Hell's Belza
posted by LW, Sunday, May 31, 2009
Walked past the brother of Tom Belza, a guy who might just be trying to arrange for the Cowboys to play their home games in Clemson from now on.
Belza's brother and a friend had a dazed but euphoric look in their eyes that suggested they were on some incredible gambling run in Vegas.
"I need a drink," the friend said.
"I need a drink, too," Belza's brother replied. "A big one."
From about 20 yards away, a Clemson fan walking through the tunnel looked up and spotted the pair (they tend to stand out, given the replica Cowboys jersey with "TBELZ" on the back).
The Clemson fan lifts both arms in the air in an exasperated motion and says: "Dude ... get him out of here." He was referring to Tom Belza, of course.
It was more a show of respect than anything snide. But the exchange perfectly sums up Clemson fans' weird combination of amazement and deflation in the wake of Belza and this group of motivated, upstart Cowboys.
Two days ago, Tigers faithful were stoked when Oklahoma State knocked off No. 2 seed Alabama. You might say Belza made a few contributions in that game, smashing three home runs after totaling ... two during the regular season.
Two days later, Clemson fans aren't as stoked. Belza and Oklahoma State merely ran through their team as well, putting the Tigers on the verge of elimination heading into today's 3 p.m. game against Tennessee Tech.
Here's a piece on Belza and the Cowboys from the Tulsa World.
CLEMSON, S.C. — Tom Belza did it again.
Oklahoma State players jumped off the bench and onto the field as the sophomore shortstop sent a seventh-inning souvenir over the right field fence Saturday to break open a scoreless game, and Jenks' Mark Ginther added another homer to propel the Cowboys (34-22) to a 3-2 win over regional host Clemson.
OSU advances to the championship game of the double-elimination regional at 6 p.m. Sunday. The Cowboys will face the winner of Tennessee Tech and Clemson, which play at 2 p.m.
Belza's blast was his fourth home run in six at bats in two games this weekend, which tied the output from his previous 380 at bats and 94 games in a Cowboys uniform.
"I have no clue where this is coming from," said Belza, who described himself as mainly a gap hitter.
Belza's um, emergence, has been fascinating to follow. He really has the look of a 30-handicapper who's birdied four holes and shot 39 on the front nine.
In The State, Paul Strelow's account of last night's game ... plus a fairly resounding stat:
Clemson went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, making it 3-for-24 (.125) in the regional and 7-for-57 (.123) since the beginning of the ACC tournament.
More on the game in the P&C, Independent-Mail and Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
Also in the P&C, an interview with former Clemson pitcher Jason Berken.
Props to SEBaseball.com, by the way, which was the only media outlet on the planet to pick Oklahoma State to win this regional. Clemson might still turn this thing around, but it already looks like a brilliant forecast given the heat that was raining down on the Cowboys' NCAA inclusion last week.
Really good read here from Strelow on Tajh Boyd and the details behind his family's move to the Clemson area from Hampton, Va.
The Boyd family thinks it's a good thing that Boyd doesn't have to worry about getting his head blown off in Seneca.
Last month, Hampton Roads police arrested 15 suspects on gang-related charges. Before that, there were eight shootings from March 2008 to January 2009 involving area athletes, most of whom were well-known locally for their sports credentials, according to multiple newspaper accounts.
Several were players Boyd knew from playing against, including Lonnie Andrews Jr., who was murdered in July 2008 during an altercation. Boyd grew up in Virginia Beach and is friends with University of Minnesota running back Kevin Whaley, who has recovered from a March 2008 shooting outside a nightclub and reportedly declined to cooperate with the police’s investigation.
Then, on Wednesday morning, one of Boyd’s former teammates — Andre Holloway, a starting offensive lineman during Boyd’s sophomore season — was found shot to death on a street in Norfolk. The shooting was Norfolk’s 23rd homicide of the year.
“It’s not the best area to stay around,” Boyd said. “A lot of times kids can get jealous and will do something to try to knock them down. My parents were worried about it, but I just went with the flow with everything.”
Sad, sad situation with Boston College's Mark Herzlich. Odds are, he'll never play football again.
The good news, though: Herzlich has a 70 percent chance of recovery from cancer.
Also from Rivals: Should Bobby Bowden's 14 wins be stripped?
Here's an in-depth story on Greg Paulus from the New York Daily News.
Tennessee QB Jonathan Crompton said he endured death threats last season.
For the most part, Crompton carried the weight of such extreme criticism alone. He chose not to go to his parents for fear they would worry.
Crompton's parents became aware of the severity of the situation when a package they had ordered had slanderous messages about their son written on the shipping box.
"That's when my parents started talking about it," Crompton said.
Bart Wright says it's time for everyone to jump on Mike Leach's playoff pirate ship.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Was walking down the steps at Doug Kingsmore last night after Oklahoma State's win.
Walked past the brother of Tom Belza, a guy who might just be trying to arrange for the Cowboys to play their home games in Clemson from now on.
Belza's brother and a friend had a dazed but euphoric look in their eyes that suggested they were on some incredible gambling run in Vegas.
"I need a drink," the friend said.
"I need a drink, too," Belza's brother replied. "A big one."
From about 20 yards away, a Clemson fan walking through the tunnel looked up and spotted the pair (they tend to stand out, given the replica Cowboys jersey with "TBELZ" on the back).
The Clemson fan lifts both arms in the air in an exasperated motion and says: "Dude ... get him out of here." He was referring to Tom Belza, of course.
It was more a show of respect than anything snide. But the exchange perfectly sums up Clemson fans' weird combination of amazement and deflation in the wake of Belza and this group of motivated, upstart Cowboys.
Two days ago, Tigers faithful were stoked when Oklahoma State knocked off No. 2 seed Alabama. You might say Belza made a few contributions in that game, smashing three home runs after totaling ... two during the regular season.
Two days later, Clemson fans aren't as stoked. Belza and Oklahoma State merely ran through their team as well, putting the Tigers on the verge of elimination heading into today's 3 p.m. game against Tennessee Tech.
Here's a piece on Belza and the Cowboys from the Tulsa World.
CLEMSON, S.C. — Tom Belza did it again.
Oklahoma State players jumped off the bench and onto the field as the sophomore shortstop sent a seventh-inning souvenir over the right field fence Saturday to break open a scoreless game, and Jenks' Mark Ginther added another homer to propel the Cowboys (34-22) to a 3-2 win over regional host Clemson.
OSU advances to the championship game of the double-elimination regional at 6 p.m. Sunday. The Cowboys will face the winner of Tennessee Tech and Clemson, which play at 2 p.m.
Belza's blast was his fourth home run in six at bats in two games this weekend, which tied the output from his previous 380 at bats and 94 games in a Cowboys uniform.
"I have no clue where this is coming from," said Belza, who described himself as mainly a gap hitter.
Belza's um, emergence, has been fascinating to follow. He really has the look of a 30-handicapper who's birdied four holes and shot 39 on the front nine.
In The State, Paul Strelow's account of last night's game ... plus a fairly resounding stat:
Clemson went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, making it 3-for-24 (.125) in the regional and 7-for-57 (.123) since the beginning of the ACC tournament.
More on the game in the P&C, Independent-Mail and Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
Also in the P&C, an interview with former Clemson pitcher Jason Berken.
Props to SEBaseball.com, by the way, which was the only media outlet on the planet to pick Oklahoma State to win this regional. Clemson might still turn this thing around, but it already looks like a brilliant forecast given the heat that was raining down on the Cowboys' NCAA inclusion last week.
Really good read here from Strelow on Tajh Boyd and the details behind his family's move to the Clemson area from Hampton, Va.
The Boyd family thinks it's a good thing that Boyd doesn't have to worry about getting his head blown off in Seneca.
Last month, Hampton Roads police arrested 15 suspects on gang-related charges. Before that, there were eight shootings from March 2008 to January 2009 involving area athletes, most of whom were well-known locally for their sports credentials, according to multiple newspaper accounts.
Several were players Boyd knew from playing against, including Lonnie Andrews Jr., who was murdered in July 2008 during an altercation. Boyd grew up in Virginia Beach and is friends with University of Minnesota running back Kevin Whaley, who has recovered from a March 2008 shooting outside a nightclub and reportedly declined to cooperate with the police’s investigation.
Then, on Wednesday morning, one of Boyd’s former teammates — Andre Holloway, a starting offensive lineman during Boyd’s sophomore season — was found shot to death on a street in Norfolk. The shooting was Norfolk’s 23rd homicide of the year.
“It’s not the best area to stay around,” Boyd said. “A lot of times kids can get jealous and will do something to try to knock them down. My parents were worried about it, but I just went with the flow with everything.”
Sad, sad situation with Boston College's Mark Herzlich. Odds are, he'll never play football again.
The good news, though: Herzlich has a 70 percent chance of recovery from cancer.
Also from Rivals: Should Bobby Bowden's 14 wins be stripped?
Here's an in-depth story on Greg Paulus from the New York Daily News.
Tennessee QB Jonathan Crompton said he endured death threats last season.
For the most part, Crompton carried the weight of such extreme criticism alone. He chose not to go to his parents for fear they would worry.
Crompton's parents became aware of the severity of the situation when a package they had ordered had slanderous messages about their son written on the shipping box.
"That's when my parents started talking about it," Crompton said.
Bart Wright says it's time for everyone to jump on Mike Leach's playoff pirate ship.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.