Friday August 13, 2010
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Friday August 13, 2010
Friday E-Mail Bag Mr. Plyler, From birth I was raised a Tiger Fan. I grew up in Kershaw, SC. Not much more to do there than listen to and watch Clemson sports. My junior year of high school my parents got season tickets and a dream had come true. We would also travel to away games and many of the Florida bowl games. Another dream came true in 1990 as I became a Freshman at Clemson University. This started some of the best years of my life. Nothing compared to being on campus with all the athletes and not having to worry about parking on Saturdays was great also. Near the end of my freshman year my Dad and I attended a Clemson-South Carolina baseball game. I became as passionate about baseball as football and basketball. Clemson pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory. However, after the game my Dad started complaining that he couldn't breath. He had a heart attack in 1984 and was suffering from congestive heart failure. I found the Clemson police and an ambulance took us to Oconee Hospital. My Dad was transferred to the Greenville Hospital. So for the next week he stayed in the hospital and I had the joy of final exams (still not sure how I made it though that). I came home from Clemson and he came home from the hospital on Saturday. We had a great Sunday just spending time together and enjoying each others company. Then on Monday morning he awoke again not able to breath. I rushed to town to get an ambulance and when they wheeled him out of our house it would be the last time I would see him alive. That happened 19 years ago but I still miss my Dad. I take comfort knowing that one day I'll see him in heaven. I am 38 now, married, and have 4 kids. I wish my Dad could have seen all of them, but it was not in God's plan. As I look over these many years since he's passed, God has raised up others to be strong influences in my life. No one could ever replace my Dad, but others have guided me along life's journey. Family has surrounded me with love and helped with the pain. I always get criticized for all the Clemson stuff I own and wear. My wife rolls her eyes each time another Clemson t-shirt comes home. I spend a lot of time following Clemson sports (football, basketball, baseball, golf, etc). The biggest difference between Clemson and other schools is we're passionate about all our sports not just one or two. One of the reasons I wear so much Clemson and stay so involved in it through the internet is that Clemson is one of my only connections with my Dad. Anything Clemson reminds me of him. My Dad made me a Clemson Tiger. When you are a Tiger, you are a member of the Clemson family. One in our family is hurting right now by the name of DaQuan Bowers. Let's join together in prayer. On Fire for Christ, Jon, Thanks for sharing. I will forward your e-mail to the football office. Thanks again. Hey Mick, I guess I disagree with your stance in the 8/6 mailbag that you’d take a win over North Texas v. a loss over TCU. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority but I’d prefer to play teams like TCU and lose, than waltz over pastries and prove nothing. At least it shows where your program is. My reasoning is simple. In his autobiography “Still Roaring”, Jim Phillips spoke on the reason(s) Frank Howard was fired. He stated that although Clemson was winning ACC titles the fans were not happy because the Tigers kept losing to big teams. The fans wanted better, and they realized that winning ACC titles were immediately diluted by losses to bigger programs (kinda like the dilution of winning the Atlantic then the next week getting smoked by SC). Fast forward to today, and it seems that, perhaps, many in the fanbase has changed, in that they just flat out don’t want to play big programs out of fear of losing. The fan psyche of today clearly is quite opposite of that of the late ‘60s, assuming that what Phillips said was correct (and I think he was). Regarding the need for ‘breathers’, it’s painfully obvious that the ACC is already filled with them (Maryland, Wake, Virginia, Duke, NC State); just because they’re competitive with Clemson doesn’t mean they’re good teams. With all those conference breathers, there’s no reason to schedule even more in your noncon. I think it’s a sad state of affairs when a fanbase prefers to opt for easy wins than challenging equal or stronger programs. It just smacks of a lack of testicular fortitude. Marc Marc, Your defintion of breathers and mine must be different. Maryland has beaten Clemson three of the last four times the two teams have met. Wake Forest has won three of the last four games the two teams have played in Winston-Salem. Here are facts the SID office released about the schedule: Clemson will play #13 Miami (FL), #17 Georgia Tech, #18 North Carolina, #20 Florida State and #23 Auburn this year, one of just nine schools nationally to have at least five games against USA Today preseason top 25 teams on their schedule. Miami (FL), LSU and Mississippi State will all play six top 25 teams according to the USA Today poll, while Clemson, Duke, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee all play five. Clemson has three of those five games on the road and join Miami (FL), LSU and Mississippi State as schools from the above list with three road games against ranked schools. Clemson must play three preseason top 25 teams in a succession and four out of five at midseason. Dabo Swinney’s team plays at #23 Auburn on September 18, at home against #13 Miami (FL) on October 2 (after an open date), and at #18 North Carolina on October 9. After a game against Maryland, the Tigers face #17 Georgia Tech at home on October 23. If Clemson plays three consecutive games against top 25 opponents this year it would be the first time since 2001 when Clemson played Florida State (14), Maryland (13) and South Carolina (22) in consecutive games near the end of the season. This year’s schedule could be among the toughest in school history in terms of playing ranked opponents. The Tigers have played five top 25 teams on the date of the game just three years in school history. Clemson had five games against top 25 teams in 1988, 1999 and 2005. Last year Clemson played four games against top 25 teams, but all four of those teams were ranked in the top 15 at the time of the game. It was just the second time Clemson played four games against top 15 teams in the same year. The 1999 season was the other time that has happened. Hi Mickey, I read two messages in your Friday E-mail Bag on August 6, 2010 and decided to address the concerns about the so-called Cup Cake Schedulewe play. Frankly, I am not sure what these folks are thinking. They seem to live in a vacuum that consists of Clemson's football scheduleand no other information. You have shown through your research that other so-called "big time" NCAA teams play cupcake opponents. Forexample, in 2010, you pointed out that Alabama, the defending national champion, plays San Jose State and Georgia State. Come on now,Georgia State is a brand new football program! To the remainder of those concerned about our cream puff schedule, I refer them to your Friday E-Mail Bag of July 30, 2010(http://tigernet.com/blogs/plyler/entry/friday_e_mail_bag119). It shows the cupcake opponents of no less than 16 NCAA teams includingSouth Carolina, Auburn, Viriginia Tech, and Georgia. The fact of the matter (I really hate that phrase), is that Clemson plays no more orno fewer cream puffs than other teams in the SEC or ACC. In addition to that reality, it is incredibly hard to fit a "tough" opponent intoa schedule because as you pointed out, we generally have 10 of our 12 regular season games scheduled far in advance. As you pointed out,"that is not how college football works for most of the country." I really hope people will stop sending these type emails complaining about our team's football schedule. Why not simply enjoy theexperience of Clemson football? We only play 12 regular season games and only 6 - 8 of them are at home, so go to as many home games as youcan and simply have fun with friends and family. Give my best to Ryan! Kirk Kirk, Mickey, Curtis, Mickey, JD, The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency
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i think it makes sense to point out that there are only 25 ranked teams. With 4+ ooc games on most slates, everyone can't play big games all 4 times, even if we want to
Posted by TigerNate on August 16, 2010 at 12:04 PM EDT #