The OP has a pretty good summary of last night’s loss.

Several times in the 2nd half I was thinking of the Ron White line, “That boy’s got a lot of quit in him.” The OP was thinking the same thing:

They, according to OP, worked on determination in practice.

If I didn’t know that, I would have guessed they worked on give-up-itude. Seriously.

At the end of the game I didn’t think they looked like quitters. They kept battling in the end and closed the gap they had allowed to develop earlier in the game.

Ultimately it seemed as though they lacked energy or leadership or both. Frequently the team was running at half speed, looking lost, and almost as if everyone was afraid to touch the ball. It was a sad, disappointing performance.

I honestly haven’t heard people talking too much about basketball. I’m not sure if people are actively trying to avoid it, or if it’s just happening anyway. Whatever the case may be, the next game is tonight. The Tigers go on the road to BC. ACC road games just make me queasy, not that you needed to know that. However, you probably do need to know that the game starts at 7. ESPN2 has the coverage. Clemson is favored by 3 points.

Why is post titled Wite out? Not because of some now-unoriginal gimmick, fortunately. Wite Out only because I didn’t want to use “News & Notes” again and my handy bottle of quick dry correction fluid was the first thing I saw.

• Duke plays at Clemson at 9PM. USA Today says the Tigers are looking for revenge. The line hasn’t been posted yet, but as game time approaches you should be able to find it at VegasInsider or the Daily Line section at ESPN. This game should be extra fun for me as I’ll be at a party hosted by Duke grads.

  UPDATE 2010-01-23 09:10 AMThe spread shows that Duke is favored by 1 point.

• Willy Korn is heading to Marshall… at least to visit.
• Kevin Steele is staying at Clemson, and he’s even saying the right things about why.
  

  “Regardless of what people might believe, it’s a factual statement that money was never discussed in this process with Clemson University,” he said. “I’ve never talked to (athletic director) Terry Don Phillips or Dabo Swinney about one nickel. Not one nickel. And actually did the other. I told Dabo, ‘Coach, if you want to discuss money it’s going to offend me because it’s not about money.’ “

  To be open about this, when I heard the incorrect news that Steele was leaving, I didn’t care. I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the D’s performance this year. The worst thing about the situation to me was not that he was leaving, but that we’d have to find a replacement on the fly. When news broke that he was staying, all the speculation was that he would be getting a nice raise from Clemson. That didn’t seem like such a good idea to me. He came in and, I would say, met — not exceeded — expectations. So why should he get a raise just for being contacted by alma mater? If it turned out that he was playing that game, and that Clemson played along, then I would have been pretty upset.

  Hopefully the Steele’s defense looks better in 2010.

• Clemson University apparently had extremely high voter turnout in this past election. “‘It is widely recognized that young people influenced the 2008 election by voting in larger numbers,’ said Campus Compact President Maureen Curley.” Seeing how that election came out, I don’t think I’d be bragging about that.

Addendum:

• Bad good PR: Stuckey to donate $10 for each point scored against Duke to Haitian Relief. Look, generosity is fantastic. That’s great. However, getting a press release as an NFL player earning over $400k/yr for committing to an approximately $700 donation is pretty silly. I’m hoping that it was supposed to say $100 per point. Just to be clear, the amount itself is fine, it’s the press release about the amount that bothers me.
• It appears that Kevin Steele will get a huge raise, amounting to a reported $200k on top of his current $375k/yr contract. Look, I don’t have any fucking problem with coaches making a lot of money. But I have a huge fucking problem with coaches getting gigantic raises only 1 slightly-better-than-mediocre year into a 3 year contract. If Kevin Steele deserves more money, give him an incentive based contract, and not this bullshit. If this raise is real, then everyone involved in pushing this raise through deserves a giant FUCK YOU!

• In the immediate aftermath of Clemson’s dominating win over UNC, fans stormed the court. Some people apparently didn’t care for it. I think I can summarize my opinion by relating my thoughts from the time. I never even considered that it was inappropriate. Instead I thought “it would be nice if more people joined in because only about 1/2 the court is covered.
• Clemson’s next game is Saturday @ NC State. Game time is 12 noon. Raycom will have the television coverage. Lines haven’t been posted as of the time of my writing this.
• In other news, mark your calendars for Clemson’s spring game. “Clemson’s Spring football game at Memorial Stadium will be held April 10 and have a 4:00 PM start.“

Line update: Clemson is favored by 4.5.

• The basketball team takes the court tonight against UNC. The game is in Littlejohn, so the Tigers might have a chance. Tip is at 9:05, The OP has your pre-game information and links.
• The assault charges against Trevor Adair have been dropped. Ultimately he will only have to pay a $1100 fine for violating the noise ordinance.
• Greg Wallace speculates that Butch Davis and David Cutcliffe will be considered candidates for the now-vacant Tennessee head coaching gig. Cutcliffe’s ties to UT make it natural that his name would come up, but it will be hard for him to overcome his mediocre tenure at Ole Miss.
• Khalil Green has signed on with the Texas Rangers as a utility infielder. It’s a 1-year contract worth a reported $750k.
• Speaking of baseball, the college season is quickly approaching. Clemson’s first game is scheduled for February 19th against Miami University.

Update: Vegas Insider puts the consensus line at Clemson -4.5.

Update 2: With 7:12 in the game, I just realized that Roy Williams is wearing one of the ugliest ties in recorded history and that Clemson has lost sight of the need to play to win the game.

Update 3: My fears have gone unrealized and Clemson prevailed easily. Trevor Booker is a joy to watch. The on-court, post-game interview with Booker was a bust because the noise made it impossible to communicate.

McDaniels and Jenkins will return for their senior season. You know, D-Mac, the human demolition squad….. I don’t know what Dabo is pumping into these post junior meetings, but he has successfully kept seniors coming back year after year. That is a slight relief to know that the D will have leadership on all fronts with Bowers on the line, Mays in the LB’s and D-Mac in the secondary. Now if only the offense could get some good news…..

Right now I should be writing nice things about Dabo and the 2009 Clemson Tigers. They saved major face by defeating Kentucky in their bowl game. Instead I’m watching the Miami-Wisconsin game. The ‘Canes are trying two stage a comeback from a 2-score deficit. They just moved down the field for one touchdown and followed it up with one of the best, most tense, on-side kicks I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately… in the time it took to write the above paragraph Miami folded and the game is over. This is another black eye for the ACC this year. Earlier in the bowl season UNC lost to Pitt, and BC lost to USC. This loss is arguably worse as — correct me if I’m wrong — unlike UNC and BC, Miami was actually expected to win.

Today is the day of the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. I can’t say I’m too excited — I’m not too excited about bowl season this year in general, and I’m about as excited about this particular game as Jamie Cumbie.

My primary fear before before this game was that the team would have already given up and/or lost focus well before the opening kickoff. The only bowl game I’ve cared enough to watch this season was the Oregon State-BYU game in which the Beavers had clearly given up on their season after missing their chance at the Rose Bowl in their last regular season game. The pre-game press for Clemson has been about how the team is responding to avoid such a let down performance. Dabo, in some potentially unfortunate foreshadowing, had this to say a couple days before Christmas:

Swinney recalled years when players were late or missed practice and meetings.

“They’ve been where they’re supposed to be,” he said. “And we haven’t any guys getting into trouble. That’s usually a sign of a pretty focused team.”

Of course that was before the four players showed up late to the hotel and earned themselves spots on the bench for the game.

I’ll certainly be pleasantly surprised if Clemson wins — and the ACC would love any win over an SEC (or, at this point, ANY) opponent. However, a loss will mark a season that is as defined by success as it is defined by failure, that will not spare Dabo negative comparisons to his predecessor, that will raise questions about how such a supposedly inspirational leader can end on a three-game losing streak, and that will leave little optimism for next year’s talent-depleted team.