Thursday Night is Sort of a Big Deal

Conversation in the Midlands Will Shift Thursday
Thursday night the lucky Gamecocks get to kickoff the entire college football season. The program gets the full attention of the nation as T.V.'s everywhere will be turned to the USC/NC State game.

Looking closer at the situation, the Gamecock football team has a lot riding on Thursday nights game. USC needs a WIN !

First, Carolina is carrying the SEC banner all by itself. Millions of SEC fans will be down right pissed if an ACC team takes a "W" from "the best football conference" on national television.

Further, the Carolina football team has a lot to do with the social tone in the Midlands. The conversation, email banter and Facebook/Twitter exchanges will shift from political rantings and beach pictures to football smack talk. I know this largely happens in many other football towns but it certainly happens in Columbia, so it's worth mentioning.

Other than being a fan, the reason I hope USC takes this first game is because if they don't, the entire midlands will shake it's collective head. If the Gamecocks lose, folks around town start to roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders. When they win, the talk around town is much more fun and there's no bitching and blaming.

This all may seem incredibly obvious but seeing as how the Midlands has had a string of unpleasant events lately, I thought the subject warranted a blog post.

On a football level, Thursday nights game is important because it only gets tougher as the season continues. Cue the University of Georgia...next Saturday.

I'm optimistic about the season opener and the season itself, and am sure this years bunch is ready to collect some "W's" for Columbia and Gamecock Nation. The Midlands could use some good branding and P.R. these days. Maybe Gamecock football can lead the effort.