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The difference between game experiences at Clemson and South Carolina
Dec 7, 2023, 1:30 PM
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Saw this, thought the people here might like to read it and discuss.
This year was the first time in forever that I’ve had the opportunity to not only attend a game at South Carolina, but actually get there early enough to get at least some semblance of an experience. And something I think we’ve all known but mostly never say is this – even though we live in the same state, we work together, we worship together, and we have the same backgrounds and shared experiences of attending the same schools growing up, and even though we intermarry and lines are drawn between parents and children, between spouses, between best friends, there is a fundamental difference in how we view football, tailgating, and the entire football experience.
Clemson and South Carolina fans, and the experiences are just different.
Let’s take a look at some of them. Clemson can be a little harder to get to on game day, while South Carolina has major highways leading into the stadium. Both places you can get stuck in traffic, and South Carolina fans will balk at having to “look at cow pastures and barns” and Clemson fans will balk at being stuck on the interstate next to idling trucks and strip malls. But when you get closer to the stadium at Clemson, you see where the differences really begin.
As you approach campus, whether you’re on a four lane road or a two lane road, you are greeted at some point by bright orange Tiger paws, welcoming you to Clemson. And once you arrive on campus, you wind your way to your tailgating spot by passing places where most of us have lived or attended classes, had first dates, took that first drink, and have spent so much of our lives. At South Carolina, you’re headed to the fairgrounds, and you pass machine shops and brake shops. I think they’ve done a nice job of finding businesses that want to move into the area, but for the most part you can tell you’re in an industrial part of the city. Clemson’s stadium is on campus, a beautiful campus at that, full of trees and stately old buildings and walkways paved with memories.
And there is yet another difference – for students that live on Clemson’s campus, they walk those walkways, under the trees, past the classroom and administration buildings and dorms, to the stadium. No matter where you are on campus, you can hear the roar of the stadium. And when the students begin their walk, they pass through Core Campus, with Death Valley in view, and walk down the hill with one of the most breathtaking sights in all of college football. Their stadium, their homes away from homes, and their classrooms are all interconnected.
We sat in traffic and watched as South Carolina students trudged down a main road. They had to cross over railroad tracks, and dodge trucks and traffic, for the mile-plus walk from the campus to the stadium. They carried their belongings and their beer past abandoned buildings and tow truck companies, and dodged traffic the entire way.
And then we passed the motor home lot. It was cramped, right off a main road, and part of it is closed off by a high fence and barbed wire. At Clemson, the motor homes park in historic Jervey Meadows, in the shadow of Doug Kingsmore Stadium and McWhorter Stadium, the lights from those venues keeping watch over the wide spaces and grassy lots. To one side is the football facility, and in front is the distance are the lights of Death Valley. It’s picturesque and uniquely Clemson. They, they being South Carolina fans, prefer their fairground lots. We prefer picturesque.
And then the game itself. I think they have a great game atmosphere. It’s rocking and rolling, and I like it when they play Sandstorm and wave the towels and jump. If you love college football, its something you have to see. During the game, the stadium lights blink constantly, the lights are turned off at every chance, and band music is largely replaced by canned music from the loudspeakers. Someone next to us called it a mix of a rock concert and an MMA fight. I get that, and I think a lot of people like it.
At Clemson, it’s more traditional. Our breaks are used to honor our military, the Hero of the Game, and while there is the usual cacophony of canned music, the band does its part. At Clemson, it’s less rock concert and more football game. The way it should be.
And when the game is over, Clemson fans meet at the Paw, throw footballs with the kids, take pictures with the players, and spend a few minutes regaling in the atmosphere. They then head back to their cars, next to their classroom buildings, next to their old dorms, underneath the stately trees. South Carolina fans head back to their lots in the fairgrounds, or in tow yard fences or brake shops or machine shops.
It’s all in how you want to spend your football Saturdays. South Carolina fans love their experiences, and we loves ours. Neither one would want what the other has. And that’s why, even though we marry and work together and worship together, we are just fundamentally different on how we view the sport we love.
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