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.