Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Clemson is a redneck school

I'm glad to see this site so well attended...that Scott guy sure does post like a maniac. A few things (as though someone cared):

1) Ball isn't cocky, just stupid. I read his quote of "this won't happen again" with some humor, and I agree with Scott that it's good to have some fire in his belly. A good question: as bad as that game hurt to lose, why didn't getting solidly beaten by a potentially fair Mountain West team in the opener make us want to draw a line in the sand? Still, time will tell and if that really is where the buck stops for Reggie, we would perhaps end up beating Maryland, NC State, Georgia, and then a formidable bowl opponent in the ACC's BCS or #2 bowl slot to go 10-2. I can live with that. I think the guy's smoking crack, but I can live with that.

2) Howard was in an article in SI earlier in the year for his summer league exploits and they said the same things...also that his brother (I think) is a manager for Hewitt. I agree with Scott--we aren't Duke and we aren't going to keep great players around for three years unless the NBA does something (like the NFL did) to hold off on drafting kids. This is what drove Cremins to play golf at Hilton Head for a living, and we better get used to it. Like Brian "the prophet" B has said in the past, Syracuse won a championship with Carmelo Anthony the same year that we couldn't get in the NCAA tournament with Bosh. It isn't like everyone else has different constraints than we do. I say aggressively pursue the big stars, keep us on national TV, and try to get another one-year wonder every year. "You'll play every night for us" has to sound a lot better to a great high school senior than the "I'll let you sit on the mighty Duke bench within our system" that Mike Krycewenahsiaaakaiki tells kids.

3) I'm worried about our defense. They HAVE tired in each of the first three games and the media is right to point out the disparity between the first and second halves. Still, compared to where I thought our D would be at the start of the season, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'll take one of the top 5 defenses in the ACC with no depth in a rebuilding year over the alternative of plugging holes on the starting lineup.

3) It's early, but I'll take it to the hole: GT 41-Clemson 24 in a beating. Clemson has no defense, a decent QB against MTSU, no running game against the ACC's best running D, and soon no coach. Something like this sounds right to me: Ball 18-36, 250, 3 TDs, 1 pick; Daniels, 15-110, 2 TDs. Boo-ya!