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Tigger or Eeyore?
Yesterday my good friend Ralph Patterson sent me an e-mail that really made an impact on me. It was a youtube.com video of Dr. Randy Pausch’s visit to the Oprah Winfrey show. Perhaps some of you have not seen it but even if you have I have included a link because it is such an awesome message that it can add a lot to our day. The link can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tIyt8oSLVs

Pausch has pancreatic cancer and was told almost seven months ago that he has three to six months of good health left. He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the Oprah appearance was on his last lecture. In this lecture, Pausch gives us many lessons but one of the ones that hit home with me the most is the idea that in life you can choose to be a Tigger or an Eeyore. It probably says a lot about me and my intelligence level that I related more to the Winnie the Pooh reference than anything else in the lecture but I started to think about the two characters and how much each represents so many people we run across each day.

I am convinced that I am a Tigger. I hope to present an optimistic and positive approach in my everyday life. Sometimes on the radio we have to present a judgmental point of view and we have to try to polarize the audience at times. However, most of the time I hope people see me as a Tigger.

Tigger reminds us, “The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things.”

If I am an Eeyore, it is when I look at certain things like the expectations of my favorite teams. I understand how expectations can get out of hand so I usually seem to temper my expectations and downplay the big picture at least in public. Privately, I expect Clemson to win every game in every sport. Publically, that serves little purpose and I am not sure anyone needs to encourage some fans to have higher expectations.

Expectations are interesting. When my favorite teams fall short of the public expectations I have played the role of apologist because I have tried to look at the reasons why my teams have failed. Often times you have heard me say, “Other teams give scholarships too” or “We are a small school in the northwest corner of a small state.” I think Florida State, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Duke and North Carolina need to put me on their payroll because I continue to talk about all of the advantages each has because of their history in either football or basketball.

On the subject of Clemson basketball I have talked for years about the difficulty of upward mobility in the ACC because of the powerhouses in the conference. Poor ole Clemson playing the role of Eeyore. How can we compete with UNC and Duke and all of the tradition? Have you seen the facilities at Maryland, Virginia and NC State? Boston College, Georgia Tech and Miami are urban environments in major metropolitan areas that produce more players than our small state. Poor pitiful us.

But I have changed my views. I am now a Tigger when it comes to the future of Clemson basketball!

I do not expect Clemson to beat UNC and Duke on the hardwood every year. UNC has eight five star prospects committed or signed for the next three seasons. Clemson has never had a five star in the rivals.com rankings.

It is unrealistic to expect to be at the level of the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. They are perennial national title contenders. However, it is not unrealistic to expect to compete against these other eight institutions.

I know the Comcast Center in College Park, MD is great. I understand the RBC Center in Raleigh is better than what we have because I have seen it. I have not been in Virginia’s new building but I understand it is first-class as well. Besides new buildings in the last six years, do you know what else those programs have in common? Clemson went into all three buildings and won this year. The Tigers must not have been too impressed with the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the three coliseums.

This renewed confidence will only last as long as Oliver Purnell is our coach but Purnell has built a solid program here. So solid that I can say I am no longer scared of the other eight schools. Wake Forest has an incredible recruiting class coming next year and should be picked in the top three in the ACC next season but Clemson should not fall too far from where it is now.

Georgia Tech may beat us Thursday but I am not scared to go down there. I know Tech will have great recruiting years in the future but I will put Purnell up against Paul Hewitt. Boston College will get back but they will not intimidate Clemson. Miami and Florida State are probably going to be athletic in the future but I’ll take my chances.

Maybe the team that we should all respect more is Virginia Tech as Seth Greenberg has done an incredible job with his program. Perhaps that is the best blue print and lesson for Tiger fans in this league. Maybe a small, blue-collar environment can support basketball that can compete with the urban schools in this league.

It is tougher here but not impossible. Clemson basketball has very little tradition. The facilities are average at best in this league. But someone forgot to tell Cliff Hammonds, Sam Perry and James Mays that four years ago.

If Purnell leaves for another program all bets are off but I feel Clemson can compete in the top half of this league under this current staff. Next year’s freshman class is highly thought of and the following class of Devin Booker and possibly Milton Jennings could be the best in many years.

While I understand the difficult task of ascension in the ranks of ACC basketball, I fully expect this program to contend for bigger and brighter things. Purnell has turned this Clemson basketball Eeyore into a Clemson basketball Tigger.

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