South Carolina College Sports

[GvilleSC]

More importantly, however, Clemson and Carolina have agreed to play a game at Flour Field in Greenville. I think this is a great idea. I know we've talked about it in the past here on UP, so its great to see this idea become reality.

Greenville News

That is really exciting news. I think we'll see by far the largest attendance in the ballpark's history for the games. A great venue, location for a great series!

[GvilleSC]

I found this to be an interesting article about the picking of Myrtle Beach for the ACC Baseball Tournament from 2011-2013: The State

I'm still astonished that Myrtle Beach landed it. I think we'll see below average attendance, but maybe I'm wrong. A lot of people in Greenville feel that the ACC owes it to the City for hosting such a great event for so many years. The move from Greenville was brought on by other ACC coaches complaining that Clemson had such a huge advantage. Meanwhile, the tournament has been in other schools' backyards since. Not to mention the Basketball tournament being played in NC (UNC, Duke, Wake, NC State favoritism?? of course not), and Atlanta (Ga Tech). I guess Jim Clyburn's support for the Myrtle Beach site pushed them ahead?? You really can't offer fans a better experience than Fluor Field's location with shopping, dining, entertainment, and hotel offerings within such a short walk (or trolley ride). Rant over.

[Spartan]

The North Carolina schools always get their way in the ACC. I agree with you in that any North Carolina hosting the basketball tournament city is basically like a home game for UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, or NCSU. Every game at Greensboro this year looked like it was a UNC home game even though it's an hour to Chapel Hill. Similarly, I think that any location in South Carolina will do well. Clemson fans will show up anywhere across the state, so I think y'all will have to make Myrtle Beach feel like a home game. That's really a lame reason to pick Myrtle Beach over Greenville. Yeah they "said" it was for geographic centrality, but Greenville (or any other city in South Carolina for that matter) is just as central when you have the entire East Coast to consider.

Anyway, kudos to the ACC for ignoring the boycott.

[goodbye]

I found the comments under this short story about the ACC baseball tournament in Myrtle Beach really interesting. Obviously there are plenty of people who view our state in a very negative light. The way some people lump every resident in the state together and place a stereotypical label on us shows how ignorant they are. Some of the words used to describe SC and its residents include, "an enemy state," "glorifying an act of treason," "non-American **** birds," "celebrating their heritage of being morons," "insensitive lowlifes," and, "red necks and white supremacist types."

[CorgiMatt]

Lot's of people make comments based on ignorance. That said, S.C. has no more than 7 years and 4 months from this past Friday (the date I'll have 30 years of service with the state) to get it together or I'm outta here.

[Spartan]

It just goes to show that there is a lot of ignorance out there, and most of it is not coming from the Great State of South Carolina.

[GvilleSC]

The ACC leads all conferences with the number of baseball Regional hosts this year with four, including Clemson! There's going to be some great baseball played in South Carolina this weekend!

[Spartan]

I was glad to see that Carolina made it as a #2 seed in the Greenville, North Carolina regional. This is why I love Carolina baseball... even on a bad year.

It's unfortunate that Coastal did not get to host. I hope that they can beat UNC, but if not, I'd like to see a UNC-USC match up for the Super Regional.

[CorgiMatt]

USC ranks 39th in this year's Learfield Sports Director's cup for collegiate sports programs.

http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/845993.html

[GvilleSC]

Myrtle Beach has lost the ACC Tournament. It's headed back to, big surprise, North Carolina. Greensboro and Durham will host the tournament as a consequence of the NAACP.

[CorgiMatt]

Not as a consequence of the Confederate flag?

[GvilleSC]

Not as a consequence of the Confederate flag?

The Confederate flag is there, but ultimately it is the NAACP that refused to approve the event's location. I'm wondering which is more "advancing" to the "color people" of South Carolina during an economic downturn, a stubborn battle over a piece of cloth hanging on a pole or the loss of revenue that will occur from the state's second largest industry.

It we want to get down to it, the blame would ultimately go back state legislators who placed the flag where it is, and those who will not pass law to remove it today. However, we cannot forget the shortsightedness of the NAACP that simply got it off the dome. And, together, we hold ourselves back.

EDIT: for what it's worth: The Myrtle Beach NAACP supported the event coming to the Grand Strand. The state branch did not.

[CorgiMatt]

Tailgating in SC is moving to a new level. I hope USC football will give Gamecock fans something other than tailgating to brag about this year, but I'm not optimistic about that.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10926532

[Spartan]

They don't include any pictures, but they are available if you look in the Columbia section. Once the shade trees grow out, tailgating for Carolina games will be 1000 times better. The next step is to fix the farmers market.

[GvilleSC]

The state of South Carolina's basketball scene is going to be put on the national stage this coming season. ESPN's College GameDay will be hosted by Clemson University on January 23, 2010 when the Tigers play host to the Duke Blue Devils.

I think this speaks very well about two things: Clemson's basketball program, and the atmosphere of Littlejohn Coliseum. This is quite an honor!

[Spartan]

That reminds me... I don't recall if it's been mentioned here on UP, but its worth noting that USC, as part of the multi-billion dollar "SEC on ESPN" media deal, will have every SEC match up televised on national TV via ESPN or ABC network broadcast. This means some great exposure for the Gamecocks. The other good news, IMO, is that one Saturday Out-of-Conference game can be on ESPN. That means there won't be any questions as to whether or not the Palmetto Bowl will be on TV.

[distortedlogic]

The other good news, IMO, is that one Saturday Out-of-Conference game can be on ESPN. That means there won't be any questions as to whether or not the Palmetto Bowl will be on TV.

I am not so sure this is good news. Maybe if SC could ever win the game it would be, but we just watch Clemson pound on a team that never shows up for the game every year.

[CorgiMatt]

The only good thing I'll say about this Gamecocks football team so far is that at least all of the ones they've interviewed on WIS talk like they've got some sense for a change. In other words they seem bright.

[Spartan]

National exposure is always good for the program. Besides, we're winning more than we're losing these days. USC athletics are on the rise. I'm not going to focus solely on the Clemson game as the sole measure of success, though obviously I want that game listed as a win. IF Carolina can win the SEC, Clemson will be a piece of cake. With the SEC East being the weaker half of the conference this year, USC could slide in under the radar and take the East. Florida will most likely stand in the way of that, but you never know. Crazier upsets have happened.

[CorgiMatt]

I wouldn't care if USC won the national championship 10 years in a row and Clemson had sorry teams all of those years, Clemson will never be a piece of cake for USC. It's not in the Gamecocks' psyche for Clemson to be a piece of cake.

[distortedlogic]

I wouldn't care if USC won the national championship 10 years in a row and Clemson had sorry teams all of those years, Clemson will never be a piece of cake for USC. It's not in the Gamecocks' psyche for Clemson to be a piece of cake.

I have to agree with this. Clemson just has SC so intimidated or something that SC just simply doesn't know how to play against them. In my lifetime, SC has won just 8 games against the cats, and 3 of those were in the 90s when they traded for a few years there. Only 2 of the last 12! That is pathetic. I am always hopeful for a turnaround in the series, but I also have to be realistic. I can't pick USC to beat Clemson until they actually start to do it on a semi-regular basis; ie 4 of 8 or 6 of 10, something like that. As for USC winning the SEC this year, snowballs have a better chance in an oven in Death Valley CA than that. I agree with a lot of things you say Spartan, but you must have been watching a different team over the past few years than I have. I think realistically we are looking at 4-5 wins this year, 6 if some of the young guys come along quickly and we get some help.

[Spartan]

Based on the rest of the SEC and our OOC schedule we should be fine. I don't buy this crap the Carolina can't do it. We won't win the SEC this year because of Florida and Alabama, as they have more talent than we do. Clemson is merely a psychological barrier. They can't win the ACC even when they have the most talent in the conference. Instead they fire their head coach. A loss to them is unacceptable, but like I said it's not the only measure of success. USC is getting the recruits and Spurrier can make it happen. We haven't had a consistent QB or OL over the past two years. This year should be better as far as those issues are concerned. They hired assistant coaches specifically to fix the problems that we've had in the past. Y'all can be "realistic" (aka pessimistic) all you want. Things are looking up. It takes a long time to adjust expectations but it will happen.

[CorgiMatt]

I'm not falling for it.

[Spartan]

To each their own my friend.

[distortedlogic]

I would love to jump on board there with you but I have heard these same things all my life. Things are always "looking up" to us, but mainly because we have no where else to look. We have had super recruiting classes before and they rarely if ever pan out, regardless of decade or coach. I have always thought these guys saying "it can't be done at USC" were full of it too, but eventually it needs to actually happen. We may be a little better at OL and QB this year, but that may only be because we can't be any worse. As for the rest of the team, half our defense is gone, our super star kicker is gone, and our leading receiver and runner is gone. We have one of the least expereinced teams in the country this year, and that is coming back form a mediocre team. We may have more talent this year, but it seems like talent usually underperforms at USC for some reason. As for our OOC schedule, we have 2 gimmies, but NC state and Clemson don't leave much hope. State ended the season MUCH better than us last year, if we had played say in a bowl game, they might have beaten us 34-0. And they have a lot more coming back this year, plus they are playing in Raleigh. And I agree Clemson is a psychological hump, but at some point they have to conquer it. I would love to be more hopeful, but realistically, I don't see how a gamecock fan can look at our schedule and team this year and see 7, 8, or 9 wins. I truly hope I am wrong and will gladly eat crow or any other bird (except rooster of course ) but the only way it will happen is if the young guys really perform this year and we can win some of the close ones tht we usually lose.