Madness gets official

COLUMBIA — The State Fairgrounds just down the street and across George Rogers Boulevard has never seen the kind of fanfare on display Friday night at the South Carolina Gamecocks' practice field.

Football enthusiasts excited that Steve Spurrier's first workout of the 2008 season was open to the public got a carnival full of fun.

Presto. The magically reappearing quarterback.

Take a peek, folks. The two-headed offensive coordinator.

And back in the state by popular demand, the amazing defensive coordinator who got to Columbia from Mississippi State via Fayetteville, Ark.

Stunningly, they were not offering garnet balloons, cotton candy and fried dough.

But some guy was peddling boiled peanuts and bottled water just inside The Proving Grounds.

It was nuts, fans on a hot August night stacked 10 rows deep to get that first glimpse of a team picked to finish fourth (again) in the Southeastern Conference's beast of an East after going 6-6 in 2007.

In other words, the perfect evening for Dr. Harris Pastides to complete his very first day as president of the university.

He called support for Gamecocks football "unparalleled, unrivaled that I've ever seen."

Probably an understatement.

Very presidential

Take Friday night, for instance.

"It's amazing. I mean, I look around and I say, 'You know, these people have a lot of other things they could do tonight,' " said Pastides, a native New Yorker who most recently served as South Carolina's vice president for research and health services. "Columbia has a huge amount of culture and recreation.

(But) all through my day, I have to tell you, at different meetings people would say, 'I just cannot wait for 8 p.m., Thursday night, August 28.' And I would say, 'Is something happening?' I was teasing, of course."

N.C. State comes to Williams-Brice Stadium in 26 days, but that didn't keep people watching on truck beds and tip-toes from trying to see how Steve Spurrier and Steve Spurrier Jr. were splitting up the play-calling duties.

Or checking out the wrinkles new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, the former Citadel head coach, has brought to a talented unit messed up last fall by injuries.

Everyone wanted a look at Stephen Garcia, the star quarterback-in-waiting just back from an unscheduled Tampa hiatus.

Mostly, however, the masses got nothing but routine football stuff.

'110 percent'

At one point, the team gathered around Pastides.

His words of wisdom:

"I told them what I could, which is we're all lucky to be at a great university. They're student-athletes. That the Ws are important but it's the level of competition. And just like in everything else we do as a Carolina family, we try to compete at the highest level. And whether you're playing a nationally ranked opponent or someone from in-state that's not so well-ranked, to give that 110-percent effort. They listened. They didn't get up and walk away."

And if that didn't fire up the Gamecocks, the fan support had to be inspiring.

Remember, this is a football program that has not won a game since a sunny Oct. 13 afternoon in Chapel Hill.

The Friday night highlight might have been a field goal by reserve kicker Spencer Lanning. It sailed over a crossbar, over a hedge and onto National Guard Road, striking a passing van.

People cheered.

Now if only the football team and the president can match the energy of the fan base, things will be fine.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com