Season Opener

Saturday was the season opener against Texas A&M, but it was also Military Appreciation day. I can't think of a game where people were so choked up in the stands. At the very beginning, Clemson always has an invocation and then sings the national anthem - at the moment when the entire stadium was singing "land of the free..." four F-16s flew low over our heads and off into the sunset. We were all cheering with our arms in the air. Then, to start the game, we had a live feed from Baghdad where soldiers that were alums from both schools were standing with thier flags and officiated the coin toss. So cool.

At the half, they honored the fallen alumni and each branch of the military with an alumni procession behind each branch's colors and their song. To honor their service and those that have given their lives, they had howitzers (a smaller canon) on the football practice fields and they did a 21 gun salute. To hear the boom just over the stadium walls was so moving and no one was saying a word. They finished the half with everyone being requested to remove their hats and place their hands over their hearts while the Tiger Band playing "TAPS." There aren't any right words to describe how it felt to be standing there is a sea of orange while everyone had tears in their eyes and was thinking of how our soldiers are willing to lay down their lives so that we can tailgate and watch our teams play.

Here is the article for the coin toss:
http://clemsontigers.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090205aab.html