Lifelong fan's cheers are well-known

By BERTRAM RANTIN - brantin@thestate.com

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From the Section 9 platform in the south stands of Williams Brice Stadium, David Able relishes the view of his athletic promised land.

Positioned just above the tunnel where Gamecock players burst onto the field, the 29-year-old Able is a well-known and popular fixture to hundreds who share his perspective each week.

Able arrives at the stadium early — from 30 minutes to an hour before kickoff. A lifelong Gamecock fan and USC graduate, he doesn’t want to miss a second.

Game Spaces

Space is important when it comes to where and how you watch the Gamecocks.

Your space brings friends, camaraderie, food, fans and football. Your experience depends on your point of view.

This football season, The State has been running articles about your game space on home football Saturday’s. Today, we conclude this season’s series with a look inside the space of avid fan, David Able.

“I like to see them warm up, get focused on the game,” Able said. “The band, the national anthem — all of that stuff at the beginning before the game starts — I like that. I really do.”

A Columbia native, Able comes by his passion honestly. He grew up in an avid Gamecock family and first started going to USC games at age 8 when his parents — Danny and C-Anne Able — operated a concession stand in the same section of the stadium where he now sits.

Able and his older brother Patrick helped out at the stand while younger brother Brandon stayed at home.

“It’s always been a family thing,” Able said. “My job was to yell, ‘Coke, hot dogs.’”

Twenty years later, he’s still yelling, and this superfan has grown a following of his own.

While making his way from his family’s tailgate spot at The Coop to the stadium, Able speaks to about 200 people.

“Everybody knows me. I feel like I’m running for office or something.”

He knows he invites it. He shouts cheers all the way to his seat.

“I imagine if I would shut up, people wouldn’t be saying ‘Hey, that’s David.’ But I’m loud and boisterous. That’s me.”

Inside the stadium, it’s much the same as Able sustains a steady chorus of cheers from the stands.

He used to sit in the upper deck but moved three years ago down to the handicapped platform. And while the upper deck offered a broader view of the playing field, Able said being closer to the field makes him feel more a part of the game.

“When you’re yelling at the refs from the upper deck, they can’t hear you,” Able said.

But fans hear Able, and he thinks the Gamecocks are worth the noise.

“When the team comes out for warm-ups and goes back in (the dressing room) and comes out again, I get started right. It’s pretty electrifying.”

Reach Rantin at (803) 771-8306.

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