Panthers are going to stay at Wofford

[Rod Butsecks]

(Tonya Jameson, [email protected]) p/Carolina Panthers team president Mark Richardson said the Panthers need three things for training camp: good practice facilities, good food and a good place to sleep./pp/Wofford College, he said, has all three./pp/ldquo;Our training camp in Spartanburg is operated very well,rdquo; he said. ldquo;It's the right combination of being far enough away, but close enough to home.rdquo;/pp/The Panthers' 15-year contract to hold training camp at Wofford ends this season. Richardson said he expects the team to talk with Wofford officials in the next month about extending the agreement. The next one, however, would likely be shorter than 15 years./pp/ The first contract was long because the school needed a commitment from the Panthers to justify the investment required to improve the facilities for the team, Richardson said./pp/Richardson's statement comes as little surprise considering his father and team owner Jerry, a Wofford alum, instigated holding camp at Wofford. /pp/ Still, the news was exciting for the city and the school./pp/ ldquo;It's a huge win for Spartanburg,rdquo; he said. ldquo;We're very proud that we're a part of the extended Richardson family and the Carolina Panthers tradition.rdquo;/pp/The team's presence in Wofford generates $800,000 to $1million for Spartanburg County, according to Laura Corbin, spokesperson for Team Spartanburg Sports Council. The council is the sports marketing arm of the Spartanburg Convention Visitors Bureau./pp/The team has also benefited Wofford. The college's Richardson Center is an NFL-quality facility with three well-maintained practice fields. Last year, Jerry Richardson gave the school $1million for upgrades at the facility./pp/ldquo;We've been fortunate to have them as long as we have,rdquo; said Richard Johnson, Wofford's athletic director. ldquo;They're a world class organization and we're delighted to have them.rdquo;/pp/The team has also become a part of the Spartanburg community. On Monday, the city celebrated opening day with its annual Panther Party, which drew 4,000 people. Each day during practice, hundreds of fans line the fields watching the players scrimmage and do drills./pp/ Watching practice is a family event for many fans such as Brandon Mills, 27. He lives about 10 minutes away in Boiling Springs. He takes two weeks off from work to attend the practices each day with his children./pp/ldquo;We're real excited to have them here,rdquo; Mills said. ldquo;I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have it here.rdquo;/pp/ For now, it looks like he won't have to worry./p

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[dimbee]

Geez, dude... you need to work on your copy and pasting.

Of course they're staying at Wofford!

At least, as long as the Big Cat is around.

[hdevonxz]

We can send a man to the moon but we can't teach this damn thing how to space and enter.

smh

[dimbee]

And they say bots are the future

I should ban it.

[Kyle82]

:patriot: