Tuesday February 06, 2007

Hurricane Season; Baseball Tickets; The Best Ever?

The Hurricane
Back in the mid-nineties I published a recruiting magazine and termed signing day and the days leading up to it as 'Hurricane Season." I compared the de-commitments to hurricanes building strengths out at sea. You knew they were going to hit but you did not know when or where.

I loved the idea of de-commitments and signing day shockers because it was good for business. Personally, I despised them however. I could not stand it when a player gave a staff his word but then went back on it.

Clemson has had the better part of this storm more times than not. There was a stretch where they lost a bunch on or near signing day but recently have more than made up for that.

The biggest loss ever was Herschel Walker. The future Heisman winner came down to Georgia, Clemson and Southern Cal. He held out until April 1, 1980 when he chose the Bulldogs.

Tim Worley also came down to Clemson and Georgia but Oklahoma was heavily involved. Again the Dawgs won out.

It was John Johnson's signing day shocker that was Clemson's biggest signing day surprise until C.J. Spiller's press conference 364 days ago. Johnson had committed to Georgia until Tommy West convinced him Clemson was the right place for him.

It did not work out for Roscoe Crosby but Signing Day was fun that year. That was the same year Rocky McIntosh was forced to sign with Miami instead of Clemson. That day Clemson did get great news from Crosby and Ben Hall.

It was the mid 1990s that saw the strange day when Antwan Edwards signed with both Clemson and Florida State. Since Clemson received the letter first he was bound to the Tigers.

I also remember feeling like Clemson won the lottery when they signed Anthony Simmons. That proved to be a huge pick up. But on signing day it was not as big as Rashidi Brown and we all know how that one turned out.

Three years ago Mike McIntosh shocked the recruiting world and inked with Florida. Who would have thought that Andrew Diamonde would have caught more balls in his college career?

The truth is that the best players in many cases are the ones that commit early. In many cases we forget about them but they are the ones that are really "committed" to your program instead of themselves.

Supply and Demand
The athletic department has sold 3,600 baseball season tickets and had to turn away 800 more. I think that is amazing. Clemson baseball continues to grow at a rapid pace and the administration needs to hurry up and take notice. Last year after the super-regionals I was talking to a high ranking athletic department official and asked when the baseball stadium was going to be renovated again to add more seats. I swear he told me that they did not think they were needed. I was amazed and made the case that the athletic department could not build them fast enough but this administrator said the demand was not high enough and he did not see the need. I have since heard that they have re-thought that notion and now have accelerated plans to continue to add on more seats.

David Spearman of Mr. Knickerbocker told me that baseball apparel out sells basketball by a ten-to-one margin. In fact, I went by Mr. Knickerbocker yesterday to buy my new Clemson baseball hat for the season.

Again, I am amazed how this community has embraced Clemson baseball. I have often wondered how many tickets you could sell to a Clemson-USC game if the tickets were unlimited. The real story here is that there are seldom any empty seats for any game at Clemson anymore. So here is to the fans that make this program so great.

The Best Ever?
My college roommate asked me a great question. "Is Brian Dawkins the best NFL player to ever play at Clemson?" he asked. I thought that was a great question and began to debate it with him. Here are a couple of items to consider:

*Dwight Clark was the NFL player of the year in 1982
*Michael Dean Perry was All-Pro six times

But perhaps the best way to judge this is by the number of Pro Bowls they were selected to. Here is the list of the Clemson leaders in Pro Bowls:

6-Michael Dean Perry
6-Brian Dawkins
4-Trevor Pryce
4-Chester McGlockton
3-Ray Matthews
3-Charlie Waters

My guess is the argument comes down to Perry and Dawkins. I think both should be considered for the Hall of Fame, but which one had a better NFL career will be judged after Dawkins retires.

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