Friday July 10, 2009

Friday E-Mail Bag

Friday E-Mail Bag
Each Friday I publish your comments and answer your questions. To submit a comment or questions please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.

Mickey,

Pickens

Pickens,
I think Dabo wants to make changes but I am not sure he had time to do it. I will check but would not be surprised if it took more time to make the changes. I have heard it takes several months to make the order through Nike and I am not sure how big of a priority it was with Dabo at the time it had to be made. My guess is we may see more changes in 2010 than we do in 2009. I will ask again though.

Mick,

Jonathan

Jonathan,
Dang Jonathan. I would not expect any Christmas card from Sikes Hall anytime soon. I think you have great points about the money. They cook the books on alumni giving though. At Clemson Club meetings, the alumni association takes one dollar per ticket to alumni association to make the percentage go up to affect the Top 20 data. At graduation now they give each student two two dollar bills and get one back from each graduate to make the percentage of alumni giving go up so it looks better for the top 20 mission. I ask is it worth this kind of deception? But you seem to have the answer when it comes to the money issue. I commend you for response.

Mickey,

First off I must say that I love reading your blog. As a former student and Grandson of a former professor I share much of your passion for Clemson University and our sports program in particular. But one thing I must ask is why have you not mentioned at all one student athlete in particular, Oguchi Onyewu. He recently helped the United States go on their historic run in the recent Confederations Cup soccer tournament and as a result has transferred to one of the best teams in Europe. Constantly you search out means to laud our former student athletes and I cannot think of a better person the "Gooch". He has accomplished something no American has done since 1996 which is play in the Top tier of Italian soccer. In fact he is only the second American to play in the league total. Add this to the fact that he is probably the first American to play for one of the European soccer elite, and I figured you would at least mention it and give him a congratulations or at least mention it to others. I know soccer is not the most important sports to most Americans and maybe even less to Clemson fans, but we can all celebrate an Athlete who is going somewhere where no American has gone before.
Keep up the good work,
Brian

Brian,
Thanks for the e-mail. You make a very valid point. The main reason I have not done more on Gooch is my personal ignorance. I don’t follow international soccer. However, please feel free to update as often as it is newsworthy and I will be glad to pass it alone to our readers. He is a terrific athlete a wonderful defender on the US team. So I would love to get more updates on his career.

Mickey,
While I agree, VT has solidified their program based on defense, special teams, running the football and solid fundamentals. Where they are light years ahead of us is in one main area.....COMMITTMENT TO WINNING!! You don't see their President taking money from the football program and putting it toward a ridiculous campaign to get a ranking in ONE magazine just so he can say "look at me, look what I did..." Until we have a serious attitude change in the CU administration from the BOT to the President no Clemson fan should expect anything more than a mid level ACC finish, followed by a mid tier bowl game against yet another team that uses us to springboard themselves to something bigger and better. Count on more coaching changes and never really improving in that area either because NO COACH WORTH TEN CENTS would come to Clemson!! Why come here so you can be undermined by a collection of academics in Sikes Hall?!?!? Enough with the mediocrity that has become Clemson football.

Steve

Steve,
Thanks for the insightful e-mail. I took a hard line approach on the mediocrity on this morning’s radio show. We have to stop accepting it. We need to stand up and say enough is enough. I get tired of complaining and I know people get tired of hearing and reading about it but the facts are the facts and we should not accept mediocrity anymore. We need to demand excellence and let the powers understand we will accept nothing less. Your e- mail energized me again. Spread the word.

Hi Mickey,

Kirk

Kirk,
You made an excellent point. That is why football is the best of the team sports. All 11 have to play as one and you are only as strong as your weakest link. Good points.

Mickey,
With the offseason news lull, it seems that there is renewed scrutiny over the administration and athletic director's effectiveness. You have even asked some hard questions, which I think are all valid given the success of the athletic programs relative to where most fans would like. Two of the oft-cited culprits in all of this are Terry Don Phillips (perhaps through his management of Katie Hill) and the university administration (with President Barker and his Top 20 initiative getting the blame). I get that the buck stops at the top. Missing, for me, from this debate, however, is a good understanding of how all the money flows around the university. Admittedly, I'm no accountant, but I have searched through the Clemson financial statements and some documents from the state auditors office and am unable to piece together a good idea of what's going on. Obviously the athletic department and university have revenues and expenses—athletics through ticket sales and tv contracts; the university through tuition, grants, state appropriations etc, of which tuition now ranks among the highest at 29% of revenue—but how much money, if any, does the athletic department receive from the university (outside of what it earns on it's own)? How much does the athletic department give the university? More importantly, how have these amounts changed over time due to Top 20, the recession, etc? When people accuse Barker of not giving the athletic department the support it needs, are they talking financially or bureaucratically (AARC etc)? I always thought that athletics were extremely important, but when you look at tuition and state funding making up a combined almost 356 million or 54% of the schools revenue in 2008 compared to 50ish million(?) coming from athletics, it's hard for me to say that they are not receiving their due attention relative to all the press the athletic department garners.

Gearhed

Gearhed,
Thanks for an excellent e-mail. I am not as educated on all of the numbers and will say that universities have different philosophies on the subjects. The way I understand the current environment at Clemson, the athletic department here operates with a surplus each year. In the last 20 years or so, the athletic department gives the university millions. However, since the university has been hit with budget issues in the last year or so, the athletic department has been called to give more to the university. I will try to get more specific info and hopefully our readers can provide more details as well. One thing you have noticed is the difficulty is getting the truth when it comes from the accounting on this subject.

Mickey,
Good job on the blog. Now that Noel Johnson has signed and TO has left, could you please discuss who you see in the starting lineup and who will be the main guys coming off the bench next season? Also, how will the addition of Johnson impact the expectations for next season? I am no expert, but it seems that next year’s team will be as deep and talented as any we have put on the floor in a long time.

Tigerfan

Tigerfan,
Thanks for the e-mail. I think we will see Stitt start at point guard but Young playing more minutes than last year. I think we will see Tanner at the two guard but Johnson grabbing more minutes as the season progresses. At the three I think we will see Milton Jennings start with Potter and Narcisse playing as well. In the post I think Trevor Booker and Grant will start but Devin Booker and Baciu as backups. This freshman class helps at the two with Johnson and Hill and the three and four with Jennings and Booker. You are right about the depth. This program is in great shape now and it looks like the brightest days in Clemson basketball are ahead of us.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
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Those who need our prayers include:
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