Login | RSS | Contact Us

HomeTigers XtraColumns

Add Clemson's season to the list of Halloween horror classics

There are lots of ways to celebrate the season leading up to All Hallow’s Eve.

One is to take in a horror movie marathon, starting with Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and ending with John Carpenter’s “Halloween.”

Of course, if you’re a Clemson football fan you’ve got the spooky movies all lined up. Just pop in CDs of the games against Alabama, Maryland and Wake Forest and you have a regular fright fest.

Instead of being terrified by a masked man wielding a chainsaw, however, it’s a guy in a headset calling bubble screens that induces screams.

At 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Tigers’ season is now officially a nightmare.

An ACC Championship Game berth — much less an ACC Championship — is pretty much out of the question.

It’s still possible, just as it’s still possible People Magazine will name me the “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2008, but I don’t think I was even nominated.

No fan, regardless of how faithful, harbors any illusions of a BCS bowl or a memorable season.

I take that back. It very well could be a memorable season, but for all the wrong reasons.

Say what you will about injuries, and they have been and are numerous, but a team with this much talent shouldn’t be struggling this badly. And the scary part is that things can get worse

Clemson has six regular season games remaining and the Tigers could lose every one of them.

I’m not suggesting they will — just saying they could.

Back in the glory days of the preseason when the Tigers were ranked No. 9 and were the odds-on favorite to claim the ACC title, it would’ve been unthinkable to look at matchups against Duke or Virginia as potential losses.

Think again.

Throw in Georgia Tech, Boston College, Florida State and South Carolina, and it’s feasible one of the most talent-heavy squads in school history could wind up 5-7, 4-8, even 3-9.

Home for the holidays is a pleasant notion unless you’re a big-time college football team.

Maybe I’m completely wrong. Maybe Willy Korn will be the cog that turns Clemson into a well-oiled machine the rest of the way.

If not, fans will continue to hope there’s a coach out there somewhere who can wipe the slate clean and push the reset button in 2009.

But alas, it’s only a game. Life goes on and Halloween is fast approaching.

So if you want to squeal in horror, turn off the lights and soak in the Alabama, Maryland and Wake Forest horror trilogy.

Then again, you could rent “Children of the Corn” — or in this case, “Children of the Korn.”

Maybe the latter will have a happy ending and save Tommy Bowden and Rob Spence from a football version of the Grim Reaper.

Comments

There are 8 responses to this article.

Comments are meant to offer our readers a forum for thoughtful, robust debate about local issues.

Comments are moderated, but you may find the content of the conversations offensive, objectionable or factually disputable.

Click here for our user-contributions policy.

Comments

IndependentMail.com does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post or respond to every suggestion for a comment to be removed.

Before you post, consider this:

  1. Keep it clean. Comments containing obscene, profane, vulgar, lewd or sexually-oriented language -- including creative spelling and typographical representations of foul language -- will be removed.
  2. Be truthful. Don't lie or spread rumors about anyone or anything. Stick to discussing what is factually known.
  3. Be nice. Don't threaten anyone, and do not post any comments that involve racism, sexism or any other sort of -ism that degrades another person. Hateful or offensive comments will not be tolerated.
  4. Police yourselves. Hit the "Suggest Removal" button to alert us to objectionable comments. Do not respond to trolls or those who seek to harass another poster.
  5. Stay focused. Keep on the story's topic.
  6. Help us get it right. If you have information to add to the story or you find a factual error or misspelling send us an email or call the newsroom at 864-260-1274.

Please read our official user-contributions policy.

I can imagine seeing TB and TDP and maybe even Barker sitting in an office discussing how they might deal with the notion that the next home game might be way below capacity. Tommy says, "Hey, let's start Willie! You know the fans will eat that up." The other two bobble heads reply, "Great idea Tommy!"Sacrifice Willy to save their own skin. Just like Tommy did with Jad Dean. What he did to Dean was Sh*%#y. Thats his style.Maybe it works. After all Korn is promising.Make no mistake though, this move is about filling up the Valley next Saturday. Tommy's death nail would be low attendance for the GT game and he is obviously aware of that...


grantfield, good job. There shouldn't even be a consideration of a death nail for a man who cannot coach, nor his cronies. It should be who will drive the first spike upon the nail head. I thought Korn wasn't in consideration...do I detect some job losing scheme appearing on the horizon? Win or lose with Willie, the braggadocio antics of lack of coaching knowledge have put the Tigers at bay for the balance of the season.
Rich Rodriguez, where are you when we need you? These bubble screens by the bobblehead coaching gang have gotten every player hurt. Yet, we keep on trying to get someone killed, is that it?
Can anyone out there see BY NOW that Bowden couldn't coach water down a drain without an able-bodied assistant like Rodriguez, the brains at Tulane and, at Clemson, for his short tenure there.
Why not get the coach from Boise State who electrified America with the scintillating win over Oklahoma two years ago--this man can coach, is young, and Boise has been 47-2 in the WAC for the past four years. Or, are we going to give TB another raise because "Arkansas wants him?" Yeah, right, gimme another lame duck excuse Joe Don...Plus, we could save money and go to major bowls, too...wouldn't that be a first?


TB and staff have always been secretive about injury status, ie who will be starting. Tommy, thanks for letting my Jackets know ahead of time which quarterback we need to prepare for. We would have been at a much larger disadvantage had we found out on game day. But, we also know that the only reason you announced it ahead of time was to get yourself off the hot seat and put butts in the seats. Good decision? Maybe. Write motive? Definately not.


horror flick? try, "Throw Tommy from the Train". I am not a poor sport. What TB has been doing for the past 8 years should be criminal. It is without a doubt, that Tommy has limited his offense from scoring at certain times and in certain games. Something foul is afoot in Clemson...it took a lot longer than I suspected for the stench to become overbearing. The Clemson Fans were truly hoping that TB would be the Coach who started a unique tradition and got the tigers back in great shape.

That got sidetracked somewhere down the line...credit to the fans who didn't want to acknowledge the obvious...

what I said 8 years ago, still holds, tommy loses games on purpose, he counts noses, legislative talk for lining up votes. In this case, tommy lined up games...always a game better or something better than the year before...selling the dream.

Watch the offense sputter, stop and wheeze...only coaches could make it do that. The players are talented and in great shape...let em play once without current staff and see what happens...caged tigers are the most dangerous.

Time for TB to go...fire him for point shaving, at least accuse him of it...bring in another coach with 6 games to go...see what happens. I guarantee lopsided wins by Clemson.(Boise state coach would be terrific, nice input)

Do something AD, something! Caine Mutiny is forming, check.

Coach, great acting...I hope the NCAA doesn't catch up to you...it is point shaving for long term gain. Nice con job on AD.

"As freezing persons recollect the snow, first chill, next stupor, then the letting go..." Emily D.


"An ACC Championship Game berth — much less an ACC Championship — is pretty much out of the question.

It’s still possible, just as it’s still possible People Magazine will name me the “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2008..."

hehe. Nice.


GT just beat Gardner Webb 10 to 7. And GW missed a field goal with 9 seconds left to put it into overtime. Moonbeam's comment on point shaving come to mind. If we play that way Saturday Clemson, as bad as they are right now, will destroy us.


College coaches are overpaid...we are going to see more and more goldbricking schemes to keep a good contract rolling over and over with better buyouts every win...

what can we expect next? tailgating at high school games?

out of control...Tommy's dad is doing it. Fulmer is doing it. I hope the wishbone man is not doing it.


All the talk about an ACCC was hype. One play away. One dropped pass away! One stopped scramble away.
We had 8 yds rushng vs VT last year with an experienced line and sharp QB! We lost 41-23. 2006 we lost to VT 24-7. TB hasn't sniffed an ACCC with all this talent!
TB better hope VK and Co. hasn't gotten fed up with his and RS's antics and shows up vs GT!




Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)

Username:

Password:
(Forgotten your password?)

Comment:

  Want the editors to know how you feel? Click here to say it privately.

Please download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, or enable JavaScript for your browser to view the video player.