Military Appreciation Day

So it will be Sept. 10th, 2011 on Saturday. Ten years since my classmates and I were hanging out at 1201 Berkeley Place. Having the time of our lives, except of course Sept. 11th, 2001 was not a good day. Not shockingly, my "where were you" story is a little funny. It was a Tuesday I think and only my second day at my co-op. My first experience with a full-time job not cutting chickens. So at 9am on the second day everyone in the machine shop I was working in shuts down their machines and starts grouping around the radio. Then one guy brings in his little 9 inch TV he has in his truck. I'm like, "What? We shut down the plant every time anything news worthy happens." So, I am continuing to work or at least look like I am working since it is my second day. Then I hear from a co-worker that a plane hit the towers. I don't know if I was naive or just not thinking, but my first instinct was it had to be an accident. At that point I hadn't been to NYC in a while, so I figured those towers were so big and with the three airports nearby planes were buzzing near the towers all the time. Anyway, not a good day. I also hate to admit that I sat in line for gas that night. I was pretty sure the whole "gas will be impossible to get soon" was a crock, but I figured why chance it.

I just remember being so angry. Part of it was an arrogance of how dare they mess with the US and part was just the anger you should have when faced with pure evil. I've been to ground zero twice, but nothing compared to when I took the subway in from Jersey and just saw this giant crater of earth open up in front of me. That was way more powerful than seeing it from the edges. It was neat to see the country come together after that day. The saddest part is even after Giuliana and Bush Jr. said they would make sure the skyline was made whole, ten years later only one 52 story building has been built. Others are on the way, but it only took 3 years to build the first set of twin towers!! Politically fighting and lack of backbone to get something done are the main culprits.
Sorry, couldn't find one without PROOF written on it. Deal with it.

Anyway, back to more uplifting stuff. I hate missing Military Appreciation Day at Clemson. Clemson was a military school until 1955, so there is a strong military tradition in those hills. The band's playing of each service's song and the F-14 flyovers are the best part. As for the game, I don't see this one being remotely close. There are some I-AA programs that would scare me, but Wofford isn't one of them. The fact we have seen Ga Tech's triple option three times over the last two years will help. Now that we have speed at the skill positions, we should more easily put away lesser opponents. Good news that safety Rashard Hall could play, but they will probably hold him out until Auburn unless we are in a dog fight. The O-line needs to step up and of course Tahj Boyd needs to keep improving and learning with every snap. Clemson 48, Wofford 17.

By the way, the 10 day forecast for all those heading to the Auburn game has a Saturday high of 78. How awesome would that be? I've never been to a September Clemson game that wasn't boiling heat.