Coaches, alumni gather to help usher in new channel
My Carolina’s annual Fall Sports Preview served as the setting for South Carolina’s contribution to the launch of the new SEC Network.
Months in the making, ESPN’s new all-SEC channel went live at 6:00 p.m. Thursday and the network had boots on the ground at all 14 Southeastern Conference campuses.
ESPN’s Shannon Spake served as the representative in Columbia as the SEC Network headquartered their Gamecock coverage at the Seawell’s Catering banquet hall during My Carolina’s event.
Head football coach Steve Spurrier was on hand to lend his always recognizable voice to the evening, addressing the crowd and taking a jab at Clemson before speaking to the media.
And while the Head Ball Coach called the increased national coverage “neat,” his focus is elsewhere with the season opener again Texas A&M just two weeks away.
“So far, it hasn’t been anything to the players,” he said. “They’re going to go play no matter what television it’s on or no matter how much money the university gets.”
The Fall Sports Preview also featured other head coaches from around the school such as men’s soccer’s Mark Berson and volleyball’s Scott Swanson, as well as Athletics director Ray Tanner.