Monday September 08, 2008

BattleCat's Game Day Experience

by BattleCat®

My game day experience began a bit auspiciously last week. Some slow-witted knucklehead decided to throw a cinder block through my passenger window in an attempt to break into my car. Although nothing was stolen, the damage was pretty substantial and my car was in the body shop all week. It was supposed to be ready early this past Friday, but as luck would have it, it was not, so I rolled into SC around 10 PM Friday night.

Usually the first game is greeted with the fanfare of a big tailgate, but for the first time in what seemed like forever we skipped the tailgate this year. The uncertainty of Hannah's path, the ill timed reconstruction of the parking lot behind the P & A building, as well as the Alabama hangover from last week all worked against our traditional tailgate. I am sure if we had rolled over Alabama, the level of excitement would have increased exponentially.

My pregame meal included a five piece chicken meal from Hardees and a large iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, yum. I got to my buddy Mark's house around noon. I see him six or seven times a year and it always revolves around Clemson football. I have been going to the games with him and his wife Christy since 1998, the year after I got out of the military. After some catching up and bellyaching over last week's loss, we loaded up in my newly repaired car and headed to Clemson around 1 PM. We got to Clemson and mingled with some friends that were tailgating for a while and then made our way to the stadium in time to see the Citadel Band and Tiger Band coming down the hill. There's nothing like the pageantry of The Band that Shakes the Southland. In addition the Citadel Band marching in on Military Appreciation Day with their bagpipes playing was an awesome touch. We followed the band into the stadium and watched the pre game warm-ups and festivities. That's when we discovered the power outage. I was wondering if this would disrupt the game or if it could be remedied quickly. It turned out to be temporary, but was a fitting omen of sorts considering our team at times seemed to be having its own power glitches.

Clemson has a tradition of staging some very moving and grandiose Military Appreciation Days, but in my opinion this one lacked the usual pomp and circumstance. I was disappointed that we did not even have a fly over. However it is the first game so I find myself getting more excited as the kick off draws closer. But as time approaches for the cannon to fire, the excitement in the stadium builds, although it's apparent that last week's game has impacted my enthusiasm as well as the other fans in attendance. The chills that I get the first time I see the Tigers run down the hill every season were noticeably absent. Nonetheless I am in Death Valley and I am pinning my hopes on the possibility we can still have a successful season.

Midway through the first quarter I was wishing that Hannah had made her way to the upstate because it was excruciatingly hot. I had reacquainted myself with the familiar faces that I have seen in our section for ten years now, as well as some new faces. As an aside, there was one Citadel fan nearby whose actions reminded me more of a bulldog from Georgia rather than the Citadel. His appearance led me to believe that the only athletic event he ever participated in was a hotdog eating contest. I was really wishing someone would toss him a burger just so he would be quiet for a couple of minutes. As it turned out by halftime he was either escorted out by security or had passed out in a corner somewhere. Either way I did not have to suffer through any more of his endless babbling.

I will leave the in depth game analysis to those who are more adept at such, but suffice it to say I thought the overall performance of the team was enough for a win,but it was not a pretty game to watch. I was really concerned with the defense giving up over 400 yards of offense to the Citadel. There are still two huge areas of concern and they are the same as they were before the season began-linebackers and the offensive line. Player of the game nods go to CJ Spiller and Michael Hamlin. CJ is hitting the holes this year and exploding. I didn't see as much dancing as in years past. I guess he decided to leave that to Emmitt Smith and Jason Taylor. I really despise the two point stance that we employ. When I played football I was taught to fire off the ball, low man wins, etc. Granted that was high school football, but fundamentals should not change. I am not a kinesiology expert, but to me this change would help increase the effectiveness of our line.

I am making a concerted effort to believe in this team as much as I did nine days ago, but it is very difficult. With the exception of a few players, I still believe Clemson plays soft. This was evidenced from our play on the line of scrimmage, the cushion we gave their wide receivers, as well as the number of missed tackles. Our lack of aggression is a concern. We have a ton of talent and sorely need leadership from within to put it all together. I still have faith that we can have a great season, but I want to see the type of team that creates fear in our opponents.

Despite all the problems I encountered prior to kickoff, there is still no better place to spend a college football Saturday than Clemson. The atmosphere can not be matched, and Death Valley is still my favorite place to watch Clemson football. Here's hoping we get that special season we've all been hoping for.