BLAST FROM THE PAST

Learn your TN memes.

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The A), 2), D) listing system.  A Tomahawk Nation tradition.  But how did it start and what does it mean?

This subject came up in the most recent WORT (Wednesday Open Recruiting Thread, for those of you who are as confused by the word WORT as you are by the use of A. 2. D.), and has been discussed a number of times since it originated in July.  It usually comes up because somebody who is relatively new gets confused as to why some of us use this system.  FrankDNole appropriately explained it's use in the WORT and requested (implied request?) that someone note the original use.  Ask and ye shall receive. Personally, I think this history has three components, and I'll list them as such.

A)  The first instance of the A), 2), D) system at TN. 

This format was used by GonzoNole in the comments section of the article "'Nole Your Enemies: South Florida Preview."  This is about 30 comments down.  Please note the responses by various TN members.  Further into the comments, The K-Man adopted the format as well.

2)  The origin. 

At this point, I should add that it is indeed a reference to the movie Home Alone, where the lead character's older brother and sister, upon discovering their family left young Kevin at home alone during a trip to Paris, have the following conversation: 

Megan McCallister: You're not at all worried that something might happen to Kevin?

Buzz McCallister: No, for three reasons:    A. I'm not that lucky,  2. we use smoke detectors, and D. we live on the most boring street in the whole United States of America, where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen. Period.

If you want more, you'll have to watch the movie.  Although I should also add that any time someone questions the use of the A), 2), D) system, I think the most appropriate response to the inquiry is another quote from the movie.    But I digress. 

D)  The system takes hold. 

Within a day of the original post, the Tomahawk Nation community embraced the system.  The K-Man offered it up again the following day in a comment to the article "Progression, Stagnation, or Regression? Noles Defensive Line."  The following conversation went something like this:

I hereby move that

the A) 2) D) format be made the official listing format of TN when one is preparing a 3 item list. - DKfromVA

Seconded

Make it so... -PBD

A2D it is. -FSUncensored

And there you have it.  At that point, it became the official listing system of Tomahawk Nation.   A), 2), D) was used four times in that comment thread, most notably by FrankDNole, who began the extended listing system where notation for each additional item beyond D) is improvised.

Now that you know the history, feel free to join in on the fun.

Despite us getting pounded on by UF tonight, I wanted to raise issue with something that has developed this season.  I thought it was kind of funny how the Florida fans were chanting "S-E-C, S-E-C" after the game.  The ACC has played well against every SEC team except UF and Alabama.  But then again, no SEC team has been able to hang with these two schools this year, either.  The ACC, which a lot of commentators and sportswriters peg as a soft conference, holds its own with the conference that those same writers often call the most dominant of the BCS conferneces.

Let's review:

Nov. 29 ( or week of):  FSU 15, Florida 45; GT 45, UGA 42; Clemson 31, USC 10. Wake 23, Vandy 10.  ACC 3, SEC 1.

Oct. 25: Duke 10, Vanderbilt 7. ACC1, SEC 0.

Sept. 20: GT 38, Miss. St. 7. ACC 1, SEC 0.

Sept. 6: Wake 30, Miss. 28; UM 3, UF 26. ACC 1, SEC 1.

Aug. 30: Clemson 10, Alabama 34; N.C. State 0, USC 34. ACC 0, SEC 2.

Season Total:  ACC won 6 of 10 matchups between the two conferences.  And losses were handed to USC, Georgia, and Miss. who aren't exactly softies.  Exclude losses to UF and Alabama and the ACC is 6 of 7.

On a similar note, The ACC was 2-0 against Notre Dame, 1-1 vs. Pac-10, 1-1 vs. Big Ten, 2-2 against Big East, and 3-0 against Big 12.  Another way of saying it is that the ACC's record against all opposing major conferences was .500 or better.  Not bad for a soft conference.

I've been reading this for a while and just signed up.  I want to thank you all for keeping this site all about insightful analysis of the games and thoughtful discussion of our team.  I'm happy to see there are fans out there who like to share their knowledge and discuss FSU sports in an academic way.  I never played football and don't know a tremendous amount about the game, so this site also gives me a chance to learn a bit about the game.  Thanks, and keep it up.