LEGGETT ISSUES STATEMENT ON FIRE

On behalf of my wife Karen and myself, we would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. The magnitude of outpouring of support means a great deal to my family. We sincerely appreciate everyone's understanding of our need for privacy at this time. In the upcoming days and weeks, we will be working to establish a fund to aid a fire-related cause. Further information will be forthcoming.

Again, our sincere thanks and gratitude,

Jack Leggett

Also, when he states that they will be establishing a fund to aid fire related acidents, he's speaking of helping others. I find this very respectable of Leggett, especially in his own time of crisis.

LEGGETT'S HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE

Just a quick note to let you know that Clemson Baseball Coach Jack Leggett lost his house in a fire yesterday. Check out the news blotter from WYFF here. We'll keep you updated on the situation. Condolences to the Leggett's and thankfully nobody was hurt.

NEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

NEWS
- RAPE!... AND BUTT FUCKING!... IN GEORGIA OF ALL PLACES! Things have been desperate on their campus for so long that someone finally snapped over at Georgia Tech. Paul Johnson suspended Jerrard Tarrant from the team indefinitely. Kind of interesting that we're kind of going through the same situation, though, this one seems pretty legit. Tarrant was contending for a starting cornerback position as a redshirt freshman coming out of spring ball.

Remember to keep it suave, even in your sexual assault mugshot.

- Four players (Spiller, Davis, Harper, and Kelly) have been named to the Maxwell watch list. Clemson joins Southern Cal and Oklahoma as the top schools with candidates on the list, each having four. Ricky Sapp and Michael Hamlin have also been named to the Bednarik preseason list as well.

-All but two Clemson freshman signees have made it to campus and enrolled in second summer session. The two men down are Xavier Brewer still needs to take a summer class back home. Jared Crittenton didn't meet our standards and was released from his LOI. He has signed with Memphis.

-Kyle Parker was named to the Freshman All-American team for being a stud with a bat. Now if only he could figure out that whole defense thing, we'd be great. I'm still predicting he never plays a down of football for Clemson.

- The Deandre McDaniel's plot thickens as the women who filed the charges against him was identified as Ms. Abra Weeks. Good thing that we're not UGA or USC or the like because her getting killed by psychotic fans right now would not help Deandre at all. Bowden plays it smart and remains mum on the situation.

- Graduate Assistant Michael Morrell has been hired on as the new director of men's basketball, replacing Josh Posterino who replaced Shaka Smart who accepted a job at Florida. Here's a run down: Morrell -> Director of Men's Basketball; Posterino -> Assistant Coach; Shaka -> Gonzo to Florida; Clemson Women's Basketball -> Could still get beat by any girl's JV high school team in the upstate.

- The US Army Corps of Engineers tells their residents of Orlando "Just chill out man, it's not a big deal. Don't worry about it..." regarding bombs that they may miss during a cleanup of a one-time bombing range from WWII turned local neighborhood.

RECOMMENDATIONS

DFIG Recommends: Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka - we're not big fans of the Firefly Muscadine Vodka. Terrible. We wouldn't recommend that to anyone. We do, however, promote the sweet nectar that they bottle named Sweet Tea Vodka. We've never tasted a better liquor drink in our lives. Here's essentially all you need to do:

- Fill one glass with your preference of cubed ice.
- Fill glass 3/4 full of Fire Fly Sweet Vodka.
- Fill rest with Minute Made lemonade.

BEST. DRINK. EVER.

FANTASY BASEBALL

Reminder: Please sign up for fantasy baseball now, we've only got 4 participants at this time. The draft has been moved until March 15th at 530(EST), so you've still got a week if you want to play.
We need at least 4 or 5 more teams to make it interesting. If we get at least 10, I will personally donate a bottle of liquor (TBD) to the winner. Since this is a long competition, I think it will only be fair to offer an incentive. Once again, the league info is:

League ID: 122123
Password: HDDVD

It's hosted by yahoo, as normal for our fantasy events, in case y'all forgot. Clemson Baseball update to follow in the next day or so.

BASEBALL RETURNS

The Tigers are at it again, and things are looking bright after the first day of NCAA Baseball play . The Tigers, ranked as high as 13th in some polls, and as low as 23rd by Baseball America, are looking forward to another good season, and maybe a return to the CWS. The polls are split on who in the ACC will be contenders but you can definitely expect North Carolina, Miami and FSU , among others, to be tough this year. As usual, the chickens in Columbia are ranked higher than Clemson and will soon start the smack talking, though this is the one sport they usually fare well in.

After having their season opener against Mercer canceled due to inclement weather (or the threat of it) Friday evening, the Tigers played a double header on Saturday in a great start for the Tigers in 2008. The first game went to the Tigers in a 12-5 showing where returning starter Doug Hogan went 3/4 with a two run homer in the game. Starter Ryan Hinson got the win, going for 5 innings in good form, allowing just 2 runs off of 5 hits, and 3 walks while striking out 4. In other good news, Stan Widmann, who was drafted by the Oakland A's in the 39^th round has returned to form after sitting out most of the 2007 season with an injury. He singled to bring in Clemson's first run of the season.

In Game 2 returning starter and former outfielder DJ Mitchell had a very shaky start but got the win, going 5 innings and allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Clemson scored 6 runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 6-5 victory with closer Matt Vaughn picking up his first save of the year. Perhaps the biggest story of the day is freshman Chris Epps, a right fielder from Stone Mountain GA ( Dunwoody HS). Epps went 3/3 with 2 runs and 1 RBI in game 1, and 2/4 with a two run homer in the 3rd inning of game two. That put him 5/7 on the day.  Definitely a bright spot on the roster, if you ask me.

Look forward to more weekly updates on the baseball scene each Sunday.

In other news:

It's time for DFIG's annual fantasy baseball league to begin. It'll be conducted under the same rules as last year and hosted by Fantasy on Yahoo! Sports, as usual and the league will be open to all of our readers. We request that everyone name their team based on the name by which you post on the site so we can keep track of everyone. We also request that if you're not going to keep up with your team please don't bother registering one. We had several teams last year that ended up not playing past week 2, which resulted in nearly a third of all games for everyone else being easy wins, which really sucked when it got to the end of the year. The preliminary date for the live online draft is March 9th at 2pm, so try to get your teams in before then.  We'll start play and draft when we get enough teams. The draft date and time is up for suggestions as well since we can change it. Sign up now with the following info:
League ID: 122123
Password: HDDVD

In still other news, the HDDVD format has officially lost the war to BluRay (damn you Sony). While I'm happy that I refrained from buying an HD DVD player before its demise, I'm sad that this format war was not in the end decided by the porn industry. They've lost their hold on it...

One quick recommendation though, is Penn and Teller's BullShit. It's a show they've been producing on Showtime for the last 5 years. I recently downloaded the fifth season and it is absolutely awesome. That is, if you like to see every popular myth and hippie/liberal cause debunked with very convincing evidence. They have departed from magic in this show and showcase their atheistic, libertarian points of view while attacking some of the most crackpot causes in America with humor and cynicism. This season the targets ranged from Wal-Mart, the ADA , Nuclear Regulation, and my favorite episode: Breast Hysteria, where they argue that women should be allowed to walk around topless wherever men are. I'm not a libertarian, but these guys are great. Check them out. Here's part of an episode they did on PETA, brilliant.

OFF-SEASON BASEBALL NEWS

According to MLB.com former Tiger Pitcher Daniel Moskos has in fact signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Moskos was taken in the first round as the number 4 overall pick in this years amateur draft. He reportedly has received a $2.5 million signing bonus from the club and will likely spend the next few seasons in their minor league system. Moskos is expected to begin playing for the GCL Pirates of Bradenton,Florida as he conditions to begin his ascent to the major leagues.

" Let's hope he fares better in Pittsburgh than Kris Benson did"

We’ve already mentioned that Catcher Doug Hogan has decided to return to Clemson for his senior season. He is not the only holdout from Clemson’s draft class however, as teams have been unable to sign three others. The circumstance of why these players remain unsigned is a mystery at this time but we can always speculate. Taylor Harbin, a junior shortstop last season, is still unsigned by the Diamondbacks after being selected in the 8^th round (#253 overall). We can speculate that the money just isn’t right yet, or that Harbin might be considering a return to the team in the coming season. Harbin would certainly be an asset to the team, bringing a veteran presence back to the infield as well as a strong bat. In 2007 he hit .296 with 11 HR and 62 RBI.

P.J. Zocchi, junior right-hander selected by the Indians in the 36^th round ( #1092 overall) remains unsigned as well, along with shortstop Stan Widmann who was taken by the A’s in the 39^th round (#1187 overall). Just a reminder, this is all speculation, but these players all have a year of eligibility left so they might be contemplating a return. History has shown us that being drafted in such low rounds (anything more that 10^th or 11^th, I think) doesn’t often result in making it to the big dance. If it were me in these situations, being drafted in the 30+ rounds, and I had another season of eligibility left, I might use it to see if I could get my stats up and bring a higher price in the next years draft. Widmann specifically after his injury plagued season last year. If he can return to the starting lineup in the upcoming year he might make it to at least the top 10 rounds in next season’s draft. Who knows what these players are thinking, let’s hope some of them follow Hogan’s lead and return for another run at the CWS.

On a side note, my “real” job has prevented me from working on my project that tries to find a link between when the draft is held and how well a team with a high number of draft picks does in college postseason baseball. But I’m still working on it, so look forward to an in-depth look into the amateur draft and why Clemson hasn’t won the CWS , yet.

TIGERS FALL TO BULLDOGS IN GAME 2

By Seigler

It was a good effort. After a lackluster season the Clemson Tigers seemed to have put everything together and started winning. They played well in the ACC tournament, and breezed through regional play undefeated. On paper, Mississippi State didn’t even look like an obstacle, Clemson had routinely dominated them in past postseason match ups, and were ranked 12 spots higher in national polls. The Mississippi State Bulldogs proved too much for the Tigers this year and defeated them in two games to be the first team with a trip to Omaha guaranteed.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, and two runners on base, power hitter Andy D’Alessio stepped up to the plate, seemingly eager to tie the game with one power stroke. He gave it his best shot, a towering fly ball that reached the center field warning track, but unfortunately it didn’t have enough to get out of the park. With two outs, shortstop Taylor Harbin seemed to be our last hope, he has home run power and has been consistent all year, but today was not his day. Harbin struck out swinging on three pitches to end the inning and the game, leaving the Tigers out of Omaha this year.

In a game where the Tigers actually out hit the Bulldogs 11 hits to 12, strong pitching beat out strong hitting. The Tigers started off the game on the right foot behind the pitching of Junior right hander David Kopp, who gave up a run on one hit in the top of the first. The Tigers answered quickly, scoring two and securing their only lead of the ballgame. The Bulldogs weren’t down long, chasing Kopp from the game after scoring 4 runs in the top of the second, and securing a lead they would hold for the remainder of the ballgame.

Sophomore Lefty Ryan Hinson took over for Kopp and ended the inning, pitching the next two absolutely scoreless until running in to some trouble when he allowed a leadoff double to right fielder Mitch Moreland, who advanced to third on a sacrifice fly on the next play. After walking the third batter, Red shirt Junior P.J. Zocchi came into the game to pitch for Hinson. Zocchi didn’t fare much better, allowing the Bulldogs to break the game open and score two more runs, extending their lead to 7-4.

The Tigers attempted to tie the game in the third with a leadoff homer by catcher Doug Hogan, who finished the day 3 for 4 with 2 RBI. But the two runs they scored were quickly erased by Zocchi’s struggles in the top of the next inning. The Tigers threatened again in the bottom of the sixth when they scored one after a triple from left fielder Addison Johnson and a groundout by second baseman J.D. Burgess. Unfortunately other than the ray of hope seen in the ninth, the Tigers never again threatened the Bulldog lead. In fact, they got that one run back, securing their 3 run lead in the top of the ninth.

Bulldog starter Justin Pigott earned the win, giving up four runs and eight hits over six innings. Reliever Mitch Moreland, who played most of the game in right field and added two hits and an RBI for the Bulldogs, pitched the scoreless ninth for his second save of the year. Kopp took the loss for the Tigers, falling to 6-3 on the year.

The game was played in front of 13,715 screaming fans in Starkville today, which is an NCAA Super Regional tournament record. Clemson is known for it’s traveling fan base which probably helped significantly with that number, though there was little orange to be seen in the stands.

In other record news, the Tigers had eleven players selected in the MLB Amateur draft that has been going on in the last few days, here’s a look at who went and where:

Daniel Moskos (P) 1st round 4th pick ( 4th overall ) by the Pittsburgh Pirates

David Kopp (P) 2nd Round (71st overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals

Brad Chalk (CF) 2nd Round ( 87th overall) by the San Diego Padres

Alan Farina (P) 3rd Round (115th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays

Stephen Clyne (P) 3rd round (123rd overall) by the New York Mets

Marquez Smith (3b) 8th round (247th overall) by the Chicago Cubs

Taylor Harbin (SS) 8th round (253rd overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks

Doug Hogan (C) 16th round (497th overall) by the Cleveland Indians

Andy D’Alessio (1b) 19th round (584th overall) by the San Francisco Giants

P. J. Zocchi (P) 36th round (1092th overall) by the Cleveland Indians

Stan Widmann ( ss) 39th round (1187th overall) by the Oakland Athletics

While the results of today’s game are disappointing, we can always look forward to next season, and perhaps another trip to Omaha in the future. In other action, South Carolina plays for their postseason lives today in game two against UNC at 7:00 pm EST.

STARKVILLE GAME 1 POSTGAME

Seigler, on point with more baseball coverage:

The Clemson Tigers faltered in their bid to be undefeated in the super regional with a game one loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs by a score of 8 to 6.

Through the first three innings, Bulldog starter Chad Crosswhite absolutely blanked the Tigers, giving up not so much as a hit, striking out four of the first three Tigers he faced, including two in the top of the first. The Tigers seemed to have figured him out by the top of the fourth, when they were helped by an error to score two runs.

Tiger lefty Daniel Moskos continued his good performance as well through the first four, striking out three while being helped by a double play to escape the third, when he gave up three of his seven hits, but no runs. The first trouble came for Moskos in the bottom of the fifth, when he gave up a two out home run to Bulldog DH, Connor Powers.

With the score knotted at two the Tigers needed to kick their offense into gear and that they did. Continuing his good hitting, first baseman Andy D’Alessio added two runs with a home run that drove in Marquez Smith, who had walked to lead off the inning. D’Alessio ended the day 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Not to be outdone, shortstop Taylor Harbin added a solo shot of his own off freshman reliever Jesse Carver after starter Crosswhite was yanked Carver was pulled after giving up a single to Catcher Doug Hogan, in favor of John Lalor, who would end up stopping the bleeding and getting the win for the Bulldogs.

With a three run lead established, Moskos again took the mound, but his efforts were not enough to stop any momentum State’s offense had built up. After consecutive hits, he gave up a two run home run to first baseman Mitch Moreland, who’s numbers mimicked D’Alessio (2/4, 3 RBI). With his lead cut to nil, Moskos gave up another double and a fielding error at second base allowed yet another base runner aboard. Moskos was then relieved by Stephen Clyne, who got third baseman Russ Sneed to ground into a double play, scoring an unearned run, but stopping the Bulldogs nonetheless.

With himself in the position to earn the win, Lalor showed some dominance by limiting the Tigers to two hits and one run off a solo shot by catcher Doug Hogan. Clyne, on the other hand gave up two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, allowing the Bulldogs to secure the lead, for good this time. Reliever Matt Vaughn pitched a perfect eighth after the Tigers failed to tie the score in the top half. Bulldog closer Aaron Weatherford blanked the Tigers in the ninth for his fifth save of the season.

John Lalor(3-1) got the win while Moskos(3-6) added to his loss column. While some parts of the Clemson offense continued their success, some were noticeable absent, including team batting champion Brad Chalk, who went 0-5 with no RBI. While the pitching was not especially stellar today, it was the glaring absence of the run scoring offense that really hurt the Tigers today. Let’s hope they can get everything working together tomorrow and march over the bulldogs on the way to Omaha.

The Tigers have a chance to redeem themselves tomorrow at noon as they take the field as the home team in hopes that they will not be going home early this year. The Tigers have not named their starter for tomorrow’s game as of now, but I will post an update when that information is released by the athletic department. Look forward to more postseason coverage by Seigler, here before you can get it anywhere else.

STARKVILLE SUPER REGIONAL PREVIEW

By Seigler, Guest Columnist

After failing to secure home field advantage for the upcoming super regional tournament, the Tigers are heading down to Mississippi to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a best of three match up. The first game will be played Friday, June 8^th at 11am CST, or 12pm EST, in Starkville, MS with the second game being played Saturday, at 12pm EST. The games will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2 respectively, with the third game being TBA if necessary.

While it is disappointing that the Tigers will be unable to play in Clemson at this year’s super regional, the momentum gained during regional play should help them fare well no matter where they play. The Tigers jumped 8 spots from #13 to #5 in the Collegiate Baseball Division I poll released Wednesday June 6^th. The Bulldogs, currently ranked at #17, jumped 10 spots from #27, with Rice taking the top spot as Vanderbilt, the #1 overall tournament seed was knocked out in the regionals.

This is the seventh year total and the third year in a row that the Tigers have reached the super regional in the nine years since the super regional format was instituted. Last year, of course, Clemson entered super regional play against Oral Roberts as the #1 overall tournament seed, taking the first two games and advancing to Omaha and the College World Series.

The Tigers of course, defeated Mississippi State in last years regional play in Clemson, winning the regional tournament. This will be the third straight year the Tigers and Bulldogs have faced off in tournament play. Clemson leads the postseason series 4-0 against the Bulldogs. There is no reason to believe that the unbeaten streak will end this weekend. In the 2000 super regional, the two teams met, with Clemson taking the first two games on their way to Omaha.

Looking at the numbers to date, Clemson has a decided edge in pitching. The Tigers’ staff has posted a 3.65 season ERA , which is more than a run better than the Bulldogs ERA of 4.76. The Bulldogs do hold an edge as far as batting average, hitting .316 as a team against the Tigers .293. The Tigers are also fielding slightly better than the Bulldogs, at .971 to .965.

In Friday’s game the Tigers will send junior left-hander Daniel Moskos to the mound in hopes that he can continue his season success in the postseason. To date, he is 3-5 with a 2.91 season ERA and 6 saves, in 9 starts and 17 relief appearances. Opponents are only hitting .261 against Moskos, who has issued 33 free passes and 74 strikeouts in 74.1 innings pitched. The left hander who is known for his 94+ mph fastball was drafted earlier today by the Pittsburgh Pirates as their first selection of the 2007 MLB amateur draft. He went fourth overall in the draft, and is predicted to be either a closer, or number 3 starter in the majors.

Moskos looks to make another College World Series appearance. His pitching was instrumental in last year's run to the CWS. (Photo courtesy of the CUAD website.)

The Bulldogs will counter with sophomore right hander Chad Crosswhite who sports an 8-4 record and 4.16 ERA. Teams are batting .318 against him this season and he has issued 25 walks and 61 strikeouts in 71.1 innings.

The Tigers will be depending on their high powered offense to propel them into the CWS. Team leaders Brad Chalk ( Batting .384, with a .503 OBP) Doug Hogan ( .339, 11 HR, 43 RBI) Marquez Smith (.329, 13 HR, 56 RBI) Andy D’Alessio (16 HR, also named Myrtle Beach regional MVP) and Taylor Harbin ( 11 HR, 59 RBI), will more than likely continue their successes behind strong pitching.

The Tigers should have little trouble seeing that the Bulldogs stay home for the CWS. The Bulldogs did defeat rival FSU in two games of their regional in Tallahassee, but that should be little cause for concerned, considering the dominance Clemson displayed this year against the Seminoles. Look forward to post game analysis here before you can get it anywhere else tomorrow after noon, and every time the Tigers play this postseason.

TIGER BASEBALL'S MARCH TO THE C.W.S.

By Seigler, guest columnist

Playing for the Myrtle Beach regional championship and perhaps the chance to host the upcoming super regional tournament, the Clemson Tigers soundly defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers by a score of 15-3. The Tigers were the only undefeated team in the regional, giving them great momentum heading into the super regional. Clemson joins North Carolina as the second ACC team to win their regional. Virginia is playing for their regional Championship today as well and the game is still in progress at this time.

Former outfielder D.J. Mitchell (5-0) continued his success on the mound, earning the win for his fifth victory in seven starts this season. Mitchell allowed only 6 hits and one run in five innings of work, escaping a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the second by striking out Chanticleer Senior 2nd baseman Adam Vrable, then inducing a groundout by left fielder David Sappelt. Freshman Nick McCully took the loss for the Chanticleers.

Clemson relievers combined to limit the Chanticleers to 2 runs and 3 hits in the final 4 innings of the game. P.J. Zocchi pitched the ninth in the non save situation, giving up only a single. The runs came in the 6^th inning off reliever Alex Martin, whose cause was only hurt by the Tiger’s second error of the game, which allowed Designated Hitter Dock Doyle to reach base, and eventually score. The Tiger’s first error came on a play to second in the second inning, but did not result in any runs.

The Tigers led off the game scoring two runs in the top of the first on a home run by 1^st baseman Andy D’Alessio, who drove in 3^rd baseman Marquez Smith for his 2^nd RBI of the afternoon. They continued to break the game open by scoring 5 runs in the 3^rd and 6 runs in the 4^th off home runs by Smith and 2^nd baseman Taylor Harbin. Smith (who went 4 for 5) and Harbin (3 for 5) led the team in RBI’s for the day with 4 and 3 respectively.

Center fielder Brad Chalk also added 3 of the Tigers’ 20 hits, scoring two runs and hitting his second triple of the year. The Tigers were one hit shy of tying their season record of 21 hits in a game they set vs. Gardner Webb on March 27^th. They did however beat the season record for at bats in a game with 47, the previous record of 45 being met twice, once against George Mason and once against Gardner Webb, earlier in the season.

The time and location of the super regional has yet to be announced, but tournament play will resume on Friday the 8^th of June. Look forward to more analysis of Clemson postseason baseball by Seigler this weekend as I will be covering the rest of the Tigers postseason action for DFIG. Send questions, comments and hate to spseigl@clemson.edu.

WEEKEND NEWS RECAP

- Last week, the Baseball team really stunk it up, losing at #4 South Carolina on Wednesday, and dropping two this weekend to #6 Virginia before pulling one out on Sunday to salvage the home series. This turn of events drop us to 26 - 13 overall and 11 - 7 in ACC play. Granted we lost to teams ranked higher than us, but it's time to start accepting the fact that we just aren't as good as we were this time last year. We're not playing poorly, a lot of other teams are just having outstanding seasons. You can't win em all. I am impressed with our bullpen, after they were kind of written off at the beginning of the year. I think we should be happy with what we've got going on right now. We are consistently a top ranked team and we consistently send a players to the majors and farm leagues almost every year. I think Jack has done a great job with our program and it's just so damned hard to hate him. We'll win a CWS soon enough with him at the helm. Hey, at least the baseball season hasn't turned into a disaster like the football season did... yet. This week we play five home games as follows:

Elon, Tuesday @ 7:15
South Carolina, Wednesday @ 7:15
Georgia Tech, Friday @ 7:15
Georgia Tech, Saturday @ 7:00
Georgia Tech, Sunday @ 2:00

- Our Men's Track team came in second at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with 118 points. Florida State won it's third straight ACC Championship with crazy mad score of 166.5 points... I think it's safe to say they blew everyone else out of the water. On an interesting note, Boston College scored a four. FOUR POINTS. Should they even have a Track team??? I think that they should just pack it in and replace the team because that is just shameful. In individual notes, Jacoby Ford was disqualified in the 100m due to a false start while CJ Spiller was a 100m dash all-ACC performer. Travis Padgett continues to burn through free Nikes as he took home the ACC 100m dash title.

- I must send out apologies for my lack of posting. Chili has been carrying the blog on his back once again. Reason being, I had an allergic reaction to a drug with Sulfa in it that I was taking for a skin infection. Long story short, I got Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and nearly died. Yadda, yadda, yadda, saw the light, etc. Needless to say, Chili was ever vigilant during my hospital visits. In fact, when I finally came to, he was there by my bedside. You remember the scene from Rocky II? That's EXACTLY how it played out. I told him to go "Win" and well, there was no fight... so, I think he broke doctor's face in. I'm not sure. All I know is that this will be the last time I ever go through the doors of Redfern Health Center under my own free will.

FYI, Chili went on to defeat Apollo Creed in the final seconds of the bout.

THURSDAY NEWS & RECOMMENDATIONS

News

- #6 Baseball beats #17 Coastal Carolina. The Tigers are now 8-3 after being jacked up by Sakerlina over the weekend. Still no definite word on Widmann's injuries. One plus is that P. J. Zocchi (2.70 ERA, 2 - 0) gave a stellar pitching performance, now if he can just do the same thing on the weekends. Chalk (an astounding .429 batting average on the season) and Smith (a respectable .333 on the season) both went 3 for 4. Taylor Harbin tacked on two doubles and an RBI. The Tigers had 11 hits total.

- Our basketball team is gearing up for the most wide-open ACC Tourney in years, Clemson plays Florida State today at noon in an important matchup for the Tigers' tournament hopes. According to most bracket pundits the Tigers need to beat FSU and show up against UNC to secure an at-large bid. The Sporting Gnomes have a good preview over on their site.

- ESPN has a spring football blurb about each team in the ACC. They mention this position... I think it's.. um... quarterback? I haven't heard of that position in a couple years, so I'm not real familiar with it.


Recommendations

Chili:

Oooh.... shiny....

Dynamism.com - This site, specializing in "next generation Japanese notebook and gadget technology," is the place to go if you want to be the first kid on the block with the latest cell phone or gadget. If you buy a cell phone from Verizon or Cingular, it usually comes crippled with some form of DRM, meaning if you want to put your own music or videos on there, you have to pay for them at whatever rate your provider charges. One of the advantages of buying a phone from Dynamism is that it comes with none of these restrictions. I got a pretty cool Samsung phone last year that was only available in Japan, Dynamism provided me with English language manuals and American plugs for the power charger as well as a solid warranty. I put whatever I want on my phone, and a bonus is that I don't have a RAZR like every ham and egger out there. Make sure you get a phone that is compatible with American networks so you can pop your Cingular or T-Moblie SIM card in and get going. The site isn't limited to phones, it has sushi shaped flash drives, silent-clicking mice, hand held PCs, and the obligatory Japanese Hello Kitty shit.




Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! - Someone described this show as "great, but I kinda wanna take a shower after I watch it." Pretty spot-on. It's a variety show featuring nonsensical skits and intentionally douche-chill inducing karaoke. Guest stars such as Weird Al, John C. Reilly, Bob Odenkirk, and more pepper this show from the creators of Tom Goes to the Mayor. Some people might not get it, it's kind of a love it or hate it thing. Check out some YouTube videos of Tim & Eric here, here, and here.

Willy Mac:

Black Donnellys - This show is great. It manages to mix the right amount of humor with drama. It really reminds me of an Irish version of the Sopranos. People said it had terrible Nielson ratings, but I don't know why. If you've missed the first two episodes, you can catch it either for free from NBC or not so free on iTunes.

iSquint (Mac) or Super © (PC) - I finally got the whole transferring non-iTunes purchased videos *Cough, Cough, porn, Cough* to my video iPod and to my iTunes. Both of these programs are free, so don't hold back. Also, if you missed the Rant argument about the subject, here it is. Not like I coulda gone to the Tigernet for help with this one. Last time I checked, those mid-life crisis pedos are still oogling Rendrick pictures and sweating over recruiting and spring football stuff. Also, big ups to PissedOffMofo for the help on this one.

BEISBOL!

Willy Mac has set up a Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball league for all DFIG readers. Join Danny Ford's All-Hamericans here using Group ID# 74841, password: asianchicks. Because, you know, Asian chicks are pretty great.

UPDATE VIA WILLY MAC: For those of you that have joined, let me know if you want me to switch up the draft, rules, etc. by sending me an e-mail to my gmail account. Thanks.

Clemson Baseball: Where we’ve been… Where we’re headed…

When I hear the word “baseball” come to mind, I’m reminded of smells, tastes, sounds, and good memories. Smells like sweat and dry, freshly raked dirt. Tastes like sunflower seeds and Gatorade on a hot afternoon. Sounds like the distinct “ping” of a metal baseball bat coming in contact with a baseball. Memories like watching Matt LeCroy, Kris Benson (pre-crazy wife era), and Dexter McLeon win the ACC Tournament at the old Greenville Braves stadium after having played a baseball game of my own just a few miles down the road in Mauldin. Some of those great memories come from my own experiences of playing the game in my back yard with my brother and dad, some of those memories come from my own experience as a little leaguer, but the best memories come from days spent at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Obviously, the game of baseball has been around longer than any of us have, but it’s something that is important to us Americans as our basic everyday freedoms in life. It represents the every day pleasures in life that Americans have the privilege of partaking in.

Successful baseball programs have usually had a history of success that they build upon to continually win championships. Prime examples are the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves, and the Chicago White Sox. Clemson has seen it’s history built upon success since 1958, the year the Tigers won their first ACC Regular Season Championship. It was also the first year that they played in their first College World Series.

The Clemson baseball program is fortunate enough to have seen two great coaches in Bill Wilhelm and his protégé, Jack Leggett, build the Clemson legacy. Wilhelm coached for 36 years and built a dynasty by leading the Tigers to sixteen Regular Season ACC Championships, seven ACC Tournament Championships, and five College World Series appearances. Coach Wilhelm practically built a respected college baseball dynasty from the ground up.

Jack Leggett: Triple G... Triple OG

In 1994, Coach Wilhelm passed the reins on to assistant coach Jack Leggett. Coach Leggett had been the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach during the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Leggett has continued to build upon the Clemson baseball dynasty by tacking on three ACC Regular Season Championships, two ACC Tournament Championships, and five more College World Series appearances during his twelve year tenure. Coach Leggett even achieved all three feats last year. Leggett’s crown jewel is leading the Tigers to the semifinals of the CWS, just barely being edged out by rival South Carolina (who went on to get shellacked by Texas… sorry, I just had to add that in there). If not that, in April of 1994 and 2006, Clemson ascended to the #1 ranking in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball. The rankings were just the second and third #1 rankings in Tiger baseball history. Seven times in 1994, Clemson defeated a team ranked in the top three in the nation under the helm of Jack Leggett. He also led Clemson to the number one spot in many baseball ranking polls last season, and achievement which they held for a few weeks.

Will the Tigers be celebrating another trip to the CWS come June? I think so.

The Tigers have already been ranked #2 and #3 in the Collegiate Baseball and the Baseball America preseason polls, respectively. Clemson looks to be one of the stronger teams in terms of returning starters. “We must replace some of the good players from last year’s team, but the nucleus is back,” said Leggett. “We have a strong group of infielders returning, as all four starting infielders from last year’s team are back. I don’t think that has ever happened since I’ve been coaching.” The Tigers must concentrate on replacing Catcher Adrian Casanova and outfielders Tyler Colvin and Travis Storrer.

This past off season, Leggett signed fourteen highly touted recruits to build to the Clemson baseball dynasty. I think that I can say for sure that if Jack Leggett hangs around, my kids will be able to see Clemson turn into an unstoppable baseball program. That is... if we can actually WIN a World Series... but I feel pretty confident that this year is special. Of all the teams in the ACC, we are by far the strongest.