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I think of the Clemson-North Carolina basketball series different than anyone else that I know. First, I could not care less about the streak. Until this morning I could not remember the exact number. I knew it was 50-something but I had to be told it was 0-53. I can quote football stats and scores from the 1970s but that series number is not important to me.

I want to win the game tonight but it has nothing to do with the streak. To me there is not a whole lot of difference between 1-53 and 0-54.

I want to win tonight because of what it would mean for the 2008-09 Tigers. A win means this team stays in the top ten and defeats a top ten team. A win would mean everything to this team and would not help ease the pain for any player who had not beaten the Tar Heels before.

Tonight’s game is a chance and an opportunity, not a burden. The pressure in these types of streaks is on the winning team. Clemson’s players get a chance to break a streak and do something that has never been done before. There is no burden on Clemson. The pressure is on the Tar Heels here. If they beat Clemson they have done nothing more than any other UNC squad. However, they do not want to be the first to lose to the Tigers.

In 53 losses to the Tar Heels, UNC has been the better team in about 50 of those games. Even if Clemson would have upset the Tar Heels then it would have only been that. Clemson would have most likely just gone back to being the doormat of the ACC. It would have meant the Tigers would have gone 6-10 instead of 5-11 in the league.

However, a win now against North Carolina means something because now the Tigers can compete against the Heels. They played three overtimes in three games a year ago and battled the Heels for the ACC Championship. A win this season would mean Clemson is ready to compete with the Tar Heels even in Chapel Hill. It would mean this team is ready to compete for the regular season title, tournament titles and seeding in the NCAA tournament.

A loss tonight is not the end of the world. The ACC race is a marathon and the next home game Sunday night against Georgia Tech is just as important to this team. Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina and Clemson all have a chance to win the league and be a national seed in the NCAA tournament but remember tonight is only one game and the calendar still says January.

I want the Tigers to win tonight but all I really ask for is a fair shake. Those are few and far between though. Last season in Chapel Hill the Tar Heels shot 36 free throws and Clemson shot seven. Clemson did not play in the Dean Dome in 2007 but in 2006 the Tar Heels had 29 free throws to Clemson’s 9. In 2005 the Tigers did get a chance to go to the line 29 times but UNC went 47 times. In the last three trips to North Carolina, Clemson has shot 45 free throws and UNC shot 112. In the last two games in the Dean Dome Clemson shot 16 free throws and the Tar Heels shot 65.

If the Tigers lose tonight but get a fair shake from the officials then I am fine with that and can admit the best team won. That is what happened Saturday. Both teams got a fair chance from the officials and Wake was simply better than Clemson so they won the game. They played better and won.

Last year in the overtime game at Clemson and in the ACC finals the officiating was very fair. Fouls were about even and both teams shot about the same amount of three throws. North Carolina was better than Clemson and played better on those nights so they deserved to win. However, in Chapel Hill last year Clemson outplayed North Carolina and did not win because the officials did not give the Tigers a fair chance.

The streak is not the issue. Clemson has defeated North Carolina in Clemson and on neutral courts in ACC tournaments. They have beaten them when North Carolina was the home team in the North-South tournament in North Carolina. So technically, Clemson has beaten North Carolina in North Carolina when the Heels were the home team. However, the Tigers have not won in Chapel Hill.

One final point about tonight’s contest that is a factor to me—UNC is a 15-point favorite. I refuse to believe that Clemson should be a 15-point underdog to any team in America on any court in America. However, Vegas does take into account everything and they know how the game will be officiated tonight. North Carolina might be better than Clemson at every position tonight but they are not 15 point better going into the game. Also, after watching both teams several times this season and watching all three contest last year, I can honestly tell you that my days of fearing the Tar Heels are over. Clemson has proven they can play with North Carolina.

The Tigers have earned more respect every year under coach Purnell and this year is the best example of that. Also the Tigers may get beat by much more than 15 points tonight but to go into the game as a 15-point underdog is a tremendous lack of respect for this squad.

A win tonight would be monumental for this team not Clemson history. This is the team that can beat North Carolina tonight….wait…….Foul on Trevor Booker.

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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-was born Wednesday, January 14 several weeks pre-mature and was 2 lbs. 15 ounces. She is doing well but like all pre-mature babies she will have to get through several issues over the next few weeks.

Larry in Naples, FL. Larry is currently being kept sedated in ICU and has acute pancreatitis. Larry is going to be transferred this week to Shands in Gainesville, FL for surgery on his pancreas. The doctors are saying that there is a 40% mortality rate with this surgery and if successful, there will still be a very long recovery. Larry is a great guy and a wonderful husband/father. Larry is 32 years old.

Kaitlyn L-4 year old girl in TN who has seizures and a brain lesion that may be a slow-growing tumor. She will likely have a biopsy in February.

Daniel Rosborough-4-year old Inman, SC who will have a kidney transplant 1/14/09 in Charleston

I am starting a signing for my son's best friend who has cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma). He is 11 years old and is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with this cancer 2 weeks ago and the tumor is next to his jugular vein and entwined in it...has moved his wind pipe over a inch making it hard for him to breathe. The tumor is the size of a large eggplant and is sitting right above his heart. This little boy needs all the prayer he can get. I would like you to sign this and pass it on to as many people as you can. Once we get to a thousand people can you please send this back to me at: 1volsgirl@bellsouth.net When I get the 1000 people that have signed it...I am going to print this up for my sons best friend and show him how many people care and how many people are praying for him to get better. If you have a heart at all, you will all do this for me. I love this child as though he is my own and we really need all the prayers!

Comments:

"A win tonight would be monumental for this team, not Clemson history."

— That's simply not true, and it short-changes this opportunity. It would be huge for this year's team for the reasons you mentioned, and it would be even bigger for Clemson basketball history because it would close a chapter of the past and confirm, if not signal, the new era of the present and future.

Posted by fibigcat on January 21, 2009 at 10:59 AM EST #

It would be great, but if we do lose, we cannot let it beat us to the point of losing more while getting over the hangover.

Posted by TigerGrad'93 on January 21, 2009 at 11:07 AM EST #

Being a 15-point dog is insulting. I'm not sure if he will, but it seems like OP could use that for motivation...not that any team should need extra motivation playing in Chapel Hill.
I agree about the refs - they need to be consistent throughout. I am already getting frustrated just thinking about Hansbrough doing his vintage "flail-and-flop" routine.

Posted by GoodFella on January 21, 2009 at 11:26 AM EST #

I'm glad that the Tigers are 15-point underdogs. Hopefully the Tarheels won't take Clemson very seriously.

Posted by Razzmatazz on January 21, 2009 at 11:36 AM EST #

If you are going to push a refree conspiracy theory, then at least explain why you think there is a conspiracy, and tell us who is to blame. I am not saying that I don't thinkt he officiating was awful last year, because it was, but I don't think they got together before the game and said "Let's make sure we call a lot of fouls on Clemson". Part of it is that Hansborough is good at drawing fouls, and part of it is because players of the year tend to get the calls. Also, I would imagine any team playing us last year would go in with the strategy of getting Booker in foul trouble.

Posted by Locotiger on January 21, 2009 at 12:24 PM EST #

I was there for the North-South win and all I remember is how great both teams played . Randy Mahaffey had over 30 points. If fouls had any significance , it was nothing I remember -wouldn't it be great if we could say that about tonight's game.

Posted by clover65 on January 21, 2009 at 12:32 PM EST #

Loco, Was last year the first year you watched the CU-UNC game at Chapel Hill? The early fouls on the big men are not a new thing. Its like death and taxes. Basketball officials are uniquely positioned to influence the outcome of games. I'm suprised the ACC hasn't suggested a penaly limit for football players. UNC could win the conference championship in football every year too. Until the refs are governed by the NCAA and not the ACC it will keep happening. I'll still be hollering at the tv though.

Posted by 93tiger2 on January 21, 2009 at 12:44 PM EST #

Until we win a men's basketball game in Chapel Hill, we are merely "participants" in ACC basketball, not "competitors".

Posted by apextiger on January 21, 2009 at 12:45 PM EST #

Hansbrough throwing an elbow into a players chest is a foul.... but who would ever blow that whistle on Tobacco Road?

Posted by MemphisORANGEtiger on January 21, 2009 at 12:54 PM EST #

I know we can play with and beat UNC, but every time we play them I fear that we will get hosed by the refs. This year I am hopeful that our improving national reputation in basketball will cause the refs to look at us objectively, rather than automatically assuming that we have inferior players who are foul-prone. I think we made it clear last year in our three games against UNC that we are capable of hanging with them, even on their court. We are due, and if we have truly moved on from the Wake game then I think we will beat them tonight.

Posted by Judge Keller on January 21, 2009 at 01:42 PM EST #

Foul on Booker, again!

Posted by Shevlin77 on January 21, 2009 at 02:38 PM EST #

I live in the heart of SEC country but am a Clemson alum (76/78) and fan. The ACC (yes, the Comissioner!), should be ashamed of the way the officials call the games in Cameron and the Smith Center. It makes our Conference look "second rate" compared to the Big East and SEC on just this fact alone. The bias is a indisputable and can not be defended. Maybe this is why UNC and Duke have stuggled in the NCAA's in recent years (since 2005), no home cooking. Mr. Commisioner, you should be ashamed to enable this charade; but since you are not, I will be ashamed for you!

Posted by darinfo on January 21, 2009 at 02:59 PM EST #

I disagree. I think the streak in Chapel Hill is something that hangs over the basketball team and the athletic programs. Sure, it might not be make or break for this season but I feel that in a way it validates the changes in the basketball program.

Posted by gmatt252000 on January 21, 2009 at 03:21 PM EST #

I disagree that the pressure is on UNC. If you remember what our players' faces looked like last year down the stretch, when UNC made their run to tie it in regulation, our guys' looked lost and shell-shocked.

They were carrying the burden of 52 losses up there.

Posted by Tiger TC on January 21, 2009 at 07:26 PM EST #

Nvj7eh

Posted by 89.211.40.214 on January 22, 2009 at 09:24 AM EST #