By Ken Burger, The Post and Courier ORANGEBURG - This Saturday night, South Carolina State and South Carolina will play a football game for the ages. That's because the way you look at this game depends upon your age.
If you're young, like the group of students I talked to on campus Thursday, you no doubt see it as a big football game, a chance for the underdog Bulldogs to play the nationally ranked Gamecocks.
Few, however, understand the true significance of this first-ever meeting between the Palmetto State's flagship school and the predominantly black university just down the road.
"I personally hope that South Carolina State wins the game," said Donovan McDaniel, a James Island High School graduate "But I think South Carolina has upper hand."
Corey Frasier, a Military Magnet graduate who attends S.C. State, said, "I think it's going to be a great game with a former NFL coach like Steve Spurrier coaching in it. It'll be a challenge for the Bulldogs, but it will boost our ratings up if we do a good job."
Jamal Watkins, of Goose Creek, said, "USC is coming off a win over Georgia and State just beat Bethune-Cookman. So I think it's a game about who runs South Carolina. It's all about bragging rights."
That's pretty much the sentiment of most 19-year-olds. For some reason, they think it's about football.
100 years later
That these two state-supported schools have been playing college football 40 miles from each other for more than 100 years and never played each other is a remnant of our state's unresolved racial history.
Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier
Mary Jones, a South Carolina State University professor for more than 30 years, buys T-shirts at Orrick Dixon's stand Thursday outside the SCSU stadium as she and Veronica Mervin prepare for Saturday's football game against the University of South Carolina. 'Saturday is blue-and-white day,' Jones said as she picked out shirts.
Without delving too deep into the history books, suffice it to say it wasn't pretty, it wasn't fair and we all look back with regret.
"The game means nothing to these students as far as history is concerned," said S.C. State head coach Buddy Pough, who played for the Bulldogs in the bad old days. "I've had to educate them some. I even brought in coach Willie Jeffries who coached here before me, to give them a chance to understand some of the significance of it. But they don't know anything about segregation. All that kind of stuff was way behind them.
"But this is a big deal for all the South Carolina State constituency. All the friends and family and the community, it's big to them."
One of those people is Mary Jordan, an English professor who has been teaching at S.C. State for more than 30 years.
"I'm very excited to know that we are establishing a relationship," Jordan said as she purchased an S.C. State T-shirt for the weekend celebration. "I'm not so much concerned about who wins or who loses, but just to say that we have established a relationship with the university and that we can play sports and compete with each other."
A native of Orangeburg, Jordan said she has been encouraged to see S.C. State play The Citadel in recent years and for the Bulldogs to play their Palmetto Classic (against other black schools) in USC's stadium.
"But to actually play Carolina, that's historical," she said. "We need to get to be cooperative partners, because we're all working for the same goal."
Long overdue
As I walked around S.C. State Thursday it occurred to me how few of my white friends have ever set foot on this campus.
It might come as a surprise to many that these Bulldogs have been playing football for a century and sent more than their fair share of players to the pro ranks.
Names like Harry Carson (San Diego), Deacon Jones (L.A., San Diego, Washington) Donnie Shell (Pittsburgh), Barney Chavous (Denver), Jumpy Geathers (Buffalo), Chartric Darby (Baltimore, Tampa, Seattle), John Gilliam (New Orleans, St. Louis, Minnesota, Atlanta) and Robert Porcher (Detroit) to name only a handful of more than a hundred former Bulldogs who have played in the pros.
For decades this was where all the good, black players played. That was before the white-only colleges welcomed their talent with open arms and stole them away.
Now, the Bulldogs still attract some good players, but they play before home crowds of 20,000 or less, in the second-tier league formerly known as 1-AA, in places where television satellite trucks seldom show up.
That's part of the reason that this game with the Gamecocks is so important to S.C. State alums. It's a chance to bask underneath the bright lights of big-time football they seldom get to see.
The Bulldogs were given 600 complimentary tickets for staff members and 2,000 tickets to sell for this game. When those sold out so quickly, USC, to its credit, came up with another 1,700.
Still, S.C. State fans will be far outnumbered at Williams-Brice Saturday night, where 80,000 Gamecock fans will be in the majority. But that's OK. They're used to being outnumbered. They just want to be respected.
For State fans who can't get a ticket, the game will be televised on pay-per-view for $24.95. A small price to pay for a game so long overdue.
"There are a lot of things that need to be done to bridge the gap between these two schools and this game is a good start," said Laura Waters-Brown, a junior on the S.C. State volleyball team. "I think there may be some racial overtones to it, but I think that getting out on the football field where it will be a level playing field will help unite the state of South Carolina for the better."
If you're young, like the group of students I talked to on campus Thursday, you no doubt see it as a big football game, a chance for the underdog Bulldogs to play the nationally ranked Gamecocks.
Few, however, understand the true significance of this first-ever meeting between the Palmetto State's flagship school and the predominantly black university just down the road.
"I personally hope that South Carolina State wins the game," said Donovan McDaniel, a James Island High School graduate "But I think South Carolina has upper hand."
Corey Frasier, a Military Magnet graduate who attends S.C. State, said, "I think it's going to be a great game with a former NFL coach like Steve Spurrier coaching in it. It'll be a challenge for the Bulldogs, but it will boost our ratings up if we do a good job."
Jamal Watkins, of Goose Creek, said, "USC is coming off a win over Georgia and State just beat Bethune-Cookman. So I think it's a game about who runs South Carolina. It's all about bragging rights."
That's pretty much the sentiment of most 19-year-olds. For some reason, they think it's about football.
100 years later
That these two state-supported schools have been playing college football 40 miles from each other for more than 100 years and never played each other is a remnant of our state's unresolved racial history.
Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier
Mary Jones, a South Carolina State University professor for more than 30 years, buys T-shirts at Orrick Dixon's stand Thursday outside the SCSU stadium as she and Veronica Mervin prepare for Saturday's football game against the University of South Carolina. 'Saturday is blue-and-white day,' Jones said as she picked out shirts.
Without delving too deep into the history books, suffice it to say it wasn't pretty, it wasn't fair and we all look back with regret.
"The game means nothing to these students as far as history is concerned," said S.C. State head coach Buddy Pough, who played for the Bulldogs in the bad old days. "I've had to educate them some. I even brought in coach Willie Jeffries who coached here before me, to give them a chance to understand some of the significance of it. But they don't know anything about segregation. All that kind of stuff was way behind them.
"But this is a big deal for all the South Carolina State constituency. All the friends and family and the community, it's big to them."
One of those people is Mary Jordan, an English professor who has been teaching at S.C. State for more than 30 years.
"I'm very excited to know that we are establishing a relationship," Jordan said as she purchased an S.C. State T-shirt for the weekend celebration. "I'm not so much concerned about who wins or who loses, but just to say that we have established a relationship with the university and that we can play sports and compete with each other."
A native of Orangeburg, Jordan said she has been encouraged to see S.C. State play The Citadel in recent years and for the Bulldogs to play their Palmetto Classic (against other black schools) in USC's stadium.
"But to actually play Carolina, that's historical," she said. "We need to get to be cooperative partners, because we're all working for the same goal."
Long overdue
As I walked around S.C. State Thursday it occurred to me how few of my white friends have ever set foot on this campus.
It might come as a surprise to many that these Bulldogs have been playing football for a century and sent more than their fair share of players to the pro ranks.
Names like Harry Carson (San Diego), Deacon Jones (L.A., San Diego, Washington) Donnie Shell (Pittsburgh), Barney Chavous (Denver), Jumpy Geathers (Buffalo), Chartric Darby (Baltimore, Tampa, Seattle), John Gilliam (New Orleans, St. Louis, Minnesota, Atlanta) and Robert Porcher (Detroit) to name only a handful of more than a hundred former Bulldogs who have played in the pros.
For decades this was where all the good, black players played. That was before the white-only colleges welcomed their talent with open arms and stole them away.
Now, the Bulldogs still attract some good players, but they play before home crowds of 20,000 or less, in the second-tier league formerly known as 1-AA, in places where television satellite trucks seldom show up.
That's part of the reason that this game with the Gamecocks is so important to S.C. State alums. It's a chance to bask underneath the bright lights of big-time football they seldom get to see.
The Bulldogs were given 600 complimentary tickets for staff members and 2,000 tickets to sell for this game. When those sold out so quickly, USC, to its credit, came up with another 1,700.
Still, S.C. State fans will be far outnumbered at Williams-Brice Saturday night, where 80,000 Gamecock fans will be in the majority. But that's OK. They're used to being outnumbered. They just want to be respected.
For State fans who can't get a ticket, the game will be televised on pay-per-view for $24.95. A small price to pay for a game so long overdue.
"There are a lot of things that need to be done to bridge the gap between these two schools and this game is a good start," said Laura Waters-Brown, a junior on the S.C. State volleyball team. "I think there may be some racial overtones to it, but I think that getting out on the football field where it will be a level playing field will help unite the state of South Carolina for the better."
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