Man-post: Isn't It About...Time?

After nearly an 18 month hiatus, I decided it was time to return to the blog despite my fears of it irreparably cursing the performance of my favorite teams. You see, in my last man-post I talked about the likelihood of the Cubs winning the World Series (they had the best record in the league at the time), Clemson winning the ACC (they started the year ranked in the Top 10) and BYU crashing the BCS (they started out 8-0). Well, if you follow any of those sports then you know that none of those dreams came true and thus I decided to prematurely end my blogging career for the "good" of my teams. I've held true to my commitment and in what I can only assume was surely a reward for my efforts, the sports gods rewarded me by allowing Clemson to advance to the ACC Championship game this past season. Ultimately they lost (in keeping with my beleaguered sports fandom past) but it was a step in the right direction. Ah, the irrational psychology of a sports fan. But that's a topic for another post. Now, back to the present. This past weekend we had a pretty memorable weekend in Clemson and I decided it was time to put on my blogging hat once again. I've wrestled with my decision a bit but I can't continue to live in this obscurity. My voice must be heard... sports gods be damned...

I really love Clemson. Not just the school and the sports teams but the town itself. Don't get me wrong, I loved Provo too but there is something very unique and special about Clemson. There truly is "something in those hills." Clemson is the embodiment of a community. It just feels like home. I often hear Clemson football and basketball recruits talk about how much that fact stands out to them in their official visits. These are guys with offers from the Floridas, Georgias, and Alabamas of the world. I've visited many of those colleges and have personally seen nicer campuses complete with better facilities, more impressive architecture, etc. but there is something special about Clemson. The recruits call it a "family atmosphere" that exists among the team and throughout the community and that atmosphere was driven home to me this weekend.

The driving force behind this particular trip was Duke was in town for a big basketball showdown with the Tigers. College Gameday (the basketball version) was attracted by the matchup and decided to film their weekly show at Littlejohn. As a sidenote, Clemson is now only the 10th school to host both the football and basketball versions of the show. Attendance was free so we decided to go and take in the festivities. It was a really fun event and what was interesting to me was the number of families that I saw in attendance. You see, while this was my first time attending the basketball version of the show, I would venture to guess that usually that event tends to attract the students and a large contingent of the hard-core fan base. I would think that the group I have just described would be predominantly male and between the ages of 18-35. But not at Clemson. There were lots of children there decked out in orange just like their middle-aged parents. And notice I said parents and not just fathers because there was a healthy representation of females as well. The spotlight was on Clemson and the community wanted to be a part of it. Anyway, I must say that I was very impressed with Eva. We got there around 10 am and the show lasted until noon. I thought for sure we would spend the majority of our time chasing her up and down the aisles but she seemed very entertained by it all. The cheerleaders, the band, the tiger mascot; she was surprisingly glued to her seat, content to take it all in. Then again, maybe the noise had something to do with that. I just hope we haven't done permanent damage to her ears. Needless to say it was loud, in fact: following the second segment and during a commercial, the producer of Gameday grabbed the microphone and walked to the middle of the floor. He said, "I ask for your cooperation because in my 15 years now of producing Gameday I've never had to make this request. You guys are being too loud. We can't hear anything on-set. You can be as loud as you want as we come an go from commercial breaks but take it down a few notches during each segment if you would." It was a pretty cool atmosphere to say the least.

Following our Gameday experience, I took Eva home for a nap while Sarah went to lunch with some of her friends. The actual game didn't start until 9 pm so that afternoon we had some time to visit friends in the area. Fast forward to that evening: we had a pregame meal at Sardi's Den (mmmm, I'm still mad that I only ordered a half-rack of baby back ribs) and then headed up to the game. The atmosphere at the basketball game was electric. The kind of environment that makes you realize why live sporting events will never be replaced by any HD TV. Coach K marching up and down the sideline, Dickie V excitedly bouncing up and down in his seat at the scorer's table, and Erin Andrews (ahem, who of course looks exactly like my wife) - need I say more?

Speaking of recruiting, with national signing day only 2 weeks away this past weekend was an important one for the Clemson football staff. There were something like 20 recruits at the basketball game as part of their official visits this weekend. Not surprisingly, Coach Dabo Swinney was there as well with the recruits. I spotted him on the other side of the arena midway through the 2nd half. I mentioned it as an aside to Melissa and she quickly replied, "Wanna go meet him?" Just to explain, Melissa is who got us tickets to the game in the first place by virtue of her connections as the manager of Firehouse Subs in downtown Clemson. Now that may not seem like a position of power, but I assure you, in Clemson she is basically a celebrity. As I've said, the Clemson community is about as tight-knit as they come, so everybody knows everybody and Melissa (in her 5+ years at Firehouse) has gotten to know a lot of people in the athletic department including Coach Swinney. Back to our conversation, so I think about her question for a bit and finally decide, what the heck?

We begin making our way over to Dabo and Melissa says hello to just about everyone we pass on the way including several other football coaches. Anyway, we get to Dabo and immediately he recognizes Melissa. They chat for a few minutes and she says, "Dabo, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Devin." He honestly couldn't have been a warmer, nicer person. I'd heard descriptions of him being that way but I kindof thought that they were all too good to be true. Not so. He chatted with me for a few minutes and then was willing to take a picture. I came away totally impressed. I'm sure that he had people much more important than me to talk to but he seemed like he was as pleased to meet me as any 4 star linebacker he has ever recruited.

Now if that wasn't enough excitement for one night, as we were leaving we just so happened to run into Mr. Clemson: CJ Spiller. He was there this weekend to receive an award from the student council and to be a part of the Gameday broadcast. Again, as we walked towards him he immediately recognized Melissa. He gave her a hug, they chatted for a minute and once again she introduced me. He too was extremely nice and was willing to take a quick picture. We didn't get the chance to talk to him for as long because shortly after our picture, throngs of autograph seekers mobbed him. Nevertheless, a very cool moment. As for the rest of the game, most of you probably know that Clemson ended up losing by 13. Usually I would be pretty depressed after an outcome like that but following those encounters, it was hard to be too disappointed.

Let me wrap up by saying that I think the Clemson football program is in very good hands. Dabo fits Clemson. Tommy Bowden was said to be very aloof and detached. He was never seen around town and avoided interaction with the community. Dabo Swinney on the other hand embraces it. He understands that his football program won't thrive without the support of the community. He realizes the relative importance of every member of the community from the manager of Firehouse Subs down to the lowly graduate student. He sells that aspect of Clemson to his recruits. That's why I think ultimately he'll be successful.

Ok, I'm done rambling. I'll turn the blog back over to its rightful owner. Hopefully I'll have something equally exciting to blog about again in the future. Unless of course if Clemson's basketball team goes into a tailspin immediately following this post. Then, all bets are off.