Posted by Willy Mac

Our old buddy Laslo who was stationed in Iraq as of late sent us a picture and a nice thank you card for the gift package that some of you guys help me put together for him and his friends. That’s him in front of a MIG 25 that was shot down a while back. He also linked us to this article from Gump For Heisman.

Posted by Willy Mac

So I thought I did my homework on the Barker Top Twenty situation.  I mean, I did do it.  But I’ll admit that I made a huge, huge error in my research.  For that, I apologize to all of you for not presenting the full story and all the facts surrounding this situation.  I still firmly stand behind the points that I made, but now I feel kind of jaded because I now know things about the match that started the fire.

A Block-C reader, who is choosing to remain anonymous, did a little research for us and enlightened me to the past and the possible current status of Catherine E. Watt, the person responsible for initially creating the Clemson Top Twenty controversy a week or so ago.

First, he pointed out one very key point that could have contributed to her yapper flapping about and bad mouthing us in the first place:  She got her BA and MA degrees from none other than the University of South Carolina.  Also if you’ll notice on that page, it says that she is expected to get her Doctorate of Philosophy in higher education from the University of Maryland in College park.  Anonymous mentions that it’s a common practice for folks like this to get hired, then not even complete their dissertation.  I think that it would be pretty important for someone who is in charge improving our school to actually have a doctorate. Anonymous dropped a second link on me that shows her as actually being credited as having the PhD. I pointed out that the first page hadn’t been updated since 2007 so it’s entirely possible that she got it and the website was just never updated.

A few emails later and I was informed that a quick check on Dissertation Abstracts Online showed that nothing from Catherine Watt pops up.  Anonymous then made a brilliant reference to George O’Leary and his resume fudging debacle via Notre Dame that nearly made me fall out of my chair.

From this I deduced three things:

1. I need to start doing a research on ALL parties involved.  Noted.
2. What’s the final verdict on exactly what the hell Catherine Watt is?  Is she a PhD?  Why is she sometimes listed as a professor in her articles, but she works in Strom?  Is she qualified to be leading the Top Twenty charge? Something is definitely suspect.
3. One verdict is for certain: She’s a Gamecock, through and through. Call me a homer, but I don’t think someone with two degrees from a rival school should be heading up a group of people put in charge of finding ways to better our school.  Let’s just say I wouldn’t be too disappointed if she were to be let go.

Posted by Block-C Staff

Clemson keeps on rolling gets back on track, sqwarshes the Terps 93-64

Maryland (16-8, 5-5) @ #13 Clemson (20-4, 6-4), 7:30 PM. ESPN2 HD. XM 190. WCCP FM Live feed.

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The Line: Clemson -11

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The More You Know: In the opinion of their fans, Maryland has fallen flat on it’s face this year compared to years past. This being said, the Terps are still a scary team that has beaten some quality opponents in the form of Miami and Virginia Tech recently.  Maryland’s problem this season is that they ride their starters and cannot come off the bench very well.  That’s a problem that plays well into our scheme of a full court press and wearing teams down. They do rebound well which is something we’ve struggled with but their free throw percentage has been somewhat spotty.

E-mail sent out to the collegiate club (thanks PenthouseTiger):

As many of you have already heard, tonight Clemson will play host to Maryland at 7:30pm! Clemson has been ranked one of the top 15 toughest places to play in the country, but that’s not good enough for us! We know we’re number 1, and it’s time for the student sections and all Clemson fans to prove it! Tonight, EA Sports will be at Littlejohn Coliseum “to experience [Clemson's] home environment on game day in order to capture and replicate the experience in game.” It is crucial that everyone comes ready to cheer for an entire basketball game!

It is also important that everyone visit http://www.easports.com/ncaabasketball/toughvenues.action and vote for Clemson as the toughest place to play in College Basketball!

Please make an extra effort to come out to Littlejohn tonight to support our Tigers as they play host to the Terrapins of the University of Maryland! We want Littlejohn packed out in SOLID ORANGE and louder than it has ever been! I know I can count on all of you!

Ticket distribution will begin at 6:30pm, followed by tip-off at 7:30pm!

CU there tonight in SOLID ORANGE!

Posted by Willy Mac

2009 Schedule | CUAD Media Guide | Radio Schedule | CUAD Preview

Last year, the baseball team was quite possibly the most upsetting team when looking at the Athletic Department as a whole. I can say this because I do follow the sport rather closely and it is the one and only sport where, year in and year out, we should expect great things. We really do have a national legacy and a winning tradition in baseball that stretches way, waaay back to the good ol’ days and even before to an extent.  Hell, the aspect of Clemson baseball and everyone involved can best be described as a family.  It’s the story you year all the time about die hard baseball teams and their fans.  You see the same folks in the same seats every year.  Everyone goes to the yearly season kick off barbecue.  Everybody recognizes everyone else.  The past and present players don’t forget either.  It truly is a cornerstone for the “Clemson Family” or “One Clemson” idea.

There are a few major stories for this year’s season.  An interesting story will be replacing the large role of not only catcher, but team leader that was vacated by graduating senior Doug Hogan from last years squad. In terms of catching, we have a capable upstate product in the form of John Nester. Nester is still very young, but proved to be a capable understudy to Hogan.  In the leadership area, we can look to preseason All-American (albeit third team) Ben Paulsen, rising sophomore and two sport star Kyle Parker, and veteran pitchers Ryan Hinson and Graham Stoneburner (which is an awesome baseball name, btw.)  Lastly, Stan Widmann should be looked to to fill a leadership position on this team, after having come back from incredible odds and neck injuries.

Another big story that will unfold will be how our great new signing class of incoming freshman will mesh with a young but experienced team.  Last year, we were inexperienced and fresh meat.  Our record, which was just barely over .500, paired with a record 11 game losing streak can be pointed to as evidence to that fact that we didn’t have a full enough cupboard to compete with our schedule last year.  Apparently, our bullpen is as scary as ever but that’s yet to be seen as pitching coach Kyle Bunn has done very little to convince folks otherwise since he came to Clemson from Ole Miss after recruiting/pitching coach Kevin Sullivan left for Florida.

All in all, look for a much improved baseball team that will definitely struggle against a daunting schedule.  The competition in the ACC this year won’t lend any help to us or give any games away.  Every game will be a battle.  Our guys will improve on last years mark, but not enough to warrant even ACC title talk. Again, hopefully the midweek and out of conference games can help put some chalk marks in the win column for us and give us some needed confidence and experience.

A few quick notes for the upcoming season:
- The bushes in left field have been demolished to make room for new bleachers and seating.  Hope you enjoyed the scaffolds while you had the chance, because I don’t think there will be much toleration for it this year.

- Former Tiger hitting monster Michael Johnson (2000-2003) has returned as the Tigers’ new Volunteer Coach.

- Clemson has been ranked #25 in the Sports Weekly Preseason Baseball Poll and #19 in the Baseball America Preseason Poll.

And now, and email from Coach Jack Leggett (thanks AParker):

Dear Clemson Students,

I hope all is well with you and that your semester has started out great so far. This is the most exciting time of year for me and our team. Your Baseball team is ready to open the season this Friday at 4:00 pm against UNC-Charlotte. We also play on Saturday at 2:00 pm and Sunday at 1:00 pm to complete the three game series. We expect to fill up our Doug Kingsmore Stadium and need you there to create the best home field advantage in all of college baseball. We have a very storied and strong tradition here in baseball and it is taken to another level when our students and fans support our team. Please pull up our schedule on the web site and put our spring schedule in your calendar!

We have high hopes for this season as we strive to get to the College World Series and we need your support along the way! Our returning nucleus and our new freshmen are ready to show you how hard they have worked and will hustle for your every day. See you Friday the 20th at 4:00 pm for the start of a great season!

Thanks in advance for your enthusiasm and GO TIGERS!

Jack Leggett
Head Baseball Coach

Posted by Chili

You have pleased Oliver Purnell.

Clemson Students,

I want to thank you for your incredible support last night! I
don’t think I’ve ever seen that many students in Littlejohn before. What
a tremendous atmosphere and there is no doubt that our home court
advantage was a major factor in our victory!

I look forward to seeing you back in Littlejohn on Saturday,
January 10th as we play NC State at noon.

Thank you again for your great support and Go Tigers!!!

Oliver Purnell
Head Basketball Coach