Monday December 14, 2009

Glad It Was Not Here

Glad It Was Not Here
As Clemson fans we are still steaming about the USC loss and the Georgia Tech loss. We hurt when Illinois made the great comeback to steal a victory from us. We all wanted C.J. Spiller to be invited to New York. And we may agree or disagree on the new men’s soccer coach when he is announced in the next week or two.

Other short-term issues will arise over the next few months and as Tigers we still have the long-term issues we have that separate us.

But on this Monday morning I am so thankful that we don’t have what is going on at Nebraska and at North Carolina. I am thankful these two issues are left to the Huskers and Tar Heels today.

At Nebraska today the fan base will be split on Turner Gill. Kansas will name Gill as its new head football coach today and Nebraska fans will take opposing views on the subject.

Gill has to be considered one of the five most popular players in Nebraska football history. The former quarterback was a star on the field. He helped led the Huskers to one of the most successful eras when he was 28-2 as a starting quarterback.

Gill was a graduate assistant at Nebraska after he graduated. He spent two years coaching at North Texas and SMU but he returned to Lincoln as an assistant from 1992 to 2004.

Gill was mentioned as a replacement for Frank Solich but Bill Callahan was chosen instead. He was once again a candidate when the school chose Bo Pelini.

So now Gill will be announced as the head coach at Kansas and while the Jayhawks are not the arch rival, they are in the same division in their conference.

I wonder how this would go over here at Clemson? How would we react if one of our very own would take over at a division foe? What would we think if one of our great former players and/or coaches was on the opposing sideline?

Gill is to Nebraska what Jeff Davis, Steve Fuller, C.J. Spiller or James Davis is to Clemson. Kansas is to Nebraska what NC State or Maryland is to us.

Former Clemson players are in coaching but Bobby Johnson and Mike O’Cain are not as popular at Clemson as Gill is at Nebraska. When Clemson faces Vanderbilt in 2012 and 2013 and Johnson may still be in Nashville but I doubt I will feel any different at those games. O’Cain faced Clemson as the head coach at NC State seven times and it never felt different. But again I think it would be different if it were Davis, Fuller, Spiller or Davis.

So how would we feel if Jeff Davis would be introduced today as the head coach of the Wolfpack today? James Davis said at one time that he might get into coaching. How would we feel watching James Davis introduced as the head coach of the Terps?

Personally, I am always torn on these types of issues. I was extremely happy for Rick Stockstill when he left to advance his career and it was the same feeling I had for Burton Burns. However, I still miss those guys here and still always look for an opportunity for each to return one day.

In the end every Nebraska fan will pull for the Huskers to beat the Jayhawks but do they still want to win 56-0? Do they want Kansas to go 11-1 with the only loss to Nebraska?

This morning I am glad we forced to make that choice.

Not PC
The other thing I am thankful for this morning is that we are not talking about what the Tar Heel fans are talking about this morning. I am thankful that we forced to defend one of our popular coaches against something that is not defendable.

I saw the headline and briefly read the story from the North Carolina-Presbyterian basketball game this weekend but it was not until this morning that I saw the video.

For those that have not seen it this morning, check out WRAL’s website that shows the video. The link can be found at http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc/video/6605651/.

The story here is that Roy Williams had a fan from Presbyterian thrown out of the Dean Dome Saturday for yelling for a North Carolina player to miss a free throw. The fan reportedly yelled to Deon Thompson, ‘Don’t Miss it Deon!”

The video clearly shows Williams his assistant coach and several players turning around to face the fan and Williams shouts something at the man. I cannot tell what he says but some think he says an obscenity. Williams then says, “Yeah, I am talking to you.” Williams then has uniformed officers go up and confront the fan who was removed from the game.

So in Tar Heel land today, they are doing what a lot of fan bases do in defending their popular coach. The difference here is that I am not sure how anyone with any sense can defend Williams on this one.

Williams has used bad language on several occasions throughout his coaching career and to my knowledge has not been reprimanded for using it in any press conference or in live interviews.

The WRAL video shows Williams’ press conference and he tried to play it off with a joke about ice cream when it was first asked but the reported pressed the issue. Williams did not want to comment on the incident but did say that he did not think his players should face negative comments from fans there. Then Williams made a statement about how he would handle this on the playground. Did I take this wrong or was he saying he would have physically handled it on the playground?

All morning long I have tried to come up with explanations for Williams’ actions. Maybe Williams is arrogant enough to think Tar Heels are above facing negative comments from opposing fans. Maybe he thinks visiting fans should not be in his building. Maybe he is so out of touch with the real world than non-Tar Heels live in.

To be honest, I am not sure what he is thinking but doubt we will hear anymore about it because my guess is the beat writers will be intimidated and will not ask further questions.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have the national titles Williams has brought to North Carolina, but I am grateful we forced to defend one of our guys on this one today. I love Dabo, Coach Purnell, Coach Leggett, Coach Penley, etc. But none are bigger than their sports and no one is beyond criticism. Thank goodness epicenter of the message board world today is in Lincoln, Nebraska and Chapel Hill, NC.

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, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), 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, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Ann Fallaw, Bob Pollock, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family.