The sun is barely up and here in South Carolina it finally feels like football weather.
The morning air is crisp and cool but todays college football landscape promises to be scorched with heated tension.
In College Station Texas it is either going to be validation or revenge. If Johnny Football manages to beat Alabama again then all his off and on the field antics will be overlooked. If Saban is able to extract his revenge then the reigning Heisman Trophy winner might have his magic carpet ride jerked from underneath his nimble feet. I have a feeling it might be a long fall for not only Johnny football but the entire Texas A&M program if that is the case. This day looms large for both teams but A&M seeks validation and a true opportunity for that does not role around that often.
I predict A&M wins by 10 but it will be because of an outstanding defenses performance rather than QB heroics that make the difference.
Another interesting matchup will be underway at the same time between Oregon and Tennessee out in the duck pond. Nobody imagines Tennessee will have any reason to be singing rocky top and I would have to agree, but even a strong showing by the Vols against the Oregon scoring machine will give some momentum to the sleeping giant in Knoxville. I think the best Tennessee can hope for today is a moral victory but it should be a fun game to watch.
Tennessee being down puts a pretty big damper on the SEC east in my opinion and I would even argue that the rise of South Carolina can be heavily attributed to the fall of Tennessee. When Tennessee was a power a huge portion of their recruits came from South Carolina, Western North Carolina and North Georgia. The Vol's quick decent into the bottom rung of the SEC opened up some huge opportunities for South Carolina as well as Clemson for a large number of recruits that would have been wearing burnt orange seven years ago. Florida's decline can also be attributed to South Carolina's rise but for Florida there will always be enough local talent to keep them relevant as long as they have some measure of competent coaching. The harsh truth for Tennessee fans is that if they are not winning, cheating or both then they face a huge uphill battle in the SEC east. If they do not make a push to power quickly it might be decades before South Carolina relinquishes their top tier spot in the east. A win against Oregon in Oregon might be just the kind of magic the Vols need to get that spot back much sooner.
Georgia fans finally get a breather today before next weeks match up against LSU. If Coach Richt can find a way to come out of the most brutal first four weeks of competition I can remember with only one loss then the Dogs might be in for a very special year.
South Carolina finds themselves in for a gut check tonight. Everyone knows that Vandy is no slouch by now so it will be interesting to see if the Cocks can bounce back from the harsh reality check Georgia handed out in Athens last week. This early in the season almost anything can be forgiven but taking back to back losses will put a legitimate end to almost all of the Gamecock goals. If I am a Gamecock fan I start looking for the Xanax now. I think the Gamecocks win but it is still going to be a stress fest and only a dominant stomping of Vanderbilt will make this a good day in Columbia.
The last game of note for southern football fans will be Ole Miss versus the staggering Long Horn program. This game lines up to be a wet dream for the talented freshman at Ole Miss and I see Austin Texas turning into a full blown disaster tonight. This game could get ugly and if it does Mac Brown might find his tenure at Texas over like a slaughterhouse steer with a bolt gun to head.
I hope everyone is up early and outside enjoying the first taste of fall this morning because by noon today you will not want to be venturing away from the T.V.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Week 2 Review
I was sick. Then busy, then more sick.
Georgia beat South Carolina in a well fought battle and Miami topped Florida in very ugly fashion.
Some other stuff probably happened but that is all you really needed to know.
Georgia beat South Carolina in a well fought battle and Miami topped Florida in very ugly fashion.
Some other stuff probably happened but that is all you really needed to know.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Week One Review.
It was a national stage and everything about Clemson was shining. ABC's impressive and much talked about six and half minute live segment of Clemson running down the hill was amazing and an Emmy should go to the videographer that ran down the hill with the steady cam and managed to frame everything to perfection for six seconds of magic. Watch the last twenty seconds of this clip to see what I am talking about.
Then, after all the hype, two great football teams showed up and played lights out with Clemson somehow finding a way to win despite a stat sheet that was heavily lopsided in Georgia's favor. There is a lot of room left for disappointment for Clemson fans and the odds are that we will get a belly full of it before the season is done. I just hope whatever happens, Clemson fans can hold on to the memory of Saturday night, it was special.
This game also put the spotlight on some issues that will be looming ever larger as the season moves forward. The topic of teams faking injuries to slow down fast paced offenses loomed large during the game as Clemson fans booed suspicious injuries. Then a video snippet surfaced early Sunday morning showing a Georgia player unquestionably being directed to take a dive from the Georgia sidelines. This offered smoking gun evidence that faking injuries is now part of the playbook for many schools. The ethical and practical implications of taking dives is far reaching and will become an issue that must be addressed as the season goes on.
Johnny Football did not disappoint with his talent or his mouth last Saturday but the story that most die hard CFB fans are talking about is how ESPN cannot go two minutes without having some blowhard give his opinion on the Johnny Footballs behavior.
Another shocker in week one had SEVEN schools getting beaten by FCS opponents. Scream parity all you want but there is something seriously out of whack when there is that big a shift in one week.
Ole Miss and Vanderbilt might have delivered that most insane three minutes of football we will see all year with Ole Miss scoring on a 77yard draw play to finally put down the Commodores. Ole Miss will be a team to watch this year with probably the most impressive class of true freshmen difference makers to ever set foot in the Grove. To say this recruiting class raises some suspicious eyebrows is an understatement but it appears Ole Miss has gotten serious about "competing!" for top recruits. I predict we will see Ole Miss finish in the top ten this year and next year and if they can get a couple of these guys to stick around for a third season they might be a real contender for a title. Whatever the case, they all better be gone by year four because Ole Miss will probably be on probation soon thereafter.
All in all, an amazing opening week to the season. I do not know if it will get any better than this for my Tigers but from A&M to William Brice and everywhere in between there is a ton of passion, drama and fun ready to unfold this year.
The SEC And Why Giving A Damn Makes All The Difference.
(I am actually moving this post over from my other blog because I thought it had more relevance to this site.)
College football is here and for my Clemson Tigers it kicks off this year with an epic bang. The level of give a damn is as high for a game as I can ever remember. Playing Georgia should be our birthright and I am not going to lie, I miss being an SEC fan.
Both sides of my family are from Alabama and I grew up the son of an Auburn grad. It was not till I was a student at Clemson that I made the switch and even then it was hard. I did not want to let go of that attachment I had to not just Auburn but the SEC. It was more than just football to me and everyone else.
As a kid in the eighties I remember not being all that proud of where I was from. Everyone around me was loud and proud but I always got the feeling it was a pride born out of insecurity.
Make no mistake about it, the south to this day still suffers from the toll of post civil war reconstruction. It is only in the last twenty years that the South has begun to see real economic and social progress throughout parts of the region. Still, if you want people to instantly underestimate your intelligence just speak with a southern accent anywhere north of Virginia and west of Texas. There are some awesome things about being from Dixie but growing up in the south, especially the rural south leaves you with a good many hurdles to overcome.
However, there was one thing that would make my chest swell with pride, Bo Jackson and Auburn Football. I knew that it was impossible that any football game could be as well played or cared about more than the Alabama Auburn game. I knew that Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida and Tennessee were evil, vile institutions supported by the scum of the earth but I also knew that they were the only teams who had the ability and the right to challenge my Auburn Tigers.
We knew that football in the south was the best in the world and this was at a time when the national sports media was hesitant to recognize it. Sure, they might give Alabama some props from time to time, but it was obvious that they wanted to talk about Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State and Southern Cal. But as more games became available to watch by everyone in the nation it became evident where the best football was being played and more importantly who's fans cared the most.
All those teams I hated and fan bases I loathed, those people were also the only ones who understood how important college football was to our identity as a people and a place. It was truly the only thing we could put in front of the nation and say "Nobody does this better than us." This chip resides on the shoulder of almost every old school SEC fan and binds them into more than just a football conference. What has always made the SEC the best football conference is not the quality of the teams but the passion of the fans.
There are plenty of years when the SEC is not the best or even second best conference from top to bottom in terms of football but with the exception of Kentucky every other fan base loves college football and their team with everything it has. Old Miss, who has never actually been that awesome at football is one of the best tailgating experiences in college football. There are never any half empty stadiums or Saturdays that don't matter in the SEC. Everyone cares.
This is what I miss about being a fan of a SEC school. I miss opposing fans that give a damn. As a Clemson fan we have Florida St, Georgia Tech, and NC State as the three teams on our conference schedule every year who give a damn. It does not matter how good or bad Duke, Wake Forest or North Carolina is. They will not bring more than 1000 hundred fans on the road and the Clemson fans traveling will literally take over their home stadium. To have a conference where everyone is invested in football from top to bottom is what makes the SEC the best conference in football.
ESPN discovered this fact about fifteen years ago and has invested itself heavily into the future of the SEC and manipulated the landscape of college football to further that agenda.
I am not a fan of NASCAR but it is also a regional passion that has been watered down by popularity and expansion and SEC football will soon see the same fate I am afraid. The fire that fueled this passion was having this level of excellence and uniqueness in a place full of struggle in a region looked down upon. It will not survive the pedestal that ESPN has put it on. It will not endure the johnny come lately fans that come with all the swagger but lack the chip on their shoulder of the long time sufferers. It will break apart as it spreads itself thin, into areas of the country that have nothing in common with one another and it will be a great national treasure eroded.
For now, and from its inception the SEC has been the standard for what the college football experience should be about and whenever Clemson gets to play an SEC school we get to be a part of it and it feels like coming home.
College football is here and for my Clemson Tigers it kicks off this year with an epic bang. The level of give a damn is as high for a game as I can ever remember. Playing Georgia should be our birthright and I am not going to lie, I miss being an SEC fan.
Both sides of my family are from Alabama and I grew up the son of an Auburn grad. It was not till I was a student at Clemson that I made the switch and even then it was hard. I did not want to let go of that attachment I had to not just Auburn but the SEC. It was more than just football to me and everyone else.
As a kid in the eighties I remember not being all that proud of where I was from. Everyone around me was loud and proud but I always got the feeling it was a pride born out of insecurity.
Make no mistake about it, the south to this day still suffers from the toll of post civil war reconstruction. It is only in the last twenty years that the South has begun to see real economic and social progress throughout parts of the region. Still, if you want people to instantly underestimate your intelligence just speak with a southern accent anywhere north of Virginia and west of Texas. There are some awesome things about being from Dixie but growing up in the south, especially the rural south leaves you with a good many hurdles to overcome.
However, there was one thing that would make my chest swell with pride, Bo Jackson and Auburn Football. I knew that it was impossible that any football game could be as well played or cared about more than the Alabama Auburn game. I knew that Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida and Tennessee were evil, vile institutions supported by the scum of the earth but I also knew that they were the only teams who had the ability and the right to challenge my Auburn Tigers.
We knew that football in the south was the best in the world and this was at a time when the national sports media was hesitant to recognize it. Sure, they might give Alabama some props from time to time, but it was obvious that they wanted to talk about Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State and Southern Cal. But as more games became available to watch by everyone in the nation it became evident where the best football was being played and more importantly who's fans cared the most.
All those teams I hated and fan bases I loathed, those people were also the only ones who understood how important college football was to our identity as a people and a place. It was truly the only thing we could put in front of the nation and say "Nobody does this better than us." This chip resides on the shoulder of almost every old school SEC fan and binds them into more than just a football conference. What has always made the SEC the best football conference is not the quality of the teams but the passion of the fans.
There are plenty of years when the SEC is not the best or even second best conference from top to bottom in terms of football but with the exception of Kentucky every other fan base loves college football and their team with everything it has. Old Miss, who has never actually been that awesome at football is one of the best tailgating experiences in college football. There are never any half empty stadiums or Saturdays that don't matter in the SEC. Everyone cares.
This is what I miss about being a fan of a SEC school. I miss opposing fans that give a damn. As a Clemson fan we have Florida St, Georgia Tech, and NC State as the three teams on our conference schedule every year who give a damn. It does not matter how good or bad Duke, Wake Forest or North Carolina is. They will not bring more than 1000 hundred fans on the road and the Clemson fans traveling will literally take over their home stadium. To have a conference where everyone is invested in football from top to bottom is what makes the SEC the best conference in football.
ESPN discovered this fact about fifteen years ago and has invested itself heavily into the future of the SEC and manipulated the landscape of college football to further that agenda.
I am not a fan of NASCAR but it is also a regional passion that has been watered down by popularity and expansion and SEC football will soon see the same fate I am afraid. The fire that fueled this passion was having this level of excellence and uniqueness in a place full of struggle in a region looked down upon. It will not survive the pedestal that ESPN has put it on. It will not endure the johnny come lately fans that come with all the swagger but lack the chip on their shoulder of the long time sufferers. It will break apart as it spreads itself thin, into areas of the country that have nothing in common with one another and it will be a great national treasure eroded.
For now, and from its inception the SEC has been the standard for what the college football experience should be about and whenever Clemson gets to play an SEC school we get to be a part of it and it feels like coming home.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
An Introduction And A Welcome
First things first. I am not a sports writer and to date no one has seen fit to pay me nary a dime to write my thoughts down on any topic. I should also add that I am biased and my topics will probably be heavily skewed toward my alma matter, Clemson. That being said I did grow up a huge fan of Auburn University and southern football in general. I will do my best to stick with what I know and that is southern college football but I reserve the right to talk about whatever the hell I want to.
I have another blog where I try to post on various topics of interest toominithoughts.blogspot.com but for the last three weeks or so I have had nothing but college football on the brain so I figured I would give my huge and ravenous internet following of one a blog with a more focused direction.
I hope someone enjoys this but more than anything I think every true fan of college football needs a place to vent and this will be mine.
With that in mind please note that I plan on using this blog as a confessional for weeks sins done in the anger and insanity of the moment and I hope others will do the same.
I have another blog where I try to post on various topics of interest toominithoughts.blogspot.com but for the last three weeks or so I have had nothing but college football on the brain so I figured I would give my huge and ravenous internet following of one a blog with a more focused direction.
I hope someone enjoys this but more than anything I think every true fan of college football needs a place to vent and this will be mine.
With that in mind please note that I plan on using this blog as a confessional for weeks sins done in the anger and insanity of the moment and I hope others will do the same.
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