Friday March 23, 2007
Friday E-Mail Bag
Friday E-Mail Bag
Each Friday I publish your comments and answer your questions. To submit a comment or questions please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.
Mickey,
I read on The State website on 3/17 that Bowden receives a 10% increase when he wins eight or more games. My questions are:
1. Is winning eight games in line with administrators' and fans' expectations? I'm assuming this has been in place before we went to 12 games and hasn't been adjusted.
2. Are we facilitating mediocrity by rewarding him for winning less than 70% of the games? I know there are bigger incentives in place, and I don't think that Bowden sets 8 wins as his goal each year simply for the 10% increase. However, it sure would be nice in the business world to get a 10% increase for "middle of the road" performance.
3. If Bowden continues to stay around the 8 win mark and ultimately is fired, don't we have a little skin in the game for rewarding his performance and then letting him go for that same performance? Coaching is certainly different than the business world, but this still seems a little off. Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into this clause in his contract.
PawBoy
Paw Boy,
Thanks for the e-mail. Here are my thoughts:
1. I know eight is not the expectations of the fans but I can’t speak for the administration. There are some out there that say they only give you lip service about winning but are not committed to do what it takes to win. I have talked to many that believe some in the administration would be scared to go 12-0 because of the perception of being a football factory. But they don’t want to go 4-8 because they would have to fire people and go on an expensive search.
2. Rewarding at 10% is cheaper than paying buyouts and searching for coaches that would demand $2 million a year. Who do you think would the fans want to come to Clemson? Who do you realistically think would come here? And how much will he and his staff cost?
3. Again, I am sure what the administration wants. I know what they say they want but I am not sure winning football games is very important to some higher ups.
Mickey:
It is great to see Trevor Booker playing like he is now. Hopefully he can continue to play up to his potential. Being on the coast, I don't hear much about high school basketball in the upper state, but a good friend of mine in Greenville told me that he thought Booker has a younger brother (sophomore) that is supposed to be the real deal and is 6' 9" or 10" right now.
What do you know about this?
Love the blog...
Sincerely,
Eddie
Eddie,
Booker is a player this program can build around. I love his potential. I understand he has a brother that those in Union County that think the “little” brother has a bigger ceiling than Trevor. I have not seen him play but trust those that have that rave about this underclassman. Thanks.
Good afternoon Mickey,
I have my BBA from Georgia and have only been following football since 2000. I have lived in Greenville now for two years and all of my Clemson buddies, especially their dads, tell me how big of a rivalry Clemson Georgia is. I did some research and this is what I found. Pretty amazing stuff.
Danny Ford’s record versus Georgia was 4-4-1 from 1979-1980. Several people refer to this as Clemson’s golden era. I believe Ford had the 3rd highest winning percentage in all of college football during his tenure at Clemson. With that said his best against Georgia was 500.
All other Clemson coaches versus Georgia are (13-37-3).
John Heisman had a winning record back from 1900 to 1904 (4-0) versus Georgia and 9 of the 13 wins outside of the Ford era were before the 1st world war.
Wow, Clemson has only beaten Georgia 4 times after WW ONE and outside of the Danny Ford Era. Those wins were in 1955, 1974, 1977, and 1990).
I guess I now see why so many Clemson fans see us as a rivalry during the Ford Era, the only time Clemson fans were alive to remember having a 500 winning percentage against Georgia.
I didn’t know the series was that lop sided.
Unfortunately we don’t play every year to give Clemson a chance for redemption. Our last visit was in 2003 and Georgia won 30-0. I believe Clemson had 33 net rushing yards in that game. That was my only experience in Death Valley. Looking forward to renewing the series in a couple of year. Too bad Stafford and Korn will not play each other in the regular season.
Randy
Randy,
The Clemson-Georgia series is one of the most interesting in the South. You are correct when you point out Georgia’s domination throughout the rivalry up until really 1977.
Clemson did not go to a bowl from 1959 to 1977 but that was the year Clemson became more of a Southern power and the rivalry really took off.
It has been a great rivalry since then for a couple of reasons. First, the game was always played in September and the winner usually went to enjoy a great season. Second, the games were usually extremely close and most of the time came down to the final few minutes. Also consider the schools are about an hour apart and were competing for some of the same recruits.
Since the rivalry really began in 1977 I would say it was actually fantastic. Clemson and UGA played 11 times from 1977 to 1991 and the series was 6-6-1. While you point out that this was the golden era of Clemson football, it is also fair to point out that this was the golden age of UGA football also. Georgia won the national title in 1980 and Herschel Walker only lost one regular season game at UGA and that was at Clemson.
Simply stated, Clemson and Georgia was not a rivalry until 1977 because of UGA’s dominance. In a poll of its readers in the late 1980s, the Atlanta Constitution said that UGA fans said Clemson was Georgia’s biggest rival at the time. However, the two teams don’t play on a consistent basis and now it is difficult to have a rivalry.
Mickey,
Get those fans to Littlejohn!! I am a Clemson alum from Syracuse. I have been a lifelong season ticket holder for SU hoops and was at the game at the Carrier Dome last night. Wednesday night, I will be at Littlejohn cheering my Tigers! SU is my team, but Clemson is my family. It will be a tough game and the media up here is disrespecting the Tigers (they even had a picture of Clemson's coach on the news this morning - it was Andy Kennedy!!!) but the Tigers will continue to make everyone proud and pull out the win! Then I will host the party up here in NY at MSG. Go Tigers!
Eric
Eric,
When and where is the party? Congrats on the huge win for you and your situation. I was also impressed with the Syracuse fans. They were incredible. Pull the boys through at MSG!
Hey Mickey,
What is the status of Buddy Munroe and Josh Thrailkill? I've heard mixed things but can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Aaron
Aaron,
I saw Monroe early in the season and he could barely get the ball back to the pitcher because of his shoulder surgery. I think he will be a good one after a red-shirt campaign. Thrailkill had an ankle injury and I have not checked on him. He also had some issues with his velocity being down since his junior season. I will try to check and maybe have a baseball blog update soon.
Mickey's Blog also brought to you by:
864-834-6060
The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency
|
Posted by Mickey Plyler
@ 09:50 AM EDT
|
|
