8-0: "Reaching Higher"

"Reaching Higher" The Official Slogan for the 2006-2007 season.

Last night I sat in the center of a trifecta; positioned at each angle of this equilateral were the following: 1. Clemson vs. Minnesota, 2. UNC vs. Ohio St., 3. Scarface.

Concerning each in reverse order, I still do not like the movie Scarface. However, I still felt drawn to the horrific soundtrack. I know synth-music felt natural, like it contributed that certain je ne sais quois to the overall mise-en-scene, but come one!

Listen to that crap. It is painful.

Secondly, how good is Carolina? And would they seem as good if the man-child Greg Oden would have played, or even have suited up?
Did anyone see this chap? He had a full beard, full-y formed. And while I like Psycho-t, would he have had the 21/14 line he had with the bearded one in the game. Nonetheless, quite a comeback.

Thirdly:
Did anyone notice how long it took us to score a point? (At the 17:29 Clemson first scored and did not score again until the 16:17.) Looking back, it seems amazing that we had five people finish in double-digits.

However, as Franscilla so adroitly stated, "If you go back to last year before James Mays became academically ineligible, when Clemson started the season 11-0, before finishing the season 8-13 after Mays' suspension and combine that with the 7-0 [as of last night, now 8-0] start, the Tigers are 18-0 with Mays in the lineup." Do I even need to comment on this?

Again, another faux-pas concerning the Tigers. The crack grammar team here at OP HQ noticed something missing here and here. Do you? "K.C. Rivers would like be in the game from the start, but Clemson is happy with his performance off the bench." Is this, like, serious reporting these days?

I would like to say we dominated the boards, which we did, but I would like to say we did so with confidence and authority, not apprehension and fear, which we did. The key to winning any game, no matter what the rules, is to beat the opponent. Some games involve points. Those involving points require one team to score more or less than the other team in order to win the contest. Basketball is a game in which scoring more than the opponent is necessary. If we hit more shots the first time, our positive offensive rebound margin would not have been as high, but our point total would have been even higher.

The above point became moot as the game progressed and as the official athletic site says,
"Tigers Dominate Gophers In ACC-Big Ten Challenge, 90-68." Somehow, we played hard.

It looked like it was going to be a long night in the first half as the Gophers kept burrowing through the press. But their golden burrowing mechanisms stopped working in the second half. "We took the town of Minneapolis for a ride last night. They tried to stick it to us, but we stuck it to them, harder." said senior guard V. Hamilton. Moments later, he recanted and said in his ever-so-clever baritone, "or is it St. Paul?" God he makes he laugh.

Now V. Hamilton and the Tigers must look forward to a key December 2nd match up in the ACC-SEC Throwdown with Davey Odom's South Carolina Cockatoos. SC is 4-1, with their sole loss coming to the powerhouse Anteaters of UC-Irvine, who are currently tied for seventh in the Big West Conference.

More on the SC Preview Tomorrow, Remember the game is on Fox Sports South and ESPN FC.