Lumps of Sugar

What in the world made me think of that title? My mind scares me sometimes when it's late and I let my thoughts wander. Excuse me while I try to herd them back in.

::sounds of shuffling and pushing::

There, I think that's all of them. ::sees a thought tiptoeing off to the side:: Hey!

..... ..... .....

Oh, are you still there? Excuse me...

Today was fairly ho-hum. Nothing too exciting happened as I restlessly await this weekend. Clemson football kicks off Saturday with Texas A&M at 8:00 PM in Death Valley. Permit me a few moments to elicit a cheer:

1-2-3-4! 1-2-3-4!
C-L-E-M-S-O-N!
T-I-G-E-RRRR-S!
FIGHT TIGERS! FIGHT TIGERS!
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Heh heh. Admit it; you knew that was coming at some point. :)

But anyway, I'm looking forward to returning to the Valley tomorrow evening with my friends and family to see my Tigers take the field. There's a lot of uncertainty surrounding us this year with new coaches on both sides of the football. But we've got a lot of skill players on offense and defense, and for the first time, we're beginning to build some real depth behind our starters. Guys like Aaron Kelly, Tyler Grisham, Antonio Clay, James Davis, and Josh Miller have stood out to me among our freshman class. These five are among the lucky ones that will see playing time immediately. Of course, we have Charlie Whitehurst, Tye Hill, Jamaal Fudge, Chansi Stuckey, Reggie Merriweather, and plenty more from the old guard back for another season. I believe we're in for some good times, but I'm not dreaming of championships. At least not yet. I haven't shaken the memories of last year when our offense looked anemic, our defense couldn't stay off the field, our struggles to sustain momentum, and committing the unpardonable sin of losing to (gasp!) Duke. It's beyond me how a team goes from upsetting the king of the mountain (Miami) one week and drops a stunner to the conference doormat the next. That's nothing but a glaring lack of discipline and mental breakdown. So hopefully, we won't have such problems this season.

My early GameDay prediction? The old ticker will hate me for this, but it's going to be a close one. Clemson will have its hands full trying to slow down Aggies QB Reggie McNeal, who has the elusiveness and daredevil speed that made Woodrow Dantzler such a force at Clemson. The Tigers may need to rely on their offensive firepower to match up with A&M, so Charlie's receiving corps should be on alert for a lot of balls to get thrown their way. Fortunately, the Aggie secondary looks to be a potential weak spot, so hopefully we can exploit that. And let's not forget special teams. Jad Dean says he's gotten better on his kicking accuracy, but the A&M kicker made 12 of 13 FGs last year (but missed five EPs). If it comes down to one kick to determine it, we'll see what happens.

Staying cautiously optimistic, I say Clemson capitalizes on its "unknown" factor and turns the tables on the Aggie squad that cleaned their clocks in Texas last year. The Fighting Tigers pull out a narrow win over A&M 38-35.

Song of the Day: Jim Peterick - "Eye of the Tiger"

Verse of the Day: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." - Matthew 9:37-38