Do Clemson fans 'get it'? You better believe it

Mike Sturgis writes at Tigernet about the gameday experience at Death Valley -- even for a less-than-stellar opponent:

College football is a celebration that comes only to your campus but seven times a season. It’s the pageantry, the tailgating, the game, the post-game tailgating, and the lasting and lifelong memories. ... I was impressed with the crowd at Clemson last time out. It was South Carolina State, it was 12:37, and it was hot. Minus a small pocket of empty seats where visiting fans sit, Death Valley was full. Just twenty minutes earlier David Hood and I commented it looked like there would be a “whole lot of no shows”. That did not happen because Clemson fans get it.

Read the whole thing.

Clemson climbs in coaches poll

We don't even have to play a game to move up in the polls. That's how good we are.

Clemson rises to No. 3 in AP poll

Clemson is now ranked No. 3 in the AP college football poll following Saturday's big 52-13 victory against South Carolina State. The Tigers maintain their No. 5 ranking in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

The No. 3 ranking is Clemson's highest since 1988.

Tigers climb in polls

Clemson's 38-35 victory over Georgia on Saturday has yielded benefits -- it boosted the Tigers to No. 4 the AP poll and No. 5 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll.

Running down the Hill: The entire sequence

Now that the whole world loves Clemson following its thrilling 38-35 victory over Georgia on Saturday night, here's a video that's really blowing up on social media. It's from ABC/ESPN's broadcast of the game, and it's the entire running-down-the-Hill sequence -- the bus ride from the locker room to the actual sprint into the stadium. It captures a lot of angles I've never seen before. Enjoy.

Students waiting for UGA tickets break out the 'C-L-E-M' chant

That's school spirit, baby.

GameDay promo ads released for Clemson-Georgia game

Getting psyched already:

Man charged in Howard's Rock case won't leave school board

Michael Rodgers, who is a member of the Transylvania (N.C.) County School Board, says he's a victim of injustice in the Howard's Rock vandalism case against his son, Micah:

“My determination to find the truth has resulted in me being charged with a crime that I absolutely did not commit,” Michael Rogers wrote. “Unfortunately my role in trying to find the truth has led to these allegations.”

Michael Rodgers, who is also a Baptist pastor, is charged with obstructing justice by advising his son and others involved in the case "to be untruthful about their actions when questioned by law enforcement."

The NCAA decides whether you can call a sandwich 'Tajh'

Good Lord:

In an attempt to stay neutral in the uber-divisive Clemson vs. South Carolina football rivalry, one SC restaurant might have actually gone and upset both schools. Daniel Island Grille has been serving dishes named after three current NCAA football players – the Tigers’ Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins and the Gamecocks’ Jadeveon Clowney. The move is clearly an NCAA violation, as schools must give permission to use their athletes’ names in any commercial activities.

Sigh. (H/T College Spun)

More arrests in Howard's Rock vandalization

This case just gets weirder and weirder. In addition to Micah Rogers, 18, who was charged in June, Clemson police charged 17-year-old Alden James Gainey and this seemingly upstanding member of the community:

Michael Rogers, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, owns a masonry business in Pisgah Forest and has served as pastor of Dunn’s Creek Baptist Church in Brevard since 2008, according to the Transylvania (N.C.) County School Board website. His school board tenure ran from 2002 to 2009, and he was reappointed to the board in January of this year.

Very strange.

Clemson No. 8 in AP poll

The Tigers are in the top 10. Congrats, guys.

If this is trolling, it's pretty sad

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier was "talking smack" about Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, apparently, according to College Spun. They captured the tweets that shook the world of Southern football:

"Last year at this time Dabo's favorite USC, Southern Cal was preseason #1 in the country. I call them Dabo's favorite USC."-Steve Spurrier
— SportsTalk (@sportstalksc) August 16, 2013

"Last year at this time Dabo's favorite USC, Southern Cal was preseason #1 in the country. I call them Dabo's favorite USC."-Steve Spurrier
— SportsTalk (@sportstalksc) August 16, 2013

What a devastating wit.

Clemson: National champs in 2013?

That's the best-case scenario, according to Bleacher Report:

This Clemson squad represents the ACC's best chance at a national title in over 10 years.  Tajh Boyd is one of the top signal-callers in the country, and when healthy, Sammy Watkins is among the country's most dynamic playmakers.  The two are surrounded by enough offensive talent to make this a special year.

The worst-case scenario? 8-4 and a middling bowl game. I'm not sure that will cut it this year.

Fantastic Clemson schedule poster

Dylan Buell, a college football fan and fellow journalist, created these for every college football team, College Spun reports. Here's Clemson's:

That's really cool.

Musburger, Herbstreit psyched to come to Tigertown, pardner

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the ABC broadcast veterans are ready to be looking live at Death Valley on Aug. 31:

Musburger:  "It’s a terrific matchup on paper. You never know how it’s going to play out on the field. Obviously they’re neighborhood rivals. I was amused a few weeks ago to get a text from somebody who said if Clemson was in the SEC this would be the closest two teams. I think they’ve since decided it’s Mississippi State and Ole Miss that is the closest. But it’s a good neighborhood rivalry and I’m sure a lot of these youngsters competed against each other at the high school level.

I am so ready for some football.

'The Fridge' is still running....

Bizarre. A report surfaced on Tigernet earlier today that Clemson defensive line legend William "Refrigerator" Perry had died. It turned out to be false. In fact, the big guy himself tweeted out that he's OK:

I heard about the rumors that I passed away online. #SMH. Just wanted to let everyone that they are not true and Im doing fine. Thanks guys!
— William Perry (@FridgePerry72) August 14, 2013

Stupid Internet.

Clemson ranked 10th by 'Sports Illustrated'

The bible of American sports journalism released the information in a tweet:

We will start with the top 10 in the CFB #SITop25. No. 10 - Clemson Tigers
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 14, 2013

Tigernet gathered the rest of the top 10.

10 things to know about Clemson this season

SB Nation breaks down the good, bad and ugly for the 2013 season. A bit of a long read, but well worth it.

Who'll win the ACC? USA TODAY says Clemson

The folks who give me my paycheck preview the ACC football season:

Clemson is one of the early favorites to bring home the crystal ball at the end of the 2013 season and has by far the best collection of returning talent in the conference. Although the schedule will present difficult challenges, including the opener against Georgia, the Tigers are better equipped to handle a daunting campaign. Until we're given reason to think otherwise, the Tigers are the team to beat.

Sounds good to me.

USA TODAY says Clemson among top 10 stadium scenes

Pretty heady company:

Memorial Stadium, Clemson: Dubbed the 25 most exciting seconds in college football, the Tigers gather at the top of a hill and each player touches Howard's Rock as he sprints down to the field.

Check out the whole gallery here, courtesy of my employer.

People like their Clemson gear

Tigernet is reporting that Clemson ranks 24th in royalties for merchandise sales of things such as T-shirts, hats and so on. Keep buying that orange stuff, folks.

Twitter talk: Clemson in BCS title game?

Just saw this on Twitter:

On CBS College football preview one of the 4 pickers has Clemson in the BCS title game.
— Not Danny Ford (@1981tigers1981) August 11, 2013

Gary Danielson picking Alabama and Clemson to meet in the BCS Title Game.
— Mike Giordano (@_MikeGiordano) August 11, 2013

Let's hope we don't get Clemsoned out there.

Homer Jordan, David Treadwell return for Georgia game

The Clemson legends will be on the field as honorary captains before the game on Aug. 31. Very cool.

Sammy Watkins says he turned down cash-for-autograph offers

Good for Clemson's ace receiver:

“We get the same guys coming up to us. We know all those guys. We see them every week. They come from Tennessee, Michigan, offering money. You have to realize you don’t want to risk your future for a couple dollars.”

If the NCAA would get its head out of its ass and allow players to receive at least a stipend for playing college football, this wouldn't be a big deal.

Tiger fan, Gamecock fan hype rivalry on national TV

York County? No, New York. A funny thing happened on the Today show on Thursday:

During a segment with host Savannah Guthrie taking questions from the crowd outside the studio for psychologist Dr. Gail Saltz, two men let their collegiate affiliations known behind a woman who is prepared to ask a question. One of the men holds up his iPhone, which shows a photo of the iconic Clemson Tiger paw. A few feet away, another man, who is wearing a South Carolina Gamecocks polo shirt, holds up four fingers to indicate the number of times the Gamecocks have beaten the Tigers in the past few years.

You can take the boys out of the Palmetto State...

'Tajh Boyd has been a revelation'

That's one of many great lines in this profile of Clemson's all-star quarterback by Matt Brown of Sports On Earth (part of the USA TODAY family of media coverage). Along the way, he gently massages the psyches of us long-suffering Clemson fans. A sample:

...if any quarterback can shoulder the weight of expectations at Clemson, the Tigers appear to have found him, finally. In fact, for once, betting on Tajh Boyd and Clemson to succeed almost seems safe.

Read the whole thing.

GameDay promo video featuring Howard's Rock

It's from a couple of years ago, but it's still pretty funny:

Clemson, USC's rankings help state rake in the money

Interesting story and video on the economic impact to the state of South Carolina on having two college football teams ranked in the Top 10.

Clemson: The top 'jock' school and best town-gown relationships

What does that even mean?

The rankings, based on student surveys, also put Clemson at the top of the list in the categories, “everyone plays intramural sports,” and “town-gown relations are great.” The jock schools ranking is based on the popularity of intercollegiate and intramural sports and the Greek system....The campus’ location adjoining the city of Clemson also fosters a great relationship with the city, she said.

OK then.

Clemson fan live-tweets his trip to the hospital

UPDATED BELOW: Clemson Tom, a huge Tiger fan who talks a lot of smack on Twitter and does some hilarious videos, had a little health problem today while in Las Vegas, and he tweeted about it:

It started with some food poisoning. And got worse:

I feel like Spencer Shuey just "Goldburg style" tackled me in the stomach. I've never felt this bad. The flight home could get interesting
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

He alerted his hotel:

@Cosmopolitan_LV might wanna check some of the fish at Blue Ribbon. I've got food poisoning
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

And then called a doctor:

And now I'm going to the doctor...
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

And then:

I need an ambulance
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

And then:

Dehydrated laying in the sidewalk. My hotel wouldn't pay for a cab. The Hilton man picked me up, walked me to the hospital.
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

And then:

Cant express my anger. I can't walk, drink water, and y'all wouldn't pay for a cab to drive me .5 miles, when its you're fault I'm sick?
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

And then:

They got me on 2 IVs. I'm better now. Thanks for all your tweets. I've never felt that bad in my life
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

And finally, the Foursquare check-in:

I'm at Harmon Medical Center (Las Vegas, NV) http://t.co/J0dZB8uxhT
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

UPDATE: All's well that ends well:

Haha The hotel sent a limo to pick me up from the hospital to take me back to the hotel
— Clemson Tom (@ClemsonTom) August 6, 2013

Clemson Tom, I hope you feel better soon.

The Esso Club: Where there's always a tailgate party

UpstateToday.com has a nice feature about everyone's favorite Clemson bar, the legendary Esso Club:

Esso started out as a gas station and a bar before it ever became a restaurant. Before 1933, the only known building on the property was a fruit stand. That year a gas station was built, with the gas pumps sitting alongside Highway 93 where there is now a stop sign. Sometime between 1940 and 1952 a bar was installed, and between 1956 and 1958 Esso was the only place in Clemson customers could go in, sit down and have a beer. In the 1980s, Esso stopped selling gas (a full history is available at www.theessoclub.com).

I've enjoyed many a cold beer there through the years.

Football's worst-kept secret revealed: GameDay to Clemson

They tweeted it out in a photo, so it's got to be true, right?

And via TigerNet, here's the official confirmation.

Clemson prediction for 2013: 10-2 or 11-1 (it's science)

That's from College Football Matrix, which crunches numbers in some kind of complex formula involving math and such.

Bottom line (if I'm reading it right): Games against Georgia and Florida State are tossups, and South Carolina will be a loss.

Clemson-Georgia among 2013's most intriguing games

The Aug. 31 matchup in Death Valley comes in at No. 4 on this list by Yahoo Sports:

4. Georgia at Clemson, Aug. 31. When quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Tajh Boyd both came back for their senior years, this became a marquee season opener between neighbors with national title aspirations. The Tigers took a big step forward in respectability by beating LSU in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl last year, and a second straight win over an SEC power would be huge. For the Bulldogs, this begins an incredible opening month of the season, with South Carolina and LSU both to come in September. 

Also intriguing -- Clemson vs. Florida State (No. 13).

A successful Clemson helps the new-look ACC

That's the thrust of this AP story previewing the upcoming season:

But there's still work to do as the ACC once again tries to make itself nationally relevant on the field — and the league's preseason favorite, Clemson, has the best chance to raise the profile of the conference.

Read the whole thing.

Clemson's tiger paw is nation's second-best logo

Just second best? Pshaw. The rankings are by Athlon. Here's what they wrote:

There are tons of Tigers, Wildcats and Bulldogs in college sports but none use their mascot quite like Clemson. The Tiger Paw print is synonymous with Clemson athletics and is utterly simple but still edgy and creative.  

Yep.

The team that prays together...

The Clemson football team got right with the Lord on Sunday:

The Clemson football team attended church service together at Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville on Sunday. More than a dozen players went to the front of the church to be saved during the service.

If God be with us, who can be against us?

Clemson's offensive goal: 90 plays a game

Wow. Just, wow. Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris:

“We feel like we can get it as high as 92,” he said. “We think we can very easily improve 10-12 snaps a game. We may not be able to get there early on, but we’re going to get there. Some games we had 100 snaps and some 102."

I remember when Clemson was known as team founded on defense.

Another pretty good Clemson vs. Georgia trailer

Is it a rule now that everything must use that "DOOOOM" music from Prometheus? Just a minor quibble, though. This is very well done.

Twitter talk: 'How many UGA students' edition

16 University of Georgia students indicted in fake ID ring. Giveaway that it was UGA students was when they spelled "ID" wrong.
— Richard Chinnis (@rchinnis) August 3, 2013

Photos: Gallery from the first day of practice

The official Clemson site has some pictures from the first day of practice on Friday. Everybody on message boards is talking about the ugly helmets ("designed by a soccer mom," said one wag on the Tigernet message boards), but the Guardian Caps are only for use in practice. I hope that's true. They are hideous.

Five pitfalls to Clemson's national title hopes -- click for slideshow!

Just kidding about the slideshow. Shakin' the Southland lays out five things that could derail the Tigers' national title hopes. Check it out.

Twitter talk: Serious Clemson fandom

Seen on Twitter:

There’s a group of guys tailgating in Lot 4 for the 1st practice. Looks like those guys are all in. Where’s everyone else? #Clemson #BeatUGA
— Sons of Clemson (@SonsOfClemson) August 2, 2013

Wow.

Clemson makes front page of USA TODAY!

Well, kinda. The word "Clemson," anyway:

Desmond Howard confirms: GameDay at Clemson for UGA game

Tigernet, which seems to watch a lot more ESPN than I do, has a report confirming that GameDay will be in Tigertown on Aug. 31 for the Clemson-Georgia game:

Yesterday (Thursday) on ESPN's College Football Live today, ESPN Analyst Desmond Howard confirmed that ESPN's College Gameday will be in Clemson on August 31. 

All righty then!

Clemson's story lines as fall practice begins

The State highlights five story lines to watch as Clemson preps for football season.

Practice for the 2013 college football season at Clemson begins Friday, though it may be argued that preparation began 56 months ago when Dabo Swinney was named coach.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/08/01/2895254/five-story-lines-for-clemson-football.html#storylink=cpy

Here's a story line for you -- don't let anybody get hurt during these training sessions.

RELATED: Five key questions as fall practice begins. See what The Greenville News did there?

Video: Clemson weigh-in day

If you want to watch a 12-minute video of young football players stepping on scales, have at it. (H/T Tigernet.)

Clemson's players are OK with Twitter ban

Chris Fuhrmeister of SB Nation rounds up some reactions from Clemson players to coach Dabo Swinney's season-long ban on Twitter. The summation:

The Tigers appear to be much more concerned with their results than with their Twitter ban. That is most definitely a good thing for Clemson.

Sounds good to me. #focus

Tajh Boyd talks to 'Sporting News'

Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd gives a wide-ranging, in-depth interview to The Sporting News that touches on football, life in Hampton Roads, Va., playing for Dabo Swinney and much more:

“Nobody ever gave me anything,” says Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd. “When you’re not spoon fed, you don’t get stuck on little things.”

And you don’t get lost into the deep and dangerous sea of today’s me-first world. Instead, you see big picture and embrace the enormity of it all. 

Everything else is just background noise.

Some might argue that the writer misused enormity there, but still, read the whole thing.

Dabo Swinney's Twitter ban: The right call?

Brandon Leigh of Bleacher Report seems to think it is a good idea to keep Clemson's players off Twitter during football season:

It's a simple calculation of pros versus cons. For every Teddy Bridgewater visiting a sick student in the hospital, there are 10 Johnny Manziels sending combative tweets to trolls. The platform is useful as a way to aggregate news, but Swinney knows that's not what his players are doing. 

They're using it as a way to become the news.

I'm a little worried about the free-speech implications of this, but if it keeps the players focused, it can't be all bad.

Clemson ranked No. 8 in season's first USA TODAY poll

The Tigers are eighth in the season's first USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll. It's Clemson's highest-ever ranking in the preseason poll. Their opponent on Aug. 31, Georgia, is ranked fifth.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will open the season ranked seventh.

Florida State is ranked 12th. Miami, Virginia Tech and North Carolina were among the other teams receiving votes.

Full disclosure: I work at USA TODAY, but not in Sports. I have nothing to do with how the poll is conducted.

Clemson players forced to log off Twitter

Orange & White is reporting that Clemson coach Dabo Swinney will enforce a tough new rule as training camp starts -- no tweeting by Clemson players until the season's over:

"I'm just a believer that these are young people, and all of a sudden you have a guy with 20,000 people following him," Swinney said. "It's just one more thing that you have to check every morning - brush your teeth, comb your hair, shower, eat breakfast, and year, I've got to send my tweet out. In my opinion it's just one more thing." 

And then there's the question of content: the possibility that a spur of the moment, digitalized thought can turn into a national headline. 

"If they say just one little thing just a little wrong - and these are young people - and in the world we live in, it's a firestorm and a I'm having to deal with it," Swinney said. "I don't like distractions - I hate distractions."

Will the coaching staff be able to enforce this? Stay tuned.

Video: All 68 touchdowns scored by Clemson in 2012

Beyond the impressive editing and assembling by clemson2311, this is proof that every single football game involving a big-time school is televised in some form or another.

Dabo Swinney's Inspector Javert gives up lawsuit

Remember last year when that police officer gave Dabo Swinney a traffic ticket, posted about it on a University of South Carolina message board , then got fired?

 Well, he's dropped his lawsuit against the city of Pickens.

I, for one, will sleep better tonight.

Clemson vs. Georgia: The trailer!

I've seen a couple of these out there, but I want to know -- where is the "red band trailer"?
 

Audio: Dabo Swinney says UGA game could be tight

In a radio interview with The Mac Attack on WFNZ in Charlotte, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says the Aug. 31 contest with Georgia will "come down to a few plays."

Listen here.

Book preview: 'Where the Tigers Play'

Check out this video previewing an updated version of Where the Tigers Play. The book, which is a comprehensive history of all Clemson sports, goes on sale on Thursday (Aug. 1).

If you love Clemson (the town), you'll love this

Wikipedia

A former Miss Downtown Clemson who blogs at Heartfelt Confessions revisits Tigertown:

It’s like an old, faithful friend that never changes. No matter how long you’ve gone between seeing each other, you pick up right where you left off.  I made sure to visit some of my favorite spots like the Amphitheater, Tillman Hall and Bowman Field. Of course, downtown is a “must see” spot when wandering around the green hills of Clemson’s campus. 

Be sure to check out her great photos of downtown Clemson today, then contrast them with photos from yesteryear.

Twitter talk: Tajh Boyd an early Heisman favorite

I like this:

Kevin Neghandi of ESPN picks Tajh as the Heisman fav #clemson #greenville #greenvillesc #upstatesc #clemsonfootball pic.twitter.com/Rvj5KN9B9P
— Tiger Moving (@TigerMovingSC) July 31, 2013

What if Clemson and Auburn traded mascots?

Sports Illustrated's Campus Union has the hypothetical details:

1. Clemson trades The Tiger to Auburn for Aubie the Tiger and a repair to Howard’s Rock: Foul things are afoot in Clemson, and seeing as Auburn has been there, done that with regard to vandalism after Harvey Updyke and Toomer’s Corner, the school knows exactly how to make things right at Howard’s Rock. All Auburn asks in return is a jolt to jumpstart its program under new coach Gus Malzahn. Who better to inject a little energy than the Clemson tiger, known affectionately to EDSBS readers as “8-Ball”? This is a win-win for both teams if you ask me. – MR

Clearly, some writers are ready for them to tee up the football.

Clemson vs. Georgia: A look back at a classic rivalry

Clemson University

SB Nation has a long retrospective on the Clemson-Georgia football rivalry that is well worth your time. A taste:

More than just geography dictated from the beginning that the two teams would be rivals, though the spirit of animosity between them certainly was stoked by the fact that scarcely 70 miles separate the Athens and Clemson campuses. The history of the series stretches back to the earliest days of both football programs, which sprang from a common fountainhead: Walter Riggs, who founded Clemson football, learned the sport as a student at Auburn, where he played for George Petrie, who learned the sport as a student at Johns Hopkins, where he acquired his passion for the game with classmate Charles Herty, who founded Georgia football.

Read the whole thing.

Clemson: The best stadium in America?

Photo courtesy Clemson Athletic Department.

Everybody using the hashtag #clemson on Twitter today is linking to this year-old 125-slide click-bait photo gallery that "power-ranks" the best college football stadiums. The reason? Clemson is No. 1:

Known nationwide as "Death Valley," this venue is the best place in the country to enjoy a college football game.It seats 80,301 and was built in 1942. The stadium will be filled with orange, as the crowd loves to support their Tigers. There are not many fans in the country that are more passionate about their team than this group. When Clemson is playing well and the game is going good, the noise in here is as loud as it gets in college football.

Is it me, or is that a pretty generic description? I guess it's cool that Bleacher Report loves Death Valley, but even I don't believe it's the country's greatest football venue. Top 20? Definitely. Better than LSU, Notre Dame or Ohio State? I'm not sure. Then again, this is coming from a writer who ranks Kenan Stadium at North Carolina, one of the most beautiful on-campus settings in the country, far below the crappy stadiums at N.C. State, Wake Forest and Maryland.

Twitter smack talk

I like it:

Ranked SEC teams have only lost seven games outside the league in the last two years, and three of them have been to #Clemson.
— Steven Bradley (@stevenbradley3) July 30, 2013

Clemson has two more chances to beat SEC teams this year. Will they do it?

The ACC coaching trap door

Frank Howard: I met him when I was a kid. Never heard 

anyone curse more in my life.

Caulton Tudor has an interesting column examining how the ACC has been unfriendly to football coaches through the years. He mentions Clemson's Frank Howard, Charley Pell and Ken Hatfield.

Along the way, Tudor also makes it clear that football drove the birth of the league:

It may seem illogical these days, but the ACC was formed in 1953 explicitly for the purpose of improving its member schools' football fortunes. Basketball had nothing to do with it. Only two founding schools – Duke and N.C. State – even put any sort of unusual emphasis on basketball. Eight schools broke away from other leagues in order to create a regional football operation that was intended to match similarly sized leagues in wins, national attention and ticket sales. Basketball quickly took control ...

I don't think many people are aware of that.

Clemson fans are among the country's most engaged

We laugh at your mockery, ESPN. Why? Because Clemson fans are the 20th most engaged supporters in the country -- and the No. 1 group in the ACC, according to a study by TicketCity. (Florida State ranked 22nd and Virginia Tech was 25th.) How did they determine that?

Fan engagement is evaluated in terms of the following metrics. The data is based on the 2012 season, excluding bowl games. Each metric was given a corresponding weight, listed in bold, which was determined based on how indicative the metric is of fan activity. For example, home attendance and ticket price are both weighted higher because they are a better direct reflection of home team behavior. Similarly, online metrics are not weighted as high as offline metrics because they reflect only the university-sanctioned social channel and do not account for other fan communities.

A famous coach from that other football sums up how Clemson fans feel: "Football is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that."

Who'll win the ACC: Media says Tigers, Vegas says Seminoles

Interesting dichotomy:

ACC media picked Clemson to win the conference by a wide margin, giving the Tigers 95 of 120 votes. It’s a different story in Las Vegas where the LVH SuperBook opened Florida State as the 5-to-4 favorite and Clemson at 2-to-1.

The Vegas oddsmakers think Florida State's defense will be the difference. We'll find out on Oct. 19, won't we?

Clemson's unis: Among the worst of the BCS era?

Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

That's according to Bleacher Report:

If you could take any two colors on the color wheel, combine any two letters from ROY G BIV's name, orange and violet would probably be the least palatable option.The Tigers' jerseys in this combo aren't violet, but actually a darker, uglier, less complimentary shade. It looks more like blue mixed with purple mixed with black. ...

I don't expect the creators of click-bait photo galleries to do much research, but if they had, they'd have learned that this color scheme is part of Clemson's long football history:

The orange and purple began when Walter Merritt Riggs formed Clemson’s first football team in 1896. Because Riggs had come from Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (later renamed Auburn), he borrowed ideas from their team colors, orange and purple, and their mascot, the Tiger. 

I'll admit that I'm not crazy about this pairing, but it looks better than the purple jersey/purple pants combo.

Back-in-the-day Clemson photos

Clemson Girl is highlighting a post from the Tiger Pregame Show blog that features old photos of downtown Clemson and environs.

There are even some from the 1920s. Pretty neat.

PHOTOS: Former Tigers in the NFL

Orange and White has a nifty photo gallery of all the former Clemson players who are currently on NFL rosters. Check it out.

Dabo Swinney is intriguing, Yahoo says

Pat Forde at Yahoo Sports ranks the 25 most intriguing college football coaches, and Clemson's Dabo Swinney comes in at No. 20, just behind South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and just ahead of Georgia's Mark Richt. Writes Forde:

He's matured from excitable young boy to proven winner, with 21 victories the last two years and a validating Peach Bowl triumph over LSU. But with quarterback Tajh Boyd back and experience on both lines, the Clemson faithful would like a victory over hated rival South Carolina (he's 0-4) and a run at a national title. There is no dress rehearsal with Georgia as the season opener.

Good stuff.

ESPN GameDay at Clemson on Aug. 31?

Possibly...From Tigernet:

A host on ESPN’s College Football Live Show on Friday said that GameDay will be in Clemson for the Clemson-Georgia game on August 31st. It appears he may have slipped up and "let the cat out of the bag." 

I can't imagine why ESPN wouldn't come to Tigertown for that matchup. It'll be one of the biggest games of the year in college football.

Speaking of tailgating, this looks fun

From College Spun comes this -- Clemson-themed cornhole boards, one with Tajh Boyd throwing the ball, the other with Sammy Watkins catching the ball.

It's not cheap to keep S.C. tailgaters happy

AP: "South Carolina taxpayers spend about $635,400 yearly on traffic control provided by highway troopers, with three college football teams accounting for three-quarters of that."

UGGA the mascot kidnapped!

Clemson Tom kicks off the smack talk ahead of the big game against Georgia on Aug. 31.

Tiger paw designer John Antonio dies

Clemson Sports Information

I'm very late catching up to this. John Antonio, the ad man who created Clemson's distinctive paw logo, died in May. From the press release:

Antonio then wrote the Museum of National History in Chicago and asked for a plaster-of-paris cast of the imprint of a Bengal Tiger's paw.  This was sent to Henderson and a picture was made, slightly tilted about 10 degrees to the right.
Antonio had a meeting with Clemson coaches and administrators in early summer of 1970 and showed the use of the Tiger paw on stationary, athletic fields and uniforms.  Howard, then the director of athletics, was not impressed until Antonio pulled out an orange Clemson helmet from under the desk.  He had affixed a white tiger paw to the helmet.  It was unusual in those times to have any logo on a college helmet.
"That helmet made a big impact on Coach Howard," Sports Information Director Bob Bradley recalled years later.  "He was so impressed he wanted to bring that helmet back to Clemson and show everyone."

Rest in peace, John, and thanks for creating the modern Clemson image.

From Twitter: CJ Spiller reps the Tigers

The former Clemson standout showed up for a Buffalo Bills press conference decked out in purple and orange:

.@CJSPILLER up next at the podium ... in a Clemson hoody pic.twitter.com/gHT4t3WmeB
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) July 27, 2013

Accused Howard's Rock defiler waives probable-cause hearing

AP Photo/Anderson Independent-Mail, Mark Crammer

Micah Rogers has been charged with one felony (malicious injury to personal property) and one misdemeanor (trespassing, unlawful entry into enclosed places) related to the vandalism of Howard's Rock at Clemson's football stadium. The incident occurred in June.

The question remains: Why would a so-called Clemson fan do such a thing?

The rebirth of Tigerpundit

I have been the worst blogger in the history of blogging, but I'm going to try to make up for it.

Especially with the Tigers looking like they might actually do something this year.

I'm going to try to make the focus more on fan-friendly news as opposed to hard-core coverage of stats, key matchups and the like. There are plenty of people out there who do that stuff much better than I can.

Stay tuned.