Lindsey Graham calls 2020 Palmetto rivalry halt 'unacceptable' |
South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham says the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry not playing this season is "unacceptable."
Graham said so on a video shared by ABC Columbia Monday, adding that the SEC's move to go to all-conference games "makes no sense." "You've got some rivalry games out there that have been going on for a very, very long time," Graham said. "I think we have the ability as a state to manage a game between Clemson and South Carolina safely. And the idea of stopping this rivalry for the pandemic bothers me. I'm disappointed and I think it's unacceptable. "We can't let this pandemic stop this rivalry." Clemson and South Carolina went into 2020 as the longest continuous, non-conference rivalry, seeing action each season since 1909. The ACC voted to allow its member schools one non-conference game this season with the ACC-SEC rivalries in mind. A South Carolina official said that the Gamecocks were the lone SEC team to vote against their league's proposal. Graham has been a frequent visitor to Clemson football practices over the years and is an Upstate native and a South Carolina graduate. "I'm going to call and object," he said. "I can't make them do anything they don't want to do, but I think I'm speaking for a lot of people that want to see football between Clemson and South Carolina. "If you're going to play football, play football in a way that makes sense and to me it doesn't make sense to stop the Clemson-South Carolina game if you're going to play other games." South Carolina Senator @LindseyGrahamSC today on the Carolina-Clemson rivalry being canceled: "It's unacceptable... we can't let this pandemic stop this rivalry." @abc_columbia pic.twitter.com/8FHwdUY678
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