Talking about beating Clemson in basketball

[Clemson Troll]

I saw a few Syracuse fans jeering something to the line of, "Wait until basketball season, Clemson", and couldn't help but chuckle a little. Clemson is the ass end of the ACC in basketball. There is no program that has been as historically as bad as we have been in the ACC.

You will steamroll us when we meet this year, and the next, and the next. That said: Nobody is going to care, and our players and our coaches certaintly aren't going to talk trash beforehand. Basketball is not and has never been much of a priority here, and we're not well-equipped to be a decent basketball school. But that's OK. Football is king here.

So, just remember: Before you bring up basketball during good-natured jabbing with a Clemson fan, remember that you'd have a lot better luck telling a Your Momma joke or saying something mean-spirited about Danny Ford.

 

[690West]

I just wasted 30 seconds of my life

 

[Cuseregular]

I saw a few Syracuse fans jeering something to the line of, "Wait until basketball season, Clemson", and couldn't help but chuckle a little. Clemson is the ass end of the ACC in basketball. There is no program that has been as historically as bad as we have been in the ACC.

You will steamroll us when we meet this year, and the next, and the next. That said: Nobody is going to care, and our players and our coaches certaintly aren't going to talk trash beforehand. Basketball is not and has never been much of a priority here, and we're not well-equipped to be a decent basketball school. But that's OK. Football is king here.

So, just remember: Before you bring up basketball during good-natured jabbing with a Clemson fan, remember that you'd have a lot better luck telling a Your Momma joke or saying something mean-spirited about Danny Ford.

as has been noted here many times, the trash talk of what you make mention was fabricated by the folks in your area. Unless saying things like "we think we have a chance to win" , and that given a choice a player said "I'll take my #10" in this game.

What would you expect them to say? I mean seriously. But, oh yeah, we'll enjoy the annual rout in basketball especially until we get on the same level in football, which by the way like 1995 will happen again.

 

[adk(roc)CUSE]

But why is Clemson basketball so unimportant to you? I understand football is king in the southern states but Clemson has such a large fan base I'd think they could support hoops too. That little arena you have seems to rock for the big games...what sport do you all watch once the pig skin is over? Is it NASCAR? And how the hell can you be 0-47 or whatever at UNC? How is that even possible? Not trying to dig at you. Legitimate questions.

 

[chakka3421]

Not all of us use basketball as a crutch. Personally I can't stand basketball talk on a football forum either. Who the cares especially from a Clemson, FSU, Miami or VT view? We have been away for so long from a true football conference hopefully the Clemson's of the world bring us back into mainstream thinking.

That said - our own knuckleheads here argue - we are a bball school or we are a fball school just having a down decade. I personally cannot stand stupid talk like that.

We were once known for both and have a huge tradition in both. So I say, why the not be great in both?

 

[Clemson Troll]

But why is Clemson basketball so unimportant to you? I understand football is king in the southern states but Clemson has such a large fan base I'd think they could support hoops too. That little arena you have seems to rock for the big games...what sport do you all watch once the pig skin is over? Is it NASCAR? And how the hell can you be 0-47 or whatever at UNC? How is that even possible? Not trying to dig at you. Legitimate questions.

We simply never have and never will care about basketball. As a whole, it's not a big deal in our region (South Carolina, Georgia border area). SC produces very little basketball talent. Our arena doesn't look bad on TV, but the facilities for the players are terrible. And we're 0-47 against UNC at UNC because we simply aren't that good. Ever. We had a few "great" years (by our standards) from 2008-2011, but if Syracuse had the results we did during that span, your fans would probably be talking about firing your head coach.

As far as what we watch outside of football season, baseball is our other top priority. We've had a lot of success in the last 30 years, and are a very well respected program. Baseball is a great fit for our fan demographic, in that we can tailgate around the stadium, have a few cold ones, and go to the game to shoot the breeze and watch the team. It's a lot more low key than our football games, the change of pace is nice. We also have a traditionally strong soccer team, if that's your thing (it's not too popular down here). Ditto for golf, we're almost always in the hunt. Rowing team has been very good as well, but that's not a spectator sport, though the lake is beautiful.

NASCAR is a lot more prevalent up in North Carolina, though you will find some who watch it here. I don't care for it myself, nor do the vast majority of the students.

 

[Clemson Troll]

We were once known for both and have a huge tradition in both. So I say, why the not be great in both?

I agree, it'd be most ideal to be great at both, but that is freaking hard to do. The odds are stacked against both of us in that regard. The thing that has lead to our re-emergence in football is our athletic department and board of trustees feeling the heat from the fans as to our continued under-performance. Things hit rock bottom in 2008, and we saw an urgent re-focusing after that.

We dumped a ton of money into our football program suddenly. Out of the blue, a new coaching staff appeared, and the coordinators were amongst the highest paid in the country. An indoor practice facility sprung up. A bunch of money was poured into some stadium upgrades. And we are still playing catchup to the schools that are elite on a yearly basis (we can't make that claim yet).

If we wanted to be great in basketball, we'd need to do the same sort of thing there. The problem is: doing so would stunt the flow of funds to our football program, and that would be incredibly unpopular. I suspect the same would hold true for Syracuse. Would you be OK with falling behind a little regarding to coaching staff wages and facilities to invest in building a new football stadium, getting better coaches, building top tier player facilities? As is the case with our basketball fan base, your football fan base probably isn't big enough to fund such improvements separately.

And that's before we even get into the cultural side of things. Syracuse seems to be in a rut football-wise, just like we have been in basketball. You can't convince a Clemson fan to donate for a new basketball arena because our culture dictates that we suck in basketball. Chicken before the egg type deal. While your football team is comparatively much better than our basketball team, my observation is that football isn't king at Syracuse.

It's hard, but not impossible, to be great at both. It's an excellent ideal to shoot for, but I think that Syracuse and Clemson are probably at a higher disadvantage than most.

 

[chakka3421]

I agree, it'd be most ideal to be great at both, but that is freaking hard to do. The odds are stacked against both of us in that regard. The thing that has lead to our re-emergence in football is our athletic department and board of trustees feeling the heat from the fans as to our continued under-performance. Things hit rock bottom in 2008, and we saw an urgent re-focusing after that.

We dumped a ton of money into our football program suddenly. Out of the blue, a new coaching staff appeared, and the coordinators were amongst the highest paid in the country. An indoor practice facility sprung up. A bunch of money was poured into some stadium upgrades. And we are still playing catchup to the schools that are elite on a yearly basis (we can't make that claim yet).

If we wanted to be great in basketball, we'd need to do the same sort of thing there. The problem is: doing so would stunt the flow of funds to our football program, and that would be incredibly unpopular. I suspect the same would hold true for Syracuse. Would you be OK with falling behind a little regarding to coaching staff wages and facilities to invest in building a new football stadium, getting better coaches, building top tier player facilities? As is the case with our basketball fan base, your football fan base probably isn't big enough to fund such improvements separately.

And that's before we even get into the cultural side of things. Syracuse seems to be in a rut football-wise, just like we have been in basketball. You can't convince a Clemson fan to donate for a new basketball arena because our culture dictates that we suck in basketball. Chicken before the egg type deal. While your football team is comparatively much better than our basketball team, my observation is that football isn't king at Syracuse.

It's hard, but not impossible, to be great at both. It's an excellent ideal to shoot for, but I think that Syracuse and Clemson are probably at a higher disadvantage than most.

While in the BE, we didn't have the funds to keep up on the football side. But guess what, we have been slowly reinvesting in facilities since our former HC Doug Marrone got us back on the winning track. And with his leaving (long story) and us going to the ACC as 2 catalysts taking it one step forward, we have enough funds now and will be building our own indoor practice facility this year - so I would say it feels like to me we are where you were back in 2006-2007.

Personally the Dome is a great venue for a college football game and one of the few college arenas where you can still buy and drink beer in the stands. When the Dome has 50k in it their is no louder place to be in college football. I'm not sure if we have to invest here.

 

[Clemson Troll]

That's good to hear, we want/need you to be solid in football. Basketball is a great sport, but improving ACC football is what will ultimately make us all a lot more money. We're already awesome at basketball as a conference, there's not much room for further growth. On the flipside, there's a TON of room for improvement in football, and I think we're seeing the beginnings of that this year. With Louisville joining next year and Miamia, UNC, FSU, Clemson all making progress (combined with this stupid ND deal), I think the best is yet to come.

On the dome: I will have to disagree. It is a darker, dingey building that looks pretty grotey. When you are showing it off to your recruits, you probably won't have it packed full of 50k, and you aren't the loudest place in college football. I don't say any of this to ding on you, and I am very jealous of your selling beer, but the Carrier Dome needs a replacement or a big facelift.

 

[OrangeDW]

That's good to hear, we want/need you to be solid in football. Basketball is a great sport, but improving ACC football is what will ultimately make us all a lot more money. We're already awesome at basketball as a conference, there's not much room for further growth. On the flipside, there's a TON of room for improvement in football, and I think we're seeing the beginnings of that this year. With Louisville joining next year and Miamia, UNC, FSU, Clemson all making progress (combined with this stupid ND deal), I think the best is yet to come.

On the dome: I will have to disagree. It is a darker, dingey building that looks pretty grotey. When you are showing it off to your recruits, you probably won't have it packed full of 50k, and you aren't the loudest place in college football. I don't say any of this to ding on you, and I am very jealous of your selling beer, but the Carrier Dome needs a replacement or a big facelift.

What are you, an interior decorator? Facelift? For what?

The sightlines are great from just about every seat, the building is loud, and even from the furthest seats from the field the fans are right on top of the action. Beyond that, who cares? You want some nice brick to admire or something?

 

[albanycuse]

Didnt we lose to Clemson in basketball the last time we faced them in the NIT. I havent slept since.

 

[Jake]

Purely from a fan perspective, i'd rather be good at hoops than football. So much has to go right for you to win a FB nc. BB, you control your own destiny. no polls, no politics. And in Syracuse, to have a shitty hoops product and staring at 30 inches of snow on the ground --- shoot me.

 

[longislandcuse]

I don't think we have to take away funds from the basketball program to build the football program. Like a poster said earlier we are building an IPF like the one Clemson has and now have ACC funding which dwarfs the chump change we got from the Big East. Our Athletics Dept seems to have gotten the memo that we need to be good at football.

 

[Clemson Troll]

It's funny, because we bitch about the ACC funding being behind other BCS conferences.

 

[Stern]

But why is Clemson basketball so unimportant to you? I understand football is king in the southern states but Clemson has such a large fan base I'd think they could support hoops too. That little arena you have seems to rock for the big games...what sport do you all watch once the pig skin is over? Is it NASCAR? And how the hell can you be 0-47 or whatever at UNC? How is that even possible? Not trying to dig at you. Legitimate questions.

Basketball is an afterthought at most schools that have legit top football programs. They see basketball as a silly game played in a small gym during the winter months while they wait for football season to start back up. Basketball isn't a "money maker" for most schools and most schools put little to no importance in the program. And the fans could care less. In the south Football is king. Followed by Nascar. Throw in some college baseball. And college basketball is like 7th on the list of importance. You have your pockets (Like the states of North Carolina and Kentucky) but those are just pockets. Nobody cares about college hoops really down there unless a team gets hot and makes a big run one year.

 

[Clemson Troll]

Re: NASCAR

It is king in North Carolina. You won't find a ton of Clemson fans who are really into it. We're much more likely to go for baseball. And we do like basketball, just hard to get too excited about Clemson basketball

 

[chakka3421]

Purely from a fan perspective, i'd rather be good at hoops than football. So much has to go right for you to win a FB nc. BB, you control your own destiny. no polls, no politics. And in Syracuse, to have a shitty hoops product and staring at 30 inches of snow on the ground --- shoot me.

Its going take a long time for our fan base to understand if our Admins still don't get that we are in a major league football conference with a chance to get back in the NC contention race and that many around the country could care less about basketball until March Madness as you state for the reasons above.

From my perspective as a fan, football is way more fun because of the fact it is far more unpredictable than basketball - and every football game during the season is important making each game during the season critical - and with the upcoming 4 team playoff system, politics wont be as much of an issue anymore either except for the 5th team.

So I disagree with you but that's because we have been in an irrelevant BE conference for so long in football it never really matter if we won or not because anyone winning the BE conference was never going to play for a NC.

 

[longislandcuse]

It's funny, because we bitch about the ACC funding being behind other BCS conferences.

I think the ACC is poised to make a jump. We really lucked out with Maryland going to the B1G and bringing on Louisville to replace them. Along with Miami's resurgence and Clemson/FSU being perennial top 10 teams I can see ACC football taking a big step forward. Eventually it has to translate with all the talent the ACC sends to the NFL every year. 3/4 top QBs this year are ACC or soon to be ACC. Boyd, Bridgewater, Winston and Manziel. Doubt it happens but a National Championship between FSU/Clemson and Louisville would certainly raise some eyebrows.

 

[Clemson Troll]

Replacing Maryland with Louisville was a huge upgrade in every regard. Those Maryland fans are absolute trash. They are mean, vulgar, and dangerous. The two times I've been to games there, we had batteries and/or beer bottles thrown at our heads. If you walk around wearing your team's apparel, you'll hear all kinds of vulgar garbage.

Their stadium sucks, their fans don't show up or care, and they have to pipe their band over the stadium speakers (which they do for the entire duration of the game). Awful experience, will not miss.