Alan Piercy is the author of A Gamecock Odyssey: University of South Carolina Sports in the Independent Era (1971-1991). The following was originally published on Alan’s South By Southeast newsletter. For those of us old enough to remember, there was nothing quite like those Jim Carlen-era football uniforms. The early ’80s-era mesh jerseys, the garnet & black piping along the britches, the helmet with its distinctive striping, garnet face mask, and large Block “C” and Gamecock logo, etc. Many in the uniform-obsessed Gamecock fanbase believe they still rank as the greatest uniforms in the long …