I've just spent two weeks in the Palmetto State

I have to hand it to these people; they care about college football almost as much as we do in the Heart of Dixie. But, that's where the similarities end.

I'm currently in Greenville. It's a very nice city, somewhat reminiscent of Birmingham as it was just hitting its stride. The locals are mostly from Ohio and Pennsylvania and will immediately gush about their town, about the food scene, about the suspension bridge and about the handful of million dollar condos downtown. They have a cute little single-A stadium downtown that's a Red Sox affiliate. They made some USA Today list last year they'll tell you about. Despite their propaganda, all in all, Greenville is really is nice.

I'd say, in Greenville, it's 70/30 Clemson to South Carolina. That could be wrong.
Greenville is about 45 minutes from Clemson and 90 minutes from Columbia.

Now, to my observations:

The Gamecock fans are, as you would imagine, loyal to a major fault. They dream of relevancy and truly think they will get there. But when you ask, they can't quite tell you when. Clowney will be brought up. Spurrier. 1984. Then, in short order, they start talking about cheating, and Dabo, and some church that's paying Clemson players. But they'll come back to their current team, and how Muschamp is a misunderstood grinder. They don't like to admit he was the 7th choice. I always let them off the hook and tell them I like Muschamp, then they gush about what a stud he is. They talk about being second in the East this year, with a chance at first. I mention Kentucky and they immediately kick rocks, and talk about injuries and bad calls. So, to sum up, the Gamecocks are a somewhat lovable, delusional bunch. They're akin to adorers of some unsuccessful big-budget movie that no one understands or likes - like Waterworld. But make no mistake about it, they love it. Kinda sad.

Now, Clemson fans. First off, they're obsessed with the fact I'm a Bama grad and fan. They're incredibly, unconscionably insecure, because they immediately want to know how impressed I was with their team during the 2015 and 2016 CFP. They don't say too much about 2017. They talk about Dabo as if he is some sort of super deity, and they quickly tell me he will NEVER coach at Alabama. I tell them I agree, and that really sets them off. We have our Gumps and homers and idiots, but we don't have anything like these fans, at least in sheer volume. IMO, Bama fans are 50% sane, educated, normal passionate people. Here, I'd say 80% of Clemson fans are obese, poorly educated, sad sack type people who have nothing to hang their hat on other than their football team. But more than anything, it's their pervasive insecurity that's so evident.

That's probably why they are over here on an SEC board with a gazillion posts.

All in all, both fanbases are pretty sad.

But Greenville is nice (just not as nice as they think.)