So, I get a text from Joonyer Friday night around 9:30...

Nov 2, 2025, 8:11 AM

telling me that his wife had decided not to go to the game and asking if I wanted to ride over to Clemson with him on Saturday. So I did. And I watched things other than the game. And I'm going to tell you what I saw:

1. This season has culled a lot of the folks who jumped aboard starting around 2015. Remember during the glory years when there were 85k in the stadium and another 25k outside gathered around TVs at tailgates for a Citadel or Furman game? Well, there were empty parking spots all over yesterday. ON HOMECOMING. Tiger Walk was sadly lacking yesterday. I have not been to a Clemson game in decades where driving to Clemson, getting to the tailgate spot on Press Box Road, and getting out after the game was so quick and easy. I'm sure you Disney/Hulu viewers could see the emptiness on the TV (and I hope all the YouTube viewers got their houses cleaned, cars washed, and yards raked yesterday).

2.The vibe was ANYTHING but homecoming. It was...weird. A game like that would have normally seen anger and frustration in the stands when the clock hit 0:00. I felt a huge "OH, WELL" feeling in the crowd walking out of the stadium yesterday when it was over. I wonder if there aren't a lot of people who are financially invested in finishing out the season, but no longer emotionally invested in college football like the old days...as we've discussed ad nauseam here in the Jounge.

3. Joonyer turns to me seconds before kickoff and says to me, "Tickets for lower deck seats are $4.00 on Stubhub right now". I don't think I need to expand on this point.

4. And, this is the big one...I watched the play on the field and watched the sidelines A LOT. I don't know who or what exactly, but there is a cancer in the locker room. The offense has a number of guys who are playing their hearts out; the defense does not (with the notable exception of our transfer Heldt). Our defensive coaches have not forgotten how to coach, and every player on the field has proven some level of proficiency in the past. These guys can only be this bad for one reason. We can point fingers at all the nepo-coaches, or Garrett Riley, or Tom Allen, but the truth is we had a significant number of players who quit before running down The Hill for LSU. I'll agree that we have coaches who aren't as good at developing talent as we used to, but this goes WELL beyond that, and I think it's also the very thing that is wrecking high school recruiting. If I can feel it in the stands, those kids can feel it on an actual visit.

To sum it up...I'm 100% certain that this team COULD be undefeated right now. LSU has proven who they are, and on paper, we have not faced a team that comes close to us in talent. I'm not claiming Ohio State/Alabama/Georgia talent, but enough to be 8-0 with our schedule. Of course, Dabo can't come out and say this in a post-game presser, but I'm sure he knows it by now. I also think he can fix it, but he has to play the portal-era game to do it. I guess we'll see what happens, but this team and season are a lost cause at this point.

I'll say this one more for those of you who are hard of reading or generally slow...THERE IS A CANCER IN THE LOCKER ROOM that will not get solved until this dreadful season comes to a close in Columbia.

Thanks for attending my Ted Talk.

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Clemson football, was when i was a student. We loose, ok, I'll go have fun and party. We win, fine, I'll go have fun and party. No one picks on you. No comments when you wear orange by snide coots. No coworkers or others poking fun at you.

And this is all good since 1994 to 1999 saw some bad football, and I really didn't care.

This NIL and paying players crap is going to have a major impact, and I don't think IPTAY understands this. And I think the cancer in our locker room is also in many other locker rooms, because I think the cancer is the older players who didn't get NIL deals, and other payments, while the super stars get NIL deals and are paid more by the school. Yeah, cancer. And vice versa, as the traditional payment of a scholarship and playing time, is replaced by dollars that are not actually earned at Clemson, like playing time, but in HS. So some HS 5-star walks in, with a fat NIL deal, and is paid by the school too. He walks in, and every walk-on, or 2nd string guy who never got all that, has to play alongside this guy with his inflated ego and his Ferrari he parks on campus? As they take the CATS bus around campus?

Money is more than capable of running anything, and everything.

So, I get a text from Joonyer Friday night around 9:30...

I saw the same

Irony abounds. The one time in my life I actually cared the LEAST about

I posted this earlier. But my daughter is

Re: Thank you.

You have to put it on the coaches to fix it, but I believe it is the lack of

Our defense looks like they work for city or state government.

Re: You have to put it on the coaches to fix it, but I believe it is the lack of

Players. period.

I bet it's hard for kids to come and know they're stagnating.

Re: So, I get a text from Joonyer Friday night around 9:30...

Know what you mean

Only three people sat in a row of twelve seatback seats below us yesterday.

Agree with every point except fixableness. Dabo cant do it.

It depends on how much he wants to lead a program.

Re: It depends on how much he wants to lead a program.

We are a basketball schoool.******

Re: FIRE

Word! BB finna sign former pros. THAT is how you win in this era.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa haha.

Re: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa haha.

Laughing at 'we are a basketball school'

Re: Mangy but speaks to what RH expressed

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