Wednesday October 01, 2008

Missed Opportunities

Missed Opportunities
To be perfectly honest with you, today is one of about two or three days ever that I sat down to write the blog and have no idea what direction to go in. This is about the 600th blog I have written and all but about two or three have just flowed once I sat down with the laptop.

Today is different though. Normally after a loss I feel I feel disappointed on Saturday and sometimes angry on Sunday and even Monday. But usually by Tuesday or Wednesday I am ready to start looking forward to the next game. This week is an open date but I would normally still be looking forward to the next game by now.

In those rare occasions where it was obvious a coaching change was coming, I was ready to start thinking about the head coaching candidates. I remember in 1998 when I first started my radio show Tommy West was fired so we spent the next couple of weeks on the phone talking to everyone we knew in terms of the coaching search. But I am not sure Bowden will be fired and it is extremely out of line to talk about candidates unless there is an opening.

I sat in front of this laptop and just gazed at it for about 30 minutes as my mind remained unfocused.

Since I spoke from the heart on Monday and Tuesday, that is probably the best place to start today.

First, I want to clear up an interview I had with Larry Williams of the Charleston Post Courier in this morning’s paper. Larry is a great writer who I actually think does the best job of any of the beat writers. He is always insightful and I respect his work. However he classified my statements this morning by saying I had called for Bowden to be fired. It may be splitting hairs but I would word it differently. I did not call for his firing. I only said I thought it was time to move on. I stated I thought it was time to make a move and would if I was the athletic director. I did not call on Terry Don Phillips to do so. I am nothing but a sports talk show host and a blog writer. Nothing more, nothing less. That is probably being nitpicky but I was only giving my opinion Monday.

This Wednesday feels different because I have lost hope. After the previous losses I could rationalize being hopeful. I could always see a way out and see a brighter future. This Wednesday is filled with disgust. The longer the week goes the more upset I am about the upset.

Clemson was a 13-point favorite at home. The Tigers were ranked and had they won Saturday things would be in terrific shape. Alabama thumped Georgia so the loss to the Crimson Tide could have been rationalized. But not now.

The Tigers would have been ranked about 16th in the nation and a top ten season could still have been obtained. But not now.

Wake Forest had just been defeated by Navy and Clemson would have been extremely confident about beating the Demon Deacons and grabbing control of the Atlantic Division of the ACC. But not now.

It was a missed opportunity much like the opening game of the season this year when the Tigers opened up as the nation’s number nine team. It was like last season when the Tigers had Boston College at home with the ACC Atlantic Division title on the line but that was a missed opportunity as well. It was like the previous year when Clemson was a 19-point favorite at home against another bad Maryland team but the ACC Atlantic Division title was lost that day too.

It was a missed opportunity like the one when the Tigers had two 14-point leads against South Carolina in 2006 at home but found a way to lose. It was a missed opportunity like the Music City Bowl against Kentucky where the Tigers decided to throw the ball despite the Wildcats’ inept rushing defense.

It was a missed opportunity like the one where Clemson went into Blacksburg, VA as the nation’s number ten team and scored first but then got punked by an average Virginia Tech squad.

It was a missed opportunity like the blowout losses to North Carolina in 2001, NC State, Maryland and Texas Tech in 2002, the broken air condition in College Station, TX in 2004 or the blocked extra point in overtime in Chestnut Hill in 2006.

It was a missed opportunity like….well you get the picture. I need to stop now because I am getting upset like I should have gotten upset after each of those losses in the first place. The cumulative effect makes it worse in hindsight.

Those losses hurt and I was extremely disappointed but I always found a reason to get over it and move on because the future still looked bright. But not now.

Here is a thought that keeps popping in my head: I think almost everyone will agree that Maryland was outmanned badly Saturday. If that is the case and Clemson still lost, the question is-How much more talented do you have to be in order to win?

Under Bowden, Clemson is 7-16 in games decided by a field goal or less. Many of those games should not have been close to begin with.

I need to move on and find something positive because these negative thoughts have me down. I can’t live this way. I need to find something positive and will move towards something more positive in tomorrow’s blog. Sorry to bring you down but my heart is still hurting and I just don’t think I am going to get over this one for a while.

It’s probably time for a Ryan blog. Maybe that will get my priorities back in order and my spirits up. BTW-Ryan says hello.

God Bless and Go Tigers!

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