It'll always be USC and Carolina to me

There are some things that I have noticed are different outside of South Carolina. For one, Strom Thurmond is even more of a joke. You also realize how beautifully simple yet awesome the palmetto and crescent moon is compared to every other state’s flag. For some reason, state and US highways are not given names in the Triangle, but rather are referred to by their numerical designation, which can make driving a little confusing. Indeed, I spend considerable time on highways 1, 54, 55, 15-501, 751, 147, and so on. Columbia peeps, did you even know that Two Notch Road is actually US HWY 1?

But the biggest difference is the USC/Carolina conflict. If you’re not from South Carolina, or have not spent considerable time there, you may not realize that the University of South Carolina at Columbia is called both USC and Carolina. Outside of the state, these names refer to University of Southern California and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill respectively.

This fact is difficult for a South Carolinian to accept, or even come to realize. When I was younger, I was so impressed and proud that Zack, Jesse, and the rest of the Saved by the Bell crew were considering going to “USC” for college. It was some years later when I realized that the Baysiders had no intention of moving to South Carolina.

So, now what does a South Carolinian do when he wants to refer to his Fighting Gamecocks? Well, let’s see; the University of South Carolina was founded in 1801, California did not become a state until 1850, and their university was not founded until 1880. In my opinion, the school that was created first should be referred to by the USC acronym—we were “USC” first. You may call the other school “Southern California,” “SC,” or freaking “So-Cal.”

Now, I concede that for the rest of the world, Carolina means UNC, especially in basketball. I also note that UNC was founded first, and their athletics are more prominent. But I’m sorry; my brain just doesn’t allow me to freely say “Carolina” in reference to UNC—the neurons just won’t fire.

So, I fully admit that outside of South Carolina, I may not be the norm, but for me and the state's other 4,200,000+ citizens, USC and Carolina refer to the same school and you non-South Carolinians will just have to deal with it.

I just noticed that I included a number of wikipedia links in this post. For variety, and since I mentioned Saved by the Bell, I just wanted to remind you how excited Jesse was…until she was so scared.