mogrits on 
AParker on 
Willy Mac on On the one hand, our golf team came back from a 13 stroke deficit to win the United States Heavyweight Championship Belt Collegiate. I know absolutely nothing about golf except for the fact that we won the national championship in it in 2003 and some kid from my high school played on the team for a bit.
On the other hand, our baseball team blew yet another ninth inning lead and lost to the Gamecocks in Columbia last night. That makes about six or seven this year. Again, I don’t know why I switch the dial to WCCP sometimes, but I do. And I did this morning and there’s all sorts of callers and people that are blaming this one and the “doomed season” on Jack Leggett. I can’t believe that they actually let idiots (both hosts and callers) on the air.
First and foremost, this is by no means a bad season given the young roster we have. Collegiate baseball is a far different game than that of the major leagues where homeruns and big hitters pull a team through every game. It’s also a place where there are “Kenny-Powers-at-the-top-of-his-game”-esque pitchers striking dudes out every single at bat. College baseball is a more strategic game in which the scores are going to be high and the games will be won with small ball and smart base running.
Our only problems right now are inexperience, youth, and the lack of a closer that we thought we could trust in Matt Vaughn. Maybe we still can, but he hasn’t looked that great and nobody is really emerging. You have to remember that we lost some damn good recruiters who stepped up to better positions at other schools. We also got our talent base wiped out around the same time, so we’ve been in rebuilding mode. I’m sick and tired of people blaming coaches that don’t deserve the heat (Tommy deserved it, Jack doesn’t). Jack Leggett is one of the better baseball minds in the country in terms of college coaches right now. I’m not trying to make excuses, but getting back to where we were is going to take a year or two and a few things to go our way.
I don’t know where I was going with that, but leave Jack alone DAMMIT!!! IT’S STILL REAL TO ME!!! We’ve got USC at home tonight starting at 7pm.
1Chris Simp
on Apr 8, 2009 at 9:34 am:
I agree, the team is young and we can’t close to save our lives…But I’m sorry I can’t sit back and be happy about it. We should have won last night, and last wed. against UGA and at FSU AND! at UNC. You can sight youth and inexperience till the cows come home, but in the end it comes down to coaching making the adjustments and getting the players in the right mind set to win when they’re ahead…I love Jack Leggett, and I hope things turn around down the stretch and we get hot, but he’s got to start getting these kids fundamentally sound and teach them how to swing the damn bats and pitch…
2tilla
on Apr 8, 2009 at 9:39 am:
naive question but could they move a SP to close a la john smoltz? since this 9th inning thing has happened a few times this year?
3Willy Mac
on Apr 8, 2009 at 10:30 am:
@1 – Our pitching is great save for the closing. That’s the kind of attitude that gets us into trouble with other sports. Just relax and let things unfold.
@2 – I don’t think we can afford to lose a SP at this point.
4Charlie
on Apr 8, 2009 at 10:48 am:
I think he should try Cruz or Deese at closer, this is like watching the old Braves again.
5Chris Simp
on Apr 8, 2009 at 10:49 am:
@3 Oh I agree, the starting pitching isn’t too bad, I meant the closing pitching…It’s awful.
6Coby DuBose
on Apr 8, 2009 at 1:08 pm:
I disagree with basically everything you’ve written here. Except for the part about golf.
Clemson’s problem isn’t inexperience. It’s lack of talent and a manager that steals runs from the offense with poor philosophy.
7PenthouseTiger
on Apr 8, 2009 at 1:31 pm:
I always felt that leggett’s biggest strength was his staff, and most of that staff has left for greener pastures over the last 3-5 years. My little brother has been to his baseball camp once or twice and has told me that Leggett seems more like a CEO than a coach. This may be completely different from the way he runs his team, but for some reason I think it’s exactly how he runs things.
8Willy Mac
on Apr 8, 2009 at 1:42 pm:
@6 – You couldn’t be more wrong. Not to sound like an arrogant ass, but we have an extremely talented team with little experience. Most of our great players are Freshman/Sophomores. And if you think Leggett is a poor manager with bad philosophy, then you really don’t know much about the psychology of baseball and how it’s played on a collegiate level.
@7 – I went to Leggett’s camp nearly every year I was able to growing up. Leggett is a very hands on, great coach. He’s exactly what you need in a coach. You could definitely go to him with your problems and he’d pal around with you, but you were fucking scared of him and he was always your coach first. As bad as we miss Sully, the guy was a liability and a psycho. I could tell you some wtf stories about that guy.
9Coby DuBose
on Apr 8, 2009 at 4:36 pm:
@6 – http://goclemsontigers.blogspot.com
I make a pretty strong case. If you think I don’t know baseball, then you don’t know who I am.
10Bird
on Apr 8, 2009 at 5:18 pm:
@ Willy Mac – Can I just have a strong dispassion for Leggett? He’s probably in my top 10 most disliked sports personalities alongside Marques Hagans, Julius Hodge, Chuck Amato, and J.J. Redick.
11Willy Mac
on Apr 8, 2009 at 7:15 pm:
Coby, don’t take this the wrong way but you don’t know leggett and everything he’s done. He’s no Bowden. He has done nothing to warrant that stuff. He’s a proven winner and has never done us wrong. Sometimes a program hits a rough patch and you have to see the bigger picture. Yeah it’s frustrating, but firing someone here will only put us back. Firing someone isn’t always the best answer.
12Chris Simp
on Apr 8, 2009 at 10:37 pm:
Awesome game tonight…Looks like Jack got em to calm down and play baseball finally!
13PenthouseTiger
on Apr 9, 2009 at 12:44 am:
The pride of Emerald High School, Brandon Miller (the relief pitcher for sakerlina who walked in 2 runs) absolutely made my night. Hated him watching him play against my friends in high school and now i have a reason to like the guy.
14Chris Simp
on Apr 9, 2009 at 6:55 am:
Dude, how bout that fat kid that started for them…Looked like the USC version of David Wells!
15jdmtiger
on Apr 9, 2009 at 9:38 am:
How about the atmosphere? The stadium seemed more pumped than I’ve seen it in a while!!!!