'Harold' had passion for football, life

When I covered Clemson for the Anderson Independent-Mail and The (Columbia) State in South Carolina, I could always count on a visit from Dr. Harold Vigodsky when I arrived at the press box before a game.

"Harold," as we called him, kept statistics for the Clemson Tiger Sports Network and just completed his 13th year as the Carolina Panthers’ statistician. Although Dr. Vigodsky crunched numbers at games on Saturdays and Sundays, his interest in football extended beyond the college and pro games.

Dr. Vigodsky, an optometrist who lived in Spartanburg, looked for me every Saturday to bring him up to date on the important high school scores in my area, and we’d talk about high schools, Clemson and the Panthers. Dr. Vigodsky died suddenly Thursday from a virus that led to internal bleeding. He was 62, and his loss will leave heavy hearts among media members and sports information employees throughout the Carolinas.

In a remembrance on Clemson’s official web site, school sports information director Tim Bourret wrote that by the end of his second year with the Panthers Dr. Vigodsky was regarded as one of the top experts on NFL statistics interpretations and was regularly consulted by others for his opinion on how a play should be scored.

Professionally, media types will miss his keen eye for statistical accuracy. Personally, the next time I cover a game at Clemson I will miss talking about football and life with a kind man who had a passion for both.

- Ken Tysiac

Brand's support of 'Plus-one' a good step

NCAA president Myles Brand told USA Today that he would support a “plus-one” plan for a national championship in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

That’s a step in the right direction for college football when fans and media are clamoring for a playoff to decide a champion. University presidents remain opposed to a playoff because of the class time athletes might miss and the risk of destroying a bowl system that’s lucrative for athletics departments.

But the plus-one model would inch football closer to a legitimate championship decided on the field. In that scenario, the top four teams would be paired in bowls as semifinalists, with the winners meeting in the “plus-one” championship games. Four deserving teams rather than the current two would have a shot at the national title.

The earliest that change could come is the 2010 season, after the current BCS deal expires. Even then, the Big Ten and Pac-10 might keep it on hold until the 2014 season, after their agreement with the Rose Bowl ends.

Either way that’s a long time to wait, but slow progress is better than no progress, and Brand should have the clout to move this idea forward.

– Ken Tysiac

Duke, Cutcliffe pushing season tickets

If you go to Duke’s official athletics website (goduke.com), the first image you see is that of new football coach David Cutcliffe urging the purchase of season tickets.

That’s just one part of an exhaustive marketing campaign aimed to generate interest in a team that’s gone 13-90 over the last nine seasons under Carl Franks and then Ted Roof.

Duke is giving mini-footballs with Cutcliffe’s signature to any fan who buys season tickets. On the day of Cutcliffe’s introductory news conference, Duke e-mailed supporters of the program with a video message from Cutcliffe asking them to buy tickets.

The school has contacted alumni in North Carolina and southern Virginia by automated phone message and e-mailed alumni worldwide Wednesday by e-mail. Advertisements are running in local newspapers, with radio ads and billboards on city buses coming soon.

“The excitement is high,” said Duke promotions director Bart Smith. “Everybody is excited about the new hire, and we’re trying to get everybody on board.”

Cutcliffe has expressed a desire to see Wallace Wade Stadium regularly filled with fans, and that seems a nearly unreachable goal now. But after making a high-profile hire that has received mostly good reviews from the media, capitalizing on some rare momentum in football is a smart approach at a place where they’re known for being smart.

– Ken Tysiac

Lots of Bowdens making news

Some will rush to add Florida State’s academic scandal to the blemishes on coach Bobby Bowden’s long career.

That’s probably not fair. According to reports, as many as 25 players might miss the Dec. 31 Music City Bowl against Kentucky. The cheating reportedly occurred in an Internet-based class.
If that’s the case, it’s difficult to imagine Bowden, 78, being hip to it. This is the same guy who’s demonstrated he doesn’t know the difference between eBay and e-mail.

Though Bowden ultimately is responsible for what goes on in its football program, Internet classes can make it awfully easy for students to cheat.

Incidentally, a scan of rivals.com’s junior college top 50 prospect list showed four of the top 15 committed to Florida State. That’s an unusually large number for any ACC school, perhaps because the program needs players who can compete right away next season because of the scandal.

At running back, where depth was a problem for Florida State this season, the rivals list shows LaGarrette Blount of East Mississippi CC and Tavares Pressley of El Camino CC in California committed to Bowden’s team.

At Clemson, Bobby’s son Tommy is having problems of his own with academics, as three players have been ruled ineligible for the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl against Auburn.

The loss of starting offensive tackle Christian Capote isn’t disastrous, but Clemson will seriously miss Nick Watkins and Tramaine Billie. They’re both speedy, hard-hitting senior linebackers whose quickness would have been ideal for the artificial turf in the Georgia Dome, and they rank first and third, respectively, on the team in tackles.

Bowden hopes to improve to 10-3 and post Clemson’s first 10-win season since 1990, but that won’t be easy after those huge defensive losses.

While we’re discussing the Bowdens, it’s impossible to ignore the interest Tommy’s brother Terry has in West Virginia. A lot of analysts are saying Terry should receive strong consideration.

There’s a lot to like about Terry. He is bright, charming and knowledgeable, with a good coaching record (111-53-2) and great blood lines. But he also hasn’t coached since 1998.
He coached his last game before a BCS game had ever been played, before the read-option was invented and long before text messaging became popular. Heck, a lot of people didn’t even have cell phones or e-mail in 1998.

Nine years out of coaching makes Bowden a huge risk if West Virginia hires him.

– Ken Tysiac

Brown to Miami, but it's not all bad

North Carolina’s Internet message boards were whipped into a frenzy Monday afternoon over Arthur Brown, a linebacker who just completed his senior season at Wichita East High in Kansas.
Brown listed North Carolina as one of his five finalists and had an in-home visit from coach Butch Davis and recruiting coordinator John Blake on Dec. 5, according to the Wichita Eagle.

During a news conference carried live on television station KAKE’s web site, Brown committed to Miami. He said he’d met with a lot of the players and coaches at Miami and felt good about the school.

“That’s really what it was all about,” said Brown, who’s rated the No. 4 prospect nationally by scout.com.

Davis and Blake were thwarted this time, but becoming a finalist for a top player in Kansas along with Miami, LSU, Southern California and Florida after a 4-8 season demonstrated that North Carolina is doing something right in recruiting.

The interest of fans Monday in something other than Tyler Hansbrough’s minor concussion (he’s probable for Nicholls State on Wednesday night, by the way) also is a step in the right direction for North Carolina football.

– Ken Tysiac

Rodriguez alters path, seeking success

For years, ACC football observers have thought Rich Rodriguez likely to follow Bobby Bowden’s career path from West Virginia to Florida State after Bowden retired.

Rodriguez, who assisted Tommy Bowden at Tulane and Clemson before becoming head coach at West Virginia seven years ago, has long been rumored to crave a move to Florida State as Bowden’s successor.

Florida State squashed that idea when it announced last week that offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will succeed Bowden whenever he steps down. That may have opened the door for Rodriguez’s move to Michigan.

With Florida State out of the picture, Rodriguez’s chances of landing another college football glamour job outside of Michigan were slim. He turned down Alabama last year.

Ohio State with Jim Tressel, Oklahoma with Bob Stoops, Texas with Mack Brown and Florida with Urban Meyer appear to have good coaches set for long, successful tenures.

Southern California probably is outside Rodriguez’s geographical comfort range if Pete Carroll tries his hand at the NFL again, and Notre Dame’s academic standards are daunting.
So it’s easy to see why Rodriguez left West Virginia despite his roots in that state and his affection for his alma mater. A look at the state of Big Ten football demonstrates why he could win big at Michigan.

Rival Ohio State’s only losses the past two seasons have been to Florida and Illinois. Florida and Urban Meyer used speed and a spread option scheme to run the Ohio State defense ragged. Illinois used quarterback Juice Williams’ fleet feet to run out the clock with a fourth-quarter lead.

In the season opener at Michigan, Armanti Edwards showed how a dual-threat quarterback can frustrate Big Ten defenders in Appalachian State’s upset win.

Nobody coaches the spread option and running quarterbacks better than Rodriguez, so he is the perfect hire to take advantage of Big Ten defenses and get the Wolverines back on an even plane with Ohio State after six losses to the Buckeyes in the last seven years.

– Ken Tysiac

New Duke coach Cutcliffe has enough to keep him busy the next three weeks

New Duke football coach David Cutcliffe will have a busy schedule over the next three weeks.

Cutcliffe will call recruits and coach Tennessee’s offense against Wisconsin on Jan. 1 in the Outback Bowl.

But you can be sure Cutcliffe will be in New York on Thursday, when Duke’s basketball team will meet Pittsburgh in a likely meeting of top 10, undefeated teams to be televised by ESPN.

Word is that Cutcliffe will try to get New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who played for Mississippi under Cutcliffe, to come to Madison Square Garden with him.

That will be a high-profile TV opportunity the likes of which Duke football hasn’t experienced in ages. And you can expect to see the Mannings – Peyton, Eli and Archie – help Cutcliffe rebuild the Duke program in any way they can.

Peyton and Eli both called Duke sports information director Art Chase to give him quotes on Cutcliffe to hand out to media at Saturday’s introductory news conference.

Peyton said Cutcliffe was a huge reason he attended Tennessee and was a swaying factor in Eli’s decision to play at Mississippi.

Eli raved about Cutcliffe’s teaching ability.With those types of testimonials, Duke quarterbacks Thaddeus Lewis and Zack Asack ought to feel like they just won the lottery.

And if Cutcliffe gets the attention of a top high school quarterback on Thursday night, the trip to New York in this busy time will be worthwhile.

– Ken Tysiac

Cutcliffe would be great hire for Duke

If reports that Duke is close to a deal with David Cutcliffe are true, athletics director Joe Alleva has made a great move in the right direction for the school’s football program.

Cutcliffe, the 53-year-old offensive coordinator at Tennessee, is one of the best quarterback coaches in college football. His work with Peyton and Eli Manning speaks for itself.

He was 44-29 in six seasons as head coach at Mississippi, which made a mistake firing him after his only losing season in 2004. After he came back to Tennessee in 2006, the Volunteers immediately improved their scoring output by almost 10 points per game and their total offense by nearly 50 yards per game over the previous season.

If Cutcliffe comes on board, Alleva will get exactly what he was looking for – a proven head coach with potential to win games on offense. Considering Duke’s woeful recent tradition, that’s every bit as impressive a hire as North Carolina with Butch Davis and N.C. State with Tom O’Brien made a year ago.

Alleva was soundly criticized for his management of the athletics program during Duke’s lacrosse scandal and made two unsuccessful football hires in Carl Franks and Ted Roof, who was fired last month.

But if Alleva gets Cutcliffe on board, even his strongest detractors will have to admit he has made a great hire. – Ken Tysiac

All App. State all the time in hotels

On the ground in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Appalachian State will play Delaware on Friday for the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision title. The Mountaineers are going for a record third consecutive championship:

– Televisions in downtown Chattanooga hotels are showing a continuous replay – minus commercials – of Appalachian State’s 2006 championship game victory against Massachusetts. Good for the Mountaineers in their hotel, but the Blue Hens in the Marriott might be getting a little sick of it.

– The Mountaineers have been outscoring opponents (giving up an average of 32.3 points per game) in the playoffs. That’s always a dicey way to do business in a championship game. Appalachian State’s defense needs to clamp down to win Friday.

– Good news for Charlotte Catholic’s Mario Acitelli, an Appalachian State offensive tackle who broke his leg against Georgia Southern in October and has missed six games. Acitelli is listed as probable for tonight.

-- David Scott

Could ACC sour on Florida sites?

At halftime of the 2007 ACC championship game on Dec. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla., a reporter from Virginia grilled ACC commissioner John Swofford about future conference title games.

Incredulous at the low turnout for Boston College and Virginia Tech in Jacksonville, the reporter wanted to know why the ACC would consider any Florida site. He was presuming Charlotte’s spot at the geographical center of the conference gave the ACC its best chance at large crowds for future ACC championship games.

The reporter’s assumptions may be correct, but Swofford said that day that Tampa provided a good financial guarantee, a good plan for local sales and boasted a larger population with more direct flights to and from the area than Jacksonville.

Those factors, combined with the Association for Career and Technical Education’s convention scheduled for 2008 in Charlotte on the same date as the championship game, gave Tampa an opening.

Wednesday, the ACC announced that Tampa will get the 2008 and 2009 games, with Charlotte playing host in 2010 and 2011. Publicly, Charlotte officials are thrilled.

Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority CEO Tim Newman wished Tampa well in 2008 and 2009 and said waiting until 2010 gives Charlotte a chance to finish building attractions such as the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Wachovia Cultural Center to entertain fans.

Privately, some who worked hard to get the games to Charlotte are disappointed that Tampa was awarded the 2008 and 2009 games. They believe Charlotte is simply the most logical place to hold the game.

But having the game go to Tampa first could have some benefits for Charlotte’s long-term hopes for the game. If Tampa struggles with attendance as Jacksonville did in 2006 and 2007, ACC officials could sour on Florida sites.

A strong showing by Charlotte in 2010 and 2011 could then help Charlotte hold off an expected strong challenge from Orlando.

The home of Disney World and Mickey Mouse is undergoing extensive stadium renovations that prevented it from bidding for the 2008-11 games, but could be a major player next time around.
There’s just one problem for any city that plans to play host to this game. The ACC’s basketball-first culture will make it difficult to sell out stadiums on short notice if Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami and/or Wake Forest are involved.

Regardless of where the game is held, ACC football has a lot of growing to do before it approaches the status of the SEC championship game, held annually in Atlanta to crowds of more than 70,000.

– Ken Tysiac