Monday April 09, 2007

Football; Big Mo; Sweep; McDaniel

Spring Game
This time next week we will all be talking about who lit it up during the spring game. There will be some surprises both pleasant and unpleasant. There will be a few big time guys that truly play big time but there will be some that don’t live up to the hype. Also we will see a walk-on play the game of his life and make a strong bid for a scholarship.

But by enlarge I would encourage you to not take next Saturday too serious. Remember it is only a spring practice and the coaches can draw it up to give one side of the ball or one player a better chance. I would say the thing that I would watch for more than anything is team speed. You can’t script speed. You can’t coach speed. The better Clemson teams are the ones that really impress you with their speed. That is what I will be watching for once again next weekend.

Buyer Beware
I read an interesting post on Tigernet one day last week and the poster said he was skeptical of the optimistic talk coming from me, this website, CUTigers.com, TigerIllustrated.com and the coaches. I think the post was made sense and was well thought out. However, I would counter with the idea that this is what happens everywhere this time of year.

I try to read the practice reports, websites and message boards of almost every ACC team and SEC team on a daily basis. Hope springs eternal this time of year. Coaches are trying to point out individuals who have worked hard and in some cases try to motivate some players through the media.

I would take it a step farther. I can tell you what you will hear from coaches and thus websites from January through August. In January, sites will tell you have great recruiting is going and play up players that are taking their official visits that month.

In February the coaches will tell you how great their recruiting class is. No one has ever signed a bad recruiting class on signing day. That day is about hope.

In March and April, coaches and websites will try to promote the players that are playing well in the spring. If a new coach or new coordinator is in place, he will be praised for his new scheme.

In June and July, the players will talk about how hard they are working and how the leadership is different this year. “We have never worked this hard and this is the best conditioned team we have ever had,” will be a quote heard across the country.

In August, you get a little optimism then a little pessimism.

But in the end it does not matter what I say or what Tigernet or other websites say. We need to keep up with the sites and quotes because it is information but it does not matter what a coach says in the post game press conference or his weekly press conference. There are only two letters that matter: W and L.

Recruiting does matter. Matt drills matter. Spring practice matters. Summer conditioning and fall camp matter. But what is said does not matter.

In the meantime I think it is OK to praise those that deserve it. Things are always great in the spring because the team is undefeated.

Big Mo
Congrats to Zach Johnson for his impressive Sunday performance and his first Masters’ victory. Clemson should take some pride in the win because a former Tiger played a big role in Johnson’s march to the green jacket.

I met Morris Pickens in the spring of 1991. We were students at Clemson and I knew he was going to be successful but I did not know he would go on to become one of the world’s top sports psychologist.

Pickens went on to studio under Bob Rotella and made a name for himself with his relentless work ethic. Most of the former Clemson players on tour and the current members of the Clemson golf team are among his growing list of clients. But his career will continue to advance with the ringing endorsement made by Johnson Sunday afternoon when he thanked Pickens live on CBS just before he slipped on the green jacket on national television.

I think one day a former Tiger will slip on the green jacket but for now Clemson national should be extremely proud of the role one of their own played in the 2007 Masters. Congrats again Morris!

Baseball Sweep
The Tigers had a crazy series this past weekend in Blacksburg when they had to overcome snow and frigid temperatures to sweep the Hokies by winning each game by three runs. The Moskos experiment seemed to work fairly well but the key was the timely hitting. Clemson received the long ball from Doug Hogan, Taylor Harbin and Marquez Smith during the series.

It was also nice to see D.J. Mitchell hit .462, Addison Johnson hit .429 and Wilson Boyd hit .400 for the week. A few weeks ago I made the point that the corner outfielders had not produced but this past week went a long way to righting that ship. I also made the point that a three-run homer would help this team right now and that is exactly what they received this weekend. Let’s see if the Tigers can keep the momentum of this five-game winning streak.

McDaniel
We probably should not be surprised that DeAndre McDaniel has been a huge hit this spring practice. After all he was one of the top ten players in the state of Florida his senior season and he was the nation’s top rated defensive back coming out of prep school this past year. But I am not sure the staff could have envisioned McDaniel being this good this early. There are some close to the program that feel he could be a starter at some point next season. He makes things look so easy because of his speed and athleticism. I think the upgrade in talent in the secondary with Crezdon Butler, Byron Maxwell and McDaniel are very clear.

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