Were we supposed to care about Clemson? The #9 Tigers came into today’s home game at 17-0, one of three remaining unbeaten teams left in the NCAA. Their opponent was one of the other two, Wake Forest, who only had one real hurdle (UNC) on their spotless resume thus far. But the Deacs survived a late run to close out a 78-68 win, having not surrendered the lead over the last 25 minutes of play. Jeff Teague was the man of the match for Wake, racking up 24 big points on just 12 shots from the field (that 13-18 performance from the charity stripe didn’t hurt).

(Well, that’s probably not what Clemson had in mind.)

If you’re thinking that this situation has the stink of familiarity to Clemson, yes, it does. Recall 2006-07, when the Tiggers started the season 17-0… then fell apart and couldn’t even make the tournament, limping into the NIT at 21-10. The year prior, they jumped out to a 10-0 mark, only to get pushed around in the ACC and finished 17-12. Yes, last year they got off the schneid with a 23-9 mark, but a first-round “upset” by 12-seed Villanova (one that everybody and their mother picked in their pools) delivered the guillotine to Clemson’s season. No telling where the FAIL will come this year, only that it’s coming.

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When the going gets tough, you can always turn to family to offer some much-needed words of encouragement. Unless you’re Tommy Bowden, in which case you just have your brother Terry tell the world that your recently-fired (OK, “resigned”) behind got what it deserved. That’s what you get for telling Mom about the secret fort when you were eight.

It’s not all so heartless, as Terry Bowden does talk at length about how close he and his brother are. But it just goes to show how cruel the coaching profession can be. In his weekly column for YAHOO! SPORTS, Terry spends most of his time talking about how puzzled he is that Tommy couldn’t manage to get Clemson in position to win an ACC title, and that the university was right to try and find someone else who might be able to.

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• Vince McMahon wants his wrestlers to make it more realistic when they fight. Too bad Mick Foley isn’t wrestling for WWE anymore: I’d like to see how one “realistically” gets a sweat sock shoved in his mouth.



• What can Big Brown do for you? Apparently have sex with a lot of fillies, as the Kentucky Derby winner has been injured and put out to stud.
• The Rays can’t compete with the playoff-honed experience of the Red Sox when it comes to idiotic fan behavior.
• A 19-year-old top prospect of the Rangers’ dies during a game in Russia, and it might be from a blow accidentally delivered by his teammate Jaromir Jagr.
• Holy Cross football player allegedly stabs teammate at party following win - no word if a Crown of Thorns was the weapon of choice.
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Remember the beginning of the season, when Clemson was ranked in the top 10 and people thought this was the year they broke free in the ACC? Yes, well, about that… No.

Clemson’s slide back to the familiar territory of mediocrity started in week 1, when Alabama throttled them in front of a stunned Atlanta crowd, 34-10. Any hopes of a resurgence were dashed over the past two weeks, when the Tigers dropped consecutive contests to godawful Maryland and godawful-until-three-years-ago Wake Forest. That’s apparently all the AD needed to see, as according to WYFF in Greenville, SC, Clemson fired head coach Tommy Bowden today:

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• Suspected cocaine trafficker & ex-NFL RB Travis Henry is out of jail on $400,000 bail. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

• The Los Angeles Dodgers and Clemson Tigers sure could use a hug.

• It was sink or swim for a Zimbabwe soccer squad. Unfortunately, one of their players drowned.

• Morten Andersen wants a chance to kick the record of NFL’s oldest player.

• U-Dub and Wazzu are on pace to finish out their seasons with a finale we’re officially dubbing the Rotten Apple Cup.

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That low rumble you heard in Los Angeles last night wasn’t an earthquake - it was the sound of one million Dodger mini-flags being ripped off of cars simultaneously. The team didn’t have a total collapse like the Cubs, but a sixth-inning mini-meltdown of one bad throw and two lousy pitches undid the rest of the night and equaled a 3-2 defeat.

Dodger fans throughout LA have one question: when does the Lakers season start? That, and if Joe Torre should have lifted Derek Lowe after Chase Utley deposited a ball into the bleachers in right center to tie the game. I agree with the LA TIMES’ BLUE NOTES that you have to leave Lowe in: he had been cruising along until then. If you want to find a goat, look at Rafael Furcal going 0-4 at the top of the line-up and making a lousy throw. Or the 6-7-8 hitters for the Dodgers, who went 1-11.

And speaking of finger-pointing: Clemson Tigers, meet your fans! If you thought that the fans were hard on you after your loss to Maryland, you probably want to schedule some extra sessions with the team therapist to deal with the fallout from your 12-7 loss to Wake Forest and practically Auburn-like offense. Perhaps it’s just karma for taking away Ray Ray McElrathbey’s scholarship in the off-season.

Here’s some more news to ponder while watching the Dow Jones Index go down another hundred points. Wait, make it two hundred! Three hundred! Wow, I didn’t even know it could go into negative numbers…

• YAHOO! SPORTS weighs in that MMA sensation Gina Carano is putting her career - and health - in danger by having to continually struggle to make weight.
• So who is throwing out the first pitch for the Rays before Game 1 of the ALCS? The TAMPA TRIBUNE says that it will be 11 original season ticket holders. Dick Vitale will have to wait until Game 2.
• The CANTON REPOSITORY says that if Romeo Crennel had a vote, his players would keep their politics to themselves after Brady Quinn introduced John McCain at a local rally and Willie McGinnest publicly backed Barack Obama.
• Maybe McCain’s campaign should hire Don Cherry to yell at him for motivation: after the Maple Leaf’s management was ripped by the blustery Canadian broadcasting legend, Toronto went out and beat the defending Stanley Cup champions Detroit Red Wings during the NHL Opening Night Except for Games Played in Europe.
• While his brother might be taking the high road about the New York Yankees, Frank Torre isn’t, gloating to the USA TODAY about the Yankees’ misfortune this season.
• NASCAR drivers acting like idiots, and neither of them are named Tony Stewart? The CHARLOTTE OBSERVER says that Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards scuffled in the garage as fall-out from last week’s wreck at Talladega.
• Enjoy it while you can, Clippers fans, even if it’s the preseason - LA’s second NBA team takes out the Lakers 107-80, which doesn’t keep Phil Jackson from suggesting to a TV reporter that the Clippers should move to Fresno. Ouch.
• And speaking of Fresno: the FRESNO BEE notes that apparently the NCAA frowns on having a local club host your 21st birthday party with ads in the paper, as Bulldogs RB Ryan Mathews found out.
• Want to be an MLB player? Well, the Royals are almost a big league team, and the KANSAS CITY STAR says that they are having open tryouts this weekend.
• And finally, a story about Notre Dame lineman Pat Kuntz and his ever-changing hairstyle, which is now a Mohawk. Gentlemen, I’ll leave the jokes about the landing strip of hair on Kuntz to you in comments.

• What’s more hilarious than showing up at practice and noticing that Brett Favre has put a dead animal in your locker? Reportedly it was a wild turkey, but usually when dead things end up stuffed in lockers in New Jersey, it’s not something to laugh about.

• Ozzie Guillen is in love with a certain team on the south side…of the country.

• Misty May-Treanor can win gold medals running around on a beach, but she can’t physically keep up in a competition that still includes Cloris Leachman. So now the well-endowed lawyer’s daughter is back in.

• Vladimir Putin released a DVD to teach you about Judo. Next in the series of world leader instructional DVDs: Robert Mugabe’s ground-breaking series of curling lessons.

• Even Frank Caliendo has had enough of the Frank TV ads. And he’s the star of the show.

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Football is a sensitive sport, played and coached by delicate men who don’t like to have their feelings hurt.  At least, that’s the message coming out of Clemson, where Tommy Bowden’s Tigers used their off week to reconnect with their emotions.

(Tommy’s Tigers shouldn’t have to tell you when they’re upset!)

According to the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, the Tigers’ go-from-ahead loss to Maryland several weeks ago sparked a firestorm of ire from fans, who called for Bowden’s dismissal and proclaimed the team’s season to be effectively over.  Blubbery cherry-picked quotes after the jump. Read more…

• DEADSPIN discovers the Army doing an about face, as Detroit Lions pick & West Point grad Caleb Campbell won’t get to play pro football, after all.

• A former Miami Hurricane in trouble with the law? No way! But the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES says such is the case of ex-QB Kenny Kelly.

• EVERY DAY SHOULD BE SATURDAY doesn’t feel so fresh, as an Eastern Kentucky football player was caught stealing feminine hygiene products from a Wal-Mart.

• YOU BEEN BLINDED tunes in to learn that women’s Olympic sports are too hot for Iranian television.

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In 2007, students at the Ohio State University voted in favor of erecting an on-campus statue to salute legendary Buckeyes football coach Woody Hayes. A year later, it appears that idea has been sacked.

(Woody enjoying spring practice in Columbus)

THE WIZARD OF ODDS punches up news that no further progress has been made in honoring Hayes. No artisan contracted, no location determined, not even the type of material for the statue has been decided.

So, what’s the hold-up? Read more…