Sucked In

I didn't really get into football until my varsity cheerleading days.  I talk about the good ole days like they were so long ago, but it's barely been a year since our boys lost in the second round of state playoffs.  We weren't supposed to be good, so getting that far was a miracle that we all still celebrate.

Our only rivals were in different divisions than us. So our rivalry was pretty much no good considering we never played each other.  (great rivalry, I know) On that note, I never really cared about college football or state rivalries or any of that nonsense.  I knew I wanted to go to a big state school with a football team that wasn't the University of Georgia.  Don't get me wrong, UGA is a fantastic institution, but with 75 of the 400 in my graduating class attending, I just couldn't bring myself to join them. 

That's how I ended up at the University of South Carolina.  Oh boy, I had no idea what kind of football scene I was getting myself into or what kind of rivalries I had to start caring about (or face shunning). 

Little did I know, I would become absolutely enthralled by college football, gameday, and the SEC.  I started keeping up with weekly rankings (often retweeted on my twitter), checking score center while tailgating, and talking so much smack with my friends at other SEC schools.  I can't even pin point a place in time when this all started, but, at this point, I'm done for. 

Who even am I?

Back to rivalries, we all know about Auburn & Alabama, Georgia & Georgia Tech, Florida State & University of Florida, but the Palmetto Cup is underwhelmingly not well known.  Heck, I didn't even know about it until football season started.  At first, I thought the hatred for the tigers to be a little ridiculous. Like to wear orange? Clemsux. Purple Scarf? Clemsux.  Tiger at the Zoo? Clemsux.  Like I said, ridiculous. 

My view on this silly rivalry changed this past saturday.  I now understand how everyone gets so sucked in.  The atmosphere is, well, honestly... unexplainable.  Everyone is so into it! I was yelling "Clemsux" around every corner, dancing to every tailgates music, and just getting really pumped! I loved it! It was a great gameday!

All in all, get yourself to a rivalry game. You won't regret it.

xox

Char