Sold-Out Games Aren't Common Anymore

A good article from the Greenville News notes that Clemson hasn't sold out many home games in recent years, despite having a traditionally rabid fan base that's in the midst of the program's greatest period of success.

This bit surprised me:

The conventional culprits of expensive ticket costs, low demand and enhanced television viewing experiences are not the only reasons for the empty seats.

Turns out that one of the biggest factors affecting ticket sales is how many fans the visiting team brings.

Misty Water-Colored Memories ...

The Tiger Pregame Show has a running feature saluting past Clemson lettermen, and today, the subject is Bubba Brown. My dad and I saw many games featuring this great linebacker, and many newer fans might be surprised to learn that he is the leading tackler in Clemson history.

TPS mentions two games that stand out in Brown's career, both in 1978 -- the 17-tackle effort in a victory against N.C. State, and the dazzling 22 tackles he racked up in the legendary Gator Bowl win over Ohio State.

Clemson vs. Alabama for Title AGAIN? Early Odds Favor Tigers

Well, this sounds promising:

The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas released a hypothetical betting line last week for a potential Alabama-Clemson Part V showdown in the College Football Playoff, installing the Tigers as a 2-point favorite in the rubber match everyone expects to see during the 2019 season.

Thanks to Clemson 247 for the link.

Fond Farewells and More

Shakin' the Southland has been using the offseason to say farewell to some Tigers who made vital contributions during the past few years.

Consider kicker Greg Huegel:

He finished up 54-71 on FG attempts (76.1%) and 217-227 on PATs. He leaves Clemson ranked first in PATs, second in career points (379), and sixth in made field goals (54). He also holds a school record of hitting 5 FG in 5 different bowl games.

Check out this video of some of his career highlights:


STS also says goodbye to backup DT Chris Register:

Chris is the type of player that has become somewhat common at Clemson: talented enough to start for many teams across the country, yet stuck behind elite talents at Clemson.

Thanks, guys.

LET'S GO CAMPING: There's never a bad time to assess future football talent, and Clemson's coaching staff is doing just that this week as Dabo Swinney's summer camp gets underway in Tigertown. Tigernet has the details.

Tigerpundit: America's Slackest Sports Blogger

Hi. Remember me? Yes, I've been away for a while, but I'm going to try again to re-activate this blog.

Apologies again for being AWOL during the greatest era in Clemson football history. I will try to do better.

Hunter Renfrow can catch passes, kiss babies

So what has Hunter Renfrow been up to lately?

According to this fun feature on Tigernet, life is a lot more interesting nowadays for the young man who made the legendary TD catch for the last-second victory over Alabama in January's national championship game. For one thing, he's had to learn a skill that could carry over into his probably-inevitable political career.

“This lady comes up to me at the baseball game and hands me this baby,” Renfrow said with a laugh. “Of course, my girlfriend is sitting right there and she is trying to coach me through it. I had to keep the head upright and stuff like that. It's been pretty crazy.”

Appreciate you bro!! Couldn't be more stoked for you. Keep grinding and putting Christ first!!

A post shared by Hunter Renfrow (@hunterrenfrow) on Apr 27, 2017 at 8:42pm PDT

The summer depth chart: Who's hot, who's not

Spring practice at Clemson ended a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean football talk has been put on hold until August.

The Tigers released their summer depth chart this week, and Tigernet breaks down what it means.

Among the highlights: Veteran Kelly Bryant is listed as the starting quarterback. He's replacing superstar Deshaun Watson, who led the Tigers to the national championship and is now headed for the NFL. However, Bryant is expected to be challenged for the job by redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper and true freshman Hunter Johnson.

Tigerpundit: From first to worst

Did you hear that Clemson won the national championship back in January?

Well, if you're depending on this blog for your information, you certainly didn't. That's because I haven't updated this thing since August 2014. Since that time, the Tigers have embarked on the greatest epoch in their history, culminating with the national title triumph over Alabama in Orlando more than four months ago.

And Tigerpundit, the very first Clemson football blogger (and maybe one of the first college football bloggers ever), has been asleep at the wheel.

Well, no more. Maybe.

I'm going to try to update this site more than four times a decade going forward. No promises, but I think I can post some stuff in the early-morning hours. My newish job could accommodate that.

That said, here's Tigernet's excellent look-back at the Tigers' amazing 2016 title run. Enjoy.

Tigerpundit talks football on the radio

Wow. I have been supremely derelict in updating this site. But today, something happened that might give me a push to post more often -- I was on the radio talking Clemson football.

WGAU in Athens, Ga., contacted me about coming on for eight minutes or so to discuss Saturday's Clemson-Georgia game. I joined Tim Bryant's Newsmakers show for a fun chat about Clemson and the upcoming game. Here's a link to Tim's show. My segment begins at the 41:40 mark.

http://wgauam.media.streamtheworld.com/audio/newsmakers_with_tim_102733401.mp3

I'd like to again thank Tim for reaching out to me and giving me the opportunity to do my first-ever radio interview. Pretty cool.