 "Photo: Jeremy Aaron/The Daily Gamecock")
Six-year-old Zackary Gray, dressed from head to toe in a Cocky costume, came out to the Tiger Burn ready to cheer on his Gamecocks.
It was his first time at the event.
“My dad made this costume for me. Me and him were Little and Big Cocky for Halloween,” Zackary, from Orangeburg, said as he posed for the cameras. He smiled widely as the emcee called him on stage to join in the countdown to burn the Clemson tiger.
The 22-foot-tall tiger, with a bright purple bowtie and moving jaw, was built by eight students from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers under the direction of Professor Abdel Bayoumi.
“It was a lot of hard work,” said Scott Lettrich, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student who was in charge of the construction. “I’m glad to see so many people out here to help carry on this tradition.”
The tradition is more than 100 years old. According to USC archives, it started in 1902 when USC upset Clemson.
There were some returning fans to the Tiger Burn as well as some new ones. Chris Elliott, a fourth-year economics student, came out for his first Tiger Burn.
“It looks pretty fun so far,” Elliott said. “I figured I might as well try it out once since it’s my last year.”
Candler Paige, a first-year biology student, had never experienced anything like the Tiger Burn before.
“I had never even been to a football game until I came to Carolina,” Paige said. “Carolina school spirit intimidates me.”
Others, like Mark Thomas, a second-year mathematics student, attended the Tiger Burn before but came back to enjoy the tradition.
“I still think it’s a good way to get everyone pumped up for the Clemson game,” Thomas said.
14 comments
You just don't understand.But it's unfair to criticize you based on mental stamina... you're all in-bred anyway