COLUMBIA, S.C. — Daniel Barish and his family were some of the first tailgaters set up Thursday before the USC – SC State game. In fact, they were the first ones to set up in the Quad One lot in Gamecock Park, an otherwise empty lot around 1 p.m.
Barish says he drove down from Philadelphia on short notice after being told about the change from a Saturday afternoon game to Thursday night.
“We were planning a nice long weekend in the sunny South, and had to make some changes due to the weather … for the noon game, a nice morning tailgate with bagels and mimosas, and now for the night game, had to switch that to chicken and beer.”
Will Smith, another Gamecock supporter, took to the fairgrounds on Thursday. He says that game days are normally spent with his dad, Woody, and his sons. They were in the Fairgrounds lot with a couple stove tops, folding chairs, some cornhole and a speaker. He also expected a Saturday game, so on Thursday, some downsizing had to happen.
“Usually we have canopies up, television playing. Oh yes, we’re doing it small today.”
The last second arrangements go beyond tailgaters.
Cameron McDowell works at J’s Corner across from the stadium. After the game was rescheduled, things at work were quick to change. She explained schedules were switched and her coworkers had to move around their plans and some even plan to come after classes end to run food.
She says the kitchen staff also needed to make some changes, including a limited menu that isn’t typical for a Thursday.
“When we realized the game was happening, we were like, ‘Well, we can’t really do that with three servers, so they actually had to have like an emergency meeting and figure out who could come in.”
For others, the change of game time actually helped. Grant Fuller, a senior at USC said the Thursday night game gave him the opportunity to come out and watch the Gamecocks.
“I luckily don’t have class on Thursdays, so I was actually glad because I wasn’t a big fan of the noon start time on Saturday.”