110%er [5067]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3563
Joined: 7/7/12
|
Clemson's #1 Fan
Oct 17, 2013, 9:05 PM
|
| View Original Thread |
|
I want to nominate my friend (Jim) as Clemson's #1 fan. Here's why:
* Jim likes football - played freshman football for Michigan State in the early '60s.
* Jim lives in San Diego, CA.
* Jim called me ten years ago and said he would like to see a game in Death Valley before he died - it was on his bucket list. I said "OK". He suggested the FSU game and I said, "No, you want to see the Clemson-South Carolina game". Now, Jim not being local was looking only at the FSU reputation and not the local rivalry and at the time didn't understand the significance of the in-state game.
* I made a deal with Jim... if he and his lovely wife would arrive on Thanksgiving day and if he would put the lights on my Christmas tree (something I hate to do because my wife likes 700 strings of lights), I would provide tickets and take him to the game. To my amazement, he accepted.
* Jim enjoyed that game so much, he has for the last 10 years made the same deal - each year flying from San Diego, putting the lights on my tree and enjoying watching the Tigers, win or lose.
* Last year, in addition to the South Carolina game, Jim came to see the Tigers whip Auburn in Atlanta.
* Every year and every game, Jim and I sit and watch the Tigers - neither saying much. Both of us having played a bit of football, we don't really need to talk about it - we just watch the game as it unfolds and talk about it later. Neither of us wants to miss a second of action by talking when we should be watching what unfolds on the field.
* Some games during the year, Jim calls me from San Diego while the Clemson game is on television and we talk about what tendencies we see and what should be done by Clemson as we both watch the game. Jim was a defensive lineman and I was a TE, so we each have a different, but agreeable slant on strategy. He's very good at defensive football and I feel I have a fairly good grasp of what an offense needs to do against what they face - so it makes for a good discussion between old-timers.
* This year, I called him and said "Jim, I already have tickets for the South Carolina game, but I think this might be a special year, so you need to come East for the UGA game". Jim and his wife were here and of course, I provided the tickets for both South Carolina-UNC and CU-UGA.
* Last week, Jim and his wife left for a week in Vienna, Austria. I sent him an email yesterday and asked him where he was - he was still in Austria. I told him that I remembered his original request to see the Tigers play FSU and now was the time to see that matchup if he was still interested..... told him I had tickets and asked how soon he would return.
* He returned to San Diego tonight, checked flight schedules and called to tell me that they were a bit tired, but would be on a flight leaving San Diego at 7:00AM tomorrow morning, arriving in Columbia tomorrow night at 9:30PM.
* After a (very) few hours of sleep for him, we will be leaving Columbia Saturday morning for the game in Tiger Town, in hopes of arriving before the end of the Game Day show. So, if you see a couple of old white-haired guys in the crowd, it just might be Jim and me.
Now, I ask you - have you ever heard of a more dedicated Clemson Tiger fan than that?
Jim's our #1 fan in my book! Heck, he should be acknowledged at half-time and given a golden paw! Maybe he should even be put into the Ring of Honor!
And if any of you think that Clemson football isn't respected by those who know football, just ask Jim.
|
|
50
