Thank You, Spurs & Feathers

In May of 2013 I thought I was just going to lunch in downtown Aiken with my friend, Ed Girardeau.

I was going to lunch, but the reason for the lunch was completely different than what I imagined. I am forever thankful that it was.

That day, Spurs & Feathers Publisher Tim O’Briant, who I thought was just joining us for lunch, asked me if I would be interested in being Executive Editor for the publication.

I was at a loss for words. I did not even know that was an option as I had been reading Spurs & Feathers for most of my life thanks to two University of South Carolina graduates as parents.

At the time, I was in my fifth year as Assistant Athletics Director at USC Aiken. I had no plans to leave, but I am glad that I took the opportunity presented to me.

Spurs & Feathers was not what I saw myself doing for 10-plus years even when I took the job, but I knew it was something that I wanted to take on and help build on the great things done for years by Dexter Hudson and Glenn Snyder.

Some of the biggest challenges at first were setting up a social media presence and creating a website that people would visit.

It took some time, but quickly both the website and the Spurs & Feathers social media avenues were visited heavily daily.

In addition, Spurs & Feathers also began the process of having weekly editions during football season and monthly the rest of the year. Magazines were done quarterly to add more.

Spurs & Feathers even had a weekly show with the Head Ball Coach during the football season for two years.

I left in December of 2016 to get back into more of the day-to-day media relations, but at the time I felt like we had added to the great foundation that was already in place before my arrival.

Since my departure as Executive Editor, I have continued to write for the publication. I loved being able to still connect with Gamecock fans.

I also loved watching the great work of Executive Editor Jeff Owens and Staff Writer Josh Hyber as they continued to take the publication even further. It was special to see, and I was proud to see such a fantastic magazine put out each month.

The Facebook account that was not even created until the summer of 2013 now has over 31,000 likes. The S&F Twitter account now has almost 27,000 followers. The Instagram account that Jeff and Josh started only recently has over 5,000 followers.

I am forever thankful to have been a small part of Spurs & Feathers’ over 40 years as a publication. It is a great collaboration with the Gamecock Club and South Carolina athletics.

I encourage all to go back and look at the great work of Allen Sharpe, Jenny Dilworth, Andy Demetra, Jeff Owens, Josh Hyber, Mike Kucharski, Kyle Heck, Collyn Taylor, Ed Girardeau, Glenn Snyder, Langston Moore, Bill Gunter, Willie Smith and so many more over the last seven years.

Those above are just what you saw on the page too. Spurs & Feathers would not have been possible without the efforts of Tim O’Briant, Ellen Priest, Kathy Boyette, Mary Watson, Brooks Rogers and way too many to mention over the years.

Spurs & Feathers is special because of the people.

Issues Archive: https://issuu.com/spursfeathers