In or Out?
The Atlantic Coast Conference made a big splash this past spring when it secured Notre Dame as its 15th member. The conference adds another new member this fall when Louisville joins the league.
Expansion is always a hot topic and it has been this way for most of my life. South Carolina left the ACC in the mid-1970s and it was a controversial subject. The conference added Georgia Tech a few years later and Tech seemed like a natural fit because of geography.
The league went to nine schools when it added Florida State in the early 90s. Again this felt like Georgia Tech because it was located within the geographic thumbprint of the ACC.
The next expansion came with Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech. In my opinion, Miami felt natural and felt like an ACC school. I think Virginia Tech has been as good or better in terms of a fit in the conference. However, Boston College has not. I have always felt the original ACC schools had little in common with Boston College. It just hasn't fit in my opinion.
The next wave of expansion came this past year when Syracuse and Pittsburgh joined the conference. I have not gone to an event with Clemson and Pittsburgh yet but it just doesn't feel right to me. Pittsburgh feels like a big northern city that features a basketball powerhouse. It doesn't feel like the Atlantic Coast Conference to me.
I did go to Syracuse this past October for Clemson's first trip to the Carrier Dome. The trip was nice, mainly because the Tigers ripped up the home team. The people were friendly and it was an interesting trip, but at no time did I feel like I was on an ACC campus.
I have not been to Louisville yet, so I am interested to see how they fit and how it will feel to have them as a part of the league. But at least the other 15 schools have joined the league as a full-time member. That is not the case for Notre Dame.
It has been made clear to me that if the ACC wanted to get Notre Dame it was going to have to do what others, including the Big 12, weren’t willing to do. The ACC had to offer Notre Dame on Notre Dame's terms. That means no football. Sure, four ACC schools will get to play Notre Dame in football, but they won't be conference games. Each year 11 ACC schools won't play Notre Dame in football. That doesn't sound like a conference member to me.
I know Notre Dame is a great name. I know they have the Subway Alumni and I know they are a powerful force in college athletics. However, I want Notre Dame to go all in. To me, I say get in or get out. I’m not sure the benefits of its membership are worth the special membership.
If you put the ACC logo on the soccer field, basketball court and baseball field then you ought to have to put it on the football field today.
Notre Dame's famous sign its players touch from the locker room on the way to the field reads, "Play Like A Champion Today." My question is, "Champion of what?" Unless Notre Dame wins the national title, what championship can they win as an independent? Certainly they can't claim a division title or a conference title. What banners do you hang? What rings do you win?
So tonight the Tigers take on conference foe in South Bend, IN in men's basketball. The game counts in the conference standings but personally I would feel so much better about its membership if Notre Dame committed and jumped into the boat full time.
Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech and Louisville's membership to the ACC feels natural. I can't say the same about Boston College, Syracuse or Pittsburgh. I like Notre Dame in the ACC but wish they REALLY were in the ACC.
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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 email me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*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, Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got Igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S., Daniel Rosborough, the Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, 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, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, the Nicolopulos family, "the Jacksonville, FL guys," Kim Sims, the Coyle family, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, the Thomas V. family, Emary Claire Young, Kitty Bowers, Julie Locke, the Scheider family, Lauren Kittles' family, Frank Gentry, Joyce Bussey, Stacey McKeown, Dale Childs, Larry Lentz, Jr., Carl Sharperson, Scott Hannon, William Perry, Tyler Swaney, Lillian, Mark Feit, David Frame, Chad Berry, the family of Matthew M. Watson, the Dowis family, Shervin Messer, Alan Putnam, the Olivers, Lee Tate, Ronnie Abrams, Eddie Greene, the Jackson family, Bill Vader, Jim Taylor, Tina DeWitt, Rock Horne, Christopher Tuten, Bobby Wayne Thomas, Emma and Danielle Carothers, Robert Ditty, Mr. and Mrs. Murray Smith, Dot Cartee, Ayden Mills, Millie Heatley, Lynn Martin and family, Michael Pinson, Jake David family, Angie Crowley, Ira, Mike Tolson, Poly Wells, Dr. Muriel Bishop, Jack Cunningham, Emily Jefford Meister, Zachary Stoller, Aaron Clackum, Pat James, Cortney Moore, William Moore, Angelia and Savannah Anderson, William Ross, Meredith Legg, Scott Johns, Frank Carroll,
Brandon Thompson
Brandon Thompson
Defensive Tackle (2008 - 2011)
#98 6-2, 310
Thomasville, GA
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, Alvin Sammons, Georgine McAlhaney, Glen Davis, Mike Price, Clay Childers, Aaron Knight, Danielle Johnston and family, Nicholas Abrams, Lana Kuykendall, Gary, Gary G., William Huggins, Jim Bennett, Chantz Fowler, Ethel McElveen, Michele Gurganus, William Gentry, Lewis Usher and Tanya Sanders, Shon Cooper, Nick Collins, Amanda Peake, Danny Hammond, Chip Turner, Nick Collins, Allen Steen, the Sturkey family, the Lance family, Nick Chrisley's family, Allison Williams, Lt. Kyle Walker, Summer and Joel Johnson, Nicole O'Donnell, James O. Johnson, Joy Pruett and family, Bill Schmidt, Jack Bailey, Gardner Family, Charles Turner, Kathy Bartholomew, Ray Sanders, David and Robin Blocker, J.R. Ray, Kenneth Kowe, Lauren Sielicki, Doug Bailey and family, Jenna Phipps, Mark Lawrence, Harlan Sullins, Peter Laboy, Kat and Carlisle Jones, Elizabeth Galloway and family, Anita McDonald, Willard Harryman, Liz Surratt, Molly Senn, Jackie Shearer, Richard Sellers, Tim Drisdelle, Edward Easterling, Dawson Bourne, Susan and Mike Brown, Julie Goodman Marshall, Willard and Dorothy Harryman, Justin Jernigan, Jack Cunningham, Mia Daughtery, Tee Senn, Jim Lanier, Bob Garrett, Skylar, Joseph Thomas, Mrs. Nelis, Jeanne Thompson, Sean Rowell, George Parker,
Levon Kirkland
Levon Kirkland
Linebacker
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and family, Catherine Sewell, Randy Davenport,
Patrick DeStefano
Patrick DeStefano
Offensive Line (2012 - 2013)
#71 6-5, 275
Spartanburg, SC
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, David Vaughn, Keith Dalton, and our great country and the men and women in uniform that protect and serve it every day, plus their families.
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