South Carolina is located in the heart of the Bible Belt. Most people in the state are the God-fearing type. They live their lives under the mantra “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Apparently, the ‘cocks in Columbia want bottles and debris hurled at them, women and children cussed at, and their cars keyed.
Clemson forced to move their post-warmup huddle away from the tunnel due to having already been hit by objects from the stands pic.twitter.com/QeegMineBz
— Zach Lentz (@ZachLentzTandD) November 26, 2017
I get it. There’s bad blood in all rivalries. Everyone hangs some borderline inappropriate banners off their balconies making fun of a faction of the rival. In Ohio State, they can’t even look at the letter M during hate week without feeling nauseous. Some schools try to steal a mascot, or paint a statue on the rival’s campus with their own school’s colors. But the scums of the earth in Columbia take it all too far.
Worst experience at Williams-Brice? Was in college, friend had a 66 Mustang coupe, SC fans peed on it, jumped on the hood & keyed “Go Cocks” on the door. All he had was a paw on the rear window. Trash was thrown on us & students spit towards us.
— TigerFanForum (@TigerFanForum) November 24, 2017
‘05 shoved in the bathroom by a coot when I was pregnant and holding the door for her. Haven’t been back since.
— V (@VPIceMom) November 26, 2017
2nd game ever. 2004 game. I’m sitting in the West end zone before the tore it down. Saw the Fight live. Few years later I’m in Willy B getting pissed on in one of those stairwells. I hate Carolina.
— Brady McMullan™ (@POTUSnowman) November 25, 2017
Throwing objects at players is not “part of the game.” Vandalizing opponents’ cars is not cool, it’s a crime. Jumping a human being just because they’re wearing the opponent’s jersey is barbaric. Sometimes, a fan or two goes rogue, acts out of line, and does something like this. Usually, other fans call them out for acting like assholes, but in Columbia they defend and encourage these types of actions.
How much more can we tolerate from these animals? What happens when the plastic bottles being thrown at players turn into glass bottles, or when the balled up aluminum foil turns into rocks? I’m not suggesting that we end the rivalry today, but at what point do we draw the line? Safety of both fans and players are being jeopardized every time we play these clowns, and that is not the spirit of a rivalry.
Playing South Carolina isn’t even worth the risk to our players or fans. Clemson owns USCjr. The series is at 69(NICE)-42-2 in favor of Clemson. Beating them hasn’t done anything to help Clemson’s rankings, strength of schedule, or playoff chances in YEARS. That last game with South Carolina has been nothing more than a chance for the Gamecocks to take out their aggression from another disappointing season, with no added benefit to Clemson.
With Clemson turning itself into a dynasty as of late, the talent gap of the players is only going to widen. Perhaps it’s time we start scheduling another non-conference opponent like Auburn or Georgia every single year to take South Carolina’s spot on our schedule, just in case we need to let this “rivalry” die.