Redemption

I'm back, baby! It took a week long vacation and having to wait on my two awesome yet slow moving parental units to get ready to leave our hotel in chilly Allentown, PA on our way to visit my bro in NYC...but I FINALLY took some time to blog yet again. And depending on your motivation for reading this, you are either really excited or dreading my feeble attempts at insightful reflection on random thoughts and occurrences in my life.

As I re-enter the blog-o-sphere, I wanted to keep it simple (while keepin' it real). What's really on my mind right now is Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. My Clemson Tigers play "That Other School" in South Kackalacky. After the shalacking we received in the Chicken Coop last year, the word of the week for this game is REDEMPTION. Compounded onto the fact that the garnet and black haven't beaten the Tigers in back-to-back years in over 30 years is the ridiculously disappointing season the Tigers have had this year.

It's been another year with heartbreaking close losses and one completely inexplicable loss to a team that would be flattered just to be called "sub-par" (sorry BC). One road game win against hapless Wake Forest is despicable and how can Clemson look so good against the best team in the nation then look like they did against an overachieving Miami team (IN DEATH VALLEY!!!).

Many people are quick to blame the coaches. As my less-than-favorite college football analyst Lee Corso says: "Not so fast my friends". We are talking about a coaching regime that took Clemson to our first ACC Title Game. Some may say "well that was because of C.J. and Jacoby", but think about how good Parker was last year. Now compare that to this year. That ain't coaching. If anything, the coaches made a bold yet great move de-throning the starting wide receiver core and putting faith in 2 freshman ("Nuke" Hopkins, McNeal) and a sophomore (Brown).

Early on, the youth of those receivers hurt the Tigers some, but the maturation they are receiving now WILL pay dividends later. Add that to the fact that we have 3 AMAZING receivers committed to the Tigers for next year (Peake, Bryant, Watkins). The thing that this year's team has lacked is that signature win against a good team. These young men need to KNOW, and not just HOPE or THINK, that they can win against strong competition. Darth Visor's team is strong competition (just ask 'Bama).

Winning this rivalry game will not completely take the sting out of such a down season but 7-5 looks SO much better than 6-6. It will do wonders for the team's morale and give us huge momentum going into our bowl game and on into the off season. In many ways it will redeem this team. Granted Tommy Bowden made a career at Clemson of underachieving and getting to the brink of expulsion from the hot seat only to beat the fake USC (even though I despise the real one as well) and living on another year. Dabo can't have another season like this one next year. We will find out what kind of coach he really is starting next year.

As usually we have a superb recruiting class, loads of young talent, and a defense that (despite the almost assured loss of Da'Quan to the pros) will still be very solid up front next year. To me Tajh is the biggest question mark and I say that assuming Parker is playing baseball next year. Obviously I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'm just hoping (and praying some) for a Tiger win Saturday. Watching from the Clemson alumni bar in NYC, I can only imagine the good vibes and excitement that will explode from that scene if we pull out the "W".

I believe it is very possible. Harper will need to run the ball downhill, strong and relentless. Our defense will have to contain Lattimore. I think it will come down, like so many games do, to turnovers. If we win the turnover battle, we WILL win the game. Unfortunately, in the Miami and UNC games, we were the ones turning the ball over and drawing silly penalties. That will be another sign of a maturing football team on Saturday. I will look to see if the Tigers will play smart, mistake-free football.

I'm cautiously anxious for this weekend. As I have blogged about before, it is easy to get pumped for Clemson football only to be let down, but I will continue to support my team until that elusive National Title is brought back to where the Foothills yawn it's greatness. Now that's what I would call redemption.





What I'm into:



Song: "Redemption Song" Bob Marley- Obviously weightier than a football team's quest on the field- but a great song with a good message.



Movie: "Rocky III"- Clubber Lang, Eye of the Tiger, Rocky's Redemption- it has gotten me ready for the Battle for the Palmetto State.



Bible Verse: 1 Peter 1:6 "So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for to endure many trials for a while."