I was 11 in 1981.

Sep 16, 2013, 4:46 PM

My dad woke me up at 4:30 am to get on the road to Miami. It was freezing cold and the car was covered in frost.

I slept in the car most of the drive but awoke to see a big red van flying Husker flags rolling down the higway beside us. Boy that got my blood boiling!! How dare a fan of the other team come to MY TEAM's bowl game.

I got REALLY excited when my dad told me we were going to stay in HOLLYWOOD! I might see the Fonz or Farrah Faucett!! Yeah, I was no 11 year old geography major.

When we got out of the car I almost fainted at the heat. It was 95 degrees in January and though we didn't have central air in our house in NC, my body still had not adjusted to the temp change. But that was ok because I found out that our hotel had not only a dving board, but a HIGH DIVE!!(actually ony about 5 foot high). Times have changed in the travel world. Our hotel also had a crowded lobby bar area where I entertained myself by sitting just outside and watching the adults get louder and rowdier as the night progressed. That was fun!!

We parked our car outside the Orange Bowl in some yard. My brother and I made some Chico and the man jokes about the area because neither of us really had seen many hispanics and the area around the stadium was nothing but.

We had two sets of two tickets, so I had to sit in the upper deck with my mother for the first half. She let me have my face painted like a Tiger. It was so hot that night that most of the paint ran, but I didn't care.

I got to move down and sit with my dad for the second half. He was pleased enough with the way the Tigers were playing, leading at half, that he allowed me to purchase a cap. It had paws on the side with a stripe down the middle like a Clemson football helmet. I later realized that it was a pretty goofy hat, but at that moment it became a treasured possesion.

As the game progressed, I was so sure we were going to win that I asked my dad if we could leave early in the 4th quarter. I think it hurt my father's feelings but I was just so confident of victory, and that pool high dive was calling!! My dad quickly explained how we could easily lose the game, and for me to just pipe down. I piped down. At eleven years of age, I didn't understand the significance of what was going on nationally.

After the game, we rushed back to the hotel to see the late night sports news. As most know, in those days if you missed the late night sportscast, you would not hear much about the game till the coaches show played two days later.

The next morning we bought up different copies of the local newspapers. On the drive home, mine and my brothers game of Punchbuggy quickly changed to a new game of "Count the Paws" as we joined the caravan north back towards South Carolina. Didn't see the Husker cars that I saw on the drive into Miami.

At the time, it just seemed like a really neat little mini vacation. But now that I have passed 40, I realize it was something much, much bigger. I have sons of my own now. Someday I hope they get the opportunity to not realize that they witnessed the specialness of a Clemson National Championship game.

Go Tigers.

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"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car."

"I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it."

I was 11 in 1981.

I love this...

Re: I was 11 in 1981.

That was my Freshman year....

Mine, too

Great Post

Awesome, thanks!***

Best post of the day!!!!

11 in 81

Thanks for this great post. Some of the most entertaining

I hope you've planned ahead for January 2014...

That's one of the things I love about sports and point for

you old fart!

Nice job of painting the sights, sounds, and feelings

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