Friday May 01, 2009

Friday E-Mail Bag

Friday E-Mail Bag
Each Friday I publish your comments and answer your questions. To submit a comment or questions please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.

Mickey,
Clemson doesn’t have a leadership issue on the field at least!! What we have at Clemson, in the football program, is a commitment from the people who make the crucial decisions for the program. Say what you want about chicken U but at least their school isn't holding them back from being the best on the field. Have they won, no but it has zero to do with how committed they are to trying to win. It still frustrates me to think what Clemson can be and what it won't be because of this lack of commitment from key people.

Steve

Steve,
Winning is hard enough when everyone is in the boat and rowing in the same direction. It becomes terrible difficult to win when your own people do not do everything they can to win. I share your frustration.

Mickey,

Chad

Chad,

Will is one of my best friends and I think he was a very good offensive lineman. However, I think even Will would tell you he would be shocked to make the Hall of Fame. It took Steve Kinney almost 30 years to get in.

Mickey,
The Clemson Hall of Fame needs to consider Jim Bundren. He is one of the best in school history and deserves the Hall. Your thoughts?

John

John,
I think Jim deserves it and I would be very surprised if he is not in one day. I would guess he will be in the Hall in the next five years. His athletic and academic achievements are more than worthy of the honor.

Mickey,
You were discussing CU HOF this a m...Why is Ray Yauger not in?

Bob

Bob,

Good question. Yauger is still ranked in the eighth in school history in rushing yards. However, timing is not on his side now. There are some very good running backs that have come since that might be higher in line.

Mickey,

Billy

Billy,

Yes. Levon was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.

Mickey,
Who decides who gets in the Ring of Honor? Why is Danny Ford not in the Ring of Honor?

Carl

Carl,
The main reason Danny Ford has not been properly recognized was the former NCAA Faculty Rep at Clemson but he is retired and no longer employed by the university.

As far as the guidelines for the Ring of Honor, the athletic department website says:

Purpose: The charge of this committee is to bestow the highest athletic award presented by the Clemson Athletic Department on deserving candidates. The committee will examine the careers of candidates in all Clemson sports.

Nominations: Nominations are made by any member of IPTAY, faculty or staff personnel, or relative of a worthy candidate, and are accepted 30 days prior to the committee meeting. The committee will meet once every two years in the month of April to vote on the nominations. Nominations will be made in the form of a letter with a complete list of accomplishments, and submitted to the chair of the committee, who will retain an active file of nominations. Letters of support may also be submitted. All nominations will remain on file for a period of three voting committee meetings (five years). The Chair of the Committee will screen all nominations to make sure they meet eligibility requirements.

Committee: The Committee will be composed of 11 members:
* Sports Information Director, Chair
* Athletic Director
* Director of Student-Athlete Enrichment
* Senior Associate Athletic Director
* Executive Secretary of IPTAY
* A member of the Board of Trustees
* A member of the Tiger Lettermen's Association
* A member of the Athletic Council
* NCAA Faculty Representative
* University President or designee
* Head Coach of a sport that has a nomination (i.e., Head Football Coach votes on football candidates, basketball coach votes on basketball candidates, etc.)

Eligibility: This committee will recognize individuals who have demonstrated consistent and unique national excellence in their sport during their Clemson career. Their accomplishments must be significant on an individual and team basis. Their statistical accomplishments must be noteworthy, but they should also have an outstanding record in terms of leadership. In general, they must have made a noteworthy contribution to the history of the Clemson Athletic Program.

Athletic accomplishments after their Clemson career are not a primary consideration in the nomination, but they must retain a commendable record of citizenship after they leave Clemson. A candidate must be a member of the Clemson Hall of Fame and must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited four-year University or college.

Financial contributions to Clemson University will not be a consideration when evaluating the candidates. For a coach to be nominated, he or she must be retired from coaching that sport at the college level.

Selection Process: Each committee member will cast one vote per sport. An honoree must obtain at least seven votes to be selected. There will be just one ballot. The committee does not have to select any honorees at its meeting. There shall be no more than one honoree in a sport for every two years. The committee then submits its recommendation to the president who makes the final decision.

Conferring: In the sport of football, the honoree will have his name, number, years participated and helmet enshrined in the Ring of Honor at Clemson Memorial Stadium. In the sport of basketball, the honoree's jersey will be hung from the rafters of Littlejohn Coliseum. In the sport of baseball a jersey replica will be hung from the fence of Tiger Field. Other sports will establish appropriate sites at the home facility.

When a student-athlete is selected the person's jersey is honored, but the jersey number may be worn in the future.

The nature and organization of the ceremony will be determined from a meeting between the honoree, the athletic director, the committee chair and the head coach of the sport involved.

Hi Mickey,
I've been thinking about the Dabo hire for a while now. I have heard and understand both sides of the argument of whether it was a good hire or not. No one knows at this point whether Dabo will work out and be a great or bad coach, right? It's all speculation until Dabo proves (or doesn't) whether he is a good coach or not on the field in the days to come. So many times I hear the argument that he did not have enough experience, no O-Coordinator experience, none of this none of that, he's not that "big name" some were looking for Clemson to hire....and so on.....I understand that concern. One thing people should keep in mind though, is leadership and how important it is. This is a factor that people in my opinion do not give enough validation to, even other talk show hosts on this station. Everyone needs to understand, leaders change things, they lead their teams into games, and the players will follow the leader of the team....leaders make things happen. From what I have seen Dabo possesses these leadership qualities. He may not have the experience, but if the players buy in to Dabo's philosophy, and can relate to him and his enthusiasm, the players will follow him and lay it on the line at all costs for their leader. People are promoted into higher and much higher positions daily based on future potential, because they are leaders in their current roles, then they move up. Sometimes it's better to bring in a youthful, hungry leader to see what he can shake up!

David

David,
Nice e-mail. I agree and think Dabo has a huge upside in this job. A lot of other factors come into play and luck will have to be on his side but he has a chance to have something special here. Dabo is comfortable in his own skin. He is genuine and he excels in player-coach relationships. People want to be inspired to follow a leader and I think we have one in Dabo.

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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, Mrs. Kathleen Bowers, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, 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, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, Edward Putman, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, William Perry.