We are merely 7 hours away from kickoff. Williams-Brice Stadium in downtown Columbia, SC is already starting to see a stream of cars, trucks, and SUV's pulling in and setting up tables, tents, and delicious spreads for an afternoon of tailgating. For those of you who don't know, this is a college football town. We eat, breathe, and sleep Carolina football! Those who don't most likely pull for the team headed north of us that is located in a cow field! HA! (Sorry Clemson fans).
Allow me to set the scene for you. It is a beautiful and sunny 84 degrees here today in Columbia. You can't ride a block down the street without seeing vehicles waving Carolina flags and tattooed with Carolina magnets. Businesses aren't doing much business unless of course you are Wal-Mart, Target, or the local discount beer and liquor store. Down in the Greek Village sorority girls are donning their black dresses and high heels (yes, that is correct! Dresses and high heels are appropriate football game attire) and the frat boys are either painting their chests or putting on bow ties. As the hour nears for the Gamecocks to kickoff the 2008 season against the Wolfpack of NC State, parking lots within a 2 mile radius of Williams Brice Stadium will become one huge party and the interstates surrounding downtown will begin to look like parking lots! The stadium will fill up with 85+ thousand people and promptly at 8pm the beautiful sound of 2001 will fill the air and fog machines will begin to fog the field as our boys decked in their garnet and black enter the stadium.
For weeks now speculations of this season's record has been the topic of many conversations around town. What kind of defense are we going to run? Is our offense ready for our tough schedule? So on and so forth. In all the hype that surrounds this football team has emerged an unusual yet astounding story of a particular player. This year as the Gamecocks take the field whether at home or away they will be led by a man of faith, Junior Quarterback Tommy Beecher. Tommy is from Concord, NC and recently shared his testimony via email. He was struggling with finding God's will for his life. He was unsure if Carolina was where he was suppose to be. So unsure that he had even looked into transferring to other colleges where he thought his gifts would be better used. Tommy heeded God's call to stay in Columbia and on the Carolina football team and later found out that he had earned the position of starting quarterback for the 2008 season. The email in which he shared his testimony was sent to only a few people, mostly people back in Concord and a select few in Columbia. In no time that email that been sent to a select people had circulated through in boxes all around Columbia and the state of South Carolina. Tommy's story about his faith in God was out there for everybody to read. It even made the local news! How amazing it is that God used this young man's life and his struggle to find God's will for his life to reach out to thousands of people sharing the same passion as football to share the word of God. Our team has faced troubles on and off the field. God's plan for Tommy was to be here, in our town, leading this group of young men both on the field and hopefully off the field, to be an example, and to shine God's light. You can read Tommy Beecher's testimony here
So, no matter the outcome of tonight's game or any other game throughout the season, I am proud to be a Gamecock and proud to have a guy like Tommy Beecher leading our team! He's an ordinary college student, a hero by no means, but he has the world's biggest hero on his side! That my friends, as Christians, is something to be proud of!
GO COCKS!!!!
Posts
