During the early to mid-1990s, the ACC Baseball Tournament enjoyed some of its biggest success at the gate when the games were held at Greenville Municipal Stadium, the former home of the Greenville Braves.

Unfortunately, whining from some rival ACC schools that Clemson had too much of a home-field advantage, due to the large throng of Tiger fans attending the games, led to moving the tourney to places like Durham, N.C., Petersburg, Va. and Jacksonville, Fla., where the turnout has not been as great. Real or not, the perception by many Tiger fans is that the ACC hates Clemson and will do anything in its power to shaft the institution and the Palmetto State whenever possible.

Those feelings were further fueled earlier this week when the ACC reneged on its earlier agreement to host the ACC Baseball Tournament in Myrtle Beach for the next three years. ACC Commissioner John Swofford attributed the decision to the inability of all parties in South Carolina to support the location in the face of a longstanding boycott of sporting events by the NAACP.

In 2000, the confederate flag that once flew atop the state capitol was removed and a new flag was raised on a 30-foot flagpole directly in front of the Capitol at the South Carolina Confederate Soldier Monument. While the decision by the South Carolina General Assembly received the backing of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, the move failed to appease the NAACP. The organization has long advocated that the flag be completely removed from the capitol grounds and placed in a museum because they say it represents slavery, while proponents say it is part of the state’s heritage.

I’m not going to get into a debate on the merits of the flag, because I clearly understand both sides of the issue. Those who feel the flag represents the state’s heritage, especially those who had family members that fought, and died, in the Civil War, have every right to feel that their ancestors gave their lives for something they believed in and that removing the flag would disrespect their memory. Equally, those who feel the flag represents hate — especially those whose ancestors were slaves — have a right to oppose the flag and what they feel it stands for.

But the truth of the matter is that the legislature, with the endorsement of the Black Caucus, agreed to the compromise and all that it entailed nearly a decade ago. Therefore, it shouldn’t be up to the NAACP, the NCAA, the ACC or any other organization or conference to continue punishing the state. This was an issue involving the state that was handled by the state and should be left at that.

ACC officials knew about this issue when they awarded the tournament to Myrtle Beach several months ago, and for them to pull the rug out from under that city in particular and the state as a whole is another example of how weak they really are. Despite the fact that local NAACP leaders and U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, a prominent African-American leader, supported the tournament’s location in Myrtle Beach, that wasn’t enough for a conference and commissioner known for their preference for the Tar Heel State over the Palmetto State.

Personally, I don’t care if the ACC ever holds another baseball tournament in South Carolina. After all, it hasn’t been here since the mid-1990s and life has gone on as usual. Many Clemson fans have traveled to North Carolina, Virginia and Florida to see the tourney, using that time as a vacation. While those dollars would certainly have benefited South Carolina, not to mention the jobs that would have been created for those taking up tickets, cleaning the stadium, helping people park and preparing the stadium grounds just to mention a few, there are times when it’s not just about the money.

Instead, it’s about telling the ACC, NCAA (which, by the way, also observes the boycott on postseason tourneys) and the like that South Carolina isn’t going to cave into political pressure just to hold a sporting event. We know the ACC Football Championship and ACC Basketball Tournament will never come to the Palmetto State because the sporting venues here are too small compared to the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa or the Georgia Dome or the basketball arena in Charlotte. Therefore, I don’t feel it’s worth caving into pressure just to hold a baseball tournament that has rarely drawn well except for the years when it was in Greenville.

While the baseball tourney would benefit the Myrtle Beach area, that area already benefits from tourism year-round (with individuals from all over the country and from Canada visiting The Grand Strand). But the ones that could truly benefit, the ACC and its member schools, have picked up their baseballs and their bats and chosen to play somewhere else. To that, I say, let them.

There comes a time when the issue isn’t about sports, it isn’t about race and it isn’t about heritage. Instead, it’s about not allowing others to dictate what you are and are not going to do. If holding the ACC Tournament in Myrtle Beach was good enough for Rep. Clyburn and the local NAACP, it should have been good enough for the national NAACP and especially the ACC.

Since that proved not to be the case, I say good riddance to the ACC in general and Commissioner John Swofford in particular. One more thing — don’t let the door hit you on the way out.