THE BEGINNING
The first Clemson-USC Blood Drive Competition, now called Blood Bowl, was held in 1985. It was the idea of Barbara Cartwright of the Footh Blood Center, now the AnMed Blood Center. She knew about similar competitions around the the country (Pitt-WVU, OSU-Michigan) and thought the same concept could work for CU-USC.
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Barbara proposed the idea to the Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega. Alpha Phi Omega Brothers took the idea to Clemson University President Walter T. Cox. He loved the idea and asked Gamma Lambda to take the lead. Barbara and her counterpart at the Columbia Red Cross worked out the technical details and USC's Fraternity and Sorority Council agreed to sponsor the competition at USC.
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Blood Bowl is now the largest blood drive in the state and one of the largest of it's kind in the nation.
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A picture from the 1954 TAPS Yearbook shows cadets donating blood. The caption reads:
A Clemson tradition... to give our best when it is needed.
THE RECORD
At first, the winner was determined by percentage of the student body. In 1990, USC requested the winner to be determined by total number of units collected. In 2015, Clemson proposed that we start a "home field advantage" system of determining the winner and this is the system we currently use. The winner is determined by total number of units collected with the game is played at USC and by percentage of student body when played at Clemson. The current record is 18 USC - 15 Clemson. But we all know how Clemson thrives when we're the underdog.
CLEMSON: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2018
USC: 1987, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017
THE PEOPLE
In the past, organizations like Angel Flight and Arnold Air Society helped sponsor Blood Bowl. Today, however, Blood Bowl is sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega. Alpha Phi Omega (APO) is a national, co-ed service fraternity that emphasizes leadership, friendship, and service. APO elects two Blood Bowl co-chairs who run not only Blood Bowl each November, but all of the blood drives put on by APO throughout the calendar year. They work with APO's Public Relations chair to design Blood Bowl t-shirts and marketing material to make sure everyone hears about Blood Bowl. All nine locations are staffed with APO Brothers throughout the week. They're the ones who will give you your free t-shirt and wristband once you're done donating! APO is very involved on campus and in the local community. The organization's service calendar is diverse and ranges from Blood Bowl to renovating houses with Homeworks of America. If you're interested in pledging Alpha Phi Omega, they accept pledges at the beginning of each semester.
THE TRADITION
Blood Bowl has been a key part of Clemson tradition since it began. Since 1985, over 400,000 lives have been saved from the donations raised from Blood Bowl. While the competition between the two schools is fun, the whole state ultimately wins. There is nothing that better represents Clemson and our values than Blood Bowl: defeating USC while promoting the progress and prosperity of the state.
Save lives. Beat USC!