Black Magic, the backstory
A Clemson friend of mine responded to my post yesterday about how the 1977 last minute loss to the Tigers cemented my affection for and loyalty to Carolina. He said, "Only a Gamecock would cite a loss as the moment that glued you to your team." He is right. For the young whippersnappers like my nephews who think the Red Sox have always been winners having now won three World Series titles in a decade. It was not always so. The Gamecocks are riding a 17-game home winning streak. It is the longest active streak in college football. With two or three games left to play, the tiny 5 man Senior class already has 40 wins and no Gamecock class has ever done that before. And yes they have beaten Clemson every year since Obama has been our President. My first thought was to quote the Jefferson's theme song here as it has taken a lot of hard work for the Gamecocks to get to this point.
My Dad once had a variety of jobs and one was as a salesman and on-air talent for my hometown's radio station. This was back when AM radio was still king and FM was the upstart home of public radio, classical stations and rock stations who played a ton of songs with few commercials not as a statement but because they could not sell the ads. His boss was a man with a great name, Oby B. Lyles. Yes his first two initials equaled his first name and he passed this on to his son, Oby, Jr. Well Mr Lyles was a lifelong fan of two teams: the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Boston Red Sox. He never had to spend a dime on special championship memorabilia with the exception of lone ACC Titles in Hoops and Football that predated my life as a fan. He would tell me stories of Ted Williams giving hitting exhibitions at The Citadel after he retired and how he could still hit like the greatest hitter who ever lived. From Oby, my Dad and Herman Helms I learned about the greatness that was Frank McGuire, the junkyard dog tenacity of Bobby Cremins, the shining star of John Roche and the local boy done good. He was and is Tommy Suggs of nearby Lamar.
Message boards, bar talk and sports radio endlessly debate the best ever at every position on every team but at an early age I knew that when it came to South Carolina football there was Tommy Suggs on top and then the rest. Why? He beat Clemson every time he played them and won that single ACC crown in 1969. I also knew him as the sidekick of Bob Fulton, the Voice of the Gamecocks. He would always comment on how hot it was as Carolina was manhandled while never acknowledging that it was equally hot for both sides. At Homecoming, he was a never ending shill for the Tea Dance after the game. But he wore his heart on his sleeve. The result mattered to him. It was not just a paycheck. He was garnet to his core. Just listen to his hijack of the end of the 1993 Georgia game and feel the passion.
You could probably dub his audio into some love scenes to amp it up to eleven.
So we had Tommy's run over Clemson and that ACC Title before heading off into the frozen tundra of being a football independent for two decades. Plenty of big names came to Columbia and we traveled there too. We played Nebraska, Michigan, Florida State, Notre Dame, Miami, some SEC schools, Georgia every year, kept on playing some ACC schools and also Southern Cal. The West Coast, big money, Heisman producing, Rose Bowl winning factory that also likes to call themselves USC. After the '77 loss to Clemson, our Coach, Jim Carlen, moved our freshman fullback to tailback and it was a brilliant move.
By his senior season, he was a beast of a player. His team won at Michigan in the Big House but like many Gamecock teams before and since every triumph was eventually met with defeat. They lost at Southern Cal, at Georgia, at Clemson and were well and truly hammered by Pittsburgh in the Gator Bowl. That was a game I watched with great expectation from my Grandmother's home in West Tennessee. My relatives were not very loving in the aftermath of the loss. They clearly forgot that Tennessee that year had also lost to Georgia, Southern Cal, Pittsburgh and their neighbor to the South, Alabama, to the tune of 27-0. Well the season at 8-4 was still a success in my eyes as Mr Rogers won the Heisman trophy. He beat out Pitt's own Hugh Green and the freshman sensation from Georgia, Herschel Walker. In my mind we were on our way to bigger and better things. The Heisman was proof.
Each step forward ended up with two steps back for Carolina fans back then. After Mr Rogers left, our ego maniacal President, James Holderman, forced out Jim Carlen.
Now Jim was not a fan of Dale Carnegie and never went out of his way to make friends or influence people so when his team slipped up losing to Pacific, Clemson again and then to Hawaii he had few supporters in his corner. So they promoted a Coordinator to the head job. He decided to spice things up by losing to the instate and at that time still Baptist Furman University. His reign lasted but a season. Where to turn next? We went west young man and found our very own Marlboro man. In New Mexico, they found the man in black. He was a former star for the New York Giants and he talked and looked tough. He was Joe Morrison and soon everyone wanted to dress like him.
My Dad once had a variety of jobs and one was as a salesman and on-air talent for my hometown's radio station. This was back when AM radio was still king and FM was the upstart home of public radio, classical stations and rock stations who played a ton of songs with few commercials not as a statement but because they could not sell the ads. His boss was a man with a great name, Oby B. Lyles. Yes his first two initials equaled his first name and he passed this on to his son, Oby, Jr. Well Mr Lyles was a lifelong fan of two teams: the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Boston Red Sox. He never had to spend a dime on special championship memorabilia with the exception of lone ACC Titles in Hoops and Football that predated my life as a fan. He would tell me stories of Ted Williams giving hitting exhibitions at The Citadel after he retired and how he could still hit like the greatest hitter who ever lived. From Oby, my Dad and Herman Helms I learned about the greatness that was Frank McGuire, the junkyard dog tenacity of Bobby Cremins, the shining star of John Roche and the local boy done good. He was and is Tommy Suggs of nearby Lamar.
Message boards, bar talk and sports radio endlessly debate the best ever at every position on every team but at an early age I knew that when it came to South Carolina football there was Tommy Suggs on top and then the rest. Why? He beat Clemson every time he played them and won that single ACC crown in 1969. I also knew him as the sidekick of Bob Fulton, the Voice of the Gamecocks. He would always comment on how hot it was as Carolina was manhandled while never acknowledging that it was equally hot for both sides. At Homecoming, he was a never ending shill for the Tea Dance after the game. But he wore his heart on his sleeve. The result mattered to him. It was not just a paycheck. He was garnet to his core. Just listen to his hijack of the end of the 1993 Georgia game and feel the passion.
You could probably dub his audio into some love scenes to amp it up to eleven.
So we had Tommy's run over Clemson and that ACC Title before heading off into the frozen tundra of being a football independent for two decades. Plenty of big names came to Columbia and we traveled there too. We played Nebraska, Michigan, Florida State, Notre Dame, Miami, some SEC schools, Georgia every year, kept on playing some ACC schools and also Southern Cal. The West Coast, big money, Heisman producing, Rose Bowl winning factory that also likes to call themselves USC. After the '77 loss to Clemson, our Coach, Jim Carlen, moved our freshman fullback to tailback and it was a brilliant move.
Each step forward ended up with two steps back for Carolina fans back then. After Mr Rogers left, our ego maniacal President, James Holderman, forced out Jim Carlen.
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| Holderman is behind Pope John Paul II |
Now Jim was not a fan of Dale Carnegie and never went out of his way to make friends or influence people so when his team slipped up losing to Pacific, Clemson again and then to Hawaii he had few supporters in his corner. So they promoted a Coordinator to the head job. He decided to spice things up by losing to the instate and at that time still Baptist Furman University. His reign lasted but a season. Where to turn next? We went west young man and found our very own Marlboro man. In New Mexico, they found the man in black. He was a former star for the New York Giants and he talked and looked tough. He was Joe Morrison and soon everyone wanted to dress like him.
Many coaches are like used car salesmen, insurance salesmen or glorified cheerleaders but some tell it straight and get on with the business at hand. That was Joe. No multiple sweatshirt and turtleneck combos for him. He wore black. He smoked on the sideline. We later found out that he was part French as he had a mistress on the side but between the hash marks he wanted teams that played with an attitude. Now some cynics might interject talk of dietary supplements enhancing one's strength and level of ferocity but not here. I won't mention buying players or a conference suspending a head coach if my Tiger friends will amiably leave the anabolic talk for another day.
So clearly Coach Joe came in and began to win right away, right? No. Season one(1983) had more downs than ups but it did have a moment, a spark that lit a slow burning fuse. Thanks to my Dad, who was now working towards another career as an attorney, I was there.
October 1, 1983 was the day. Southern Cal was the opponent and we sat in the East Upper Deck, the new side. It was not a stellar year for the Trojans but they were Southern Cal, admittedly one of the big names of college football. John Robinson had moved on to coach in the NFL and their QB, Sean Salisbury, is better known for his work on ESPN and his ancestor's choice of steak preparation.
Coach Joe had begun having the team enter after having the theme music from 2001, A Space Odyssey played. He picked this up from Elvis, who also liked it as an entrance song. I have never heard if he also used the song to announce his entrance into various rooms at Graceland. It got the fans, myself included, into a delirious state of excitement. To get a feel for it, view this clip from the 1987 Clemson game entrance.
After the emotional entrance, the Gamecocks proceeded to keep emotions high by spanking the Trojans
38-14. The fans were so excited that the new upper deck, where I was seated, swayed with the joyous and raucous crowd. I did not feel it and though I loved the view of the whole field, my Mom put the kibosh on me sitting up there again. Dad had to get better student seats and he did. The Gamecock fanbase was on a high after the rout. I was special for having been there in the flesh. Happy Days were here for good.
Nope. On a rain soaked day the next Saturday, Notre Dame popped the newly filled balloon by winning
30-6. Thankfully, I was not there.
The season ended with another new facet to Gamecock football: all-black uniforms. The Clemson game was our first ever blackout. Everyone was encouraged to wear black and replicas of Coach Joe's black cursive Carolina hat was all the place, including my young noggin. The program was all black and simply said The Clemson game. So they went out and beat the Tigers that day? Nope. Lost again and had some light rasslin' near the end of the game.
But the mood was set. We had a new color to wear and for years Gamecock fans would talk endlessly about uniform fashion, our own bit of football season runway review. We had an entrance that made us go nuts. We had a coach who could stare down John Rambo and as always we had hope for next year.
On his papal visit to South Carolina, Pope John Paul II echoed the sentiments of Gamecocks everywhere by delivering the following quote from the Horseshoe.
"It is wonderful to be young,"
"It is wonderful to be young and to be a student. It is wonderful to be young and to be a student at the University of South Carolina."
Pope John Paul II
Sept 11, 1987
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