Wednesday October 17, 2007

Neurons

Neurons
Wave depolarization is a process where electrically excitable membranes of the neurons in the brain become triggered. Some estimate that the human brain has 100 billion neurons.

Obviously I don’t have a clue what all of that means but I do know that usually during football season I am about to burst with excitement each time Clemson is about to run down the hill. I am not sure if that can be explained by any neurologist but it I know what it feels like. However, I have to admit that the back-to-back losses and the open date had me in a funk late last week and the first of this week. Something is wrong with my Clemson football neurons.

This week I was still stepping on my bottom lip and pouting all about the house. I have to admit something happened over the past four or five days that I never want to happen again—I was not excited about Clemson football and the upcoming game. No disrespect to Central Michigan but I had not been excited about this weekend. I was disgusted about I had seen in the two previous games and just wasn’t geeked up for this weekend.

However, I am going to give myself a pep talk here and try to talk myself into getting excited again. Here are a few things that I want to see to get my Clemson football neurons firing again:

The James Davis Show
I understand the offensive staff wanted to become more balanced and wanted to get Cullen Harper some confidence in the Louisiana-Monroe and Furman games. I also understand Davis has been banged up and the Tigers were forced to throw it 67 times against Virginia Tech because of the score. However, in four of the six games this season Davis has carried the ball 12 or less times. He had six carries against Virginia Tech, seven against Louisiana-Monroe, nine against Furman and 12 against Georgia Tech. The FSU game Davis carried it 18 times and against NC State he carried it 24 times but those are his only 100 yard games this season. He is your best player so he should be a focal point of the offense. I want to see a steady dose of James Davis for the rest of the 2007 season and all of 2008 (if he returns for his senior season).

Spiller Time
Outside of the NC State performance, Spiller has not lived up to expectations this year. Some of that is his fault, some of that is the offensive line and some of that is the scheme. I want to see Spiller used like Percy Harvin is used at Florida. Put Spiller at tailback. Put him at wing back. Use him as a flanker. I want to see Spiller get the ball in the running game, passing game, on reverses, etc.

Stallion
I think the Stallion package has been very successful this season but we have not seen it often enough in my opinion. I want to see it 10-15 plays a game. Give me more of the Stallion package and occasional passes out of the package. Get me excited again about Clemson football.

Three Point Stances
This will not this weekend or anytime soon but I would love to see the offensive line put a hand on the ground and fire off of the football. I think the O-line could benefit from getting their weight leaning forward every once in a while. Guys can dream can’t they?

Special Teams Aggression
I want to wake up Sunday morning and read about how dominant Clemson looked in the special teams. I would love to see the Tigers block a punt. I need to see a gunner decapitate a punt returner. I want to see a Tiger blow up the wedge on the kick-off team.

Chippewa Mouthpieces
I know it is only Central Michigan and I know I have run this toughness issue in the ground but I want to see a Chippewa player have to pick up his mouth piece after a Clemson player knocked the stew out of him. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt but I need to see a Clemson player knock the snot out of an opponent. I want to oooohhhh and aaahhhh after a hit, I do want to see the opponent eventually get up but I want to see a hit like David Dunham put on Boston College’s Matt Ryan where I am not sure if the opponent knows what day of the week it is or what state he is in after the hit. No long-term effects but give me some short-term cobwebs.

Emotion
Keep your business-like approach and just give me raw emotion. I am not talking about the arm waving, crowd encouraging emotion but I need the true emotion. I want to see players celebrating with their teammates after a great play instead of before one.

Tigerama
I will not get to see it because of high school football TV broadcast but Tigerama is still on the list of things I want to see this weekend.

Bowman Field
As long as the good Lord allows me to be there you can count me in for a little Bowman Field action this weekend. I need to see the floats and the color of what makes homecoming so special.

Flyover
I probably will not get this one but there is nothing like a little flyover to get the blood pumping.

Since my first Clemson football game in 1974 I have always felt Clemson would win every game (save a few of those trips to Tallahassee in the mid-1990s) but more importantly I can say that I was excited about Clemson football every game. I am sure the light switch will come on between now and noon on Saturday but a few of the above items sure would help.

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