I am SportsbyDaimeon

My older brother (Carlos) took me and my twin brother (Damon) to our first college football game many years ago.  Steve Spurrier was the head coach of Duke University; they were playing Georgia Tech at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham NC.  I remember being so excited just to see "big dudes," as I said it, playing.  

Since then, I've had the great pleasure of attending football games all over the country. I've seen The University of Michigan play in "The Big House." I've  sat on the 50 yard line at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Carter Finley Stadium, home of the NC State Wolfpack, provides a raukus environment on any given Saturday afternoon.  

I not only fashion myself a sports professional, but a fan, who enjoys the spectacle of competition. I bore witness to just that on my recent road trip to Columbia South Carolina.  The first game ever broadcast on the SEC Network was The South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Texas A&M Aggies.  I found it rather ironic that my first college game as a child was a Steve Spurrier led Duke Blue Devil team; and my first collegiate game as a member of the media was a Steve Spurrier led South Carolina Gamecocks squad.  As I took pictures of both teams going through their pre-game rituals, I noticed a familiar face.  He had no clue who I was, but I quoted him verbatim.   "The stylin, profilin, limousine ridin, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheelin n' dealin son of a gun!"

 

So now it was game time.  I heard the roar of 82,000 plus in the stands. It was deafening in Williams-Brice Stadium as the crowd anticipated the opening kickoff.  It seemed as though every person who lived in Columbia South Carolina was at the game. Texas A&M jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Gamecocks knew what hit them. Although South Carolina provided a glimmer of hope to it's fans when WR Nic Jones hauled in a 69 yard TD pass, the game quickly got out of hand.  I roamed the sidelines taking pictures and making notes of the game to use for this very article. To me, the final score was inconsequential.  It was in that moment when I realized that I was no longer a sports fan.  I was now, officially, SportsbyDaimeon.