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College Sports in the Greenville Area


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It has recently been noted that Clemson University's NCAA sports teams have been performing quite well in the national spotlight recently. The ones I can think of off hand are:

  • Baseball (in the 2006 World Series)

  • Soccer (currently ranked #1)

  • Golf (always nationally ranked)

  • Football (currently #19)

Furman University ranks pretty high among Soccer and Golf teams, as well as annually having one of the top-ranked Division 1-AA football teams.

Questions:

  1. Since I know most people in Greenville keep up with NCAA sports, what do you think of these stats, and are there any I've left out?

  2. What impact do you think (or know) our college teams have on Greenville?

  3. Would you like to see Greenville host more college sports?

  4. What are the pros and cons of college sports in Greenville?

Any other discussion, info, or photos are completely welcome. :)
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[*]What impact do you think (or know) our college teams have on Greenville?

[*]Would you like to see Greenville host more college sports?

[*]What are the pros and cons of college sports in Greenville?

:)

Clemson has a big impact on Greenville. For parents weekend coming up, the hotels that are suggested to the parents by Clemson are all in Greenville. For the FSU game, when played in Clemson, there's usually a pep rally downtown Greenville for both schools. Texas A&M had some function in Greenville last year the Friday before their game-- running into some of their fans on gameday, they were all impressed and positive about the City of Greenville.

I'd like to see Furman play more big games (like USC and Clemson, etc) at West End Field. More basketball at the Bilo Center, even if it's just Clemson and not a tournament...

It definitely has a big impact on Greenville and should only grow in the future.

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A think it is great publicity for the Upstate and IMO Clemson's presence in Greenville will become more of a asset. Maybe Clemson will someday build a tower downtown. :) This is one of those off the wall ideas I have been thinking about for a while, but I wonder how a Clemson collegiate hockey team would do in the BiLo center? Of course I realize that the ACC does not play Hockey also I have no Idea if this practical, but I would think Clemson would have huge support at The Bilo center.

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A think it is great publicity for the Upstate and IMO Clemson's presence in Greenville will become more of a asset. Maybe Clemson will someday build a tower downtown. :) This is one of those off the wall ideas I have been thinking about for a while, but I wonder how a Clemson collegiate hockey team would do in the BiLo center? Of course I realize that the ACC does not play Hockey also I have no Idea if this practical, but I would think Clemson would have huge support at The Bilo center.

Clemson has a club level hockey team that plays its "home" games at the Pavillion. In recent years, the Clemson club and the USC club have played a match before a Grrrowl game at the Bi Lo Center.

I would expect more collegiate baseball at West End Field, featuring Furman against another state school, or in some type of round robin tournament. West End Field is really too small to bid on an ACC baseball tournament, that and Mike Martin of Florida State's objections.

As far as Clemson basketball in the BLC, well that would require a couple things really:

1. Smaller rent fees from the BLC

2. A more consistently nationally ranked Tiger squad

You won't see an ACC matchup in Greenville, it would have to be an early season matchup, probably against a nationally ranked foe.

Course I guess we all would like to see the NCAA tournament return, but will not as long as the NAACP boycott remains, same goes for the NCAA Division I cross country championship that used to happen at Furman.

The boycott, among other factors, would also probably prevent Greenville from bidding on a NCAA or ACC golf championship.

As far as economic factors, I imagine they are quite big:

1. Virtually every Clemson home game fills lots of Greenville restaurants, gas stations, hotels (much better rates and deals than Anderson/Oconee rates), shops, etc. with fans. With 6 to 7 home games a year, and probably at least a quarter of the 80,000+ fans coming through Greenville, I'm sure the ecomomic impact is in the millions. You can't drive on roads like 253, 123, I-85, etc. on Saturday mornings without the overwhelming prescense of Clemson fans.

2. The recent HBCU classic at Sirrine stadium brought a lot of attention to the Greenville area.

3. Furman athletics, especially football, drives up a lot of sales in the Poinsett Highway area, including of course, the Furman tailgate show at Cherrydale shopping center.

4. North Greenville's growth overall, including athletics, assists some local businesses in the Tigerville area.

And of course, stores like Knickerbocker's and the University Shoppe make money all year off of collegiate sports merchandise.

Probably finally, Greenville/ Spartanburg airport does a bit more business with visiting fans and charter flights of teams arriving to play in Clemson.

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I think you guys are all right about the impact these teams have on Greenville, especially Clemson.

I believe I have mentioned this before, but the Clemson commercials shown during Clemson sporting events on TV have recently focused on ICAR. One of the ones from last year talked about ICAR, and at the end it showed a nice shot of Greenville's skyline. Granted, people unfamiliar with Greenville might not have recognized it as Greenville's skyline, but it was still cool. I know that President Barker wants to continue to align Clemson with Greenville, and that is wonderful. It is a win-win for everyone involved.

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NGU has a pretty good football program as well...perhaps not last year, but in recent years.

And, what about BJU? Do they have intercollegiate basketball, or anything else in which to compete?

No, BJU does not have any intercollegiate sports. They have have very large intramural program, as every student is required to belong to Greek societies, that sponsor intramural teams. Traditionally, the large event sports soccer championship, held at their soccer stadium, is known as the Turkey Bowl because of its Thanksgiving date.

But any sports economic activity they provide would be negligible.

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No, BJU does not have any intercollegiate sports. They have have very large intramural program, as every student is required to belong to Greek societies, that sponsor intramural teams. Traditionally, the large event sports soccer championship, held at their soccer stadium, is known as the Turkey Bowl because of its Thanksgiving date.

But any sports economic activity they provide would be negligible.

I hear they have some pretty decent religious art, though. ;)

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No, BJU does not have any intercollegiate sports. They have have very large intramural program, as every student is required to belong to Greek societies, that sponsor intramural teams. Traditionally, the large event sports soccer championship, held at their soccer stadium, is known as the Turkey Bowl because of its Thanksgiving date.

But any sports economic activity they provide would be negligible.

Being the county's 18th largest employer, they provide other benefits to the community. Not to mention, moving-in every fall- parents of the students have to stay somewhere and eat somewhere...

Whether someone likes it or not, BJU helps add to Greenville's diversity.

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No, BJU does not have any intercollegiate sports. They have have very large intramural program, as every student is required to belong to Greek societies, that sponsor intramural teams. Traditionally, the large event sports soccer championship, held at their soccer stadium, is known as the Turkey Bowl because of its Thanksgiving date.

But any sports economic activity they provide would be negligible.

Several years ago, BJU put together an all-star team and hosted the nationally-ranked Furman men's soccer team. The final score was Furman 2, BJU All-Stars 1. I attended this event because I had been following Furman soccer closely and wouldn't miss the opportunity to see an exremely rare intracity soccer rivalry in Greenville. The game was packed out and really raised my appreciation for BJU as more than simply a quality religious and fine art school. I actually went back for a Turkey Bowl and was surprised by the amount of people and level of competitiveness. People should really take a closer look at some of the important things they're missing in Greenville. The museum & gallery on campus is actually phenomenal in every sense of the word. :shades:

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This is one of those off the wall ideas I have been thinking about for a while, but I wonder how a Clemson collegiate hockey team would do in the BiLo center? Of course I realize that the ACC does not play Hockey also I have no Idea if this practical, but I would think Clemson would have huge support at The Bilo center.

Clemson has a club level ice hockey team, cool. (Did Furman briefly have a club team years ago?) They played some games at the Bi-Lo Center in previous years after some Grrrowl games. Some of their opponents have been The Citadel, South Carolina and Appalachian State. Boston College is the only ACC member I know that fields a varsity mens ice hockey team which competes in a different confercence. Perhaps we can see more collegiate action when professional ice hockey returns to Greenville in 2007.

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It's worth mentioning here, I think, that this Saturday, Clemson will honor what is probably the greatest moment in sports in the state of S. Carolina history, the winning of the 1981 football championship.

The team will have a marker to it unveiled on the lower lip of the upper deck of the stadium, the Ring of Honor.

Today's generation probably takes it for granted, but this was a huge, huge deal nationally in the early 80's. It really put this corner of S. Carolina on the map.

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It's worth mentioning here, I think, that this Saturday, Clemson will honor what is probably the greatest moment in sports in the state of S. Carolina history, the winning of the 1981 football championship.

The team will have a marker to it unveiled on the lower lip of the upper deck of the stadium, the Ring of Honor.

Today's generation probably takes it for granted, but this was a huge, huge deal nationally in the early 80's. It really put this corner of S. Carolina on the map.

ZZzzz... ZZZzzz... :lol:

Sorry, I am a USC fan. I know we will never have one, but hey...

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It's worth mentioning here, I think, that this Saturday, Clemson will honor what is probably the greatest moment in sports in the state of S. Carolina history, the winning of the 1981 football championship.

The team will have a marker to it unveiled on the lower lip of the upper deck of the stadium, the Ring of Honor.

Today's generation probably takes it for granted, but this was a huge, huge deal nationally in the early 80's. It really put this corner of S. Carolina on the map.

Yea, yea, yea....big deal. USC won the football national championship, too, back in, er, uh, hmm.....well, uh...nevermind. :whistling:

GO GATORS!!! :yahoo:

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...what is probably the greatest moment in sports in the state of S. Carolina history, the winning of the 1981 football championship.

Greatest moment in SC sports history? My vote would have to go to Frank Selvy's 100-point game. And that happened right here in downtown Greenville. Someone wins a national championship every year. The 100-point game was a singular sports moment.

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Clemson has a big impact on Greenville. For parents weekend coming up, the hotels that are suggested to the parents by Clemson are all in Greenville. For the FSU game, when played in Clemson, there's usually a pep rally downtown Greenville for both schools. Texas A&M had some function in Greenville last year the Friday before their game-- running into some of their fans on gameday, they were all impressed and positive about the City of Greenville.

I'd like to see Furman play more big games (like USC and Clemson, etc) at West End Field. More basketball at the Bilo Center, even if it's just Clemson and not a tournament...

It definitely has a big impact on Greenville and should only grow in the future.

Furman has scheduled two games at the BiLo Center this year after an absence of many years. Interestingly enough, the two games are Furman's two biggest home conference games, Davidson and College of Charleston.

In addition, Furman will play at Clemson this season for the first time in five or six years as well.

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I ran into some parents here in Clemson today. They said they were staying on Augusta Road in Greenville. It was the closest hotel they could find. Impressive.

Several hotels in Anderson and near the town of Clemson often require reservations for the whole weekend, not just a Friday or Saturday night. Greenville hotels often have an advantage because many do not have this requirement.

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