Sunday, November 20, 2011

Clemson!

Last Saturday I got my first lesson in extreme tailgating, Clemson style. Robin and Skippy are major Clemson fans and they have a tradition of tailgating with a group of their close friends for each home football game. I purposefully selected a home football weekend for my visit to South Carolina because I wanted to experience this with them.

The scene: the first three tents in the photo is their group's set up.
We left Greenville just before 7 a.m. for the one hour drive to Clemson. Once we got to town we met up with some of their friends, reshuffled parking passes and tailgating supplies, and drove onto the tailgating field on campus. This photo was taken around 9 a.m. before the field had filled up completely.Skippy's group has an elaborate entertainment system, complete with Direct TV.Watching ESPN Gameday and eating breakfast before the game. Their group includes about 25 adults and five children under age 5, plus other friends who stopped by periodically before or after the game. The space heater came in handy since it was about 40 degrees that morning. It was a beautiful fall day with the sun shining and clear skies. It eventually warmed up to the low-60's that afternoon. A photo of Robin and me tailgating before the game. We are all bundled up because it was still chilly under the tents.The game: this was very exciting! Clemson played Wake Forest. I haven't been to a festive college football game in years and it was so much fun to experience the Clemson atmosphere with Robin. We used to cheer for FSU together when were were in college, so we are two Florida girls who know quite a bit about college football. Below is the band on the field before the game.


"The most exciting 25 seconds in college football" is a Clemson tradition that Robin explained as follows: after the team warms up on the field about 10 minutes remain until kickoff, the players exit one side of the stadium and board busses that transport them around the stadium to the opposite end zone. Below you can see the busses on the street outside the end zone. Then the players run in underneath the sign and touch the rock (some of them kissed the rock). You can see an image of a Clemson player touching the rock on the large TV below. After the players touch the rock they run down the end zone and enter the field, running below the balloons and out towards the band.The band plays the fight song, the fans go crazy, and all the players get out on the field all in 25 seconds.A field of orange and purple surrounded us all day.






The view towards campus from our seats.




The game was a close one for a while. But when Clemson was down 14 points early in the third quarter, we decided to leave and return to the tailgate to watch the rest of the game on television with the group that didn't have game tickets. It was interesting to watch the game from outside the stadium because you could hear the shouts of the fans inside the stadium at the tailgate. With the few seconds delay to the television broadcast, it was exciting to know from the screming fans that something was about to happen and then watch it unfold on the screen. Clemson won the game with a last second field goal. Despite the sloppy playing for a decent portion of the game, the win made the Clemson fans very happy, which made for a fun post-game party.



The food: Robin and Skippy's friends had a great spread of food! The pre-game breakfast included breakfast casseroles, fresh fruit, homemade cheese danish, Chik-Fil-A chicken biscuits, and more.

The post-game meal was a lowcountry boil. Robin and Skippy were in charge of this part, so on Friday Robin and I prepped the meats and vegetables and then Skippy cooked the meal onsite after the game. Below is the set up of two turkey fryers, each filled to the brim with lowcountry boil.

The end result below. Delicious! Boiled shrimp, sausage, chicken, potatoes, and corn, all seasoned with garlic, lemon, and Old Bay. Yum.

What a fun day! Thank you Robin and Skippy for welcoming me so warmly into your Clemson family! I had a great time.

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