Thursday November 01, 2007

Tiger Notes

Memorial
It seems we hear all too often about the loss of our young people and the Clemson family suffered another loss this past weekend with the horrific in North Carolina. Clemson and South Carolina have lost ten students since the start of the school year. Last night there was a touching candle light vigil on campus and the community is once again mourning the loss of another young person.

There is a memorial that is being funded by the calendar project started by student government and Tiger Brotherhood. The calendar was given to freshmen and new staff and faculty but they have now been made available to the public.

The memorial will remember those students who pass away before May graduation.

This is a beautiful calendar that features some of the best Clemson pictures ever published. You can view and order the calendars online at www.clemson.edu/~bammons/calendar. They are available for $5.00 (Clemson locals) and $6.00 (by mail) with ALL of the money going back to the University. No person or organization will receive any of the money, as all the proceed will go to fund next year’s calendar, but more importantly will fund a memorial to remember those students who passed away before graduation.

According to Clemson senior Brian Ammons, "The calendar includes a collage of pictures on the top part with a bar describing the significance of each picture at the bottom of the top section. Then it includes the calendar itself with important historical dates on it. Under the dates we included an interesting story about a Clemson tradition. These stories were written by different students.”

They can be purchased online at www.clemson.edu/~bammons/calendar or online at cualumnistore.com. They are also sold in the Hendrix Student Center, Judge Keller’s, Tiger Town Graphics, the Variety and Frame Shop, Allen’s Creations and will be sold on campus the last two weeks of November. Again they only cost $5.00.

TV
I understand some people have real issues and really can’t make it to Durham this weekend and they have a right to be disappointed with the blackout of the TV package in several states. But I want to encourage all Tigers that can make it to Durham to go ahead and make the trip.

I always enjoy the Duke trip more than any other in the ACC. Where else can you park for free right beside the visiting stadium? Also you can buy general admission tickets and still sit on the 50-yard line. One last delight at Wallace-Wade Stadium is the food. For years I continue to look forward to the brats and sausage dogs they sell there and love the fact that there are no lines at the food stations and bathrooms.

One negative to the situation for those Tigers making the trip is the price of tickets. Because there is not a demand for tickets there are no scalpers there and no one is selling tickets. Because you can just walk up and buy tickets at the gate no one buys more than they need so there are not extra tickets floating around the stadium. Instead, you have to stand in line and buy from the ticket box office at full price. This is still a bargain because of the free parking.

So get off of the lazy boy and we will see you in Durham.

James Mays Part II
Remember the streak James Mays had in basketball? The Tigers had a 28-game winning streak in games Mays played between 2005-2007. Well we have something similar in football for the Tigers in Rendrick Taylor. The Clemson wide out must be a huge key to the offense because the Tigers are 13-2 in the last 15 games in which Taylor has played and he is set to make his return this weekend.

The Clio, SC native is a beast of a wide receiver who is a tough match up for defense in the passing game and the running game. He actually played only two plays in the bowl game loss to Kentucky as he was coming back from a broken arm, so in games in which he played more than two plays the Tigers are 13-1.

Injury
I think the staff should be very concerned about the offense that will not have Jacoby Ford the rest of the season. Ford was a major part of the offense and was the third major player defenses had to game plan for. His speed changed the way some coaches defended Clemson in the passing game and the way he was used in the running game was a major factor.

I trust Tyler Grisham, Aaron Kelly and Rendrick Taylor and I hope I am wrong but I believe the Tigers will have a hard time adjusting to life after Ford this season.

Freshman Update
This weekend we see more freshmen playing than we have in recent weeks so I thought I would pass along a few notes on the freshmen class.

The staff is excited to see how Jarvis Jenkins responds to his most significant playing time to date. One staff member told me in August that Jenkins is “what they were used to playing with at defensive tackle during the glory years here.” They staff put in a package against Central Michigan where Kourtnei Brown rushed the quarterback from a nine technique and we could see more of Brown this weekend. They still like Miguel Chavis, Andre Branch, Rennie Moore and Brown but Jenkins might be the best of the freshmen defensive linemen.

Besides Willy Korn and his medical hardship opportunity, the best of the red-shirts may be Brandon Maye. This tall linebacker almost had his red-shirt lifted earlier this year but his injury set Maye back a little. In the long-term the staff feels great about the Alabama native. Brandon Clear, David Smith and Landon Walker are three other players who have impressed the staff during their red-shirt campaign.

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