Monday May 05, 2008

I Have Been a Bad Fan

I Have Been a Bad Fan
I have a confession to make. I have been a bad fan.

I have not been to Doug Kingsmore Stadium as often this year and the main reason is the losing. Quite frankly that is unacceptable and I have let the Tigers down.

A good fan is there win lose or draw. A good fan is loyal no matter the opponent or the previous outcome.

I have been a loyal fan in football. I have been a loyal fan in basketball. I used to be a loyal fan in women’s basketball in the Jim Davis days. I need to become more involved in the men’s soccer program because Trevor Adair deserves it. But baseball has always been different. I guess I took winning in baseball for granted and went to most games each year and took it for granted.

I am sure I will always be a good football fan because of the tradition and the habits we get into every fall. I have endured bad football seasons and was still there. It is easier to do in football though. We all love to tailgate and there is a social aspect of football season that we all enjoy. We rally around the football season no matter the results because it is usually just six or seven home games a year.

Football plays only once a week so we have time to get over the loss. Even in a losing season we still enjoy the fall and come to every game because we still get to see the Tiger run down the hill. We still get to see the sport we all love.

There were even times when I sat through the entire losing season just to say I did so. I told myself that I will not leave the stadium because I want to remember this moment. I always look at the final scoreboard and try to keep a mental picture in my head of the scoreboard. When Clemson loses and loses bad, I want to remember it. In a way it makes the winning all that much better. It’s like I can say since I sat here and watched FSU beat us 57-0 so it makes it special when you beat the Seminoles four out of five years.

In basketball there is usually a great opponent or great player to watch. We all have had to endure bad basketball but this recent success in basketball has made it sweeter. I have been stubborn. Sometimes just to prove a point, I just sat there and watched with little hope on the hardwood. Clemson basketball is only about the game. There are few other reasons to go. Tailgating is not a big deal in basketball. There is nothing but the game itself. Yet I consider myself a good basketball fan because I come early and stay until after the game .

But this baseball season I have been a terrible fan.

I have excuses.

The morning show comes so early and I have to get to bed earlier.

The weather was bad early in the season.

The Yankees are on TV every night at the same time.

But these are only excuses.

Clemson baseball offers more. Tailgating is second only to football. We have the great ballpark. You have good weather this time of year. I love visiting Tom Winkopp’s Cajun Café. There is Danny Cannon and the 7th inning stretch. The pace of the game allows for good conversation with good friends. I love seeing all of the friends there and seeing people you haven’t seen in some time.

So why have I been a bad fan this year? Why haven’t I been there this year?

The main point is that it has been hard to watch. It has been hard to stomach and I have been spoiled in baseball.

Clemson baseball has been so good for so long that I may have become complacent. I am just used to watching future MLB stars and All-American perform at a high level. Clemson baseball has stood toe-to-toe with the nation’s best and deserved the right to be mentioned as one of the country’s top programs.

This is hard to watch for me personally. This team has been so inconsistent. The bullpen looks very weak at this point in the season. The run-producing positions are not producing runs. The upperclassmen have not produced and the freshmen are not ready. The defense has been poor at times. This team does not look like teams of the past or the current powers in college baseball.

It is hard to watch North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida State and Georgia come in here with better looking athletes. It is hard to watch outfielders not charge the ball then throw to the wrong base. It is hard to watch the bullpen guys throw batting practice in the late innings.

When Clemson basketball suffered through bad seasons, we grew used to it. We almost expect Clemson to lose in basketball. When Clemson football has a bad season, we have other things there and we always have the past to be proud of and the hope the future will be even better. But this Clemson baseball slump is so new and that makes it hurt much worse.

I have been to both FSU games in this series and will go today in the finale. So I am trying to be a better fan but it is still hard to watch. I think the hard part of all of this is that I am not confident it will be better in the short term. I cannot sit here and tell you the 2009 team will be much improved. I can tell you that Leggett will get this program back in the long-term future.

But I have no right to complain. The fans that are there every night have more of a right than I do. However, I have a new attitude about Clemson baseball. I plan on getting back involved and being a better fan. I have accepted that this program needs major changes and has to rebuild and I want to be there while they rebuild. The only thing will get this program back is to recruit players like Monahan, Boyd, Baker, Greene, Johnson, Benson, Koch and Vining.

As a fan I can chose to be a good fan or a bad one. A good fan is there no matter what and a good fan is part of the solution. A bad fan does not come when their team loses and is part of the problem.

Maybe we all have been stubborn and did not want to admit this sport needs fixing at Clemson. Well now I have admitted it. I don’t believe it will be fixed this afternoon against FSU or next weekend at Georgia Tech. This team is not going to be better this year. This is a rebuilding year. But I will be there while it rebuilds and will take more enjoyment when it does. I will be less assuming in the future. Most importantly, I will be there win lose or draw.

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