One of the longest Clemson football traditions will be coming to an end. The balloon release will no longer take place during the team’s entrance.
One of the longest traditions in all of Clemson football will be coming to an end beginning this season.
The traditional balloon release during the team’s entrance when they run down the hill will be ended.
The news was first reported by Tigernet’s David Hood. Hood said a source within Clemson University told him that it was a “campus decision.”
The tradition began in 1983 when the Tigers took on the Maryland Terrapins.
It has been a mainstay of every Clemson football game ever since.
It won’t be the same…
This is a very touchy subject and we will treat it as such. I do know that PETA has been urging Clemson University to stop the tradition for quite some time now. You can read their argument at the link embedded.
What I do think we can all agree upon, though, is that the most exciting 25 seconds in all of College Football will never be the same.
That tradition has been a part of the Tigers running down the hill for so long, it will seem as if something is missing the first time they do it without any orange balloons filling the sky. Whether they take away the balloons or not, though, Clemson football will remain the same.
We will still get chill bumps when we see the buses pull around and the Tigers get off and enter Death Valley. We will still cheer as loud as we ever have before when the cannon sounds and those players file down the hill after rubbing Howard’s Rock.
Balloons or no balloons, it is still the most exciting 25 seconds in College Football.
What do you think, Clemson football fans? Comment below.