Wednesday August 06, 2008

Under Achievers?/ Ryan Update-Drop-In Invite

Ryan Update 8-6
Thanks to Tom Winkopp, we have the venue and time set for Ryan’s 17th birthday party. Tom has offered Valley Walk and The Park at Valley Walk for us to us and I want to thank him for his generosity.

So, we want to invite everyone to Ryan’s birthday celebration Saturday, August 16. The drop-in will be at Valley Walk and The Park at Valley Walk which located directly behind the Esso Club in Clemson. The drop-in will be from 4-7 PM.

We wanted to have the drop-in for a few reasons. One is to celebrate Ryan’s 17th birthday. There was a time where some doubted he would ever have another birthday, so we think this is a terrific reason to celebrate.

Second, we wanted to give people a chance to come by and see Ryan. Many that have prayed for Ryan have never met him. Some friends have not seen him in a few months. Still others that came by to see him in the hospital in Greenville or Charlotte have asked to see Ryan again soon as well. So this will be a great chance for all to get to see Ryan.

But most importantly, we want a chance to thank everyone for their prayers and everything everyone has done. If you are able to make it by we would love to have a chance to thank all who have been so kind to us. We have not yet had a chance to answer hundreds of e-mails, letters, cards, texts and phone calls from all of those who helped us through these last two months. We see this as a chance to show our gratitude to all that have been there for us.

Please no gifts but we would love to see you Saturday, August 16th at Valley Walk and The Park at Valley Walk for Ryan’s Birthday Party Drop-In from 4-7 PM. There will be drinks and light refreshments provided. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.

Under Achievers
I was e-mailed an article on Rivals.com yesterday concerning the perception of Clemson as underachievers. The author says the perception is that Clemson football always underachieves under Tommy Bowden. He pointed out facts to the contrary.

The article went back to look at where the Tigers were picked by the media in ACC pre-season media days. The article stated the following:

1999 Predicted Finish 6th-Actual Finish 2nd

2000 Predicted Finish 2nd-Actual Finish 2nd

2001 Predicted Finish 3rd-Actual Finish 4th

2002 Predicted Finish 5th-Actual Finish 5th

2003 Predicted Finish 5th -Actual Finish 3rd

2004 Predicted Finish 4th -Actual Finish 6th

Teams into two Divisions in 2005
2005 Predicted Finish in Division 4th -Actual Finish in Division 3rd

2006 Predicted Finish in Division 2nd -Actual Finish in Division 2nd

2007 Predicted Finish in Division 3rd -Actual Finish in Division 2nd

2008 Predicted Finish in Division 1st

Therefore, in nine seasons under Tommy Bowden, only twice has Clemson finished worse than the ACC media predicted they would in the pre-season.

On the national scene the story is about the same. The pre-season polls are a decent view of the national expectations. I found the following:

1999 Clemson was not ranked in the pre-season AP poll and did not finish in the final poll.

2000 Clemson was ranked 17th in the pre-season AP poll and finished 16th in the final AP poll.

2001 Clemson was ranked 18th in the pre-season AP poll but did not finish the season ranked.

2002 Clemson was not ranked in the pre-season AP poll and did not finish in the final poll.

2003 Clemson was not ranked in the pre-season AP poll but finished 22nd in the final AP poll.

2004 Clemson was ranked 15th in the pre-season AP poll but did not finish ranked in the final poll.

2005 Clemson was not ranked in the pre-season AP poll but finished 21st in the final AP poll.

2006 Clemson was ranked 18th in the pre-season AP poll but did not finish in the final poll.

2007 Clemson was not ranked in the pre-season AP poll but finished 21st in the final AP poll.

2008 The pre-season AP poll is not out yet but Clemson is ranked 9th in the pre-season USA Today poll.

Therefore, in Bowden’s nine years, Clemson has finished higher ranked than expected four times and lower ranked than three times.

I think this data tell us two things. First, the media has not expected a whole lot out of the Tigers over the last nine years but Clemson fans have had much higher expectations. Second, this is the first time Clemson has had any real high expectations from the media and the pollsters.

I think all fans think higher of their team than others do. We can tell you every player, every stat and every recruiting tidbit on all of our guys but have little clue about the competition. Because we get so into our team, we sometimes forget that others hand out scholarships too. We think our facilities are the best but other schools have millionaires giving as well. Other schools try too.

The other aspect the data tells us is that Clemson is in a completely different conversation this year. This is the first time Clemson has been picked to win the division or the conference under Bowden. The Tigers have not been ranked in the pre-season top ten since 1991.

In fact, Clemson has only been ranked in the pre-season top 10 of the AP poll six other times (1960-9th, 1984-4th, 1987-9th, 1988-4th, 1990-10th and 1991-8th). The Tigers have been ranked higher in the pre-season poll three other times (1984-4th, 1988-4th, 1991-8th).

The Tigers have finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll only six times (1950-10th, 1978-6th, 1981-1st, 1982-8th, 1988-8th, 1990-9th). Clemson has finished the season ranked in the final AP poll 24 times but only six times in the top 10 and the last time was 1990.

In summary, fans always expect more of their teams than others expect. We always seem to expect more from ourselves than others do. However, this year is a little different. This is the first year in a long time that those pre-season expectations have crossed over into the minds of the media and pollsters.

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