Whats a Scok?

Obed®

Lot o points [156120]

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Posts: 65922

Joined: 5/6/13

Re: what no

Feb 7, 2018, 10:25 AM

I grew up in a small town not too far from Columbia. In those dark days, we could only get a limited number of TV stations. We could get 9 and 3 out of charlotte. If we messed with the rabbit ears enough, we could get 18 out of charlotte. And, on a good day, we could get Ted Turner's (I believe) station out of charlotte, channel 36 where we watched our favorite children's show - The Jim and Tammy (Baker) Show (no kidding).

And of course, there was the OTHER station that we could get - Channel 10 out of Columbia.

I grew up with Mr. Knozit, words like "Two Notch" and "Beltline" and "Dutch Square" as part of my vocabulary (I watched all the commercials - LOL). It was a rare treat in those days to see the OCCASIONAL ACC basketball game although football was NEVER on the TV. I remember Riker, Reebok, Owens, Joyce and Roach. I remember the hooplah surrounding them and their lofty ranking. I remember the Sports Illustrated cover. I remember Reebok colecocking Lefty during a fight. I remember "The Ankle" - still the most infamous and painful play in all of gamecock history.

You see, all we could get on channels 3, 9, 18, 36 and 10 were The Gamecocks.

Even the ACC games that were broadcast were usually The #####.

My father was not partisan - he had never been an athlete. Growing up on a farm during the depression, such activities were for men with leisure time, and he had none.

When Uncle Sam needed him, he dropped out of college at age 16 to go kick Mousillini's ###. Every night, he prayed the he and his three brothers would make it home from the war safely. I always loved it when he would tell the story about walking guard duty in the snow in Italy on Christmas eve as the bell chimed midnight and how much he missed his small town and his brothers and his folks.

As the war was winding down and the boys were getting shipped home, he was assigned to a processing station where he would help move thousands a week through to the ships back to America. He would always scan the list for folks from his hometown. Finally, he saw the name of a man who he recognized, a young black man. Back in South Carolina, this man would have limited opportunities: work in white people's yards, some menial labor, and if he was lucky, get a job at the mill. My father went to this man, took him an extra blanket and some extra rations and asked him to go by his mama's house when he got stateside. This was the only direct communication my grandmother had with her sons for several years.

Eventually the war ended and dad came home. He was overjoyed that his family had lost no one and considered themselves very lucky indeed. His quiet tree-lined street (they had moved to town by then) had several blue stars in the windows. But, he would pause outside of each house with a gold star and say a quiet prayer of thanks.

He then finished his schooling and came back to settle in the same small town that had given him birth and nurture. Having not attended Clemson or Carolina, he was just as happy to go to either for a social event. In those days, a football weekend was an event. Coat and tie at the game, stay with friends in Shandon or Forest Acres or at The Town House and of course get an invite to the Palmetto Club after the game was over.

So, it was a life of social events more than partisan support. The Carolina Cup, an occasional Citadel game, Carolina games with the attached parties at socially connected family homes, particularly during Big Thursday, and the like.

He was very much an opinionated man. A scant few years after kicking Hitler's ###, he was trying to raise children in the turbulent sixties. Opinionated and of the old school, this was all very threatening to him and he wondered what the future held. Having grown up in an officially racist society, and a society where the cards were stacked in his favor in many ways, he had strong views of the world. But, he was surprisingly broadminded and charitable in his dealings with his fellow man - he had learned some of that in his Baptist Sunday School and some of it living, eating and sleeping with a company full of soldiers for three years all over Europe. And his travels since that time had only broadened him more. He recognized the eventual changes in racial relations before it became fashionable and accepted such with general good ease.

I grew up in an ideal situation in some ways. Never a care. Never a want. Weened on Mr. Knozit, Joey The Clown and Carolina Basketball.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIP!

What was that last sentance? CAROLINA BASKETBALL?

Could it possibly be? Say it isnt so.

I am afraid that I cant.

I grew up on Carolina basketball.

I even won a case of Coke for sending in my prediction of the #####/Duguesne game score and only missing by three points - this was of course a bonanza for a youngster.

And so life went, quiet, pleasant and carefree.

My older sister won our high school spelling bee championship while in the sixth grade (I said it was a small town). This meant a trip to the State Championship that would be held all the way over in Anderson.

Having travelled a lot in his life, my father was of the thought that "travel is broadening" and exercised a "scorched earth" policy anywhere he or we went. No monument would go unseen, no museum would go unvisited, no old historic building would go unplundered.

We drove through Furman at a leisurely pace. We went through downtown Greenville and remarked at what a sleepy little town it was.

And finally we made it to that old landmark hotel on the hill. We had been told that it was in a new place for us, a place we kids had never been before. But our folks had certainly been there. We were told of the parties and banquets that they had attended and how Governor Hollings had given that special award to my dad as a young man at this hotel. We were told that this was one of the grand old social hotels of the state. We checked in. It was late. The hotel struck me as being old. Not as nice as some of the newer places we had stayed. Not as up to date. But, it did indeed have that grand old bygone era feel. It reminded me of a Bing Crosby movie. We went to sleep.

The next day, daddy had us up and out early. He wanted to "show us everything".

So, we walked out of the doors, down the small hill in front, across the street and onto a field. Above the field there was a bell tower. We stopped and looked around for a second and then my father uttered those magical words:

"This is CLEMSON."

My father is gone now. We lost him a few years ago. Yet, these many decades later, those words STILL send a shiver down my spine. I could not put a finger on the EXACT feeling then, nor can I now but it was very real in those days and is just as real now. Is it the feeling of the The Pilgrim seeing the object of his journey for the first time? The feeling of a man finally returning home after a lifetime of travels and travails? I dont know. I dont know what the feeling is. But I feel it. And I have felt it EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE since that time.

I feel it when I go to the games, and hear the excitement in the air, and march behind the band down the hill and smell the sweet aroma of the guy smoking the pipe near me. I feel it when I sit in Littlejohn and think about Nance and Williams and Moose. I feel it when I eat that ice cream, even at the new place. I feel it on the practice fields as I watch a new batch of youngsters get ready. I feel it anywhere and everywhere I go.

I feel it when I take my three children to the stadium and they start giggling and jumping up and down, even the three year old - ESPECIALLY the three year old.

And they feel it too.

Clemson is in my blood as surely as red blood cells, platelets and plasma. When I die, split my ashes into two parts. One set should be scattered over the front beach at the IOP. The other - Clemson.

I first put on those Orange Glasses over three decades ago now. Through those glasses, I have endured the jeers of my high school classmates. I have been called a "Lieger" and a "Clemson Cheetah". I have been given copies of "In the Net" by Tates Locke. I have watched as all my many friends went to Columbia and a small handful of us went the other way.

I have sat in The Orange Bowl and watched the brightest moments.

I have sat in disbelief and watched the darkest moments as it all unravelled.

I have seen Willie Jordan kick a 35 yard field goal to tie for homecoming and lift our record to 0-3-1. I have seen us beat Georgia and Hershell Walker soundly.

There have been bad times. Very bad times.

But, seen with an orange view, they have been tolerable.

This site was easy a few years ago. A smaller number of people, this site was like a giant cybertailgate. We knew each other and sat around cozily sipping our beer and talking of our love of Clemson.

The site has grown to a size almost unimagineable now. And that is just fine with me - Clemson should be shared. Welcome aboard all newbies.

In 98, it was easy for me to post on this site. The times were dark, the situation bleak. People wanted a cheerleader. People NEEDED a cheerleader.

I volunteered for the job. From "Klaws" to "Sherrif Big #### Twitty", I wracked my brain for amusing and silly ways to keep our eyes shielded from the carnage on the field. Jokes, humor, songs, ANYTHING to avoid the painful sting of a football program in disarray.

I took it as MY SACRED DUTY TO CLEMSON to try and walk you boys through the dark times, to keep the group together, to not lose anyone along the dark and scary path. I kicked over the Orange Koolaid bucket at about the time many were looking that way and boldly predicted that better times would follow. That champions never stay down for long. That CLEMSON would rise again.

And men thanked me for it.

We had fun. We could endure the beating by Wake and all the other losses because we knew that WE WOULD FIND COMFORT AND SUCCOR HERE in Tigernet. THIS was our haven, our oasis. This was our escape.

Now things are good. We are improving year by year. We have signed our best class easily in a decade. Almost all the kids will qualify (props to the coaches who did their homework).

We have a good chance of beating Tech. We have a string going against the #####. And FSU #### sure doesnt want a repeat of the last game they played in the Valley later this fall.

Life is good.

And cheerleaders are unnecessary.

I recognize that there are problems at Clemson - it is one of the largest corporate bodies in the state and has a budget in the hundreds of millions. It has a staff of thousands, many of whom compete with each other for attention, budgetting and resources. It is a complex organization.

But, it is Clemson.

My understanding of President Barker is that he was "green" when he was selected. Most presidents of a major Division One school play double A or triple A ball first, just like roscoe will in my analogy. But Barker went from the equivalent of high school (the dean of a small self-contained department) to The Big Leagues. There was no double or triple A. No time to learn.

I have heard that he had a learning curve. You're #### straight he had a learning curve. Having been in charge of people myself, I can assure you that you dont go from where he was to where he is and make the transition without some bumps on the road. It is a much larger jump than most people realize. CLEARLY The Board thought highly of him to give him this unusal opportunity.

But, he is open. He communicates with everyone. He tries to make it One Clemson - it aint just a slogan to him.

Under him, we have been named Time College of the Year.
Under him, we have hired the best young coach in America.
Under him, we have COMMITTED to spending tens of millions to improve.
Under him, we have adopted goals to be the best there is.
Under him, we have placed 11 of 25 teams in national rankings.

Are there problems at Clemson? Of course there are. NO ORGANIZATION of its size runs smoothly at all levels all the time. That is why you make sure you have hired competent people who are committed to your organization.

In a former day, I would not have had the same confidence that I have with administration now. But Barker IS ONE OF US. He has spent more time on that campus than any of us. He is dug in. He is here for the long haul.

There is a great country song called "He stopped loving her today" where they talk about a guy who will carry a flame for a woman until he dies and that he finally stopped loving her on the day he died. That is Barker. He will stop loving Clemson when they carry him away.

Barker will do his absolute best for us. Is he incompetent or uncaring? No. Was he a bit green? Yes. But he is learning rapidly and will be OUR GREATEST PRESIDENT. Mark my words.

I hold no grudges, I keep no scores.

Men have taken me to task for my thoughts on this site as is their right. I stand behind what I say but CELEBRATE the right of others to disagree with me. While I personally follow a NO FLAME rule as part of my code of Tigernet Behavior, I do not bare ill will toward others who state their case with vigor.

ALL TIGERS ARE WELCOME TO BARLEY OUT OF MY COOLER, AND FRIENDSHIP AT MY TAILGATE.

I know that there are "issues" at Clemson. The Orange Glasses color the view, they dont change the picture. My faith has NEVER been that nothing was going on. My faith has been that we have caring people who will handle it.

I believe that internal bidness is best handled internally. When questioned about the hardest part of his former job, Jim Carlin said that it was "everyone walking in from the capitol or downtown and telling me how to run my team". Organizations do not run by plebiscite. At least not well.

During all of this problem, we have been given a very one-sided view. Whoever The Leak is (or are), their agenda, and their agenda alone, gets all the airtime. The professionals who try and conduct bidness in a quiet and behind the scenes manner have gone about their jobs and kept their mouths shut. Because of that, they have been publicly tried and convicted without so much as offering a defense. This includes Barker and our Board who have been chastised for not getting into The Spin Game. They lost by default for their refusal to join.

I admire folks who try to do their job away from the limelight, who take the heat with aplomb and take as their only solace as they get publicaly vilified the fact that they are doing their best.

Men brought us good scoopage on this site. They tell us that their are issues that must be tended. Indeed, I imagine - no, I am SURE that there are. But I KNOW that the man we have in charge will look at these issues. I trust him to do so.

If this post generates another flame war, let me go ahead and declare defeat for myself before the shooting begins. I shall not flame a fellow Tiger. I wont do it. I just wont do it.

Therefore, those who would have my pelt, display it proudly. If you must shed orange blood, know that it bares you no ill will.

Cheerleaders are usually not necessary in times of plenty. Yet, this is what we do. This is all we know to do. As my late father said those many decades ago now:

This is CLEMSON.

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I find your lack of posts disturbing

I miss zettner.***

Re: I miss zettner.***

Re: I miss zettner.***

Re: I miss zettner.***

Re: I miss zettner.***

Re: I miss zettner.***

what no

Re: what no

Re: what no

c'mon man.....

Holy cow it's been almost 2 years?***

IKR***

Re: I find your lack of posts disturbing

Re: I find your lack of posts disturbing

Are you saying that

How does his dictate?***

Nutty***

the aero rage just isn't the same without

New Junge sucks...

It's lit in the mange, though

Re: I find your lack of posts disturbing

I said the same thing once, when I was going to

How about instead of shid posting and complaining

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