I don't know how old I was the first time I went to a Clemson home game...about 6 I think. Granddaddy had 6 tickets on the 50 yard line in the North Stands and he parked in what is now the ramp for the upper deck! Back then, tickets for the West End Zone bleachers were $3 and for 50 cent you could sit on the hill. (there was no upper deck and the hill stretched entirely across from North to South stands!!!!) We kids usually had end zone seats unless some of the adults we tailgated with had extra tickets. We actually preferred the end zone because then we were free to play under the big shade trees... they are now gone :( as is much of the hill! Those were the best of times!! My grandparents, aunt and uncle, parents, siblings, cousins, and so many Summerton friends...all in orange...all parked side by side and we had the best food! I wish I had some of Miss Doris' pimento cheese, Miss Henny's shrimp dip and pelzer fried chicken!!! By the time LaNelle and Peter were born, our parking pass was down the hill a bit (about the equivilent of one block and we COMPLAINED!!!!) Still, we went to every game and LaNelle wore a cheerleading outfit and Peter a football uniform...and they were babies!! We mostly sat on the 50 yard line except big games when we got relegated to the new upper deck.
Those days, tickets and parking priveledges are long gone but we still love Clemson football!! my children go often but I had not been in almost 15 years...until SATURDAY!!!!!
some things haven't changed...he tigers still rub Howard's rock and run down the hill. Everyone still wears orange...the fans are still insane about the tigers and we still fire a cannon and watch the tiger do push-ups everytime we score! And although we had to park a 15 minute walk away in PUBLIC PARKING (ughhhh!!!!!!), we still tailgated before and after and even though I was not feeling well at all, it was a glorious day 9although miserably hot) and I was so happy to be there...but I was very emotional and missed my Granddaddy all day.
It felt great in our shady parking area.
And we still had great food.
and played a fun new game..some kind of golf balls on a string that you throw and try to get on the bars..each bar scores a different amount.
Peter, Andrew and the twins loved it!
Connor had undereye paint and DT and Uncle Floyd caught sight of him after the game during a CJ Spillar interview because Clemson still lets kids storm the field for autographs and to play after the game. Andrew was holding Connor up directly behind CJ while he was being interviewd on TV. It was a fun birthday for the twins. The best part for me was seeing my boy (Peter). It seems like only last year he was Connor's age. I miss him more than words can describe. 
3 comments:
I always loved going to the Clemson games! They were so much fun and I remember sitting in the end zone seats and on the 50 yard line. I loved tailgating and I loved the thrill of being there! I have so many good memories. I'm glad you are passing them on to your kids. Jeff and I are seriously thinking about getting season tickets to the Wolpack games for our family as we think our kids would love it. Jeff and Michael went to a game last week and Michael's comment when he went into the stadium was "sweet!" Those are the best memories!
Wolfpack is better than Clemson. Even though ya'll beat us saterday.
ok, I need to be honest - I couldn't make myself read a whole post about Clemson, but I did look at the pictures.
Sarah Beth is so cute, too bad she's wearing that ugly orange shirt. "whoever said orange is the new pink is seriously disturbed"
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