Mid January Sunday Thoughts

Greetings to all. I hope everyone had a nice New Year and you're finding a way to get back into the grind. We catch some crap here from folks saying we're anti this person or wanting person ___ to fail. I just wanted all to know that we don't really care enough to hold a personal vendetta against any person. In fact we aren't anti- anyone...we are pro-Clemson. Period. All this being said, we will look back on the 2012 football season in many ways over the next few weeks. We'll be fair and honest...that is certain. I will also give you one of my favorite Double A clips then run my mouth:

I field a lot of questions of this nature: "Do you wish Bowden was still the head coach at Clemson?" The answer is a resounding "Hell NO!" While we may criticize Coach Dabo, he is a much, much better coach than Tom. First off, Tom brought Jack Hines to Clemson. That guy is the absolute worst coach in America. I wouldn't let him coach middle school kids and, unfortunately, that is how our DBs played under him. That is piss poor, unacceptable and Bowden should have never hired his ass...then should have fired his brother in law on day one of practice. More on Tom. Watch one of Tom's football games...the guy looks like he has a stomach virus the whole time. He has no confidence whatsoever and his players play with such. He couldn't make a call he is happy with to save his damn life. His decision to pull Reggie in the Scar game still pisses me off. Maybe that stupidity is why he always had that stupid ass look on his face on the Clemson sidelines. Say what you want about Coach Dabo...that mother fucker is balls out. Sometimes I don't agree with his decisions but at least he can make a decision without a constipated look on his face.

On that note, I've had a little time to reflect on the season that was and will give a small sample of my opinion this morning. Clemson won 11 football games and failed to crap their pants against an obviously overmatched foe. As we stated following the NCST game, there is a lot to be said for beating the people you are supposed to beat. I will add, though, that the ACC competition was much weaker than expected coming into the season sans Duke. VPI and their overrated tight end quarterback is the poster boy for this shortcoming. Clemson's loss to Scar was unacceptable and the failure to finish off FSU was indeed disappointing. Our defense did show improvement over the season but was, for the most part, crap. I don't think we are where we should be up front on offense either, but we'll save the specifics for position review.

There were some schematic and overall strategy issues we had with The Chad, but overall the offense was a train that, for the majority of the season, chugged on and on. I did underestimate Tajh Boyd. He played a lot better this season than I thought he could-really showing out against LSU. We've been pimping DeAndre Hopkins here for years. What we like about Nuk (in addition to all the really big plays that guy makes) is just watching him play. He busts his ass every single play. He busts his ass when you are throwing to him. He busts his ass when you are not throwing to him. He busts his ass when you are running the ball. Watching Nuk's effort and success perimeter blocking is what I enjoy watching. Clemson will miss him in '13 but I believe he made the correct decision for himself and we wish him all the best.

Overall, the season has to be classified as a success. Your favorite authors are not satisfied until there is a crystal ball in the trophy case, but I'll admit this team was better than I thought it would be. We expect much more out of the '13 team and will put our expectations out there soon. **Spoiler Alert** we will demand a victory in Columbia.

Onto the subject of Nuk Hopkins...many here have crowned him the greatest of all time at Clemson. He may very well deserve that honor and I have no problems with those claims. I personally cannot say one way or another. He is certainly the best receiver on Clemson's '12 roster (arguably the best group of receivers in the university's history) and, after just one real football offseason, became Clemson royalty and will make himself a boatload of cash. That man is a flat out animal-you cannot watch him play and not say, "That is one hell of a damn football player and will do whatever it takes to win." How does he compare to the guys I've watched-Hooper, Cooper, Roulhac, Smith, Gardner-probably the best. Was he better than a Jerry Butler? Can't say that because they played in different times and my perspective of their play is different. I wasn't even alive to see Clark/Butler at Clemson and way too young to remember Perry Tuttle. That is like asking me who was better: Banks McFadden or C.J. Spiller. Both were incredible in their time at Clemson but I definitely don't recall McFadden's playing days. Is Tajh better than Steve Fuller? Numbers say yes but I honestly don't know. If you asked my grandmother who the best was at Clemson, you very well could hear the name Bennie Cunningham. If you ask cockfan, Clowney is the best ever at the school. Is he really better than George Rogers? Tough comparison and a large portion of each person's position is the point of view. What all of this does, though, is create a great topic for debate as we move through the offseason. I'll encourage everyone to pick your player then tell us why you think he's the best ever. We have a "Fan Post" section here on the site and encourage you to use this section to put together well structured arguments for your favorite player. This could be a lot of fun and bring good discussion fodder amongst ourselves.

As for Coach Dabo and his latest and greatest. Congratulations on a nice season. Eleven wins is a big deal (though losing to Scar four years in a row is also a big deal). Double digit wins is nothing to scoff and we've (STS) set that as the achievable standard we expect. Props to this team for getting there. Coach Dabo this past week put this team in the same boat as the undefeated '48 team, the '78 team, and the '81 team. I have seen little from the '48 team (other than when Clemson commemorated their achievement 40 and then 50 years after the season) but have seen some of the games from '78 and '81. The couple games I've watched there, those teams looked tougher than our '12 team. I am not knocking the Dabster here. I understand his job is part teacher part car salesman part manager. Hell, if I were in his shoes I'd say the same thing. The fact is, we are a lot of hard work away from winning a National Championship. I agree that the '13 team, with some breaks going their way, could press for one but still think that we have defensive issues that must be corrected for Clemson to push towards the success of the '78 and '81 teams. Also, this team played 13 games. I'll bet that there were a couple teams in the ‘80's that, given a 13 game schedule, would have gotten 11 wins. That isn't meant to take anything away from our 11 wins but I assure you that those Danny Ford teams would have won 11 given our schedule in '12.

PGA Tour kicked off last weekend. I tried to watch the tourney in Hawaii, but the weather just did not cooperate with the guys. I also watched the Bronco's game yesterday. That game was just stupid. It was obvious that Denver was the better team but stupidity allowed the Ravens to move forward. Props to Ray Lewis and his Baltimore crew for the win...now it is time to Rise Up!