Thursday March 11, 2010

We Belong

We Belong
I wrote a blog last year about how painful it was to be a Clemson fan at the ACC tournament for many years. I said there were many years where we just did not feel like we belonged in Greensboro, Landover or wherever the tournaments were. I said it was kind of like when you go into a rich person’s house and have to use the restroom and you are not really sure if that fancy soap is used to clean your hands or is it there for decoration? Do you really use those fancy towels to dry your hands or are they just there for looks?

Those days are over though. We are moving on up like George and Weezie. We were never embarrassed but now we stand a little taller walking into the coliseum.

In the old days we used to have to fight off the Tar Heel and Blue Devils fans who wait outside the doors of the coliseum wanting our tickets after we lost in the first round. They were like crocodiles sizing up the weak members of the heard trying to cross the river.

We used to pack for only one day. Heck, we did not even need to make hotel reservations but those days are gone under Oliver Purnell.

Clemson is 15-56 in the ACC tournament and have had some very difficult stretches. It took Clemson nine years to win its first ACC tournament game. The Tigers lost 21 of their first 24 ACC games. They lost in the first round in 22 of the first 24 ACC tournaments.

There were other bad times. The Tigers lost 11 straight games from 1964-1975 and lost 10 straight games from 1980 through 1989.

But the Tigers have had three decent stretches in the tournament. Clemson won three out of five games from 1962-64. In 1962 the Tigers were the sixth seed but upset third seeded NC State 67-46 behind 15 points from Jim Brennan and Tommy Mahaffey. The next night the Tigers upset second seeded Duke 77-72 in a game where Brennan scored 34 points. The Tigers lost to Wake Forest in the ACC finals 77-66.

When Clemson lost to the Demon Deacons in the finals in 1962, little did we know that it would take 46 years to get back to the finals.

The Tigers also had a good stretch in the tournament from 1975-77. During one stretch in the days of Skip Wise, Tree Rollins, Stan Rome and company the Tigers won three out of five games. Three consecutive years Clemson won first round games only to fall in the semis each year.

In 1975 in Greensboro, Clemson entered the tournament as the three seed and beat sixth seeded Duke 78-76 behind 20 points from Wayne Croft. In the semi-finals the Tigers fell to Phil Ford and the second seeded Tar Heels in overtime 76-71. That was the first ACC tournament game I remembered watching.

In 1976 in Landover, MD, the Tigers were the fourth seed and beat fifth seed Wake Forest 76-73 with Stan Rome scoring 20. The following night Clemson once again missed out on the finals when they fell to top seed North Carolina 82-74.

The tournament moved back to Greensboro in 1977 and once again Clemson was favored in the first round when the third seeded Tigers beat the sixth seeded Duke Blue Devils 82-74. Once again it was Rome who led the Tigers with 19 points. In Tree Rollins final game of his Clemson career, the Tigers fell in the ACC semi-finals 72-60 to Virginia.

The 1980 squad also made it to the semi-finals when Billy Williams and Larry Nance led the Tigers to a 57-49 win in the first round over Virginia. Maryland’s Albert King scored 38 in leading the top-ranked Terps to a 91-85 win over the Tigers to end another shot at the finals.

Clemson had some success with from 1990 until Oliver Purnell arrived with six wins over those 15 years but some of those were play-in games. It still brings a smile to the faces of many of us when we reminisce abou Greg Buckner’s dunk to beat 75-73 in Greensboro in 1996.

Perhaps the best memory for Clemson fans was the 2008 tournament in Charlotte. The Tigers opened up with an 82-48 thumping of Boston College in the first round. Maybe the best win in the program’s history was the following afternoon when Trevor Booker had 18 against the second seed Duke 78-74. The Tigers’ second ACC final appearance ended with an 86-81 loss to top seeded North Carolina. It was the closest we have ever come to cutting down the nets in the ACC tournament.

However Coach Purnell has brought a new sense of optimism throughout the basketball program and that means a renewed hope in the ACC tournament as well.

This year Clemson has a chance to win the title but I am not counting on it. I am counting on those that are going to the tournament to take a picture of something that has not happened many times in my lifetime. If Clemson wins tonight and North Carolina loses, I want a picture of Clemson fans asking Tar Heel fans for their tickets for tomorrow’s games.

Maybe the Tar Heel fans are wondering if they can use the fancy towels in our bathroom this year.

So tonight Clemson is not in the play-in game. They are not even playing to get into the NCAA tournament. Instead Clemson enters this year’s ACC tournament with two goals in mind. First is the chance to win the ACC tournament. Clemson is not the favorite but I don’t think it is outside the realm of possibility to think the Tigers can win it all in Greensboro. Also, the Tigers are playing to improve their seeds for the NCAA tournament.

We may not win it again this year but at least now we feel like we belong.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Candace Fallaw, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee.