Mickey Plyler's Blog for April 6th |
864-834-6060 Thank you for being a Tiger Source member. Mickey's blog will be released to Tiger Source members first. Tigers at Augusta Clemson has a former golfer in the field at The Masters for the fifth time in the last six years as Lucas Glover tees off in the first group Thursday morning. I spent Wednesday at Augusta, and spoke briefly with Glover and his caddie for the par-3 tournament, Brandt Gilbert, another Clemson graduate. Gilbert, perhaps Glover's best friend, did not caddie for him during the practice round or tournament, but was asked to carry the small bag for the fun-filled par-three event. When the Tiger duo passed by my wife and I, we spoke to both guys and I asked Lucas if he was going to let Gilbert putt out on the last hole like some of the guys do. Gilbert is not a golfer, but came close to making a 10-footer in front of the huge crowd. Glover told several mutual friends that he is playing well and was really looking forward to his first Masters appearance. Throughout the huge crowds on Wednesday you could hear many shouts of "Go Tigers!" to Glover throughout his round. ESPN.com ranked the entire field from 1-90 and Glover was ranked 14th. Go to their website to see a great compliment for Lucas. It Never Gets Old We are fortunate to live so close to Augusta National here in South Carolina and I have been extremely fortunate to go to the event many times over the last 30 years. On Wednesday it still felt the same as it did the first time I walked through the gates at the famed club. Quite frankly, I am not sure it will ever get old going to The Masters. Sure the golf course has changed. The first tee is now almost on top of the putting green. The fourth hole now requires a fairway wood for some on the long par three. The seventh hole is almost 100 yards longer than it was originally. The 11th hole has some changes. The tee at 15 has been moved to the left. But there was a major change on the golf course that had nothing to do with design. The worst part of the 2006 Masters is no Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. The King and The Bear played in the par three tournament, but it is not the same. If they find a way to let Charles Coody play, then lets get Jack and Arnie back in the field. It's also nice to see players like Glover and Tiger Woods that have enough respect for the game to dress with some class. Someone please tell the European cats to tone it down for one week. Whenever we go over to England we respect the all-white dress at Wimbledon. The Spaniards look like a freak show. Please have some respect. No Place Like Home In July I moved to Clemson. At the age of 37 the only regret I had was I should have done it 10 years ago. There truly is something in these hills. I can't think of a better place to raise a family, and I love the two-mile drive to work. I love the fact that I really don't have to worry too much about crime in our little village. But the world is changing. Did you see where Tom Lehman was shot at in his car outside of Augusta National this week? What is the world coming to when drive-bys occur outside the gates of Augusta National? Did a Tree Fall in a Forest? I heard Maryland beat Duke in a thrilling overtime game to win the national championship in women's basketball. I will have to take someone else's word on how great the game was. If you saw it, please...nevermind. Barnes To State? Published reports have NC State chasing Rick Barnes to be their next head coach. The plan is to bring him back to his home state. I don't know whether Barnes will coach in Austin, TX or Raleigh, NC next season. But I can guarantee you that Barnes cares about one program and one program only. He only cares about the Rick Barnes program. Barnes cares about Barnes and no one else. I may have been the only one that was not fooled by the "golf cart thing" on football Saturdays. That had nothing to do with promoting Clemson basketball. Instead it only promoted Barnes. Ask South Carolina football how it feels to constantly promote a coach instead of a program. I'll take Purnell thank you very much. Tigers Down Top-Ranked Cocks Leggett's boys came up with a huge win Wednesday night in Columbia. A 3-2 victory over the top ranked Gamecocks was sweet especially for Rock Hill native Ryan Hinson who struck out seven in his first career start. Other South Carolina natives came up with six of the Tigers' 10 hits, including three by North Augusta native Tyler Colvin. Clemson will try to take the third game in the series next Wednesday. Maybe Clemson can get Tommy Bowden to throw out the first ball next week. The Cocks had Steve Spurrier throw out the first pitch Wednesday night, but this one turned out like the gridiron contest with little USC scoring and Clemson pulling out a late win. In yesterday's blog we gave you some attendance notes and Wednesday's game saw 5,782 at Sarge Frye Field.Mickey's new Blog brought to you by:
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