Monday March 10, 2008

The Perfect Day

The Perfect Day
Emotions were hard to suppress Sunday in Littlejohn Coliseum. They were the kind of emotions I remember feeling after some of my favorite Tigers played their last home game.

I felt Sunday the way I felt when Rodney Williams jogged off of the field in 1988 with the Clemson fans chanting, Rodney, Rodney! I thought that was so appropriate considering the chants sounded so much different a year earlier in Williams-Brice.

Sunday was the way I felt when Tommy West and his wife Lindsey and son Turner were carried off of the field on the shoulders of his players’ after beating South Carolina in his final game as a Tiger.

But as I get older, I guess I get more emotional because the closest thing I can remember to the same emotion I felt Sunday was two years ago when Anthony Waters ran down the Hill. The All-ACC linebacker tore his knee back in September and was out for the season but about Wednesday that week we began hearing rumblings around town that maybe Waters would run down the Hill. I saw him that Thursday and asked if the rumors were true but he said I would have to wait to find out. It was probably the most emotional I have ever gotten at a Clemson sporting event when I saw Waters at the top of the Hill in full uniform.

There have been other emotional times but many were for things other than people. We have all felt emotional highs after monumental wins and emotions letdowns after devastating losses. Those come and go rather frequently.

Sunday’s win was awesome but Sunday was about something totally different. Wins and losses are always there and are always important but not as important as the people. I know Clemson will win and lose more basketball games and some will be better and some will be worse. But I cannot sit here a day later and guarantee you there will be more important senior classes in Clemson basketball. I hope there will be but there is no guarantee. I also can’t guarantee there will be any better role model for a Clemson student-athlete than Cliff Hammonds.

Sunday had three parts, the pre-game, the game and the post game. In my mind all three were special and will get stored away in the memory vault for some time.

The pre-game was every bit as good as I hoped and truly one of the most special scenes I have seen in Littlejohn. You guys got there early and the emotions and energy came from you and the team felt it. I was at Georgia Tech’s senior day on Thursday and their crowd did not compare. You guys made those 10 minutes special to the players and their families. The best way I can describe it is it was a Clemson moment. If Clemson is really about the people like so many of us believe, then your participation Sunday can be called a special Clemson moment for those four Tigers and their families.

The game was incredible. It was so cool to see Mays, Perry and Hammonds all make big plays coming down the stretch to spur the comeback. I thought it was fairly ironic that two freshmen made some of the biggest plays on senior day. Terrence Oglesby’s bombs in the first half were a thing of beauty. His range was amazing but the most incredible aspect of his three is confidence. Not only was he confident they were going in but the fans were just as confident. Three of those shots you knew they were going in as he released them.

Demontez Stitt played one of his best games in some aspects and his clutch free throws were the difference in the score. Anyone want to complain about Clemson’s free throw shooting coming down the stretch yesterday?

We have seen senior days at a lot of places in the past and we obviously have seen big wins but the most unique part of Sunday was the post-game. I was shocked to hear Coach Purnell come on the P.A. and thank the fans for all of their passion for the past season. He told them this is the best crowd in the ACC. I was even more shocked to then hear him say each of the seniors would address the crowd for 30 seconds. We have seen athletes on the scorer’s table before but I can’t remember too many times were athletes get to address the home crowd over the P.A. I thought it was a classy move by Purnell and the seniors handled themselves well.

Sunday was a perfect day in Tigertown with a perfect beginning, middle and end.

However, I may have a separate thought than most for the rest of the season. My attitude is that this team has accomplished a third seed in the ACC tournament and will be in the NCAA tournament and anything on top of this is icing on the cake. Clemson will have tough games from here on out but my season goals have already been met.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to win the ACC tournament and make a good long run in the Big Dance but if the Tigers lost the next two games then I would not feel slighted. Every win from here on out is just a little something extra.

Like every team, this team still has issues. Booker’s foul trouble showed up again. K.C. Rivers did not have his best game for the third consecutive outing. Free throws, post defense and hustle are some of the ones I continue to look at also. But this team also has enough weapons that serious runs in the ACC tournament and NCAA tournament are possible. And like Purnell said yesterday, these guys are crazy enough to believe it is going to happen.

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