College Spirit

Posted to OGR on 10/10/2010

There is a lot of excitement in my town today. The University of South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the number one Alabama Crimson Tide in football yesterday. This completes the trifecta of our teams defeating the number one teams in basketball (Kentucky), baseball (Arizona State) and football (Alabama), and while they were at it, winning the National Championship in baseball. Add to that excitement, ESPN’s Game Day Show was broadcast yesterday from the oldest part of the university, “the horseshoe.”

I happened to be on campus for a short while about an hour and a half before the game so I got to mix with the students as they were leaving the Game Day show venue and headed out to the stadium. The women were mostly dressed up to the nine’s and the men were in everything from t-shirts and blue jeans to suits and ties. You could feel the electricity in the air. It was a perfect day! As a walked to my destination, the university’s radio station, WUSC-FM, I compared what I was seeing with my days on campus. One thing that hasn’t changed is that there is no such thing as a stranger on campus. Everybody was smiling and greeting everyone else, even the old guy wearing a Gamecock shirt and blue jeans. When I walked into the studios, I was immediately greeted by the student DJs who made me feel right at home. That was the same as my old school days; the studios were a refuge and a gathering place for those of us who worked at the station. Most of them were about to join the rest of the students on the busses downstairs and go to the game. They all “modeled” their game outfits for me. For just a few minutes, I was 19 again, enjoying a crisp fall day and beginning my life all over again. Oh MY!

Copyright 2010 Rick Wrigley