Dabo's low blows

I'll be the first to admit I'm late to the game on this one, but I could not pass up the opportunity to comment. For those not in or from South Carolina, here's a quick recap -- after the Gamecocks beat Clemson for the third straight year, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney misattributed some quotes to USC coach Steve Spurrier and went on a cheap-shot infused tirade about how Clemson-Carolina has never been a rivalry. This after the Gamecocks dominated his team for the second straight season in a game that was rarely in doubt.

The most interesting part of this to me is that Dabo is not a South Carolinian. He's from Alabama. To me, that means anything he says about the rivalry -- good or bad -- doesn't really mean squat. I don't care if he coaches at Clemson, he doesn't fully understand this. Nor can he. Neither can Spurrier.

I started going to Carolina games at age 5. I went to every Clemson home game with my season-ticket holding stepfather for two years as a teen. Never once did I get even the slightest impression that people from Carolina or Clemson did not take this rivalry seriously. That's part of the reason Swinney's comments pissed me off so much. My life, and that of many people in the Palmetto State, have been greatly impacted by the rivalry. I still wear my Gamecock colors with pride, even in Miami, just as Clemson fans will drive down here in droves for the Orange Bowl. But as a fan of one of these teams, I would have a problem with my coach decrying the rivalry whether it's my coach or not. And the pot shots about USC and the other Carolina just sounds like a cry baby who needs his milk.

Dabo, I endured years and years of Clemson's dominance in this rivalry and heard about it every year from people like my father, cousins and friends, who were Tigers. Now that we start to exert the smallest bit of superiority, I have to read your ridiculous comments. When I was a kid, I was petty like that. I said I would pull for Russia over Clemson. Maturing through the years, I'm now proud when Clemson has a good season and love to tell people I've seen games at Death Valley from the upper deck, season ticket area and even the Hill. It remains one of the most imposing venues I've been in. So please don't downgrade my experiences. You've had a great year -- an ACC title, Orange Bowl berth. But if you truly believe that with all that success, Clemson fans aren't burning up inside about that loss to USC, maybe you ought to head back to Alabama.