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YOUR BALANCE
What's your Clemson story?
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What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 8:27 AM

Why Clemson?

For me, it started with family. My grandfather, father, brother, sister and sister-in-law all attended Clemson, as did, later, a cousin and a nephew. Between the c*cks & the Tigers, I'd've likely picked the Tigers anyway because as a kid growing up in the 70s/80s, Clemson was doing well & coming off their first national championship. Going to Clemson solidified it for me, and kept the family thing going. My dad was in Pershing Rifles as was I. Experiencing the great game day traditions and learning the great military traditions (which really came back to the forefront during & after the first Gulf War) gave me new insight on how special Clemson is. The older I've gotten, the more I've learned, and the more I love Clemson, and our great head football coach has done nothing but improve upon this great school.

Could not be more proud to be a Clemson Tiger!

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My grandfather...Clemson class of 1924


Oct 16, 2018, 8:41 AM

He took me to my first game in 1971.

Unfortunately, he would not live long enough to see me attend or graduate but on my graduation day, my grandmother gave me his Clemson ring. It is and always will be the greatest gift I have ever received.

For a long time, besides my PawPaw, I was the only other person in my family to attend Clemson. My wife, who I did not meet at Clemson, has two degrees from Clemson and both of our daughters also graduated from Clemson.

Sorry...no pigs of wife and daughters.

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Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.


Re: My grandfather...Clemson class of 1924


Oct 16, 2018, 8:49 AM

I think I've heard you speak of this before. It is a very great tie to the university and a great memory for you as well.

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I was born with a paw on my chest. I'll die with a paw on my


Oct 16, 2018, 8:42 AM

chest. Everything in between is blood, sweat, and tears for my Tigers. Class of 05

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Best Is The Standard


True story


Oct 16, 2018, 8:43 AM

When I was around 5-6, we lived next to my grandfather. My dad and papa never watched football together on Saturdays. Being a kid I just wanted to play. But I vividly remember my dad always being mad when he watched football, and my papa was usually happy. So by virtue I started watching football with my papa. As I got older I realized my papa was a Clemson grad and my dad was a Carolina grad. I became a Clemson fan, and later a graduate because I wanted to be happy on Saturdays like my papa, not mad like my dad. Now me and my dad don't watch football on Saturdays together, except for our big family party on Rivalry Weekend, where we spend all day watching football, including the Clemson Carolina game. My little family wears all Clemson and the entire rest of my family wears coot crap. We have really enjoyed the past 4 years, and my dad even watched us beat OSU and Alabama at my house the year we won it all. We have fun with it now, but my dad still swears my papa brain washed me. God rest his Clemson loving Soul. Oh how I miss that man. He is the sole reason I went to Clemson.

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sig-1


Nobody in my family had much of a preference


Oct 16, 2018, 8:44 AM

and my parents, nor anyone else, had been to college. My older brother went to USCS (what upstate used to be called, and should still be - but that's a different rant).

I chose Clemson and spent the better part of 5 glorious years trying to get out and 26 since graduation trying to figure out how to get back over there!

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 8:46 AM

born into it. i didn't attend CU.. my dad didn't attend CU.. my grandfather didn't attend CU, although he did drive the bus that took the players to the top of the hill.. honestly, i don't know who did in my family. my sister eventually graduated from clemson but that was well after the fact.. but, my dad got tickets from his navy buddy that had season tickets on the 50 yd line and parked right beside that little bus stop bench that was enclosed in glass, right outside the west endzone where the visiting buses park (for those that know what i'm talkin bout).. i was spoiled w/ seats and parking and too young to realize it. anyway.. my first game was the western carolina game in '87 (i was 8).. and, i've bled orange since.

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Typical family story


Oct 16, 2018, 8:51 AM

Heck my grandmother even lived on Clemson Road in a tiny little SC town.

The final decision for me to go there (considering PC and USC because money) is the funny part.

I got home from school one day and there was a football schedule for the upcoming season taped on the front door.

“Dear Fluff, We can’t wait to have you in the Clemson family!”—Tommy Bowden signature

I ran inside and said, I’ve made my decision, I’m going to Clemson.

Sometime later in life my mom and her friend told me they forged it so I would hurry up and decide.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 9:08 AM

I was unfortunatly born to a mother and father that are die hard Gamecock fans....When i was 7 years old my grandfather on my mother's side passed away and my grandmother remarried to a gentleman that was friends with Danny Ford. They would take me to Clemson games very often and I would get to meet the players and coaches. I have loved Clemson and been the black sheep in my immediate household ever since. I then married a lady that is a Clemson graduate and is currently enrolled in a Masters program at Clemson. I wanted to attend Clemson, however due to economic reasons (my mother was sick and I had to help support my family during and after high school) I was unable to attend. I now take my children to at least a game a year and we go camping for a week at Clemson at least once a year.

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Have mentioned this before


Oct 16, 2018, 9:28 AM

My favorite Uncle (Class of '51) took me to the '59 bowl game in Tx. and many Big Thursday games. I remember the fake team prank and watching Dan Reeves playing QB for the coots. As an adult I now realize that he was a hard drinking, gambling, womanizer which makes me even fonder of him. RIP Tom Vick.

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monter le cheval de fer
A coot will usually blink when hit in the head with a ball-peen hammer


Re: What's your Clemson story? My story


Oct 16, 2018, 9:37 AM

I attended on my own. Most family was VT but we moved from Va in HS and Clemson was a good school with in state tuition. After I graduated we lived in Greenville and my cousin from Va heard my speak of Clemson and he came to school. For his freshman year we would sometimes put him up for the weekend so he could have a break from school and get some home cooking. He loved Clemson and ROTC. When he graduated he went on to a successful military career.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 9:40 AM

Started going to games regularly when I was about 12 years old. My mother would drop us off in Greenville at the White Horse Road Drive-In theatre and we would hitchhike to the game. With a dollar in my pocket I could go to Dan's and get a hamburger and drink and go to the football game ($.50 for children) and sit on the hill (either end zone). After the game we would go by the old library and stand by the "Greenville" sign and hitchhike home. This was in the late 50's - early 60's. After high school I was accepted to Clemson (still don't know how .... maybe because my cousin's husband was the registrar) and graduated in 1968.

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Like many, it’s in my blood


Oct 16, 2018, 9:55 AM

My grandfather (‘59) went to Clemson and got season tickets when my mom (‘86) and aunt (‘91) were young and brought them up Tigers where they went on to go to school at the best place in the world and met my dad (‘86) an engineering student who came down from NJ and never left, and my uncle (‘91) who’s dad grew up a Clemson fan.

It took me 2 weeks from when I was born to get to my first game in Death Valley and I was hooked from there. My brother (‘17) and I (‘14) grew up Tigers in a sea of ugly red and Carolina blue in the Triangle but came home when it came calling. Best decision I never had to make and now I have a UNC Charlotte grad who will soon be my wife who is rapidly acquiring more and more orange in her side of the closet and our children will be brought up the same way their dad and grandma were.

All thanks to the best man I’ve ever known who we lost this spring which made me even more thankful that he started our family down this path.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 10:00 AM

My grandparents brought me into the Clemson family. They had season tickets, and I would go to games with them. The first game that I ever went to was a homecoming game at night vs Georgia Tech. It was such an amazing experience, and I can still remember seeing the Tigers run down the hill for the first time.

I also remember watching old taped Clemson games that my grandparents had. Old bowl games from the 70's and 80's, and especially the 1981 National Championship game. They would tell me stories of how great Clemson used to be (I started watching in the 90's). I would dream about Clemson being great again.

I loved gameday mornings with my grandparents. My grandpa would always wake me up by putting on the record "Sounds of Death Valley". My grandparents had a "Tiger Van" that was painted orange, and I would have the honor of placing the many tiger paws on it the morning of the game.

It has been interesting for me to see Clemson football grow from when I first started watching, with the struggles, to become a national power.

The Clemson family is great, and I have always enjoyed hearing "Go Tigers!" wherever I have lived (Including Slovakia).

GO TIGERS!!!

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 10:34 AM

Family legacy. My Uncle, Harvey White, was Clemson QB, '57 - '60. There was never any question where I was going to college.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 11:31 AM

I remember Harvey well. When it was third down and we needed three or four yards for a first down, Harvey could fall forward for the necessary yardage.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 12:27 PM

He still does, on the tennis court.

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I moved to SC when I was in high school


Oct 16, 2018, 11:06 AM

and met a girl (no pigs) who had decided to go to Clemson for architecture. So I decided to go to Clemson as well. We both graduated from there and we're married. I'm blessed, but can't say the same for her.

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"IDIOT POSTER OF THE MONTH SO FAR...GWP-- You have won IPM Award for your failure to completely comprehend a clear post & then choose to attack someone who points out your ignorance. While you are not yet in the same No Class Catagory as deRoberts, ClemTiger117 & Tigerdug23, you are getting closer to the Sewer Dwellers." - coachmac


Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 11:16 AM

My mom married my stepdad when I was 8. He was a Clemson grad ('63). He already had a couple of season tickets. We immediately began making the 200-mile trek on Fall Saturdays. My brother and I usually sat on The Hill. It didn't take long at all to realize Clemson is the only place I wanted to attend college. My brother and I both graduated from Clemson with business degrees. I still make that drive during football season (and an occasional baseball/basketball game). Sadly, my stepdad passed away about 2 years ago but I will always be indebted to him for introducing me to THE University of South Carolina.
GO TIGERS!!!

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 11:20 AM

Had an uncle who was a CU grad. First game was in 1974. I’m a CU grad along with my wife, son, DIL, daughter, SIL, sister and BIL.

GO Tigers!!!

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My dad grew up in Cheraw as a coot fan, but went to Clemson


Oct 16, 2018, 11:47 AM

and met my mom there, had about 4-5 aunts and uncles that went to Clemson. I was born in Simpsonville in 1980 and my first game was the 82-24 wake forest game.

Been a Tiger fan all my life but went to App State due to living in North Carolina. I'm a proud ASU alum but still bleed orange. Met my wife at App from a family of Woofies and Tarholes. Successfully converted her and are raising 2 boys the right way.

My boys first game was last year against the citadel and my youngest, 8, was excited to get a football for the players to sign. My favorite moment was coming across BV after the game and him taking the time to take a pic with my two boys.

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I lived in Charleston and the stipulation was an in-state


Oct 16, 2018, 12:15 PM

college.

Clemson was 4 hours away, the furthest I could find from home!

Now, my mom was from SC and she rooted for Clemson her whole life, and I had a cousin who attended Clemson, but I really didn't know much about any of that.

20+ years later I can't believe that the first 18 years of my life were essentially Clemson-less. (There is a photo of me in a Clemson shirt back in 81, we lived in South Dakota then, and I didn't ever remember ever having a Clemson shirt until I saw that pic!)

Oh yeah, and I HATED football. LOATHED IT.

WHO
THE
HECK
WAS
I?

LOL!!!

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Photobucket


Grew up in NC


Oct 16, 2018, 12:25 PM

Just north of the NC/SC border about an hour north of Tiger Town.

No family or friend connection to Clemson at all.

When it came time to look for a college, I toured NCSt, UNC, and Tennessee, and was completely underwhelmed by all of them and was twisting in the wind as to where I thought I could spend the next four years. I got a letter in the mail from some little school in upstate SC that was just an hour down the road but that I never paid much attention to, and I conned my parents into skipping school on a Monday and driving down there. We parked at the Visitor Center and walked over to Bowman field, looking for the admissions office. I must have been wearing a neon sign that said "PROSPECTIVE STUDENT" because every student going and coming stopped to make sure we knew where we were going and ask if they could help. We took a walk around campus and eventually talked to the kind folks in Sikes who told my parents that based on my qualifications I would be eligible for substantial academic scholarships.

We walked down the steps at Sikes, I looked at my folks and said, "I want to go here. I'm going to turn in my application for early decision as soon as we get home. Save the app fees on all the other colleges, because I'm not applying anywhere else."

We drove by Memorial Stadium and eventually ended up over at the new (at the time) bookstore where I bought my first Clemson t-shirt.

A month or so later I would receive my acceptance letter, and I never looked back.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 12:43 PM

I was born and raised in NJ and wanted to escape the state for college. I knew somewhere there was a place where people weren’t all rude, the weather was mostly sunny and warm and the women were pretty and friendly. I applied to Clemson without ever having visited. To my delight, I was accepted, and my mom and I flew into the old GSP airport (1987) and rented a car for my freshman orientation. I knew immediately I had made the right decision. Lake Hartwell, the stunning sunsets, the friendly students who all LOVED Clemson...it still moves me. To me, Clemson is the best place on earth.

After 3 years at Clemson I took a little sabbatical with the US Marine Corps (hence my screen name), but returned to Clemson 4 years later after I finished my service. I graduated with a BA in English in 1996. Best time of my life was my time at Clemson....both of them!

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 1:20 PM

I didn't have any immediate family members who graduated from Clemson, but I grew up in the shadow of Death Valley, just up the road in Westminster. My entire family bled orange, and still does. When it came time for college, I went to The Citadel to pursue a military career(changed my mind after a couple years) and met a CoC girl who lived even closer in Seneca, on Clemson View Drive of all places! She has since earned her Masters from Clemson and we are raising 3 kids up right as Tiger fans.

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I am 1 / 1000 Cherokee


Oct 16, 2018, 1:57 PM

My great, great, great grandfather traded the land where Death Valley stands to Thomas Greene Clemson for a gallon of firewater and a Lot 5 Parking pass.

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Re: What's your Clemson story?


Oct 16, 2018, 10:40 PM

My father played football for USD (South Dakota) and that is why my birthplace is Vermillion, SD. He and mom grew up in Belle Fourche, same place John Wayne never reaches with those kids in the movie "The Cowboys". Moved to Iowa to get his Masters at Drake. One brother and two sisters graduated from U of I.
I played baseball at juco in Iowa then transferred to Clemson in 86' without ever seeing the campus. They were very highly rated in political science at the time. Was wairlisted by UNC and they sent me an acceptance letter while at Clemson. Too late because I was in love.
I graduated in the centennial 88'. Loved every minute of my time at Clemson. I am the black sheep of my B1G family but they have come to love Clemson too.
I have lived in New Mexico since 95' and have worn Clemson gear at least 3 times weekly the entire time I have been here.
Initially locals were clueless, most think we are in the SEC. The Dabo years have changed recognition immensely. I get stopped all the time now with questions about Clemson.
GO TIGERS!!!

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