Sometimes I just sit there and think ....why does everyone get so worked up over conferences, NIL, and the like. I then I get it. College sports has been so much a part of many of our lives that there is real concern about a way of life drastically changing with a sport we so care about. It is really not just about the sport but the memories, special times it has created that we so fear changing.
I can remember being a little kid and one of the biggest events for our family every year was going to Clemson homecoming. We would head up and Friday night for Tigerama, stay in Anderson (Holiday Inn where the players stayed). It was magical. I think of all the special trips to Clemson, bowl trips as a kid and now taking my kids to playoff games has created some of our most lasting memories. My father is 82 and he still talks about his 1959 Christmas present his parents gave him.... a train ticket to Texas to see Clemson play TCU in the Bluebonnet Bowl. I could go on and on but I know many of you know exactly what I am talking about. Clemson football has not just about a sport but a way of life.. something that bonds family and friends.
The price of tickets to compete in the arms race, the potential drastic roster changes with the portal, the love of what you can make vs. the love of school are all big changes for us old timers and the human condition is inherently in fear of change. I am not sure all of this will change anything but the concern is real as it goes to a way of life. I hope I am totally wrong and for the rest of my life I continue and make memories with friends, grandkids etc. that Clemson football has brought me in the first 50 years of life because it has truly been a way of life for my family.