In a segment on Thursday's Cover 3 Podcast episode, Chip, Tom, & Bud discuss how much of a favorite Clemson is to win the ACC this year. It evolves into a discussion about using the transfer portal and how dominant Clemson would be this year if they cherry picked portal players to take. But the one thing that really caught my attention was Bud making a prediction that Clemson definitely makes moves to add notable contributors from the portal for the 2024 season based on "things [he] was hearing." I know Bud's a national recruiting guy but he's always seemed to have a relatively decent pulse on Clemson based on ties he's got or had within the program. I'm assuming through Brad & Jeff Scott from the Florida connections but that's just a guess.

Any wild speculations on what changes are being made in the program? Are the winds a changin' @Larry_Williams & @Paul Strelow?

Link should go directly to the clip but if not, it's around the 46:07 mark
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Reading John Ruiz* Life Wallet company was under Federal and criminal investigation as well as others… The main NIL pipeline to The U may bust..lol

n/m

I may be on an island with this but I do feel as if the 3-3-5 alignment for our defense puts our best personnel on the field.

In a 4-2-5, you’re leaving either Woodaz or a 3rd safety off the field. By playing a 3-3-5, you have the freedom to play both. Here’s my pitch:

DE: Ruke
NT: Tyler Davis
DT: Capehart
SLB: Woodaz
MLB: Trotter Jr.
WLB: Carter
CB: Wiggins
CB: Jones
FS: Mukuba
SS: Philips
STAR: Mickens

Keep Mukuba in space and let him play less man to man coverage - also keeps him out of the box mostly. Let Mickens just be a playmaker. Use him all over the field.

LB group is self explanatory. Can substitute Woodaz with XT when you want a pass rush and have him just be a pass rush specialist off the edge.

Rotate that first DL group with a 2nd string of Page/Woods/Williams.

I am in no way saying that we should always be in this look. Teams that use 12 personnel would have a field day against this defense. No better example than the national championship last year. But I do think it’s definitely a look we see more often than people think or care to acknowledge.

Pretty nice

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Maryland QB offered by an unnamed SEC school, but is staying at Maryland.

Is he worth that amount? Wonder which SEC school?

Forcing myself to rewatch the uof game tonight. I’m at 7 min to go when they downed a 61yd punt at the 2. Down 31-30.

I’m sure this will get plenty of dumbass responses. But seriously, at what point do you yank DJ and put in Cade?

If you don’t start him I honestly don’t know where you put him in. He was bad even by his standards but the play calling was terrible by any standard. Add in uof’s special teams, especially the punter, and our special teams blunders and you lose.

The Clemson Nike Zoom Pegasus Shoe also is marked down to $68.39 HERE!

View all 740+ officially-licensed CLEMSON apparel/gear items ON SALE HERE.

And click HERE to view all 4,700+ items in stock at The Tiger Fan Shop!

Every polo in stock HERE (over 370). - ALL BRANDS including Cutter & Buck

SOME BRANDS (with direct links)
Peter Millar
Nike
Antigua
Tommy Bahama
Champion
Russell
Colosseum
Fanatics Branded

Is there a calendar for weigh in and practice? I need to plan my schedule.

Someone that’s better at breaking down film tell me - does the new system space things out more from sideline to sideline? It was pretty interesting playing Tennessee last year and seeing how much they force you to defend sideline-to-sideline. I’ve watched some of TCU last year and some SMU before that. My untrained eye tells me their OL seems to have slightly wider splits and their WR get outside the numbers a little more than ours have in the past. Certainly not as wide as Tennessee but seems to be more of a focus. Can anyone confirm?

Obviously some of it was DJ’s lack of ability to scare anyone but it has felt like we’ve been playing the game inside a pretty tight box for a while. Would be nice to see some guys running in space again.

Why in the world would our administration and the other top football schools in our conference lock us into a Grant of Rights deal this long just for the sake of binding us all together in shackles? Why would one person not step forward and demand escalation clauses in our revenue numbers based off whatever the top 2 conferences are averaging? Let's just say what if our contract said we get at least 70% of TV revenue averages from the top 2 conference annual revenue agreements. To protect ESPN from some other source paying an ridiculous amount that they would not want to match 70% of we could give them an out of GOR with 1 years notice which would also allow us out of it. Who would roll the dice on whether college football revenue would skyrocket around us leaving our school and entire conference in a second tier league? If ESPN would not go for that we should have signed a 4 or 5 year new deal for less money also with escalation clauses! Honestly some folks have potentially ruined Clemson's opportunity to stay near the top of college football unless members either terminate our conference or all conference affiliations for football are dropped to form a Super League. We are left to keep our fingers crossed for another few years while riding along in the rear view mirrors of the Big10 and SEC. Maybe business people should run Universities because this is not forgivable that we have to pray for other schools to bail out our irresponsible foolishness! If I sound like I am on the fence rest assure I am not.

Nothing to say except that he’s a complete loser in every possible meaning of the word loser.

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Realize his failure as a QB has been well documented. However, our last two seasons haven’t been what we experienced from ‘16-‘20. Just how much of that falls on having such an inept QB? Would an “average” QB made a difference? A hypothetical question but some of you may have better insight. If so, please state your thoughts/opinions.

CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson Director of Athletics Graham Neff announced that Robbie Weiss will not return as head coach of the men’s tennis program. Weiss, who just completed his fourth season at Clemson, has served the program since June 2019.

"We are grateful for Robbie’s commitment and contributions for the past four seasons and wish him the best in his future pursuits,” said Neff. “Our focus now turns to finding a new leader to guide our student-athletes on and off the court. We have a very proud tradition in tennis at Clemson, and we feel strongly that we have every resource to make this one of the top programs in the nation."

The program compiled a 41-49 (.456) overall record and 5-34 (.128) mark in league play in four seasons under Weiss. The Tigers finished 11-15 overall and 1-11 in ACC play in 2023.

In its history, Clemson’s men’s tennis program has participated in 25 NCAA Tournaments, 12 Sweet Sixteens, seven NCAA Quarterfinals, and has won 11 ACC Championships.

Weiss was the program’s tenth head coach, and previously served as an Assistant Coach at Alabama, where he was named the ITA Southern Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018. Alabama went to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three seasons on staff, including a Sweet 16 in 2018.

I am turning 35 this year and my wife wants to take me somewhere. We were going to Dallas for a concert but we decided not to spend 4 mortgage payments on tickets/flights and hotel (George Strait tickets were $750 each) so I came up with a Jaguars game since it is only a 3 hour drive. Looking for hotel and restaurant recommendations from someone whose been to a game down there. I’d prefer to be real close. I have been through Jacksonville a dozen times but I don’t know where the stadium is. If close isn’t an option we might do something else
Thanks for any comments

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While Congress and NCAA squabble, NIL collectives lead push on revenue sharing​

By: Ross Dellenger - Yahoo! Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — In a boardroom within a downtown hotel here this week, athletic administrators, as well as others, are gathering to explore potential solutions for a vexing issue that, they say, has hurled college sports into chaos.

Name, image and likeness (NIL) is at the center of a two-day stakeholders meeting that began Tuesday. While no report or legislation is expected immediately from the gathering, administrators and invited guests hope to examine NIL in a way that produces answers.

One group — not invited to the meeting — believes it has some already.

The Collective Association (TCA), a group of seven of the richest donor-led collectives in the country, is preparing to take the next step in the conversation. While college administrators squabble over legislation around NIL, leaders of the TCA are focused on what many believe is the next evolution of athlete compensation: revenue sharing.

Members of TCA presented a revenue-sharing model to SEC and NCAA officials last week in separate meetings — which illustrates the urgency for answers from high-ranking figures within college athletics. The proposal is merely a general framework of a plan that calls for using television network money to compensate athletes.

According to the proposal, which was shared with Yahoo Sports, a portion of the television revenue distributed to conferences would be directed to a designated collective at each member school in equal shares. The collective would then distribute money to that school’s athletes, using its status as a third party as a way to avoid triggering athlete employment, they said.

The aggressive proposal is certain to face significant hurdles in both legality and acceptance among a college landscape that continues to cling to the amateurism model. However, the movement could spark a conversation that many are already holding privately within NCAA circles.

That’s the point, said Matt Hibbs, the CEO of the Classic City Collective supporting Georgia athletics.

“We want to have this discussion. We want to have a conversation about solutions,” Hibbs told Yahoo Sports when contacted about the meetings with both SEC and NCAA executives. “The important piece we all want is to preserve college athletics. In order to do that, something has to change. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing and hope this just works out.”

Collective members held meetings with SEC associate commissioner William King, who oversees legal affairs and compliance, as well as NCAA managing director of academic and membership affairs Geoff Silver. Hibbs declined to confirm specifics of the meetings, only describing them as “positive.” The two officials were “open to further collaboration” and conversation with TCA leaders.

An NCAA spokesperson would only confirm that a meeting took place. An SEC spokesperson did not provide comment.

Asked last week about a potential meeting with collectives, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told Yahoo Sports, “There is a curiosity of what is their intent.”

“It’s incredibly significant that individuals in those positions are eager to hear our opinions and are open to new ideas,” Hibbs said. “They agreed that having outside opinions is exactly what is needed.”

Collective leaders plan to hold conversations with officials from other leagues as well. Four Power Five conferences are represented among the group. There are three from the SEC: Classic City Collective (Georgia), Spyre Sports Group (Tennessee) and The Grove Collective (Ole Miss); two from the Big Ten: Champions Circle (Michigan) and Happy Valley United (Penn State); one from the Pac-12, soon to be Big Ten: House of Victory (USC); and one from the ACC: The Battle’s End (Florida State).

The seven collectives have combined to distribute nearly $70 million to more than 1,500 athletes, according to figures they provided. Officials expect to grow TCA to more than a dozen members eventually.

Collective staff members consider themselves as front-line workers in a recruiting and retention personnel race that has consumed the higher reaches of college football and basketball. They say that they are uniquely positioned to formulate ideas based on their on-the-ground work in NIL.

“We are one of the few entities that touches every aspect of NIL. We talk to athletes, agents and everybody else in between,” says Ingram Smith, the CEO of FSU’s The Battle’s End. “There’s got to be a solution to this. We need to contribute to the solution.”

In a striking comment, even collectives themselves acknowledge that the current model is not sustainable.

“This is something that can last another two to three years,” Smith said. “The idea that three to four people are footing the bill for 90% of a school’s NIL presence is not sustainable.”

Once considered a shadow industry — the dark underbelly of NIL — the collective space has continuously evolved, both in reality and in perception. Many collectives are well-organized companies, often led by sports agents or attorneys, that employ more than a dozen staff members who mine a healthy group of donors. They often use platforms such as Opendorse to assure they are abiding by NCAA policies.

In conversations with both SEC and NCAA officials, collective leaders have made clear that they actually hold similar views as athletic administrators. They want to be regulated, believe fair enforcement is necessary and they support the creation of a nationally uniform NIL policy as well as an agent registry.

“People are afraid to endorse or have dialogue around these things like revenue share,” says Walker Jones, the CEO of The Grove Collective. “But we can stick our heads in the sand or we can talk about it. A win for our group is let’s have these discussions and poke holes in things. Let’s challenge ideas and thoughts.”

There are obvious issues with TCA’s proposal, experts tell Yahoo Sports, most notably: (1) a potential, if not probable, violation of Title IX; (2) the triggering of athlete employment status; (3) antitrust issues around the designated distribution amount; and (4) violations of a league’s television contracts.

But that doesn’t mean the plan isn’t a solid starting point, says Michael LeRoy, an Illinois law professor who has published extensive work on labor policy.

“My first thought is, it’s creative. It’s innovative,” said LeRoy. “It seems like it would stabilize the ruinous competition from one school to another by having a conference-based distribution model, in terms of not allowing one team to distort the market.”

However, LeRoy believes that the proposal is a “thinly veiled employment relationship.”

There is irony in this. While college leaders are staunchly against employment — and that goes for many athletes as well — an employment model, or at least a unionization/collective bargaining model, could be a solution to leveling the playing field.

“I think employment would stabilize competition among schools,” LeRoy said. “It would drive some out, but that’s already happening. Smaller schools can’t keep up with the Georgia's and LSU's.”

In a Senate hearing earlier this year, Jason Stahl, the founder and executive director of the College Football Players Association, publicly implored college leaders to embrace a system that features collective bargaining. Stahl said then that he’s held conversations with coaches at unnamed programs who are in support of such a system.

It’s true. Since Stahl’s comment, several coaches have gone public supporting a more direct pay system for college sports, most notably Penn State’s James Franklin, UNC’s Mack Brown and Alabama coach Nick Saban.

“Unionize it, make it like the NFL,” Saban said in May. “If it's gonna be the same for everyone, I think that's better than what we have now.”

Stuck in a sort-of purgatory between amateurism and professionalism, college athletics seems to be crawling incrementally toward a more regulated compensation framework. Many believe that it’s time to get there as soon as possible. And if leaders within college athletics don’t make the decision themselves, then an outside entity will make the decision for them.

Several pathways to a new college compensation model are in the process of working their way through the judicial and executive branches of government. In the courts, a case in Pennsylvania (Johnson v. NCAA) could deem athletes as employees, and in the executive branch, the National Labor Relations Board is on the way to ruling athletes as employees.

“We are trying to come up with a model,” said Hunter Baddour, the founding partner and president of Tennessee’s Spyre collective. “Even collectives have to compromise a little bit, but it’s better than this getting to the courts and blowing up this system.”

As all plans do, TCA’s proposal has holes, the most prominent of which is an infringement on Title IX, the federal law that requires universities to distribute benefits to male and female students equally.

In the current NIL environment, collectives and their schools may already be toeing the line in violating the law, some believe.

“There are Title IX implications even under the current status, much less moving toward something where clearly the institution or conference is sending money to collectives to use in a different way,” said Amy Perko, the CEO of the Knight Commission, which promotes reforms that support and strengthen the educational mission of college sports. “The collectives are acting as an arm of the institution.”

In the proposal, TCA is suggesting that 10% of a league’s total television distribution get designated to athletes. Earlier this year, the SEC announced a distribution of $721 million to its schools — roughly $50 million per school. Under the proposal, each SEC school’s designated collective would receive $5 million to pay athletes. Exactly how the collectives would distribute the money among athletes has not been vetted, but TCA leaders are open to suggestions.

This raises antitrust issues, says Julie Sommer, a member of the Drake Group and an expert on NIL matters.

“If the TCA is purporting to represent and agree on behalf of the athletes on this 10% figure — a fixed amount — the NCAA can’t grant that antitrust exception,” she said. “Nor can the conferences. Only Congress can. Even if they negotiate it directly with the athletes. It still doesn’t get around Title IX concerns.”

The evolution of athlete compensation is one of the most hotly discussed topics, most of it coming from behind closed-door meetings among NCAA and conference leaders. Any attempt to give more benefits to athletes directly from the school is a risk to both triggering employment status — a spooky word among administrators — and impacting ongoing lawsuits that could cost schools billions of dollars, such as House v. NCAA, which seeks retroactive NIL payments.

Like employment itself, revenue sharing is a divisive issue among college leadership. In fact, a revenue-sharing bill in the California state legislature was rejected this summer amid pushback from NCAA and college officials. The bill is expected to be revived next year during California’s session.

The topic has caused riffs in Congress, where NCAA leaders are encouraging lawmakers to pass federal NIL legislation. There is a deep divide on revenue sharing and employment among Republicans (mostly against it) and Democrats (mostly in support of it).

Meanwhile, as Congress flails in passing NIL legislation and as college administrators struggle with a backup plan, collective leaders march onward with the hopes of continuing their conversation over the next evolution of compensation.

“I love the discussion,” one sitting FBS athletic director told Yahoo Sports. “This is where the discussion has to go. Somebody has to lead it.”

Singer, songwriter, bass player and co-founder of The Eagles, Randy Meisner has passed away…

Meisner died Wednesday night, aged 77, due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a statement from the band.

“Randy was an integral part of the Eagles and instrumental in the early success of the band,” the band said in the statement. “His vocal range was astonishing, as is evident on his signature ballad, ‘Take It to the Limit.’”

Before he formed The Eagles in 1971 with Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon, in May 1968, after auditioning alongside Gregg Allman and Timothy B. Schmit, Meisner joined Poco (originally named Pogo) with former Buffalo Springfield members Richie Furay and Jim Messina.

Meisner was with the Eagles from their self-titled 1972 debut album through 1976’s “Hotel California”, before quitting the group in 1977. (He was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, who had also succeeded Meisner in Poco when he had departed the group to form the Eagles.)

With The Eagles, Meisner wrote, co-wrote and/or sang lead songs on each of the group's first five albums.

The classic Eagles song “Take It To The Limit” was sung by Meisner, and written by Meisner, Don Henley and Glenn Frey.

According to Meisner, he wrote the first few lines of the song one night while playing an acoustic guitar after returning from the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood; however he was not able to finish the song by the time they were close to recording it, so Frey and Henley then helped him with the lyrics.

Meisner's performance of the song was a huge fan favourite at Eagles concerts.

According to Frey, fans of the band loved Meisner's performance of his signature song, and as Henley puts it: "They went crazy when Randy hit those high notes".

Meisner, however, was concerned about not being able to hit the high notes, but Frey was insistent that Meisner should perform the song in concert for the fans, and live performances of the song then became a source of great contention between Frey and Meisner.

It came to a head during the “Hotel California” tour, where Meisner had been struggling to hit the crucial high notes.

According to Joe Walsh, Meisner could perform the song, but would become nervous when told he had to sing it.

By the time they had reached Knoxville, Tennessee in June 1977, the band was feeling the strain of a long tour, with Meisner unhappy and suffering from a stomach ulcer.

Meisner decided not to sing the song for an encore because he had been up late and caught the flu.
Frey and Meisner then became involved in an angry physical confrontation backstage over Meisner's refusal to perform the song.

After the altercation, Meisner was frozen out from the band and he decided to leave.

Randy Meisner left the Eagles at the end of their tour in September 1977.

Post-Eagles, Meisner focused on a solo career.

An absolute legend of rock……R.I.P.

Click on the link below to watch the Eagles performing his classic “Take it To The Limit”:

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On this day in 1977, the Joe Walsh single “Rocky Mountain Way” broke into the UK Top 40 at #39 (July 24)

The Joe Walsh signature song with the pulsing beat and brilliant slide guitar was originally released on the 1973 album “The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get”, and it’s been a live favourite in all of Joe Walsh’s bands over the years…

The 1977 release peaked at #39 in the UK, while the original 1973 release got to #23 in the US, #31 in Canada, and #39 in Australia.

Click on the link below to watch Joe do this classic live:

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On this day in 1965, The Beach Boys single “California Girls” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #72 (July 24)

The song eventually made it to #3 in the US, and became one of The Beach Boys most famous songs.

Brian Wilson has described it as The Beach Boys “anthem”, and in 1987 he said “California Girls was something I'm very proud of in a sense because it represents the Beach Boys really greatest record production we’ve ever made. It goes back to 1965 when I was sitting in my apartment, wondering how to write a song about girls, because I love girls. I mean, everybody loves girls.”

In 2010, “California Girls” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its "lasting qualitative or historical significance." In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #72 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

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On this day in 1965, the Bob Dylan single “Like A Rolling Stone” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #91 (July 24)

Rookie session musician Al Kooper improvised the organ riff for which the track is known, but Columbia Records was unhappy with both the song's length at over six minutes and its heavy electric sound, and was hesitant to release it.

It was only when, a month later, a copy was leaked to a new popular music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a single. Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long track, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached #2 in the US Billboard charts and became a worldwide hit.

When Songfacts asked Al Kooper what stands out as his finest musical accomplishment, he said: "By the amount of emails I receive and the press that I get it is undoubtedly the organ part on 'Like A Rolling Stone.'”

Songfacts also shared that the song made Bob Dylan an unlikely inspiration for Jimi Hendrix, who before hearing it considered himself a guitarist but not a singer, with Dylan proving you didn't need a conventional voice to sing rock and roll.

Hendrix often played "Like A Rolling Stone," including a performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

In 2010, Rolling Stone named "Like a Rolling Stone" as the #1 song on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time", and in 1995 the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame named it as one of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock”…

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On this day in 1982, the John Cougar song “Jack & Diane” debuted on the US Billboard charts at #69 (July 24)

One of the great 80s singalong rock songs!

The song was released as the second single from Mellencamp's 1982 album “American Fool”, and was chosen by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as one of the “Songs of the Century”.

The song established Mellencamp as a blue-collar, heartland American rocker, and working class Jacks and Dianes all over the country, and indeed the world, identified with the pair and fell in love with the song.

Legendary English guitarist Mick Ronson was crucial in the process.
Mellencamp recalled:
“I owe Mick Ronson the song... Mick was very instrumental in helping me arrange that song, as I'd thrown it on the junk heap.
Ronson came down and played on three or four tracks and worked on the American Fool record for four or five weeks.
All of a sudden, for 'Jack & Diane,' Mick said, 'Johnny, you should put baby rattles on there.' I thought, 'What the f*ck does put baby rattles on the record mean?'

So he put the percussion on there and then he sang the part 'let it rock, let it roll' as a choir-ish-type thing, which had never occurred to me.
And that is the part everybody remembers on the song.
It was Ronson's idea.”

Mellencamp’s drummer, Kenny Aronoff, had to come up with the drum break in the middle of the song on the spot, and it became one of the classic rock drum breaks.

“Jack and Diane” spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 and is Mellencamp's most successful hit single.
It was also #1 in Canada and #7 in Australia.

The Sun October 10, 2008 asked Mellencamp if it bothered him being best known for this little ditty.
He replied:
“That song is 30 or so years old and it gets played more today in the United States than it did when it came out. As much as I am a little weary of those two, I don't know any other two people in rock and roll who are more popular than Jack and Diane.
Some people probably think there's a place in hell for me because of those two people! But it gave me the keys to do what I want.

I'm 57 today. I've lived the way I wanted to live, sometimes recklessly and stupidly, but still been able to do that. I've been able to live on my whims, that's what Jack and Diane gave me, so I can't hate them too much."

Some of Mellencamp's high school photos and home movies were used to make the video, which the video production company made for him as a favour.

Paul Flattery, who worked for that production company, explained in the book “I Want My MTV” that Mellencamp made a special request after those videos were completed:
“He said, 'Look, there's a song on the album the label doesn't believe in. But I do. Can you do me a favor and save one roll of film, shoot me singing the song, I'll give you some old photos and stuff and then you cobble it together for me?

The song was 'Jack & Diane.' So we stole some editing time in LA.
We projected slides on the edit room wall, and we had the tape-op wear white gloves to do the clapping.
We didn't charge John a cent."

Click on the link below to watch it:

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Exactly forty years ago, on this day in 1983, the Elton John single “I’m Still Standing” debuted on the UK charts at #42 (July 24)

Helped by the video directed by Russell Mulcahy promoting the song on then-new MTV, “I'm Still Standing" became a big hit for Elton around the world, peaking at #1 in Canada and Switzerland, #3 in Australia, #4 in the UK, #8 in the Netherlands, #9 in South Africa, and #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The video was due to be shot over the course of two days, but a camera full of the first day's film was ruined when Mulcahy accidentally fell into the sea with it, so it had to be filmed again on another day….

Click on the link below to watch:

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Exactly thirty years ago, on this day in 1993, the UB40 single “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You” hit the #1 spot on the US Billboard charts (July 24)

The UK reggae band’s cover of the 1961 Elvis hit stayed at #1 in the US for for seven weeks, and also topped the charts of 11 other countries, including Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, New Zealand (where it was the most successful single of 1993), and the United Kingdom.

Click on the link below to watch:

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Last week back in 1976, the Thin Lizzy LP “Jailbreak” peaked at #18 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart (July 24)

The sixth studio album by the Irish combo proved to be the band's commercial breakthrough in the US, boosted by their biggest US hit “The Boys Are Back in Town", which went on to become one of Thin Lizzy’s signature songs.

The album went to #5 in Canada, #10 in the UK, #18 in the US, and #51 in Australia.

Click on the link below to watch “The Boys Are Back In Town” live at the Sydney Opera House:

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On this day in 1976, Wild Cherry’s self-titled LP debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #100 (July 24)

Wild Cherry’s debut studio album gave us the classic single "Play That Funky Music".

The American funk rock band began to develop a following in the Pittsburgh area as the disco craze was becoming increasingly popular, and they were repeatedly asked by listeners to play more dance music.

While brainstorming for new song ideas, drummer Ron Beitle recounted hearing a fan shout, "Are you white boys gonna play some funky music?"

Lead vocalist and guitarist Rob Parissi was inspired to write a song based on the phrase, so he began writing on a drink order pad with a pen borrowed from the bartender.

After the band recorded the song, studio engineer Ken Hamann brought the band to the attention of Sweet City Records, distributed by Epic/CBS, which signed the group.

Parissi had intended to record the song as the B-side to a cover version of the Commodores' "I Feel Sanctified", but the label suggested it as the A-side instead.

"Play That Funky Music" became a huge hit, peaking at #1 on both the Billboard R&B and Hot 100 charts.

Both the single and Wild Cherry's self-titled debut album went platinum.

The band was named Best Pop Group of the Year by Billboard and received an American Music Award for Top R&B Single of the Year as well as a pair of Grammy nominations for Best New Vocal Group and Best R&B Performance by a Group or Duo.

"Play That Funky Music" was the only hit on the album, although "Hot to Trot" was a minor follow-up hit in some non-US markets.

The album went to #1 on the Billboard R&B Chart, #5 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, #12 in the Netherlands, and #17 in Norway.

Click on the link below to watch "Play That Funky Music":

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The Specials rhythm guitarist and vocalist Lynval Golding was born in Jamaica on this day in 1951 (July 24)

The Jamaican-born musician who moved to the UK formed Fun Boy Three with Terry Hall and Neville Staple after 2 Tone pioneers The Specials split, and he’s still actively performing to this day.

I had the pleasure of watching him in The Specials a few years ago, and a highlight was his solo performance of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”.

Click on the link below to watch The Specials doing a brilliant version of “Madness”:

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The Clemson Nike Zoom Pegasus Shoe also is marked down to $68.39 HERE!

View all 740+ officially-licensed CLEMSON apparel/gear items ON SALE HERE.

And click HERE to view all 4,700+ items in stock at The Tiger Fan Shop!

Every polo in stock HERE (over 370). - ALL BRANDS including Cutter & Buck

SOME BRANDS (with direct links)
Peter Millar
Nike
Antigua
Tommy Bahama
Champion
Russell
Colosseum
Fanatics Branded

Happy to share that, after all these years, (I think) I have finally finished the cookbook project. Reformatted (twice), redesigned, and greatly expanded the original. Did all the writing, design, indexing, cover, ,and much of the photography myself. Thanks to those of you who contributed in one way or another.

That's not to say it is for sale now. Still working through the details of that part. Just ordered 2 proof copies to check on print quality/options. Even at wholesale prices, I couldn't bring myself to purchase a hardcover with premium color/paper. Pricey...about double the standard color prices, which weren't cheap either. But it's 300 pages, so. May have to make an abridged edition for anyone to afford it.

In the meantime, I put together a couple of mockups of the book and a (redacted) preview video; it's a page-turner.





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Stop and talked to him several months ago. We laughed and cried together for awhile. Prayers for the family.

I make this post with sadness in my heart. My college friend and former Clemson Football and Baseball Legend Ray Williams has passed. His career epitomized “ Don’t judge a book by its cover “. His size fooled all of his opponents. He was one gifted young man. He is partially responsible for me choosing Clemson as my school of choice. He took the time to personalize my track visit because most of the Track Team was away when I got there. Rest Well Ray 💐
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He was going to make it 6 months then Harris would take over. Remember that? Then it was going to be after 2 years? Now it's "how will he make it another term? A vote for Biden is a vote for Harris".