My USCe Experience

[CmdrThor]

They played awful music that is unless you like hip hop. I don't know the name of the one tune they played over and over and over, but I never want to hear it again!

The loud music is very popular and energizes the crowd. It's not played during plays or even between plays, but normally after scores, during timeouts, and between quarters. The most popular song played is Sandstorm, which is done somewhat similar to Zombie Nation at Bama and other schools right before kickoffs and other exciting times during games. There are a few pop songs played, no AC/DC Hells Bells like at Bama or loud blaring Eye of the Tiger like auburn. I think most SEC schools are incorporating loud, energetic music into their crowd cheers. I know both Bama and USC have done this.

I thought the music after TDs up until kickoff was done better than any other stadium I've been to. It wasn't too loud where I was sitting, but I was in the endzone upper deck, perhaps it was louder elsewhere. We went to a Falcons game last weekend and the "music" played before kickoffs there made me wishing I had brought ear plugs it was so piercingly loud. Some of the stuff played at Bryant Denny for the last game we were at sounded pretty distorted as well. The combination of that music and their "USC USC USC" chant before kickoffs was quite impressive. Maybe they were more into it because they were about to win their biggest game ever, but still.

As far as experiences with other fans, everyone sitting near me was great. It was a decent mix of Bama and SC fans where we were. The trip back to the car was a mixture of drunken people cursing and heckling us and intelligent fans that were happy with their win, praised our team, and said they hoped to see us in Atlanta. I said I hoped that was the case too. Anyways we just ignored the drunks and had no problems. Traffic was a piece of cake for us, we headed up Assembly, cut over to some other road after a while and got on I-126 and out to 20 with ease. Compared to taking 45 minutes to get out of Ttown it was great.

 

[MS TN NC Tidefan]

Other than getting stuck with a couple of counterfeit tickets and Bama not showing up ready to play, my experience wasn't too bad. Got a couple of tickets at face from some GCock fans and sat beside them. The section around us was pretty respectful. They were very excited and rightfully so.

Didn't have a problem at all with parking and exiting. Our traffic experience getting out was unusually good for game.

 

[Atl_CrimsonLady]

I was also at the game and my experience varied. I sat by some nice SC ppl and some not so nice. But I remained classy. You can tell that they aren't used to winning, b/c even when we congratulated them, we got snarky remarks:conf2:.

But I did meet and take a pic w/George Rogers--the 1980 Heisman winner. So that was cool.

And I never won't to hear that song they played over and over and over again!

 

[CrimsonTider-n-SC]

I posted my experience on another board earlier. I am a long time lurker but after the past weekend I have to post. I was born and now live in SC. I am a Bama alum. I have to say that the sc fans were a disgrace to my home state. My six year old son was given the "go to hell Alabammer" cheer countless times. During his cognitive years this is the first loss he has experienced in person (only watched the UF loss in the SEC championship game). And he was crying about the loss on Saturday. The jerk in front of us taunted him during the 4th quarter. It takes a real man to taunt a six year old. I am sorry but that really crossed the line. No SC fan in our section corrected his behavior. When we made it to the car, my son turned to me and said "Dad, I don't want to go to school here. I am going to ALABAMA!" You do not know how that can change your attitude.

We had F-bombs dropped left and right, a couple of guys grabbing themselves. It was a total lack of class. It started for us from the time we left our seats at the end of the game to all the way back to our car. It was more than isolated. While not every SC fan was rude, the majority did not exhibit class.

I've been to every SEC stadium with the exception of UK and Vandy. I even spent two years in grad school at LSU. And I have to say this; the sc fans were the worst I have ever seen. My wife turned to me and said; even the drunk LSU fans aren't this bad. She grew up in a house hold that bleeds Purple and Gold... And I have to agree with her. At least LSU has some tradition. And she has already informed me that we will not go back to WB.

The only tradition sc has is one of losing. They don't know how to win with class and they showed their collective rear ends Saturday after the game. As coach Bryant said, "I ain't never been nothing but a winner." And if you don't know how to win, you sure don't know how to win with class. SC fans sure did not follow the pre game message from the Ole Ball Coach.

While we may have lost the game on Saturday, I can proudly say that I am part of the Crimson Tide nation. We have tradition, class and are winners (even when we lose). I seriously hope that the young adults that are attending the University learn how to keep the tradition of winning with class going. It is something that truly makes one proud to be part of the University.

As for wanting a rematch, I would love to hand it to them in the ATL. However, I would be just as happy if they lost every game for the rest of the season. And I have to say, I will probably pull for Clemson from now on.

And call me a prude but I am sure glad I don't have to participate in cheers or wear university clothes that are crude references to body parts.

 

[Mamacalled]

Other than getting stuck with a couple of counterfeit tickets and Bama not showing up ready to play, my experience wasn't too bad. Got a couple of tickets at face from some GCock fans and sat beside them. The section around us was pretty respectful. They were very excited and rightfully so.

Didn't have a problem at all with parking and exiting. Our traffic experience getting out was unusually good for game.

I was tailgating next to some Bama fans from N.C. that told me that someone that they knew bought some counterfeit tickets. Hmmmmm

 

[RammerJammer14]

I don't doubt Bama fans had some bad experiences and I can only apologize and say it's not typical in Columbia and hope you will give the City a second chance the next time Bama plays here.

From what I've read elsewhere the main problem with fans was after the game. If you did receive poor treatment and are truly upset, I actually encourage you to write the athletic department. The last thing we want to do is develop a reputation like UGA and LSU where the fans are just downright mean. We want opposing fans to make the trip here.

Sorry, I can't agree with the bolded statement. I grew up in/outside Columbia and do not hold a very high opinion of Carolina fans, at least when they are at the game. I have been going to Carolina games since middle school, so about the last 12yrs, and what I saw on Sat was pretty typical. In my experience opposing fans are regularly cursed, jeered, and harassed after a Carolina win. 5 points gets dangerous. And this is not crimson-colored classes speaking. If I have a #2 team, Carolina is it. I like it when they are successful. But Sat was really no different from all the previous Carolina games I have attended, from Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky (ok, basically the whole East), Furman, etc. I am not trying to say that Carolina fans are collectively bad fans, but I don't think we should try and paint bad experiences as just "a few drunks". I find that it is pretty easy to catch crap from Carolina after a game, and I wouldn't put them very high on the "win with class" list. :smile:

As for traffic, I wouldn't say it is any worse than visiting any stadium. Tuscaloosa can be brutal, esp trying to get to I-20. I would actually say W-B is easier to get out of because you can take any number of streets away from the stadium. I got out of Columbia Sat in less than 20min, most of which was walking to the car. Huger to Knox-Abbot was the worst bit and took about 5min. Then again, we left pretty quick, and were basically leading the charge out of the stadium, lol.

Oh, and the reason Williams Bryce has retractable goal posts is because they HAVE previously stormed the field and torn down the posts. I think it was when Holtz was coach and they won like nine games or something. And Carolina brought out the dundundun....Black Jerseys! It was all over The State back then. :biggrin2:

Edit: Found it!

http://www.leftoverhotdog.com/artic...-the-past-gamecock-football-10-years-ago.html

 

[tideronthehooch]

I must've been at a different stadium than alot of you guys this weekend. We had no trouble at all getting in or out, parking about a half mile away behind a chicken place. An owner of a business right behind where we tailgated who was a USC fan offered up his facilities to us and several other Bama fans and was very cordial. Right before the game we went up to the Cockaboose railroad area. My wife wanted to see the inside, so we asked a couple if we could peek inside and we were cheerfully invited us in.

As for the game, we were in the Bama section, so we didn't have any back and forth with any USC fans.

After the game, we had a USC fan compliment us on their trip to BDS last year and saw nothing other than one small group of tailgaters razzing Bama fans (but nothing offensive or intimidating). After we got out of the stadium area, we went to dinner and then called it a night. The next morning we went to the Vista area for Brunch in Bama colors again and had a nice time at the Liberty.

Sorry to those who had a bad experience, but this was nothing like going to Auburn, Knoxville or Gainesville IMHO. I'll go back without a second thought. RTR.

 

[AlaPoughkeepsieBama]

I sat in Sec 501 with a 20/80 mix of SC vs Bama fans. They were all nice and no problems. I wll say this, thet are LOUD. They cheered and never sat down for the whole game. At the beginning of the game I can say my ears hurt from the noise and the stadium actually shakes as they jump up and down.
As for traffic, some tie ups near down town which got better closerto the stadium, no worse then T Town 4 hours before kick off.
I am not impressed with there tailgating as the parking lots/fairgrounds area and being off campus makes for a poor site for festivities.
After the game the fans at the Marriott bar, both SC and Bama had great discussions as we watched other SEC games and talked about are next game with them in Atlanta.

 

[BayouBama75]

I went with my son (28 yrs old) to the game. We went early because my son wanted to go to Gameday. We took a bus (free) back to campus and watched Gameday for about an hour but then left because you could drink beer on campus and all the fans were SC. We we back to a little bar Jaco's (North of the stadium) and watch other games and ate. We parked about a mile North of the stadium and by going early, we had no traffic problem in or out.

We sat in the south end zone about 7 rows up right on the numbers. (That great catch by Jefferies was right in front of us) Most of the fans were SC but they were very nice to us. They kept waiting for SC to fall apart but it didn't happen. On the way back to our car we were walking with a bunch of other Tide fans and we got taunted some and saw a lot of celebrating but nothing that was out of control. Most of them just could not believe they had won. When we pulled out in our car, we never slowed down so I didn't have the traffic issues. Other than the loss, good experience.

 

[tidefan26]

I parked right across from the Loose Cockaboose bar. We tailgated with SC fans, had a good time for the most part before the game. During the game, was mixed. We had good and bad around us, but nothing too terribly bad. AFTER the game, WOW. I have never seen people act like that after a win. From the time me and my friend left the gate at the stadium till we were in our hotel room it was the most rude, vile discourse I have ever witnessed. My friend who has been to more stadiums than me, said they are only second to UGA fans. Worst winners I have ever seen. They acted like we were Clemson and they have just beaten us for the national title.
So while walking back and having to dodge, as in they would block the street and make you go around (all the while cussing and throwing beer or whatever they had), we get to our car and leave. They then think its awesome to hit my car and pour beer on it, blah blah blah. I HATE USCe now. No class. None. They showed no mercy to man, woman, or child. I saw it with my own eyes. I will pull for anyone, including AU against them from now on.

 

[cthill]

Wow what an experience!! I have been to Ole Miss, LSU, KY, Vanderbilt and now SC and can say hands down this was the worst experience. Of course, this is the only away game I have been to that we lost! LOL

Our 1st encounter with SC fans on the the way to gameday was a greeting of F*** Bama from two young guys on the steps of some building. When we got to the Horseshoe and Gameday the experience was pretty good. We met the President of the University and he welcomed us to SC and told us he hoped we had a good time.

Parking - We stayed in a hotel off of I20 and had Mapquest the route to the stadium. We drove to the stadium Friday afternoon when we got there and realized there would be parking problems close to the stadium - little or none unless you had a pass. I had read about the shuttle so we decided to take it. We parked in a parking lot across from the Colonial Center (basketball arena) and walked to Gameday. We came back to the lot and took the shuttle to the game. The shuttle was easy to get to and cheap. $3 for both ways. That was the good news - the bad news was it let you off about a mile from the stadium. It was a nightmare walking back to the shuttle stop. I realize these people just won the game of the century for them, but their language and actions were terrrible. It was so bad that my husband would not go out to eat Saturday night - we ordered pizza delivered to the hotel... There was no traffic problem on Assembly going back to I-126 to get to I20. We were amazed at that.

Most older SC fans were very nice. The students could learn alot from their elders. (probably could say the same about Bama students too)

We sat in Section 508 - mostly Bama fans and the few SC fans that were there were all right.

Nobody has mentioned this, but those white rally towels they handed out before the game were a sight to behold in the SC student section. They had that place rocking all afternoon. I too do not want to hear that one song they played for a long time *Those towels might be a good idea for our game with Auburn. Made a much larger impact than a shaker, IMO.

Our guys looked out of sync all day. Hopefully they will recover and we will meet SC again in ATL!

 

[BamaHerb]

I have been to SC for every Bama game since they joined the SEC. They have NEVER been friendly, and one year they broke the Bama flag off of my car window (lucky it didn't break the window). This year was BY FAR the WORST as far as SC fan conduct. They were horrible before, during, and after. My wife said that she will never go back and I might not either.

 

[USCBAMA]

I have been to SC for every Bama game since they joined the SEC. They have NEVER been friendly, and one year they broke the Bama flag off of my car window (lucky it didn't break the window). This year was BY FAR the WORST as far as SC fan conduct. They were horrible before, during, and after. My wife said that she will never go back and I might not either.

I don't doubt that some fans were treated poorly, but when you post gripes about poor fan treatment, then mix in off-the-wall insults and in some cases, untrue statements, it reeks more of sour grapes than anything else. The music was bad, USC fans are always bad, the students stormed the field (they did not), traffic was bad (which large SEC venue is it not bad - I know first hand it's terrible in Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, Athens, & auburn). Next thing you know you'll be griping that the fans wore stinky perfume and didn't brush their teeth.

I've attended over 90% of USC's home games since 1983 and I can assure you that the behavior some have described is not typical. I am sorry some fans were treataed poorly and would encourage you to write the athletic department with your concerns to make sure it does not happen again, but if you want your complaints taken serious, you might want to leave out the sour grapes items. I mean how can you expect to be taken serious complaining about loud rock or rap music when your school's feature tunes are Hell's Bells by AC/DC and Sweet Home Alabama by Lynard Skynard? One of the more popular tunes at USC (typically played at end of 3rd qtr) is Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. You might be surprised to find that many people don't consider that as offensive as Hell's Bells by AC/DC.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I don't doubt that some fans were treated poorly, but when you post gripes about poor fan treatment, then mix in off-the-wall insults and in some cases, untrue statements, it reeks more of sour grapes than anything else. The music was bad, USC fans are always bad, the students stormed the field (they did not), traffic was bad (which large SEC venue is it not bad - I know first hand it's terrible in Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, Athens, & auburn). Next thing you know you'll be griping that the fans wore stinky perfume and didn't brush their teeth.

You are aware, I'm sure, that there was a death in the parking lot, owing to a fight between SC fans, leading to one of them being run over and killed? I'm not making this up. I'm also sure that the others are not making their experiences up either. Maybe USC has a really bad systemic problem that someone needs to recognize and get a handle on?

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Alabama has had a problem with non-students invading the Strip and making trouble after games. UA has made major steps in combating the problem, including some very expensive acquisitions. It's time for USC to man up and start taking steps to change their fans' culture...

 

[Luvubama]

USCe, a number of good folks on this board have related their experiences, including me and I can tell you they are all pretty consistent so dozens of people on this board are not making things up. I will also add one other thing. When my daughter went to get us waters, she came back with no tops on them When she asked the vendor why, they said because our fans throw them when they get angry so we don't give them out anymore. That, sir, is also a fact!

 

[scoops]

I was there in section 509 row 20

sc fans in front of us was okie for the most part got tired hearing that standstorm song all day long..

 

[Wayne4Bama2]

Been there before. No problem parking--got there early--no problem getting out--fans were elated, as they should have been--we lost -- move on. Look for trouble you'll find it....

 

[BlakeSmash]

USCe, a number of good folks on this board have related their experiences, including me and I can tell you they are all pretty consistent so dozens of people on this board are not making things up. I will also add one other thing. When my daughter went to get us waters, she came back with no tops on them When she asked the vendor why, they said because our fans throw them when they get angry so we don't give them out anymore. That, sir, is also a fact!

Meh no stadium or fan base is perfect, do you honestly think South Carolina fans were treated like family last year in BDS?

 

[liquidvengeance]

I don't doubt that some fans were treated poorly, but when you post gripes about poor fan treatment, then mix in off-the-wall insults and in some cases, untrue statements, it reeks more of sour grapes than anything else. The music was bad, USC fans are always bad, the students stormed the field (they did not), traffic was bad (which large SEC venue is it not bad - I know first hand it's terrible in Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, Athens, & auburn). Next thing you know you'll be griping that the fans wore stinky perfume and didn't brush their teeth.

I've attended over 90% of USC's home games since 1983 and I can assure you that the behavior some have described is not typical. I am sorry some fans were treataed poorly and would encourage you to write the athletic department with your concerns to make sure it does not happen again, but if you want your complaints taken serious, you might want to leave out the sour grapes items. I mean how can you expect to be taken serious complaining about loud rock or rap music when your school's feature tunes are Hell's Bells by AC/DC and Sweet Home Alabama by Lynard Skynard? One of the more popular tunes at USC (typically played at end of 3rd qtr) is Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. You might be surprised to find that many people don't consider that as offensive as Hell's Bells by AC/DC.

You need to take Bama off of your screen name.