A New Feeling, An Old Feeling, and A Semi-Truck

Last night, our youth group worked a consession stand at the Wake Forest-Clemson game.  This stand is our major fundraiser for the year.  I have been a Clemson fan since I found out my dad was a Clemson fan and my uncle started taking us to games back in the early 80’s.  When you’re a child of 10, watching the Tigers run down the hill is something that blows you away forever.  Watching it live never, ever gets old.  I will never forget leaving the Georgia Tech game in 1998, another Clemson choke job, and hearing fans chanting Tommy Bowden’s name in the hopes we would hire him as our new coach.  Bowden was in the midst of leading Tulane to an 11-0 season and is the son of All-Time great coach and thorn in Clemson’s side, Bobby Bowden.  Even then, walking to my car, I told everyone within earshot, “Having the right last name doesn’t make someone a good coach.”  Sure enough, Coach Tommy West was fired that week after the Tigers finished 3-8 and Tommy Bowden was hired.  In fairness, Bowden inherited a program in decline with facilities that had become subpar.  I attened his first game against Marshall in Death Valley.  I saw our kicker absolutely shank a field goal at the end that would have tied the game.  To this day, I have never seen such a horrible miss.  A one legged man wearing a blind fold would have gotten it at least a little closer.  For me, this became a sign of things to come:  disappointment upon disappointment, unmet expectation after unmet expectation.  For the past ten years, I have been consistent in saying that Bowden got the job based on his name and should be let go.  Ask anyone that knows me, I have been a vocal critic of his coaching(he is welcome to speak at my church any Sunday because of his solid faith) since the beginning.  I have never believed and never said that he is, was, or ever will be the right man to coach the Clemson Tigers.  For years, I have pulled against Clemson in the hopes that enough losses would lead to Bowden’s dismissal.  Always, somewhere there was a place in my heart that held true and loyal to the Tigers and hoped for the best.  Last night, that all changed.  I have been to lots of sporting events, but have never cheered as loudly as during Clemson’s last drive last night.  I was genuinely excited to see them fail.  I was cheering more enthusiasticly than any of the true Deacon fans(they are just my adopted team) and hugging anyone that would let me.  It was a new strange feeling as I watched Clemson do something that has become their calling card:  play a mind blowingly bad game against a beatable opponent.  On the way home, the Clemson team caravan passed us.  I recognized the Young buses from when they would transport the Tigers from their home locker room to Howard’s rock and the Hill.  I then saw a semi-truck painted in Clemson colors pass by.  On the back was a list of Clemson’s ACC championships.  What I realized shocked me.  Their last title came in 1991.  That means, that I have now spent more than half my life pulling for a losing(in terms of titles) program.  The glory days of my youth are long gone.  Across the south, many 30-somethings are waking up to the same reality.  Now, there are alot of more important things in life than having a team to love and that is what makes having a team to love so important.  It’s an escape.  It’s a safe place.  It’s home.  I will be going home this weekend, to Clemson, for a family reunion.  I hope I see that semi-truck again…parked in front of Tommy Bowden’s house.  There’s lots of youth groups that will help him move for free.