Carolina athletics and the War of Northern Agression

Life must have been great in antebellum South Carolina.

The Panthers just got manhandled by Seattle in the NFC Championship game. Seattle's defense shut Carolina down from the opening snap, Delhomme completed more pases to Seattle than he did to Carolina, Steve Smith was double teamed most of the, and the only Carolina receiver to make any decent plays was Carter - too little, too late. Granted we were playing most of the game with our fourth string running back, an our lack of success in the backfield allowed the Seahawks to cover our receivers even tighter. But still, we looked pathetic.

Which has me wondering yet again, why do my Carolina teams always lose in the big games? It's at times like these I question God's goodness. But despite my doubt and questioning, during another dark night of the sporting soul, I cling to the one thing that can sustain me through the ups, well mostly downs, of my state's athletic ineptness.

Being a Carolina fan is God's way of placing me in an accelerated sanctification program.

Anybody can cheer for Alabama or Michigan or (gag me) Tennessee football when its a team that wins year in and year out, and gets a championship title often enough to satisfy their hungry fans. I mean, you have a bad season as a Duke or North Carolina basketball follower, and all you have to do is go back a few years to their most recent championship, and all is well on Tobacco Row. Hurricanes can't destroy the 5 College Baseball World Series tittles LSU has, all within the last 15 years.

So let's be honest. Its not hard to cheer for a team that always wins, or has a longstanding tradition of success. But try cheering for the team that always chokes and never lives up to expectations.

The Gamecocks haven't beaten Clemson since 2001, including the worst lost against our rivals in school history in 2003. South Carolina's basketball team won the school's first national championship in ANY major sport last year, but it was the freaking NIT (which is basically the game the scrubs get together on the playground after all the good players got picked on the big court), but has thus far this season followed with a sub par year. Gamecock soccer is consistently a contender, and even won the Conference USA tournament this year, only to get ousted from the NCAA tournament early on by Wake Forest. Even USC's baseball team, a perennial powerhouse, which has been to the World Series 3 of the last 4 years, hasn't won the big one yet, and lost in the championship game against Texas in 2002. The Panthers choked against New England in 2004. And then the pitiful performance by the Panthers tonight.

Only the truly righteous can maintain a steadfast comittment to a team that consistently lets them down. Patience. Loyalty. Forgiveness. Self-control. Unrequited Love. Joy despite hardship. These are the marks of the righteous. Funny, these are also the marks of a Carolina fan.

Which is why, despite the frustrating loss of Panthers tonight, I take solace in my A+ from Sanctification class.

So why do my teams suck? And why do I care so much? It wouldn't be so bad if I was a nonchalant observer. But apparently the words "sport" and "nonchalant" do no coexist peacefully in my world. I can't watch a game on tv without getting emotionally involved. I mean, I can't even enjoy a friendly game of football without competing against my previous performance, and being utterly frustrated when I underperform. I'm never satisfied unless I feel like I've played as well as I know I am capable of playing. And i will never be fulfilled until one of my teams wins the big one. Until that time, I will continue to utter expletives under my breath, yell loudly at the the players on the TV as if my armchair coaching will have some inspiring effect, and throw things on occasion. And in the process, get sanctified.

Life must have been good in antebellum South Carolina. Then that dang war came, and we haven't been able to win anything since.