Graduation day
posted by LW, Thursday, December 17, 2009
Some of us were a tad more interested in pursuits other than academics, and thus ended up on a five-year plan (that'd be me), a six-year plan, a seven-year plan ... or a one-and-done plan that had nothing to do with the NBA.
It's always a bit ironic when the older and wiser among us (including yours truly) criticize or judge college athletes for running afoul academically or legally.
As if we were all upstanding young sophisticates in our college days, spending Friday and Saturday nights in slippers and sweater vests, listening to Mozart with our noses in the books ... and neeeeever venturing to the bar district ... nor doing stupid things once there.
It's easy to yawn when you hear about athletes graduating from college. With the gobs of money spent by athletics departments on tutors and advisors and class-checkers and all that, how could they not graduate?
Well, sometimes it's not as easily done as said. And C.J. Spiller seems to represent one of those cases.
He'll walk today at Littlejohn Coliseum and receive a degree in sociology. He'll have done it in three-and-a-half years.
A round of applause for Clifford, and also for the Tigers' other grads.
Athletes indeed get a ton of help. The rigor of some of their majors is in serious question. The learning-disabled issue is troubling, as we documented earlier this week.
But they're going to school while working the equivalent of a full-time job (don't even start with that sham 20-hour rule).
And let's be honest here: How many of us, if in Spiller's shoes and virtually guaranteed a place in the NFL, would've pursued a degree as diligently as he?
Having some trouble posting pictures today, but go ahead and picture the "crickets chirping" image here.
Paul Strelow of The State blogs about Spiller's academic achievement and will be reporting on the proceedings today. Should be a good story.
From the "This has to be a joke" department:
Anyone who's dying to go to the BCS title game and doesn't have a ticket should check out this dude's post on Craigslist:
He's offering a free ticket!!!
One or two catches, though. You have to be a Texas fan. You have to be an attractive woman. And I'm guessing you have to be ... out of your freaking mind.
If this girl is crazy enough to row across the Atlantic Ocean, maybe she's crazy enough to join this loser in Pasadena.
Clemson is represented well on the Rivals.com 2009 ACC All-Freshman team. The Tigers led the way with five guys (Kyle Parker, Andre Ellington, Dalton Freeman, Malliciah Goodman, Rashard Hall).
Dabo Swinney says he's not making any personnel changes on defense despite a poor showing on that side of the ball in the last two games -- and really three games, if you include giving up three touchdowns in the first half against Virginia's putrid offense.
Given that Kentucky runs a lot of the Wildcat and shotgun option stuff that gave the Tigers trouble against Virginia and South Carolina, the linebackers are going to need to be on their game in Nashville.
In the first 30 minutes of practice we were permitted to watch Tuesday, Kevin Steele spent a considerable amount of time working individually with Brandon Maye.
In The State, a look at Tajh Boyd and his elevated role during bowl practice.
If the rave reviews of Boyd's August scrimmage performances are any indication, it's going to be a fun spring and summer following the QB developments.
Some folks, including our man Ryan Bartow, believe Boyd is the better of the two.
But you still have to do it when the lights are on, and Parker showed a heck of a lot of poise and moxie as a redshirt freshman.
The AP has the story from Clemson's convincing win over East Carolina -- and Trevor Booker's serious flirtation with a triple-double.
Here's a look at the blowout from the Pirates' perspective.
“We really couldn't get in the swing of things (offensively),” said ECU point guard Brock Young, who scored 11 points and handed out eight assists to move into second place on the Pirates' all-time helpers list. “(Clemson) plays good deny defense on the wings. They overplay and there was pressure on the ball and it was hard to get the flow of the offense going.”
In the Macon Telegraph, a look at Georgia Tech's improved passing attack in Year 2 under Paul Johnson.
It's one thing to have a guy (Josh Nesbitt) who can heave it deep and let one of the best receivers in college football (Demaryius Thomas) go up and get it.
But I'm really interested to see what happens if and when PJ gets a guy who can actually throw medium-range passes with some proficiency.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Not naming names or anything, but some of us didn't take college all that seriously.
Some of us were a tad more interested in pursuits other than academics, and thus ended up on a five-year plan (that'd be me), a six-year plan, a seven-year plan ... or a one-and-done plan that had nothing to do with the NBA.
It's always a bit ironic when the older and wiser among us (including yours truly) criticize or judge college athletes for running afoul academically or legally.
As if we were all upstanding young sophisticates in our college days, spending Friday and Saturday nights in slippers and sweater vests, listening to Mozart with our noses in the books ... and neeeeever venturing to the bar district ... nor doing stupid things once there.
It's easy to yawn when you hear about athletes graduating from college. With the gobs of money spent by athletics departments on tutors and advisors and class-checkers and all that, how could they not graduate?
Well, sometimes it's not as easily done as said. And C.J. Spiller seems to represent one of those cases.
He'll walk today at Littlejohn Coliseum and receive a degree in sociology. He'll have done it in three-and-a-half years.
A round of applause for Clifford, and also for the Tigers' other grads.
Athletes indeed get a ton of help. The rigor of some of their majors is in serious question. The learning-disabled issue is troubling, as we documented earlier this week.
But they're going to school while working the equivalent of a full-time job (don't even start with that sham 20-hour rule).
And let's be honest here: How many of us, if in Spiller's shoes and virtually guaranteed a place in the NFL, would've pursued a degree as diligently as he?
Having some trouble posting pictures today, but go ahead and picture the "crickets chirping" image here.
Paul Strelow of The State blogs about Spiller's academic achievement and will be reporting on the proceedings today. Should be a good story.
From the "This has to be a joke" department:
Anyone who's dying to go to the BCS title game and doesn't have a ticket should check out this dude's post on Craigslist:
He's offering a free ticket!!!
One or two catches, though. You have to be a Texas fan. You have to be an attractive woman. And I'm guessing you have to be ... out of your freaking mind.
If this girl is crazy enough to row across the Atlantic Ocean, maybe she's crazy enough to join this loser in Pasadena.
Clemson is represented well on the Rivals.com 2009 ACC All-Freshman team. The Tigers led the way with five guys (Kyle Parker, Andre Ellington, Dalton Freeman, Malliciah Goodman, Rashard Hall).
Dabo Swinney says he's not making any personnel changes on defense despite a poor showing on that side of the ball in the last two games -- and really three games, if you include giving up three touchdowns in the first half against Virginia's putrid offense.
Given that Kentucky runs a lot of the Wildcat and shotgun option stuff that gave the Tigers trouble against Virginia and South Carolina, the linebackers are going to need to be on their game in Nashville.
In the first 30 minutes of practice we were permitted to watch Tuesday, Kevin Steele spent a considerable amount of time working individually with Brandon Maye.
In The State, a look at Tajh Boyd and his elevated role during bowl practice.
If the rave reviews of Boyd's August scrimmage performances are any indication, it's going to be a fun spring and summer following the QB developments.
Some folks, including our man Ryan Bartow, believe Boyd is the better of the two.
But you still have to do it when the lights are on, and Parker showed a heck of a lot of poise and moxie as a redshirt freshman.
The AP has the story from Clemson's convincing win over East Carolina -- and Trevor Booker's serious flirtation with a triple-double.
Here's a look at the blowout from the Pirates' perspective.
“We really couldn't get in the swing of things (offensively),” said ECU point guard Brock Young, who scored 11 points and handed out eight assists to move into second place on the Pirates' all-time helpers list. “(Clemson) plays good deny defense on the wings. They overplay and there was pressure on the ball and it was hard to get the flow of the offense going.”
In the Macon Telegraph, a look at Georgia Tech's improved passing attack in Year 2 under Paul Johnson.
It's one thing to have a guy (Josh Nesbitt) who can heave it deep and let one of the best receivers in college football (Demaryius Thomas) go up and get it.
But I'm really interested to see what happens if and when PJ gets a guy who can actually throw medium-range passes with some proficiency.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
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 @.