The first football game of the season, Gaffney lost to Southpoint on Saturday, August 20th. There has been a negative response on social media and around the school about Gaffney’s loss. Some people are blaming the band because they weren’t there and others are defending the band, saying the school doesn’t always have enough money to transport them. The band is committed to  practicing and performing but can’t always afford transportation for every game. During halftime, fans were leaving the stands. People have been bashing them on social media about not supporting their team just because things aren’t going well, as expected. There were people trying to stand up for the fans saying, “they pay to sit there and everybody is entitled to their own opinion, if they want to leave they are allowed to leave”. They said that fans pay their money, they’re allowed to predict what’s going to happen and if they don’t like it they’re allowed to leave. They’re also talking about on social media how we’re not going to win every game, how people shouldn’t bash the football team because they did their best, how people shouldn’t bash the band when they have no control over where and when they get to go to games. We talked to Coach Smiley and asked him his opinion about the game. He said that yes, we could’ve done better but, Southpoint had 14 seniors starting and Gaffney had 6 sophomores starting. They’re young, still starting and trying to learn. They have a lot of growing to do. He believes that a lot of people are comparing last year’s seniors to this year’s team. After graduation they lost 20 seniors, so sophomores coming in aren’t the same as those seniors who left. Sports are based on development and commitment to developing in order to reach a set goal. He wants to see growth in his team. He wants and hopes his team wins but, you can’t win every single game. After every game coaches will go back and watch it. They analyze it and take notes on what needs to be done better and who needs to practice more within their position. Coaches wish they could win every single game but they also know that it’s probably not going to happen, so all they can do is push and train their team to be the best they can and to always play their best.