South Carolina Gamecocks - The Pride of Carolina
By Rick Grantham

The football team of the The University of South Carolina is represented by the South Carolina Gamecocks. Known as the Gamecocks, the team has been called simply "Carolina" for many years. They are a member of the NCAA Division I college football and compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference since 1992. The Gamecocks currently play their home games in the Williams-Brice Stadium. Their latest head coach is Steve Spurrier.

Traditionally, USC sports teams were named the Fighting Gamecocks for men's teams and Lady Gamecocks for women's teams but this distinction was later dropped. The official colors of the usc Gamecocks are black and garnet. Some team's merchandise also have the color gold, representing the spurs of gamecocks during cockfights. The family of Dr. J. William Flinn chose the colors garnet and black when they presented a banner to the football team sometime in November 1895. A little after 1900, there was an attempt t change the team's colors. But there was no definite adoption. The Gamecock Club supports the team's athletic department with private money. Originally, the club was called "Buck-A-Month" (B.A.M.) Club, formed in 1939. It was a fund-raiser solely for the benefit of the athletics programs. Today, according to the sec the Gamecock Club USC ranks eighth place (out of twelve) when it came to raising funds for the team.

The Gamecocks have won a number of league championships over the years. The Gamecocks also have a strong following and wide fan-base. A reporter for CBS Sports, Tim Brando, commented that there are probably no fans that are more loyal than South Carolina Gamecock fans.

The University of South Carolina formed its first football team in 1892. Their first-ever game was in Charleston on Christmas Eve and they played against Furman. At that time when American football was not yet recognized as a professional sport nor was it that popular nationwide, the Carolina football team was not yet sanctioned by the University. Because of this, the team had to pay for their own train fare going to Charleston, as well as purchase their own uniforms. The News and Courier nicknamed them the "College Boys" and their fans and supporters wore black and garnet when watching a game. The team lost their first game mainly because of their lack of training and inexperience.

In the third season in 1985, Carolina won their first game against Columbia AA. They also got their first head coach, which was W.H. "Dixie" Whaley. In the 1896 season, they played the inaugural game in November 12 against their archrival Clemson. Carolina won that game with a 12-6 record. In the 1906 season, the school's Board of Trustees banned the team's participation after the faculty protested against the foul chants that students yelled during football games. The board had to reverse its decision, however, after the students and alumni harassed them with petition after petition. In 1907, the Gamecocks were back in the game. The team was hastily put together and competed an abbreviated season, but ended up winning all three games that they played.

Rick Grantham is an avid sports fan. Most of Rick's articles focus on tailgate supplies. Many articles are related to baseball fan shop and other sports related topics. Rick is a contributing author to BooYah Village.

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