re: South Carolina over the years ....

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Very good trip down memory lane. I am 50 and my strong memories of these days start around the 1977 season when Charlie Pell took over at Clemson.

The times we so very different back then. The "Big Boys" like Alabama could buy out everyone by having 150 man rosters. The State or South Carolina was poor but had strong fan bases because that is all we had was our schools to support. The Textile Industry was huge but outsourcing was starting to lay the state to waste.

I have always been impressed with the fan support that Carolina has. I remember vividly how very bad many of those teams were and Willie B was still packed knowing they had no chance of winning. The fan base is the main reason Carolina has prospered.

My biggest regret and concern is we are not in the same conference. With the way college football has changed, there is a real possibility that one day one of the schools will decide to drop the rivalry...especially if they go to a 9 game conference schedule...Don't say it will never happen because Texas-Am went away, Nebraska-Oklahoma went away, Pitt-Penn State went away...I do think the State Legislature would get involved but this new playoff era will be interesting

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Rosters were only 105 in '77, with up to ten walkons allowed.

The late seventies started the arms race between Carolina and Clemson with Clemson winning back then ... thanks mostly to Bill Amick, who I knew very very well. Still friends with his son David, he made a rifle for me a couple of years ago as a matter of fact.

Both programs have legendary fan support, but I think Carolina's is probably perceived as a bit more loyal in the face of what we endured.

Bowden hiring Scott fired new shots in the rivalry and, in truth, so infuriated SCAR big shots that it caused, for the first time in our history, us to get angry and really dedicate ourselves to out-doing Clemson on every front. Mike McGee was so infuriated the night Brad Scott was carried off our field that he became obsessed with it as a matter of fact. He loathed Brad Scott ... for a lot of very legitimate reasons. I'll be glad to list a few of them if you want.

We'll never been in the same conference. SCAR will never leave the SEC and between SCAR, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia there is enough voting power to always keep Clemson out.

Clemson had their chance - they could have left the ACC with us in '72, but they backed-out at the last minute. Tom Price's book does the best job of explaining how all that went down. Tom always said it would cost Clemson big one day, and it probably still will ... if it's not already. It's a touchy subject among most Clemson fans I know ... at least those willing to admit it. They pine to be in the SEC. It's always right in front of them yet so out of reach.

The rivalry can never be discontinued. The ACC tried to make that happen in '72 and an act of State Congress prevented it from happening ... although I don't think Clemson was ever that keen on the idea in the first place from what I understood. Bill loved the rivalry and he never hated SCAR - he thought the game was good for the state of SC, and it is.

I went to Bill's funeral ... the biggest taterhead I'll ever know, but he was an extremely good man and he is missed.