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YOUR BALANCE
ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN
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ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

2
89

Jun 6, 2023, 7:39 PM

I'm writing this in memory of my Mom. She passed away twenty years ago and I think she was about the greatest Clemson fan that ever lived. She was born on the Clemson Campus in 1919. Then there was on campus housing for Department heads and her father, Baylis Gordon , was the head of what they then called the Physical Plant. My Grandfather and Coach Frank Howard were good friends and I have several stories handed down that maybe I can write one day. Anyway, the house she lived in with her folks was in a row of two story wood frame houses on a street that paralled Sirrene Hall ( Textile Blg. ). The houses are long gone and the parking lot across the street from the southeast corner of the stadium now occupies the space. She liked to tell about watching DEATH VALLEY being built from her back bedroom window. Many of the football players helped with tree cutting and driving the mule drawn scrapers to move dirt. They would often go cool off in the small creek that ran down the middle of the valley. (And still does in an underground pipe). A story she liked to tell was that as a teenager she and her friends would go to the football games that were then on what is now the soccer field behind the YMCA. They would look for the gate where ASSISTANT Coach Howard was known to be there greeting Alumni. He would take off his hat and bend over where each girl in turn would kiss him on top of his bald head and get in free. She said at one game his hat blew off . Coach Neely saw all the red lipstick and thought he had been injured and thought he was bleeding.
In Mom's later years after my Dad passed away she still listened religiously to every game. There was a joke among family and neighbors that you could drive by her house and tell who won the game after it was over even if you did not know. When listening to the game she usually got nervous and would go to the front porch, grab a broom which hung on the wall, and start sweeping. When driving by and the porch still had leaves on it and the broom was hung on the wall in its place, then Clemson had won easily. If the porch was clean and the broom was hanging in its place Clemson had won a close game. If the porch was clean and the broom was laying in the front yard where she had thrown it then Clemson had lost.
Rest in peace MOM. The family and the Clemson Tigers miss you. ( Written by her Son David Rankin ) Class of 1970 )


Message was edited by: Buz66®


Message was edited by: Buz66®


Message was edited by: Buz66®


Message was edited by: Buz66®


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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

1
14

Jun 6, 2023, 7:44 PM

No disagreement David. Thanks for the write-up -- a very special lady who had a first row seat to watch Clemson grow up as a town and university. I arrived in Clemson in 1979. Freshman dorm was Holtzendorff YMCA. So many great memories!

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Re: Love this.

12

Jun 6, 2023, 7:45 PM

Keep sharing your stories.

As for the title of "ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN", I'd like to think I'm in the running.:)

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I try to save a life a day, usually it is my own.


Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

14

Jun 6, 2023, 7:45 PM

Wonderful story. I was the first in my family to go or even step foot on the campus but love to hear opposite stories of those who have such a deep tradition. Both make Clemson such a special place.

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

6

Jun 7, 2023, 6:46 AM

TU Class of ‘87

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Class of '87


This is easily one of the best posts I've ever read on this

15

Jun 6, 2023, 7:54 PM

website in 25 years. What a story your family has to tell about the early days of CU. I hope you have all this written down or recorded. It would be a shame if it were lost. Please post some more.

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A drunk will run a STOP sign, but a stoner will wait for it to turn green.


Re: This is easily one of the best posts I've ever read on this

15

Jun 6, 2023, 8:08 PM

I will definately post some more but first have to figure out how to edit them. My Grandad and Coach Howard liked to "joke" around and some of it is somewhat "R" rated.

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Re: This is easily one of the best posts I've ever read on this


Jun 10, 2023, 8:29 PM

Bring on the stories. We're not skairred

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Re: This is easily one of the best posts I've ever read on this

2

Jun 7, 2023, 10:06 PM [ in reply to This is easily one of the best posts I've ever read on this ]

Harrumph!!! Harrumph!!!
I agree completely.
Go Tigers!!!

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"If a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal."


Thank you Buz

12

Jun 6, 2023, 9:28 PM

Just Thank you - Great post!

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

11

Jun 6, 2023, 11:20 PM

Great post and wonderful tribute to your Mom!

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

6

Jun 7, 2023, 6:47 AM

Excellent poast and wonderful tribute to your mother and Clemson.

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Class of '87


Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

7

Jun 7, 2023, 10:27 AM

Thanks for sharing. I could read stories like this all day. God Bless your Mom!

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Can't be more "Clemson Born"...

3

Jun 7, 2023, 12:59 PM

...than actually being born on the Clemson College property.

Great stories! Thanks for sharing.

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

3

Jun 7, 2023, 1:07 PM

Thank you for sharing your Mom's story. I'd like to read more about her experiences. Do you have any photos of that time period that you can also share?

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"It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers any more than it is to make sheep ferocious."
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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

5

Jun 7, 2023, 4:57 PM

I have some pictures of stadium in its infancy I'm trying to find. One of them was signed by Coach Howard.

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

3

Jun 7, 2023, 9:06 PM

Scott_Rhymer® may want to contact you about those pics. He runs a blog that gets updated daily with this kind of stuff.

http://tigerpregameshow.blogspot.com/


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I try to save a life a day, usually it is my own.


Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

1

Jun 7, 2023, 9:07 PM

Buz66®

See above post.

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I try to save a life a day, usually it is my own.


Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

4

Jun 7, 2023, 4:45 PM

I would say that she is definitely an ultimate Clemson fan! I absolutely love these stories. I wonder what she would have thought of Sloppy Body being considered and ultimate fan 😅. I think she would win the battle. Great story and look forward to many more (hopefully)

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Hey David Rankin (aka: BUZ66)!

2

Jun 7, 2023, 6:40 PM

Just saw your great HOF post and it mentioned things even this 82 yr ole Tiger didn't know. Thx!!

..and the broom was in the yard! LOL~

gooooooooooooooooTiGERS, here & up there!

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Re: Hey David Rankin (aka: BUZ66)!


Jun 9, 2023, 4:44 PM

I actually still have the broom.

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

2

Jun 7, 2023, 9:44 PM

BUZ.....God Bless your mom & you...thank you very much for the awesome story...Write down all your stories handed down to you and publish a book

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

1

Jun 7, 2023, 10:39 PM

Your mom sounds pretty cool....Great story!

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

1

Jun 7, 2023, 11:15 PM

Really appreciate you sharing this with all of us.

Thank you.

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What a great story.

1

Jun 8, 2023, 7:34 AM

Thanks for sharing it. Like everyone else, I loved the broom explanation.

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN/NEW STORY

3

Jun 8, 2023, 2:42 PM

I promised another story from my MOM so here it is. I'm not the story teller she was but I will do my best. This is one of those "You had to be there stories." I'm going to try and tell the story without, I hope, offending anyone. First to clarify a definition. In the old south the word "haint" was a word used for ghost or spirit and for a place to be "hainted" meant haunted.
When I was growing up, when we walked or drove near the old smoke stack ( now there are two), older family members or friends would laughingly refer to the area behind the smoke stack as being "hainted" Never quite understood what that meant until my Mom told me this story about My Grandad, Baylis Gordon ( Bayl ) and Coach Howard and how the "hainting" started. My Grandad had a desk in the PHYSICAL PLANT where the smoke stack was located. His desk was next to a window (smoked glass, excuse the pun). Outside the window, the bottom of the window was at ground level and outside there was a little cul-de-sac type area with a bush in it. Okay, you have the setting and keep in mind that this probably happened in the 40's. My Grandad died in 1950 when I was about three.
In the summer he would open the window and use a fan to draw in some air ( no air conditioning then ) when he began to notice a putrid, urine smell coming in. He soon discovered that 3 guys on the custodial staff would go there on breaks and rather than standing in line to urinate in the small bathroom at the other end of the building, they would use the area behind the bush and right outside Grandads window. He would ask them to stop and did for a while, but would start again. Of the three custodians the only name I remember my Mom using was "Old Bob" whose place of work was Fike Field House where Coach Howards office was located but was on loan that day to the Physical Plant. The other two I will call Mike and Jim.
My Grandad decided to solve the problem and being Clemson's chief electrician only he would come up with this idea. Coming to work early one day he went to the "urine" problem area and placed a piece of chicken wire under the leaves, attached and old lamp cord, and ran the wire through the window. Later that morning he saw the culprits leave together out the side door and knew where they were heading. He plugged in the cord and waited. He could hear them outside his window talking. After a short time things got quiet. Following the silence there were several blood curdling screams followed by a lot of cursing and running footsteps. Of course what had happened was when the urine stream hit the chicken wire the electricity followed the stream back to its source. Jim came running in the door with his pants down to his knees and cradling his privates in both hands, eyes as big as saucers, screaming, " Mr Gordon, Mr Gordon, There's a haint behind that bush and he done bit my %$#@." He took off with his pants still down and didn't show up the rest of the day. A few minutes later Granpa's phone rang. It was Coach Howard. "Baylis, what the h$!!s going on up there. Old Bob just came in my office scarred to death. He peed all over himself and is crying begging me not to send him back up there to work because the place was hainted" When Grandad explained what he did Coach Howard explained to him later that he had to go outside4 till he could stop laughing. As for Mike, he had only been on the job a couple of days but he never came back.
Thus the story of the "hainted" smoke stack. If any of you are thinking going there when you are at the next game and checking it out remember the "haints" might still be there so be sure and use one of the portables before you go.


Message was edited by: Buz66®


Message was edited by: Buz66®


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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN

1

Jun 8, 2023, 2:47 PM

God Bless

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN


Jun 10, 2023, 5:27 AM

Sorry for your loss. A Clemson woman indeed!

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Re: ULTIMATE CLEMSON FAN


Jun 10, 2023, 9:46 AM

Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.

There are thousands of Clemson stories that warm my heart. I think we all can agree that is what makes being a Clemson Tiger the ULTIMATE experience.

Class of 1980

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thanks for sharing,Was she still living in Clemson when she


Jun 10, 2023, 8:15 PM

passed?

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