Praising Bud

I’m going to do something I’ve never done before.

I’m going to praise Major League Baseball Commissioner Bid Selig.

Why? For having the guts to ignore a long-standing baseball rule allowing for games to become official after five innings and declare that no World Series game would be stopped before nine innings were completed.

Some people, mainly in Philadelphia, are whining. But while Selig’s reign will be remembered for the shame of the steroid era and the stupidity of the tie in an all-star game, this marks a stunning show of courage that none of his peers would dare display.

Remember when the incident between the Spurs and Suns resulted in the suspension of a pair of Suns’ players in the Western Conference finals a couple of years back? We had David Stern, hiding behind the rulebook and enforcing suspensions for guys who left the bench to check on Steve Nash, who had been checked, hockey-style, into the scorer’s table. It absolutely decided the outcome.

Can you imagine Roger Goodell having the stones to stray away from the rulebook in the best interests of the game? The No Fun League? You must be joking.

Good for you, Bud Selig. I don’t care if it takes until November. I want my baseball champion decided on the field.

Rules of engagement

The title is a tribute to a show that’s apparently not coming back to CBS anytime soon, but it also applies to the world of sports loyalties. Steve Czaban, or Fox Sports Radio fame, had a funny bit on this topic this morning.

Everyone who follows sports has love-hate relationships with teams. So here are some rules to follow:

1. You’re either going steady with a team, or you’re married to them. There are exceptions, but fans of these teams are not going around looking for flings with other teams: NFL – Dallas, Pittsburgh, Philly and Chicago; MLB – Boston, New York and Chicago Cubs and NBA – L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics. Colleges are different. Every college fan is married, but in the BYU sense of the word…

2. You’re allowed to “date” other teams, that is randomly choose teams to support when you’re “girlfriend” squad either sucks or isn’t playing. You are not allowed to choose teams that play in the same division with your live-in team.

3. In leagues that you don’t care about (read: NBA, NHL and MLS) or haven’t been following long, you can just pull a Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother) and sleep around.

Take me, for instance. I’m a Redskins fan, but I’ve been shacking up with the Colts on the side for years now. I’m also an Oriole fan, but lately, I’ve been making eyes at the Dodgers. In the NBA, I’m not really emotionally invested so I just jump on whatever good looking bandwagon that rolls by.

As for soccer, I’m a Fulham fan, but the mass exodus of Americans coupled with some lackluster form has my attention wandering a bit in the Premier League. In Italy, they all look good…

Don’t even get me started on Clemson, to whom I’ve been married for longer than I care to remember. We’re not even talking right now, as I’m so disgusted with them…

OK, now I’m ready

I’ve let it simmer for a few days, hoping that time would help me to write something positive about Tommy Bowden’s nearly 10-year run as the head coach of the Clemson football program.

To be fair, there have been some achievements. He beat Florida State a few times, which had eluded most other Clemson coaches. He beat Tennessee once, back when Tennessee was still Tennessee. And there’s no question that, under his leadership, the talent level at the school rose dramatically over the last decade.

The results didn’t follow, however, and that’s why Dabo Swinney is now holding down the fort as the Tigers’ interim coach.

I’m not a “fire-the-coach fan.” My time in the business has helped me understand the challenges that coaches face. I know that Tommy Bowden is a decent human being and was far more upset about the joke of a season Clemson is having than I am.

But after almost 10 years without an ACC title, it was time for a change.

So, can the season be saved?

I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. The ACC title is likely out of reach with Wake Forest already being two games ahead in the league standings (with the head-to-head tiebreaker, of course).

The real question is this: How many games out of the last six does Swinney need to win to keep the job for 2009?

I think he needs to win either five without a bowl victory or four with one, but only if one of those is a win over South Carolina. Confusing? Sure.

But then again, so is everything else in Tiger town. 

As for the quarterbacking situation, all I can say is that inserting Willy Korn into the lineup came about five games too late for me.

Cullen Harper is a shell of the quarterback he was in 2007. Let’s see what Korn, who has been touted as the future of Clemson football since his junior year of high school, can do this weekend against a Georgia Tech squad that barely beat my alma-mater, Gardner-Webb, 10-7 last week.

If Swinney doesn’t get the full-time gig in 2009, here’s who I’d like to see:

1. Will Muschamp (Texas assistant) - Big-time personality with a lot of coaching skills. Will probably be the most sought after assistant in the land this winter. Would have to go get an offensive guy, but there are a few out there.

2. Gary Patterson (TCU head coach) – Has won at Texas Christian with second-rate facilities while competing with the larger Texas schools for talent and exposure. Probably one of the best defensive minds in college football, and his offenses haven’t been too shabby either.

3. Bud Foster (assistant coach at Virginia Tech) – Knows the ACC in and out, is a capable defensive coach and has the personality to lead a high-profile program. Would need a good offensive coordinator, though.

4. Skip Holtz (ECU head coach) – OK, the Cinderella thing at East Carolina hasn’t really worked out this year, but that program was in the tank before Lou’s son arrived in Greenville. I think he could do well in a bigger conference with more talented players at his disposal. Would need a good defensive coordinator, though. Maybe Vic Koenning would stick around? I actually think he’s doing a great job.

5. Swinney – I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. He’s the mastermind behind many of Clemson’s recent splashy recruiting classes, so if he can coach a lick, we could already have the right man for the job in house.

That’s my list. No, I don’t want Bobby Johnson, the Clemson grad who’s lighting up the SEC this year at Vanderbilt. He’s not what the program needs right now. And I don’t want Lane Kiffin or Bill Cowher, either. Aside from Pete Carroll, the NFL to college model doesn’t often work out that well.

So grab some popcorn and pull up a chair. The next few months at Clemson are going to be really interesting.

SITYS

To steal a line from Rush Limbaugh, see I told you so.

Clemson lost to Wake Forest, so Tommy Bowden’s out at Clemson. I really think this had to happen. He seemed to have bumped into the ceiling at Clemson, winning often enough but never in a big game.

I don’t know if Dabo Swinney is the long term answer. I guess we’ll see.

We interrupt this sports programming to bring you a political update.

Check out www.fayobserver.com this morning. We’ve got an awesome political quiz up. Get to know the issues. Get involved. Vote.

End of the road?

I hate to be melodramtic, but today is the most important day in Clemson coach Tommy Bowden’s career.

The Tigers, a preseason top-10 team, sit at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. They face Wake Forest tonight in Winston-Salem.

A win, and the Tigers will still be in position to salvage what’s been a train wreck of a season with a run to the ACC Championship Game in Tampa this winter.

A loss, and I think Bowden becomes a dead man walking.

He’s 72-44 right now in nine-plus years at the helm. He’s never won an ACC title and he’s 3-5 in bowl games. In fairness, this is the only year in his tenure that his squad was the preseason favorite to win the league.

But Tiger fans are losing patience. Tigernet blogger Mickey Plyer called for a change of leadership recently, which would be a little like Karl Rove saying George W. Bush is a bad president.

I’m willing to settle for a win tonight and a berth in the ACC title game. Anything less, and there should be a coaching vacancy in the South Carolina upstate in 2009.

Other thoughts

• The National League Championship Series begins tonight as the Phillies and Dodgers battle it out for the senior circuit pennant.

Call me crazy, but I like the Dodgers in this spot. Manny Ramirez is playing like a man who wants to get a $100 million contract this winter (he does), Derek Lowe is pitching like the ace he used to be in Boston (we’ll see) and Joe Torre brings a mountain of postseason managerial experience to the Dodger bench (no question).

I don’t trust the Phillies. Aside from Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge, I don’t trust their pitchers to be consistent. And when Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins don’t hit, the Phillies don’t win.

• In the American League, everybody is lining up to pick the Red Sox over the Cinderella Rays.

Here’s the problem. The Rays are a better team.

Why? They won the division that the Red Sox play in. They also have better starting pitching with Josh Beckett being nicked up for Boston. They can manufacture runs, which is the easiest and most effective way to score in nail-biting playoff games.

Boston has a serious edge in the bullpen with Jonathan Papelbon, but with Mike Lowell missing from the ALCS roster, the lineup won’t have its usual punch.

I may be the only one, but I like Tampa here.

• The spread offense era is over in Auburn as Tommy Tuberville fired new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin on Wednesday.

I guess being ranked 104th in the nation in total offense after a loss to Vanderbilt was too much for Auburn to take.

I’ll tell you this, though. If they don’t get their act together soon, they’ll get absolutely hammered against Alabama later this fall.

More on XM/Sirius

I want to like this merger. I really do.

But I need to understand it first, right?

The “best of” plans are out. The Best of Sirius plan offers XM subscribers the Howard Stern channels, NFL, NBA, NASCAR and Playboy Radio.

Anyway, the Best of XM plan offers Sirius subscribers access to the Oprah Winfrey channel, the Virus channel (home of radio duo Opie and Anthony), XM Public Radio (home of Bob Edwards), live coverage of the PGA Tour and select NBA and NHL games.

All of this adds $4.04 to your bill.

Now, the early a la carte plans are out. For Sirius, there’s a decent plan out, but notice the lack of MLB coverage. It costs $14.99. You also new a new radio. It rings up for about $130.

For XM listeners, you’re pretty much hosed on the a la carte front. You do have some options to lower your bill, however.

The verdict? Undecided. I really would like to add the NFL and Premier League games to my radio options, but that choice isn’t available now.  And I’m not giving up MLB to get them, either.

I’m hoping that an all-sports package becomes available some time soon. Until then, they’re not getting any more of my money.

Friday Night Lights

This will appear, in some form or another, in next week’s Sandspur:

Some things in life just go well together.
Peanut butter and jelly; Name-calling and politics and salt and pepper come to mind right away.
None of those represent the synergy and beauty that shows up on thousands of football fields across the nation each and every Friday night.
The assault on your senses starts before you ever get to the stadium.
You can see the lights from miles away on an otherwise dark and dreary autumn evening.
Open the car door and step outside in the parking lot, and chances are you can hear the drum line beating a rhythm as the band marches into the stadium.
Or maybe you’re a little early, and you get the windwood section warming up off to the side.
With one sound or the other ringing in your ears, you walk through the lot, buy a ticket and wander in.
If you’re lucky, a cheerleader stops you and offers to sell you a program.
Buy one.
Why? Because you need it to figure out who’s playing where and you’re helping the cheerleaders raise money.
It’s too cold to be washing cars in November.
Keep going as you get closer to the bleachers.
Breathe in while you walk by the band’s concession stand.
The well-trained nose can pick out hot dogs, nachos and, hopefully, popcorn.
It should be a misdemeanor to have an open concession stand that doesn’t offer popcorn at all times.
And hot chocolate, even the instant kind, after, say, Oct. 20.
Stop and buy something.
Why? Because the band needs the money.
You think the cash for dozens upon dozens of band uniforms grows on trees?
They can only sell so much fruit, you know.
With a program in your pocket and whatever junk food strikes your fancy in your hands, take a seat.
Wait for the color guard to march out on the field. Stand up while the band plays a stunning rendition of the national anthem.
Read the banners the cheerleaders made before the football players run through them, tearing through a couple hours of work in the time it takes the band to play three notes of the school fight song.
Stand up and yell, “go, fight, win,” with the cheerleaders.
Why? Because it’s fun and it’s not socially acceptable behavior anywhere else.
When Deshean Townsend throws a touchdown pass for South View, dance along to “The Tiger Rag.”
When Eric Mac Lain hauls in a touchdown pass from Everett Proctor, feel sorry for the cheerleaders who’ve signed up to do push-ups for every point Jack Britt scores.
Think about the youngster in the bear costume at Gray’s Creek, especially for those late September games when all that fur isn’t quite necessary just yet.
Football would be just fine without the band and cheerleaders.
But it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

On the air

Barack Obama was interviewed on “Mike and Mike” this morning on ESPN radio.

As a Republican, I was prepared not to like him. As a honest man, I’m forced to admit that I did.

He was thoughtful and engaging. He actually knew what he was talking about.

He suggested passing a law outlawing domes in warm weather cities like Tampa. Of course, anyone who’s seen Tropicana Field can agree that building is shambolic. He also joked that he’d have the attorney general in his administration investigate forcing college football into a playoff system.

He also said something with which I’ve long agreed: Congress has more important stuff to do than to have hearing after hearing on steroids and PEDs.

It wasn’t partisan or bitter. In fact, he said that if both Chicago teams reach the World Series (not likely), he’d have to take the last week of the campaign off and head back to the Windy City to watch.

I don’t like his politics, and I don’t think he’d make a good president. But I sure like him more than I did when I woke up this morning.

College football picks

After an 11-7 effort last week, I’m 70-26 on the season. Not terrible, but there’s plenty of room for growth and improvement.

ACC
Georgia Tech over Duke (I’m tempted, but not that tempted)
N.C. State over Boston College (No good reason here. Just a hunch)
Va. Tech over Western Kentucky
Miami over Florida State
Maryland over Virginia
North Carolina over UConn

SEC
Florida over Arkansas
South Carolina over Ole Miss
Alabama over Kentucky
Auburn over Vanderbilt
Tennessee over Northern Illinois

Others
USC over Oregon
Ohio State over Wisconsin