I wrote for the team blog this week

Interview Reflection

Walking into the Angie’s office for an interview, I have to confess, I was very nervous. That interview was probably the closest thing I have had to a professional interview where I felt like I was being assessed for my career job. That kind of feeling was new for me and it helped me to imagine what my answers and reactions would be in an actual interview. For the most part I was very proud of the way that I was answering questions. I don’t believe that I do so well when I’m having to answer questions quickly on my feet but after the interview I felt like I was well prepared and that I did a decent job answering those questions. There was an instance where I was stumped when I was asked if I had any questions for her about the company, luckily for me I hadn’t actually turned in a company but none the less I still wouldn’t have thought to prepare for that question. Another thing that I really need to watch when I’m speaking to someone who is interviewing me is my word usage. I didn’t even realize that throughout the interview I was using slang. While I’m sure I didn’t sound uneducated when I was speaking, it was still unprofessional and something that I will work on. Other than that I felt that this interview gave me a lot of confidence for when I prepare for the real thing. For the most part I believe that the interview went rather well and it is an experience that I will definitely remember and draw from.

Presentations

Okay well the first presentation that I really remember is the one by James Cranford. He did the presentation on choosing a plasma TV or an LCD TV. I found it interesting because I have always been into home entertainment systems and I am constantly trying to improve mine. The presentation was especially nice since I am looking into buying a new TV here in the near future. I loved how on his hand out he had the pros and cons to each type of TV, something that will be very useful when it comes time to make a final decision on the television that fits me best.

The other presentation that I really liked, although I can't remember the name of the student who did it, was the presentation on the restaurants in the Clemson area. With me turning 21 this month I found the presentation to be very helpful to me and informative enough for me to print out his hand out and tape it to my wall so I know the weekly specials to the restaurants around here.

All in all I thought all the presentations were good but these two were the ones that stuck out in my mind and will be referenced in the very near future.

Clemson Football

Okay I told myself that I wasn’t going to talk about Clemson football when I found out that we had a free write but my how that changed in the after math of the Virginia Tech game.

All of us guys in the apartment took it pretty hard when we lost to Georgia Tech. There were so many mistakes in that game but most of them we could chalk up to the team just having a bad day. We were all convinced that after losing to a team like Georgia Tech, who is of obvious lesser talent, we would bounce back the next week at home and be able to take on a struggling Virginia Tech offense. The truth is that we did handle the Virginia Tech offense very well I thought our defense did an amazing job, but it was yet again out special teams that was the reason behind our debacle. This is now the second year in a row where our special teams, a team that plays a limited role on the field, has been so bad that it actually costs us wins. Even so, nothing has been done to find a coach that can get the job done. Bowden last year took control of the special teams and still couldn’t get the job done and yet we are in the middle of a new season and Bowden still thinks he can do it himself or that the offense will score so many points that it won’t matter what the special teams does.

What makes me angrier than anything is that we have so much talent on this team and players that work their tails off but from my point of view it has been the coaching decisions that have been so costly. From placing way too much confidence in the running game to just plain horrible play calling. Although I can’t pretend to know everything that the coaches know and why they make some of the decisions that they do, I do know that what is happening with the special teams for the second year in a row is just plain stupidity. One returned kick/punt for a touchdown is enough for maybe five games, but three in one game like in our game Saturday is inexcusable.

There are so many issues that need to be addressed but of course we play crap teams for the next couple of weeks and we will win with ease and Bowden will be able to say that the problems have been addressed. Then we get to Boston College and South Carolina where our skills are actually tested and we will see more of the same domination that we have witnessed for the past two weeks. All I can say is that this offseason, unless we get an amazing recruiting class, will be a long one for Coach Bowden.