OFF DAY IN GREENVILLE

(March 18, 2017) While the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament continued at other sites, there were no games scheduled for Greenville on Saturday. This gave me the Opportunity to get out and explore the area. As I drove through Greenville, I round several streets were blocked off for some kind of running event, so I headed back to Interstate 85 and made my way south toward the tiny town of Royston, Georgia.

Mos people don't play on going to Royston, they end up in Royston, but for me this was a planned trip. Royston is the town of one of the most immortal names in Baseball, Tyrus Raymond Cobb.  Ty Cobb was the first inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and one of the true legends of the game.

As you drive through this small town it is evident that its citizens not only embrace his legacy but truly love the man.  Everywhere you look you see the name Ty Cobb. From the Community Center to the Ty Cobb Medical Center, it is obvious that this baseball legend was a philanthropist who really gave back to his hometown and
community.

The reason that I drove the hour and 20-minutes from Greenville to Royston was to visit the Ty Cobb Museum. The small museum is located in a wing of a small medical office building in downtown Royston.

The Ty Cobb Museum is a very small museum which features a number of artifacts that personally belong to the baseball great. When I tour a museum, I am a "reader," I enjoy reading the plaques and information that is available. With that being said, I spent about an hour walking through the exhibits, which featured Ty Cobb's Bible, Uniforms and shotgun along with other personal artifacts.

Just a short drive (less than a mile) from the museum is Rose Hill Cemetery, where Ty Cobb, his wife and mother and father are resting in a family mausoleum.  You have no trouble finding the mausoleum as it is the largest structure in the Cemetery.  I made a quick trip out to the cemetery before heading back toward South Carolina.

My next stop of the day was the small town of Pendleton, South Carolina. I wanted to stop of the Old Stone Church, which is one of the oldest churches in the upstate of South Carolina. However, there was a wedding going on and not wanting to be a "wedding crasher," I ventured over to the St. Paul's Episcopal Church. It is here in the church cemetery that Thomas Green Clemson and his wife Anna Calhoun Clemson are buried.

Thomas Clemson is the founder of Clemson University. and his wife Anna Calhoun is the daughter of Vice President John C. Calhoun. Following Vice President Calhoun's death in 1850, Thomas and Anna eventually inherited the Fort Hill Plantation.  It was from Fort Hill that Clemson founded the agricultural college that is today known as Clemson University.

General Barnard Bee

Also resting here in the church cemetery is Civil War General Barnard Elliott Bee. It was during the first battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861 that Bee uttered the words, "Rally around the Virginians, There stands Jackson like a stonewall." From that day forward General Thomas J. Jackson would be known as "Stonewall" Jackson. The next day on July 22, 1861, General Bee was kill on the battlefield at Manassas.

After finishing my quick visit to St. Paul's Church, I made a short drive up to Clemson University. My first stop was at Woodland Cemetery. It is here, in the shadow of Clemson's Memorial Stadium that legendary football coach Frank Howard is buried.  It was Howard that started referring to Memorial Stadium as Death Valley.

Also located at Woodland is the Fort Hill Plantation Cemetery and the Calhoun Family Cemetery. While Vice President Calhoun is buried in Charleston, several of his relatives are buried here.

Coach Howard's Rock

Just a short walk down the hill from Woodland Cemetery, is  Memorial Stadium, which is home to  2017 NCAA National Football Champions. Today the east gate was open and visitors could actually touch Howard's Rock and run down the hill.

A few years back I was able to attend the Clemson - Wake Forest Game here at Memorial Stadium. I must say if you are a college football fan, then attending a game in Death Valley should be on your bucket list. There is no way to describe the scene when the Tigers rub Howard's Rock, run down the hill and 85,000 people erupt. It is a totally awesome environment.

Fort Hill Plantation House

Just a short walk up the hill from Memorial Stadium is all that remains of the original Fort Hill Plantation; the home of Vice- President John C. Calhoun. When Calhoun died in 1850 the plantation was divided among his children. The home eventually became the home of Vice President daughter Anna Calhoun and her husband Thomas Green Clemson.

When Anna died in 1875, Thomas inherited the property. In his will Clemson bequeathed the property to the State of South Carolina for the purpose of establishing an agricultural college which is today known as Clemson University. Thomas also stipulated that the Fort Hill Mansion should never be torn down or altered and it should always be open for "Public Inspection." Today, Clemson University has preserved the historic home as a museum which contain almost all of the original furnishings.

By the time I finished with my visit to Clemson it was time to head back toward Greenville, but I had one more stop to make before returning to my hotel. Woodlawn Memorial Park is just a short drive up from my hotel on Plesantsburg Road and it is the final resting place of the one of the greatest baseball players who is NOT in the Hall of Fame, Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson.

In 1919 "Shoeless Joe" was a member of the Chicago White Sox who played in the World Series. Jackson discovered that seven players had gotten together to throw the World Series. He was offered $20,000 to join them but  adamantly declined. The gambler used his name to lure bettors and as a result Commissioner Kennesaw Mounatin Landis banned all of the player from professional baseball for life. Following the ban Joe returned to Greenville where he became a successful shop keeper, running a dry cleaning business and later a liquor store.  He lived the rest of his life here in Greenville and died of a heart attack in 1951.

After paying my respects to "Shoeless Joe" I ended my day with dinner at Sticky Fingers BBQ and returned to my hotel to watch the evening session of the tournament.

2017 NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT - GREENVILLE, SC

(Greenville, SC - March 17, 2017) For the 17th Straight year I have traveled to the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. My first trip was just a day trip to Greensboro, North Carolina in 2001. My second year I managed to get a little more adventurous and traveled to Greenville, South Carolina. The side story on that is, following the 2002 tournament the NCAA banned the state of South Carolina from hosting any future NCAA Championship events because of the Confederate Flag that was still flying on the grounds of the State Capitol in Columbia.  The Confederate Flag was retired from the grounds in 2015 and the Tournament returns to Greenville for the first time in 15 years. Oddly, the tournament left Greenville, because of politics and this year it returns to Greenville because of politics. 

This years tournament was originally slated to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, but because of what is known as the "Bathroom Bill" the NCAA decided to remove all of its championship events from the state of North Carolina. So the tournament returns to Greenville.

I Have Great Seats

So, after 15-years I return Greenville. When I attended the tournament here in 2002 the arena was known as the Bi-Lo Center, now it is know as the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The one thing about the is disappointing about returning to this arena is that they prohibit any camera's with detachable lenses, which means that I will not be not be able to get my gook Nikon Cameras into the arena, so most of the photo will be taken by my cell phone.  The NCAA didn't do me any favors in seeding the teams this year as I have two of the ACC big dawgs, Duke and North Carolina seeded here. In addition to the Devils and Heel being here in Greenville I also have what I think will turn out to be the "HOME" team, the South Carolina Gamecocks. The rest of the teams seeded here are the Arkansas, Troy, Seton Hall, Marquette, and Texas Southern.

The schedule for the First day of the tournament has Duke and Carolina split between the afternoon and evening session. One thing about NCAA Scheduling, is that they have sold their soul to the TV Devil.  The TV Networks set all of the game times and for what ever reason the afternoon games here in Greenville were late starts. The first game wasn't scheduled to begin until 1:20 p.m. and game two is schedule for 4:30 or 30-minutes after the conclusion of the first game. 

AFTERNOON SESSION:

Arkansas vs. Seton Hall

North Carolina vs. Texas Southern

I tried to get my good Nikon in and was turned away at security so there won't be many photo during this tournament. The first game of the day saw the Razorbacks defeat the Pirates by a score of 77-71. The second of the afternoon session saw the Tarheels pound the Troy Tiger 103-64.

After the conclusion of the first session, everyone was forced to exit the arena and re-enter for the evening session with the first game scheduled to tip at 7:20. This is another quirk of the TV Scheduling. With the late start of the Afternoon session and the early start of the evening session makes for a quick turnaround. I had a similar schedule a few years back in Kansas City and the event staff there did not handle the quick turnaround very well. In fact, I missed the first 6-minutes of the first game. 

I must say here in Greenville they were much better prepared as the doors re-opened about 40-minutes before the scheduled tip. I tried one more time to get the Nikon through security without success. I think I am going to give up on tournament photo this year. 

EVENING SESSION:

Duke vs. Troy 

Marquette vs. South Carolina

The evening session started off with Duke having a little more trouble with Troy than the Tarheels had with Southern. But when it was all over the Blue Devils came out on top 87-65.  The final game of the first day here in Greenville was perhaps the most anticipated game of the day.  The NCAA mixed in a little sub plot. It featured the Marquette Warriors which is coached former Duke player and assistant Coach Steve Wojciechowski against the South Carolina Gamecocks. You can't tell me that the selection committee didn't think it would be interesting if Marquette and Duke both win, the story line would be the Student takes on the Teacher.  But first, Marquette has to take on South Carolina.  Another interesting sub-plot is that the Gamecocks is playing just 90-miles from their campus in Columbia. 

The Gamecock nation traveled well and the "Cock" had a the majority of the fans and the home court advantage.   When all was said and done the Home team defeated the Warriors by a score of 94-73. The Marquette - South Carolina game brought the curtain down on day one of the NCAA Tournament here in Greenville and set the stage for an interesting two games for round two on Sunday.