Go Tigers!!!! National Champs!

This post is a detour from my normal posts about our adventures with Callen and Graham. The boys will make an appearance towards the bottom, but I wanted to have a memory of going to Tampa last week and watching the Clemson Tigers win the College Football National Championship!!!

As Doug and I sat at home on New Year's Eve and watched Clemson win big over Ohio State, I couldn't help but feel that this was their year to win it all. They came so close last year, but fell short thanks to a surprise onside kick. I felt they wanted it more than ever this year. Who shuts out Urban Meyer?...no one (except this Clemson team!!!) I looked and Doug and said we should go to Tampa. Thanks to some awesome friends for having extra tickets for us to buy and a wonderful set of grandparents in Charleston to watch the boys, we headed to Tampa last Sunday to see the Tigers play!!

Doug and I were so excited leading up to the trip. We couldn't believe we were going, and looking forward to being in all the excitement that a National Championship game brings. We felt like everyone we talked to was going to be there, so we knew the atmosphere was going to be amazing. We had magnets for our car, stamped $2 bills in the wallet, and a car full of tailgating supplies! We were ready.

We arrived in Tampa late Sunday afternoon and headed to Cigar City Brewing to meet up with my dad and his wife, my brother and sister-in-law, and her family. Just walking up to the brewery was crazy. Clemson fans spilling out onto the patio area...and an Alabama fan or two leaving! Inside was just as crazy. Standing room only and packed with Clemson fans. We then headed to Ybor City for dinner at The Bricks. I think we found the only restaurant that wasn't packed or had a massive wait in all of Tampa. The food was great and the only other people in the restaurant were Clemson fans. We even received change of $2 bills, which we gave right back to our server!! After dinner, we made our way to SoHo. INSANE! Clemson fans were everywhere...spilling out of every bar, lined up to go into every bar. It was pure madness. I felt like I was in college again! We joined some of Scuba's friends at Yard of Ale. It was literally wall to wall people inside there. I told Doug I can't remember the last time I was in a bar where I was served my drink in a 12oz clear solo cup! And then stick to the floor with each step I took! I'm sure we looked a little out of place, but it didn't matter. It was a good time and incredible to see the number of Clemson people out for a night of fun.

After minimal sleep (I'm pretty sure I get more sleep at home with Callen and Graham than I did the two nights we were away), we were up and getting ready for a day of tailgating. Lots were supposed open at 11:30am, but based on the amount of traffic we hit (and were only staying 3 miles from the stadium) and the number of cars in the lots, they had to have opened the lots a lot earlier.

We set up a tailgate between 3 cars and had about 15 people in our group. People came and went all day long. It was like being in Clemson for the day tailgating. However, this tailgate was much more relaxing without having to chase Callen around change Graham's diapers every so often. It was so nice to just sit back and relax for a few hours. As I've mentioned before, there were sooooo many Clemson people. Doug and I felt like we never saw more than 3 Alabama fans at any one time, however they all found a way into the stadium because the crowd was close to 60/40-Clemson. There were definitely more Clemson people there, but based on what we saw leading up to Monday, we would have thought the stands would have been majority Clemson.

The largest blow up tiger ever!

Our friends The Haselden's...their son Wyatt is Cal's best buddy

I ran into one of my best friends from PT school. Even though she's an Alabama fan, I still hung out with her for a while before the game! We walked over to the pregame festivities where Dierks Bentley was playing. We headed into the stadium fairly early to see some of the pregame warmups and show.

The game...Incredible! The atmosphere surrounding the game was unbelievable. So much excitement and enthusiasm...until Alabama scored. There wasn't much to cheer about on the Clemson side for a while and I was feeling kind of bummed. I didn't know how Clemson was going to come back from a deficit and win over Alabama. But then something magical happened. Clemson made a few good plays, scored, and all of a sudden the crowd was back in it. You could see the players on the sideline jumping up and down, encouraging the fans to keep it up. And we all know what happened in the end. Number 4 to number 13 in the end zone with one second remaining on the clock!! Onside kick recovered by Clemson, and Tigers Win, Tigers Win!!! What an electrifying feeling in the stadium. Pure joy and excitement on the Clemson side and shock and amazement to what had just happened on the Alabama side.

The post game celebration was so much fun. Watching the players celebrate is something I'll never forget. Christian Wilkins doing the belly roll, dancing and landing on the ground in a full split all while watching himself on the big screen was ridiculous! Watching Ben Boulware jump up and down with the excitement on his face of a little kid who was just told he could have candy for breakfast was priceless. And finally seeing Dabo lift the trophy in triumph for what all he has built and accomplished at Clemson in just 8 years. AMAZING!

People around us kept saying...Am I dreaming? Did this really happen? Like I said earlier, I felt New Year's Eve that those boys could do it (I wasn't as confident at the start of the game!). I wondered if I was in a dream actually being there. It was such an incredible experience and I am so thankful we were there to witness it.

And the celebration parade this past Saturday was pretty special too. 70,000 people in attendance to celebrate with Dabo and the team. That's something special!