Tuesday April 10, 2007

Highest Drafted Tiger Ever?; Tiger Walk; Recruiting; Bracketology;Tickets; Pre-Game

Gaines Gaining Ground?
The NFL Draft is fun to follow especially when you have a player you are interested in or if your favorite team has a top five pick. I do not have a favorite NFL team but Gaines Adams really has my interest higher this season. For the past few months I have heard Adams projected in the fifth or sixth slot but I heard an interesting report on ESPN’s Draft Special Monday. Two ESPN analysts had Adams heading to Detroit with the second overall pick. Their thought process was based upon needs. Both thought Jamarcus Russell would be the top pick to Oakland and Detroit would not draft another big wide receiver in Calvin Johnson. They said the Lions need a pass rusher. Forgive me for not knowing the analysts’ names (Eye doctor’s appointment and had dilated pupils) but one claimed he has heard from some scouts that Adams is a better football player than Mario Williams, last year’s top overall pick.

There is a distinct possibility that Adams will be the highest draft pick in Clemson history. Here is a list of the highest picks in school history:

Pick Year Player Team
4 1940 Banks McFadden Dodgers
5 1979 Jerry Butler Bills
6 1949 Bobby Gage Steelers
6 1982 Jeff Bryant Seahawks
10 1983 Terry Kinard Giants
11 1989 Donnell Woolford Bears
12 1960 Lou Cordileone Giants
13 1960 Harold Olson Cardinals
15 1993 Wayne Simmons Packers
15 1998 Anthony Simmons Seahawks
15 2001 Rod Gardner Redskins
15 2006 Tye Hill Rams
16 1992 Chester McGlockton Raiders
18 1957 Joel Wells Packers
19 1982 Perry Tuttle Bills
20 1980 Jim Stuckey 49ers
22 1985 William Perry Bears
23 1979 Steve Fuller Chiefs
23 1963 Pat Crain Bears
25 1987 Terrence Flagler 49ers
25 1999 Antwan Edwards Packers
27 1951 Fred Cone Packers

Big Sunday Event
Our community is fortunate to have so many great people and Monday night I received a phone call from one of my favorites and a gentleman I truly admire. Dr. Byron Harder knew he was headed to retirement several years ago and he knew how he wanted to spend time in retirement. So you can catch Dr. Harder at Clemson sporting events, gardening, taking care of the landscape at his church or fishing in Edisto. But his true dream came to reality when he helped open the Clemson Free Clinic in order to give medical attention to those in need in our community.

This Sunday the Clemson Free Clinic and the Clemson Community Care will host Tiger Walk (AKA Walk With the Docs). The Clemson Community Care also helps provide to the needy with items like food and clothes.

The athletic department is involved again this year and you can come out and walk with your favorite athletes and coaches. The event starts at 2:30 pm at Jervey Meadows (behind the baseball stadium) and is approximately two miles. You can make donations to support the Clemson Free Clinic and Clemson Community Care. Adult t-shirts are $15 and students are $10.

For more information call 864-654-1892 or email: macwood@nctv.com. My family and I are looking forward to the event and hope to see you there.

Recruiting Changes
My first real memories of the recruiting industry came in the 1980s where January was the month where everything happened. Often times the official visit was the first time a prospect saw your campus but that has changed in a big way.

Today prospects start taking unofficial visits as sophomores and juniors and start relationships with coaching staffs much earlier than ever before. It has become a fight to see who can get the unofficial visit much like it was for the official visits of the old days.

Now coaching staffs host several junior prospects each week and give them a campus tour and a tour of the athletic facilities. This time of year assistant coaches become tour guides and football coaches.

For the record, in my opinion the staff is already ahead of the game and could be in line for another outstanding recruiting class. Things are in order with recruiting as long as the Tigers win on the field in 2007.

Bracketology
In this blog, I look to the future as much as anyone and have even gotten in the Tigers’ prospects for the 2010 NFL draft. That is why I loved ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s NCAA basketball bracketology for the 2008 tournament. I did not love it because he has Clemson as a seventh seed in next year’s March Madness. Instead, I admire the idea of somebody trying to forecast the winner of the Sun Belt Conference and the Mountain West in basketball a full year in advance. I keep looking for the 2009 bracketology but have yet to locate it.

Tickets
I just received a phone call from a great friend asking me to inquire about tickets for Wednesday night’s baseball game against USC. If anyone has any for a great tiger please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.

Spring Pre-Game
South Carolina is having Hootie and the Blowfish at its spring game this year so I would say Clemson should have a side show and a few cage matches on the 50-yard line during halftime. I would suggest:

1. Geraldo vs. Bill O’Reilly
2. Sharpton vs. Imus
3. Cecil Huey vs. Danny Ford
4. Me vs. A Grammar Teacher
5. John Swofford vs. A Selected Clemson Fan From the Stands
6. C.J. Spiller vs. Jacoby Ford (Time Limit of 4.2 seconds)
7. Jim Davis and Trevor Adair vs. Larry Penley and John Seketa (Winners get to cut the losers hair)

You guys are better at this than me so who would you like to see (otisman, here is your opportunity to pounce)? Just a little fun blog today before I get into Wednesday’s baseball game and Saturday’s Spring game.

Final Thought
Just one last thought-Is it ironic that Clemson is hosting a global warming rally on April 14 which is a few days after record lows in South Carolina?

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