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Late losses dampen USC bowl spirit

With Tampa the likely destination, officials hope fans shake Clemson hangover

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 12.03.08
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Will you be traveling to see the Gamecocks play in a bowl?

The first thing Jane Shirey did when she arrived at work Monday morning was go online and cancel her hotel reservation in Tampa, Fla., on New Year’s Eve.

Shirey and her husband are two South Carolina fans who will not be going back to the Outback Bowl.

Though the SEC’s bowl bids are not expected to go out until Sunday, the Gamecocks appear headed for Tampa, where they beat Ohio State in consecutive Outback bowls following the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Shirey and her husband attended both of those games, part of a contingent of 30,000 USC fans who descended on Busch Gardens, Ybor City, Clearwater Beach and the other sightseeing attractions in the Tampa area.

But Shirey, a Lexington resident who purchases season tickets through a friend in the Gamecock Club, said USC’s dismal showing in a 31-14 loss at Clemson convinced the family to scrap the 500-mile drive so their 37-year-old daughter could attend her first bowl game.

“My husband says I’m not going to drive that distance to watch a team that doesn’t play,” Shirey said Wednesday. “I hope the Outback Bowl doesn’t take them. If they watched them play their last two games and base it on that, I wouldn’t offer them to come down there. I mean, who wants to watch that?”

USC (7-5) dropped its final two games to Florida and Clemson by a combined 67 points. The late-season slide, combined with the economic recession, will test the loyalty of a fan base known for its resiliency.

“Any time you lose your last game, especially when you play your rival team, it’s tough for a few days or so. But at the end of the day, it’s more about the body of work that’s been done for the season,” Outback Bowl spokesman Mike Schulze said. “You do hope to have teams in your game that are excited about being there, excited about making the trip and doing the things that Tampa has to offer.”

Gamecocks fan Guy Mayer bought two Outback Bowl tickets a month ago and has no intention of giving them up.

“If you’re going to be a fan of anything, you’ve pretty much got to hang in there through it all,” said Mayer, who owns a construction business in Camden. “It’s not always going to be glorious, great and wonderful. If that’s all you’re looking for, you’re going to be disappointed more times than not.”

Mayer and his father, a retired minister who received a heart transplant 10 years ago, have made bowl trips part of their holiday season tradition. They bought tickets for the Peach (now the Chick-fil-A) Bowl in 2005, hoping the Gamecocks would be in the game.

When USC ended up in the Independence Bowl, the Mayers drove to Shreveport, La., for the Gamecocks’ loss to Missouri, then stopped in Atlanta on their way home to watch LSU beat Miami in the Peach Bowl.

Mayer, 36, plans to stay five nights in a hotel near Raymond James Stadium, where the Outback will kick off at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Mayer said if USC fans could survive the 0-11 season in 1999, they should be able to shake the funk of another loss to Clemson.

“I can understand people’s frustrations,” he said, “but that’s not me at all.”

Schulze, the Outback Bowl official, said each school in the game — Iowa or Northwestern will represent the Big Ten — must buy a minimum of 11,000 tickets, roughly one-fifth the school’s season-ticket base.

USC officials Tuesday declined to divulge how many bowl ticket orders have been taken, saying it would be premature to do so before the Gamecocks’ destination has been announced.

The deadline for Gamecock Club members to apply for priority tickets is Dec. 10. Columbia banker Richard Sturm figures he’ll need until next week to get over the Clemson loss and begin contemplating a trip to Tampa.

“Right after the game I was a definite no,” said Sturm, a former Gamecocks’ swimmer who never lost to Clemson when he was at USC in the ‘80s. “Now I’m back on the fence. I’m just absolutely torn up about it.”

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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