When my wife and I walked out of Fan Fest in Tampa the day before the National Championship game. The two fans were all decked out in their crimson with one of them wearing the traditional Bear Bryant hounds tooth hat, die hard in every sense of the word.
As we got closer and they saw our Orange, you could tell that they wanted to engage in some light hearted bantering, so being a born and bred Clemson man, I felt it my duty to stop and protect the Paw. It started off with each side congratulating each other on making it back to the Championship. Then a little bit of history between the two schools, Alabama players turned Clemson Coaches, and Clemson’s two dollar bills, etc.
Then, as only an Alabama fan can say in their own little way, they said that they were surprised to see us back this year and thought we’d never make it back after our “bad” loss to Pitt. After several other barbs, they went on to “compliment” Clemson saying that they really should be an SEC school. One of the Bama Boys said that the SEC actually got the wrong team from the state of South Carolina as a member.
It’s always fun to listen to another school’s fan, giving them all the rope they want before they hang themselves. At this point, tired of their rhetoric I told the Bama fans that they really didn't want Clemson in the SEC. Quite befuddled, he quizzed me why not? Then I said “because if Clemson was in the SEC, Alabama would never make it back to the National Championship!
As we left, I turned and gave each of them a Tiger Paw stamped two dollar bill and wished them a good day.