Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2016

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mother’s Chicken Bog, a pilaf dish stuffed with plenty of
sausage, butter and bay leaves. Twelve years later, she hasn’t
given in to either demand. Well, for the most part anyway.
On Thanksgiving 2015, husband Johnny offered
to purchase new furniture for his wife Michelle under
one condition – she would agree to proudly root for the
Clemson Tigers during the 2016 College Football Play-
off National Championship Game. For those of us not
fully loyal to one team or another, this may seem like a
no-brainer. Throw on another team’s colors, profess your
love for them and score a loveseat and dining room set!
For Michelle, it wasn’t that easy. What would she do when
faced with such a bribe?
“I have to say, I got the better end of the bet,” said Mi-
chelle. “I am super excited to have my Gamecock fans over
to enjoy the games and my new furniture! He would say it
was worth it to see me give some praise to Clemson. As for
me, I am enjoying my new furniture and the Gamecock
allegiance has never been
stronger! Now, if I could
just get Ethan on my side,
we could dominate!”
Ethan, now 3, is their
youngest child. On the last
game day he was actually
changed in and out of op-
posing team swag a total of
10 times.
“At different times of
the day, one of us would
sneak off and change him
into our jersey of choice,”
said Michelle. “The poor
little fella is going to be so
confused!”
The Calhouns have two
other children. Sawyer, 14
and Shelby, 8, have stuck
with their mama and are
loyal Gamecocks.
“There is currently
a war being waged over
Ethan,” said Michelle.
“Johnny tells the kids if
they decide to attend Clemson, he would pay their college
tuition. Of course I have an issue with that.”
In the South, we take our college football as seriously
as our shrimp ’n grits. Michelle and Johnny were both
born and bred in Horry County, South Carolina. They
were raised on sweet tea under moss-covered live oaks,
taught the bible and encouraged to have a whole lot of
team spirit.
“Most everyone back home knows us, and they enjoy
keeping up with our banter every year via Facebook,” said
Michelle. “We
have informed our
new neighbors
here in Mount
Pleasant that we
are a house di-
vided, and, come
September, until
that last Saturday
in November, it
may get a little
crazy!”
As for where this family hunkers down to watch the
game? It’s usually from the comfort of their own Mount
Pleasant home. Going to watch it at a local restaurant
could actually cause some unexpected drama.
“Johnny hates watching the game in public places. He
thinks he helps Dabo coach the team from the comforts of
our living room. It’s a wonder they don’t hear him all the
way in Clemson,” said Michelle. “If we tried to watch a
Clemson game in a public place, we would be thrown out
due to his yelling or him getting in a fight with a Game-
cock fan.”
As for any superstitious practices before or after a
game, the Calhouns don’t go to the extremes.
“If we’re not attending the game on game day, we are
parked closely to the TV,” said Michelle. “Our day will
start off at 9 a.m. with College Game Day on ESPN.”
“Our main game day ritual is to wear our team colors
all day long,” she added. “It doesn’t matter if we’re attend-
ing a wedding, birthday party or funeral. You will find us
Calhouns with our team colors on!”
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Another couple that proudly wears their opposing
team colors is
Angel and Rich-
ard Leitner. They
met in Charles-
ton, and, while
they had a lot of
common inter-
ests, they found
that their love
for rival teams
Ethan Calhoun has worn the
colors of both South Carolina and
Clemson.
The Calhoun family on game day.