Thursday August 05, 2010

The Team

The Team
There is a song made famous at the United States Military Academy in West Point called “The Corps.” The first and last line of the of the song is The Corps, The Corps, The Corps.

In General MacArthur’s farewell speech he closed by saying, “…I want you to know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be the Corps, the Corps, the Corps.

Michigan Head Coach Bo Schembechler gave his team a great speech one year in the preseason. He talked about “The Team” like MacArthur did The Corps. The Hall of Fame coach said:

“We want the Big Ten championship and we’re gonna win it as a TEAM. They can throw out all of those great backs and great quarterbacks and great defensive players, throughout the country and in this conference, but we are gonna be one TEAM that’s gonna play solely as a TEAM. No man is more important than The TEAM. No Coach is more important than The TEAM.

The TEAM, The TEAM, The TEAM.

And of we think that way, all of us, everything that you do, you take into consideration what effect does it have on my TEAM? Because you can go into professional football, you can go anywhere you want to play after you leave here. You will never play for a TEAM again. You’ll play for a contract. You’ll play for this. You’ll play for that. You’ll play for everything except the TEAM, and think what a great thing it is to be part of something that is, The TEAM. We’re gonna win it. We’re gonna win the championship again because we’re gonna play as a TEAM better than anybody else in this conference. We’re gonna play together as a TEAM. We’re gonna believe in each other. We’re not gonna criticize each other. We’re not gonna talk about each other. We’re gonna encourage each other. And when we play as a TEAM, when the old season is over, you and I know, it’s gonna be Michigan again. Michigan!”

If you need a pep talk today, you can check out the audio at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnSOwvj24M0.

Tuesday was the first day of football practice at Clemson and I had a brief conversation with Associate Athletic Director Woody McCorvey. I asked McCorvey what he thought about the season and he said he thought this season would be different because he thought they had a chance to be more about The TEAM.

McCorvey coached under Danny Ford at Clemson from 1983-89 and later moved on to Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi State. He won 11 conference titles and one national championship.

Many of those championship teams McCorvey has been around won titles because of the things Schembechler talked about. McCorvey likes what he sees in the Clemson team.

Can Clemson be a better football team even though C.J. Spiller has moved on ti the NFL?

Don’t get me wrong, I love C.J. Spiller and would welcome him back today if the NCAA would let us. He is my favorite player of all-time. But sometimes it seemed like Spiller’s incredible senior season may have taken away from the team aspect.

I could be wrong but at times it felt that way to me. That was no fault of Spiller’s. He was always talking about the team and putting the team first. But the attention always seemed to gravitate back to Spiller.

One of the teams I have loved following in recent years is Iowa because the Hawkeyes usually don’t have a bunch of stars. If they do, they are usually big linemen. But Iowa has won 20 games over the past two years. Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State always out recruit Iowa but the Hawkeyes play as a team.

Some observers close to their program feel Virginia Tech was a better program post Michael Vick.

So could this program be better post Spiller?

I think you need great players to win titles and players make plays. But if Dabo can get his guys to buy into the team aspect with everything they have then it is possible to be better in 2010.

Spiller’s production will hard to replace. He rushed for over 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns. He had over 500 yards receiving and four touchdowns. Spiller had almost 1,000 yards in the return game a year ago and five more scores.

One player cannot fill Spiller’s shoes. It will take 11 on each side of the ball to do that. The offense can be better if the offensive line does their part to pick up some of the talent that left with Spiller. The tight ends could play a little better in an attempt to pick up some of the slack. So will the quarterbacks, wide outs and the backs that will take his place. The defense will have to play better. The special teams will have to be more solid. Everyone will be counted on but it can be done.

Tennessee won the national title the year after Peyton Manning graduated. How did they do it? The TEAM, The TEAM, The TEAM.

I would not be shocked if Clemson is better in 2010 even though the best player in school history will be in Buffalo this fall.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers.