The Head MOAG

Folks, I was going to blog about my thoughts on the ACC Coastal division today, but a certain gamecock fan has given me some better material to discuss today. Don't worry, I'll get to today's original topic some other time. Today I thought we could discuss a quote from the Ol' Ball Coach himself. Coach Spurrier is known for taking some pretty solid shots at his opponents. He coined the phrase, "You can't spell Citrus without UT." He called Florida State "free shoes university." When asked once if his Florida team would beat Georgia that year, he mockingly asked, "Is Ray Goff still the head coach there?" The man has never been short on words, and for the most part, he has backed it up. But 3 full years on Columbia, SC has begun to take its toll on Coach Spurrier. He hasn't enjoyed a winning record against any team South Carolina considers a rival. He's still taking his shots at other teams, but instead of landing with the force of a 1987 Mike Tyson uppercut, they feel like a guilt-ridden spanking from your grandmother. His latest attempt came yesterday. His target: Clemson.

“I wish one of the sportswriters, when they start picking everybody's record this year, would write how they'd do if Clemson played South Carolina's schedule and South Carolina played Clemson's schedule,” Spurrier says.

“They don't do that,” says Spurrier. “Clemson doesn't play Virginia Tech this season. Alabama. Alabama could be difficult. They don't play Georgia and Tennessee and Florida and LSU and those people we play.”

“But anyway, that's the way it is,” Spurrier says. “There's no big deal about it.”

No big deal about it, he says. Of course, that begs the obvious question, If there is no big deal about it, why mention it at all? His comments weren't goaded out of him by a reporter looking to stir up some guff. He simply made them, unprovoked, for no discernable reason at all. Well, folks, that's why I'm here. I'm going to tell you exactly why he made them. Earlier I said 3 years in Columbia has taken its toll on Coach Spurrier, and never has it been more evident than right now. Coach Spurrier has become one of them. MOAG is a powerful force, with its epicenter being Columbia, SC. The closer you get to the armpit of the state, the more it envelops you. Despite being a Hall of Fame coach, a proven winner, Spurrier is now officially a gamecock. He's making excuses before the season even starts. When he took the job at South Carolina, he made it a point to try and lessen the importance of the rivalry with Clemson. We all knew he full of it then, and the proof is in the pudding now.

Yes, Clemson does play an easier schedule than South Carolina. No rational person would dispute that fact. Then again, no confident person would spend a second worrying about another team's schedule. Yet everyday on gamecock message boards, all you see is people whining about Clemson's schedule, and bemoaning their own grueling slate of games. "If we didn't get so beat up each year we'd beat Clemson way more than they beat us." Blah, blah, blah. The last 2 national champions have come from the SEC. Those teams have played schedules at least as difficult as the gamecocks. The cold hard truth is, the schedules don't have nearly as much of an impact on the series record as gamecocks fans want to believe. It's the players that matter. Clemson simply has better players. They always have, and they always will.

Coach Spurrier can complain to the media all he wants about unfair schedules and, ironically, unfair media coverage. This wasn't the first time he's done it, and it certainly won't be the last. I'm sure he'll have plenty more to say after his South Carolina program falls to 1-3 against Clemson this November. When that happens, gamecocks fans, remember this quote from Spurrier. You have no call to be frustrated with him, for he is truly one of you now. Coach Spurrier has the Mind of a Gamecock.