For those who missed the FGF poster...

Jun 5, 2006, 2:20 PM

SolidOrange27: This is my first (and most likely my last) post on FGF, and I just have a few comments to make regarding Carolina's criticism of Clemson in just about everything under the sun.
A few days ago, CharlestonIdiot…er…#### posted something about the “psyche of a Clemson Tater.” Here is my response:

Many Carolina fans on this board claim Clemson is in the middle of nowhere and has an ugly campus. Clemson’s campus is tucked in rolling hills at the bottom of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the South Carolina State Botanical Gardens across the street. Carolina is in a city that has a “smog day” alert and a park named Finlay that is poorly maintained. The streets are also poorly maintained, and the only area of USC’s campus (assuming you call a bunch of scattered buildings a campus) that has any historic value is the horseshoe.

I also don’t understand why Carolina fans belittle Clemson’s academics. According to the 2006 Princeton Review (the leading collegiate review in the nation), Clemson’s average SAT for current undergraduate students was 1225, as opposed to USC’s 1166. The average ACT was a 27 for Clemson students, while USC’s was 25. Also, the average GPA of a current Clemson undergraduate student was a 4.04 and USC’s was a 3.80. Clemson is also more selective, maintaining a 15:1 student to professor ratio as opposed to USC’s 19:1. The Princeton Review also listed Clemson 15th as having the happiest students in the country, while USC wasn’t even considered in the top 25.

Also, in the 2006 US News College Review (second leading collegiate review in the nation), Clemson ranked 78th in the country in overall best college (public and private mix) while USC finished 109th. Clemson was ranked in the top 50 public schools coming in at 34, while USC did not even make the list.

Now onto athletics.

In baseball, Clemson leads the overall series 162-111. That’s a 51 game lead. Clemson also ranks 11th on the list of most CWS attended at 10 (possibly 11 this year), while USC ranks 14th with 8. Clemson is third on the all-time list of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with 20 (still active, by the way), while USC is not even in the top 15. Clemson also ranks 6th all-time in most NCAA Tournament appearances with 31, while South Carolina has appeared 10 times less. Also, Clemson’s record against South Carolina in post-season play is 3-2.

In basketball, the Gamecocks are barely holding onto an 86-70 lead in the series, but the Tigers have won 8 of the last 12, and have gone 24-12 against the Gamecocks over the last 25 years. A 16 game lead will not hold very long.

In football, Clemson has a 63-36-4 record, and the Gamecocks have not won consecutive games against the Tigers since 1969-70. 35 games have been played since that point. Clemson has 21 conference titles and one national title as opposed to the Gamecock’s zero conference titles (the 1969 ACC title had to be forfeited due to ineligible players…also known as cheating). USC ranks in the top-20 of Div-1A losses with over 500, and are also currently on probation until 2008.

Carolina is also bragging about current recruiting (one five star and, at best, two four stars, at this point), and constantly stating how “scared” Clemson fans really are, even though “Taters” will never admit it. I guess it should be mentioned that Carolina has, technically, blown Clemson recruiting away in recent years. It obviously hasn’t been seen in the amount of W’s obtained, however.

Politically, Gamecock fans often designate Clemson a racist school by pointing to such icons as Ben “Pitchfork” Tillman and legendary Head Coach Frank Howard. Many fans also intentionally misspelling Clemson as KKKlemson, thinking that they are being funny. No physical evidence shows either of these men were racist, and it should be noted that Clemson was the first university in the state of South Carolina to admit a black man into its doors. Clemson was also the ONLY major public university in the entire Southeast (this includes USC) to not require the use of state police or federal troops to allow blacks into higher education. These achievements can be seen outside of Clemson’s most recognizable building, Tillman Hall, on a small monument, and it has been appropriately named “Integration with Dignity.” USC has nothing similar to these accomplishments.

Lastly, many Gamecock fans point to Clemson and make fun of its agricultural heritage. Agriculturally, Clemson has developed many of the food items used and consumed by people all around the world. Clemson has developed such agricultural foods as the spineless okra, the seedless watermelon, and a blue cheese recipe being used by the nation’s second leading dressing company in the nation (Naturally Fresh). The entire nation now grows uses spineless okra. A spined okra is now considered rare, and, often, uneatable. Seedless watermelons are rapidly replacing seeded watermelons across the country, especially in western states. The Blue Cheese recipe used by the Naturally Fresh dressing company originated at Clemson, and is used in most popular restaurants today.

I am a current Clemson student. I am also a “redneck” from Barnwell County, and I have a pretty deep Southern accent that forces many to think I am “ignorant.” I own a pair of orange overalls that I wear to a game or two every year, and I don’t think orange is a bad color at all. I have all my teeth in my head, and I have had two cavities in my entire life. I know how to perform basic farming techniques, but I also own a handful of thousand dollar suits and have made appearances in ballrooms with such political figures as the Bush family, as well as the Clinton family. I don’t own any sheep, and I am engaged to a woman who was two votes away from going to the annual Miss America pageant and has run a handful of marathons in her life. I am currently studying French, and I have already studied Spanish and Italian for roughly five years, each. I am fully literate. I also never grew up with a lot of money, but I have several offers that will allow me to finance my dreams, and a whole lot more.

The stereotypes of a Clemson fan on this board are utterly pathetic. Academically, Clemson is widely recognized as the premier public institution in South Carolina. Athletically, there is no comparison between Clemson and South Carolina. Clemson is widely pointed to as the “dumb” school in this state, but is the only institution in South Carolina with a Bioengineering program in both masters and undergrad. Clemson engineering ranks at the top of most publications concerning public schools, and its architecture program is looked at as just as reputable.

Maybe I just don’t understand the “psyche of a Carolina Coot.”

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CharlestonCock: It seems to have taken you 3 days to write that post. Thanks for reaffirming my point that Clemson fans are terrified of where Carolina football is headed. That's about the only thing you guys have been 'historically' better than us in. Clemson has a history of being the poor, agricultural college and has always wanted to be THE University of South Carolina. Without football, you guys have very little. Enough said with that. Didn't Kirk Herbstreit list Clemson' unis among the ugliest in the nation?

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SolidOrange27: 1) It took me roughly half an hour to 45 minutes.

2) "That's about the only thing you guys have been 'historically' better than us in." You might want to re-read. Specifically, look at the academic and baseball sections.

3) Clemson is a poor ag school? Clemson hasn't been a primary "ag" school since the 70's, and you might want to take a look at your own program's financial problems. We've got a new West End Zone. You've got a $0.50 surplus left.

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For those who missed the FGF poster...

Dude if you wrote that take credit, that is HOF material***

Re: I couldn't keep reading the thread bc it pissed me off

looks like we have a NEW "this is SC carolina football"***

He was so close...

HOF******

HOF*******

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