The end is near

You'll never hear me complain about my job.

At its worst -- sitting through a rain-delayed, five-hour baseball game; sitting in Atlanta traffic on the way to a football game at Georgia Tech; or having your Macbook destroyed by a water leak in the Death Valley press box -- it's still a great job.

I tell people this all the time, but I can't recall many days over the last 12 years that have begun with my dreading going to work.

So it beats digging ditches for a living. And with all the job losses that have occurred during the current economic malaise, everyone who simply has a job, period, should be thankful.

All this is said to assure you that I don't expect you to feel sorry for me when I say this weekend is a bittersweet time.

You might have seen reports that Clemson begins football camp in a few days. That means my yearly stint as a normal human being is almost over.

College football is my favorite sport, and nothing else is even close. August is always an exciting time, because there's always that buzz of anticipation for the coming season. There's no place I'd rather be on fall Saturdays than in and around college football stadiums across the South (and in Boston).

But when you work all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday for most of the fall, and then are occupied with basketball/spring practice almost every weekend from December until April, you tend to value having a weekend off every now and then.

So the Monday-through-Friday thing that's standard for most other folks is a novelty to those of us who have chosen this sort of hackery as a profession.

To commemorate my last weekend off, I'm putting a stamp on this blog and mailing it in.


But not without a few links...

This is old news, but it hasn't been discussed here: N.C. State gets a good break with the dismissal of charges that were facing three players.

Jake Vermiglio, Markus Kuhn, George Bryan and J.R. Sweezy were charged in April with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after off-duty Raleigh police officer working security at the College Inn complex on the 2700 block of Western Boulevard reported smelling the strong odor of marijuana from the doorway of a third-floor apartment as he walked the hallway at about 1 a.m. Saturday, according to a warrant.

Charges were dismissed against Vermiglio, Kuhn and Sweezy.

A hearing on Bryan's charges had been postponed to a later date.

In The ACC Sports Journal, a Q&A with Chris Hairston.

When you heard Kyle Parker was coming back, did you call him?

Nah, nah, nah. I haven’t called him. I actually haven’t called him since the decision was made.

How did you hear about it?

What website? I think it was on Tiger Illustrated. My mom has a subscription, and she actually told me.

What’d she say?

She said, “That guy that plays baseball is coming back!”

Hey, thanks for the pub Mr. Hairston. And thanks for the support, Mrs. Hairston.

Rivals.com ranks Florida State No. 21 and has the following bottom line on the Seminoles:

FSU has a chance to be among the nation's most improved teams. Keep in mind that the Seminoles went 9-4 two years ago before last season's implosion. The Seminoles also should benefit from playing in the weaker Atlantic Division. The Seminoles might struggle to finish third in the Coastal Division, but they're certainly good enough to win the Atlantic. Whether Florida State actually does make it to Charlotte for the ACC championship game depends on how much the defense improves. FSU ranked 108th in the nation in total defense and rushing defense and 110th in pass efficiency defense last season. While spring reports suggested the defense has improved quite a bit, the Seminoles must prove it on the field. If Ponder stays healthy all season and the defense is merely average, the Seminoles ought to take the Atlantic Division, though they probably aren't good enough to win the entire conference.

The AP filed a report on Clemson's secondary NCAA violations and put an interesting spin on it.

Clemson athletics had its share of eating problems the past six months.

The school's athletic department reported seven NCAA secondary violations from January to July, nearly half of them involving food.

Stay tuned for an Outside the Lines report on Clemson's renegade eaters.


LW