With no bowl week perks, Gamecocks create own fun as ‘reward for continuing to fight’
In the run-up to the 2019 Gasparilla Bowl, the UCF and Marshall teams enjoyed roller coasters at Busch Gardens, built bikes for charity and got to hang out on the beach on Treasure Island in the week preceding the game, played in front of 28,000 fans.
That’s part of the annual tradition of bowl week, a celebration and reward at the end of a long season for teams, complete with gifts and parades. In 2020, many of those traditions are going away.
Because of COVID-19, the Gamecocks won’t arrive in Tampa for the 2020 Gasparilla Bowl until Thursday night, less than 48 hours from kickoff against UAB. Trips to the amusement park and beach are off the table. There are no on-site events or practices at all, a bowl spokesman told The State. Capacity at Raymond James Stadium will be capped at 7,897.
Interim coach Mike Bobo, however, said he and director of football operations George Wynn had planned some activities for the team this week all the same.
“We’re going to get together and try to do some fun activities and kind of treat this like we’re at the bowl site,” Bobo told reporters. “We went to Frankie’s (Fun Park in Columbia) ... the go-kart place on Friday, and the kids got to do that and they were excited about doing that. And we’ll do some things this week, whether it’s bowling or movies. On Thursday, when we get there on Christmas Eve, we’re going to go to Topgolf that night. So we’re gonna do some activities and try to reward these guys.”
Bobo acknowledged that a reward after a disappointing 2-8 season might seem strange to some people on the outside of the program. But he argued it was still deserved.
“It’s a reward for continuing to fight for South Carolina. And you have another opportunity to fight, and there’s a lot of sacrifices you make to be a college football player. And we’re gonna try to reward those guys for doing that,” Bobo said. “But they still know they got a job to do and the fun is in winning the bowl games. There’s a lot of bowl games and a lot of memories that I’ve coached in and played in over the years. I remember the ones we won more than ones we lost, I guarantee you that.”
The Gamecocks will face an uphill battle against a UAB squad that captured the Conference USA title and is favored in the game by six points. And if ever there was a year to bow out of a bowl invite, this would seem to be it. USC’s depleted roster has been on campus working since June, and more than a dozen other teams, many with better records than Carolina, have already opted out of the postseason. The game also will mean players and coaches will be away from family on Christmas.
But even with all those challenges, the reduced perks and the reduction in off-the-field fun, Bobo said this bowl game still represents something he wants the Gamecocks to embrace.
“It’s human nature to be disappointed and be fatigued from the long season and want to go home see your families. And we all do, you know ... my family’s leaving and heading to see my wife’s parents. I’m not going to be with them on Christmas for the first time ever,” Bobo said. “We came here all for different reasons, but we all chose South Carolina. And my message after Kentucky (was), if you look at yourself and how do you improve as an individual and how do you help improve this program and this football team, you have to take every opportunity you have, and we have another opportunity this week.”
And beyond this season or even the next, Bobo said, the lack of bowl week festivities shouldn’t change the deep-seated camaraderie he thinks the program needs to develop.
“These guys gotta start enjoying being around each other. If they don’t enjoy being around each other and want to run off in every different direction anytime we have a free break, South Carolina is never going to be what we want it to be,” Bobo said. “The greatest teams, they’re always together, they’re always hanging out, they’re always doing things together, they love being around each other. And that’s what we got to get on this football team, is that family and that love for one another. Not love for ourselves, love for one another, and that’s when good things happen to yourself, is when you focus on somebody besides yourself.”
Gasparilla Bowl
Who: South Carolina (2-8) vs. UAB (6-3)
When: Noon Saturday
Where: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
TV: ABC
Line: UAB by 5
