BLOG ROUNDTABLE

Mr. Trev Alberts over a Fire Mark May.com has invited us simple country folk with a penchant for pet rocks to join their fancy, big city blog round table for a lil’ segment. It’s basically a Q&A for college football bloggers across the internet to fill the gaping void that is the college sports off-season. Feel free to write your own responses in the comments section.

Your Home Field Advantage

Give the more zealous portion of your fan base a religion. What's this cult following? Feel free to give the splitters a derogatory nickname.

Chili: Our fan base right now is not cohesive enough to group them under just one religion. The easiest sect to categorize would be the die-hard Tommy Bowden fans. They are the Heaven’s Gate Cult. Bound by an unwavering devotion to a highly religious, castrated figurehead (as the Tommy haters would say), these Nike-clad devotees hope for a promised miracle. Like Marshall Applewhite, Tommy’s best skill might be recruiting, though their teams tend to waver and fail when the spotlight (Halle-Bop, Virginia Tech) is on them.

Your biggest rival is in town, and College Gameday is coming....to your citaaaaaaay... Create a blatant corporate sellout promotion to appeal to the mass unwashed.

WM: If they’re not already full up with ads for Naturally Fresh, Tom Winkopp, Jackaroo, Coca-Cola, whatever cellular provider is hot, and Bi-Lo, maybe we can sell out a little more. Hmm…. Is nothing sacred?

Chili: I say we have the Kia of Greer (HAY FRIENDS! (it’s a local thing)) Get in the Game challenge. We pull a seat number out of a hat, immediately grab that fan, be they a man, woman, or child, elderly, healthy, or sickly, and suit them up and put them in one offensive or defensive drive for the Tigers. Buried in the fine print on the back of each fan’s ticket will be legalese giving them no option to opt out of our enticing offer (duct tape may be necessary to secure compliance). It should be fascinating to see how the average fan, probably still drunk from pregaming, belly full of chicken wings and coleslaw, reacts when put on the gridiron against some of the best athletes in the country at full game speed. DFIG and Kia of Greer are not liable for any bodily harm or long term effects of concussions incurred as a participant in this promotion.

Add one local delicacy to your stadium's concessions. Post-tax pricing is optional.

If we could add one local delicacy it would be wings courtesy of the legendary Esso Club. But we couldn’t just stop at the wings, you have to also pile on the fried pickles, fried mushrooms, and $1 PBRs that make an afternoon on the Esso porch one of life’s great leisure experiences not involving two chicks at the same time, dude.

WM: It's in my highest opinion that the Esso provides Tiger Town with some of the best wings. Maybe even in all of the outer lying areas as well. It's always been my belief that stadiums should just nut up and serve hot wings at sporting events to the people in the bleacher seats.

With an unlimited AD budget, add or subtract one thing to your school's game day experience that has nothing to do with football.

WM: One word: more night games. Which... isn't really one word I guess. But we would make would be to make every game a night game. Death Valley at night is a hundred times better than it is for some awful, sweltering 1 PM game or even the quaint 3:30 kickoff. Call me old fashioned, but I just don't like sweating out our morning buzz during a noon game while baking in the sun with no way of perpetuating my inebriation. Also, night games would potentially cut down on the amount of crying babies and kids. I know all you family folks will think less of me for saying that, but please, hear me out.

Chili: Yeah, Willy Mac has a real sore spot for crying children. True story, at the Georgia game in 2003 there was a crying baby two rows back from us. Willy Mac had a couple or eighteen beers in him and was so angered by the sobbing infant that his face was as red as the Georgia logo. “I’ma get dat baby!” he shouts as he grabs the infant by the soft spot and drop kicks it down the bleachers. True story.

As far as new additions to gameday go, anything is better than that fucking awful Zombie Nation garbage. Way to rip off the electric game day atmosphere of… Georgia Tech. We’ve been over the tragedy that is Zombie Nation plenty of times over the past year but I’ll just say I’m more embarrassed that we added that to our game day experience (and that people liked it) than I am that we lost to South Carolina. Almost.

Let’s see… one gimmick for game day. Well, I’d like to see more utilization of the Hill in the east endzone. Sure it’s the highlight of an iconic stadium entrance, but the minute the team finishes their entrance the carpets are rolled up and fans cover the hill. Let’s cover the hill in orange tarp and have a constant flow of cold beer trickling into a pool of sudsy brew at the base of the goalpost to form the most fantastically drunk slip n slide ever (all due respeck to Trick Daddy).

Like this, only oranger and blurrier and drunker...er.

General NCAA questions

Coin a hilariously unrealistic stereotype that you would like to "make stick" for this upcoming season.

Chili: Chan Gailey compulsively knits AIDS quilts. Bobby Bowden won’t set foot in a room unless it contains a lit fireplace and framed 8x10 of Burt Reynolds. Every time Tom O’Brien opens a new bar of Irish Spring he has to cut a chunk out of it with his Old Timer and snort deep the odor of Ireland. Jim Grobe is an expert on ancient Roman culinary arts and recently built a vomitorium onto his home with his ACC Championship money. Steve Spurrier only enjoys golf because of the supple young caddies.

"You're safe here, Bobby."

Redesign your conference or independent schedule with reckless abandon. Be prepared to include compensation for jilted schools and conferences in your explanation.

Chili: Instead of redesigning the ACC (hey, I like it how it is), I’m simply going to retool our 07 schedule. Our in-conference schedule for 07 includes FSU, NCSU, GT, VT, Maryland, Duke, Wake, and BC. The only game I’d change would be the game at Maryland. I don’t necessarily hate Maryland; I just don’t care about them. Their fans are degenerates, their football atmosphere is a joke, and hell they’d probably beat us. I’d rather play Miami. Our home and home series with them a couple years ago produced two legendary games and I think it’s a match up that could become a good second tier rivalry. It’d be easy to exchange Maryland for Miami. For one, we switch one of the worst college football environments and worst, most crime ridden college towns with another. We’re switching burners and vials of crack for roller blades, jorts, and uncut Bolivian. Plus it’d be easy to buy off Maryland with about a dozen hot dogs from Skins sent to Fridge’s office. HAHA FAT JOKE ROFFLE.

Our nonconference schedule includes Louisiana Monroe, Furman, Central Michigan, and the Gamecocks. We’ve gotta play USC, and Furman is a traditional opponent, so keep both of those. I’m more a proponent of a tough out of conference schedule than others who support loading up with cupcakes, so I say we scrap Louisiana-Monroe and Western Michigan and find tougher opponents. Does this mean wiping away two guaranteed wins? Maybe, but I’d rather face tougher teams and get more national exposure. I would like to see us play Georgia to keep that traditional (albeit lopsided) rivalry going. As a concession, we deliver to Louisiana-Monroe…. tickets to watch the Clemson-Georgia game. Fair enough. Replace Central Michigan with regular ol’ Michigan. I don’t know why, but I've really wanted to play the Wolverines more than other high profile out of conference teams. I’d like to play these guys in a home-and-home. I think the Big House would be a great road trip, plus I hear Michigan girls are sluts. As a concession, we give Central Michigan a monkey skull full of circa 1993 Aladdin’s Castle tokens.

Legal tender in Malaysia.

WM: The first thing I would do is crap in my undies. After I’ve finished cleaning myself, I’d get straight to the drawing board. What I’ve come up with is the South Eastern Atlantic Conference, or simply, the SEAC. It would be the end all be all of conferences and by far the toughest to play in. It would be solely dedicated to football and all other sports would be thrown out the window. My new brainchild would label the following in its ranks : Clemson, Sakerlina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Florida, Auburn, LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Furman, and Vanderbilt (the last two solely for academic purposes, even though they’ll put up a good fight). They’d be split into SEAC Atlantic Division (Clemson, Sakerlina, UGA, GT, FSU, Furman) and the SEAC Gulf Division (Flawda, Auburn, LSU, Bama, Arky, and Vandy).

In this conference, no game is a given. This way, the major out-of-conference (Clemson/USC, UGA/GT, FSU/UF) games will actually count for something and these rivalries will take precedence when conference scheduling comes around so they will still be at the end of the year. Charge damn near a grand per ticket for every game and lets burn this mother on down! (Insert Harold and Kumar clip) The What’s Left Conference will consist of Georgia Southern, Duke, Nowf Kerlyna, NC State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Miami, VT, UVA, Ole Miss, Miss State, and UCF. Why UCF? Cause Boston is entirely too north to be included in any conference consisting of entirely southern teams.

Following up on your new realignment, blow up the BCS and devise a national playoff system, money grabs and missed exams be damned. Using your new fantasy conferences is optional.

WM: I agree with Mr. Trev Alberts here and have to agree with leaving the non-BCS bowls alone. As far as the BCS bowls are concerned, as opposed to a two week extravaganza, make it three weeks. Just another reason to blow one last week of paying attention to the real world and stretch out the college football season a little more. Let all the BCS teams play the first week. Take the winners and let them play the next week and the final week will be Natty week.

Chili: As convoluted as the bowl system may be, there are upsides that should be preserved if switching gears to a playoff system. The communities that host the bowl games and the teams who participate in them benefit financially in a way they might not if a home-field-advantage style playoff system was in place. The solution is to have a 32 team playoff structured similarly to the NCAA basketball tournament. Naturally the BCS level bowls will be the hosts for the semifinals, maybe rotating who hosts the championship game. For the lower round games, old bowl venues will host multiple games over a weekend to attract large enough crowds, similar to the earlier rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament. Obviously this leaves many bowls out in the cold. My solution is to bring back preseason games like the old Kickoff Classic games that could replace some of this lost revenue. One (optional) preseason game, ten regular season games, a conference championship, and up to five playoff games produces 17 games, only 3 or 4 more than most teams play currently, not many more than most high schools, and less than a full playoff run in the NFL.

Elect one public figure to replace NCAA president Myles Brand. Anyone with proper name recognition is eligible.

Russian President Vladimir Putin would be perfect for the job. He has proven to be an iron-fisted leader in the true Russian dictatorial mold who would put the hammer down on the absurd BCS system and those pesky university presidents. Unruly teams would be sent to the gulags (Mountain West, Sun Belt). Who wouldn’t want to see Pooty Poot go all Politkovskaya on reporters who overstep their bounds (I’m looking at you, ESPN). Liberal use of thallium is expected.

That’s our take, discuss it in the comments section.

WHAT CAN WE SAY? BLAKE LIKES TO PARTY!

The following were taken at a wedding two weekends ago. Gotta love Sakerlina quarterbacks: Dumb, drunk, and guaranteed to wind up bagging groceries five to ten years down the road. Proceed with caution... or hilarity, whatever. Enjoy. (HT: LizDawg @ The Rant)

Pit stains = 500 bonus pts

Here we see Blake in a trance no doubt caused by alcohol, the repetitive chorus from "Get Low", and his buddies dancing skills.

This is Blake's patented "Pre-Shirt Removal Jig" which is usually followed by a fight, then vomiting.

*** This just in. Hilarious but poorly done video of Blake Mitchell cuttin' a rug via EDSBS.com. Always quality material out of that camp. Enjoy some more.

FRIDAY LOLCOACHES

A little SEC flavor this week.

KNOW YOUR NOLES: DINNERITME IN TALLAHASSEE (81 DAYS)

No idea for the pic this week, so here's former FSU grad Burt Reynolds and his pet bear.... No wait, here you go:

Presenting the FSU "Outside" helmet. A fully padded helmet for the special lil' FSU fan in your family when traveling outside the safeties of your home. Warranty only covers injuries sustained while walking.

Hi kitties, it’s your Seminole buddy, NoleCC again. Did you enjoy the origami lesson on my site last week? I hope so. That’s the official DFIG logo at ScalpEm.com, fyi! And don’t forget, if you’d like to see footage of Willy Mac (Or just some rancom Clemson fan) shotgunning a beer, head to my site.... (Or just check out my article here. - Willy Mac)

As part of our ongoing series with DFIG, here’s the key to game weekend dining in the Capital City.

Restaurant: The 4th Quarter Bar & Grill. – The 4th Quarter is a dive with fairly cheap food and drinks, and it is my favorite hang out in town. The only downside to it is that the local Gators migrate in there a little too often, but it’s a good place to watch other games in peace. And the drinks are pretty cheap on top of that.

Dish: Cardiac Basket (Cheddar Bacon Fries with Ranch Dressing on the side). If that doesn’t clog an artery, I don’t know what will. For dinner, get a Patty Melt, but make sure you ask the waitress to “Hold the Patty and Hold the Melt” after you’ve had a Maudite. Really, they LOVE that, I swear.

Booze: Yes

Open Sundays: Yes

Restaurant: Famous Dave’s BBQ – Okay, it’s a chain, but it basically put Smokey Bones out of business, and it has sauce called DEVIL’S SPIT. How can you beat something called Devil’s Spit?

Dish: From what I can tell, anything. I’m not the biggest Q fan, so I order burgers there generally, but EVERYTHING looks good, and numerous friends of mine have said it’s good. The only thing you might want to stay away from are the fried apples, since they aren’t mushy enough for me.

Booze: Yes

Open Sundays: Yes

Restaurant: Harry’s – It’s downtown at Kleman Plaza and everything is Creole / New Orleans style. It’s more upscale, but on a game weekend you’re fine in your Clemson polo and khaki’s (relatively anyway, it’s orange for crying out loud).

Dish: Check out the specials and go with whatever fish you desire.

Booze: Yes

Open Sundays: Yes

Restaurant: Momo’s Pizza – If you want something simple like pizza, but not necessarily cheap, head to Momo’s.

Dish: Pizza, DUH. Momo’s has slices the size of your head, and it’s the best pizza in town if you like something that is New York Style. You have anything from regular toppings to stuff like Bradley’s Country Sausage, a very good white pizza, or a Pesto style pizza. If you head to the Momo’s on the North side of town, you can get appetizers too, make sure you get some cheesy bread.

Booze: Yes

Open Sundays: Yes

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.

FRIDAY LOLCOACHES

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.

JAMES MAYS TO STAY AT CLEMSON

From Tigernet: "Clemson junior James Mays withdrew his name from the NBA Draft on Thursday and will return to school for his final season in 2007-08."

Thank God. This makes me look forward to the 07-08 season even more. Should be a great Tiger squad on the court under the capable tutelage of OP.

KNOW YOUR NOLES: SUPER SWEET LUNCH AND SNACK FOOD EDITION (88 DAYS TILL KICKOFF)

Chili, over at Danny Ford Is God, can kiss my rear end. SuperPerros this, SuperPerros that. He needs to understand that Colombian-style doesn’t mean he’s getting any Colombian women with the food. And on top of that, he uttered the words “pineapple” and “hot dog” in the same sentence. (In all seriousness I like SP’s just fine, but…)

It’s NOT Dog Et Al. That’s the best dog in town.

So, Tigers, if you’re in Tally this is where you need to head for Lunch, provided it’s not Sunday.

Where? Dog Et Al on South Monroe Street.

Why? NoleCC himself eats there once per week. They have the best hot dogs in town, with so many combinations you could have a different dog, every day for 28 years. I recommend either the Jumbo Corn Dog or a Coney-Style Super, but whatever floats your boat is good. The fries, homemade chips and onion rings are all good, and a combo meal include fries (or chips) and a drink is usually under 7 bucks!

What NoleCC said in the above paragraph, as recited by a GT student.

****** CASH OR CHECKS ONLY! NO CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS ******

Hot dogs not your thing? A) I don’t care, you’re not a real American and B) They have “uppity” dogs too, like sausages or brats.

And when you’re done with that, realizing that you should have gone to FSU instead of Clemson, it’s time for a little dessert. That’s when you drive your happy little Tiger ass over to Cold Stone Creamery on West Tennessee Street (Ignore the crappy parts of the strip on the way there). Enjoy the view of the North Side of Campus, and wonder why on earth you didn’t come to Tallahassee sooner.

Stick around; I’ll cover the important parts in my next editions, where to eat and what to drink for dinner and after! Check out Willy Mac's article here.

Worse than a Clemson area commercial? You decide, but this is pretty bad. Also, the recycled clips of the old guy shaking a foot long hot dog wiener at me all throughout the commercial just puts me off.

TDP DOWNPLAYS ARKANSAS AD JOB

According to this morning's Post & Courier, Terry Don Phillips has not officially spoken to anyone at Arkansas about the job, and states that he doesn't want to discuss the situation further. We reported rumors that it was a done deal, and though TDP is currently downplaying the situation, we still expect him to leave for his alma mater.

"Later, punks."

THE PROS (AND CONS) OF DITCHING TOMMY BOWDEN

Tommy Bowden: Can we lose him, or do we need to hang on to him?

With the rumor mill running full steam, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to dig up the dead horse called "Fire Bowden" from the garden out back and give it a few more whallops. I've thought about it for quite sometime now and have never actually put my thoughts, hopes, and worrying into a meaningful statement. What I have done in the past is merely state an honest opinion on the Tigernet from time to time and two things happen: 1) I get an earful from the retard nation that lives on that washed up board; 2) The mods of the board delete the thread after a few minutes, even though it doesn't violate any of their rules. That's something that happens a bit far too often when folks stray off of the beaten path over there. Anyways, without further ranting, here we go:

The Cons

- First and foremost, if we can boot Bowden his coaches will more than likely follow suit. They are a really tight staff and it is my belief that they will follow him through thick and thin, even if that means going to a new school and starting all over again.

- There is one thing that Bowden has got that we almost can't afford to lose and that's the ability to recruit well. Either we can't afford to lose that or it's going to be a really hard task to replace his ability to seal the deal and convince recruits to don the orange and purple. Following from the first statement, we can't afford to lose the recruiting abilities of his assistant coaches, mainly Swinney and Blackwell.

- We lose image. Let's face it... TB isn't a bad guy. He's not crazy. He's not out of control. He has a firm grasp on his team and program. He has a good relationship with his higher-ups. He doesn't really cheat (from what we know). He doesn't run his mouth. He doesn't trash people. He's just a good, upstanding person.

- It's a hefty buy-out still. I forget how much exactly (if someone wants to help me out in the comments section), but it's more than we can afford to give up. It's a well known fact that we're kind of pressed for money. Now that we're in the hole because of the West End Zone, we can't buy him out anymore. Even if a couple of rich trustees stood up and fronted the money, that would be money that would be of better use if it were put into the WEZ fund.

- Not only would we miss out on his/his coaches recruiting skills, but theres a chance that if we can can him, he could convince the recruits he's currently after to jump ship with him, decommit, and play for him in different colors down the road. I don't like to think of the next CJ Spiller NOT playing for us. On top of that, there's a possibility that he could pull an Urban Meyer and convince some of our current stunners to go with him where ever he would go. A lot of his players are still pretty loyal to him, even after the whole Reggie Merriweather incident at last year's Sakerlina game.

- Lastly, I don't know how grounded his daughter is in the local area, but if she followed daddy's money trail, oh what a loss that would be to the freshmen at Clemson. Even though she's all graduated and learned up and gone, it'd still hurt the local perv population pretty bad. I mean, c'mon, you've seen the picture... yeah you have... Although, hotties like that are a dime a dozen in the south so she could be easily replaced.

The more desperate Tommy gets for wins, the more sideline fireworks to expect.

The Pros

- Season ticket sales as well as IPTAY donations would see a rise. I'm sure that there's a few people out there that cancelled their tickets and donations because they got sick and tired and it's their little way of telling Clemson what they think. Unfortunately, Clemson could care less about a few donations and tickets here or there. They're still making bank. But a little extra couldn't hurt.

- It gives us a chance to get a better coach to excel where Bowden failed. Said coach would also inherit everything Bowden has built here at Clemson. Take for example the University of Florida. A few years ago when they had Ron Zook, they were in constant turmoil and were up and down. In comes Urban Meyer, a coach who is just as good, if not better at recruiting than Zook. He's definitely a better coach. Now they're wearing a brand new set of National Championship rings... *sigh*. I don't even want a Natty, just give me A championship to brag about. C'mon, pretty please?

- A lot of our athletes and recruits will stay put and ride this thing out because of the Reggie Merriweather incident at the USC game. They'll figure, "Here's a guy thats willing to ride me like a horse for a couple of years, then just toss me to the side of the road to fend for myself at the end of my career even though I've given so much to him, the coaches, and the program."

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.

RAMPANT RUMORATION

Expect current Clemson Athletic Directory Terry Don Phillips to be announced as the new AD at Arkansas (his alma mater) on Wednesday of this week. He has long been rumored to be heading there, but word from those close to the situation say a press conference will be held this week. Terry Don was not in Myrtle Beach to see the baseball team play in the regional, fueling the speculation of his forthcoming departure.

BASEBALL IN ACTION AT COASTAL CAROLINA REGIONAL

FINALLY, something newsworthy. Our boys travel down to Myrtle Beach for Coastal's Regional. The tournament is set to last from June first through June fourth. Let's just hope that they'll at least be playing on Sunday. The tournament itself is set for double-elimination. We start with St. John's at noon on Friday and the winner will play the winner of the Coastal/VCU game on Saturday at 4pm.

The winner of this regional will go on to play the winner of the Tallahassee regional. Best case scenario for us is for Florida State to lose their regional. If this happens and we win out this weekend, we could be hosting the super regional in Clemson which would be huge. The team has really struggled this year and I'd like to see them gout out with at least a little bit of spark.

Again, sorry this is not funny or exciting, but hey... at least nobody's whipping their dong out on a golf course in this post.

Let's just hope our pitching is stellar, I'd like an excuse not to go to summer class next week.

CLASSING UP THE JOINT

Steve Spurrier letting cocky breathe. On Augusta National no less.

Sure the photo is a couple days old, but we figured we'd spread it a little further as Tigernet has been zapping every mention of the photo. Why? I have no idea. We all know that one of the ways Sakerlina lures quality coaches to their school is to promise them a membership at Augusta National, courtesy of Sakerlina grad Hootie Johnson. Who knew they also give special privileges to said coaches like the ability to make their own water hazards? Yeah, you know it's a slow news cycle when all we have to post is some guy pissing. We'll get back to regular posting sometime soon.

JUST REMEMBER HOW BAD ASSED WE ARE

I've been doing nothing but watching all these highlight videos of our opponents all spring long. All our follies, stupid plays, and terrible game plans. I've fed off of our failures and bad plays that we made at the end of the season. Nothing but anger, just hatred running through my veins. Then, YouTube reminded me who we are. Up with hope, down with dope. Bring it on FSU.

Death Valley... 126 decibels... nuff said.

TIGERS FARE WELL AT THE DRAFT

All in all, five former Tigers were drafted in the seven rounds of the NFL draft last Saturday and Sunday. Five more of our guys were signed as undrafted free agents.

Drafted were the following:

Player........................Pos....Team......................Pick...Round
Gaines Adams...........DE.....Tampa Bay............4.........First
Anthony Waters........LB.....San Diego.............96.......Third
Dustin Fry..................C.......St. Louis................139.....Fifth
C. J. Gaddis................DB....Philadelphia..........159.....Fifth
Chansi Stuckey..........WR...New York Jets......235.....Seventh

Undrafted Free Agents signed are as follows:

Player...............................Pos....Team
Sergio Gilliam.................DB.....Minnesota
Nathan Bennett...............OL.....Carolina
Reggie Merriweather.....RB.....San Diego
Duane Coleman...............DB.....Buffalo
Marion Dukes..................OL.....Miami

So far, 10 out of 19 of the Clemson players that worked out for pro scouts were signed to teams in the NFL. Several others, mostly Roman Fry, Will Proctor (believe it or not, he had a very good spring), Jad Dean, and Thomas Hunter will more than likely receive invites to training camps and tryouts for various teams across the league.

Rumors abound at Fan Nation that Gaines Adams might hold out to get more money on his contract, but can you really blame him with what happened to A. J. Hawk last year? I'd get as much money as possible up front. The NFL is a cruel multi-million dollar beast that chews up players' bodies like tic tacs. Plus, who wouldn't want to swim around in millions of dollars like Scrooge McDuck?

What Gaines Adams will be doing once he gets paid.

There are plenty of pointless facts on the CUAD website (which was copy/pasted verbatim by Tigernet), but the most important are the following:

- Gaines Adams was the fourth overall pick of the draft... eat that. This makes the second year in a row that a Clemson player has been drafted in the first round. Tye Hill went to St. Louis last year and was the 15th pick of the 2006 draft.

- There are lot's of players from the 2006 Clemson team joining former teammates in the bigs. Gaines Adams joins Charles "Flyin' Orange n' Purple People Eater" Bennett in Tampa, Chansi Stuckey joins up with 2007 Pro Bowler Justin Miller in New York to don the Green and White, Anthony Waters and hopefully Reggie Merriweather head out west to join Charlie Whitehurst in San Diego, C. J. Gaddis heads to the home of the WORST SPORTS FANS EVER... you know , Philadelphia, to learn the ropes from Six time Pro Bowler Brian Dawkins, and lastly Dustin Fry heads to the beer capital of America to play with Tye Hill.

- Most importantly, Gaines stuck around for a very successful senior year instead of fleeing after his junior year. I think it really paid off... I mean, REALLY paid off. Tommy pointed that out to me:

"I am very happy for Gaines and his family. He showed patience in January of 2006 when he decided to come back for his senior year and that patience paid off today." - Tommy Bowden

Two opposite ends of the spectrum: One, a man that possesses talents worth millions of dollars. The other, a man that possesses an uncanny ability to choke under pressure and ride the coat tails of teammates into the pros.

CONGRATULATIONS, GAINES

Gaines Adams was the 4th overall pick in this year's draft, overcoming the Mighy Quinn and all his courage. Pending any possible trade, he is now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

BASKETBALL FUTURE ASPLODE?

MAYS DECLARING FOR DRAFT

James Mays has announced that he will test the waters of the NBA Draft but will not hire an agent, leaving the door open for a possible return for his senior season if he withdraws from the draft before June 18. I was pretty surprised when I first heard the news, but it makes sense from the standpoint that he will be able to attend pre-draft camps to hone his skills and see where he stacks up to the top players in the country. This will probably provide him with better practice than Clemson's off season shoot arounds and conditioning. Clearly this is exactly what Mays has in mind, judging from his quote in the Charleston Post & Courier: "This will give me an opportunity to evaluate where I stand as a player. If I don't do as well as I hope to, by not signing with an agent, I will have a great opportunity to remain at Clemson and finish my college career."

I was discussing the issue with some friends over drinks last night and one brought up the fact that Mays had already flunked out once and perhaps his declaring for the draft is a preemptive strike and that maybe he has hit academic troubles again and wouldn't be able to return next year even if he wanted to. Of course this is a completely unsubstantiated theory, but hey, that's what blogs are for.


DENDY DISSES CLEMSON CAGERS

Laron Dendy, he of the four star recruiting ranking and four schools in three years high school standing, has decided to decommit to the Clemson basketball program. He was ranked the 18th best power forward in the nation and was to join Clemson for the 07-08 season before questionable academics caused him to be reclassified as a junior. Schools he is now interested in include Sakerlina, Arizona, Maryland, Texas, and Florida (oh, and still Clemson).

He had been committed to the Tigers for over two years. Apparently two years worth of weekly recruiting letters filled with all sorts of big, confusing words was enough of a turnoff for this guy to make him think of trying to take his game to less scrupulous coaches like Gary Williams, who we all know will give a scholly to anyone who can ball regardless of the fact that their IQ falls in Forrest Gump territory. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh on Dendy, I don't know the kid, maybe he got caught up in the wrong sort of "diploma-mills" like Prince Ave Prep in Pickens and can't help that his academic responsibilities have been neglected by those who are supposed to have his best interests in mind but probably on have future signing bonuses floating in their heads. I hope he gets his academics in order and ends up at some school, and I hope it's Clemson, but with the departure of his main recruiter on the Tiger staff, this is looking less and less likely.

GO MINNESOTA STATE SCREAMING EAGLES!

I don't know what you're doing today, but I'm going to go play the greatest arcade game of the 1990's... Coach: Dauber's Revenge.

KNOW YOUR NOLES: POST SPRING BALL EDITION

Mediocre Photoshop... check.


First photoshop ever. I think the picture itself paints a perfect picture of what's been extremely popular among Noles fans everywhere: Lowriders with FSU themed paint jobs.

Continuing my ongoing series, I bring you "Know Your Noles". It's a pretty cut and dry Q&A with one of the top Florida State blogs in preparation for the Labor Day match up between FSU and Clemson that is just 131 days away. The first article, done with ChantRant.com can be found here. This second edition has been brought to you by our good friend and Blogger-In-Arms NoleCC over at ScalpEm.com. Our questions for their segment of "Know Your Tigers" can be found here.

DFIG: How has the new coaching staff melded together? Any signs of struggle or trouble?

Scalp Em': I think we're still at the honeymoon stage for the coaching staff. There were two noticeable differences in this staff though. The first is that these coaches get in players' faces. No more coddling, no more hand holding, just do your job and get it done right. Personally, I like that. The second is that when Bobby Bowden was asked about the QBs, he deferred to Jimbo Fisher. That says a lot, considering it was usually Jeff Bowden deferring to his daddy.

Depending on how the season opens, this story might change, but right now things are peachy.

DFIG: Is the quarterback picture for next year any clearer?

SE: For me, yes. For everybody else, no it’s not any clearer. After watching the spring game, it became obvious that Weatherford is ahead of Xavier Lee. Noles fans everywhere just wish that Drew had XL's arm. Weatherford did a much better job of buying some time in and out of the pocket, and made very accurate throws on Jimbo's crossing routes.

Lee, on the other hand didn't look like he was ready to play. His throws were generally inaccurate, he didn't generally step up in the pocket and he just didn't look "smart" out there. If history is any indicator, Weatherford will be hitting the playbook, film and gym all summer and will be the clear cut #1 in the fall. Many Seminole fans are in Xavier's camp still, but he threw another INT that looked like the Duke pick-six in the G&G game. I just don't think he's ever going to "get it."

On a side note, I really wish we could have seen Christian Ponder work with the first team. He throws a very pretty ball.

DFIG: Right now, who is/are the single best offensive/defensive player(s).

SE: Offense - Antone Smith is light years ahead of any other running back on the depth chart. He looked strong last year, and was a better option than Lorenzo Booker. Now that he finally has his shot, free and clear from anyone more senior than him, he'll make some big plays.

Defense - Andre Fluellen is going to be a force in the middle of the line. If he doesn't wreak havoc, then everyone else on the Defensive Line will this season, thanks to Fluellen, who will draw a lot of attention from other teams.

As for the next two years... go ahead and fill Myron Rolle in as your answer.

Myron Rolle giving the ol' Deacon Jones treatment to a teammate.

DFIG: Have the pitchfork mobs subsided since last season, or is there even more bloodlust for Bobby.

SE: I think that everyone in Seminole Territory is optimistic. So, the bloodlust is gone for now. Where I think it might return is when the Noles struggle (and they will here and there) and it becomes obvious that FSU's goal this year should be an ACC Title and not an MNC. The guys that will go nuts are the overly optimistic ones saying that FSU is going to win 12 games this year. Quite frankly, that's crazy talk. 9 wins with FSU's schedule (only 5 home games) would be a huge improvement over the last 5 or 6 years.

DFIG: If Bobby has another bad year (if you can call an average year a bad year), does he hang it up?

SE: The only way he hangs it up is if his health goes, or if he wins another MNC. Otherwise, Bobby isn't going anywhere. And, contrary to the pitchfork masses’ desire, you can't get rid of the guy you name the field after. Too bad. Next time wait for him to retire before you name the field after him if you're so worried about it.

DFIG: Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, discuss your thoughts.

SE: It's rare that a mini-series evokes an emotional response out of me. The only other one that has, is Band of Brothers. Planet Earth has been fascinating, horrifying, disgusting and beautiful, all at the same time. I enjoyed 'Shallow Seas' the most so far, but last Sunday's 'Caves' episode is a close second.

What blows my mind is how great Discovery Theater HD looks on a standard 480i Sony Wega. It'll be great to watch it again in HD someday when I have an HDTV.

SUPER BLOWOUT LABOR DAY BIG GAME BOWDEN BOWL BET

That's what we're calling it. We've entered into a bet with NoleCC over at ScalpEm.com to spice up the Labor Day match up. The stipulations are as follows:

Victory by < 7 = a single day of Purple and Orange gracing the front page of Scalp Em'.

Victory by 7-14 = 2 days of searing, contrasting, retina burning colors for NoleCC.

Victory by 14 or more = 3 days of beautiful color on that FSU rag sheet.

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.

MAP OF IPTAY LOTS ON GOOGLE EARTH

The map omits the secret parking lot under the stadium where I park. Didn't know about that one? Yeah, 'cause you can't afford it. Only Triple Platinum IPTAY members allowed. It's just me and the dude that founded Hooters.

Eddie Venter, friend of DFIG, posted this great overlay for Google Earth showing all IPTAY parking lots around Death Valley. Here's a direct link to the KML file. It's nice to see Google Earth finally obtained some higher resolution shots of Clemson, it used to look like a puddle of split pea soup but now I can see all the places where Willy Mac and I used to go drinking, and that one place where he ripped the gutter off of that building, you know the one I'm talking about. Thanks to Eddie for this one.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE VT REACTION

Hokies in our hearts.

Today we are all Hokies.

If you’ve been on the internet since the chilling and deplorable massacre in Blacksburg you’ve no doubt seen people use these slogans hundreds of times. There are logos out there for virtually every school which incorporate the VT logo and a black ribbon. All of these gestures mean well and they are probably heartfelt, but there’s something about them that makes me really think, and I felt like I would share my thoughts on the matter. These are kind of my raw thoughts, so forgive me if it's a little "stream of consciousness."

First of all how insane was it that NBC and other news outlets have been playing Cho Seung-Hui's video non-stop? NBC has it all over the place, yet Imus is too inappropriate for air. It goes to show you just how messed up this country is when news networks are airing these videos in their entirety yet bleeping out when Cho says "fuck" -- like that's the inappropriate thing about the goddamned videos.

Now back to my thoughts on people's reactions to the event. The reactions to the tragedy I’m speaking of here are not those of the Virginia Tech “family,” that being those related to the victims, VT students, staff, alumni, and the surviving victims themselves. Their grief is real, it’s palpable and the media is feeding off of it with reckless abandon. This event has hit them in ways I cannot begin to imagine.

I’m speaking of the average messageboard poster, a type of person with which we are all familiar. To the majority of people, the Virginia Tech killings have been reduced to a bumper sticker. I’ve seen more internet posts mostly consisting of “Hokies in our hearts” with little real commentary or insight about the tragedy. This has become a “Support Our Troops” sort of thing. It’s become just something people say because they think they’re supposed to without giving real support, without opening themselves up to the facts and events behind the catch phrase. People ignore the realities of the VT massacre the same way they ignore the war. What this saying has essentially become is a buffer for real discourse about the event. Now I don’t expect some expertly nuanced debate about psychiatric treatment in America and the rights of professors to demand treatment for students they feel are in need of it or about gun control, though even political posturing is a more honest reaction to the event than just ignoring them and slapping a sticker on your truck.

I promise you this guy has no less than 4 ribbon stickers on his tailgate.

The point I’m getting at is people need to forget about the slogans, think about the shooting, don’t just fucking copy-paste a gif image or some slogan. Think of the victims and their families. Think of what drove the shooter to this dire end. Read the more insightful media coverage out there, not the sick sensationalist shit on Nancy Grace or Fox News. If the only reaction you have to the event is to act like a sheep and spit out the same thing you’ve seen posted a million times then just shut the hell up. You bring nothing to the table and don’t feel like you have to inject yourself into the tragedy. You don’t have to post anything at all about the events of this week. The entire country feels for these victims and their families, don’t trivialize it with some cliché.

A poster brought up the point that in October, when the Tigers take on the Hokies at Death Valley, they expect the entire crowd to cheer for VT when they take the field. Several posters expressed the same feeling, while one or two disagreed and were belittled. I’m with the naysayers. By October, the media will have long since moved on, and with it goes the short attention span of today’s media consumers. ESPN will do a piece on the Hokies’ first game and then will forget about it. God forbid new tragedies occur, but surely something will have pushed this event far out of the way in everyone’s mind but the VT family, on whose lives this tragedy has rendered an indelible scar.

Yes, come October many people may stand up and cheer for the Hokies, but only if they have a jumbotron to tell them to.

Discuss this at The Rant.

THURSDAY NEWS

Football:

WestZone project may resume in 08.

This phase will move all football operations currently held in the Jervey and McFadden buildings into the WestZone, as well as add a small zoo containing various breeds of tigers, a BBQ smoke pit, a world-class spa, and a holodeck. Oh, and a room full of strippers. Funny that the headline of the Greenville News article says the project could begin in 08, yet mentions that it is vastly more likely to begin in 09.

IPTAY sells out.

IPTAY has kicked long-time donors in the balls, as expected, and changed their season ticket policy to give better seats to those who give more, as opposed to the previous policy that awarded those who had continuously donated to the organization. While I understand the move and can respect it from a purely financial standpoint, Clemson has made plenty of moves lately that have been less than fan friendly (raising ticket prices, stricter parking regulations for games, keeping Bowden) and I can only hope we have a great season this year or all this shit might backfire.

Cullen Harper separates from the pack.

Harper was 15-24 with 3 TDs in the Orange & Purple game in leading the Orange team to a 35-16 victory over the Purple squad. This performance finally created some distance in what was a tight race for starting QB. Harper had the best numbers throughout the spring practice season, according to Tigernet.

Rendrick Taylor injured again.

This time it is much less severe than his broken wrist of 2005 or broken arm of last year. He tore ligaments in one of his fingers early in the Orange & Purple game and will undergo a six week rehab for the injury.

Second-team Sapp.

The heir apparent to Gaines Adams has hit some snags in the offseason and has been demoted to second string for the time being with rising senior Kwam Williams taking the first-string spot. The State article mentions that both have had moments of excellence in the offseason but Kwam has the edge for now.

Basketball:

Tyler to transfer

AJ Tyler, who averaged just 5.1 minutes a game in 30 games last season, is unhappy with his place on the Tiger basketball team. "I went into it expecting to be here for four years, but I realized this wasn't going to be the situation I thought it'd be," Tyler was quoted in the Charleston P&C as saying. He is expected to transfer to either Central Florida or South Florida.

CONDOLENCES

No jokes today, just seriously disheartening news from our ACC brother-in-arms. Virginia Tech has suffered a huge loss today at the hands of a lone gunman, who killed about 31 people on two separate shooting sprees. Virginia Tech big wigs have closed the campus for the time being, according to their homepage. We're not big on the prayer request thing, you know, but just keep the families and such in your thoughts. God be with VT right now.

ATTENTION

The Orange and White... er... Purple game is tomorrow and neither Willy Mac (severe illness) nor I will be able to attend. We need one of our readers to report on the game for us. If you will be attending the game and will be sober enough to remember what occurred, please email chili at dannyfordisgod.com and let me know ASAP, and send your take on the scrimmage sometime this weekend so we can have some coverage.

Thanks,

Chili

WEDNESDAY RANDOMNESS

You just know there's some Allman Brothers playing in the background.

Paw painting is one of Clemson's most well-known traditions and has been going on strong since 1971. I'll write a little more about it later, but for now here are two photos, one from the early-mid 80s and one from 2005, of members of Sigma Phi Epsilon painting the famous Tiger Paws on Clemson's roads and highways.

(I should also mention that the photo below is just a small fraction of current membership, I think SigEp is running about 70-80 strong about now, about 120 or so in membership in the above photo)

Probably O.A.R. this time around.

AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE SOME OF OUR DIGNITY

People from West Virginia being illiterate? Shocker.