Thursday December 06, 2007

Game Day

Game Day
Last Friday on our morning radio show I made the comment that Clemson and South Carolina were going to play basketball the following day and we had not received one call on the subject all week. In fact I have done the radio show for years and doubt if we averaged two calls each year on the rivalry game on the hardwood.

I understand we are not talking about football where fans start to think about the next game between the two schools as soon as the current game ends. In baseball we have had a lot of interest in the game but a lot of that can be attributed to both programs being ranked so high. In basketball both schools lack history and tradition.

There are other factors that take away from the basketball game. For the past several years we have played the game in December which may lead to some disconnect. Often the game is within a week or two of the football game and some are still celebrating or sulking about the gridiron contest. Also December means shopping and holiday plans for many families so there are distractions for some.

The radio show conversation turned into trying to identify ways to make Clemson-USC basketball bigger and which lead us to comparing the energy of Clemson football to Clemson basketball.

After the show I spent the rest of Friday and some of the weekend talking to many about the idea of improving the Clemson basketball experience for the fans.

When I was a kid we lived in Chester, SC until I was 12 and Irmo, SC until I went to Clemson. Chester is about three hours from Clemson and Irmo is about two hours from Tigertown. I would ask my dad to take us to more Tiger basketball games but his answer made sense. He would explain how it did not make sense to him to drive six hours round trip from Chester to go to a basketball game that lasts an hour and a half (pre-TV era mind you). We would do it for football because tailgating was involved and it was an entire game day experience that made it worthwhile.

My dad was right but now I ask why not tailgate at Clemson? About 12-15 of my friends and my family got together and tailgated for the Clemson-USC basketball game last Saturday and it was great. Lane Miller made the best jambalaya you have ever had. My son Ryan and his friend Collin Brady threw the football around the lawn at McFadden for a while. The rest of us enjoyed food and drinks for a few hours. Some came in the morning hours for a 4:00 PM basketball game and we had a blast.

I will grant you that weather will not always cooperate with tailgating in December through March basketball and this is a legitimate concern.

But the question remained. How can we make Clemson basketball an event? I talked to a former Clemson player, the current basketball coaching staff ,Jon Seketa who does a terrific job with promotions in the athletic department, local business people and current Clemson students. Here is what we have come up with:

First we are only talking about four or five games a year. It makes little sense to do this on weekday games. On average Clemson plays four ACC home games on the weekends. Some years we will have more home ACC weekend games and some we will have less but an average of four is about right. I can even see one non-conference game in December working as well.

Now on to the suggested ways to make Clemson basketball game day more of an event.

1. Picture Day-Each August Tiger fans go crazy at fan appreciation day and thousands of people line up to get their pictures and autographs with Clemson players and coaches. This seems to be very popular and even frustrating to some because it is so crowded and not every fan gets everything they want on that day. So why not have Clemson football players at a table inside Littlejohn or in the annex at Littlejohn or even outside on a nice day? I think kids would love to have a separate picture day with James Davis and C.J. Spiller an hour before Clemson basketball.
You could have other current Clemson athletes at other games or even have former Clemson athletes as the guest of honor. I would think Tiger fans would love the opportunity to meet and greet Michael Dean and William Perry one weekend and Khalil Greene and Kris Benson the next. How about a Jeff Davis and Terry Kinard day? Brian Dawkins could draw a crowd couldn’t he?

Littlejohn only holds 10,000 but the USC game only drew about 9,400. Could Thunder and Lightening have brought in another 600 people? I would say they could.

2. Concerts-Last year the band Need To Breath played on the lawn at Littlejohn after a Clemson baseball game. The concert drew several hundred people so I ask why not have a concert outside the arena before the game to help draw more interest? This would help create more of a game day experience.

3. Game Day Vendors-I would think Mr. Knickerbockers and other local vendors would like to have a both set up outside the coliseum on a few game days. Maybe an even better idea is to have local restaurants set up booths and sell tickets like they do at Fall for Greenville or Taste of the Town in Charlotte. Food always gets people excited.

4. Hoops and slides-Instead of throwing out tee shirts during the game maybe we could have basketball goals set up outside and kids can shoot for tee shirts?

5. Pep Rally-Tiger Band, Cheerleaders, Rally Cats, Coach Purnell and a player or two maybe an hour and a half before the game would draw some fans wouldn’t it?

6. Downtown Pep Rally-A few years ago Seketa had midnight madness on College Avenue in Clemson. I thought it was a fantastic idea and it drew a huge crowd. I think we could block off College Avenue and let the fans enjoy a Welcome Back Festival atmosphere.

These are some ideas we have come up with and this will take the cooperation of the fans, former Clemson stars, the local merchants, Clemson students and the coaches and players. But I think we have something in Oliver Purnell and many of us want to make Clemson basketball more of an experience. The success of the team is crucial but we are currently ranked in the top 20 and still had empty seats at our last home game versus USC. Would more have been there if they could have eaten a variety of food, enjoyed a free concert, gotten James Davis and C.J. Spiller’s autograph or picture, won a tee shirt by making a free throw and got pumped up with a good pep rally?

Now for your homework assignment. Please give us feedback. What ideas do you think will work? What ideas do you have to add to the list? Let’s get involved and make this thing work. I know it will be difficult for our Charleston fans and Columbia fans but for us in the upstate we can do this. The weather is a problem. The lack of tradition is a problem. There are several problems but let’s get together and be part of the solution. Thanks for your interest and feedback.

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