: im glad im not a kennedy
Tully: i dont want a horrible death
Chili: how do you want to die?
Tully: um
Tully: good question
Tully: my sleep
Tully: yeah
Tully: or super aids
Chili: lol
Chili: i dont want to go in my sleep
Chili: maybe like fighting a lion or something, and i die from blood loss just as i use the last of my strength to choke the lion to death
Chili: all this happens on a sinking battleship
Chili: thats on fire
Chili: and being fired at by russians
Tully: lol
Tully: i want the royal tenenbaum epitaph
Chili: that would be great
Chili: i would just love a giant statue of me in my death grip with the lion
Tully: haha
Tully: yes
Chili: to be placed somewhere in downtown clemson
Tully: if im rich when i die i think ill do something similar than that
Tully: to that rather
Chili: and the plaque will read "YEAH, HE DID THAT SHIT"
Tully: haaha
Chili: and everybody would be like, thats such an awesome statue. i dont know why they had to sculpt what's clearly an 18" penis bulging out of his pant leg. that's just overkill.
Tully: haha
Tully: overkill or accurate representation?
Chili: exactly
Tully: strangling lions just happens to get u hard
Tully: wow
Tully: read that last sentence
Chili: it looks like a couple pringles cans stacked on top of each other
Tully: never before or again will those words be said in that order
Chili: LOL
Tully: haha
Chili: derek and the dominos - layla (piano exit) f*cking awesome
Tully: ya
Chili: its worth downloading the Goodfellas OST on OiNK just for that
Tully: ive already got that song
Tully: but ya
Chili: i think i'll have a hidden speaker in my statue that plays only that song
Chili: everybody just stops by and gets all wistful and shit
Chili: "man, i shoulda written that novel"
Chili: "i shouldve told my father i loved him. now it's too late."
Tully: lol
Tully: as you strangle a lion before htem
Chili: its just the song being played, its a sad song man
Chili: "that's me grabbing the bull by the horns... that really happened."

LE MAC

It's safe to say that the bottle of Macallan is going to be Chili's barring him having a stroke. The real battle now is for third place between Brad and myself. You'll have to excuse me if there are any incorrect numbers because I've been popping Loratabs like they're skittles. Results of the MRI: Torn PCL, surgery probably not needed. Recovery 4 - 6 months... fucking club football.

Last weeks results
#2 Michigan @ #1 Ohio State - Ohio State
#5 Arkansas @ Mississippi State (Miss St. at home in November) - Arkansas
#19 Virginia Tech @ #14 Wake Forest - Virginia Tech
#15 Auburn @ Alabama - Auburn
#21 Maryland @ #20 Boston College - Boston College
Arizona @ Oregon - Arizona
#17 California @ #4 Southern Cal - Southern Cal
Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech - Texas Tech
UCLA @ Arizona State - UCLA
#8 West Virginia @ Pitt (Thursday Night) - West Virginia
Shits and Giggles: Clemson vs. Open Date - Clemson... thankfully.

On the week
T1 Chili -2
T1
Sambo -2
T3 Willy Mac -5
T3 NoleCC -5
T5 Brad -6
T5 Lola -6

Overall
1 Chili -29
2 Lola -38
T3 Brad -44
T3 Willy Mac -44

Prepping for next year
1 Sambo - Good shot on the first try.
2 NoleCC - Not bad... I wanted to insert a hateful FSU type jab... but I got nothing.
3 Uttles - Where'd you go?

This weeks games are as follows
South Carolina @ #24 Clemson
#16 Georgia Tech @ Georgia
#4 Florida @ Florida State
#6 Notre Dame @ #3 The REAL USC
#20 Wake Forest @ Maryland
North Carolina @ Duke
Texas A&M @ #11 Texas (Friday @ Noon, ABC)
#9 LSU @ #5 Arkansas (Friday @ 2:30, CBS)
#18 Boston College @ Miami (Thursday @ 7:30, ESPN)
DIV 1-AA: Furman @ Montana State (Sunday)

Once again, have your stuff in before 7:15 PM on Thursday.

Chili's Picks
Clem
UGa
Florida
USC
Wake
UNC
Texas
Arkansas
BC
MSU

Willy Mac's Picks
South Carolina @ #24 Clemson - Clemson
#16 Georgia Tech @ Georgia - UGA
#4 Florida @ Florida State - Florida
#6 Notre Dame @ #3 The REAL USC - USC
#20 Wake Forest @ Maryland - Wake Forest
North Carolina @ Duke - Duke
Texas A&M @ #11 Texas (Friday @ Noon, ABC) - TAMU
#9 LSU @ #5 Arkansas (Friday @ 2:30, CBS) - Arkansas
#18 Boston College @ Miami (Thursday @ 7:30, ESPN) - Missed it
DIV 1-AA: Furman @ Montana State (Sunday) - Furman

GET READY


This video reminds me that no matter what, this is the single most important game of the year.

CLASS EXUDED


Tigernetter TigerPaulS pointed out that the only two decades where Sakerlina has a winning record against us happen to be decades where most of Clemson's men were overseas fighting, as we were still a military college at that time. Maybe if a draft is enacted SCAR can get a few more over on us, as most of their students are probably too coked up to pass a piss test without Goldenseal. Also note that prior to 1960, every game in the series was played in Columbia.

1896-1909 5-2
1910-19 8-1-1
'20-'29 5-5
'30-'39 7-3
'40-'49 4-5-1
'50-'59 4-5-1

'60-'69 6-4
'70-'79 6-4
'80-'89 7-2-1
'90-'99 7-3
2000-05 5-1

20 November 2006

JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY BE DAMNED.



Please observe what we Clemson fans have to put up with as supposedly South Carolina’s premiere news publication, The State newspaper. The impetus of this article was the matchup between the University of South Carolina (Known in the state of South Carolina as USC) and the University of Southern California (Known by everyone else in the world as USC) in a men’s basketball game (USC won). Sakerlina fans like to sit around and make excuses (they’re good at that) for why they should be called USC instead of Southern Cal. So far the only decent reason they had is that they were around first. Wow. Congrats. The State, being comprised largely of South Carolina journalism grads and yankees who don’t know any better, decided to create an end-all-be-all list of who’s better.

While I’ve posted the image of the original article, I’ve decided to correct the misguided ways of the State’s editorial staff and give you the truth on each and every point of contention the paper brings up.

Location: Let’s see… sunny California where the silicone abounds and the tans are butter pecan or the sunbaked plateau of the South Carolina midlands where, well, where they have a b-b-q joint where you can get Confederate Flag merchandise… this is a close one, but I’ll agree with The State and say Advantage SoCal.

Weather: “South Carolina, a day off when the white stuff flies” what, when Syvelle drops his bookbag and a brick of yayo busts and floats away with the breeze leaving him and his o-line licking pavement for the next three hours? Try once every two years that snow hits the ground, and more often during freeze warnings. If we’re going by nature’s wrath I think SoCal has earthquakes and those pretty much kick ass. 72 degrees year-round and smog-enhanced Technicolor sunsets or ten months of all heat and humidity and 2 months of sack-shrinking cold? Advantage Socal.

Heisman Trophy Winners: Somehow OJ in the group means that crackhead and known coke dealer to the New Orleans Saints George Rogers trumps 7 Heisman Trophy winners. WTF? Advantage SoCal, even with The Juice.

Mascot: The State claims nothing fake about Cocky, as opposed to people “duped by a wooden horse.” Hey honor students, the horse was fake (not really, if you look at it, it was a trick), not the f*cking Trojans. A goddamned chicken forced to fight by Mexicans and rednecks or a proud warrior race and usually trusty brand of condom? Again, advantage SoCal.

Most Famous Hoops Player: I didn’t even know Alex English was known outside of SC, arguably Cheryl Miller has gotten more press with being on television lately, but hey, I’ll give them this one. Advantage Sakerlina.

Final Fours: Advantage SoCal.

Failed NFL Coach: Spurrier over Carroll? Have they seriously been huffing Testors model paints over there? I’ll take 3 national championships over moral victories and ill-gotten recruits anyday. Advantage SoCal.

National Championships: Holy f*ck, advantage SoCal.

Mike McGee: Mike McGee is a massive douche who, after a notable career as a lineman at Duke, went on to move through more universities in his career than the Gameday crew. I don’t trust a guy who’s list of workplaces needs the fat alligator clips to hold em all together. Advantage: Push, both schools had to pay this prick.

Famous Alums: SoCal has tons of actors, directors, and producers while Carolina has a duo that sounds like a drive-time morning zoo: Hootie n Leeza. Advantage SoCal.

Alums In The Movies Now: They pick the frat boys in Borat over Ferrell because he won’t match the success of Old School. Five f*cking minutes of research would’ve showed that even Elf grossed more than Old School (104 mil domestically versus 77), and I believe that Talladega Nights has been a bigger moneymaker as well. This bulletpoint seriously baffles me. Advantage SoCal.

Kevin Bacon Connection: People are seriously still doing this shit now? Really? I bet the same morons who still do the Six Degrees of KB game also know every episode of Friends by name (both are totally acceptable if you're a chick, but out of line for a man or a newspaper). Again, I’m sure Kevin Bacon has more connections to SoCal due to its location and the sheer number of movie heavyweights the school has produced. Advantage SoCal.

Fashion Sense: Sure, I’ll take you guys’ word for it. Fags. Advantage SoCal.

Local Music Sensation: Hootie or Blink 182. Ouch. Advantage: Push, nobody should have to listen to either group.

There you have it, when you add it up that’s 11 for SoCal, 1 for Sakerlina, with 2 categories thrown to the wind. Winner, and still real USC: The University of Southern California.

19 November 2006

UPDATE

We will be posting, later this week, our opinions as to what some of the top Clemson-USC games in the series are, as well as an updated Mac cup as it winds into the final handful of weeks. Willy Mac is down with a f*cked up knee he suffered in a kitten stomping incident. He may tell you it was from Club Football but I saw him stomping a cluster of Persian kittens after trying to unsuccessfully feed one to an ATM machine.

The big rumor this week is that Spurrier will flee to Tha U to take over for Coker. I don't know if I see it happening, but money talks. Steve is revered as a God in Columbia and has a pretty sweet deal, I doubt that he leaves.


Sakerlina, as they are want to do,
committed recruiting violations in the theft of recruit Travian Robertson from Clemson (recruitment of, if you will).
That's it for now, more to come later.

17 November 2006

DO THEY NEED A TEAM MASSEUSE?????

Tonight I bring you a much more... um.. pleasing version of women's football than Willy Mac showed you earlier. (Possibly not safe for work, definitely not safe for kittens) God bless whatever f*cking country this video was shot in.

16 November 2006

NEVER FORGET


We all remember what happened last time the Gamecocks paid a visit to Death Valley - a beatdown. Literally. The tone was set when a USC coach led about 20 players to crowd the bottom of the Hill as Clemson players started their entrance. The fight was sparked when Bobby Williamson lingered over Syvelle Newton's just-tackled corpse a little too long and some Cocks didn't care for it and shoved him.

From today's issue of The State: Tommy Bowden and Terry Don Phillips have stated that they will make sure the SEC officiating crew is aware that players from USC should be kept between the 20 yard lines while Clemson makes their entrance to avoid the kind of situation from 2004. No word as to whether USC players' ankle monitors can be adjusted to coincide with this guideline.

Bowden says he don't wanna shake no muthaf*ckin hands. "Every time you do it, you bring (the fight) up," he said Wednesday. I like the attitude, but I heard he's just pissed because last year in Columbia Steve got him with the ol hand-buzzer trick.

15 November 2006

THE MAC CUP: WEEK 12 PICK 10/OPEN DATE

I've been bringing in good numbers and all I can hope for is for Chili and Lola to drop a few picks. All I needed them to do was get worse. What do they go and do? THEY GET BETTER. WTF!

Last weeks results
NC State @ Clemson - Clemson
Sakerlina @ Florida - Florida
Oregon @ USC - USC
Georgia @ Auburn - Georgia
Tennessee @ Arkansas - Arkansas
Wake Forest @ Florida State - Wake Forest
Miami @ Maryland - Maryland
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma - Oklahoma
Nebraska @ Texas A&M - Nebraska
Louisville @ Rutgers (Thursday) - Rutgers


On the week
T1 Chili -2
T1 Lola -2
T1 Uttles -2
T4 Willy Mac -3
T4 Clemsonfan420 -3
T4 NoleCC -3
7 Brad -4


Overall
1 Chili -27
2 Lola -32
3 Brad -38
4 Willy Mac -39

Just for fun
1 Uttles - Back to good picking
2 Clemsonfan420 - Glad you could join us
3 NoleCC - Glad to have you back... you need to get on this next year

Week 12 Pick 10 Games as follows
#2 Michigan @ #1 Ohio State
#5 Arkansas @ Mississippi State (Miss St. at home in November)
#19 Virginia Tech @ #14 Wake Forest
#15 Auburn @ Alabama
#21 Maryland @ #20 Boston College
Arizona @ Oregon
#17 California @ #4 Southern Cal
Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech
UCLA @ Arizona State
#8 West Virginia @ Pitt (Thursday Night)
Just for fun: Clemson vs. Open Date

Get your picks in before game time Thursday Night

Chili's Picks
OSU
Arkansas
VT
Auburn
BC
Oregon
SoCal
TT
ASU
WVU
Rarely are activities preceded by the phrase "Just for fun!" any fun at all, and the two instances of the phrase in this post are evidence to that fact.

Willy Mac's Picks
#2 Michigan @ #1 Ohio State - Michigan
#5 Arkansas @ Mississippi State (Miss St. at home in November) - Arkansas
#19 Virginia Tech @ #14 Wake Forest - Wake Forest
#15 Auburn @ Alabama - Auburn
#21 Maryland @ #20 Boston College - Maryland
Arizona @ Oregon - Arizona
#17 California @ #4 Southern Cal - USC
Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech - OK State
UCLA @ Arizona State - ASU
#8 West Virginia @ Pitt (Thursday Night) - WVU
Just for fun: Clemson vs. Open Date - Open Date


As you can tell, this week has been a bag blog week for Chili and I both. I've had five tests this week and have one to go. Chili has been swamped at work. Since our boys in orange are taking the week off, we feel that we deserve one too. We're gonna give the blog some love in the mouth all next week. We'll make it up to you. And we promise, we weren't out till all hours of the night with other blogs. Seriously... you can trust us. Along with your picks, we're going to ask that you post your top five favorite Clemson/USC games of all time (#1 being your favorite). Even if you don't post picks, post your top five games. No anonymous.

IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S THE CLUB, COACH

Bobby Knight popped a kid's chin. Good for him. Here's some cussing by the old bassard to hold you over until Willy Mac gets off his high horse and makes a new f*cking post. Or until I get a DSOT up.

10 November 2006

NCSU PREVIEW-RAMA

NC State (3-6, 2-4) @ Clemson (7-3, 4-3 ACC), Saturday, November 11, Noon, LF/Raycom Sports, XM Satellite Radio ch 191-193.

The Line: Clemson -17

Edge goes to:

Offense: Clemson

Defense: Clemson

Special Teams: Clemson

Intangibles: Again, Clemson. The vociferous ‘boom’ of Clemson being punched in the mouth in Blacksburg resonated down I-85 to Death Valley and the Tigers stumbled for a second straight week. Everything we’ve been hearing from the locker room points to a disillusioned and very pissed off Clemson team. Being angry isn’t enough, they need to make adjustments and open up another dimension to the offense. Clemson is still fighting to get a decent bowl bid and has to win out to secure it.


Our panel of DFIG "experts" say:

Chili:
NCSU comes into this game hurting even more than the Tigers, having lost 4 straight. Clemson’s two straight losses hurt a lot more. I wonder if the average Clemson fan realizes what a train wreck this season has become. We had top 10 talent to begin the season, rose above injuries, only to be hampered by top 40 coaching. We had a legitimate shot at going to the ACC championship game to face Georgia Tech, a team we dismissed handily, so one would have to assume we had a good shot at our first ACC title since 1991. All this came crashing down because our offense couldn’t execute against the 2nd worst D in the league. As pissed off as I am about this season, I can’t give up on the season. (Plus it helps that Duke basketball starts up on Sunday. Preemptive f*ck you, my parents went to Duke, I grew up a huge fan before I ever noticed Clemson on a map, I’m not a bandwagoner.) While I was stunned that Clemson lost to Maryland, the Terps have formidable talent and great coaching. NCSU has neither of those things.

Clemson gets back on track, a week too late.
Clemson 31, NCSU 13

I spent a little over a month in Russia in 2004. What bottles I didn't throw out my dorm window at oncoming Ladas I arranged in my Russian dorm and photographed to show you the extent of my drinking in that country. If Clemson loses to NCSU, this will look like a thimble of Boone's Farm compared the the booze that will be consumed to repress the memories of this lost season.

Willy Mac:

Ticked. That's what everyone is. The players, the coaches, and the fans. The mood around Clemson is slowly starting to resemble the aura in New York City during Ghostbusters II (Look for me to play Rick Moranis). I think after all the criticism of Bowden, Spence, and most importantly Will Proctor, there is no way that the team can stumble again. I think Spence must change his playbook now for fear of looking like the only coach in all of college football to have Downs Syndrome. I look for Clemson to get over the hump and actually play well and finally throw the ball deep. TB will dust off the old Whitehurst playbook and tear out a few pages this weekend. I'm confident we will cover the spread.

Tigers deepf*ck NC State's sister in exchange for a handful of fiddle faddle.
Clemson 45, NC State 17

x

Picture deleted by Chili for EXTREME lameness and unoriginality (if that's a word).

08 November 2006

THE MAC CUP: WEEK 11 PICK 10

This past week saw the DFIG "experts" go for broke, losing out to our guests. It also saw a brand new picker who actually won the week.

Last weeks results
Maryland @ Clemson - Maryland
LSU @ Tennessee - LSU
Wake Forest @ Boston College - Wake Forest
Missouri @ Nebraska - Nebraska
Oklahoma @ Texas A&M - Oklahoma
Penn State @ Wisconsin - Wisconsin
Navy @ Duke - Navy
Georgia @ Kentucky- Kentucky
Arkansas @ SCAR - Arkansas
West Virginia @ Louisville (Thurs.) - Louisville

On the week
1 Fish Tacos -3
2 Brad -5
3 Lola -5
4 Chili -6
5 Willy Mac -6
6 Uttles -6

Overall
1 Chili -25
2 Lola -30
3 Brad -34

And with a commanding grip on last place:
4 Willy Mac -36

Just for fun
1 Uttles - first hard week
2 Fishtacos - real name is Taku
3 Greg - skipped last week
4 Tully - Dude, I know you go on CounterStrike tangents, but are you still alive? Did you drown in your bath tub??

Week 11 Pick 10 Games as follows
NC State @ Clemson
Sakerlina @ Florida
Oregon @ USC
Georgia @ Auburn
Tennessee @ Arkansas
Wake Forest @ Florida State
Miami @ Maryland
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma
Nebraska @ Texas A&M
Louisville @ Rutgers (Thursday)

Willy Mac's Picks
NC State @ Clemson - Clemson
South Carolina @ Florida - Florida
Oregon @ USC - USC
Georgia @ Auburn - Auburn
Tennessee @ Arkansas - Arkansas
Wake Forest @ Florida State - Wake
Miami @ Maryland - Miami
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma - Oklahoma
Nebraska @ Texas A&M - Nebraska
Louisville @ Rutgers (Thursday) - Louisville

Chili's Picks
NC State @ Clemson - Clemson
Sakerlina @ Florida - Florida
Oregon @ USC - USC
Georgia @ Auburn - Auburn
Tennessee @ Arkansas - Arkansas
Wake Forest @ Florida State - Wake
Miami @ Maryland - Maryland
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma - Oklahoma
Nebraska @ Texas A&M - Nebraska
Louisville @ Rutgers (Thursday) - Louisville

Also, I stumbled upon the National Women's Football Association. Browse that for hilarity. Just too much wrong with that picture for me to make fun of. I tried, I really did, but it was just too easy. Well, ok. Only in a women's football league would they have "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters as the theme music for their highlight videos.

Check for our NC State preview post tomorrow.

07 November 2006

RUNNING A FINE TOOTH COMB OVER SPENCE'S "GAMEPLAN"


This week Uttles drops some science on us with his in-depth Maryland postgame summary.


If this week was Clemson's chance to start a Rocky-esque comeback and go for a shot at an ACC title, this is what actually happened:


Clemson 12, Maryland 13

That's right, the University of Maryland, the same team that allowed Florida International to score 10 points held the almighty Rob Spence rushing attack to just 12. We did muster up 400 yards of offense but we couldn't turn that into touchdowns as the Maryland defense seemed to have an answer for everything the tigers could throw at them.

Many attribute the loss to the relatively small crowd, saying we were too flat for the game. Others say the players just weren't able to execute, mainly throwing Will Proctor under the bus. Some say we just don't have the facilities yet, and apparently Maryland didn't care about our new West Endzone which had helped us stomp the Jackets only a couple of weeks beforehand. I, Tom Utley, contend however that we were simply outcoached in all aspects of the game. I also contend that this is a recurring theme under Tommy Bowden, but I will focus only on this game for now.

What did Bud Foster show us up there in Blacksburg on a Thursday night? Well, it was pretty simple, if you take away the running game and the short passes, you kill Clemson's offense. He walked his safeties up, played his cornerbacks tight, and said "Rob Spence, you go right ahead and throw the ball vertically, we're only worried about the runs, swings, and screens." So what did Rob Spence do? Well, he ran the runs, swings, and screens, and got shutdown. Predictably, the Fridge (UMD's head coach) watched that tape and thought to himself: "That's a pretty good plan, and Spence sure is hardheaded. I think we'll do the same thing, now somebody go get me some bear claws."

Saturday came along, and this is the defense we saw Maryland line up in:


Notice how close everyone is to the LOS. This means that they can react extremely quickly to any lateral passes, screens or runs. They will have more tacklers at the point of attack than we have blockers, simply by alignment. Most people with any common sense whatsoever would say two things about this: 1) it's expected after VT was so successful and 2) We should attack the weaknesses of this alignment rather than just do the same thing we did against VT.

However, this is what Rob Spence, in all his holiness decided to do:


Now, I must have skipped the part in Paul's letter to the Corinthians where it says that you can only throw two passes over 5 yards in a single football game or you'll be cast into the eternal fires of hell, but who knows, it could be in there. In all seriousness though, this is the arrogance we see from Tommy Bowden each year and with each new set of coordinators. Every time we get a new offense we get a new gimmick, and initially it works well because nobody has ever seen an offense run like that before. Then one of the smarter coaches in the league figures out how to stop it, and from that point on everyone else just copies their plan. Rather than adjust to this and change our gameplan up so that they can't just stop us cold, Tommy and staff simply stick to their guns and try the same old thing no matter how badly it fails.

Now some may ask: "So they are playing tight to the line, so what?" OK, let's look at this illustration. Here is a screen pass against a common defense, cover 2:

See how the blocking WR has time to actually get to the CB, and the WR who catches the ball has time to start running and gets about 5 yards down field before he has to worry about evading tacklers? This is simply because of alignment. Now let's look at the same play against
Maryland's anti-Spence scheme:


Doesn't look too good does it? The blocking WR has little to no time to actually get to the CB, who has a very easy shot at breaking up the play or tackling the receiver for no gain (or a loss.) Assuming the receiver does catch the ball, he's immediately met by the safety who will either force him to run flatter to the line or just tackle him. If the WR does manage to shake he cornerback and the safety he has taken a lot of time to do so and therefore the rest of the defenders have a good shot at chasing him down before he can even make 2 or 3 yards. It really is just a completely boneheaded play to run against that defensive alignment.

So what should we have done? Well, as you can see from the first illustration, we threw the ball vertically two times in the course of the game, and the result was 131 yards. If we had done that a little bit more and a little bit earlier in the game we would have forced Maryland to change their defensive alignment, which would open up the running game and even the lateral passing game to some extent. We refused to make such adjustments though, and we payed the price for it, scoring only 12 points against the 11th best defense in the ACC.

Next up: Chuck the Chest

No, not this guy:


It's this one:

NC State has losses to such powerhouses as Akron this year, but Chuck Amato is a good defensive coach. I wonder if he'll use the same strategy as VPI and UMD? Do you think? Maybe? Let's hope God speaks to Rob Spence about the blessed vertical passing game between now and gametime for the sake of all that is Orange.

06 November 2006

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

The greatest moment in the history of sports -- ever -- celebrates its 1 Year Anniversary today. What do you give someone for their 1st anny? In this case, I think DFIG will send them a nice case of tuna.

Also, Willy Mac can't be bothered to write a summation of Saturday's "game" because he's on vacation. My words to him were: "On my back! ON MY BACK I'm carrying this blog!" and he could do nothing but agree. But I can't do it without him, but these days I have to nag his ass like an old lady to get him to post. It's not like he's busy studying. I'm not gonna write the summary. I'm standing my ground.

Just got done watching a soccer movie. Yes, a soccer movie, but it wasn't f*cking Bend it Like Beckham, it was a movie about beating the shit out of other people, which is pretty cool. Green Street Hooligans, great film, rent it and watch a hobbit whup ass.

Soccer: the players might flop at the lightest touch, but the fans are alright.