The Confidential

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Archive for the category “Something Positive”

06 Jan 2014
2 Comments

Highlights of the 2014 BCS Discover Orange Bowl

 

1.       Winning the 2014 BCS Orange Bowl—Awwwww yeah! It literally came down to the last minute when Ohio State was down 40-35 with the ball at the 50 yard line. Braxton Miller threw a beautiful interception, caught by Clemson’s own Stephone Anthony. This sealed the deal for the Tigers and bonus points: Urban Meyer didn’t react by punching Anthony in the throat.

2.       Tajh Boyd—In his final game as a Clemson Tiger, Tajh went out with a bang. As Dabo Swinney said, “He put an exclamation point on his legacy.” Tajh finished the game with five touchdowns and 505 all-purpose yards, 78 more yards than the Ohio State Buckeyes. We’re really going to miss his leadership and I can’t wait to see him play on Sunday’s.

3.       Dabo Swinney—You could probably make a highlight reel of just Dabo after the game, he was animated to say the least. Personally, his best moment was this magnificent sound bite, “we are the first team from the state of South Carolina to ever win a BCS game”. Ah yes, not only did we get the sweet victory but getting to rub it in Steve Spurrier’s face doesn’t hurt either. For whatever reason, if any Gamecocks are reading this, I say, suck it up. Spurrier is no angel in this fight. You’re mad because Dabo’s comment was the truth and it was said on a bigger national stage. You know, seeing as it was the stage of a BCS Bowl. BOOM, roasted.*

4. Sammy Watkins—Saving the best for last. Sammy set an Orange Bowl record with 16 receptions and a Clemson and Orange Bowl record with 227 receiving yards. He was unbelievable. With an average of 14.2 yards per catch, he was Tajh Boyd’s go to receiver and his talent is going to be greatly missed. As a true junior, Sammy has declared for the NFL Draft. While we’ll miss his lightning speed and magnetic hands, he’ll represent Clemson well in the NFL next season.

Honorable Mentions:

  • The Clemson Defense—While the score might reflect a shootout, it was truly entertaining watching the Tigers contain Ohio State QB, Braxton Miller, to a mere 35 yards rushing. They completely shut him down on the ground. With 18 carries, he rushed an average 1.9 yards per carry, his lowest of the season.
  • Santa Claus—if you read my last article, the only thing on my Christmas list was a Clemson win. Ole’ Saint Nick pulled through. Thanks big guy.
  • The Referee’s—One song comes to mind when trying to describe the officiating from Friday night, “these boys can’t hold us back, these boys can’t hold us back, we too deep (ay, ay)”. The anthem of a generation Clemson Football. Good try ref’s, you’ll need some more flags to stop this excessive celebration.

Check out the video here:

 

 

*Let the record show I have a much deeper opinion on this matter but for lack of reader attention span will not disclose it here.

Posted by marystewartb in ACC Network, Bowls, Clemson correspondent, Conference News, Correspondents, ESPN, Football, Game Review, Opinion, Orange Bowl, Results, Sarcasm, Something Positive and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
23 Dec 2013
3 Comments

A Letter To Santa

Dear Santa,

As much as it pains me to say, please disregard my previous letter asking for $1,000,000 and Luke Kuechly to be my boyfriend; instead I’d like to make a more selfless request.

This Christmas, I’d like it if you and your elves could conjure up a Clemson win this post season. It would really mean a lot to me, my family, and the rest of the Clemson faithful. I’m sure you’ve gotten plenty of letters from Buckeye fans, Gamecock fans, and Jesse Palmer, asking for a Clemson loss, but I really hope you’ll consider my request. Here are some cold hard facts as to why you should give me what I want grant my wish:

1. I’ve been good this year—I graduated and became a proud Clemson alumni, joined IPTAY to show my support for Clemson athletes, and I continue to pay my student loans on time (Joy to the World!)

2. It’s Tajh Boyd’s last game—Tajh has been a true blessing to the Clemson program and I’d really hate to see him go out on a sour note. Breaking all kinds of ACC and school records, he will go down as one of, if not the best quarterback in Clemson history. This win could be the cherry on top to an already outstanding career.

3. You look really good in Orange—Look! Seriously, you’re killin’ it.

Clemson Santa

4.  Last time Clemson played Ohio State we didn’t punch anyone—this is a no brainer. Last time we played the Buckeyes it was 1978. Their coach literally grabbed Clemson middle linebacker, Charlie Bauman, and punched him through the facemask after he caught an interception. Shouldn’t they be punished? 36 years later. Sure the coach was fired, but I still feel like the whole team hasn’t fully felt those repercussions.

5.  Finally, Clemson doesn’t just need this win, the entire ACC needs it—please consider this selfless request not only on the behalf of my Clemson Tigers, but on the rest of the ACC as well. Try as we might to become a strong football conference, it just hasn’t happened yet. With a Clemson win, you’d be showing the nation that the ACC can produce teams that win…even without that SEC speed.

Merry Christmas and I’ll be looking for you on Santa tracker.

Sincerely,

Mary Stewart Bailey

P.S. If you’re feeling extra jolly, I won’t turn away a million dollar stocking stuffer.

Posted by marystewartb in ACC Network, ACC only, Bowls, Clemson correspondent, Correspondents, ESPN, Football, Non-Serious, Opinion, Orange Bowl, Sarcasm, Satire, Something Positive and tagged , , , , , ,
12 Dec 2013
2 Comments

ORANGE You Glad We’re Not Playing Alabama

As this college football season comes to a close, so does the Bowl Championship Series (thank goodness, bring on the playoffs). In the final season of BCS bowl games, the Clemson Tigers will make the trek down to Miami to play in the Discover Orange Bowl, their second trip in three years.  The Tigers are looking to prove the naysayer’s wrong with a win against the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 3, 2014. The theme of this year’s Orange Bowl is one of redemption.

Read more…

Posted by marystewartb in ACC Network, ACC only, Bowls, Clemson correspondent, Correspondents, Football, Opinion, Orange Bowl, Predictions, Something Positive and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
27 Nov 2013
4 Comments

Clemson Fans, Be Thankful

Thanksgiving is almost here and most people are busy thinking about the massive amounts of turkey they will be eating come Thursday. Clemson fans on the other hand, have one thing on the mind. Chicken. Garnet and Black chicken. Every year with Thanksgiving comes the Clemson Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks* rivalry game, and every year, we are thankful.

Read more…

Posted by marystewartb in ACC Network, ACC only, Clemson correspondent, Football, Something Positive and tagged , , , , , , ,
08 Oct 2013
6 Comments

Card Nation Address

Hello my fellow Louisville and college sports fans. The state of Card Nation can be described in one word, hopeful. Besides scoring enough style points this Cardinal football team has done all that they can do. They are 5-0 and currently ranked 8th in the country. All of this is pretty incredible considering that just four years ago they were struggling just to make a bowl game. It’s been a rapid climb back to the top, thanks to coach Strong. Cards fans came into this season with a shot at the national championship dancing in their heads, so where do they stand after week six?

 

We knew the Cards were along shot for a title shot and that their destiny wasn’t solely in their own hands. That they would need help from their scheduled teams, from their conference and that they would need teams ahead of them to lose. So far none of this has happened. The American Conference (AAC) has been worse than expected, who knew that was possible. The two best teams the Cards have played are Kentucky and Ohio. It’s understandable to wonder what if Ohio State had balls and chose to play the Cards instead of San Diego St? Or what if ESPN could have swooped Virginia Tech for the Cards in the opener against Alabama? What if the Big East didn’t fall apart and West Virginia and TCU was still on the schedule? There’s a lot of ifs and buts about the schedule but it is what it is.

So why do I describe Card Nation as hopeful? There are some positives to look forward to.  Besides joining the ACC next season and having teams such as Florida St, Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame on the schedule and opening the 2015 season against Auburn, there are some positives for this season as well. The Cards have the best conference teams ahead of them yet so the schedule will get more difficult, starting this Thursday night against Rutgers (4-1 1-0) at home. On 10-18 Central Florida (4-1 1-0) visits Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. On 11-16 Houston (4-0 1-0) comes to town before the Cards finish the season at Cincinnati (3-2 0-1).

A shot at the national championship may be out of their reach but a second straight BCS Bowl bid, third overall, is well within their grasp. Current projections include Florida State in the Orange, Baylor in the Fiesta and South Carolina in the Sugar. One can’t discount the Rose just yet either. Since the Cards defeated Alabama in the Fiesta back in the 90’s, pre BCS era, the Rose remains the only BCS caliber bowl that they haven’t won.

If the Cards can’t play for the championship then we still have a couple of ACC teams to pull for. The current BCS projections has two ACC teams ranked in the top six. Alabama has a solid lock on the top spot but what happens when/if they lose? Here are the BCS projected top ten according to BCSGuru.com.

1 Alabama 0.9980, 2 Oregon 0.9107, 3 Clemson 0.8750, 4 Stanford 0.8661, 5 Ohio State 0.7804, 6 Florida St 0.7704, 7 Georgia 0.7671, 8 Oklahoma 0.6502, 9 Louisville 0.6191, 10 LSU 0.6111

The actual BCS rankings will be released after week 7.

Here are the current AAC standings

1 Louisville 5-0 1-0

2 Houston 4-0 1-0

3 Rutgers 4-1 1-0 (beat Arkansas)

4 Central Fla 4-1 1-0 (beat Penn St, lost to South Carolina)

5 USF 1-4 1-0

6 UConn 0-4 0-0

7 Cincinnati 3-2 0-1

8 Memphis 1-3 0-1

9 SMU 1-4 0-1 (Louisville does not play this year, 8 game schedule)

10 Temple 0-5 0-2

Posted by lenvillecards in Football, Louisville Correspondent, News, Opinion, Orange Bowl, Schedule, Something Positive, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , ,
19 Sep 2013
1 Comment

ACC BCS Championship Odds

What are the odds of an ACC team winning the BCS national championship this year? How has the odds changed since the preseason? The Vegas odds makers are still favoring an Alabama and Oregon final with Ohio State in third but what do they have to say about the ACC?

Coming into the season Louisville actually had the best odds of any ACC team at 16-1 which had them tied at 4th nationally. Although they have moved up in the polls from 9th to 6th their odds have dropped to 25-1 which puts them tied for 11th nationally and 4th in the ACC.

Clemson began the season with 20-1 odds for 9th nationally. Their odds have improved to 15-1 which keeps them 9th nationally and 2nd in the ACC.

Florida State shared the same preseason odds with Clemson but have improved their odds to 12-1. They now share the same odds with Stanford and LSU who are tied at 4th nationally.

Notre Dame has fallen from 50-1 to 250-1 after their loss. Miami has gone the other way, improving their odds from 33-1 to 18-1. They began 14th nationally but now find themselves in the top 10 and third best in the ACC.

By the current odds the ACC and the Pac each have three teams in the top ten nationally. The SEC and the B1G each have two with the Big 12 trailing with just one. True we are only three weeks into the season but the odds show that the ACC is holding their own against the other power conferences. The big boys in the ACC have come to play this year and has the ACC among the top three conferences.

Here are the top ten odds according to Vegas Insider for this week.

1 Alabama 2-1
2 Oregon 9-2
3 Ohio Sate 11-2
4 Stanford 12-1
4 Florida St 12-1
4  LSU 12-1
7 Michigan 15-1
7 Oklahoma St 15-1
7 Clemson 15-1
10 Miami 18-1

Other ACC notabes;
Louisville 25-1 (tied at 11th nationally.)
Notre Dame 250-1
Georgia Tech 300-1
Virginia Tech 1000-1
North Carolina 5000-1

This isn’t intended for gambling purposes but to measure the ACC chances of winning a national championship compared to the rest of the country.

Posted by lenvillecards in ACC only, Football, Louisville Correspondent, Opinion, Something Positive
29 Aug 2013
1 Comment

Clemson and FSU will set Reputation of ACC for 2013

I can hear the comments now from the four letter network’s talking heads: “The ACC loses more BCS conference match ups….”  The presumption is that the ACC is a weak football conference if they lose lopsided match ups like unranked Virginia Tech vs. #1 Alabama.  I’m not convinced.  Conferences should not be judged by the performance of middle or bottom tier teams.  Would an Illinois victory over Kentucky indicate that the Big 10 is a better conference than the SEC?  No way.

The biggest game this weekend for the ACC is Clemson vs. Georgia.  As a matter of fact, it is the only game that really matters on the national front.

A Clemson victory would likely catapult them into the Top 5, put them in the national title conversation, and set up a nationally relevant game against Florida State on October 18th.  Florida State, the other ranked ACC team, has it’s own responsibility for carrying the ACC flag.  The Noles need to win their games against inferior competition and continue their presence near the Top 10 for a majority of the season.

How many years has it been since an ACC football team has been in the national title conversation in November?  It’s up to you Clemson and Florida State to buck the trend.

Non-Conference Schedule

How many non-conference ranked opponents will be played by conferences this year?

ACC:  11

Big 12: 2

Big 10: 4

Pac 12:  8

SEC:  who cares

Winston Debut

As Florida State finishes up preparations for the Pittsburgh Panthers, most fans are eagerly anticipating the debut of freshman QB Jameis Winston.  Winston has generated a significant amount of hype since his MVP winning Elite 11 camp in 2011.  The hype reached epic proportions after Winston’s spring game performance highlighted by a 58 yd strike against All-ACC conference corner Lamarcus Joyner.

Posted by wtnoleacc in ACC Network, ACC only, Bowls, Clemson correspondent, Conference News, ESPN, Football, FSU Correspondent, Game Review, News, Opinion, Predictions, Rankings, Recruiting, Schedule, Something Positive, This Day in ACC, Today in the ACC, Uncategorized, Weekend Preview, Weekly Updates
01 Jul 2013
2 Comments

Report CARD: Recruiting

Louisville Cardinals athletic logo

Louisville Cardinals athletic logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

July 1st brings in a new era for the ACC as Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame officially join the conference. It also is the dawning of a new conference, the American Athletic Conference. I hope Commissioner Aresco pardons Louisville fans for not greeting this day with applause and cheers. What we will relish is one final year with two old rivals in Cincinnati and Memphis.

Last week I took a look into the Louisville Cardinals future, their 2014 football recruiting class. Over the course of last week it has changed as the Cards received seven commitments in five days, it was truly a busy week. The week started with the news that Detrick Dukes switched his commitment to his home state Georgia Bulldogs but this bad news was short lived as the new commitments began to trickle in. Read more…

Posted by lenvillecards in ACC only, Basketball, Draft, Football, Louisville Correspondent, News, Recruiting, Something Positive, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , ,
28 Jun 2013
1 Comment

ACC in the NBA: 2013 Draft Recap

The 2013 NBA draft is complete.  There were some surprises.  There were some disappointments.  But what is done is done.  Representatives of the various ACC schools did quite well in the draft.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Draft, News, Results, Something Positive and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
25 Jun 2013
3 Comments

NCAA… Getting it Right?

The NCAA will be implementing new rules for college basketball.  While the sporting world awaits refbots, the rule changes will help the games and the officals.  The womens’ game will now be featuring a 10-second backcourt rule, which is fairly self-explanatory.  But there will be several changes to the mens’ game.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Results, Something Positive and tagged , ,

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