Wednesday November 14, 2007

Why We Came To Clemson

Why We Came to Clemson
At yesterday’s media outing Clemson’s starting center Thomas Austin summed it up best when he said, “This is the reason why we all came to Clemson. I came here to play in games like this against Boston College. That’s why a lot of us came here so we are ready for it. We can’t wait for Saturday. I don’t know how else to say it.”

I know I have my priorities out of whack but it feels so good to be this hyped up about a football game. Maybe because it takes me back to my formative years but this feels right. Clemson has a big football game with big bowl game implications and a championship on the line.

They Remember November
This is November and it should feel different than the big games we have played in September or October. When you win big games in those months it only makes the November games even bigger. The November games are the finish line. The November games are the ones that yield rings.

The football calendar really is telling. When you win enough big games in November you get a chance to play a huge game the first weekend in December. If you win the early December game you get to play a bowl game a few days after New Year’s Day. If you lose the early December game then you might get a chance to be one of the 24 teams that play on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.

Clemson does not make near the amount of money that appears on the check but a $15 million dollar check looks a lot better in a photo op than a $2million dollar check.

But Saturday night is not about a check. It is not about a ring. It is not about a bowl game. Saturday night is about the program. It is about the Clemson Tigers returning to where many of us think they belong.

Here is why I am excited:

1-I am excited for these players. This is a fine group of young men who have represented Clemson in a first class way. For the most part they have stayed out of trouble, they have worked hard and they have played well. This is a group of players that have made us very proud and they deserve the opportunity to play in a huge game of this nature.

2-I am excited for this staff. They have worked their butts off for the last few years for a game like this. This staff and others who have moved on worked extremely hard on the recruiting trail to sign great football players. I think back to the days we found out James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Ricky Sapp, Jacoby Ford and DeAndre McDaniel were going to be Tigers. I remember the staff being so excited because they beat some of the best programs in the country to sign players like this. So I am so excited for this staff because they deserve to prepare and coach in a game of this magnitude. I am also happy for all of the support staff that has given countless hours to this cause.

3-I am excited for the fans. Our fans deserve the opportunity to be a part of a game like this. The older fans remember these types of games and they deserve to see it again. I am also excited for the newer fans that have never had a chance to be at a championship game. Our fans deserve a chance to participate in this type of atmosphere.

I had a friend ask me, “How big is this game?” My answer was a little long winded but I told him, “Saturday night is as big as a game can get for a bunch of reasons. It is about redemption. It is about putting to bed the idea that this program cannot finish.”

I also think this is big because it gives us a chance to showcase the venue we are so proud of. At Clemson we feel our stadium is the best and our atmosphere is tops in the country so this game is also about the venue. I truly love being in that building. Some of my fondest memories are of the huge games in that stadium and I am so excited to add another chapter this Saturday. Death Valley is a big winner in all of this.

Win or lose this still feels good. Don’t get me wrong because I want to win as bad as anyone but it feels so good to have the excitement around this campus. This is what is supposed to happen around this place this time of year. Clemson is one of the few football schools in this conference and a conference title would mean as much to our fans as any school in the ACC.

No Foolin’
I am excited because we truly have a big game Saturday. We all love this program and we take pride in it but sometimes we tend to try to trick ourselves. We try to tell ourselves that beating South Carolina can salvage a season. How many times have we had an average season but after we beat the Gamecocks we act like we have arrived again? Remember the games where the winner of the Clemson-Carolina game went to a bowl and the loser stayed home? We tried to convince ourselves that those were huge games.

Don’t misunderstand me, I think it is great to beat USC but in most years what does it really mean when we beat a 5-5 South Carolina squad. Bragging rights in our state are nice but you don’t get rings for beating the Gamecocks. You get rings for championships. You even see rings sold on e-bay so really you get something more important. You get respect.

The players. The coaches. The fans. Death Valley. Rings. Trophies. Titles. Respect. “This is the reason we all came to Clemson.” Maybe my priorities are not that far out of whack.

864-834-6060

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency