Back to Miami?
posted by LW, Monday, November 16, 2009
Not the biggest fan of Miami, but gotta admit South Florida in late December and early January would be quite nice.
I know this is Clemson. I know we're getting ahead of ourselves. But it's 7:45 on a Monday morning, and I need a link to talk about.
So we'll start with Heather Dinich's prediction that the Tigers beat Georgia Tech in the ACC title game and end up in Miami for the BCS-affiliated Orange Bowl.
If I'm a Clemson fan, I'm a bit leery because Dinich was all about the Tigers heading into the 2008 season. And we all know what happened then.
But we can all agree she might be onto something this time.
Looks like South Carolina's focus is already on Clemson. Minutes after the Gamecocks' loss to Florida, Stephen Garcia was already looking ahead to the regular-season finale against the Tigers.
You would be too if you were one loss from going to Birmingham in December.
"We've got to get ready for the second season, which is Clemson," Garcia said. "It's a season of its own. It's a must-win for us."
South Carolina hung with Florida for three quarters before falling 24-14, but the Gamecocks (6-5) have dropped three consecutive games no matter how you look at it.
"Being 7-5 as opposed to 6-6 would be huge for us," Garcia said. "It should've been a little bit better record, but it didn't work out that way. This is a huge game for us. In my opinion, and I think the rest of the team, I think it's a must-win for us."
Gene Sapakoff stays on the Clemson bandwagon in this week's Braggin' Rights Barometer.
The pick: Clemson by 14.
Also in the P&C, Dabo Swinney says his team needs to dig in. He also brings up a Ben Hogan anecdote.
Swinney furthered his message about shutting out outside factors, by retelling a story former Alabama coach Gene Stallings told his teams of an encounter with golfer Ben Hogan.
Hogan was famous for ignoring the gallery and other golfers, focused only with his own performance.
Sharing a golf cart with Hogan during a round, the young Stallings asked Hogan if he ever wished an opponent would miss a putt.
"The cart came to a halt," said Swinney, retelling the story Sunday. "'Let me tell you something young fella,' " said Hogan explaining to Stallings that he wanted to win because he "played my best, not because my opponent played poorly."
Paul Strelow of The State opines that the Tigers' young coaching staff is getting over the hump.
When the pair were promoted, the question was whether they could recognize and implement whatever changes needed to be made for Clemson to maximize its talent. And they had to do so while working on a shorter leash because of their association as assistants in the Tommy Bowden era.
Such skepticism went beyond their ages - neither had coordinator experience, with Napier calling the plays for one year as quarterback coach at South Carolina State. Those fears came to life when shaky clock management and continued late-game collapses culminated in a 2-3 start.
Yet through trial, tribulation and one infamously heated practice exchange, Swinney and Napier have demonstrated two vital traits to prolonged success:.
- They read the pulse of their players and sensed what buttons to push.
- They have shown the ability to adjust, practicing what they preach about accountability.
The Tigers were indirectly 12 yards short of wrapping up their division last Saturday.
The Virginia Chessmasters have lost seven of their last eight games in Charlottesville. So maybe they feel kinda good about playing away from the place.
Dennis Dodd says Jim Harbaugh should be the man at Michigan, while also giving some props to C.J. Spiller.
Spiller gets a headline in the L.A. Times' "Star Watch."
Gotta say I was shocked to see Florida State play so well after the tattooing at Clemson left the Seminoles without their best player.
Rob Daniels of The ACC Sports Journal presents his weekly power rankings and puts Clemson No. 2.
That old car is neither Rambling nor a Wreck. It’s an efficient machine that’s headed to Tampa, where it will meet Clemson unless the Tigers’ bus gets lost between the dressing room and the stadium entrance nearest Frank Howard’s Rock on Saturday.
Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times makes his case for the Turtle Curse. Let's just put it this way: Clemson should be glad it lost to the Terps instead of beating them.
I'm stunned -- stunned -- to see that Boston College's pursuit of a third straight division title is not the lead story in today's Boston Globe.
You're telling me that a story about the Eagles potentially landing in the Emerald Bowl doesn't supersede last night's awful game management by Bill Belichick?
LW
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Not the biggest fan of Miami, but gotta admit South Florida in late December and early January would be quite nice.
I know this is Clemson. I know we're getting ahead of ourselves. But it's 7:45 on a Monday morning, and I need a link to talk about.
So we'll start with Heather Dinich's prediction that the Tigers beat Georgia Tech in the ACC title game and end up in Miami for the BCS-affiliated Orange Bowl.
If I'm a Clemson fan, I'm a bit leery because Dinich was all about the Tigers heading into the 2008 season. And we all know what happened then.
But we can all agree she might be onto something this time.
Looks like South Carolina's focus is already on Clemson. Minutes after the Gamecocks' loss to Florida, Stephen Garcia was already looking ahead to the regular-season finale against the Tigers.
You would be too if you were one loss from going to Birmingham in December.
"We've got to get ready for the second season, which is Clemson," Garcia said. "It's a season of its own. It's a must-win for us."
South Carolina hung with Florida for three quarters before falling 24-14, but the Gamecocks (6-5) have dropped three consecutive games no matter how you look at it.
"Being 7-5 as opposed to 6-6 would be huge for us," Garcia said. "It should've been a little bit better record, but it didn't work out that way. This is a huge game for us. In my opinion, and I think the rest of the team, I think it's a must-win for us."
Gene Sapakoff stays on the Clemson bandwagon in this week's Braggin' Rights Barometer.
The pick: Clemson by 14.
Also in the P&C, Dabo Swinney says his team needs to dig in. He also brings up a Ben Hogan anecdote.
Swinney furthered his message about shutting out outside factors, by retelling a story former Alabama coach Gene Stallings told his teams of an encounter with golfer Ben Hogan.
Hogan was famous for ignoring the gallery and other golfers, focused only with his own performance.
Sharing a golf cart with Hogan during a round, the young Stallings asked Hogan if he ever wished an opponent would miss a putt.
"The cart came to a halt," said Swinney, retelling the story Sunday. "'Let me tell you something young fella,' " said Hogan explaining to Stallings that he wanted to win because he "played my best, not because my opponent played poorly."
Paul Strelow of The State opines that the Tigers' young coaching staff is getting over the hump.
When the pair were promoted, the question was whether they could recognize and implement whatever changes needed to be made for Clemson to maximize its talent. And they had to do so while working on a shorter leash because of their association as assistants in the Tommy Bowden era.
Such skepticism went beyond their ages - neither had coordinator experience, with Napier calling the plays for one year as quarterback coach at South Carolina State. Those fears came to life when shaky clock management and continued late-game collapses culminated in a 2-3 start.
Yet through trial, tribulation and one infamously heated practice exchange, Swinney and Napier have demonstrated two vital traits to prolonged success:.
- They read the pulse of their players and sensed what buttons to push.
- They have shown the ability to adjust, practicing what they preach about accountability.
The Tigers were indirectly 12 yards short of wrapping up their division last Saturday.
The Virginia Chessmasters have lost seven of their last eight games in Charlottesville. So maybe they feel kinda good about playing away from the place.
Dennis Dodd says Jim Harbaugh should be the man at Michigan, while also giving some props to C.J. Spiller.
Spiller gets a headline in the L.A. Times' "Star Watch."
Gotta say I was shocked to see Florida State play so well after the tattooing at Clemson left the Seminoles without their best player.
Rob Daniels of The ACC Sports Journal presents his weekly power rankings and puts Clemson No. 2.
That old car is neither Rambling nor a Wreck. It’s an efficient machine that’s headed to Tampa, where it will meet Clemson unless the Tigers’ bus gets lost between the dressing room and the stadium entrance nearest Frank Howard’s Rock on Saturday.
Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times makes his case for the Turtle Curse. Let's just put it this way: Clemson should be glad it lost to the Terps instead of beating them.
I'm stunned -- stunned -- to see that Boston College's pursuit of a third straight division title is not the lead story in today's Boston Globe.
You're telling me that a story about the Eagles potentially landing in the Emerald Bowl doesn't supersede last night's awful game management by Bill Belichick?
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 @.