Wednesday May 06, 2009

Mothers Day, Mother Nature; 40

Mothers Day
I always enjoy Mothers Day.

It is probably because I have the best mother ever. We make a pretty big deal out of Mothers Day in our family. There is no bond like the mother and child bond. We see it in nature with animals and we see an even better example in our lives.

I hope all of the mothers out there have a special day this Sunday.

Mothers Day will be a little different this year for former Clemson great Levon Kirkland.

In the past Kirkland may have spent the days leading up to Mothers Day in an NFL mini-camp. His nine seasons with the Steelers and a season each with the Seahawks and the Eagles included a couple of Pro Bowl seasons. The month of May means mini-camp in preparation for another year in the league but today Kirkland is tackling something other than NFL running backs.

Keisha Kirkland is the wife of the former Clemson great and the mother to their five-year old daughter. Mothers Day will special for Keisha this year as well.

Keisha had a family history of heart disease so she has annual physicals despite being just 36-years old. Recently one of those physicals revealed a completely different issue. Despite being a non-smoker, Keisha was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer.

She had a cancerous mass and the surrounding lymph nodes removed from her upper right lungs. She underwent radiation and chemotherapy this spring. The amazing story became even more of an inspiration when Keisha returned to work as a weathercaster for our local NBC affiliate.

The Kirklands are surrounded with a terrific support unit of family and friends but more prayers never hurt. So this Mothers Day say another special prayer for the Kirklands. You can see video of the family and this story at http://www.wyff4.com/health/19053033/detail.html.

Mother Nature
It looks like Mother Nature will not wait until Mothers Day to make her presence felt. There is close to a 100% chance of rain for tonight’s Clemson-Furman baseball game at Fluor Field in Greenville.

The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM but you plan on attending you may want to settle in for a long night.

As many people know, Jack Leggett tries everything he can to get games played even if weather does not always cooperate. Even though tonight is not a home game, Leggett will do everything he can to get it in.

Tonight could be a late night considering:
1-The Weather Channel says in Greenville tonight the chance of rain is 80% at 7:00 PM, 70% from 8:00 PM-1:00 AM.

2-Clemson would love to get the game in as the Tigers are trying to get to 40 wins in order to improve their NCAA resume.

3-A make-up date is difficult because Furman starts a series with The Citadel tomorrow, Thursday and Sunday. They finish their regular season with a Thursday, Friday and Saturday series with UNC-Greensboro.

Clemson plays Friday, Saturday and Sunday at home against UNC-Wilmington before hosting the College of Charleston Tuesday. The Tigers wrap up their regular season with a Thursday, Friday and Saturday series at NC State.

So the only dates that both Clemson and Furman have open dates before the end of the regular season are Monday and Wednesday. I am not sure if Clemson has to take a mandatory day off if school is not in session so Monday may work. However, I cannot see Clemson wanting to play Wednesday, a day before they are on the road in an ACC series.

The other factor here is pitching. College teams are not used to playing seven games in nine days and the bullpens could get worn day at vital times. Therefore, maybe Monday is not an option for that reason.

Both teams play at 1:00 PM on Sunday so maybe an option would be a day/night double header where Clemson would play UNC-Wilmington and Furman would play The Citadel at 1:00 PM at their home sites then travel to Greenville’s Fluor Field for a 7:00 PM game. The venue would be available as the Greenville Drive does not play at home Sunday.

I know I am reaching here but these coaches desperately want to get this game in. Are they desperate enough to stay in Greenville until the wee hours of the morning or play different site double headers Sunday? Unless Mother Nature changes her mind, we may find out how desperate the coaches are to get this game in.

40
Forty hurt my feelings but it would not hurt Jack Leggett’s. I received black balloons on my 40th. Clemson usually receives a baseball regional if they see 40 wins in the regular season.

This team is very inconsistent but will need to run the table in the regular season to get to 40. The Tigers are at 32 wins with eight regular season games remaining. The good news is the remaining opponents have not the Los Angeles Dodgers. Clemson is scheduled for one game with Furman, three with UNC-Wilmington, one with the College of Charleston and three with NC State.

Furman is currently 21-23 and 9 and 15 in the Southern Conference. UNC-Wilmington is 24-17 and 8-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The College of Charleston is 30-16 and 14-10 in the Southern Conference. NC State is 22-26 and 8-16 in the ACC.

In football we say, “They always remember November.” In baseball it doesn’t rhyme but the same can be said for May.

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, 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.