Sunday Thoughts--Masters Edition

Spring is officially here with Easter Sunday and Masters Golf. Wet weather heading into the tournament lengthened the course but likely provided some relief on some approach shots. Nevertheless, SubAir at premier golf courses allows golf course managers to assure putts are quick and fast-as expected at Augusta. I will say that the ability to catch tons and tons of coverage through the Masters website as well as extra channels through DirecTV is freaking awesome. I get to catch early coverage over the internet then tune into the "Masters Mix" and don't miss a thing. Technology is really making life better and I am eager to see how they improve on these great ideas.

Thursday saw Stenson get off to a fast start before stumbling down the stretch. Lee Westwood, former #1 looked good early as well. Tiger could not control his driver else he likely would have been pressing the leader early. Friday was fantastic as my main man Freddy Couples reeled off a round of five under. This placed him in the lead when he walked off the course and got Couples' crew all fired up. Phil's back 9 run put him squarely into position entering the final round. What a run he put together to finish round #3 (30 on the back with a birdie on 18 is flat out killing it). This should be another great Sunday at Augusta. I am still holding out hope Freddie can slaughter the course and take his second jacket.

Is it just me or are golfers looking more and more like jackasses every year? All the Euros rock skin tight gear and break the "white before Easter" clothing rules. Miguel Angel Jimenez looks more like Diamond Dallas Page than a country club member. Then some of the American players choose to take the appearance of complete assclowns. Hunter Mahan has that skateboarder/pornstar/I'm gonna wear this shit in spite of better judgment look going for him. While I won't call for the plaids and pastels of years past, I'll say to the players, "Tone it down a bit!"

I've got to apologize as I am clearly not paying enough attention to Clemson because I am just finding out that the Sweatshirt's fantasy camp was cancelled for the summer. Maybe I missed it because I could care less about such an event. Maybe I missed it because I wouldn't be willing to fork over the cash to attend in the first place. Still, I shouldn't have to rely on Cockfan to pass along such information and should have been taken shots at this item months ago. A quick sweep of the internet shows it was cancelled prior to the end of February. For those of you who are unaware, this camp (dubbed the "Uncle Rico Football Camp" by others around the web) is an opportunity for a bunch of geezers to put on the pads and run through some drills with members of the Clemson coaching staff. Got a couple grand you cannot find a use for? The Dabo Swinney Fantasy camp is your ticket. (more after the jump)

I am a little concerned. No, I really don't care about a bunch of Al Bundy's missing out on their chance to relive glory. I am disappointed that the Coach Dabo Foundation is losing out on a money generating opportunity. I am most disturbed that Coach Dabo and all the folks within the football program set the schedule and dictate when this program would occur. Somehow they are cancelling it because of scheduling issues. That is a head scratcher. Surely there are enough organizational skills at Clemson to schedule a three day camp. Either there are other reasons for the cancellation or Swinney et al need to invest in a calendar.

Clemson baseball suffered another mid-week setback against Western Carolina and need a slew of victories from here out. We have seen many slow starts end with our Tigers on fire heading into the postseason and we'll hope that this year's campaign can pick up some speed. Clemson hasn't really put it all together this season and I can (again) hope that this team is due for a good run. Clemson was able to take the first game from Duke in extra frames then drubbed the Blue Devils Saturday afternoon. A sweep would be timely for this squad.

Who out there thought that Seckinger wouldn't move to TE? We told you point blank that would happen prior to the 2011 season. In the article, Dr. B stated "Seckinger is the only one to take the RS, and we think he grows into another Brandon Ford someday...." Again, right on target. The Clemson coaching staff will surely spin this as a great asset and versatility gained by recruiting receivers then turning them into tight ends.

It was also announced that Stephone Anthony will miss the remainder of Spring practice with a finger injury. This leaves the Clemson linebacking corps with a lot of questions, particularly when you account for other injuries on the team. While I do not think that this injury wil become a recurring item during the season, you want to assure that you r young guys are available and take lots away from the Spring learning sessions.

There has been a lot of buzz about the use of the Pistol formation in '12. Per a Jeff Scott tweet, the offensive staff flew out to Nevada to learn more about the formation. Honestly I am a little surprised we haven't seen more use of this formation. Clemson used it several years ago in the Music City Bowl and we featured the formation here at STS in anticipation of its continued use. If you want a Pistol refresher, we wrote an article on evolution and theory then went further to describe some basic running plays from the position. The position has advantages over the traditional direct snap most associate with the "shotgun" formation. We'll be sure to discuss these items and reasons to use the Pistol in the future. Because Chad Morris' philosophy centers on A-gap to A-gap rushing, more focus should be spent on the inside zone plays for the deep back.