Warning...somehow this post turned purely into a Clemson post...but it's good I promise

Another week with not many blog posts...by now the number of people that actually read this thing probably dropped from 3 to like 1. Maybe that's too negative, maybe I still have 2. I didn't really intend to skip this week, it just kind of happened. Monday I had a terrible headache and got in bed before 9, Tuesday I was up until 2 studying, and Wednesday I was just exhausted from staying up late, getting up early, and then being gone for 14 hours straight.

But do not despair! I am back, and better than ever. I did well on my tests I think, and I had a chance to play a guitar amp that I've been wanting at Guitar Center. I have been waiting for them to get one in so I could try it, and I really liked it. I only have 2 amps other than practice amps, and neither is practical for playing shows and at church. One is a 1956 Bassman Combo Amp, which is extremely valuable and sounds amazing, but it is heavy and I also do not want to do the smallest thing to hurt it because of it's value. The other is a solid state Marshall head. It also is very large and heavy (because you also need a cabinet), and although it sounds alright really isn't anything special. Plus it has been having issues which I think may be from driving speakers that might only be 2 ohms. I'm not really sure what they are, but I have a suspicion it is low, and I think the actual amp might have overheated or something. Anyways, this amp I want isn't too much money, and I think I will sell the Marshall on Ebay (mentioning the issue of course). That along with $150 in gift cards I've saved, and also asking for all gift cards this year for Christmas should make it fairly easy to get. Here's a link if you're interested:
Fender Blues Jr. Tweed

The other thing I missed was Tommy Bowden stepping down as Clemson's head coach. This is a huge deal, he has been there for 9 and 1/2 seasons, and done some good things for the program. The fact that he has never even been to an ACC championship game, and has constantly had a team that underachieved made the fans extremely restless, especially as Clemson was ranked #9 pre-season this year and had already lost 3 games. I had/have very mixed emotions about the whole thing. On one hand, I definitely think it was time for him to go. I actually have had a facebook group for over 2 years entitled: "How Long Is Tommy Bowden's Contract Again?" In this group I put recaps of each game during each season, and posted other very telling facts such as ACC record over his coaching period, record against ranked teams at home, and I even had some quotes from Tommy himself. In that sense I was really excited when I heard that he had finally stepped down, and for the record I do think he stepped down. TDP, Clemson's AD would have let him finish out the season, but Tommy thought it best to step down now.

While at first I was purely excited, I quickly found myself reflecting on my time at Clemson, the good things Tommy had done, and how hard it must be for him to leave. For one thing, I have some great memories of Clemson football with Tommy as coach. I remember when we beat FSU when they were ranked something like #3. My roommate didn't even go to that game because he thought it would be a blowout. It was crazy! It was actually the last game with wooden goalposts, so I was there for the last time goalposts were torn down, and I also helped carry them out of the stadium. I remember the year we broke the sound dB record level in the overtime Miami game. The crowd was so loud that I literally could not hear myself scream, and something in my ears was literally distorting. I remember watching us beat Carolina 63-17, and then also completely dominating them the next year. Probably the greatest memory was when ESPN Gameday came my senior year. We played Georgia Tech, and I think we were ranked #12 and they were #13. Those numbers could be wrong, but they're close if they are. I remember waking up so early to go down to Bowman where they were broadcasting and cheer. It was one of the largest Gameday crowds ever, and we were so impressive that even Kirk Herbstreet said on a radio show the following week how much he liked Clemson and how it would be a great school for his kids. That night the atmosphere was amazing, such a clear night, the crowd was all orange, and everyone was loud. Our team wore all purple which was unique, and while non-fans of Clemson don't like the all purple, it seriously looked amazing, especially in contrast to the field and the crowd. I can't even describe what it was like when the team came down the hill. I hear my friends from USC talk about how their bird in a cage and 2001 thing is a great tradition, and our hill and Howard's rock isn't....but I think really they are just delusional. There is so much history in our entrance, and opposing players find the whole thing pretty intimidating. I tried to find some youtube videos of the entrance to give you an idea of what it was like...they don't really do it justice, but here they are:




I wish the first one had the audio from ESPN left in, but the second gives you a small picture of the loudness. Here's some pictures of me from that night...

As if things couldn't get any better, we completely demolished GT. It wasn't even really a game. Somewhere in the video a few rows up in the student section, my group of friends and I are going nuts with the rest of the crowd...what an incredible memory.

There were many other huge wins during Tommy's time at Clemson, but it wasn't just the games. He was a really good guy, most likely a Christian from his comments and reputation, and ran an extremely clean program. He had very upstanding staff, brought in top-notch players both athletically and socially, and always represented the university well.

I also thought of how hard it must be for him to leave. I probably have a special amount of empathy for him because of my situation this past year. I know how hard it was for me to pour my life into worship team members and a music ministry for a year and then leave it behind during less than desirable circumstances, and I can only begin to compare that to Tommy's situation. It has to be so hard to pour yourself into coaches and players, build those relationships, give yourself to Clemson as a university, for 10 YEARS and then have to leave during a really rocky time. People keep making comments about him being fine with his 3.5 million, but I know there has to be a huge hole in his heart from what has happened. From what I saw of the press conference, he was very classy in his comments. I hope that he does take away mostly positive from his time at Clemson, and I hope he feels the appreciation of the fans, but more importantly of the players and staff whose lives he influenced. But anyways....

So I was going to write about my day today, but this blog post is so long I'm just going to leave it at that. The only other thing I'll mention is that I finally found some lower deck tickets to the game this Saturday for face value. I've been looking for the past few days to no avail. I think the crowd is going to be really into it because of the new coach, and because Willy Korn is starting at QB for the first time, so I want to be in the thick of things. I wasn't planning on going until all this stuff took place this week, and I figured I just don't want to miss such a momentous day. Since I live in Greenville and have the time, I figure I should take advantage. Kristi is coming too, which will be really fun. I don't think she's been to a game this important, so it should be fun for her even though she's not really a football fan. I'm supposed to meet the guy tomorrow morning to buy the tickets...hopefully everything works out right. A bunch of my friends and Kristi and I are going to eat at my favorite place in Clemson called Ancheaux's afterwards too, which will be great. Clemson is such a beautiful place and it has so many great memories for me. The other night when we had to say the most beautiful place we'd been at the worship team meeting, I half jokingly said Clemson, but really it is one of them. Where I lived I could see the Tillman Hall clock tower, the stadium, Lake Hartwell, and the mountains. I saw some of the most amazing sunsets from that room. I think sometimes we get so used to the vegetation and scenery where we live that we miss how beautiful this part of God's creation is, and we find other places more amazing just because of newness. So really, while I do think Oahu is beautiful, I might really think that Clemson is even more so.

It is going to be an amazing weekend, don't forget to where your orange tomorrow! And sorry for all the nostalgia.