by the way...

...kinda funny the USC fans were all over Clemson when they lost a couple of games in a row due to an offense that sputtered at times, turned it on to make late noise and then had your field goal kicker miss important field goals. Funny how that type of stuff comes around and really, NO team seems immune to it this year. I still say that when you are now my age, and you are getting all worked up over 18-22 year olds,well...I remember what I was like at that age... and I think Lou Holtz says it right every week when he says that you just dont get the same team each week, even though you have the same players. And he is 100 percent correct. That is why you see a little more reliable outcomes with the pros. and well...they ARE getting paid... well officially paid, that is...

It's a brother and a sister kinda thang
Raise up your hands if you all wanna hang

It was mentioned to me a couple of times this weekend that we always seem to have a busy schedule. I thought it kinda funny because it isnt really true, but it may come across that way. Its pretty repetitive and i do think its important to have "events" to be looking forward to. Else the wakeup/kids/work/kids/bed...repeat cycle would drive you crazy after a while. like now...we have no major events on docket till Turkey Day. Looks like I will venture over to Clemson for the BC game later in November but otherwise, nothing much on the horizon... oh I'm sure stuff will come up as usual.... but I always try to have things to be looking ahead at and planning for....

by the way...I'm sick of the Patriots. period.

week events and friends come to town

...ok...so I-Man got a Transformer as a reward for getting got reports from school. This particular Transformer is a bad guy.

I am paricualrly amused by the slogan "to punish and enslave"...

A couple of old friends from High School were in town this weekend and we got to visit. Just so happened that ole John turned 40 today. John was always sitting right behind me in class in High School and we were in Band together. Oh the stories I could tell...

They were actually going to do a local marathon tomorrow. I-man seemed to take a liking to Pam...and no, that isnt their child....

John and Pam had their niece with them and Ryles and I-Man had a great time playing in Wild Wings. Notice the Transformer firmly clutched in hand and Ryles new glasses.

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
- Mark Twain

"Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."

So Homecoming comes and goes... got to see a lot of people. Lisa and TJ dropped by on Friday evening, then Erik, Pam and a couple of their friends from NYC came into town (late...like...3am late, but its all good) and they crashed at our house. I got up and went a got a spot at Brooks and Aunt Ellen, Kenneth and Erik and his gang got into Clemson a little later. We did the game and we got to see a buch of people. Dropped by the Frat alumni gathering. Then...bolted back home and had dinner with Erik, Pam, Ellen, Kenneth, Brandy and AJ. Aunt Ashley and Uncle Wes dropped by too with cousin Madison...a busy weekend it was....

we saw bunches o people...and it was especialy good to see Claire, Brent, Andrea, Stephen, Danny, Sara, Jenny, Greshem, Cheryl, Kelly, Caroline... amongst many others at the game tailgating (its really late and if I left you out...well...sorry...I'll come back and add ya in the morning when Im rememberin better....)

a samplin of pix follows....

"Music Charms the Soul"

Yankee Haters?

I got an email from Brown the other day talking about "Yankee Haters" that insinuated that I am in that group. I started to reply about that directly to him, but decided to post here my explanation....

I am not really a Yankee Hater. I think that I am just simply tired of hearing NOTHING from the ESPN sports media but YANKEES this and YANKEES that...and RED SOX NATION this and that. Or New York Giants stuff.... or even more annoying out of Bristol is the constant Tom Brady/Bill Belichek/Patriots are the greatest of all time drivel. I think that if you live in New York/New Engand that you would expect to hear about that all the time because YOU LIVE THERE. But eveeryone else in the country has other teams they pull for or want to hear about, and we dont get a chance to hear about it because it is ALL Yankees, Red Sox, Patriots and Giants. It grows tiresome and boring after a while. I dont live in New York and i'd like to hear about what is going on with all the other teams as well. After all, when was the last time the Yankees won the series???? 2000. I think that if you lived away from the New York area, you would definitely see what the rest of the country sees... a definite slant toward a certain area and those teams...thats why people are so gleeful to see them lose.

That being said...I'm currently mulling coming full circle and going back to the basketball team of my childhood (NBA, that is) and jump back on the Celtics wagon right now, before the season even starts. Growing up, my father was a Lakers fan, and I was a Celtics fan. I kinda followed Shaq to the Lakers, then to Miami, where I currently reside. If I jump on now, I can say i was there before the mania started. And I wonder how batty ESPN will go if the Celtics become good again....

Homecoming, Alumni Band and Friends....

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. -Katherine Mansfield

This weekend is a weekend I always have somewhat mixed feelings about...for it is a weekend I often see people I dearly miss... more people I wish were still around to see more often.... people I could care less about...and... well i am always saddened by the thought of people I dont see.

I never do the Alumni Band thing. I always get a sense that some peole see me as being snobby by not doing alumni band. But...my reasons are somewhat personal, and has nothing to do with the activity or the fact that people doing it might find it fun. I simply am not one to spend my fleeting moments that I have left in my lifetime making smalltalk with anyone I dont really want to make small talk with. By that, I mean the random sax player you never really liked but you tolerated while in school, who you have no interest in knowing what it is they are doing, what their family is doing, or whatever. Now, I realize that these same people may feel the same about me...and well..in case you havent figured it out, I dont care what they think. I never have and never will. Kinda harsh...but I dont have anymore time to waste. I hope that I will be able to see those I truly care about, even if it is to say "hey", get a hug and whatever. I think that what i find ironic is that I give far more thought to these type of events than most people realize, and have given up thinking that they will even come close to my hopes, whatever those might actually be. And yes, while I might have more time to chew the fat with Lisa and TJ and their son in Alumni Band, there are a lot of other people i dont want to spend my now precious time dealing with. Yep, some people would be cool to mini chat with, but there are always the people who want to re-live their college role as the "Hey-look-at-me-act-a-fool-and-say-silly-stuff-blah-blah-blah" and that will just only serve to annoy me. And I aint feeling being annoyed anymore.

Along similar lines friends are coming to town and I know that many factors will play into the time spent with them being way too short...travel time, gametime, etc. I already have resigned myself that as much as I have looked forward to seeing old friends, that this year will be a wash. I-Man has a soccer match at 10am in Easley and it lasts an hour. While I will be at Brooks with people who are staying with me, by the time the kids would arrive, the game will be starting. I dont know if the twins will even make an appearance at Brooks this year for Homecoming. Who knows... but we shall see... I guess if it was THAT important, I'd get off my high horse and be more outgoing, huh?

The World Turned Upside Down

Ok...so...hmmm... SOUTH FRAKKIN FLORIDA is ranked #2????!!!!! South Carolina is #6????!!! Well, Clemson will certainly have a chance to do some damage in November.... now, I'm not saying that they shouldnt be ranked becasue they have won when other teams havent. Heck, Clemson would be up there too if they hadnt forgotten how to tackle...

Homecoming on deck. Should be a hectic weekend...

And theres always retrospect
(when youre looking back)
To light a clearer path
Every five years or so I look back on my life
And I have a good laugh - Emily Saliers

It is always a refreshing moment when you get home and the air has a nip to it and you can smell the wood fires burning in homes. It is also weird to me that you only notice that smell when it first gets cold. How come i dont smell that wood come January or February?

I started to reply to emails flying around on the alumni listserv and thought better of it. The Alumni gripping have a valid point. The Actives need to do better. And it is perhaps time that the dormant Alumni Association issue may need to be revisited. That would help facilitate activities geared toward them and serve as useful tool for the Alumni Sec to use and interact with.

And it is starting to get a little annoying, with all these kids going postal with guns in the schools and crap. I can tell you right now that if somebodies son shots my kids, God help them for they might be eating bullets too...

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. ~ John Lennon

So... starting to hear the annual chirping from the alumni in regards to the "actives" and the lack of info coming out to them from the chapter. Sigh... i just wish people would remember what THEY did when they were the "actives" and the alumni were chirping. While I agree that more information could be sent out, in a timely manner and more often, I am not going to hold their hands every week and yell at them about something that i think fundamentally they dont have a grasp of. Do I wish they would have planned their proposed events better and farther out? Yes. But it is THEIR chapter and they have to devote their energies were they see fit, even if it is the wrong place sometimes. In relation to Homecoming there is a difficulty in planning events that wont conflict with what CUTBA is planning. Because that will only create another set of political issues. If CUTBA plans their thingy, and we already know alumni are planning on doing that, how are they to schedule events against that? In a nutshell, they cant. The actives are in waiting game now every year to see what the gametime will be THEN figure out what they can do based upon their band responsibility, Alumni Band and their own gigs. at any rate the actives need to try harder to reach out to FRAT Alumni, but there has to be some understanding from Alumni as well.

here's what i think

I think that the Clemson Football team suffers from what is a complex that affects the entire University and has for many years now. there always seems to be a flaw in all the sports teams. In baseball, its either ALL Hit, No pitch or ALL Pitch, no hit every season. Clemson gets to the Playoffs and the very thing they have relied on all year fails, and its 0 and 2 and barbeque. Everytime there has been a good Clemson basketball team, free throws have been the achilles heel. heck, EVERY year its a problem. And they lose games because of it every year, no matter WHO the coach is. Watch..Clemson will have a great basketball team this year, and they will go to the free throw line and miss free throws....BAD. The football team has had special team problems since the time of Danny Ford. I can remember 2 seasons that were ruined during his era because of punt snaps sailing over the punters head, and a blocked punt.. Tommy West had the same issue and Bowden has seen it continue.

I think the special team woes stem from the fact that despite the obvious talent Clemson has, it still doesnt have enough of it, and it NEVER will. At least not as long as their is a emphasis on the academic side of things in Clemson. Clemson's first 11 on both sides of the ball ( well, at least the first 11 that started the season, not the injury riddled group we have now) could probably match up with any body. But as soon as we see linemen go down, then James Davis get hurt at NC State the "issues" started to pop up.

The "Issues" are many fold but boil down to this. Despite the plethora of talent on the offensive side of the ball, it all boils down to James Davis getting the tough yards inside the tackles. His injury and the inability of Spiller of run hard inside the tackles has changed the way the team attacks offensively. It has become quite obvious to me that James Davis is the heart of this team, and his toughness has been eliminated. Spiller does not possess that mentality. Watch how Spiller tip toes to the line hoping not to get hit and immediately tries to turn the other way and use his speed. And the lack of talent on the second and third teams translates to a vunerability on our special teams. Factor in mistakes by the players on those teams, and you have the breakdowns. then the "issues" start to pop up because the fans immediately turn on Clemson. And I mean Clemson fans. Immediately you hear Fire Tommy and people yelling at players. And it all turns downhill. There is a negative cloud over Clemson that has existed since the very day The Academics punted Danny Ford out in 1991 and still exists today. I am not a "Bring Ford back person" or anything like that, but since that day, Clemson sports seems to follow a pattern.... initial success built upon a sandy foundation weakened by a lack of talent depth.

In short, we aint as good as the other people because we dont have the waves of "athletes" LSU, Florida, Southern Cal, Michigan and potentially South Carolina have. because the others teams graduate players or lose players to injury and someone is there to step in just as good. Clemson loses a player to injury in ANY sport, and the entire situation changes. And the current administration seems to think that it can be done by keeping the high academic standards. It cant be done, not on a consistent basis. Stanford, Northwestern, Rice, Duke...make a flash for a season then they go away. ...now, I am not saying Clemson should lax its standards. But if they are going to have those standards, then I am going to look at the Athletic situation at Clemson for what it is...and be happy when they win, dissapointed when they lose...but...know that when they lose it aint the end of the world, and I can turn to my children and realize that there are FAR more important things than whether or not the Clemson football team is practicing how to cover punts and kickoffs (which I am 100 percent positive they have been, are... and will be)

Oh...I'm sure the Fire Tommy people are out in full force. They will look at South Carolina and see their success. But...look closely. They suffer from the same "issues". But people will start talking about getting rid of the coach. But they wont have a realistic answer as to who they can get to come to Clemson who will run a clean program, recruit and win. because the people we need to "take us to the next level' aint coming to Clemson. Period. End of story. because the Academics aint going to allow entrance to the 330 pound, 6 foot 3 inch just-training-for-the-NFL tackle who can barely read into Clemson. And if you want to go 10-1 every year... you need those guys on your football team. In waves....

So...I will continue to pull for Clemson. And I think that the 2 weeks off to heal James Davis as well as regroup will help. I think this team does not lose again until the BC game where they will be lying in wait to make their season. BC will probably be top 5 and it will be a 7:45pm start. And Clemson will upset BC. Then its a tossup at Columbia.... but if they lose another along the way, i will sigh and shake my head, and turn to my son and say, "hey...lets go out and lean to ride your bike without training wheels". For there are far more important things.

Mrs. Tarantino: Are you the police?
Elwood: No, ma'am. We're musicians

I've tried a different approach this year with the FRAT. Kinda a "hands off" way of things...not that i have been truly as hands on as i possibly could be at any time anyway. I have been hoping that the chapter will start to develop a better sense of internal direction this year and that some new leaders will take their opportunity to step forward. I sense that some new brothers are starting to feel things out. This is good. There are still things that they dont do. No treally much outreach to alumni, but...has there ever been? The Active way of thinking really never includes thinking of the alumni. That is probably an area where i need to tinker and press and prod. Other than that, they still produce yeoman work with service to bands....

I-Man keeps getting less than perfect reports in regards to behavior at school. Jessica is very dissapointed and well, I can uderstand why. But I also dont think he is doing that much bad stuff...probably one thing here or there that keeps him from getting a perfect "smiley face" on his daily report. But I dont want him to get into bad habits of not paying attention, so we are trying to get him to dial in and quit doing the little things that are not good. meanwhile Ryles seems to be a class darling. hmmm... why do I have a hard time believing that is totally true?

Tigers have VaTech tomorrow evening. Gut check time for Clemson. As Ole Tommy says..."ARE YOU CONTENDERS OR PRETENDERS?!"

..and memo to the Yankees, Phillies and Cubs fans... Memo: been there, done that....

what the hey?

oh man...it sucks that Law and Order, Criminal Intent is only going to be on USA TV now. man...that really sucks... Detective Robert Goren is DA MAN!!!! Oh well, power up the DVR and it will all be good...

Its like the twins go off to school and they are learning at a breakneck speed. Its a constant check on the mental senses to keep up with where they are. I have to keep myself from thinking that they are 3 years old and can barely talk, as they now can spell (limited) and are starting to read. Cant spell out M C D O N A L D S anymore...kinda like you spell it out and Ryles sits there and spells it in her head and says "I want McNuggets!!!!"

Oh...and i guess the Mets have gotten taste of what its now like to be a Braves fan. Supposed to win, chocked it away...sittin at home watchin inferior teams playin. Sigh'

And just so everyone is clear, I am an Independent (politically) with a definite lean to the conservative side. Am I against the Democrats??? nope. I actually agree with a lot of the socalled Democtrat platform (however vague it might actually be with their leading candidates right now). But I am not lock step hobnailed boot marching with America's DA or America's Mayor either. Somebody's gotta step up and show me something, and Osama, Billary, the NYC DA or America's mayor have not. So...i guessing that our friends in Iowa or New Hamphire are going to have to start weeding out the also rans here in a couple of months....

October is here...finally....

Ok...Homecoming looming in a little bit over 2 weeks... Still tryin to figure out what my plans are for that...pretty sure we're going to setup our tent in at the back edge of the Brooks center, similar to where we were last year. Gametime is going to be interesting and if its a 1 oclock game, i will have to get over to Brooks at like...oh...say...7:00am to secure the location and setup the tent. yeah...i know...thats a little extreme...but failure to prepare will have us parking on the golf course... i also need to start working on updating the fraternity roster with current addresses for the alumni. Should be an interesting day with all types of people coming to town that weekend.

random..again

So...Tigers...well.... hmmm.... here's what i saw. I saw the players drop 7 or 8 easy passes. i saw the players miss 4 field goals. I saw the players get a TD called back by penalty. One touchdown missed was by the previously mentioned dropped passes. I saw the players take their time to kick a punt and get blocked, setting up the lone Gatech TD. I saw players tip toeing thru the line. I say that this loss was NOT at all Bowdens fault. I say this all goes on the players. Yet still, their will be people all over Bowden. Ok...time to regroup and see what happens at home. At least I'm not a Oklahoma, Florida or West virginia fan today. think it sucks for Clemson to have lost. Well, Clemson wasnt going to win any National Championships this year....wow.