There’s probably no bigger indicator of the state of a rivalry than the paroxysms of rage that emanate from your opponent. Accordingly, we are all edified and somewhat amused by the behavior of our orange-clad brethren in these few days following the 34-13 Carolina domination of CTU. Their spastic and enraged reaction tell us, even more than the outcome of the game on Saturday, that South Carolina has absolutely passed Clemson as a football program.
For example, Upstate SC listeners of WCCP-fm (The Flagship Station for Clemson Athletics) will have noticed several interesting developments, such as Mickey Plyler suddenly becoming enamored with all things basketball, Mark Sturgis developing a sudden fascination with the intricacies of the BCS, and Dan Scott loudly proclaiming himself to be a West Virginia Mountaineer. You may have also noticed a majority of WCCP callers now identifying themselves as Bama grads or lifelong Georgia fans.
Similarly, the aisle of your local Dollar General may seem broader this last week, as many Tiger fans are opting to stay home and feed their hurt feelings rather than shop for more partially hydrogenated essentials at the discount market.
The internet can offer up other examples. Witness one in particular, a CTU fan blog (looks like a rough equivalent of this space) that recently published a story by someone named C.F. McFadden. I’m not familiar with Mr. McFadden, but as that is a tradition-rich Clemson name, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on his claim to have “covered college football all over the Southeast.” But his story (or his blog post, to be more technically correct) is so desperately angry, so full of half-baked rationalizations, that it only serves to underscore my thesis. That point being, ironically, the same as the misplaced title Mr. McFadden prepends to his post, “Because I Dominate You“, but referring instead to Carolina’s now three game win streak over the hapless Tigers.
First, let me point out the lack of source attribution to the picture of Jesco White that begins the article. I’m not particularly sure if this picture is supposed to serve as an avatar for Mr. McFadden, or a representation of the average Clemson fan, but without a single reference to it in the article (or even an explanatory caption under the photo) we are only left to speculate. He can’t intend the photo to represent a Carolina fan, as Jesco is a denizen of the Appalachians and not the Midlands. Or perhaps the author is unaware of the history behind the photo, which strikes me as a more likely choice given the mind-numbing mistakes that occur elsewhere in the article.
For example, the post appears to be written in English for the most part, but contains cryptic and/or apocryphal references such as “call an apple and apple” (does that mean calling two apples?) and “South Carolina fans interact with Clemson fans – and vice versa” (interaction implies a back-and-forth exchange, doesn’t it? Why append the “vice versa” unless you are ignorant of the meaning of the chosen verb?).
Also there is a central assertion in the article that Carolina fans “throw out the SEC chant [no other SEC school does that]” and the companion claim that the rest of the SEC makes fun of the Gamecock faithful for doing so. Now I’m no technical savant, but I do know that typing the name of a school along with the phrase “SEC chant” into the magic Google box is an easy fact-check on this asinine claim. I know, because I did it, and received a myriad of responses, including these three from Georgia, Auburn, and Florida, respectively:
But the penultimate example of Mr. McFadden’s huge blind spot, his utter inability to recognize his own defeatist desperation, is when he opines thusly:
And when the fans get so wound up – eyes red, fists shaking, spit flying – after a WIN, it shows there is just something inherently wrong with them. They know that no matter the score, there is no respect. Nor should there be.
Why is this so ironic? Why does it show Mr. McFadden’s complete buffoonery? Keep the above quote in mind, and remember this:
In the end, the article stands for the basic proposition that Carolina fans are no longer subservient to Clemson fans. This lack of submission is obviously frightening to the Clemson faithful. Their collective reactions, including diversion, avoidance, and written vitriol, only establishes one thing, however:
We’ve passed them, and they know it.
The Rubber Chickens Blog 
Do my ears deceive me, or did I hear the Clemson faithful chanting “ACC!” in that clip after beating Auburn. If USC is the only school that does the SEC chant, then why are they taunting Auburn with this chant?
Thanks for a rational response to Mr. McFadden. Even cl3mson fans are embarrassed by him. I truly feel sorry for him. Thanks for a well researched and well thought out blog, instead of venom and hatred that grows out of frustration of being a sub par team in a sub par conference. (ACC = Athletically Challenged Conference).
Brilliant piece, my friend! Thanks for that.
Great job of exposing the hypocrites for their failure to look into the mirror. If it is anecdotal evidence that incriminates a fan base, then all fan bases are guilty where more than a few people gather to cheer for their teams. And nothing Mr. McFadden proposes is worse than seeing an 11 year old child exit Frank Howard Field with multiple cigarette burns through his jacket after a USC victory.
Also, thanks for the Jesco White explanation. I’d thought (naturally) that the picture was of the author. It would fit the profile of many a Clemson fan.
Thank you!
HA! I wonder how old a fella this McFadden guy is because he is either ignorant or delusional. If he’s a younger buck — say younger than 35 — he’s just ignorant of the cheating that went on at Clemson in the late 70’s/early 80’s. If he’s older than that he’s delusional if he can’t figure out why Gamecocks despise the arrogance of a fanbase whose program was built by breaking the rules.
Disturbing post from Facebook:
“An ugly incident at the SC game Saturday. There was a crowd of men dressed in USC attire picking on a kid dressed in Clemson orange and white. Some of the men would run at the boy and just scare him and then a few of them actually ran over and knocked him down repeatedly. You could tell he was scared and there was nothing he could do. What was so bad about all this was there was Clemson people all around him who did nothing to help. They just kind of watched and let it go on and on. I wasn’t part of the group doing the bullying but I did have to laugh a few times. This went on for a very long time. A couple of times he tried to run away but one of the men would always grab him and keep him from going anywhere. Here again there were Clemson people all around doing nothing but watching. They looked like they were just accepting of it. The kid must have said something to the crowd because I heard one of the men tell him, “don’t you ever come here and run your mouth.” I’ve been wondering if this kid will have nightmares about this.
I do remember that the victim had a strange name – something like…Tajh Boyd.”
I’m sorry that you wasted your time writing this article and everyone’s time that read it.
USC will never pass Clemson. I’m not just talking about all-time record of our annual match-up. I won’t even go into the explanation that they will never pass Clemson in academics or quality of education.
My main point is that USC will never pass Clemson in football history and traditions. You have 0 cred in NCAA College Football and if it wasn’t for the big name coaches that come to ruin their careers in Columbia, you would never be talked about outside of the Palmetto State. USC has no football traditions or history of winning and dominance in college football.
You will never be able to touch Clemson in this perspective, much less pass them.
Enjoy this year. USC played a great game and you deserve to gloat but don’t believe that you’ve “arrived”.
Dear Delusional,
THREE IN A ROW (by a combined score of 97-37). That’s the here and now.
If you followed our blog, you would know that we don’t take this stuff that seriously and poke fun at ourselves (and the Gamecocks) most regularly. This being the case, we are laughing off your lame and tired jabs at us and the Gamecocks. We know we have not “arrived” in the grand scheme of things. We know that USC has little football tradition. The funny thing is that this tradition free school is gaining the upper hand over the program from the upstate. This fact, and the fact that we are beating you the way you used to beat us (528 to 179 yards rushing over the course of the past three meetings) is killing you folks-that is pretty obvious.
Oh and if you don’t want to waste your time on our articles, there’s a simple solution for that: don’t visit the blog.