Dabo Swinney is intriguing, Yahoo says

Pat Forde at Yahoo Sports ranks the 25 most intriguing college football coaches, and Clemson's Dabo Swinney comes in at No. 20, just behind South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and just ahead of Georgia's Mark Richt. Writes Forde:

He's matured from excitable young boy to proven winner, with 21 victories the last two years and a validating Peach Bowl triumph over LSU. But with quarterback Tajh Boyd back and experience on both lines, the Clemson faithful would like a victory over hated rival South Carolina (he's 0-4) and a run at a national title. There is no dress rehearsal with Georgia as the season opener.

Good stuff.

ESPN GameDay at Clemson on Aug. 31?

Possibly...From Tigernet:

A host on ESPN’s College Football Live Show on Friday said that GameDay will be in Clemson for the Clemson-Georgia game on August 31st. It appears he may have slipped up and "let the cat out of the bag." 

I can't imagine why ESPN wouldn't come to Tigertown for that matchup. It'll be one of the biggest games of the year in college football.

Speaking of tailgating, this looks fun

From College Spun comes this -- Clemson-themed cornhole boards, one with Tajh Boyd throwing the ball, the other with Sammy Watkins catching the ball.

It's not cheap to keep S.C. tailgaters happy

AP: "South Carolina taxpayers spend about $635,400 yearly on traffic control provided by highway troopers, with three college football teams accounting for three-quarters of that."

UGGA the mascot kidnapped!

Clemson Tom kicks off the smack talk ahead of the big game against Georgia on Aug. 31.

Tiger paw designer John Antonio dies

Clemson Sports Information

I'm very late catching up to this. John Antonio, the ad man who created Clemson's distinctive paw logo, died in May. From the press release:

Antonio then wrote the Museum of National History in Chicago and asked for a plaster-of-paris cast of the imprint of a Bengal Tiger's paw.  This was sent to Henderson and a picture was made, slightly tilted about 10 degrees to the right.
Antonio had a meeting with Clemson coaches and administrators in early summer of 1970 and showed the use of the Tiger paw on stationary, athletic fields and uniforms.  Howard, then the director of athletics, was not impressed until Antonio pulled out an orange Clemson helmet from under the desk.  He had affixed a white tiger paw to the helmet.  It was unusual in those times to have any logo on a college helmet.
"That helmet made a big impact on Coach Howard," Sports Information Director Bob Bradley recalled years later.  "He was so impressed he wanted to bring that helmet back to Clemson and show everyone."

Rest in peace, John, and thanks for creating the modern Clemson image.

From Twitter: CJ Spiller reps the Tigers

The former Clemson standout showed up for a Buffalo Bills press conference decked out in purple and orange:

.@CJSPILLER up next at the podium ... in a Clemson hoody pic.twitter.com/gHT4t3WmeB
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) July 27, 2013

Accused Howard's Rock defiler waives probable-cause hearing

AP Photo/Anderson Independent-Mail, Mark Crammer

Micah Rogers has been charged with one felony (malicious injury to personal property) and one misdemeanor (trespassing, unlawful entry into enclosed places) related to the vandalism of Howard's Rock at Clemson's football stadium. The incident occurred in June.

The question remains: Why would a so-called Clemson fan do such a thing?

The rebirth of Tigerpundit

I have been the worst blogger in the history of blogging, but I'm going to try to make up for it.

Especially with the Tigers looking like they might actually do something this year.

I'm going to try to make the focus more on fan-friendly news as opposed to hard-core coverage of stats, key matchups and the like. There are plenty of people out there who do that stuff much better than I can.

Stay tuned.