Tuesday January 27, 2009

Student Involvement

Student Involvement
For the past two days on my radio show and in a short blog section yesterday I mentioned my disappointment with student attendance at the Clemson-Georgia Tech basketball game.

I asked for some feedback on the air and received a few e-mails on the subject over the past 24 hours. The excuses include:

1-Students don’t like standing in line for tickets.

2-Fraternity and sorority rush was going on Sunday night.

3-Intramurals were going on Sunday night.

4-Student tickets are not that good. Some complained about the section of seats.

5-Bible study was Sunday night.

6-The team played poorly against North Carolina.

7-Studying took priority over basketball.

8-Genarational apathy.

Sometimes I get accused of being Sonny Corleone. I will admit that sometimes I overreact and sometimes act before I think. I ripped into the students yesterday and jumped the generation for their sense of entitlement. You have to admit the idea of standing in line for free tickets is not an excuse. The sense of entitlement issues rears its head with the complaining of the location of the student tickets as well. Also, it is clear there is more apathy with this generation. One athletic department official told me yesterday that they had a lack of volunteers of cheerleaders to go to the men’s and women’s ACC basketball tournament this year. Seriously. They had a hard time getting enough cheerleaders for the ACC tournament!

I could write a book on the disappointment of the generation but that gets me nowhere because this generation does not react to criticism well. Therefore, let’s all be part of the solution instead of the problem. How can we help? How can we get more student involvement? How can we get the students excited about basketball? How can we insure more participation from the student body?

I think there needs to be an institutional wide emphasis on basketball. For example, other activities need to be scheduled around home basketball games. This happens in football. I will admit that parking would be a problem with having campus activities on home football game Saturdays but this has been a football school and other activities are not scheduled during home football games.

Clemson basketball hosts only eight home ACC basketball games per year. It seems to me that those should be a major priority. Is it too much to ask that intramurals not be scheduled during home ACC basketball contests? I asked this question yesterday and found this is not a simple problem. I was told that intramurals are scheduled on Sunday evenings because students don’t want to participate on Fridays or Saturdays because of parties, etc. I can sympathize with this but could the intramural games not have been scheduled for earlier in the afternoon on Sunday?

I am not a frat boy but understand many hold fraternities and sororities in high regards but could rush not have been moved up a day or back a day? Could rush not been moved up a few hours on Sunday?

If loving the Lord is wrong, I don’t want to be right but could bible study have been moved up a couple of hours?

The point is that basketball has to become a priority if we are too maximize our potential in the sport. Clemson basketball has never been a major priority partly because of the lack of success. That cannot be used as an excuse now. The Tigers came into Sunday night’s game with a 16-2 record and were ranked ninth in the country. So where was the excitement?

Let’s be honest about this subject too. If Clemson had defeated North Carolina we all know that the student section would have been full. I have a hard time with that. One loss and now we have hundreds of empty seats for an ACC game?

I reached out to students in football season and received over 100 e-mails from students on the lack of students at home football games. I still have those but the momentum of that movement got derailed when Tommy Bowden was out just a few days later.

So I am again asking, “What can we do to get the students involved?”

As a pre-emptive strike let me point out the following things:

1-Alcohol cannot be served at on campus sporting events because of an NCAA rule.

2-The Clemson athletic department does not have any say as to the day or time of ACC basketball games.

Maybe we can make it easier for ticket distribution. What would be easiest for the students?

Unlike football, parking is not a major issue in basketball.

Clemson’s enrollment is listed as 17,585. I find it hard to believe that we allocate a couple of thousand student tickets and we have a home basketball game and there are several hundred empty seats in the student section for a home ACC basketball game. This team is now 17-2 with the two losses to top five teams. This team is ranked 11th in the country. They are a projected three seed in the latest NCAA tournament bracketology on ESPN.com. Why the lack of interest? How can we get students to come pick up their free tickets to ACC basketball?

Did two losses really kill the Clemson spirit? Are we that weak? Are we that fair weathered as fans?

I would love feedback but please make it constructive and thoughtful. Let’s try to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. I want to see Clemson basketball reach its maximum potential. I don’t want Oliver Purnell to leave Clemson to go to a basketball school. Let’s give him reasons to stay here. Let’s get behind this basketball program.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover-was born Wednesday, January 14 several weeks pre-mature and was 2 lbs. 15 ounces. She is doing well but like all pre-mature babies she will have to get through several issues over the next few weeks.

Mrs. Kathleen Bowers

Larry in Naples, FL. Larry is currently being kept sedated in ICU and has acute pancreatitis. Larry is going to be transferred this week to Shands in Gainesville, FL for surgery on his pancreas. The doctors are saying that there is a 40% mortality rate with this surgery and if successful, there will still be a very long recovery. Larry is a great guy and a wonderful husband/father. Larry is 32 years old.

RTG-Pawsitive Tiger

Kaitlyn L-4 year old girl in TN who has seizures and a brain lesion that may be a slow-growing tumor. She will likely have a biopsy in February.

Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter)

Sandy Wright

Jo Ann Bachman

Frank Taylor

Kenneth Bryant

Pruitt Martin

Got igers and his family

David Rowland

Leonard Gillespie and his family

Jim S

Christine Hepfer

Daniel Rosborough-4-year old Inman, SC who will have a kidney transplant 1/14/09 in Charleston

Special Prayer Request from Peggy Lesley at Brookwood Church.

I am starting a signing for my son's best friend who has cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma). He is 11 years old and is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with this cancer 2 weeks ago and the tumor is next to his jugular vein and entwined in it...has moved his wind pipe over a inch making it hard for him to breathe. The tumor is the size of a large eggplant and is sitting right above his heart. This little boy needs all the prayer he can get. I would like you to sign this and pass it on to as many people as you can. Once we get to a thousand people can you please send this back to me at: 1volsgirl@bellsouth.net When I get the 1000 people that have signed it...I am going to print this up for my sons best friend and show him how many people care and how many people are praying for him to get better. If you have a heart at all, you will all do this for me. I love this child as though he is my own and we really need all the prayers!

Thank you,
Peggy

Amy Murphey - diagnosed with ALS, pray for healing

Jack Huffman

Nancy Winkler

Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan

Ronnie Queen

Creighton McCallum