Tuesday May 20, 2008

$7.41 and No Speeding Ticket

$7.41 and No Speeding Ticket
I got the word a little after 8:00 yesterday morning. They are out. At least one of them so far is out.

I called about renting a helicopter but decided to chance it and just drove 110 mph to Greenville to Barnes and Noble to pick up the first one of the year. Lindy's Southeastern Football is out!

I knew I was going to buy it, unlike many who just read everything right there in the store. I used to wonder how they stayed in business if everyone just read there and no one bought the books and magazines. But then I saw the prices of the Starbucks items they sell there.

So there I was reading the magazine standing in line and even continued dangerously in the car driving on the way home. I could not stop reading because Lindy's is in love with the Tigers. Even though this was the SEC edition, there is plenty of Clemson information. The ACC edition will be out in the next couple of weeks and I always suggest true fanatics buy at least one of Lindy's products each year.

Here are a few Clemson items found in this year's Lindy's:
*Clemson is ranked ninth in the pre-season Top 25. They actually rank all 119 teams but have write ups on the top 25. They misprint it though and rank Clemson 10th in the listing of all 119 teams.

*James Davis is a second-team All-American.

*Cullen Harper is ranked as the nation's sixth quarterback.

*James Davis is ranked as the country's number four running back.

*C.J. Spiller is ranked 21st at the same position.

*Aaron Kelly is the number six wide receiver in the nation.

*Chris Chancellor is ranked as the nation's 12th best cornerback.

*Michael Hamlin is recognized as the country's 8th best safety.

*Spiller is ranked number three in the All-Purpose players.

*In the unit rankings, the Tigers have the nation's top ranked offensive backfield.

*Clemson has the country's 8th ranked receivers unit.

*The Tigers are ranked fourth in the defensive line category.

*The magazine projects Clemson to play West Virginia in the Orange Bowl.

*The Clemson-Alabama game is ranked as the 5th best non-conference game of the year.

*Clemson at Wake Forest is the 12th best conference tilt of the season.

*They have three Tigers listed in the top 50 for the NFL Draft next season. James Davis is number 17, Aaron Kelly is 27 and Michael Hamlin is 45.

*They have Clemson down as the 12th best recruiting class in America.

*DaQuan Bowers is listed as the second best prospect from last year's class.

*In the recruiting rankings by position, they have Clemson with the sixth best class at running back, sixth best class on the offensive line and fifth best class at defensive end.

All together 224 pages for the low, low price of $6.99 plus taxes get you for a total of $7.41.

I think the first pre-season magazine I remember buying had Steadman Shealy of Alabama on the cover and it had to be in 1976 or 1977. I think it was a Street and Smith and I am pretty sure I have not missed a year over the last 30 plus years. However, I have never seen Clemson so highly thought of in terms of team and individual rankings. Maybe the 1982-84 teams were this highly thought of. I guess the 1987-91 teams were probably in some of the top ten rankings of some of the magazines.

If your team is featured on the cover and the magazine predicts a good season for your favorites then they are experts that are fair game around the water cooler. If little is expected for your program from the magazine then don't buy it and play it off as garbage. After all, what do these guys really know?

For Clemson fans, apparently this Lindy guy got a lot smarter since last year.

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