Tuesday April 03, 2007

Athens; Football Notes; Grant; Negatives

Do We Have To?
Sometimes I think the Clemson baseball team would rather take a four-iron to the shin than go play Georgia at Foley Field in Athens, GA. Clemson is 32-9 against the Dawgs at Doug Kingsmore Stadium but the Tigers seem to struggle in Athens. The Tigers are 39-67 against UGA in games played in the Classic City.

Many times in recent years I felt like Clemson had the better team going into the games at Georgia but time and time again it seems the Bulldogs find a way to win at home. The Tigers have won just two of their last ten games at Foley Field. The last three were one-run losses. Meanwhile Clemson is 11-1 in its last 12 games against the Dawgs in Clemson.

It also seems to me that Clemson seems to lose the one-run games in Athens but rebounds the next night to beat UGA fairly convincingly at home.

Strange things seem to happen in this series but Georgia is struggling this season. The Dawgs have made an appearance in Omaha two of the last three seasons but are just 10-17 this season.

Turnaround
I have not given up on this baseball team. Don’t get me wrong, I see more flaws with this team than others in the past but this team still has enough talent to turn this season around.

There have been great examples in recent years especially two seasons ago when the Tigers were 15-13 after dropping both games to Georgia. Clemson went on to win 28 of their last 38 contests and advanced to within one game of the College World Series.

The sport of baseball provides so many opportunities for a team to turn a game, series or even season around. It might be one at-bat or even one pitch that can lead to a momentum changer and the confidence can spread like wildfire. Last year the St. Louis Cardinals were 83-79 in the regular season and barely made the playoffs before going on to win the World Series.

I am not saying it will happen because this Clemson team has issues like clutch hitting and offensive run producers who are having down years. But I can’t sit here and say that Marquez Smith, Andy D’Alessio and Taylor Harbin cannot get hot and carry this team in April and May.

Football Notes
I received a phone call Saturday morning from a good friend who was at the football scrimmage as the Tigers were stretching and warming up. “What’s up with C.J.?” he asked. “I was at practice last night and he was not here and he is not here this morning.”

I was on the way to the scrimmage and had not heard the talented tailback missed Friday’s workout. In my mind I rationalized that if something major was going on with Spiller then Bowden would not have opened up practice. As it turned out my intuition was right. Spiller had returned to pay a traffic fine and was back at practice on Monday.

I guess we will always wonder if Spiller is ever going to leave but I think I have a decent hold in the situation and I think he is here until he turns pro. I think the young man actually likes it here. I know he misses home but I think he understands that Clemson is the best place for him the next couple of seasons. I trust Spiller and think he is honest when he says he will be back in the fall. I know kids can change their minds but at this point I would be surprised if he was not a leader on this team this fall.

I understand that it is a team game but it makes me wonder how many wins Spiller is worth in a season.

Family
Sometimes I channel surf at night before I hit the sack and I see bad news about our young people. I see bad examples of how young people have been taken down the wrong road. My DirectTV can give me hundreds of channels and many can disappoint you with their examples of how some of our youth chose to live their lives.

And if you ever get caught up in the negativity just go visit a college campus and get close to an athletic squad.

I witnessed another shining example of what’s right in the world Saturday after the scrimmage when Barry Richardson stood up and addressed the team and made a contribution to their teammate Jamarcus Grant.

Grant, as most of you know by now, saw his house burn down during spring break. He suffered burns on his legs and the family lost everything. Richardson announced to Grant and their teammates that the team had gotten together and donated money to Grant to help buy clothes and necessities.

The offensive linemen thought about not returning to Clemson this semester but his position coach, Brad Scott, reminded the rising sophomore that he had a family in Clemson as well and that his coaches and teammates loved him and wanted to help in any way they could.

Few lessons in young people’s lives are as powerful as the ones learned through team sports with teammates.

Negatives
I wrote in yesterday’s blog about some of the positives I saw from the scrimmage Saturday and had a gentleman inquire about some negatives. I thought the defense looked a little heavy legged. They lacked punch and lacked energy. I am a little concerned about the lack of leadership at certain areas including the offensive line and the entire defense. Hopefully if and when Billie, Watkins, Clay and Hamlin return on defense some of those concerns will be eased.

I am always concerned about injuries. Durrell Barry needs to get healthy to get reps this spring. Thomas Austin and Brandon Pilgrim’s injuries are not serious but both could use time with the first team offensive line to get comfortable with their teammates and their calls.

Lastly I am concerned about the pass coverage. The zone gives up a ton of room and when the staff tried to play some man-to-man certain cornerbacks struggled.

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