Wednesday May 07, 2008

Phase III

Phase III
Those familiar with my radio show have heard me talk about the six phases of the college football calendar for the rabid college football fan.

Phase I is recruiting. Actually Phase I is the end of recruiting season on the calendar. January means the final official visits and the first Wednesday in February is the national signing day. Many fans love this phase and some like it as much as the regular season itself. I am a huge fan of recruiting but could understand those that do not follow it.

Phase II is spring practice. Spring games are sometimes meaningless but a lot does get done throughout the spring. Each school has 15 practices and this is a chance to see your new team on the field for the first time. I get a little bored with spring football but I understand those that follow it like it was the single most important thing in the world. Phase II usually takes place in the months of March and April.

Phase III is coming this month and gets into June. In this phase, the fan gets his/her hands on the overload of pre-season magazines. I like this phase but it hits my wallet hard. No one buys more of this crap than I do. I am a sucker for this stuff. Athlon’s, Lindy’s, Sporting News, Phil Steele, Street and Smith and any other I can get my hands on are in my brief case or on my coffee table. I will get more into this phase at the end of this blog.

Phase IV is one that some fans do not participate in. This is the EA Sports video game NCAA Football series. This year’s version is NCAA Football 09. I never really understood why they are dated a year in advance but I buy it every year. I pre-order each year but have never gone to the store at midnight on the release date like some do. I understand both sides of this phase. I understand those that do not play it and I understand the ones that go at midnight to get it a few hours earlier. I usually get geeked up about it and play it the first week but get busy or bored and don’t play it after August. This phase begins in July.

Phase V is the pre-season camp. This is when fall practice starts. This is the first look at the freshmen. Phase V begins in August and it seems like it goes on for three years but actually lasts less than a month. In this phase we get quotes from coaches that don’t really say anything. We get a little taste of football but it only makes us want more. This is the phase where you hold your breath in an attempt to avoid injuries.

Phase VI is the season itself. It starts in late August and goes through the bowl games. This is the only phase that really matters. Recruiting, spring ball, magazines, video games and fall camp don’t get coaches hired or fired. Only the season itself gives us the bottom line that we all crave. This is the only phase that all fans participate in. This is the cause of the other five phases.

So this year Clemson completed Phases I and II with great success. Phase I was a rousing success. Clemson recruited with the best in the country. This was one of the best classes in school history. Phase II saw the Tigers get a lot accomplished. The newcomers played well and many young players got valuable reps.

I am not sure what Phases IV, V and VI have in store for the Tigers but the next phase should be very kind to the Tigers.

Clemson should be included in every major magazines top 25 and I would think most would have them in the top 15. An occasional top 10 spot in some magazines is not unreasonable. This week we have two new polls out. Tony Barnhardt of the Atlanta Journal Constitution has the Tigers number seven, the same spot CSTV has Clemson. We also saw Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline who has the Tigers at number 13 in his post-spring poll.

The Tigers should be favored in many magazines to win the Atlantic division and probably the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Individual Clemson players should also like how they are perceived in the pre-season magazines. All-Conference teams could include James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Cullen Harper, Aaron Kelly, Jacoby Ford, Thomas Austin, Ricky Sapp, DaQuan Bowers, Dorell Scott, Rashaad Jackson, Michael Hamlin and Chris Clemens could be mentioned as all-conference candidates.

Those Tigers will also rank high in their individual position rankings throughout the country.

I would think Clemson would get high marks in the conference and across the country in the unit rankings also. Quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, defensive line and the secondary could all rank high in the pre-season publications.

I would imagine Davis, Spiller and/or Harper will be featured on some of the covers of these publications also.

Each magazine will rank Clemson’s recruiting class high and the Tigers should be one of the fast rising teams in the country.

So I will go into debt at the end of this month and buy every magazine they put on the shelves. If you buy only one I would suggest Phil Steele’s preview because it is the most thorough. If you want a review of the others please e-mail me when they come out and I will suggest whether you should buy it or not.

In the end, all of this attention may help a little bit in recruiting and exposure. It may also help bring attention to individual players. However, all of it really means nothing but it sure beats the hot seat talk.

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