Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, carried the torch in Columbia, S.C., Thursday. He proved even rock stars are in awe of the Olympic flame.
"I never thought in a million years I'd be carrying the torch. I'm still waiting to wake up," he said. "The Olympics is just such a great thing, and I'm proud to be a part of it."
While Rucker is from Charleston, S.C., he carried the torch in Columbia, where he went to school and met his band at the University of South Carolina.
The Olympic flame was scheduled to fly from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale by seaplane Saturday, but torch relay spokesman Mark Walker said fears stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have made those in charge of the plane nervous. Now, he said, instead of flying, the flame will likely have to be driven to Fort Lauderdale.
"There were some concerns with these folks so we thought we'd better not do it," he said.
The torch relay, when it's not in caravan from city to city by shuttle bus, is anywhere from 200-300 miles long. As of Thursday night no one has dropped the torch, which has highly breakable glass at its top.