So long Michael
posted by LW, Friday, June 26, 2009
So we're veering sharply off course when we go into the realm of celebrity and entertainment.
But for any of us who were children of the 1970s or 1980s, the passing of Michael Jackson is pretty huge stuff.
Just the other day, I was in the doctor's office and heard "Human Nature" over the waiting-room speakers. I'd forgotten how good of a song that was, and I couldn't get it out of my head for two days. Yesterday afternoon, before the news hit, I was actually on ITunes listening to some of Michael's old stuff.
So yeah, pretty darn strange. Just surreal to know that such a powerful icon is no longer with us.
Seems there's a lot of division on how to remember Michael. Some folks are saying he was a freak who molested children and shouldn't be celebrated at all. Other folks are remembering the greatness and the genius.
I don't think either side is wrong. I guess I'm a bit in the middle: Certainly uncomfortable with who he became, but also absolutely blown away by who he used to be and how much of a presence he was in our culture.
The real Michael died a long time ago, and it's certainly appropriate to mourn that Michael's passing.
It's also plenty acceptable to be totally weirded-out by the weirdness and, perhaps, the criminal and despicable perversions.
Genius and weirdness can go hand-in-hand, and this is a classic case of that. There's just no tidy or comfortable way to sum this guy up, but that's OK.
On to some sports stuff ... not a lot going on out there today. Looks like a lot of sports writers are being lazy and taking vacation. Oh, wait...
Andrew Moore of the Seneca Daily Journal says Noel Johnson's addition is merely the latest stroke on a fine piece of work Oliver Purnell is painting.
Athlon has a Georgia Tech preview up, and you probably should stop reading if you think Paul Johnson's offense is a sham.
So much for those who wondered whether the offense that piled up prolific rushing numbers at Georgia Southern and Navy would work against college football’s big boys. Along the way the Yellow Jackets (9–4, 5–3 ACC) amassed more than 400 rushing yards three times, including a season-high 472 against Miami and 409 against Georgia, snapping a seven-game losing streak against their in-state rivals.
As Johnson prepares for his second season at Georgia Tech, skeptics have come up with a new question: Can the Flexbone be as effective a second time around in league play, now that opposing defensive coordinators have had time to prepare in the offseason? “I guess you can always come up with a question for anything,” Johnson says. “I think you just have to look at the history. When we were at Georgia Southern we were in a conference and we played the same teams for five years and we won the league every year.
“People will get better at defending it, but we’re going to get better running it, too. We didn’t run it very well last year, I don’t think. It will be move, counter-move. That’s what football is.”
The New York Times has an in-depth preview of Wake Forest and ranks the Deacs No. 69.
More scheduling talk from Rivals' Olin Buchanan, who says Notre Dame gets a bad rap.
Phil Steele says Clemson has a 100-1 shot at winning the national title.
And the Orlando Sentinel has a very good Q&A with Urban Meyer, who says all this talk about the spread not translating to the NFL is utter nonsense.
HARRY: Option football has universally been written off as something that cannot work in the NFL. There are other offenses people say, flat-out, can't work in the NFL.
MEYER: "If you know me, you know I think any offense can work if you have the right personnel back. Offenses are overrated. People are not. The NFL will take a quarterback and put him on a very bad team and call him a bust. Never mind that the defense ranks last in the league and there's no offensive line. Chris Leak [in 2005] had about as bad a three-game [stretch] as we've had at Florida that I've ever had as a coach and it just so happened that Bubba Caldwell broke his leg, Jermaine Cornelius sprained his ankle, Chad Jackson had a bad hamstring and Dallas Baker broke his ribs. And so Chris Leak struggled the next three games when we're playing LSU, Georgia. It doesn't matter what you run. It's personnel based."
HARRY: You kind of just told the Alex Smith story. Your guy at Utah. No. 1 overall pick just four years ago. Goes to a bad team. A lot of folks already have written him off as a bust already.
MEYER: "I don't want to give you names, but I can list 10 other quarterbacks who aren't doing great, too. They're West Coast [offense] quarterbacks. It's about who's on the team."
HARRY: It seems what's happened with Alex is held up as the standard for spread quarterbacks projecting to the NFL. Obviously, you've heard that rap with regard to Tim Tebow's future there, and heading into the draft people were wondering if Percy Harvin's three years of running bubble screens meant he couldn't run a simple dig and the rest of the routes on the passing tree.
MEYER: He can run it better than most; and if someone is paying him $20 million, he'll run a great dig route. It's interesting that you say that. I don't hear it a lot, maybe in recruiting once in a while, but I did hear a NFL coach saying something about that. I like to do my homework. I went and checked the record of that coach and the guy barely had a .500 record. There are certain people I'll have a discussions with. And if I hear something like that, that's not a person I want to have a discussion with. That's nonsense. That's someone putting too much value on scheme rather than personnel."
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
This blog is centered on sports in general, and Clemson sports in particular.
So we're veering sharply off course when we go into the realm of celebrity and entertainment.
But for any of us who were children of the 1970s or 1980s, the passing of Michael Jackson is pretty huge stuff.
Just the other day, I was in the doctor's office and heard "Human Nature" over the waiting-room speakers. I'd forgotten how good of a song that was, and I couldn't get it out of my head for two days. Yesterday afternoon, before the news hit, I was actually on ITunes listening to some of Michael's old stuff.
So yeah, pretty darn strange. Just surreal to know that such a powerful icon is no longer with us.
Seems there's a lot of division on how to remember Michael. Some folks are saying he was a freak who molested children and shouldn't be celebrated at all. Other folks are remembering the greatness and the genius.
I don't think either side is wrong. I guess I'm a bit in the middle: Certainly uncomfortable with who he became, but also absolutely blown away by who he used to be and how much of a presence he was in our culture.
The real Michael died a long time ago, and it's certainly appropriate to mourn that Michael's passing.
It's also plenty acceptable to be totally weirded-out by the weirdness and, perhaps, the criminal and despicable perversions.
Genius and weirdness can go hand-in-hand, and this is a classic case of that. There's just no tidy or comfortable way to sum this guy up, but that's OK.
On to some sports stuff ... not a lot going on out there today. Looks like a lot of sports writers are being lazy and taking vacation. Oh, wait...
Andrew Moore of the Seneca Daily Journal says Noel Johnson's addition is merely the latest stroke on a fine piece of work Oliver Purnell is painting.
Athlon has a Georgia Tech preview up, and you probably should stop reading if you think Paul Johnson's offense is a sham.
So much for those who wondered whether the offense that piled up prolific rushing numbers at Georgia Southern and Navy would work against college football’s big boys. Along the way the Yellow Jackets (9–4, 5–3 ACC) amassed more than 400 rushing yards three times, including a season-high 472 against Miami and 409 against Georgia, snapping a seven-game losing streak against their in-state rivals.
As Johnson prepares for his second season at Georgia Tech, skeptics have come up with a new question: Can the Flexbone be as effective a second time around in league play, now that opposing defensive coordinators have had time to prepare in the offseason? “I guess you can always come up with a question for anything,” Johnson says. “I think you just have to look at the history. When we were at Georgia Southern we were in a conference and we played the same teams for five years and we won the league every year.
“People will get better at defending it, but we’re going to get better running it, too. We didn’t run it very well last year, I don’t think. It will be move, counter-move. That’s what football is.”
The New York Times has an in-depth preview of Wake Forest and ranks the Deacs No. 69.
More scheduling talk from Rivals' Olin Buchanan, who says Notre Dame gets a bad rap.
Phil Steele says Clemson has a 100-1 shot at winning the national title.
And the Orlando Sentinel has a very good Q&A with Urban Meyer, who says all this talk about the spread not translating to the NFL is utter nonsense.
HARRY: Option football has universally been written off as something that cannot work in the NFL. There are other offenses people say, flat-out, can't work in the NFL.
MEYER: "If you know me, you know I think any offense can work if you have the right personnel back. Offenses are overrated. People are not. The NFL will take a quarterback and put him on a very bad team and call him a bust. Never mind that the defense ranks last in the league and there's no offensive line. Chris Leak [in 2005] had about as bad a three-game [stretch] as we've had at Florida that I've ever had as a coach and it just so happened that Bubba Caldwell broke his leg, Jermaine Cornelius sprained his ankle, Chad Jackson had a bad hamstring and Dallas Baker broke his ribs. And so Chris Leak struggled the next three games when we're playing LSU, Georgia. It doesn't matter what you run. It's personnel based."
HARRY: You kind of just told the Alex Smith story. Your guy at Utah. No. 1 overall pick just four years ago. Goes to a bad team. A lot of folks already have written him off as a bust already.
MEYER: "I don't want to give you names, but I can list 10 other quarterbacks who aren't doing great, too. They're West Coast [offense] quarterbacks. It's about who's on the team."
HARRY: It seems what's happened with Alex is held up as the standard for spread quarterbacks projecting to the NFL. Obviously, you've heard that rap with regard to Tim Tebow's future there, and heading into the draft people were wondering if Percy Harvin's three years of running bubble screens meant he couldn't run a simple dig and the rest of the routes on the passing tree.
MEYER: He can run it better than most; and if someone is paying him $20 million, he'll run a great dig route. It's interesting that you say that. I don't hear it a lot, maybe in recruiting once in a while, but I did hear a NFL coach saying something about that. I like to do my homework. I went and checked the record of that coach and the guy barely had a .500 record. There are certain people I'll have a discussions with. And if I hear something like that, that's not a person I want to have a discussion with. That's nonsense. That's someone putting too much value on scheme rather than personnel."
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 @.