The Spirit of Clemson

Almost three years ago now we moved from Indiana to a small town called Clemson, SC. Before we flew down here for my husband to interview I did a lot of research on the town. From what I could tell it wasn't very big at all. Now we didn't live in a real large town back home, but Clemson seemed tiny to me. We came from Purdue University where there are over 30,000 students and Clemson has about half as many.

As we got closer to the University on our drive here from the airport we started seeing tiger paws painted on the roads. I thought this was rather odd, but also found it very neat. Maybe other places do something similar, but I had never seen anything like it before and I just thought it was great. The next day my husband got up and went and spent the day interviewing so I just walked around what they call downtown. I saw a lot of neat little shops, but it just appeared to be an ordinary campus to me. That night we went to dinner with a group of people that worked at the University and they were talking about the Clemson spirit and how great it was and how it could never be lost. I was sure they were exaggerating considering we were coming from Purdue. The next morning we met up with a realtor and he showed us around the town and I remember going to see the stadium. He was telling us how amazing it was that on game day you see about 80,000 invade campus and downtown Clemson and how neat it was. Again, I thought he was talking it up as well as the other people we had talked to.

We made our move here two months after my husband had his interview and accepted the position. I was so excited we moved when we did because back home there was 17 inches of snow on the ground and we were running around in jeans and short sleeved shirts here. I knew at that point this was going to be an easy adjustment. We started meeting people and getting involved in various activities yet I hadn't really seen all the crazy fans we'd heard about. Little did I know that football season would be here before we knew it and I'd soon find out. I remember tailgating for the first time and being in awe. Everywhere you looked you saw orange or purple. Once we entered the stadium to watch the game I was entranced by what I saw. There was a sea of orange and the people were going crazy. It was awesome to see. You rarely ran in to anyone on game day that wasn't wearing a Clemson shirt. I remember going to Walmart one morning on the first home game and it was crazy to see all the people there in their orange and purple Clemson shirts. I knew at that point we were in for a fun season.

I loved the idea that they do a first Friday parade here. They have it the first Friday before the first home game. It's great and the kids really enjoy it. They follow it up with a pep rally and it's amazing to see how many people come out for it. It's something so simple, yet the fans make it so great. You think one would get used to all the chaos and excitement that came along with game day, but I never did. No matter how many times we tailgated or how often we went to the games I was always amazed with the fans.

Last Saturday is when I realized just how wonderful these Clemson fans are. It was pouring down rain Saturday for much of the day. Do you think that stopped anyone? It didn't. It has rained for the past several home games, but this is the first game we had ventured out for. People were all over wearing rain ponchos, half of them orange with white tiger paws. People sat through that game in the pouring rain and cheered for the Tigers. They didn't care if it was raining, just as they don't care if it's 100 degrees out. They are loyal and I love it. Now I know most people will probably try to say that it's like that anywhere you go, but I am not so sure. I think everyone needs to experience a Clemson football game. I know that no matter how long we are here I'll never get tired of looking around the stadium and seeing all that orange. It's one of those little things that will always amaze me!