On Jan. 7, the Clemson Tigers made it known that they were the best in the nation after sweeping Alabama 44-16 in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
With such a great accomplishment comes even greater recognition, especially from the president of the United States.
Now, imagine receiving an invitation from the president inviting you to attend the White House for a celebratory dinner to honor the fact that you were just crowned national champions. You now have a national championship and you get to visit the White House! Well, it all sounds pretty great, right?
A week later, the day finally arrives. It is time for your dinner at the White House and with President Donald Trump! You walk into the opulent White House State Dining Room and see a golden chandelier that is illuminating a long mahogany table. On that same table, you see candelabras holding white candles and silver platters holding your food.
But wait a minute, something is not adding up. You begin to wonder if you are in the right room, or if someone is playing a joke on you. Where are the hidden cameras? But then you realize that everything is real and there is no joke being played. You look at your fancy tuxedo and then to the silver platters. You begin to wonder if you are a little overdressed. I mean, no one really wears tuxedos to eat McDonald’s, right?
Well, let’s just say that the Clemson players were in for the surprise of their life. The Tigers walked into the State Dining Room hoping to find a fancy meal set up for them, but to their surprise, all they found were boxes of McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, Big Macs and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches stacked on silver platters. Next in line were the salads, followed by Wendy’s wraps. Silver gravy boats were overflowing with dipping sauces for the Chicken McNuggets. On a separate table, there were Domino’s Pizza and french fries. According to the president, this is all “great American food.”
Now, there is nothing wrong with college athletes, the president or anyone eating fast food, but there is something wrong with thinking that these players deserve nothing more than that. In an interview with CNN, President Trump said, “The Clemson championship team, the national championship team, will be coming tonight.
“It’ll be exciting. Very great team. An unbelievable team. They’ll be coming tonight, and I think we are going to serve McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger Kings with some pizza. I really mean it. It’ll be interesting and I would think that’s their favorite food.”
First of all, why is it OK to assume that it’s their favorite food? Secondly, Trump’s reasoning behind serving those meals was because of the government shutdown. As a result of the shutdown, Trump would be paying for the meals out of pocket.
“… Much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed, so the president is personally paying for the event to be catered with some of everyone’s favorite fast foods,” according to a statement released by the Office of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
Well, it is nice of him to be paying out of pocket for the meals, but you would think that a man who has a net worth of $3.1 billion could afford to give these athletes a nicer meal. Or better yet, why not bring in the kitchen staff from the Trump International Hotel to cater? I mean, the hotel is located just three blocks away from the White House. I am not saying to serve them caviar but, hey, a nicer meal would be better, considering the fact that these athletes just accomplished something pretty great.
A Clemson athlete was overheard saying in a video shared on Twitter, “I thought it was a joke.” Well, to the Clemson player who said that, never underestimate the words of the president.
The next day after the dinner, Trump tweeted, “Great being with the National Champion Clemson Tigers last night at the White House. Because of the Shutdown I served them massive amounts of Fast Food (I paid), over 1000 hamberders etc. Within one hour, it was all gone. Great guys and big eaters!”
Well, Mr. President, there is something wrong with that statement. First, you tell reporters that you personally bought “300 hamburgers” and then the number of hamburgers, excuse me, I meant to say “hamberders,” goes through the roof to 1,000. With such a high order, apparently, Burger King was all out of hamberders (whatever those are) as the fast-food chain tweeted, “due to a large order placed yesterday, we’re all out of hamberders. just serving hamburgers today.”
Now, Clemson, do not worry about what happened at the White House. That is now in the past. The true question here is whether the Tigers will accept the invitations from American Rapper Quavo; former NFL star and current “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan; Nick Kokonas, co-owner of The Alinea Group (ranked as one of the best restaurants in the world); or Ayesha Curry.
Last Tuesday, Strahan said on the show, “Lobster, whatever you want, we’re gonna take care of you. We’re gonna give you the proper meal that you deserve because that was one great game.”
Later that day, Quavo posted a tweet, saying:
I WANNA SHOW CLEMSON TIGERS AND POTUS HOW CHAMPS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TREATED
YALL WELCOME TO COME BY THE QC HEADQUARTERS ANYTIME
Dabbin DABO STILL #GODAWGS
The Stir Fry Way!— QuavoYRN (@QuavoStuntin) January 15, 2019
Three minutes later, Curry replied to a tweet, saying, “@eatatsmoke will gladly feed the Clemson Tigers any day. A real feast and celebration. No 10cent dipping sauces on silver platters…”
The last offer came from Kokonas, who has no interest in college football, but did have an interest in providing an actual celebration for the Tigers:
“I could care less about college football. But I’m personally inviting the Clemson Tigers team and coaches to Chicago to experience what an actual celebration dinner should be. I’m not joking. Someone let them know what The Alinea Group does. It’ll be worth it@ClemsonTigers.”
Thank you to all of these people who are trying to show the Tigers what a true celebration looks like. Now, Tigers, which option will you take?
