Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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tl The 101 st Battle of the Palmetto State Rivalry runs blood-red BY IRA KLEIN THE GAMECOCK The 19th annual USC/Clemson blood drive ends today, giving stu dents one more chance to give blood and give USC its third con secutive “Blood Cup.” The event, put on by USC’s Fraternity and Sorority Council and the Red Cross, takes place ^Iplthe week before the Carolina ™ Clemson football game to see which student body can donate the most blood. USC has won the cup the past two years, beating Clemson last year by 475 pints. This year, the Fraternity and Sorority Council set a goal of collecting 3,000 pints of blood. According to Gentry McCreary, graduate adviser to the council, USC’s totals have already surpassed last year’s. The 2003 “Blood Cup” will be awarded between the first and second quarters of the football game Saturday, along with awards for the student organiza tion and residence hall that had the most participation in the blood drive. Blood was collected in several mP ocations around campus, with 30 ^rnurses collecting blood in the Russell House Ballroom, as well as in two bloodmobiles located in front of the Russell House and out side the Business Administration Building.According to Ray Comer, co-chairman of the blood-drive event committee and member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the event is the biggest blood drive in South Carolina. “Not a day goes by where you don’t hear something about an ac cident or illness on the news where there is a need for blood. If someone can take just one hour PHOTO BY KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Dennis Ming, a third-year media arts student, winces as he donates blood. The Carollna-Clemson blood drive, which ends today, takes place annually the week before the rivals’ football game. out of their day to donate blood, which has no negative effects on them, it can have tremendous pos itive effects for somebody else,” Comer said. Businesses from around the community donated food and drinks to help people cope with the dizziness and fatigue that some feel after giving blood. Donating businesses included Papa John’s Pizza, Starbucks Coffee and Smoothie King. Other businesses donated prizes for a raffle for donors. According to McCreary, each fraternity or sorority works the blood drive in two-hour blocks. “Every fraternity and sorority worked extremely hard to ensure that this event was a success,” McCreary said. “It’s great that the Fraternity and Sorority Council sponsors this drive, because I think the Greek community here at USC really has a negative stereotype associated with it, and this event helps to show that there are good things that come out of the Greek system,” Comer said. Comer said students should come prepared to give blood with a full stomach and plenty of fluids in their system. “I’ve given blood a few times before. You always think it’s go ing to be a lot more painful than it is, but in reality you can barely even tell that the needle’s in there,” said first-year journalism student Drew Cutright. Comments on this stoty?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com •Tailgating menus give game flavor BY LAURA MOSS TH§iiAMECO&< On Saturday afternoon, the State Fairgrounds and any other available space will be packed with cars, tents and thousands.of people who have come to tailgate before the Carolina-Clemson game. “Tailgating is a way to have a good time and prep yourself for a three-hour-long game,” said third year international business stu dent Vanessa Dela Ossa. Students, alumni andmany oth er Gamecock fans are already planning their menus and making shopping lists in preparation for the big day. Many students say they plan to stop by Bo jangles’ or Publix for chicken and biscuits before head ing to the fairgrounds. But Sean Bennie, a fourth-year management student, has other plans. “It’s always better to cook your own food,” he said. Bennie ' 1 .e and his friends will cook “’’cerwurst," their ver 1 sion 01 bratwurst with a beer sauce, before the Clemson game. He said he always brings plenty to eat and drink when tailgating. De la Ossa said she enjoys grilling hotdogs, burgers or steaks before football games. “I’ve seen people eating things like oysters when tailgating. which is something different, but it’s not for me,” she said. Some students rely on others to do the cooking. Second-year sports management student Michael Ruby said he usually tailgates with friends, and their parents of ten take care of the meal. “My friend’s mother does most of the cooking and organizing for the event. We have lots of food like sausages and hamburgers,” he said. But students who don’t want to want to run through the drive thru or grill their own food can al ways attend the Great Game i ock Tailgate Party sponsored by USC’s Alcohol and Drug Programs. The party begins three hours before the game and features free food, drinks, music and door prizes. The first 250 students to at tend will also receive a special sou venir. The party will be held at 1125 Rosewood Drive across from the Rocket at the State Fairgrounds. Regardless of where they're parking or what they’re eating,' students say tailgating is an im portant part of Carolina football games. “Tailgating is a fun tradition that’s indigenous to the South,” said third-year broadcast journal ism student Trey Paul. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Tigerburn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 for provoking the hostility. Ironically, | Clemson and Carolina students stood together, side by side, during the first Tigerburn as they watched the banner turn to ashes. As a result of the 1902 incident, Carolina and Clemson football teams did not beet again until 1909. Supposedly, Tigerburn has •been practiced ever since the 1909 >ame. While Tigerburn has taken place in some form for more than a century, today’s Tigerburn is vast ly different. Tigerburn has been held on and off campus in such places as the fairgrounds, the State House, the Farmers Market, Melton Field, and USC’s football field before Williams Brice Stadium was built in 1935. Also, tigers have not always been burned; students used to cel ebrate with just a large bonfire. Over the years, Tigerburn has become bigger and more orga nized, involving more students, alumni and community members. “We’ve got more people in volved, and we’re trying to involve the community more,” sa-id Judy Crawford, Carolina Productions traditional events commissioner. “We’re excited to have alumni and the Columbia community coming out for the event.” According to Carolina Productions President Parul Joshi, the goal of Tigerburn is to be bigger and better every year. “I’m excited because it’s going to be huge," Crawford said. “I thought it was just going to be a little pep rally, but it’s at the Colonial Center for the first time; they’re blocking off the roads and getting the Pat McGee Band to play.” While allowing fans to show their support, Tigerburn also gives fans a memorable experi ence. "It becomes a snapshot of our moments and special memories when we all come together with the common goal of cheering on our Gamecocks.” Pitts said even when memories of Tigerburn fade, one image en dures. II “I can always remember that tiger going up in flames. It’s em bedded in my memory,” Pitts said. Brandon Szmidt, former tradi tional events commissioner and Tigerburn constructor, said the burning of the tiger is memorable but happens quickly. “In the past, we’ve gotten car ried away with the lighter fluid,” Szmidt said. “It's about a two minute burn, and it takes two weeks to build. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com r_---;-n i« it an i Clemson gives balance to USC TYLER JONES GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM So here we are on the precipice of a new season — a season made up of one game that means more than the other 11 combined. Both sides can agree on that, yes? OK, the agreement ends there. Saturday is a Holy Day of sorts for big-time sports junkies like myself. The pranks, the stunts and the hatred all combine into that which defines not only what your school symbolizes, but how you as a person are identified. If you say, “I’m a Clemson fan,” then people in the South im mediately categorize you. The same is true for those of us who stand proudly behind the letters “USC.” It is as old as time itself, this need for a competitor, a rival and an enemy. Look at Cain and Abel, Athens and Sparta, and, more appropriate for this discus sion, the Hatfields and McCoys. Enough of my pompous ver bosity. If this garrulous soliloquy is to be printed in the fine paper at Clemson Agricultural College, I must alter my vernacular. You see, fans of the Orange, it is OK we don’t like each other. We need all the played-out jokes about getting a parking ticket on your tractor, or panicking when you get your cow pregnant. We need an excuse to loathe our friends, spouses or loved ones because they made a bad judg ment call and enrolled in Clemson. It may be only for one week or one day, but we need it. We need Clemson because some actually want a degree in crop science or forest manage ment. We need Clemson because our jails are overcrowded as it is. _ And we certainly need Clemson because somebody has to wear purple jerseys with orange pants — the Old Testament says so. Friends in Pickens County, we need you to be the yin to our yang, the night to our day. And although we may fight and have substantially diverse opinions on politics, literature and bestiality, it should not come as a shock to you that we’ll have one more thing in common this weekend. That, my northern neighbors, is which team will show up. Which Clemson will show? The one against Wake or the one against FSU? Which Carolina will show? The one against Virginia or the one against LSU? Take all the potshots at us you want, because we’ll take them at you, but all of us will be clammy palmed with anxiety and won dering, “Are we good enough to day?” That anticipation and desire for victory is what makes this ri valry the beautiful collage of hate, fear and tradition that has thrived for more than a century. With that said, I must return to the medicine cabinet and start taking Dramamine to prevent the nausea that will overtake me when “Tiger Rag” is first played. Jones is a graduate student in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Gamecocks are totally inferior HEATH MILLS SPORTS@THETIGERNEWS.COM 60-36-4. After 100 years of dom ination, the Tigers travel to Columbia tomorrow to add to the embarrassment that is the histo ry of the USC football program. After tomorrow, Gamecock fans will continue their yearly ritual of claiming, “Wait till next year.” Why is that the most recog nized cry of Gamecock football? There’s nothing for South Carolina fans to look back at for comfort. The Gamecocks boast the 89th-best all-time winning per centage of the 117 Division I-A teams. The school took 103 years to win a bowl game. It’s had more losing seasons than winning, and South Carolina has never fin ished the season ranked in the top 10 of a major poll. This is a school that boasts about selling out its stadium in an 0-11 season. Congratulations; you never won a game. Then you decided to tear down the goal posts after beating New Mexico State. I can’t imagine feeling any more pride than a South Carolina fan did that day. I’m sure it must be close to how Clemson fans felt after winning the national championship. Of course, Lou Holtz is the greatest coach to ever roam the sidelines in Columbia because his record is almost more than .500 for his career, and he’s won twice as many bowl games as anyone who came before him. Never mind the fact that he’s about to embark on his second-straight losing season. South Carolina has offered him a contract extension because mediocrity is so much better than the norm in the con crete jungle that is Columbia. If I were a Carolina student, I’d be excited about mediocrity as well. They live in a town that ri vals New Jersey for the armpit of America, and where the only 100 yard stretch of grass is the one in side Williams-Brice Stadium. Then you have the university, itself. Fans claim it is the best school in the state because it car ries the namesake. Of course, they turn a blind eye to the statis tics just like in football. Never mind that Clemson students have higher SAT scores. Never mind that Clemson is considered bet ter by every publication printed. Tomorrow will be that last ren dition of “2001”Yor all of those Gamecock seniors, who will get to question one more time why they allowed themselves to be conned out of a successful career. They’ll enter a packed house, whose noise will be drowned out by the screeching chicken over the loudspeaker, and they will try to savor the last moments of their college careers since they know the crowd will be gone by the third quarter. You see, this is Gamecock foot ball to a South Carolina fan. They get the opportunity to tailgate, talk trash to opposing fans and feel like they belong on the same level as Georgia, Florida or any one else in the SEC. (I’ll give them Vandy.) They pack the stadium with 20,000 extra people who nev er went to college, pray for a mir acle and then scoot out of the sta dium before the end to come up with their reasons why it will not happen the next time. I love spending another year listening to South Carolina fans reclaim, “Wait ‘til next yea£"