The trip to Clemson yesterday was an eye opener, and really told me a lot in regards to our overall football program. We have a serious ATTITUDE problem in Clemson. I thought that this problem was simply a BOT/Administration problem, but now I realize that our winning problem (or probably more appropriately, our losing problem) is more of a grass roots issue than I originally thought.
When (seemingly) an entire fan base objects to criticism of our sorry ass football team and replies that we are “getting there,” we have a problem. When folks talk about our ACC foes as though they were the ‘85 Bears, we have a problem. When our fans defend a loss to such teams, especially in the fashion we lost yesterday, we have a problem. I was confused; I really thought that our fan base knew what was going on and that is clearly not the case. I thought that our administration and the BOT were the only folks who were excited about mediocre football, but that is clearly not the case. I think the only place in Clemson where you can get an honest and accurate opinion about this team is over at Jimmy Howard’s place. The folks there expect to win and will tell you how it really is.
This whole acceptance of crap dates back to the days of Max Lennon and reverberates through the campus of Dear old Clemson to this day. Our administration has promoted crap in terms of winning for years. Our administration shoots for a level that is just around 'above average' but wins enough to keep the fans quiet. How could this be more evident than TDP still having his job after pissing away millions of dollars on a coach who repeatedly failed? After what I saw yesterday, the fan base has relegated itself to mediocrity and does not expect/demand results.
The university administration, over the course of the past two decades, has turned Clemson from a football-loving fun school into Dean Wormer’s dream. The Board of Trustees set up this NFL--NO FUN LEAGUE--with the ouster of Dollar Bill. Since the mid-’80‘s the administration has worked to keep the Clemson Athletic Department at average. This continues through increased regulation of our AD and student body.
Want more proof of this attitude? Clemson last week banned social organizations from being social. Well, they banned these activities until they realized that the Greek organizations are the ones who put together the majority of the Homecoming activities and not having such would really piss off the alumni who donate huge amounts of cash to the university. The university quickly “rewarded” the fraternities and sororities with the “opportunity” to build floats and make Homecoming a happy time for the alumni and the administration. I almost wish that these folks (Greek orgs) would have refused to participate in such activities after getting hammered by the folks upstairs, but will admit that the floats were on display Saturday were impressive and were definitely a good thing for Clemson.
I can understand the admin/BOT’s attitude, as it is a power and money issue on their end. The fact that the fans have bought into this attitude and (generally) accept moral victories and excuses really surprises and appalls me. I expected more out of the Clemson family and really hope that I just saw a small portion of our group that shares this opinion.
So, here we are again. We are in the same boat we have been in time and time again--and some folks out there wonder why. Until the fans demand a winner, we will continue to see the crap we saw yesterday. Until the alumni demand better out of their university, we will continue to see the crap we saw yesterday.
We will discuss our team’s issues soon and look into addressing these issues over the next day or two. On a bright note, Georgia got smacked around out West.
Now, the Braves need to win today to salvage some of this weekend.