NEWS NEWS AND NEWS

- As you may have noticed, our football team has been getting some pretty high pre-season rankings, most notably by ESPN (#7), The Sporting News (#8), and Athlon Sports (#10). Now there's rumor that Phil Steele has put us at #5 in his magazine which is due out June 10th. Give his website a check as he takes it back to seventh grade by releasing one team a day until the release of his magazine. Phil Steele is a complete and total douchebag for doing that. I'm sort of waiting for Sports South or FSN South to name us champions of the universe. Also, I find it cute that he ranked a Gamecock team with tons of questions for next year at #18.

- Latest Clemson news from ESPN is that Bowden and Purnell have signed contracts through 2014. They're a little late on the Purnell extension as it was reported about two weeks ago. Also, I've been try to forget about how Bowden held us hostage via the Arkansas coaching search late last year. It's a bitter pill to swallow when your school signs an extension with a coach who was actively in talks to not only jump ship but to take his entire staff with him which would have left Clemson high and dry. Thanks for bringing up the bad memories!

- The Clemson golf team lead the second round of the NCAA finals and are currently tied for second place after the third round of play. I'm not a big golf guy, but any national championship for Clemson gets me excited. Check out the final round of play here and let's hope our boys bring home one of those awkward planks of wood that is a natty. (That video browser only works in Internet Explorer 6.0 or later versions.)

Nice 'Clerks' reference, Todaro's!

APB: FIND US SOME EMBARASSING GAMECOCK DECALS

So, since I've moved to Simpsonville I've noticed a recent trend around and on I-385 and it's not so much shocking as it is hilarious. Yes, it's related to Gamecock fans and yes, they're making themselves as well as our state look bad... again.

Oh ok, nothing seems wrong here. Wait what's that.

"You're damn right I pull for a team that went from #6 in the nation to 6 - 6!"

I'm just at a loss for words. Nothing against the marines, I guess I'm just disappointed in his delivery, that's all...

DFIG READERS: If you're out and happen to snap some similar "Embarrassing Gamecock Decals" send them in to feedback -at- dannyfordisgod.com and we'll put them on the site with due credit given.

VINCENT BOOTED OFF TEAM

Per The State: As expected, Cortney Vincent has been kicked off the team. Vincent violated team rules last year, got a DUI in December, and did poorly in school this past spring. This means Clemson has to replace all three starting linebackers from last year. Which is the bigger liability for 08 - our offensive line or our linebacker squad? Both units will have some talented newcomers stepping in, but the losses still hurt. Take it to the comments section.

NEWS & NOTES

Oliver Purnell has finally signed the contract extension that was announced in March. Good.

Upstate Today has a nice article about Clemson's 2009 recruiting efforts to this point. Depending on which recruiting service you believe, Clemson has secured verbal commitments from the top two safeties in the nation, Craig Loston (5 star, #1) of Texas and Devonte Holloman (5 star/4 star, #2) of powerhouse Charlotte Independence in NC. A number of 4 stars have also committed and a lot of top recruits have Clemson high on their list.

With more sports blogs (spogs?) popping up every day, the new crops are moving into the realm of extreme specialization. One of the more interesting new ones is called Athletes Making Babies, celebrating the many sports stars who can't keep it in their fucking pants.

The ACC discussed and subsequently shot down a plan to add a 9th conference game to the football schedule, which would have put them alongside the Pac-10 as the only conferences to have a 9 game conference schedule. Coaches were concerned with bowl eligibility as beating SC State is easier than beating NC State. The current college football climate is one in which quality scheduling takes a backseat to playing cupcakes to pad the win column, and this decision is right in line with the current modus operandi (not that the ACC doesn't have its share of weaklings). I am on the fence about this one. I'd much rather play another ACC team than the Citadel or SC State, but I'd rather play a powerful nonconference team like Bama or UGa than Duke.

George Bennett, longtime Clemson fundraiser, will be honored by the SC Athletic Hall of Fame. Congrats to Mr. Bennett on the honor, and on his service to the university.

Former Clemson lineman and 1992 5th round draft pick Curtis Whitley has died at the age of 39. He played for six years in the NFL and battled substance abuse. As of now the cause of death has not been announced. Our condolences go out to his friends and family.

2008 PRESEASON POLLS

A reader passed this LSU site on to us that lists the rankings from various preseason polls in a handy graph form. As you can see, Clemson averages 9.5, with rankings as high as #6 (one AP voter who writes for the San Jose Mercury News), and as low as #20 by a January College Football News poll that was written when it looked as if James Davis was gone. Georgia is pretty solid at number 1, and that's hard to argue against. Southern Pigskin lists West Virginia as their preseason #1, and I fail to understand how you rank a team with a new staff top-to-bottom as the best team in the country. Feel free to give your take in the comments.

NEWS & NOTES

WAIT, BARNHART COVERS TEAMS OTHER THAN GEORGIA?
Your favorite leghumper, Tony Barnhart, released his preseason top 10 in that Atlanta fishwrap today. He lists Georgia as numbers 1-6 and 8-10, but somehow found his way to slip Clemson into the conversation at number 7. Like us, he has questions about the Tigers' offensive line, but everything else is golden. If you want a real laugh, read some of the comments on his blog. Regularly the most frighteningly dumb mouthbreathers imaginable give their take on Tony's articles, and almost without exception there's a "dawg" somewhere in their handle. Go figure.

WELL PLAYED, COACH KOENNING, WELL PLAYED
Say you're a defensive coordinator. You know the NCAA regulations prohibit you from chewing out your players for being lazy in offseason voluntary workouts. What do you do? If you're Vic Koenning, you call up a reporter and complain, knowing your comments will be published, circumventing those pesky regulations. The players in question are then called out, lighting a proverbial fire under their asses, and all is well. Here is the article in question.

SWEEEEEEEP
The Florida State Seminoles swept the Tiger baseball team this weekend, pretty much dashing their hopes for the ACC tournament. They could still make it, but with the dangerous Georgia Tech squad up soon, things aren't looking good.

THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON... CLEMSON?
I don't cover a ton of recruiting on here outside of signing day. It's highly speculative, full of rumor and pure bullshit, and often a kid who has "committed" to a school will change his mind several times. However one recent Clemson commit is fairly noteworthy. Craig Loston, the top rated safety in the nation and a five star prospect, committed to Clemson over LSU. He had previously been committed to Texas A&M, but withdrew his commitment after their coaching change. More interesting than Clemson plucking one of the top players out of the lonestar state is how Loston found Clemson. He watched Clemson play Florida State on Labor Day last year and fell in love with the way our defense played and with the Death Valley atmosphere. He then sent our staff tape. He recruited Clemson, not the other way around. Here is Loston's Rivals page, with some very impressive highlights of him.

CLEMSON ATHLETES IMPROVE GRADES
16 of Clemson's 19 varsity sports showed improvement in the recent Academic Progress Rate statistics. The APR has great importance, as a score too low will result in the loss of scholarships.