tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:18:49 +0000http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/index.htmnoreply@blogger.com (Brian Shoemaker)Blogger479125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-6569410804524544602Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:03:00 +00002010-03-11T08:18:49.882-05:00Thanks to the consumption with yesterday's spring football practice, the news involving Trevor Booker was relegated to a relative footnote.And that shouldn't happen when a player from Clemson earns first-team All-ACC honors in basketball.After Booker's ugly night at Wake Forest on Sunday, I was skeptical that enough voters would put Booker on their first team. But he ended up getting the http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/giving-proper-props.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-2664136983737495803Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:08:00 +00002010-03-09T09:00:06.696-05:00You might say the signs were not in Clemson's favor heading into last night's game in Winston-Salem.The Demon Deacons, losers of four straight, are fighting like mad for an NCAA Tournament bid. And it's Senior Night.They have a players-only meeting three days before the game.And Karl Hess is officiating.Were I a gambling man, and if I had a farm, I'd have considered betting the farm.But seriouslyhttp://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/costly-loss.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-2670780138944872960Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:11:00 +00002010-03-08T09:58:55.814-05:00If you're about to invest in a new HD television, might want to hold off.ESPN apparently has something in the works that'll make hi-def go the way of 8-tracks.That's a bit of an exaggeration, but Andy Staples of CNNSi.com is sold on ESPN's new 3-D technology that'll be unveiled at some point in the next few years.As I stood there looking like a Roy Orbison impersonator in my specially polarized http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/espn-3-d-coming-soon-to-living-room.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-2933249169463456485Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:22:00 +00002010-03-05T09:19:13.914-05:00After Maryland fell on its face in a Jan. 31 loss at Clemson, I was almost convinced Greivis Vasquez wasn't worthy of first-team All-ACC honors.He was pretty much awful last night while having his lunch delivered to him by Tanner Smith, who played a major role in Vasquez missing eight of 11 shots.Now, I'm almost convinced Vasquez is worthy of player-of-the-year honors in the ACC.If you're a fan http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/case-for-vasquez.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-8439642394362987541Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:18:00 +00002010-03-04T09:37:34.518-05:00The other day, someone on the board referred to Paul Hewitt as "Paul Blewitt."Cracked me the heck up, and it still does just thinking about it.If I were a Georgia Tech fan, I'd think it's funny too ... if it weren't so true.The man has three McDonald's All-Americans and he's 7-8 in the ACC -- and on the verge of missing out on the NCAA Tournament.I don't know whether Hewitt is a bad coach. But athttp://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/importance-of-good-coaching.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-7399597656289575464Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:04:00 +00002010-03-04T09:37:07.953-05:00I wasn't around Clemson for the Larry Shyatt years -- oh, the injustice -- so I don't have an idea of how special Senior Nights were under his watch.I'm guessing, though, that they weren't near the memorable events they've become under Oliver Purnell.Part of that is because of great games. Two crazy ones against Virginia Tech (70-69 in 2008 and 66-64 in 2005), and an overtime affair against Miamihttp://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/senior-night.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-8948706261056608856Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:58:00 +00002010-03-04T09:36:24.538-05:00Oliver Purnell has bagged some important victories during his time at Clemson.The 2008 ACC Tournament semifinal win over Duke was monstrous. It snapped an 0-for-forever streak against the Blue Devils while putting the Tigers into the tournament final for the first time since 1962.Last year's 27-point undressing of Duke at Littlejohn ranks up there.That huge comeback at Maryland two years ago http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/03/are-they-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-2965045417911924279Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:11:00 +00002010-03-02T09:36:31.382-05:00A few Friday links while wondering if Jerai Grant was called for a foul for breathing heavily in his sleep last night ...You know, I've never been a big conspiracy theorist when it comes to how Clemson's games are officiated.But there's been some weird stuff this year.The 46 free throws Virginia Tech shot against the Tigers in Blacksburg (23 of them by Malcolm Delaney).The eight straight games http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/weird-officiating-and-friday-links.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-5546461083183395420Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:57:00 +00002010-03-02T09:36:10.315-05:00Just got around to reading some of the stuff about Michigan's major violations, and the part that sticks out is a part that everyone else -- including the folks at Clemson -- should be paying close attention to.The title of "quality control" has become popular in recent years as schools try to find an edge.Often in so-called big-time intercollegiate athletics, edges are found in http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/controlling-quality-control.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-3998318660460156586Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:50:00 +00002010-02-26T09:42:11.087-05:00People are losing their jobs, having their pay cut and all sorts of other stuff that comes with a slumbering economy.But college football is as close as you can get to religion, and that's evidenced in the number of people who filled the cathedrals of their favorite teams this past fall.It was believed that the perilous economic conditions would wreak havoc with attendance at college football http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/inside-attendance-numbers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-4091992238671256310Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:28:00 +00002010-02-26T09:38:27.965-05:00Called C.J. Spiller's agent and put in an interview request oh, about three weeks ago.Still waiting on the request to be filled. And no, we're not bitter at all.We know you folks are interested to hear what the guy is up to. So instead of calling his agent and leaving threats on his voice mail, we transcribed a good bit of this interview Spiller had with 790 The Zone in Atlanta.In California http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/checking-in-with-cj-spiller-sort-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-5338764914075978353Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:29:00 +00002010-02-23T08:59:59.251-05:00Raise your hand if, two weeks ago, you'd have laughed at the thought of Clemson contending for a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.Doesn't seem so far-fetched now.With the Tigers facing three road trips in their last four regular-season games -- and with the opposition solid in all four of their remaining dates -- it's probably premature to start assessing their chances of sitting and http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/best-bye.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-17943935706845220Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:55:00 +00002010-02-22T09:07:47.386-05:00If you're like me and didn't know much of anything about Rajaan Bennett, his murder probably didn't hit home all that much.Watching this emotional video of Bobby Johnson's reaction will probably change that for you.Just awful, awful stuff.AJC recruiting reporter Chip Towers gives more insight with this first-person column.For six months last year I worked as a reporter on the AJC’s breaking news http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/senseless-tragedy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-9117072288676262292Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:19:00 +00002010-02-22T09:07:20.462-05:00A few observations and links as I get my questions ready for tomorrow's Tiger Woods press conference...It's been amusing reading about the carefully staged event that'll be put on by Woods and his PR team.The most amusing part: That it's being labeled a press conference.Problem is, Woods isn't taking questions.The root for the term "conference" is "confer," but there won't be any conferring in http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/tigers-tail-er-tale.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-8870735126830364261Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:06:00 +00002010-02-22T09:04:34.859-05:00Clemson fans created a mini-controversy after watching the Tigers slap around North Carolina on Jan. 13.They stormed the court in raucous celebration of a team that might or might not have been very good.A month later, there ain't no mights about it: The Tar Heels are bad.At the time of the court-storming, I didn't have a problem with it. The Tigers finally broke their Tar Heel hex (outside of http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/revisiting-jan-13-court-storming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-5532110957902396463Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:29:00 +00002010-02-18T08:36:53.460-05:00Spoke with Ray Ray McElrathbey for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago.He was en route to Easley, where he was to speak at Gaines Adams' funeral. I asked him how things were going at Howard, and he informed me he didn't play in the 2009 season."Um ... what?"He said Howard told him he didn't meet the school's 3.0 GPA standard for graduate students and was not allowed to play. He was donehttp://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/ray-rays-sad-postscript.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-6642284172961671825Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:02:00 +00002010-02-17T10:22:15.880-05:00Talk of conference expansion has heated up in recent weeks, and the speculation has ranged from intriguing (Pac-10 looking to add two more teams) to insipid (Texas to Big Ten? Seriously?)My favorite: The talk of Pittsburgh mulling a move to the Big Ten was fueled by "reports" that Pittsburgh officials were meeting with their athletes to inform them of these confidential, groundbreaking http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/clemson-and-conference-expansion.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-3359005510407790358Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:58:00 +00002010-02-17T10:19:31.765-05:00So now Bobby Bowden claims that his only option to remain at Florida State was insultingly beneath him.Bowden, whose great program gradually slipped into abject mediocrity, apparently was given an opportunity to remain with the Seminoles as an "ambassador-coach."Sounds like a good role for an 80-year-old who stayed in coaching way too long. In fact, it's a role similar to one that lots of Clemsonhttp://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/bowden-and-barney-fife-and-other-friday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-4974621791641685983Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:17:00 +00002010-02-15T10:26:53.791-05:00Last night's game between Clemson and Florida State was often ugly, and you had a pretty good idea going in that would be the case.Both teams are good, but both teams are lacking the firepower to be really good. Clemson really misses Terrence Oglesby and K.C. Rivers. Florida State really misses Toney Douglas.At some point after the game, it dawned on me that the ACC's problem is about the same ashttp://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/accs-star-power.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-2576664831638383471Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:55:00 +00002010-02-12T10:24:24.961-05:00By far the most interesting development from yesterday's basketball press conference was the contrasting views on the health of junior point guard Demontez Stitt.First, Stitt meets with reporters and tells us his sprained left foot is still bothering him. He says he and coach Oliver Purnell spoke after Saturday's loss at Virginia Tech and determined that Stitt needed to focus more on playing off http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/best-foot-forward.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-2847255788536694356Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:34:00 +00002010-02-12T10:23:59.258-05:00Playing catch-up on the weekend while Googling that hot new band of Diaper Dandies that performed at halftime of the Super Bowl...-- There aren't many styles of music I don't like. And I dig classic rock in reasonable doses, given that the pioneering that occurred during that era was truly groundbreaking and remains timeless, in some cases.I didn't mind watching The Who on Sunday night. But I http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/who-dat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-5612421346871071098Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:51:00 +00002010-02-09T09:45:23.489-05:00Sorry for the lateness of today's blog.Spent the night (and some morning) traveling to the in-laws and am now watching a foot of snow fall outside their house.Starting to wonder whether we'll make it back by baseball season.Wasn't able to catch last night's basketball games, but looking at the results I'm just going to stop trying to figure out the ACC.Duke is thoroughly outclassed at Georgetown http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/friday-links.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-8350271539863313621Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:50:00 +00002010-02-09T09:45:04.043-05:00We'll know more about their ability as coaches in Year 2 of D.S. and Year 1 of P.S. (Post-Spiller).But in the last 14 months, Clemson's staff has proven to be quite adept at this recruiting game.Last year, they came out of nowhere to land Tajh Boyd and Bryce McNeal after spending October and November just trying to hold on to their jobs.This year, they showed what they can do with more time -- http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/job-well-done.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-5302902935583560672Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:42:00 +00002010-02-04T09:07:31.154-05:00To a lot of folks out there, this is like Christmas morning.To me, it's just another day.Never been a huge fan of the recruiting game. My preference is to wait and see what they look like when they get to campus, and then form an opinion of who these guys are and what they should do.That said, I'm not sure I understand how some folks think the obsession with recruiting is some sinister cancer http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/signing-day-and-expectations.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141084364198193729.post-3057804359648159429Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:07:00 +00002010-02-04T09:07:11.869-05:00The above photo is a fairly close approximation of what our brackets would look like if the NCAA has its way and increases the NCAA Tournament field to 265 teams.That's a bit of an exaggeration. According to this report in the Sports Business Journal, the NCAA has interest in increasing the field from 65 to 96 teams. What a silly, stupid idea. Leave it to the NCAA to take a good thing -- make http://larry.tigerillustrated.com/2010/02/marching-to-madness.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LW)