When we think of Dabo Swinney, savant isn't the first thing the first thing that comes to mind. Not really sure you want a savant as your football coach, so Clemson fans have that going for them (along with the fact that Clemson is essentially Auburn with a lake...). So imagine my surprise when I read that Dabo was playing the role of corporate "idea man" for the ACC & suggesting we turn our spring games into actual scrimmages against OTHER teams. Hmmmm, got to give Dabo credit, at very least he got us thinking....
Why not change the annual spring game, in our case "T-Day", to a scrimmage against another team? It would be compelling to play Bama or Auburn in the spring instead of just beating up ourselves. So what say you? There are negatives to this plan, for most likely we would have to travel to the spring game every other year (when we are away). But it is an interesting idea & one worth pondering. Give us your thoughts: would you like to see the annual spring game turned into a scrimmage against another team or do you like the fact we play ourselves?
It's a very interesting idea, but I see more problems than merits.
ReplyDelete1) it wold likely turn into a probowl type event or 7 on 7 dills, with no or minimal contact as coaches would be afraid of injuries.
2) invariably, someone would get the bug for $$$$ and start setting up TV deals... Defeating the purpose altogether.
3) UGA or Alabama or any other program who thinks of themselves as bigtime wouldn't participate in fear of losing preseason ranking points.
4) it would lead to rankngs even earlier, which we need to get rid of regardless...
Beyond that, stellar example of thinking outside the box.
Robespierre,
ReplyDeleteI'll play devil's advocate:
1) people are just as likely to get hurt scrimmaging against their own team the way things are now. I think players get tired of hitting their teammates & want to hit someone else by the end of camp. High schools & NFL teams regularly scrimmage one another during training camp. Little difference here.
2) Why is TV defeating the purpose? If someone is willing to pay to air the game then so be it. Charging admission might be a bad idea but both Bama & U(sic)GA's spring games will be televised on ESPN this year.
3) They will play. It's a training camp & they want to see how they stack up against live opponents. Plus everyone else is doing it....
4) rankings until week 5 are stupid...
Cost & the "away" game factor is really the biggest prohibition, IMHO. Glad this was such a lively topic....
-Hash