Monday February 26, 2007

Jacoby

Jacoby
What Jacoby Ford did this past weekend is nothing short of amazing. I consider myself a track and field fan but have been to only about 15 indoor track meets and maybe that many not quite that many outdoor meets. However, I have never seen anything like what I saw Friday and Saturday in Clemson. The energy surrounding the 60m preliminaries and finals was unbelievable. The finals featured four of the top eight 60m athletes in the country but it was Ford who put on a show.

Ford is just a freshman and is very inexperienced in this event but you could not tell it either day. He was running in just his third event of his college career. On Friday, he broke the ACC record of 6.56 with a 6.53 mark. Mind you that this was not just any record but perhaps the most prestigious in indoors in the ACC and he broke fellow Tiger and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Crawford's record.

I was so amazed at his Friday performance that I made my son go with me to Saturday's finals. My thoughts were that he would get to see a great race but the idea of Ford breaking the record two days in a row did not enter my mind.

His 6.518 shocked me (check out the picture of me and my son in the background on the front page of clemsontigers.com).

Here are some facts about how the 6.518 compares to history:

*The world record in the event is 6.39 and is held by Maurice Greene.

*The fastest time in the world in 2006 was 6.50 by Leonard Scott in Moscow. Scott is a professional track athlete that also played football at Tennessee.

*Ford's 6.518 would have been the second fastest last year.

*The top non Olympic event in the country is the US Track and Field US Championships. The even has been hosted since 1906. In 1987 they changed the 60 yard event to 55 meters. They changed it again to 60 meters 16 years ago. In those 16 years, Ford's time would have been good enough to win Gold in each year but six of those years. Remember this is a professional event.

*Only one American has run a faster 60m this year (Marcus Brunson, a professional).

*No amateur has run a faster 60m in the US this season.

*The fastest college track athlete this season before Ford this past weekend was Demi Omole of Wisconsin, who ran a 6.55 at Notre Dame on February 2.

*Ford's two times this past weekend were the third and fourth fastest times by an American this year.

*His Saturday time was the seventh fastest by an American in the last four years.

Again, I have been very fortunate to witness some amazing performances but this one ranks up there with any Clemson performance I have seen in person. Below is a list of my top performances I have seen in person by Clemson athletes:

Football-I was not in Miami when the Tigers won the National Championship so the most amazing thing I have seen in person takes a back seat to what I have seen on TV. In person the most amazing individual performance I have seen is Woody Dantzler's game at NC State in 2001. Remember that was when Dantzler completed 23 of 27 passes for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for another 184 yards and 2 scores. I have seen unbelievable plays and great wins but Dantzler's performance that day was the most amazing I have seen in person.
Basketball-As a kid I saw Skip Wise play once but barely remember it. I did witness the Tigers defeat Duke and UNC but perhaps the most amazing thing I have seen in Clemson basketball is the last second win over Virginia Tech last season.

Baseball-Tyler Colvin's walk-off grand slam in last year's super regional against Oral Roberts highlights a ton of great performances and great finishes. I can recall about ten great ones off of the top of my head but none were bigger than Colvin's blast.

Golf-The Tigers do not have any home matches and I was not there in Stillwater when they won the national title but I have seen amazing shots in person from many of the Tiger golfers. My favorite in-person memory of a golfer while he was at Clemson was of Jonathan Byrd. On day, Jonathan let me watch him practice and take in his routine. I was amazed at how hard he worked and how much he put into every session. It was fascinating to be able to pick his mind about his swing thoughts.

Soccer-I was there when the Tigers won the National Championship in 1987 on Historic Riggs Field but my personal favorite moment was last year when Clemson scored late to win in the final eight. The late goal sent the Tigers to the Final Four and Trevor Adair, who had just lost his father, was emotionally drained. The crowd support around the program and Trevor was amazing that night.

If you were there Friday or Saturday let me know if you agree about Ford's performances.

Ford and Football
I question I heard more often since Saturday is, "Why did he not get the ball more in football?"

Remember Ford was a true freshman last season and did look good when he was in the game. I would expect his role to dramatically increase next season.

Ford continues in the long line of football players who have excelled in track. Seven former track athletes at Clemson went on to play in the NFL. Some of the top two-sports athletes include Banks McFadden, Jerry Butler, Rod MCSwain, Delton hall, Charlie James, Doug Thomas, Airese Currie and Tye Hill.

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