TigerNet -- Blogs -- Mickey Plyler's Blog

Welcome Back
I have never been a big fan of former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith but I do remember some good advice he gave a few years ago. The legendary Smith said that you have to get away sometimes and recharge your batteries and so you can come back energized and refreshed. Smith would take a few weeks at the end of each season and do just that.

I had a chance to do that last week with a trip to Wyoming. A couple of friends and I skied in Jackson Hole, WY and snowmobiled in Yellowstone National Park last week. The skiing was better on our third day because of fresh snow but I would give the Yellowstone trip an A+. I would give the snowmobile tour of the South end of the park my highest recommendations.

It was interesting to meet several Clemson graduates in Jackson. Also I was delighted to see the reaction of some others when they saw a Tiger Paw or Clemson logo on our clothes. The most common reaction I got was a comment about how great C.J. Spiller was. It is hard to put a value on what Spiller meant to the university and the football program.

Relationships
I enjoyed watching the video here on Tigernet of the postgame celebrations from the bowl game. I know a lot of players love their coaches and vice-versa. However, I cannot remember more genuine love between a player and coach than what we have seen from Jacoby Ford and C.J. Spiller in their relationship with Dabo.

I want to get more into this later in the week but in watching the Michigan State-Texas Tech game I noticed something again that hit home with me. After the game Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio made a great point. He was talking about how Texas Tech players and coaches handled the adversity in the Mike Leach situation. Dantonio praised the Texas Tech staff for holding things together and he began to talk about player-coach relationships. The head coach of the Spartans said that player-coach relationships are the most important aspect of a program. This was a point I tried to make last year and I think one of the biggest assets Dabo possesses. I saw it again with Spiller and Ford but Dantonio reiterated the point again Sunday night.

The Speed Network
I think I may have been the only person in America that did not buy into the “Sky is falling on everyone but the almighty SEC” talk after the final weekend of the regular season. Sure the SEC is the best conference in America and sure they have a ton of money coming into the league. However, I am glad the rest of the country did not drop football and lay down for the almighty conference.

South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson is a friend and a guy I have known for a long time but I realized he was recruiting when he made the comments about the speed of the SEC and how dominating it had become. I also realized that ESPN and CBS had the SEC football contracts so they were biased in their assessments of how powerful the conference can be.

Two things amused me from this bowl season so far. First, ESPN was quick to judge the SEC and ACC after South Carolina beat Clemson, Georgia beat Georgia Tech and Florida beat Florida State. That weekend the ESPN announcers made statements about how dominant the league was.

I was confused by Reece Davis and his ESPN buddies when they could judge the final weekend of the regular season as the final nail in the coffin of all other conferences yet now that the SEC has not dominated in the bowls, we now hear a different tune. Now the spin is that you cannot judge conferences based upon the bowl games. Bowl games are more about matchups and not about conference power according to the folks at ESPN.

The other thing that amused me was the speed thing. I wonder how Ellis Johnson could explain their bowl game against UCONN. Do the Huskies have that magical “SEC speed”?

Apparently East Carolina and Northwestern have SEC speed but not SEC placekickers.

The ACC went 2-0 against the SEC in bowl games so does the ACC have SEC speed? Maybe Clemson got faster since November? Maybe Virginia Tech has SEC speed in their second trip to Atlanta since they lost to Alabama in the season opener but beat Tennessee in the Chick-fil-a Bowl.

Kentucky must not have had SEC speed when they lost to the lowly ACC and Clemson in the bowl game but I could have sworn they had SEC speed when they won at Auburn and at Georgia.

Tennessee must have gotten slower in its game against Virginia Tech because they came within a last second field goal of beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa and pounded Georgia and South Carolina.

Oklahoma State had that speed in its opener when it beat Georgia but lost it when they lost the bowl game to Ole Miss.

Vanderbilt went 0-8 in the league this year and that was explained by losing to eight SEC teams who had SEC speed. But they also lost to Georgia Tech and Army. Tech also beat Mississippi State. So Army had it and Tech had it but lost it against Georgia. BTW-Tech must have had SEC when the Jackets pounded Georgia last year in Athens.

Or maybe there is another explanation. Maybe Alabama is awesome. Maybe Florida is also very good. And maybe the rest of the league is just about average. Maybe Ellis Johnson, ESPN and CBS have something they are trying to sell.

The SEC is the best league in the country but I would suggest the other conferences not drop football just yet.

American Bandstand
I realize I am getting old but count me out on watching another high school football all-star game. I was disgusted all week by John Fulton’s trash talking at the Shrine Bowl but he looked like a choir boy compared to what I had to watch at the Under Armor All-American game. In case you missed it, every play ended with one of the players dancing and showboating around. Each play ended with trash talking and parading around the field with each player trying to bring more attention to himself. Also, the hat thing has gotten old. Just call the coaches you who are recruiting you and let them know you are coming. I don’t see the need in this drama filled event. ESPN and Under Armor will have to make changes if they want me to ever watch again. I don’t need to see the McDonald’s All-American game on grass.

Cold Night
I want to get into the basketball program more later this week but I wonder what is colder, the temperature outside or the Tigers from behind the three-point line last night?

Mac
Also later this week I will have a blog about Mac McKeown. We have lost another legend. I am looking forward to his memorial service in Clemson Saturday and hope you will enjoy a blog later this week on another great Tiger gone.

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, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Ann Fallaw, Bob Pollock, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family.

Comments:

MP---
Ellis Johnson is just reading the scripts given him by Steve 'Superior'.
SC is busy recruiting each and every guy they can get. Recruiting class size means little to them. How many have they signed in each class since Spurrier arrived in Columbia? would be an interesting article for you to divulge.
bob brown

Posted by bbrown cren on January 04, 2010 at 09:58 AM EST #

I've been on vacation to Arizona/New Mexico twice--Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Tuscon, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and all points in between--twice, and both times I got numerous positive comments anytime someone saw my Clemson gear--especially from the employees at the Grand Canyon, oddly.

I also got several comments each time about my Clemson class ring, including a h#ll of a compliment from an AZ State Trooper. I was asking him for directions, he saw my ring and asked where it was from--I told him Clemson and he said "that's really nice. I'm an Arizona State grad and I sure do wish we had a ring that nice." It was awesome. People out there may not know where Clemson is *located*, but they sure as heck know what Clemson *is*.

Posted by grover173 on January 04, 2010 at 12:32 PM EST #

Good point about the SEC speed perception. I've also heard some announcers say that teams have "SEC-like speed on defense". I wonder if any of the announcers ever actually looked at the 40-yard-dash times of the various starting defensive lineups in FBS and scientifically ranked them or if it's just their "feeling".

I do think that the match-ups are important. For example, I don't think it boosts the ACC's reputation relative to the SEC when, when ACC Atlantic champ Clemson (6-2 ACC) beats lower tier SEC Kentucky (3-5 SEC) in a pretty close game. There may be a little bit more meaning to VT (upper-tier 6-2 ACC) pounding Tennessee (mid-level 4-4 SEC). And I actually thought that (upper-middle BC) represented the ACC well in its close loss to (upper-Pac-10) USC.

I thought it was interesting that UNC beat UConn earlier this season, and then UConn pounded SCar in their bowl game.

Posted by Razzmatazz on January 04, 2010 at 01:08 PM EST #

ESPN not only has a contract with the SEC, they also hype it (as you've pointed out here). The problem I have with this is when the NCAA uses this very thing to punish a school. The NCAA considers TV coverage a recruiting advantage and uses the restriction of it to balance out other recruiting violations. The NCAA is a farce.

Posted by TigerRay on January 04, 2010 at 04:45 PM EST #

I hate the SEC and pull against every one of their teams just because of the biased coverage that is spewed from ESPN and CBS. I don't see how anyone can argue that Bama and Florida are playing at a different level than everyone else, but they won't stay on top forever, just like FSU, Miami, and SOuthern Cal were not able to perpetuate their runs of dominance. The rest of the conference is vastly over-rated IMO.

Posted by Locotiger on January 04, 2010 at 05:11 PM EST #

The SEC has 2 very good (great) teams in FL and AL, but the rest of the conference is along for the ride. I think it is unconscionable that the SEC gets treated like they were royalty, just because a network made a stupid business decision and gave them more money than they deserve. Look at Notre Dame and see the stupidity of lauding them.

Posted by Dugatiger on January 04, 2010 at 07:15 PM EST #

If those trash talking players all had "Clemson" next to their college choice, methinks it would not be much of a problem how they act ON the field. That was my disappointement in the game. The kids today are what they are on the field, but not seeing Clemsonn next to any of them was more what I had the problem with.

Posted by Filo Betto on January 05, 2010 at 07:29 AM EST #

Filo, One kid that committed to Bama was a real good one. I was thinking at the time that I wouldn't want any of them until I heard him speak. You're wrong, though. I would have had a problem with a kid that I knew was coming to Clemson acting out too much. I enjoy when they celebrate as a team and it can be pretty theatrical but it is obvious when things are done just to draw attention to "me". Flexing for the camera after scoring a TD is one that I saw in one bowl game. The real problem is, they kept showing it over and over like it's ok but it drew a flag. I saw another guy do it to his teammates in another game that was barely cought on film. It was not flagged because it was not to draw attention to himself. I never saw that one again.

Posted by Smplman on January 05, 2010 at 12:38 PM EST #

talk about things that have gotten OLD_--well PLEASE add the gatorade bath at the end of the game......

Posted by RRTiger on January 05, 2010 at 01:17 PM EST #