Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Sir Big Spur VII, without comb, is now back as the Gamecocks' live rooster mascot. Submitted/Mary Snelling

Sir Big Spur VII, without comb, is now back as the Gamecocks' live rooster mascot. Submitted/Mary Snelling

COLUMBIA — A comb, an argument, a re-naming and the Internet.

Throw in college football and you have the ingredients for a story that's engulfed South Carolina the past month.

USC announced on Thursday that the live rooster mascot whose name, and a non-USC affiliated poll, ignited an online firestorm has had his original moniker restored. “Sir Big Spur,” the name of the bird since 1999 and through seven incarnations, will carry on.

And with the feature that caused the controversy in the first place.

The rooster’s comb, the spiked bit of tissue that rests stop its head and helps regulate its temperature, was always trimmed by the original owners, Mary Snelling and Ron Albertelli. They thought it made him look fiercer and was more in line with “a fightin’ Gamecock,” not a common rooster.

They handed the Sir Big Spur program over to Van and Beth Clark, who debuted their own variation of the rooster with a full and flourishing comb. That caused Snelling and Albertelli, who owned the naming rights to the bird but had a contract allowing USC to use the name, to not renew the deal once it expired on Aug. 1.

Following a brief re-naming of the bird to “The General,” which channeled the Gamecocks’ namesake, Revolutionary War officer Thomas Sumter, USC administrators reached out to both parties and came to an amicable decision.

Comb is gone. Name stays.

“There was a lot of stuff that went on to make that happen. We had some conversations with the administration,” Snelling said. “There was no money, this has never been nothing to do with money, ever. Probably somewhere in the future, because of the negativity to this, they’re going to want to get or purchase from us the naming rights. We’re perfectly willing to do that, as long as it is understood that the rooster has a trimmed comb.

“We are fighting Gamecocks, not barnyard chickens. That was my point over all.”

The bird that Snelling and Albertelli wanted the Clarks to use, Sir Big Spur VII, had a trimmed comb after Sir Big Spur VI, patrolling sidelines for 12 years, passed away earlier this year.

But the Clarks had raised their own set of birds with full combs, and after finding one with the temperament to be around people and allow itself to be handled, debuted him at USC’s spring football game. That bird was going to be Sir Big Spur VII until Snelling and Albertelli saw the comb, which sparked the dispute.

The original Sir Big Spur VII was going to be given to another USC fan before the two sides, with the push from USC administrators, got together. Now, the Clarks’ bird from the spring game will be returned to their care, and the trimmed-comb Sir Big Spur VII will be under their supervision for events in the future, including the Gamecocks’ football opener on Saturday.

“It was always preferred that we would stay with the ‘Sir Big Spur’ name,” chief marketing officer Eric Nichols said in a statement. “I appreciate the passion that the owners, Mary Snelling and Ron Albertelli, and the new handlers Beth and Van Clark, have for the Gamecocks and the live mascot. We are pleased that we are starting the season with the same name as in year’s past.”

The talk over the last week has been peak Internet.

The State newspaper conducted a poll asking what the new name of the rooster should be, with names that the newspaper staff chose. “Cock Commander,” in the poll in homage to a misprint in a 2004 edition of USC’s student newspaper, was the overwhelming favorite.

Not many online understood that USC never used a poll, nor was a fan vote ever going to have an impact on what the name would be. That's why the new name, “The General,” as announced by USC on Aug. 29, was met with particular scorn.

“It’s going to be Sir Big Spur forever, because we have the trademark of his name. There was so much negative publicity about The General,” Snelling said. “We had agreed to take it back over, and were already making travel plans for away games. Thankfully, we had this talk, Sir Big Spur is back, life is good.”

Snelling made it clear that she and Albertelli still own the bird and the Clarks are the handlers. USC does not own the naming rights to the bird, as it didn’t for Sir Big Spur, but she said she would be open to that dialogue in the future.

As long as whatever bird is used has a trimmed comb.

Follow David Cloninger on Twitter at @DCPandC

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From Rock Hill, S.C., David Cloninger covers Gamecock sports. He will not rest until he owns every great film and song ever recorded.

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