The Nehemiah Project...

Feb 21, 2007, 6:26 AM

I won't ask you to open your books to Nehemiah. Most folks who don't enjoy skimming the Bible don't know who the heck he was, anyway,

But had he been around today, Nehemiah would have been a Clemson fan. Heck if the AARC didn't mind, he'd have been a student, skilled in architecture.

And he was very good at two things: rebuilding and overcoming long odds.

If both were ever in demand at Clemson, we sure could use them tomorrow night.

Our critics stand, like the Babylonians along the banks of Hartwell, taunting. "Where is that mighty team?" they snicker. "You are forgotten, left amid the ruins of a temple that once held such hope."

We as Clemson fans are torn as well. We sit and murmur wondering how to fix things. Many have given up, looking to the new faces coming abord next year to finally ...FINALLY ... push us over the hump.

I say screw that.

I don't want to wait until next year.

I don't want to keep deferring the dream that Clemosn basketball brought this year.

I don't want Vernon Hamilton to have to end his amazing Clemson career without a chance to dance.

And I want the mockers who line the banks of Hartwell to shut up.

Thursday night will be a time of restoration: a Nehemiah Project.

You see, Nehemiah took the temple, gathered the pieces and in the face of those who doubted, who taunted, who refused to believe, built a new home, a new glory.

Tomorrow night, Clemson will do the same.

How, you may ask? This isn't a time for introspection. This is not a time to wonder what if or what will be.

This isn't rocket science. It's basketball.

It's a time of wild-eyed craziness, fearless balls-to-the-wall and bodies to the hoop attitude. It's a time for our fans to get into the game like it was the last one they'd see.

Clemson is being put on center stage, on national TV. Everyone is expecting us to be a whipping boy, a punching bag, a clown in the farcial ascension of Duke to its supposedly lofty perch. The smart money rides a blue horse and everyone knows it.

No one said we were smart. But we are fierce. We are Clemson, and we've made a habit over the years of proving folks wrong when it counted most.

Take the smart money, if you wish. I'm taking the heart.

They say we don't have a chance.

I say screw that.

If we are going in doomed, then we're going to take someone with us.

Shield yourselves in orange, harden your heart to pity and step into the temple. We have beaten better foes with fewer weapons. This, friends, is all about heart and a desire to claim what is ours.

Students, this is the game you will want to remember the rest of your lives. Rock Littlejohn like your daddies did. Heck, rock it a little more. The old gal can take it.

Kiss your girl and phone mom and dad before you go to Littlejohn. Tell them hearken to the words of Habakkuk: Look and be amazed at the things you will witness.

Rebuild the temple. Restore the hope. No one expects you to win. Let's send them home with a surprise...and a message: we're back.

Be Tigers.

Beat Duke.

Message was edited by: RevDodd®

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The Nehemiah Project...

Amen to that!***

The HappyCat of Basketball***

Nehemiah was a bullfrog***

...but a good friend of mine!***

You Gotta Believe!***

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