South Carolina Football: Party Promotion Proof Players Don't Care About Bowls

The college football bowl season is upon us and that means two things: 1) You are subjected to countless bowls that feature sponsors selling potatoes and car care; 2) Players are going to find plenty of ways to get into trouble during the month off they have between the regular season and bowl game.

The latest example comes from the South Carolina Gamecocks. Senior Cee Cee Whitlock and freshman Jadeveon Clowney have decided to lend their mugs for some sort of holiday party coming up on December 23^rd. Check out the description for the party posted on Facebook:

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#TEAMCASCADE ALONG WITH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS'S OWN CEE CEE WHITLOCK & JADEVEON "DOO DOO" CLOWNEY PRESENT "CAROLINA CHRISTMAS" X-MAS EVE EXPLOSION..EVERYBODY FREE TILL 11 DRINK SPECIALS ALL NIGHT LONG——->@ CLUB CASCADE WE ARE ALSO CELEBRATING THE B-DAY OF SHEENA ANDERSON & OM BLAKE!!!!!

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While some comments question the authenticity of the party because they don’t think Clowney goes by the nickname “Doo Doo,” but wouldn’t the South Carolina athletic department have already demanded the post to be taken down?

Both players have already been in trouble before and I think it’s unbelievable that a senior would be dumb enough to allow this to happen.

This whole ordeal comes just days after North Carolina’s Dwight Jones was suspended from his bowl game after allowing his name and image to be used to promote a New Year’s Eve party in Burlington.

Oh did I forget to mention that the Gamecocks are “thoroughly” preparing for Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl on January 2^nd?

I’m pretty sure that is the last thing on the minds of these players. It’s party time and everyone wants to hang with them. Now they will likely be suspended and forced to hang out with themselves as they watch the game on TV in their dorm rooms.

Is that an unfair punishment to dole out? Sure, but that’s the rules. Timothy Burke of Deadspin sums it up best when discussing how dumb the whole situation is:

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NCAA athletes, let's make it clear. No matter how stupid the rules may be, your ability to play football is contingent upon your honoring the commitment you made to follow those rules. Since one of those rules is that you can't advertise for or promote anything, stop doing it.

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When you sign on the dotted line this is what you agree to and a failure to comply is not going to be met with a slap on the wrist.

When will players ever learn this?