I'm Goin Home! Who's Comin With Me?

Ask me where I'm from and I'll tell you New York. However ask me where I grew up and that answer is Greenville, SC. Greenville is the 3rd largest city in the Palmetto State behind the capital Columbia, and a city that was vital to our nation's founding, Charleston. About 45 minutes from Greenville is a small town called Clemson which is home to a not so small Clemson University. Clemson is a university rich in tradition that has gained national notoriety for many of its science and engineering programs amongst other academic achievements.

Athletically Clemson has been successful in many sports, turning out a plethora of pro athletes from Khalil Green (MLB) to Dale Davis (NBA) to US National Soccer Team member Oguchi Onyewu (who plays club fútbol for AC Milan). However our version of football, is without a doubt the sport by which Tiger fans live and die. MTSU will get to see this first hand this weekend as the Blue Raiders travel to Death Valley to take on the Orange and White, and as I travel home to watch the game I'm inviting you to come with me; here are 5 reasons why:

1) You should support your Blue Raiders!

First and foremost you should support your school. Not from home, but from the stands. I understand you can't go to every road game but this one is a) not absurdly far away and b) is on a long weekend. This is the perfect chance for you to be on the sidelines and show your Blue Raider pride at an away game. So no excuses! Be Loud! Be Proud! Be Blue!

2) Its not often you see passion like this.

As I said, Clemson fans live and die with their football team. Even if we filled our stadium with die hard Blue Raider fans, we

still wouldn't be close to what the experience is at Death Valley simply because Clemson's home turf has 80,000 seats while ours has less than half of that. For a true sports fan there's nothing like watching a game in that kind of atmosphere, seeing so many people come together for one cause. Hopefully on September 5th, that will be a losing cause but that's neither here nor there.

3) "The Most Exciting 25 Seconds in College Football"

Whether the above statement is true or not is clearly up for debate, however there is no arguing watching Clemson's pre-game tradition is a truly unique experience, one that must be seen in person to fully understand. Three buses full of players pull up to the stadium at which point the players pile off the bus, through the gate and to the top of "the hill." There they wait, giddy with anticipation, for their turn to touch Howard's rock and run full boar down the hill. It's a tradition that's over a half century old and you can see it simply if you make the trip.

4) "At Running Back...#28...C.J. Spiller"

You may have seen guys who are fast. But unless you've been to an Olympic track meet, you've never seen someone this fast. C.J. Spiller is a potential Heisman Candidate (if Clemson is a factor at all in the ACC) and is considered one of the top 5 and maybe even 3 running backs in the country. In his spare time he also runs track to the tune of a 10.22 100m time. Simply put he's blazing fast, but unlike someone like Trindon Holliday of LSU, Spiller can also run people over as opposed to running around them. He will almost certainly be a first round pick in next April's NFL Draft and probably could have been this year if he hadn't chosen to come back for his senior season. It's also worth noting that as absurdly fast as Spiller is, he's not even the fastest player on Clemson's roster. That honor belongs to starting receiver Jacoby Ford (#6) who was the only person who beat Spiller in the 100 meters at their NCAA Regional Meet. However, Ford's personal best of 10.01 in the 100m is his second most impressive time. Coming out of High School he was clocked at 4.126 in the 40 yard dash meaning he could seriously challenge Chris Johnson's record time at the NFL Combine in the spring should Ford choose to go pro in football and be invited to workout. Simply put, if you like to see guys who run fast, you need to be at this game!

5) Upstate South Carolina is Gorgeous!!!

You've got the whole weekend so you might as well use it. Upstate South Carolina has about everything you could ask for in a weekend getaway. Clemson is on Lake Hartwell which sits at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can go hiking, rent a boat, go fishing, or simply stay on Clemson's campus which has plenty of nice green space to sit by itself. If you're more of a city person than the extra 45 minute drive to my hometown will definitely be worth your while. Greenville is a big city compared to Murfreesboro but tiny compared to somewhere like Atlanta, meaning its big enough to have all the different shops, restaurants, and boutiques of a big city, yet small enough so that you don't feel like you don't have space to breathe, nevertheless move on the sidewalks. Greenville also has Falls Park, which features a gorgeous suspension bridge overlooking Reedy River Falls (pictured) as well as plenty of grassy areas to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

There you have it, the top 5 reasons to travel with your Blue Raiders this weekend to Clemson. Consider this your official invitation to my home, the Palmetto State. See ya there!

A Not So Smooth Not So Criminal

By definition Plaxico Burress is a criminal. He committed a crime. A victim-less crime (outside of himself), but a crime none-the-less. As a matter of fact he's worse than that: he's a felon. He committed and was convicted of, or, in his case plead guilty to a felony crime. However Plaxico Burress doesn't pass the eye test for a criminal. Nor does he pass the logic test to be convicted. Sure he broke the law, but so did you this morning. You know you didn't stay under the speed the limit the ENTIRE way to wherever you were going. Now is bringing a loaded weapon into a crowded nightclub in New York the same as you doing 5 over on your way to work? Of course not. But the laws against doing both were created for the same reason: because breaking them makes life more dangerous for you and everyone around you.

Burress sat down recently with Jeremy Schaap and did an interview for E:60, ESPN's weekly news magazine and revealed what I found to be some disturbing details about two separate subjects. First he revealed that shooting himself in the leg doesn't even begin to describe how stupid he was that night, and secondly (and more importantly) how he was put through the legal system. Not only did Plax not get the celebrity treatment (see Chris Brown), he was punished for being a celebrity which to me is far worse. However let's start off with a little background information; some of this was known prior to the E:60 piece and simply not mentioned and some which wasn't known at all.

Three days before Plaxico Burress shot himself at the Latin Quarter in New York City, his teammate and friend, Steve Smith, was held up at gunpoint in his housing complex, taken into his house and robbed. Smith came into practice the next day still terrified saying he thought he was going to be murdered. Fast forward three days and Plaxico Burress is sitting at dinner when he gets a call from Ahmad Bradshaw asking if he wants to go into the city that night. Burress says yes and Bradshaw asks if Burress can pick him up. He once again agrees. However Ahmad Bradshaw lives in the same complex as Steve Smith, something Burress knew. Thus after dinner he went home and got his legally registered weapon, knowing he had to pick Bradshaw up and eventually drop him off.

So far Burress hasn't done anything wrong and in fact has probably done the safe thing considering the events of three days prior. However when the two get into the city (along with fellow teammate Antonio Pierce) Burress decides to keep his weapon with him instead of leaving it in his car. The weapon isn't registered in New York City and thus this is technically where Burress breaks the law. However it is his stupidity in making this decision as well as two more that eventually got him not only caught but shot. Burress decided not to use a holster. The most likely reason is its simply cooler to put the gun in your waist band than wear a holster. Schaap asked Burress why he didn't use a holster and his response was simply "bad judgement." What Schaap didn't ask Burress though is a much more obvious question and that is this: "Why wasn't the safety on on your gun?" A safety locks the trigger so that it can't be hit by accident, which is exactly what happened to Burress. The gun started falling down his pants when he missed a step going up a staircase, and he tried to catch it. Instead he hit the trigger firing a bullet into and out of his leg. If the safety is on he doesn't shoot himself. If he's wearing a holster the gun doesn't fall. If he leaves the gun in his car he doesn't have to worry about any of this. Bad decisions, bad judgement, or pure stupidity: whatever you call it it doesn't exactly make you feel sorry for Plax.

That being said, Plaxico Burress wasn't tried in a court of law no matter who from the District Attorney's office in New York says he was. He was tried in the court of public opinion and the sole judge and jury was Mayor Michael Bloomberg. After the incident, Burress and whoever the power that is that sets bond had agreed on $10,000. As Burress was preparing to enter the courtroom, Mayor Bloomberg spoke at a press conference stating that Burress should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Burress's bond magically jumped to $250,000. Burress's fate was also sealed as he told Schaap: "I was going to prison."

This to me is not only shameful on the part of Mayor Bloomberg and the District Attorney's office but short-sighted and non-beneficial. Plaxico Burress going to prison for 2 years does no good to anybody. Plaxico Burress going to prison for 90 days and spending the rest of his life going to schools and youth gatherings talking about gun safety does. Here was someone that did everything right in the process. He bought his gun legally. He registered it. However he didn't use it properly and brought it to the wrong place and it cost him a bullet-hole in his leg and millions of dollars in lost salary. You don't think that would have an effect on a kid who wants to pack heat? Then maybe this will.

Plaxico Burress was less than 1 cm away from dying. Burress is 6'5". Let me repeat: he was less than 1 cm away from death. The bullet that shot through Plax's leg missed the femoral artery by, according to Burress, a matter of millimeters. If a tale of jail time and a lost fortune doesn't scare a kid out of improperly using a gun, maybe a tale of a nearly lost life will. I mean really, how much closer can you get? A tale of a lost life simply can't be told by he person who didn't survive to tell it.

Plaxico Burress was an idiot. He shot himself in the leg because the safety wasn't on on the gun he shouldn't have that wasn't in the holster he also wasn't wearing. That being said Burress has not only realized his horrible mistakes but he's learned from them. The same can not be said for Michael Bloomberg and the District Attorney's office of New York City. I hope they do realize their mistake and change it, and I have a deadline in mind: Thanksgiving. No I don't care if Plax sees Charley Brown float over Times Square in the Macy's Parade. I care about something much more important. Something that brought a 6'5", Super Bowl champion to tears: the birth of his daughter.

Plaxico Burress is by definition a criminal. The crime he committed had no victims other than himself. Michael Bloomberg by definition was attempting to do his job as the mayor of New York. His attempt had many victims, none of which include himself. They do however include a daughter who won't know her father for the first 18 months of her life. Who's the criminal now?

He Might Be Human Afterall

Jack Nicklaus finished 2nd 19 times. He won 18 majors. Even Tiger Woods will not finish his career with 37 Top 2 finishes. That being said he added an unlikely top 2 this weekend at Hazletine. After holding the lead of a major after 3 rounds he relinquished it. After 14 successful final round victories, Tiger Woods finally lost one. He finally had a poor final round and it cost him. However to say he choked would quite frankly make you wrong.

Losing under pressure doesn't mean you choked. Losing because of pressure does. Tiger Woods lost Sunday for a few reasons and none of them were the pressure he was under to win his 15th major. First and foremost he couldn't hit a putt to save his life. If his read was good his stroke was off. If he hit it where he wanted he shouldn't have hit it there. Secondly he is still not used to having two legs. As absurd as that sounds its true. He was hitting the ball too far with every club and hasn't gotten his distances down yet and thus he had to hit out of some horrible lies which then in return means any putt he did make was for par.

Everyone has a bad round. It happens. For Tiger a bad round is 75. For most its in the high 70's or 80's. Every great player has them, and Tiger is now no exception. It wasn't Phil at Winged Foot but it wasn't Tiger-like. Sadly this is where the story probably goes horribly wrong for Tiger's competition. Tiger will now work harder than ever to come back "roaring" next year (excuse the horrible pun) and he'll be fully adjusted to having a fixed knee and thus two legs. If that happens don't expect too many of these bad rounds again. As a matter of fact don't expect any of them.

And as for this "choking" business? Tiger Woods doesn't feel pressure. And if he does he uses it positively. Unfortunately that doesn't help you if you just don't have the feel for your flat stick. He had a bad day. It happens. Maybe he is human after all....maybe.