quote:
Rooster you actually have some pull and know the powers to be. Its now on your shoulders to get the " clean house movement" going. I'm not joking either. Please help!!!

I don't have any pull but I have donated a lot of money over the years.

I've never been one of those fans to scream the sky is falling .... but the sky IS falling right now.

It'll take a miracle to turn this one around.

What I am going to do is quietly back away. There have been some good years and some bad years. Since I was a kid in the 50s and 60s I've been nuts for my Gamecocks and it wasn't always easy surrounded by family members who are Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and even (back in the day) Ole Miss fans. Friends who are Clemson and UGA fans .... close friends.

It's just finally worn me out.

I am dropping my Gamecock Club membership after this year is over.

Already talked to a friend of mine and he and I are going to start splitting baseball and basketball season tickets through his Gamecock Club membership until he too decides to walk away. But we'll always be able to buy basketball and baseball tickets over the counter or from scalpers .... when we want to go when we get into our 70s.

Told my Son he's going to have to fend for himself on tickets after this year and told my Cockaboose partners I'm out after this year.

My Atlanta buddy, who I mentioned above who we always go to baseball games together, he told me this morning he is definitely giving up his season tickets for football after this season. I get six a year, four in East Club and two in West Lower. He gets six in West Lower. Younger people will be able to get those .... it's their turn.

I have an incredible home theater system with an 80" LED TV and a custom Ricarro Barber Chair and surround sound Bose theater sound system ... I'll be watching games at home for pretty much the rest of my life and reserving even trips into Columbia for when guests are coming in.

The wife and I are leaving Wednesday for Devil's Lake (Michigan) and will be attending the Michigan-Army game.

We've got guests coming from Atlanta, Florida and DC for the Bama game. I ran into Gov McMasters at Bernies for lunch a couple of Fridays ago and I am pretty sure Bob Caslan and he will be by for that one, since a couple of Army General buddies of mine, and a couple of CSMs, will be there visiting with me. So I am obligated to host a party that weekend.

I have to host a big party the weekend of the UF game for friends coming in from Florida, Michigan and Maryland.

I will attend the Clemson game as a good bye swan song to years of support and .... there were some good memories.

Then it's basketball and baseball for me. My Willy B stadium days are almost done.

I think there are going to be a lot of big donors making contact come Tuesday from one I can tell. Collectively it will add up. We baby boomers have probably reached our limit for the most part. We've been the most generous generation ever to the program having given billions over the past fifty years .... it's time to just let younger fans and alumni have it now.

I'll never listen to another podcast or sports talk show. I could care less about the SEC Network. I'm just over it all.

Here's the thing.

The play calling was so bad yesterday.... when you hear collective booing over and over again, running the ball when everyone knew we should be throwing the ball. Throwing the ball when we should have been running the ball. Bad tackling, bad decisions being made. Taking a knee to end a half .... that's just really bad football.

Sixth year OLinemen making stupid mistakes at critical times. Tackling out of bounds. WRs dropping balls that hit them right in their hands. Poor clock management. Bad bad bad tackling.

It's just time to walk away. Any influence I may have will be shown by my withdrawing my financial support in the form of no longer being a Gamecock Club member and no longer investing in season tickets for football.

Football season, not counting the Cockaboose investment (which is a real estate investment) football season costs me over $60k a year in club membership, season tickets, entertainment expenses and, now that we're selling the house in Forest Acres, hotel and/or AirBnB expenses for housing family and guests.

That's $60k a year my wife and I can spend on the grandkids, on more travel to Europe and our place in the mountains up in Tennessee, on vacations to California, Tennessee and Florida to see the grandkids ... those things bring me joy in life.

The Gamecock football team no longer brings me joy. It brings me misery. Ray Tanner pissed me off a few years ago and I should have gotten out then. Now's the time.

I've always been a huge men's and women's basketball fan anyways. And baseball fan. And I can get those tickets from close friends or across the counter.

Football .... well, I'll always wish the best for them but we have always done it wrong for the most part always failing to capitalize on our successes and never being really willing to do what it takes to win on the field .... at all costs. And I may be older now but I am still an ultra competitive person and when I see what I saw yesterday ... it's just inexcusable. Totally unacceptable. It should never ever be tolerated. That's not what the game is about. What we were given yesterday is not what the game of football is about and I love the game itself too much to be party to that kind of shite show ever again.

Sorry for the long winded response and thanks for letting me get it off my chest.

This post was edited on 9/1/19 at 2:26 pm