Seating Issue Coming Up

The new seating plan for Clemson football is being unveiled next week by the University.

Already the source of much speculation and angst, the reseating of Death Valley is a step the athletic department believes will not only get it in line with most other major football programs around the country, but also mean increased revenues.

Some long-time season-ticket holders are going to have a difficult decision to make, to be sure - significantly increase what they give to IPTAY in order to keep their choice seats, or give them up because someone else is willing to pay more for them. Either way, there are going to be many folks more than a little bent out of shape over the new policy.

But, in this current era of big-time collegiate sports, such is life. Clemson either has to try and keep up with the Joneses (or in this case, the Auburns, the Alabamas, the Florida States, the Tennessees, etc.) or be left behind both on the field and in the facilities arms race.

Of course, the other alternative is to drop scholarship sports all together and find an Ivy League-type conference to play in. But I daresay many of the same folks who will scream about reseating will turn around in the next breath and scream about the very idea of downgrading the Clemson athletic program.

Such is the conundrum facing the school, its fund-raising arm, and its fan base.

Hoping to shed a little light on the subject, senior associate AD Billy D'Andrea will be a guest on my show - Cruise Control - at 9:25 a.m. Thursday. You can catch the interview live on 104.9 FM, The Drive, or you can get it live on the Internet at www.wccpfm.com.