Thursday January 17, 2008

Snow Days; Recruiting

Snow Days
Few things are as beautiful as snow in Clemson. Unfortunately it does not happen that often but I am not sure why. Someone smarter than me would have to explain the lake effect and why it snows more in Greenville and Spartanburg than it does in Clemson. Does the lake warm up the air that much? Thanks in advance.

This morning as I rode home from work, I had to take a detour to check out Death Valley with snow covering the field. I had realized on the show this morning that I have never seen Clemson play in the snow. The Tigers defeated Louisiana Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, ID at the end of the 2001 season but I did not make the trip. Also I know there was a lot of snow on the ground but I can’t recall if it snowed during that game.

The closest I have seen snow at a Clemson football game was the 1979 Peach Bowl at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. If memory serves me right, that day started out nice but a cold front came through and the game was played in a sleet storm. The wind blew hard that day and the wind chill had to be under 20 degrees (maybe closer to single digits.) There was no accumulation if ice and sleet on the field but it was a rainy, sleety, windy day and perhaps the coldest I have ever been at a Clemson football game.

The Independence Bowl of 1985 was another cold affair. Clemson lost to Minnesota that even in Shreveport but I remember extreme temperatures being the story of the game.

The only other brutally cold game I can recall was the Clemson win over South Carolina in 2000. Rod Gardner’s catch and Aaron Hunt’s field goal took place on a very cold evening in Death Valley.

I have seen it pour rain at several Clemson games including the 1988 Clemson-FSU “puntrooskie game” and the Clemson win over Georgia Tech in Death Valley in 2002. Both of those were September games and warm rain was a lot better than cold rain. There were a couple of trips to Blacksburg, VA where rain was a big factor. I remember the 1989 win over the Hokies as a rain game. The 1977 game was played in a rain storm as well but maybe one other Virginia Tech featured bad rain but I can’t recall the year.

The 1993 opener against UNLV had lightening threats that sent both teams to the locker rooms for a period of time. That is the only time I can recall a game being stopped because of weather.

Heat is usually a bigger concern during football season lately. The Georgia game of 2003 was one of the hottest games in recent years until the Boston College game in 2005.

When I was a kid I remember a dangerously hot game in which people were passing out in the stands and I may be wrong but for some reason I keep thinking that was an opener against The Citadel in either the 1976 or 1978 season.

Wind is sometimes a factor but the game that I remember the most in terms of wind affecting a Clemson game was a game at College Park, MD. I think it may have been 1982 when All-ACC punter Dale Hatcher would put these rockets that looked like they were going to be boomers but the wind took the ball backwards after about 30 yards of air time.

Unfortunately, some of the coldest I have been at Clemson sporting events came at baseball games in March as the lake sent the winds whipping through the players and spectators.

I would be interested to read about some of your memories of Clemson football in extreme weather.

Recruiting
Signing day was three weeks from yesterday and I continue to get e-mails wanting to know what Clemson will do if all of these guys want to commit. One asked yesterday that what would they do if Jamie Harper, Dwayne Allen, RJ Mattes, Kenneth Page, Antoine McClain, Brandon Thompson, Jeremy Lewis, Benjamin Jones, Jerrell Harris and Jaron Brown all wanted to commit?

The answer is simple. That won’t happen so you don’t need to worry about it.

Clemson has 20 commitments and will sign 24-26 players in this class. The above e-mailer mentioned 10 players that if the Tigers got 5 of 10 it would be a phenomenal year.

I always held by two ideas at this stage of the process that seemed to work and usually helped with the expectations of late commitments. First, these prospects have had two years to commit and there must be some reason they have held off. Sometimes they may be looking for something that is not there. Sometimes they are waiting on others to see what their best option may be. But in the end, if a player is supposed to be leaning to you for several months and he has not committed then something may be up. I am not saying Harper or Thompson won’t be Tigers but I am saying that they have had every opportunity in the world to be Tigers before now.

Also, at this stage you are usually fighting great programs for great players. Consider who Clemson is fighting with for these guys.

Harper-Florida, Miami, Illinois, FSU
Allen-Georgia commitment
Mattes-NC State, Virginia, UNC, USC
Page-Tennessee, Notre Dame, North Carolina
McClain-Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee
Thompson-LSU, Tennessee
Lewis-Miami, North Carolina
Jones-Miami, Ohio State, LSU, Auburn
Harris-Auburn, Southern Cal, LSU, Tennessee
Brown-South Carolina, Michigan

Batting .500 with your last few prospects is usually a tremendous effort.

If a player has made it this far without committing then he either has decided and is just playing the game or he really does not know. I predict one or two of these guys Clemson is waiting on may be playing the game but I think more could be turned in the last few days.

We can criticize players for not knowing but I saw a poll the other day that had a big percentage of Americans say they can be swayed in the last 48 hours they vote in an election.

I think the Tigers can finish strong in recruiting this year but there is not a guy on that list that would shock me if he signed elsewhere. Be patient and stay tuned. I think it is going to be a terrific ending but I can’t guarantee it.

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