Clemson Football had a lot of success in the past decade. I once thought there wasn’t much better than the summer after your team won a national championship against Alabama. Then I learned there wasn’t much better than the summer after your team blew Alabama out to win the national championship.
I also learned you can’t stay on top of the mountain forever. The next season always starts, and you can’t keep the same team forever.
Fans my age (nearing 50) would certainly remember years when losing only three games was a hopeful wish. Younger fans probably haven’t experienced going close to .500 overall. It hasn’t happened since Dabo Swinney’s second full season in 2010.
Sometimes I must remember that everyone has a different perspective. I recently saw a post on social media. I didn’t keep the link to it, but it said:
“When is this going to be fun again?”
I wasn’t certain how to process that at first. It’s always been fun for me, even when the Tigers aren’t winning. I might get frustrated or depressed because something didn’t go Clemson’s way, but it’s always been fun. I don’t think I could spend as much time writing about Clemson as I do if I wasn’t having fun.
Everyone gets something different from the experience. Some people love to go to games just for the tailgating. I’ve known people who were disappointed the game was getting ready to start because it meant they had to leave the parking lot.
Some people enjoy the interaction on social media. I must confess I’ve never really enjoyed engaging in smack talk with people from other fanbases. Sure, I’ll jab someone from time to time, but I’ve seen some people who exist on a platform solely to talk trash to fans of Clemson’s opponents.
Some people get a little too serious about their fandom. They create an identity for themselves based on being a Clemson fan. When things don’t work out for the Tigers on the field, they get bent out of shape a little too much.
I love the Tigers, but that has never stopped me from hugging an old friend wearing a Gamecocks shirt or a Tar Heels hat. I like to goof with them sometimes but I really don’t have any sports hate.
Everyone has their own reasons for being a fan of Clemson Football
I can’t relate to not having fun watching Clemson Football, even when they lose. I wish everyone could enjoy it the way I do. I wish I could bottle it up and sell it.
For those that can’t, I can simply offer this: if you truly aren’t having fun, then find something that is fun. There is no such thing as a “real” fan, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. Take a break.
There is no answer to the question “When will it be fun again?” If it takes championships and playoff berths to be fun, then the truth is that it might never be fun again. It was 35 years between Clemson’s first national championship and their second.
Some might not want to believe that it could be another three decades until they win another national championship, but the truth is it could be longer. Much longer.
They might make the expanded 12-team playoff next year. They might not. It might be years until they make the playoffs again.
If you need those things for Clemson Football to be fun, then you might want to find other alternatives for your fall Saturdays, and that is ok.