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Little Break - Many Tweets

Well, it has been far to long since I have posted a blog, but things have been really crazy around here. We are expecting our first child and I have been super busy. If you follow the Clemson Hotline radio show you know that I have been using Twitter recently. I actually prefer using Twitter to communicate news, thoughts, links, analysis, etc. to you. I will certainly begin posting longer columns on the blog though during football season, but the Twitter feed will be wide open!

I hope that you will take advantage of the Twitter feed to get all the latest news, as well as sending me messages. I would love to hear from you about changes to make the website better. Have a great summer.

Go Tigers!

Mistake On Tonight's Show

On tonight's show I stated that the Clemson baseball team was tied for first place in the Atlantic division. After reading my notes again, I noticed that I copied the information incorrectly. Clemson is currently leading the ACC Atlantic Division with an 11-7 record in conference. I stated they were "tied" for first, I should have said that they are tied for second overall in the conference. I apologize for any confusion. I am still not satisfied with the overall record of 23-12, of 11-7 in the ACC.

I hope you will tune in next Monday from 8:00pm until 9:00pm. 

Mickey Plyer Hits The Nail On The Head

I don't think there is some huge conspiracy going on, but I do think Mickey has some excellent points. I guess we need to assess where our programs are compared to where they were fifteen or more years ago. Check out his blog from this past Thursday.

http://www.tigernet.com/blogs/plyler/?entry=support

Support
Several times on my radio show and on this blog I have mentioned administrative support of Clemson athletics and have promised more on this subject even as late as Tuesday.

I usually try focus on the positives around the programs but a few times a year I felt moved to call out where I think the university or athletic department have made mistakes. Hopefully it is taken as constructive criticism but I have found out that most don’t take it that way.

Usually when I write such blogs I get bad looks in the halls of Jervey Athletic Department or the McFadden building. I still have a few members of the athletic department that won’t look me in the eye because of the AARC stuff or the Bowden stuff last year.

I still consider many of those people friends but I love Clemson more than I love those people so I feel OK in trying to help with these types of blogs. Creating awareness was the right thing to do in the AARC case and the relationships I lost were worth it in the end. The Bowden thing last year hurt but in the end things worked out for the best. I was comfortable with both of those blogs and am comfortable with this one as well.

First let me be clear that information I have compiled for this blog came mostly from former head coaches and assistant coaches at Clemson. I try not to jeopardize the current relationships with the current staffs.

Also, many of the changes I first mentioned last year have happened. The administrators at Clemson have tried. They are getting more involved and getting more personally invested. One former coach told me last year that he doubted if the athletic director knew all of his assistant coaches names. This has changed because the top administrators are getting more personally invested in some of the Olympic coaches.

There was a time where several of the former assistant coaches for the Olympic sports felt there programs did not matter to the higher ups. Senior administrators did not show interest in their programs according to many. For example, when Chuck Kriese coached his last tennis match last year, Kyle Young was the only athletic director that showed up. The match was against South Carolina and it was the end of a long career and only one senior administrator showed up to support a legend in his last match.

When Bob Pollack won the ACC coach of the year, he found the plaque left on his chair. No ceremony. No handshake. No raise or congratulations. Just a plaque on his chair. I think that is a heck of a way to find out that you won the award.

This is an example of the little things that have driven some of these coaches crazy for several years. The little things make the difference.

In my opinion Clemson has made three major mistakes when it comes to personnel within the athletic department. They should have never fired Danny Ford. They should have never fired Jim Davis and they should have never fired Bob Pollack.

The football program struggled for years because of the bad decision on Ford. The women’s basketball program still has not recovered. I am a Clemson track fan and will support the new coach so I hope the program will not suffer the same fate as the football or women’s basketball program.

Besides those three personnel decisions, my main complaint is support. I have already touched on the support on the little things in the Olympic sports but football and basketball feels the same way. Believe me, Dabo Sweeney and Oliver Purnell are not totally satisfied with the support they receive either.

My major beef is with the big support. Clemson talks the talk but seldom walks the walk. I think the Board of Trustees, the president and the administration wants to win but have not done what it takes to win at the highest level. They think they want to win but are not “All In” and totally committed.

The best example I can give for this is a comparison to Clemson and Alabama.

I am almost certain that Oliver Purnell is not going to Alabama but if money were important to him he could make more money in Tuscaloosa. Alabama’s new coach will make more than Purnell is making at Clemson.

I love Dabo and would have hired him too but when faced with the last hire of their current football coach Alabama refused to take no for an answer and ended up giving Nick Saban $32 million dollars.

When Alabama fired their women’s golf coach they targeted my friend Mick Potter at Furman. They came close to doubling his salary and refused to take no for an answer.

When they were looking for a new women’s soccer coach Alabama targeted Clemson’s Todd Bramble. They came close to doubling his salary and refused to take no for an answer.

I am supporting the new track staff but Clemson went out and hired an assistant. I will support the new men’s tennis coach but Clemson hired an assistant. I hope these guys will win championships and this is in no way an indictment against these coaches. I don’t know anything about them and wish them luck. The point is that Alabama is “All In.” Clemson says they are “All In.”

Now those are my opinions and are open for debate. I am not saying my opinion is an absolute truth here. But I do know the facts and the facts are that Clemson won 45 ACC championships in the 1980s. That number declined to 29 in the 1990s. So far this decade Clemson has won 14 ACC titles. Clemson has won three ACC titles in the last five years (baseball in 2006, Volleyball in 2007 and Women’s tennis in 2008).

Those are facts. Three ACC titles in five years.

Maybe most are like some in the administration but I care about Clemson track. I love Clemson golf. I go to soccer games and volleyball matches. It is also a fact my friends and I go to more Clemson sporting events than top Clemson athletic department administrators.

But maybe we should not blame the athletic department. Maybe it is the overall administration that deserves blame. Clemson University has increased its spending by over $300 million dollars over the last five years. The spending has almost doubled at the university over the last six or seven years.

The athletic department is not the most important aspect of the university but it is a revenue producer. Do you think the athletic department’s budget has doubled over the last six or seven years?

Clemson’s office of advancement is about getting Clemson in the top 20 of a magazine ranking public schools and their budget has skyrocketed in recent years. Do you think Clemson’s athletic department would have won more championships with the athletic department’s budget would have increased at this rate? Do you think you football would have been better had the West Zone been built when they told Bowden it was going to be built. By the way, it still is not finished.

Just one example of this came recently in football. Dabo submitted a budget when he was hired. He took less money for himself in order to hire more support personnel. Recently, Dabo was turned down on who he wanted to hire on that support staff. Do you think Alabama would have turned down Saban after they promised him something?

We can say we are “All In” but the facts point out otherwise. I apologize to those who I know will be upset by this. I have put this blog off and have tried to walk on egg shells but if you are going to talk the talk of championships then eventually you have to walk the walk.

Catching Up With Tony Christie

Tonight, Redd and I got to catch up with former Clemson player Tony Christie. It was an excellent interview, and I encourage you to listen to the show. Tony shared some of his memories from his time on the hardwood at Clemson. It was great to catch up with him.

Clemson Earns 5th Seed

Clemson will take on the 12th seeded Georgia Tech in the 2009 ACC Tournament. Clemson finished the regular season 23-7, 9-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After a great start, the Tigers stumbled a bit down the stretch. However, in the final regular season game the Tigers played well at Wake Forest. Even in the loss, Clemson seemed to have improved from where they have been the past few weeks.
Clemson will take on Georgia Tech at 2:00 PM on Thursday. The Tigers will have to play well to get a shot at this year's championship game. The Tigers haven't faired well all season against teams with talented big men. Unfortunately, Clemson will have to face a big Georgia Tech team in the opening round. If they win that one, a Florida State team that was 2-0 against the Tigers this season awaits.

Two Games, Two Losses, Too Bad

I think the resounding thud that was heard in north Florida this afternoon was the crashing Clemson Tiger basketball team. It's hard to think that just two weeks ago this team was on top of the world. 

In the past few games, we have seen the inconsistancy that has plagued Clemson hoops over the past thirty years. It will be interesting to see if this team can turn things around. I really feel like this roster is full of talent, but in the half court we are terrible right now. 

In the end, Clemson gave it a run, but Jamie Luckie gave his typical performance from the officiating side of things. Luckie made two terrible calls in the last two minutes of the game. The attached picture shows the play in questoin. My problem is that Luckie (top right) made the foul call, not the ref right by it. Plus the ball was already loose after Smith knocked it away. In the end it might not have mattered, but it surely didn't help. A 3 on 2 break was on at that point and it could have been a 1 point game. 

Oh well, the great thing about basketball is that it is DECIDED on the court. By the end of the ACC and NCAA tournaments, you will know who is number one, no speculation is needed.