Folks, I don't have a lot of time here, as I am literally about to walk out the door and head to Atlanta. So I'm going to make it short and sweet.
Clemson is as good as, or better, than Alabama at every position on the field other than offensive line. They have more experience and talent on each side of the ball. On paper, this game should be a blowout. If it wasn't for the name "Alabama" on the jersey and the coach on the opposite sideline, people would be picking Clemson to run away with this one. Alabama is softer than tits. Since it's the first game of the season, I won't get too carried away with my prediction:
Clemson 41, Alabama 3
When I get back I'll review the game and explain more about this matchup.
Everyone have a great Labor Day weekend. Stay safe, and thanks for reading.
Owner
Friday, August 29, 2008
Gamecock Pride
Observe this picture of NC State quarterback, Russell Wilson, being carted off the field last night after his injury:
What you are seeing, is a South Carolina fan giving him, not one, but both, birds. It's an all too familiar sight at south carolina football games. There really isn't anything I can say that this picture doesn't adequately portray.
Game Review
Well folks, I was pretty much spot on with my assessment of last night's game. South Carolina was able to stretch their lead a little more than I expected because of 3 things: 1) Russell Wilson's injury, 2) two gift turnovers from State inside their own 15 yard line that a better team wouldn't have made, and 3) and an appalling lack of depth on the NC State team. There are several things I took away from this game, and I will tell you them:
1) Tommy Beecher sucks even more than even I had predicted. For those gamecock fans holding out hope that he was this year's Cullen Harper, you can officially flush that idea down the toilet. I doubt we'll see much more of that guy this year, at least until Chris Smelley takes himself out again because the other team is too fast.
2) South Carolina is still terrible against the run. They gave up 100+ yards to Andre Brown, who hasn't carried the ball in over a year and was running behind a very depleted, shallow offensive line.
3) South Carolina's offense is a gridiron abortion. Through 3 quarters, against a highly undermanned m.a.s.h. unit, the gamecocks had amassed 161 offensive yards, given up 5 sacks, and turned it over 4 times, scoring only 13 points.
4) The 4th quarter offensive output from South Carolina doesn't mean jack squat. They rolled up a bunch of yards and 3 scores, but State's defense had basically given up at that point. It was obvious to anyone who was watching the game.
5. South Carolina will be lucky to go 6-6 this year. When they start playing fast teams with a lot of depth, they are going to get their head kicked in(starting with Georgia).
6. NC State is in for a long, long, long year. It appeared as if they finally had things rolling when Russell Wilson went down with a head injury(I think they were going to score), but now Tom O'Brien simply has to pick his poison. Imagine trying to sleep at night if you had to decide between Daniel Evans and Harrison Beck. If I were him, I'd pull that redshirt off of Mike Glennon and see what he can do. Clemson will probably beat the wolfpack by at least 3 times the amount that South Carolina did. At least.
7. South Carolina fans are even lamer than I imagined possible. Towards the end of the 4th quarter, there arose from the student section a cheer so lame, that I had to rewind my DVR just to make sure I had heard it right. But there it was, a bunch of South Carolina fans cheering in unison, "SEC! SEC! SEC!"
It feels good being almost completely right in my preview and assessment of this game. Hopefully the wolfpack can get it together. Hopefully the cocks already have an over-inflated sense of greatness. Don't be surprised when Vandy comes out next week and gives them old Jeffrey Dahmer Special. Stay tuned for my Clemson/Alabama preview.
1) Tommy Beecher sucks even more than even I had predicted. For those gamecock fans holding out hope that he was this year's Cullen Harper, you can officially flush that idea down the toilet. I doubt we'll see much more of that guy this year, at least until Chris Smelley takes himself out again because the other team is too fast.
2) South Carolina is still terrible against the run. They gave up 100+ yards to Andre Brown, who hasn't carried the ball in over a year and was running behind a very depleted, shallow offensive line.
3) South Carolina's offense is a gridiron abortion. Through 3 quarters, against a highly undermanned m.a.s.h. unit, the gamecocks had amassed 161 offensive yards, given up 5 sacks, and turned it over 4 times, scoring only 13 points.
4) The 4th quarter offensive output from South Carolina doesn't mean jack squat. They rolled up a bunch of yards and 3 scores, but State's defense had basically given up at that point. It was obvious to anyone who was watching the game.
5. South Carolina will be lucky to go 6-6 this year. When they start playing fast teams with a lot of depth, they are going to get their head kicked in(starting with Georgia).
6. NC State is in for a long, long, long year. It appeared as if they finally had things rolling when Russell Wilson went down with a head injury(I think they were going to score), but now Tom O'Brien simply has to pick his poison. Imagine trying to sleep at night if you had to decide between Daniel Evans and Harrison Beck. If I were him, I'd pull that redshirt off of Mike Glennon and see what he can do. Clemson will probably beat the wolfpack by at least 3 times the amount that South Carolina did. At least.
7. South Carolina fans are even lamer than I imagined possible. Towards the end of the 4th quarter, there arose from the student section a cheer so lame, that I had to rewind my DVR just to make sure I had heard it right. But there it was, a bunch of South Carolina fans cheering in unison, "SEC! SEC! SEC!"
It feels good being almost completely right in my preview and assessment of this game. Hopefully the wolfpack can get it together. Hopefully the cocks already have an over-inflated sense of greatness. Don't be surprised when Vandy comes out next week and gives them old Jeffrey Dahmer Special. Stay tuned for my Clemson/Alabama preview.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
south carolina VS. NC STATE PREVIEW
Okay, folks, the big day has arrived. You know that old adage, "It's never as good as it seems, and it's never as bad as it seems?" Well I can't think of a more apropos way of describing tonight's match up between the Wolfpack and the gamecocks. As you've seen this week, most gamecock fans are expecting to pummel the Wolfpack tonight, to take them behind the proverbial woodshed. They believe their defense is the best in America. They also believe that NC State has the worst offense in America. Now I know that a lot of you are pretty stupid, especially the Virginia Tech fan, and can't remember as far back as last week, but what we've seen this week is almost an exact replica of the talk we heard from gamecock fans before their matchup with North Carolina last year. They were gonna pound a weak ACC team, and win by 40, and show the ACC how dominant the SEC really was. Of course, as any rational person expected, it was a really close game that the gamecocks were lucky to win. Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that south carolina's defense isn't good(it isn't good). And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that NC State's offense is really good. But I am going to tell you that South Carolina fans will not be happy with the outcome of tonight's game, and I'm going to tell you why.
When NC State has the ball:
The Wolfpack are not an offensive juggernaut. They have question marks at virtually every position on the offensive side of the ball. Tom O'Brien has elected to go with redshirt freshman Russell Wilson in lieu of senior Daniel Evans(wolfpack fans rejoice). Wilson brings with his game a howitzer of an arm, and pretty decent mobility. This should create a tougher match up than expected for the gamecock front 7, considering they are one of the nation's worst against the run. Gamecock fans, I'm telling you, don't expect it to be much better this year. State also has a highly capable running back in Andre Brown, although it's been a while since he saw action. This brings me to what I feel could be their biggest advantage: the offensive line. Teams expecting to dominate an O'Brien coached offensive line always get the shock of a lifetime. These guys are big, fast, and disciplined. I fully expect them to give the gamecock DL everything they can handle and more. And they better, because I don't think the Wolfpack will be very successful through the air tonight. south carolina does have a decent secondary, although it is vastly overrated because of skewed statistics. Teams didn't need to throw against them last year because their front 7 was weaker than melted Swiss cheese. Nevertheless, NC State doesn't have a proven playmaker at the WR position, and nobody really knows how Wilson will fare in the passing aspect of the game. I expect the gamecocks to stack the box tonight, and make Wilson prove he can beat them through the air. There are always some surprises on opening day, but I don't think the Pack aerial attack is going to be one of them. Bottom line: This will be a stoppable force battling a movable object. Advantage - south carolina, but only slightly
When South Carolina has the ball:
South Carolina sucks on offense. Their quarterback is garbage. He almost transferred last year because he couldn't get any playing time behind Blake Mitchell and Chris Smelley. Take a moment and ponder that. He won this year's starting job by default, and it will show tonight. They aren't any better at running back. Mike Davis, at one time, showed some potential, but he is pretty much a non-factor these days, as he gives very little effort and has trouble holding on to the footbaw. Taylor Rank is the starter tonight. Are you freaking kidding me? You can't see it right now, but I'm laughing. The offensive line is also a huge pile of shit. As late as yesterday, Spurrier still didn't know what his starting 5 was going to be. This is the same old story every year out of Columbia. NC State's offense won't light it up tonight, but neither will South Carolina's. Degenerate sinners, take out a 2nd mortgage and take the under. NC State doesn't return very many players on the defensive side of the ball, but that may end up being a blessing in disguise, as the '07 version was.......not good. The DL lost virtually everyone, but playing against such a crap rushing offense as south carolina, I don't think it will show too much. The linebackers are going to be bad. There is no way to sugarcoat it. If South Carolina is really going to exploit the Pack defense, it will be with short to intermediate stuff over the middle of the field. The secondary is a question mark, but not as much as the LB corp. Since South Carolina has only 1 good wideout, look for State's safeties to come over top and try and take some pressure off the linebackers. Bottom line: NC State's defense is questionable, but no moreso than south carolina's offense. Advantage - push
When both teams suck and have to kick: South Carolina fans think ST coach, Ray Rychleski, is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Ask them, South Carolina will lead the nation in every special teams category imaginable. Joke. They suck. I fully expect NC State to make a game-changing play on special teams tonight.
Coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier is a (former)legend. Tom O'Brien isn't. But that doesn't mean that this contest is a fore drawn conclusion. O'Brien's teams play about as disciplined a game as any team in America. This is his second year, and the mistakes of last year are just that, a thing of the past. Spurrier is a has-been, hellbent on ruining his reputation as one of the game's best. His advantage tonight, if any, is minimal.
Final Prediction: As I mentioned earlier, South Carolina fans expecting a 30 point blowout are in for a rude awakening. The gamecocks are notorious for looking like farm animal afterbirth in season openers. They are a slightly better football team than NC State right now, just as they were a slightly better team than North Carolina last year. The home crowd will not be any advantage, since it's a Thursday night and the stadium won't be full. Besides, it's one of the quietest stadiums I've ever been in when things aren't going well. Expect a lot of sloppy play from both teams. South Carolina wins in a squeaker: 13-10.
When NC State has the ball:
The Wolfpack are not an offensive juggernaut. They have question marks at virtually every position on the offensive side of the ball. Tom O'Brien has elected to go with redshirt freshman Russell Wilson in lieu of senior Daniel Evans(wolfpack fans rejoice). Wilson brings with his game a howitzer of an arm, and pretty decent mobility. This should create a tougher match up than expected for the gamecock front 7, considering they are one of the nation's worst against the run. Gamecock fans, I'm telling you, don't expect it to be much better this year. State also has a highly capable running back in Andre Brown, although it's been a while since he saw action. This brings me to what I feel could be their biggest advantage: the offensive line. Teams expecting to dominate an O'Brien coached offensive line always get the shock of a lifetime. These guys are big, fast, and disciplined. I fully expect them to give the gamecock DL everything they can handle and more. And they better, because I don't think the Wolfpack will be very successful through the air tonight. south carolina does have a decent secondary, although it is vastly overrated because of skewed statistics. Teams didn't need to throw against them last year because their front 7 was weaker than melted Swiss cheese. Nevertheless, NC State doesn't have a proven playmaker at the WR position, and nobody really knows how Wilson will fare in the passing aspect of the game. I expect the gamecocks to stack the box tonight, and make Wilson prove he can beat them through the air. There are always some surprises on opening day, but I don't think the Pack aerial attack is going to be one of them. Bottom line: This will be a stoppable force battling a movable object. Advantage - south carolina, but only slightly
When South Carolina has the ball:
South Carolina sucks on offense. Their quarterback is garbage. He almost transferred last year because he couldn't get any playing time behind Blake Mitchell and Chris Smelley. Take a moment and ponder that. He won this year's starting job by default, and it will show tonight. They aren't any better at running back. Mike Davis, at one time, showed some potential, but he is pretty much a non-factor these days, as he gives very little effort and has trouble holding on to the footbaw. Taylor Rank is the starter tonight. Are you freaking kidding me? You can't see it right now, but I'm laughing. The offensive line is also a huge pile of shit. As late as yesterday, Spurrier still didn't know what his starting 5 was going to be. This is the same old story every year out of Columbia. NC State's offense won't light it up tonight, but neither will South Carolina's. Degenerate sinners, take out a 2nd mortgage and take the under. NC State doesn't return very many players on the defensive side of the ball, but that may end up being a blessing in disguise, as the '07 version was.......not good. The DL lost virtually everyone, but playing against such a crap rushing offense as south carolina, I don't think it will show too much. The linebackers are going to be bad. There is no way to sugarcoat it. If South Carolina is really going to exploit the Pack defense, it will be with short to intermediate stuff over the middle of the field. The secondary is a question mark, but not as much as the LB corp. Since South Carolina has only 1 good wideout, look for State's safeties to come over top and try and take some pressure off the linebackers. Bottom line: NC State's defense is questionable, but no moreso than south carolina's offense. Advantage - push
When both teams suck and have to kick: South Carolina fans think ST coach, Ray Rychleski, is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Ask them, South Carolina will lead the nation in every special teams category imaginable. Joke. They suck. I fully expect NC State to make a game-changing play on special teams tonight.
Coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier is a (former)legend. Tom O'Brien isn't. But that doesn't mean that this contest is a fore drawn conclusion. O'Brien's teams play about as disciplined a game as any team in America. This is his second year, and the mistakes of last year are just that, a thing of the past. Spurrier is a has-been, hellbent on ruining his reputation as one of the game's best. His advantage tonight, if any, is minimal.
Final Prediction: As I mentioned earlier, South Carolina fans expecting a 30 point blowout are in for a rude awakening. The gamecocks are notorious for looking like farm animal afterbirth in season openers. They are a slightly better football team than NC State right now, just as they were a slightly better team than North Carolina last year. The home crowd will not be any advantage, since it's a Thursday night and the stadium won't be full. Besides, it's one of the quietest stadiums I've ever been in when things aren't going well. Expect a lot of sloppy play from both teams. South Carolina wins in a squeaker: 13-10.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I'ma Get Me Some Swa
Well, folks, the cat is out of the bag. After a puzzling decision came down Monday to start 3rd string(white) tailback Taylor Rank, Steve Spurrier knew he would face a barrage of questions from media and fans alike. Why are we starting a white tailback? How can we win with a cracker tailback? I didn't even know we had a honkey tailback? And so forth. And true to form, the questions came, albeit not quite as bluntly. When asked yesterday if starter Mike Davis was sitting for disciplinary reasons, Spurrer said, ""No, no, I'm not unhappy with Mike's effort. He'll be fine." Spurrier also cited his lack of practice[due to injury] in fall camp as another reason for the move. To the lay person these explanations held water. But being the intrepid reporter I claim to be, I decided to dig a little further into the situation, and what I found should be of grave concern to all gamecock fans.
Mike Davis is not missing the start tomorrow night for any of the reasons(excuses) given by Coach Cock 'n Balls. He is missing the start, in essence, because he was thirsty. *So thirsty was Davis that he felt the need to break into a refrigerator in the team's training facility. And not only are we talking about theft here, theft from his own school, we are talking about serious appliance damage. Once the crime was discovered, the players were called to a meeting, and the guilty party was asked to step forward. Davis chose to remain silent, adding a 3rd blow to the crime spree that left, perhaps, one teammate drinkless. Only later, through the facility's video surveillance system, did the coaching staff learn the true identity of the criminal in their midst. It looks like some things just haven't changed in Columbia.
One thing that has changed, however, is Coach Spurrier's reputation as a straight shooter. When he was at Florida, SOS was as honest as they came, sometimes to a fault. But now, faced with embarassment after embarassment, it seems that the Ol Ball Coach is just resigned to taking the easy way out. And it isn't surprising to this blogger either. If you had to answer questions on a daily basis about the south carolina university football team, you'd probably find it easier just to lie too. Hell, what do you expect from a program that feels it has to put locks on refrigerators?
Now I know this isn't the most egregious of crimes to take place within the gamecock football program, but it just seems like you can't open up the newspaper these days without reading about some coot breaking the law. At least it's a far cry from the Holtz days, when players helped themselved to computers and video equipment. But a crime is a crime, and Davis has to take his punishment. Speaking of which, it'll be interesting to see how long he sits out. Spurrier is notorious for his non-punishments down in Columbia. My guess is, after a few lame series Thursday night, Spurrier will realize that the real crime is whitey toting the rock.
*link to article: http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/aug/27/davis_not_starting_disciplinary_reasons52100/
Now, let's enjoy some Wednesday MOAG.
On the Davis incident:
- And to think this made the paper.....Wouldn't have at any other school! I certainly hope we're getting this kind of publicity when we win games this year.
- This is like breaking a window to get into your own house when you've been locked out.
- I swear if I was Steve Spurrier I would find out who leaked this story and he/she would be out of a job. Every D1 college in the country provides sports drinks for the athletes before/during/after work outs. Who's the idiot who put a lock on the refrigerator? That's who needs to sit out and pay for the damages to the door.
- Too many people run their mouths up there. The man was obviously thirsty, let him and whomever else have a drink whenever they want one!
- The only purpose for this story is to make Mike Davis look like a bad apple, disrupt our team's preparation prior to kickoff, tarnish USC football team's already damaged image, make SOS look like he is dishonest with the public.
- the guy who locked it should be fired. imo.
On Clemson's schedule:
- Wake forest is a tougher team than bama or us? that's a big load
- make no mistake, we should be the toughest game on their schedule and quite possibly, there only loss.
- If they played USC's schedule they would be preseason 4th in the SEC just like us.
Mike Davis is not missing the start tomorrow night for any of the reasons(excuses) given by Coach Cock 'n Balls. He is missing the start, in essence, because he was thirsty. *So thirsty was Davis that he felt the need to break into a refrigerator in the team's training facility. And not only are we talking about theft here, theft from his own school, we are talking about serious appliance damage. Once the crime was discovered, the players were called to a meeting, and the guilty party was asked to step forward. Davis chose to remain silent, adding a 3rd blow to the crime spree that left, perhaps, one teammate drinkless. Only later, through the facility's video surveillance system, did the coaching staff learn the true identity of the criminal in their midst. It looks like some things just haven't changed in Columbia.
One thing that has changed, however, is Coach Spurrier's reputation as a straight shooter. When he was at Florida, SOS was as honest as they came, sometimes to a fault. But now, faced with embarassment after embarassment, it seems that the Ol Ball Coach is just resigned to taking the easy way out. And it isn't surprising to this blogger either. If you had to answer questions on a daily basis about the south carolina university football team, you'd probably find it easier just to lie too. Hell, what do you expect from a program that feels it has to put locks on refrigerators?
Now I know this isn't the most egregious of crimes to take place within the gamecock football program, but it just seems like you can't open up the newspaper these days without reading about some coot breaking the law. At least it's a far cry from the Holtz days, when players helped themselved to computers and video equipment. But a crime is a crime, and Davis has to take his punishment. Speaking of which, it'll be interesting to see how long he sits out. Spurrier is notorious for his non-punishments down in Columbia. My guess is, after a few lame series Thursday night, Spurrier will realize that the real crime is whitey toting the rock.
*link to article: http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/aug/27/davis_not_starting_disciplinary_reasons52100/
Now, let's enjoy some Wednesday MOAG.
On the Davis incident:
- And to think this made the paper.....Wouldn't have at any other school! I certainly hope we're getting this kind of publicity when we win games this year.
- This is like breaking a window to get into your own house when you've been locked out.
- I swear if I was Steve Spurrier I would find out who leaked this story and he/she would be out of a job. Every D1 college in the country provides sports drinks for the athletes before/during/after work outs. Who's the idiot who put a lock on the refrigerator? That's who needs to sit out and pay for the damages to the door.
- Too many people run their mouths up there. The man was obviously thirsty, let him and whomever else have a drink whenever they want one!
- The only purpose for this story is to make Mike Davis look like a bad apple, disrupt our team's preparation prior to kickoff, tarnish USC football team's already damaged image, make SOS look like he is dishonest with the public.
- the guy who locked it should be fired. imo.
On Clemson's schedule:
- Wake forest is a tougher team than bama or us? that's a big load
- make no mistake, we should be the toughest game on their schedule and quite possibly, there only loss.
- If they played USC's schedule they would be preseason 4th in the SEC just like us.
- If we had their JV schedule, we would win them all too.
- Im willing to bet when USC starts hammering the Taters 8 out of 10 games they will drop us.
On this year:
- we go 9-4 this year, I honestly don't think we look back.
On next year:
- I'm thinking Next Year is the year we take the East.
- 2009, especially 2010, will be more like a special year.
On a 2008 Team Slogan:
- "Make no mistake, it's not revenge they're after. It's the reckonin'." -Doc Holiday
- "Be Perfect, In assignments, ethusiasm, and effort."
- "We're comin, and HELL'S comin with us!"
- "The talk is over The walk has begun"
- "This is Next Year"
Some more NC State predictions:
- USC: 45, NCST: 10
- 41-0 and I'm trying to be conservative
- 45-10, if they make it to 10.
- This one's easy: 42 - 10
- 38-3 USC Spurrier is ready to put his stamp on this program. The defense is ready to kill and NCS just happens to be first up.
- 51-6 Carolina rolls overwhelmed pack
- 42 - nada COCKS!! WIN!!
- At least 50 for us , I have waited for a long time for us to hang 50 on somebody .
- Cocks win 42-10
Monday, August 25, 2008
What Up, Dickbags?
Folks, game week is upon us. We've been waiting 8 long months for this. And now the state of South Carolina is front and center on the college football stage. The Gamecocks will kick off the season on Thursday, and the Tigers will get the ball rolling on Saturday. It's been many years since both teams, and their fans, began a season with such high expectations. Can the Tigers finally go 12-0? Can the gamecocks finally go 8-4? We won't know for certain after this weekend, but we'll have a pretty good idea how realistic those expecations are. Speaking of realistic expectations, it looks like the gamecocks will be starting a white running back against NC State. I'll let you draw your own conclusions. One thing is for certain though, the MOAG is expected to be at an all time high in 2008, and I will be right here serving it up. Seriously, he's white.
Now, before it's too late, I owe you an ACC Atlantic preview.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Clemson
2. Wake Forest
3. Boston College
4. Florida State
5. Maryland
6. NC State
1. Clemson - There is really nothing I can say that you haven't already seen or heard about this bunch. There is a lot of talent and experience coming back on both sides of the ball, especially at the skill positions. The biggest area of concern is along the offensive line, where the Tigers only return 2 starters from last year's Peach Bowl team. But the experience cupboard isn't bare, and what they lack in starts, they will more than make up with a toughness not seen in a Clemson O-Line for many, many years. Harper, Spiller, Davis, and Kelly will all have big years. One thing to watch for is a notably missing dynamic from recent Clemson teams: short yardage prowess. True freshman Jamie Harper can absolutely move a pile. On defense, the Tigers have the best defensive line in the league, and probably the deepest. The secondary is also loaded with talent and experience. I expect them to rank in the top 10 again in passing defense this year. Linebacker is the biggest question on this side of the ball. And much like the OL, there is talent, just not a lot of experience. One name to look for is true freshman Stanley Hunter. I think he will be the next great Tiger linebacker. Clemson's schedule is very favorable, although there is a moderately tough stretch from mid-October to mid-December, when the Tigers face Wake, BC, and FSU on the road. Nevertheless, this team will finally get over the hump and punch its ticket to the ACC Championship game.
Season Outlook: 11-1
2. Wake Forest - This team could pose a pretty serious threat to Clemson. They have the best coach in America in Jim Grobe. They also have potential stars at quarterback(Riley Skinner) and running back(Josh Adams). The WRs are unproven, but Grobe says it is his most talented bunch yet. Wake will always be salty on defense, and they return 9 starters, including All-America candidate, Alphonso Smith. I'm picking Clemson to win this division, but I would not be at all surprised if the Deacs put the kaibosh on that predictions. I'd be so pissed.
Season Outlook: 9-3
3. Boston College - Yes, BC lost just about every offensive threat to graduation. Yes, there is no more Matty Ice, with his stupid haircut. But this is BC we're talking about here. You know they are going to be good upfront on both sides of the ball. They just reload with future NFLers on the offensive line every year. The problem is, nobody really knows who they'll be blocking for. The qb position is still up for grabs, and they are paper thin at running back. On defense, I expect them to be one of the better units in the conference. They return most of their tuff front 7, and even better news is that Brian Toal is back. The bottom line is they won't be great, but anyone who overlooks the Eagles this year is in for a rude awakening.
Season Outlook: 8-4
4. Florida State - Despite what most pundits would have you believe, the Noles are simply not on the way back up. Their offensive line is downright putrid, as is their quarterback. Preston Parker could be a weapon but he doesn't play hard and is always in and out of trouble. They do have athletes on defense, but they aren't deep enough to hang with the better teams on their schedule. Even worse, there is the looming threat of an NCAA beatdown as a result of last year's cheating scandal. If that happens sooner rather than later, the Noles might be in for their worst season ever under Bobby Bowden. Things could fall apart quickly and somethin fierce.
Season Outlook: 7-5
5. Maryland - Ralph Friedgen is fat. Terp fans are scum.
Season Outlook: 7-5
6. NC State - This prediction was really by default more than anything, as I do think the Pack could be improved. They'll have to settle on a quarterback, but they do have a good stable of running backs. I won't pretend to know anything about their offensive line, but if there is one thing Tom O'Brien is good at, it's getting solid play out of his trench-men. I expect the Wolfpack to be a very fundamentally sound team, which would be a welcome change from the Chuck Dee'Amato days. Defense is young and unkown. They will probably give up a lot of points, but not to South Carolina.
Season Outlook: 5-7
Clemson will win the Atlantic division as well as the ACC, earning its first BCS Bowl bid in team history. Yay!
Now for some delicious MOAG
On Stephen Garcia:
- he's doing as good as korn is.
On starting white running back, Taylor Rank:
- when Rank gains 185 yards...how will you feel?
- It's win-win.
- Anyone remember John Riggens, Larry Csonka, Mike Alstott, Jerome Bettis? No blazing 40 times there either.
- he is the only Gamecock on the roster that has gained over 100 yards in every game he started!
*editor's note - He has started 1 game, against Florida Atlantic.
On season expectations:
- I won’t complain with anything above 8-4
- I'm thinking at least 8-4 with a minmum Peach Bowl birth and we could consider a 9-4 season a success.
- I think we should all be planning on 9 wins, and the season should be judged as a success or failure based on that number (although I'd be willing to accept 8).
- You can write it down,Gamecocks will beat fla.at fla.Iwill wait till the game before i give you my reasons because i do not want to disrupt their thought process now.
NC State predictions:
- Gamecocks 37, Wolfpack 10
- I'll be SHOCKED if we don't CRUSH NC State...
- I think we will CRUSH NC State and they will quickly see that what we prepare and face every year in the SEC makes some of these ACC games a joke.
- You guys need to get out of the past. Our offense scores 4 td's, our defense 1, and and 2 field goals. Final score: 41-6. NCSU won't play a defense like ours all year.
- If we don't win by at least 21 points then I say we are in for a long year.
- 45-6 Good Guys
- I think USC 45 Wolfpack 17
- 38-13, Carolina.
Now, before it's too late, I owe you an ACC Atlantic preview.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Clemson
2. Wake Forest
3. Boston College
4. Florida State
5. Maryland
6. NC State
1. Clemson - There is really nothing I can say that you haven't already seen or heard about this bunch. There is a lot of talent and experience coming back on both sides of the ball, especially at the skill positions. The biggest area of concern is along the offensive line, where the Tigers only return 2 starters from last year's Peach Bowl team. But the experience cupboard isn't bare, and what they lack in starts, they will more than make up with a toughness not seen in a Clemson O-Line for many, many years. Harper, Spiller, Davis, and Kelly will all have big years. One thing to watch for is a notably missing dynamic from recent Clemson teams: short yardage prowess. True freshman Jamie Harper can absolutely move a pile. On defense, the Tigers have the best defensive line in the league, and probably the deepest. The secondary is also loaded with talent and experience. I expect them to rank in the top 10 again in passing defense this year. Linebacker is the biggest question on this side of the ball. And much like the OL, there is talent, just not a lot of experience. One name to look for is true freshman Stanley Hunter. I think he will be the next great Tiger linebacker. Clemson's schedule is very favorable, although there is a moderately tough stretch from mid-October to mid-December, when the Tigers face Wake, BC, and FSU on the road. Nevertheless, this team will finally get over the hump and punch its ticket to the ACC Championship game.
Season Outlook: 11-1
2. Wake Forest - This team could pose a pretty serious threat to Clemson. They have the best coach in America in Jim Grobe. They also have potential stars at quarterback(Riley Skinner) and running back(Josh Adams). The WRs are unproven, but Grobe says it is his most talented bunch yet. Wake will always be salty on defense, and they return 9 starters, including All-America candidate, Alphonso Smith. I'm picking Clemson to win this division, but I would not be at all surprised if the Deacs put the kaibosh on that predictions. I'd be so pissed.
Season Outlook: 9-3
3. Boston College - Yes, BC lost just about every offensive threat to graduation. Yes, there is no more Matty Ice, with his stupid haircut. But this is BC we're talking about here. You know they are going to be good upfront on both sides of the ball. They just reload with future NFLers on the offensive line every year. The problem is, nobody really knows who they'll be blocking for. The qb position is still up for grabs, and they are paper thin at running back. On defense, I expect them to be one of the better units in the conference. They return most of their tuff front 7, and even better news is that Brian Toal is back. The bottom line is they won't be great, but anyone who overlooks the Eagles this year is in for a rude awakening.
Season Outlook: 8-4
4. Florida State - Despite what most pundits would have you believe, the Noles are simply not on the way back up. Their offensive line is downright putrid, as is their quarterback. Preston Parker could be a weapon but he doesn't play hard and is always in and out of trouble. They do have athletes on defense, but they aren't deep enough to hang with the better teams on their schedule. Even worse, there is the looming threat of an NCAA beatdown as a result of last year's cheating scandal. If that happens sooner rather than later, the Noles might be in for their worst season ever under Bobby Bowden. Things could fall apart quickly and somethin fierce.
Season Outlook: 7-5
5. Maryland - Ralph Friedgen is fat. Terp fans are scum.
Season Outlook: 7-5
6. NC State - This prediction was really by default more than anything, as I do think the Pack could be improved. They'll have to settle on a quarterback, but they do have a good stable of running backs. I won't pretend to know anything about their offensive line, but if there is one thing Tom O'Brien is good at, it's getting solid play out of his trench-men. I expect the Wolfpack to be a very fundamentally sound team, which would be a welcome change from the Chuck Dee'Amato days. Defense is young and unkown. They will probably give up a lot of points, but not to South Carolina.
Season Outlook: 5-7
Clemson will win the Atlantic division as well as the ACC, earning its first BCS Bowl bid in team history. Yay!
Now for some delicious MOAG
On Stephen Garcia:
- he's doing as good as korn is.
On starting white running back, Taylor Rank:
- when Rank gains 185 yards...how will you feel?
- It's win-win.
- Anyone remember John Riggens, Larry Csonka, Mike Alstott, Jerome Bettis? No blazing 40 times there either.
- he is the only Gamecock on the roster that has gained over 100 yards in every game he started!
*editor's note - He has started 1 game, against Florida Atlantic.
On season expectations:
- I won’t complain with anything above 8-4
- I'm thinking at least 8-4 with a minmum Peach Bowl birth and we could consider a 9-4 season a success.
- I think we should all be planning on 9 wins, and the season should be judged as a success or failure based on that number (although I'd be willing to accept 8).
- You can write it down,Gamecocks will beat fla.at fla.Iwill wait till the game before i give you my reasons because i do not want to disrupt their thought process now.
NC State predictions:
- Gamecocks 37, Wolfpack 10
- I'll be SHOCKED if we don't CRUSH NC State...
- I think we will CRUSH NC State and they will quickly see that what we prepare and face every year in the SEC makes some of these ACC games a joke.
- You guys need to get out of the past. Our offense scores 4 td's, our defense 1, and and 2 field goals. Final score: 41-6. NCSU won't play a defense like ours all year.
- If we don't win by at least 21 points then I say we are in for a long year.
- 45-6 Good Guys
- I think USC 45 Wolfpack 17
- 38-13, Carolina.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Bag Man Speaketh
“Clemson’s got that high-powered offense, and do you know how many touchdowns they scored against us? Just one. I rest my case. The bottom line is scoring points.”
27 words. 27 idiotic words that epitomize the culture and mindset of gamecock fans everywhere. So said south carolina's DL coach, and notorious bagman, Brad Lawing, in an interview with The State newspaper yesterday(http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/497166.html). Call me crazy, but where I come from, Greenville, the bottom line is wins and losses. Oh, I'm used to hearing from cock lovers about the meaningless moral victories the gamecocks have amassed over the past 100+ years. Heck, how many teams overcome 5 sacks, three int's, poor routes, bad blocking, poor field position three fumbles and only lose by 11 to a team that took UGA to the last second, right? But it appears the cold, dead hand of MOAG is starting to creep up the coaching staff's shoulders now too.
A few weeks ago I blawwged about how Spurrier had fallen under its spell. Now we're starting to see that trickle down effect I predicted for the rest of the coaching staff. At no point in the interview did Lawing, well-known for his cheating ways, mention the 214 yards rushing his line surrendered in that game. I guess he was proud of that number considering his boys had given up more than double that total to Arkansas a couple of weeks prior. But more importantly, at no point in the interview did Lawing, known more for his cheating than his coaching ability, mention the outcome of that game. Obviously, I don't have to tell you, my loyal readers, what the outcome was. After all, it was a Clemson/south carolina game.
Now, readers, this one, short-sighted observation probably wouldn't mean a hillabeans taken on its own. But it can't be marginalized the way gamecock fans want it to be. It is part of a larger, more troubling, pattern of sissybaby failure with no end in sight. You can't pick up a newspaper in South Carolina these days without seeing one of their loser coaches complaining about Clemson this, or Clemson that. They're pointing out our arrest record to recruits! They're planting moles inside our police department to target our athletes!! They're beating us on purpose!!!
It's just getting sad(or funny), and it is starting to bear striking resemblance to the beginning of the end of the Holtz era. Don't be surprised if the on-field performance begins to follow suit as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, the focus is on Brad Lawing, a man known more for his blatant cheating than his ability to coach football players.
So, Brad, I think you need to realize that you're asking the wrong question. It doesn't matter how many touchdowns Clemson's offense scored against y'all. Granted, it was just one, but Clemson......just won. I rest my case.
On team improvement:
- This team is making incremental improvements virtually across the board. I doubt there are many teams in the SEC (or the nation) that you can say that about.
On Clemson:
- Everyone connected with Clemson football is a compulsive liar.
On the '07 Gamecocks:
- The Defense was designed to stop the Pass not the Run. The teams that ran the ball well CRUSHED US. The passing teams did not do as well against our D.
- our D was structured to protect the DBs
On the '08 Gamecocks:
- I dont know how anyone cant see this team is a 9+ winning team.
- If the offense just treads water we will win 8 or more.
- QB situation is best its been since Phil Petty.
- In my opinion it doesn't matter who's playing QB, if they play smart/mistake free football we will win 8 or 9.
- This is a much better and deeper team than last years.
- we'd win 6 w/ lanning[the punter] playing qb.
- this will be far and away the best defense we've seen in Spurrier's tenure.
- I say 9-10 wins is easily doable and 11 if with some breaks + a bowl game.
- 9-3 is reasonable.
On the future:
- next year will kick off a great streak of success.
- WE WILL NEVER HAVE QB PROBLEMS AGAIN UNDER SPURRIER!!
On NC State:
- 8 days from now after we throttle NC State all the talk will be about how horrible NC State is and that Newberry could beat them by 2-3 scores. Remember my post because this will happen.
On their OL coach:
- IF Georgia finishes this season any better than 8-4, and we are no better than the same, we need to start looking for a new O-Line coach.
On team spirit:
- Can we please get together on this and get some TV air time (Sportscenter)for one of our better defenders? When Captain makes a big play as he does at least once or twice a game. Lets have everyone turn North and put a leg up on the bench above, raise your arm and keep your chin up like the Captian Morgan commercial. Lets even give an a good old pirate "Arrrrgh" or "Aye Captain" cheer. Let's show some inituitve and spirit and run with this!
27 words. 27 idiotic words that epitomize the culture and mindset of gamecock fans everywhere. So said south carolina's DL coach, and notorious bagman, Brad Lawing, in an interview with The State newspaper yesterday(http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/497166.html). Call me crazy, but where I come from, Greenville, the bottom line is wins and losses. Oh, I'm used to hearing from cock lovers about the meaningless moral victories the gamecocks have amassed over the past 100+ years. Heck, how many teams overcome 5 sacks, three int's, poor routes, bad blocking, poor field position three fumbles and only lose by 11 to a team that took UGA to the last second, right? But it appears the cold, dead hand of MOAG is starting to creep up the coaching staff's shoulders now too.
A few weeks ago I blawwged about how Spurrier had fallen under its spell. Now we're starting to see that trickle down effect I predicted for the rest of the coaching staff. At no point in the interview did Lawing, well-known for his cheating ways, mention the 214 yards rushing his line surrendered in that game. I guess he was proud of that number considering his boys had given up more than double that total to Arkansas a couple of weeks prior. But more importantly, at no point in the interview did Lawing, known more for his cheating than his coaching ability, mention the outcome of that game. Obviously, I don't have to tell you, my loyal readers, what the outcome was. After all, it was a Clemson/south carolina game.
Now, readers, this one, short-sighted observation probably wouldn't mean a hillabeans taken on its own. But it can't be marginalized the way gamecock fans want it to be. It is part of a larger, more troubling, pattern of sissybaby failure with no end in sight. You can't pick up a newspaper in South Carolina these days without seeing one of their loser coaches complaining about Clemson this, or Clemson that. They're pointing out our arrest record to recruits! They're planting moles inside our police department to target our athletes!! They're beating us on purpose!!!
It's just getting sad(or funny), and it is starting to bear striking resemblance to the beginning of the end of the Holtz era. Don't be surprised if the on-field performance begins to follow suit as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, the focus is on Brad Lawing, a man known more for his blatant cheating than his ability to coach football players.
So, Brad, I think you need to realize that you're asking the wrong question. It doesn't matter how many touchdowns Clemson's offense scored against y'all. Granted, it was just one, but Clemson......just won. I rest my case.
On team improvement:
- This team is making incremental improvements virtually across the board. I doubt there are many teams in the SEC (or the nation) that you can say that about.
On Clemson:
- Everyone connected with Clemson football is a compulsive liar.
On the '07 Gamecocks:
- The Defense was designed to stop the Pass not the Run. The teams that ran the ball well CRUSHED US. The passing teams did not do as well against our D.
- our D was structured to protect the DBs
On the '08 Gamecocks:
- I dont know how anyone cant see this team is a 9+ winning team.
- If the offense just treads water we will win 8 or more.
- QB situation is best its been since Phil Petty.
- In my opinion it doesn't matter who's playing QB, if they play smart/mistake free football we will win 8 or 9.
- This is a much better and deeper team than last years.
- we'd win 6 w/ lanning[the punter] playing qb.
- this will be far and away the best defense we've seen in Spurrier's tenure.
- I say 9-10 wins is easily doable and 11 if with some breaks + a bowl game.
- 9-3 is reasonable.
On the future:
- next year will kick off a great streak of success.
- WE WILL NEVER HAVE QB PROBLEMS AGAIN UNDER SPURRIER!!
On NC State:
- 8 days from now after we throttle NC State all the talk will be about how horrible NC State is and that Newberry could beat them by 2-3 scores. Remember my post because this will happen.
On their OL coach:
- IF Georgia finishes this season any better than 8-4, and we are no better than the same, we need to start looking for a new O-Line coach.
On team spirit:
- Can we please get together on this and get some TV air time (Sportscenter)for one of our better defenders? When Captain makes a big play as he does at least once or twice a game. Lets have everyone turn North and put a leg up on the bench above, raise your arm and keep your chin up like the Captian Morgan commercial. Lets even give an a good old pirate "Arrrrgh" or "Aye Captain" cheer. Let's show some inituitve and spirit and run with this!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
New Poll
Thanks to everyone who voted in last week's poll. We settled that issue once and for all, the cops aren't any different in Clemson than they are in Columbia.
This weeks poll deals with a fan favorite topic. We'll explore how South Carolina would fare with Clemson's schedule.
This weeks poll deals with a fan favorite topic. We'll explore how South Carolina would fare with Clemson's schedule.
Weekly Q&A
Submit all your questions and I will answer them in Friday's MOAG Mailbag. Don't feel like you need to just limit yourself to football though. They can be about recruiting, tailgating, television, life, etc.
Kickoff is just 8 short days away....
On everything:
- in spurriers time here, you guys[Clemson] are 2-3 vs. sec competition
- last season could have easily been 8-4 or even 9-3 instead of the 6-6 it ended up being
- SC has maybe the best TE's in the nation in Saunders and Cook.
- the only ones to criticize the HBC are the ones that fear him.
- People on this board are so intent on hating SC for no real reasons. The fans on here from SC want our team to win just as bad as everyone else, and we get chastised for it. We ARE NOT ALLOWED to be optimistic.
- Coach Spurrier's three seasons, his record in the SEC East is identical to Richt's record in the SEC East over same time period. Which is surprising when you consider that Richt is what? Going into his 9th or 10th season at UGA?
- I wouldnt say UGA and USC are on even ground, but the gap is quickly closing.
- We used to go 6-6 every year almost...now we go 6-6 in the best division of the best conference in the country!
- i don't see how jawga can really say anything about Carolina.
- I talk about the SEC if I talk about anything. I don’t even talk about Clemson. I don’t give them that much credit. I try to only talk about the SEC.
- if you take Duke out and replace S.C. with them we are picked to play Clemson in the championship. Simple as that!
- Spurrier is lying. He's downplaying us so bad its not even funny. He secretly knows his team will win 10 games this year. Who agrees?
- if we played Clemson at the beginning of the season I truly believe we would win 4 out 5 easy. They barely pull it out, for Gods sake. It's like fighting with one arm behind the back. Times are changing and Clemson fans know it, well the half smart ones do, you can tell by the nervous out cries. We'll see ya soon.
- I've come to expect nothing more from ignorant Taters and their inferiority complex when it comes to USC.
- You[Clemson] are our little brother, and we[South Carolina] know it must be tough to live in our shadow, but try not to be so bitter and defensive about it.
Kickoff is just 8 short days away....
On everything:
- in spurriers time here, you guys[Clemson] are 2-3 vs. sec competition
- last season could have easily been 8-4 or even 9-3 instead of the 6-6 it ended up being
- SC has maybe the best TE's in the nation in Saunders and Cook.
- the only ones to criticize the HBC are the ones that fear him.
- People on this board are so intent on hating SC for no real reasons. The fans on here from SC want our team to win just as bad as everyone else, and we get chastised for it. We ARE NOT ALLOWED to be optimistic.
- Coach Spurrier's three seasons, his record in the SEC East is identical to Richt's record in the SEC East over same time period. Which is surprising when you consider that Richt is what? Going into his 9th or 10th season at UGA?
- I wouldnt say UGA and USC are on even ground, but the gap is quickly closing.
- We used to go 6-6 every year almost...now we go 6-6 in the best division of the best conference in the country!
- i don't see how jawga can really say anything about Carolina.
- I talk about the SEC if I talk about anything. I don’t even talk about Clemson. I don’t give them that much credit. I try to only talk about the SEC.
- if you take Duke out and replace S.C. with them we are picked to play Clemson in the championship. Simple as that!
- Spurrier is lying. He's downplaying us so bad its not even funny. He secretly knows his team will win 10 games this year. Who agrees?
- if we played Clemson at the beginning of the season I truly believe we would win 4 out 5 easy. They barely pull it out, for Gods sake. It's like fighting with one arm behind the back. Times are changing and Clemson fans know it, well the half smart ones do, you can tell by the nervous out cries. We'll see ya soon.
- I've come to expect nothing more from ignorant Taters and their inferiority complex when it comes to USC.
- You[Clemson] are our little brother, and we[South Carolina] know it must be tough to live in our shadow, but try not to be so bitter and defensive about it.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Major Blog Announcement
I have gotten this suggestion from a lot of people over the last 2 weeks, and what my readers wants, my readers gets.
Starting immediately, I will delete all comments with an "anonymous" handle. I'm not saying you have to put your real name out there, but you need to pick a handle and stick with it. My colleagues and I feel this will cut down on some confusion, and it will allow the readers to interact more efficiently and intelligently with each other.
Starting immediately, I will delete all comments with an "anonymous" handle. I'm not saying you have to put your real name out there, but you need to pick a handle and stick with it. My colleagues and I feel this will cut down on some confusion, and it will allow the readers to interact more efficiently and intelligently with each other.
Previewing the SEC East
Folks, we're getting down to the nitty gritty. Kickoff is in 9 days, and everyone's favorite team to mock will be playing on national television against ACC foe, NC State. It's a game that South Carolina should probably win. But even more importantly, it's a game that South Carolina has to win. Because once conference play starts up, the road usually just gets too hard. The SEC East is one of the most interesting divisions in college football. In no other division is there such a clearly defined hierarchy of teams. There's the Big 3, and then there's the other 3. Moving up in the chain is about as difficult as going from dirt farmer to Prime Minister in India(get some, Dennis Miller). It just doesn't happen. Sure, every now and then Kentucky or South Carolina make a little noise, but isn't that really just the result of Tennessee or Georgia having a down year? The answer is yes, and no rational person can disagree. Expect this year to be no different.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Tennessee
4. South Carolina
5. Kentucky
6. Vanderbilt
1. Florida - It's pretty rare that I don't have at least one thing bad to say about a football team, but in the Gators' case, I am just drawing a blank. Their defense was pretty suspect at times last year, but it was loaded with young talent. Now that talent has a full season under its belt, and I expect them to be much improved. And that's all they really need to be, because Florida's offense this year is going to put on a show for the ages. Don't be surprised, if when it's all said and done, people remember the '08 Florida offense as one of the all-time greats. Tim Tebow, despite what opposing fans say, is worthy of every bit of praise he recieves. His numbers last year were staggering, and now he's got more weapons to work with. Running backs Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody provide some much needed relief to the Gator rushing attack, and will certainly take the burden off of Tebow's shoulders. Percy Harvin, while technically considered a wideout, is a do-everything superstar. This year's Cocktail Party will decide not only the division winner, but likely one of the 2 schools that face off in the BCS Title game.
Season Outlook: 11-1
2. Georgia - I would like to pick the Bulldogs to win this division, but I can't get past the schedule. An early season road trip to Arizona State, plus a 4 game stretch later in the year that includes Tennessee at home, LSU on the road, and Florida in Jacksonville, might just be too much for Richt's bunch to overcome. The loss of tackle Trinton Sturdivant didn't help things either. He was the anchor of a strong, young line last year. Hopefully they can find someone to fill the void, but even without Sturdivant in there, I expect Knowshon Moreno to put up another big year. After all, he is the best running back in the league. Matt Stafford, while still not quite a complete quarterback, has all the ability in the world. I expect a big year out of him now that Georgia has shored up some problems at wideout. The defense is just fast, athletic, and nasty. Watching them last year, I did notice a tendency to ease up at times, but when they are going full throttle it's very tough to move the ball. Georgia has the talent to win it all this year, and I'm pulling for them to get through that schedule. Again, it will probably all come down to that game on November 1st.
Season Outlook: 10-2
3. Tennessee - This UT team is an interesting one. People seem to have completely written them off, even though they actually won the division last year, and were a couple of plays away from winning the entire league. Arian Foster is a special running back, and they have good receivers. The question on everyone's mind is how will Jonathon Crompton do under center. Based on conversations I've had with people inside the program, I don't Vols fans need to worry much. Nobody knows until the love bullets start flying, but don't be surprised if Crompton has a great year. Other than Eric Berry, I don't know a single player on their defense. I do know they have a white guy starting somewhere on the defense though. That might not be a good sign. All in all, I expect Tennessee to turn in a pretty solid season, and just like last year, it would totally shock me if they were playing in Atlanta again this December.
Season Outlook: 8-4
4. South Carolina - 3-5 in the SEC, lose to Clemson, finish 4th in the division, maybe go to a 3rd tier bowl. What else needs to be said?
Season Outlook: 6-6
5. Kentucky - The Wildcats lost a bunch of their best players, and they don't really seem to have good ones to replace them with. I don't think Kentucky will be very good this year at all, but I do like their coach, so maybe he can make a little magic happen. And they do return 8 of 11 starters on defense. Problem is, that defense wasn't very good. Kentucky was able to stay in shoot-outs last year. This year, not so much. Right now, I expect them to remain status quo and finish 5th in the division.
Season Outlook: 4-8
6. Vanderbilt - Vandy only returns 9 starters from a team that went 5-7. Now, I like Vandy, and I absolutely loved watching them pulverize South Carolina last year in Columbia when the gamecocks were 6-1 and #6 in the nation, but I don't have high hopes for the Commodores this year. Frankly, I think things could get a little ugly. Gone is all-SEC wideout Earl Bennet, who was easily their best playmaker. Although, they do return a very solid secondary to a defense that is usually pretty salty. The good news is, they have a nationally televised home game against those same gamecocks early in the year. If they can somehow pull off another upset, it would make what is sure to be a long season seem a bit shorter.
Season Outlook: 2-10
So, there it is folks. Tell me what you agree with and what you disagree with. One more note I would like to add, is that South Carolina just lost out to Duke on yet another recruit today. I think that makes 3 now this year. Ouch.
Now MOAG.
On Clemson:
- My God, what could USC do with that powder-puff schedule?
- special teams cost us the game last year. plain and simple. we got Coach Ray now, so that shouldn't be a problem anymore.
- a win this year by the Cocks will make it 2 out of last 3..then they will go away permanently
- the ('06) game we won in taterville shouldn't have been close.
- Keep on believing that, Tater. Maybe someday you'll see the painful truth
* editor's note - the above post was a response to this statement by a Clemson fan, "Year in, year out we just have a better team."
- I would say the past three years, their offensive coaching vs our defensive coaching has been better when it counted. We could have easily won all three games.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Tennessee
4. South Carolina
5. Kentucky
6. Vanderbilt
1. Florida - It's pretty rare that I don't have at least one thing bad to say about a football team, but in the Gators' case, I am just drawing a blank. Their defense was pretty suspect at times last year, but it was loaded with young talent. Now that talent has a full season under its belt, and I expect them to be much improved. And that's all they really need to be, because Florida's offense this year is going to put on a show for the ages. Don't be surprised, if when it's all said and done, people remember the '08 Florida offense as one of the all-time greats. Tim Tebow, despite what opposing fans say, is worthy of every bit of praise he recieves. His numbers last year were staggering, and now he's got more weapons to work with. Running backs Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody provide some much needed relief to the Gator rushing attack, and will certainly take the burden off of Tebow's shoulders. Percy Harvin, while technically considered a wideout, is a do-everything superstar. This year's Cocktail Party will decide not only the division winner, but likely one of the 2 schools that face off in the BCS Title game.
Season Outlook: 11-1
2. Georgia - I would like to pick the Bulldogs to win this division, but I can't get past the schedule. An early season road trip to Arizona State, plus a 4 game stretch later in the year that includes Tennessee at home, LSU on the road, and Florida in Jacksonville, might just be too much for Richt's bunch to overcome. The loss of tackle Trinton Sturdivant didn't help things either. He was the anchor of a strong, young line last year. Hopefully they can find someone to fill the void, but even without Sturdivant in there, I expect Knowshon Moreno to put up another big year. After all, he is the best running back in the league. Matt Stafford, while still not quite a complete quarterback, has all the ability in the world. I expect a big year out of him now that Georgia has shored up some problems at wideout. The defense is just fast, athletic, and nasty. Watching them last year, I did notice a tendency to ease up at times, but when they are going full throttle it's very tough to move the ball. Georgia has the talent to win it all this year, and I'm pulling for them to get through that schedule. Again, it will probably all come down to that game on November 1st.
Season Outlook: 10-2
3. Tennessee - This UT team is an interesting one. People seem to have completely written them off, even though they actually won the division last year, and were a couple of plays away from winning the entire league. Arian Foster is a special running back, and they have good receivers. The question on everyone's mind is how will Jonathon Crompton do under center. Based on conversations I've had with people inside the program, I don't Vols fans need to worry much. Nobody knows until the love bullets start flying, but don't be surprised if Crompton has a great year. Other than Eric Berry, I don't know a single player on their defense. I do know they have a white guy starting somewhere on the defense though. That might not be a good sign. All in all, I expect Tennessee to turn in a pretty solid season, and just like last year, it would totally shock me if they were playing in Atlanta again this December.
Season Outlook: 8-4
4. South Carolina - 3-5 in the SEC, lose to Clemson, finish 4th in the division, maybe go to a 3rd tier bowl. What else needs to be said?
Season Outlook: 6-6
5. Kentucky - The Wildcats lost a bunch of their best players, and they don't really seem to have good ones to replace them with. I don't think Kentucky will be very good this year at all, but I do like their coach, so maybe he can make a little magic happen. And they do return 8 of 11 starters on defense. Problem is, that defense wasn't very good. Kentucky was able to stay in shoot-outs last year. This year, not so much. Right now, I expect them to remain status quo and finish 5th in the division.
Season Outlook: 4-8
6. Vanderbilt - Vandy only returns 9 starters from a team that went 5-7. Now, I like Vandy, and I absolutely loved watching them pulverize South Carolina last year in Columbia when the gamecocks were 6-1 and #6 in the nation, but I don't have high hopes for the Commodores this year. Frankly, I think things could get a little ugly. Gone is all-SEC wideout Earl Bennet, who was easily their best playmaker. Although, they do return a very solid secondary to a defense that is usually pretty salty. The good news is, they have a nationally televised home game against those same gamecocks early in the year. If they can somehow pull off another upset, it would make what is sure to be a long season seem a bit shorter.
Season Outlook: 2-10
So, there it is folks. Tell me what you agree with and what you disagree with. One more note I would like to add, is that South Carolina just lost out to Duke on yet another recruit today. I think that makes 3 now this year. Ouch.
Now MOAG.
On Clemson:
- My God, what could USC do with that powder-puff schedule?
- special teams cost us the game last year. plain and simple. we got Coach Ray now, so that shouldn't be a problem anymore.
- a win this year by the Cocks will make it 2 out of last 3..then they will go away permanently
- the ('06) game we won in taterville shouldn't have been close.
- Keep on believing that, Tater. Maybe someday you'll see the painful truth
* editor's note - the above post was a response to this statement by a Clemson fan, "Year in, year out we just have a better team."
- I would say the past three years, their offensive coaching vs our defensive coaching has been better when it counted. We could have easily won all three games.
- I would give them an advantage at RB and QB, just based on past performance. Everywhere else I would say we have talent equal to or better than theirs.
- If the taters have all these "world class sprinters" why aren't they in Bejing, winning us Gold Medals?
- The fans at CU see no difference in their football program than Ala, Fla, So Cal, LSU, OSU, or anybody else. They are all dillusional.
On the '06 Florida game(for some reason):
- Should've won that damn game. Florida didn't win it, we lost it.
- There was a big call that went against us as I recall, but I can't remember what it was.Typical protection of a highly-ranked conference team by SEC officials. They weren't going to let Florida lose that game at that point in the season, too much on the line.
- The SEC refs couldn't dare give us another crack at a game-winning FG, so something had to be called to bring that play back.
- We certainly deserved to win that game. --------->We should be 2-1 against Florida, Ga & Tn.<----------
On Georgia:
- Georgia at best is 3rd in the SEC behind LSU, FL, and possibly Auburn.
On the conspiracy against South Carolina:
- Just a thought, but is there a connection between the State[newspaper] and some of these arrests? Lets just say I am on a cops salary and a reporter asks me for some juicy material in exchange for a little cash. It would definately motivate me to go out and follow certain individuals, expecially if I was a campus cop.
- suddenly 2 Tater commits go to 4 stars. Keep trumping those ratings up, Rivals. It's good for business.
- chris ard goes out of his way to make sure clemson commits' ratings are as a high as possible. there is no conspiracy theory. the new guy rating the southeast is also a joke. probably hasn't seen half of these kids play. that allows ard to give his "opinion" and help inflate ratings.
On what might've been:
- Could you imagine if SOS had a QB like Tanneyhill, Ellis, or Petty !!!
On the ACC:
- How many SEC teams would win that conference?... hell 4 teams in our division would be considered the team to beat.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Guess Who's Not Coming To Breakfast
About 3 weeks ago, as the dog days of July were giving way to August, you could hear a familiar noise emanating from Columbia. It was, of course, the sound of whining. They wanted their beloved quarterback savior back on campus. Stephen Garcia still had a few weeks left on his suspension, but coming back early could give him an edge in the position battle that lay ahead. The University had a decision to make, and like clockwork, they screwed it up........again. Instead of enforcing the full punishment, that they meted out themselves, they allowed the golden child back in school a full two weeks early. Gamecock fans cheered. Ron Morris wrote a column explaining why it was a bad decision. Gamecock fans jeered. Fast forward back to the present, and Stephen Garcia is being, well, he's being Stephen Garcia. If you were to go back and read Morris' article again today, you would swear it was written by Nostradamus himself(here's a link to the article: http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/ronmorris/story/478914.html)
Of course, it really doesn't take any special clair'voyance to point out the obvious like Morris did. It takes just a basic amount of common sense and an ability to recall from memory things that happened less than a year ago. Unfortunately, come football season, you won't find either of these traits in the common gamecock fan. Since returning to the team, on his FOURTH chance, Garcia has found his name in the headlines often, but it isn't for his play on the field. First he appeared in Coach Spurrier's office last Sunday morning with a sprained ankle. He told his coach that he had hurt it in the previous day's scrimmage. Of course, Spurrier couldn't recall him getting hurt at all, and he could recall that Garcia looked fine as he was leaving practice. When pressed by reporters on what play it could have happened, Spurrier told reporters, "You'll have to ask him that. I've asked and I can't get a straight answer out of him. Maybe you can get one." Spurrier added, "He said he twisted it in practice. That's his story and he's sticking to it." It isn't surprising that the ol' ball coach sounds like he doesn't believe Garcia. After all, this is the same guy that lied right to his face about keying a visiting professor's car last year. It is a bit more susprising that, given his blatant distrust of the embattled quarterback, Spurrier continues to go to bat for this guy. Simply put, Garcia is making a fool of Coach Spurrier. One has to wonder how truly bad the qb situation is down there for Spurrier to keep him on the team. I just can't envision him letting this kind of thing go on when he was at Florida. But it gets better.
Yesterday a reporter asked Spurrier if there was any truth to the rumor that Garcia had missed a team breakfast on Friday morning. Here was the coach's response:
“Oh, he’s missed a bunch of them. He misses everything. He’s struggling to do things right. But that’s just him. He can’t hardly call the play right. He gets confused. I don’t know what it is,” Spurrier said. “He just has a tough time. But he’s ... a redshirt freshman, never played. He’s got some ability, though, so we’re going to keep coaching him. “Hopefully, he’ll grow up and mature. But ... he’ll do some dumb things out here. There’s no, ‘Well, wait a minute, they’ve got a bunch of guys out there, let’s just check to a run over here.’ He’ll just throw it out there. But he’ll learn.”
If you read that quote too quickly you might have missed it, but Spurrier sent out a very important message with that statement. That message is: If you're a complete jackass but you can really play football well, there is a place for you on our team.
He may has well have said that verbatim. Now, I don't know what is going on behind the scenes. Maybe Spurrier is taking a different tone with Garcia behind closed doors, but I can't see any good coming from the way he's handling it with the press. And I can't see any good coming from having Garcia remain on the team. Actually, I take that back. I can see plenty of good coming from having Garcia remain on the team. Georgia fans, Tennessee fans, Florida fans, et al., can probably see a lot of good coming from it too. In fact, just about anyone who enjoys watching the gamecocks suffer from one self-inflicted wound to another will hope Spurrier decides to keep Garcia around. If I didn't know any better, I would say that I doubt Garcia will ever play a meaningful snap at South Carolina. But I do know better, and so do you(not you, gamecock fans). And it's not like Garcia is out robbing stores at gunpoint. None of his individual acts of stupidity were overtly malicious or dangerous. It's just the fact that he doesn't get it. Nor does he care to get it. He is the epitome of a prima donna. He makes more headlines than any other player on the team, and he hasn't accounted for a single yard of offense. But what's truly sadder than all of this, is that there are gamecock fans out there still defending this guy. Maybe some will leave a comment on this blog telling me how stupid I am, just like they did to Ron Morris after he wrote his column a couple of weeks ago. Or maybe they are busy trying to decide who to blame for this latest rash of "mishaps." Don't look too hard, gamecock fans, and be careful what you wish for.
Now, I'm going to try and make up for last week's blog malfunction by giving you some hot, stinky MOAG. Remeber when I told you it would get better and better the closer we got to the season?
On possible nicknames for this year's team:
- I was trying to come up with a Garnet catch word with some impact last night since I think this team has a good chance to match the 1984 teams success . Charm is a synonymn for magic but it doesnt quite have the same impact does it. How about Garnet Liberation (not bad), Garnett Redemption (not bad), Garnet Revenge, Garnett Power (maybe), Garnet Fire (had that one before) or Garnet Conversion? Anybody want to take a shot?
- Garnet Assault (but wouldn't be popular with the PC crowd)
Garnet Bloc
Garnet Slash
Garnet Apocalypse
Garnet Fist
How about Orange Crushers!!!
- how bout "The Garnet Gauntlet"?
"The Garnet Guard"
"The Garnet Wall"
"The Garnet Repressors"
- What about "A GARNET STORM" raining on the SEC and eventually the nation. You could have the team storming the field and the fans storming the stadium. As the date nears our competitors schedule they can feel "A Garnet Storm" brewing.
Responding to a writer who picked them to go 7-5:
- 9-3 worse case.
- He is going out on a limb I see..... Sees us losing to UGA, LSU, UT, UF, AND CU...My 7 year old could have come up with that prediction
On upcoming opponents:
- I also think that you could put Clem in the W column, i wouldn't put my money on Tammy for anything, so i would also take us and the points.
- I think we have 8 maybe 9 wins going into the CU game. I also think we beat them up there maybe handliy. CU are a very fragile team. When the drop a couple to upset during the year, the wolves will be howling for Tammy's head. Anything less than undefeated coming into our game is a poor coaching effort.
- Like I have asked many times why do people think we will lose to Ole Miss I dont understand?
*editor's note - amazingly, a gamecock fan pointed out to the author of the above post that it's b/c South Carolina hasn't defeated Ole Miss since they joined the league. but then this happened
- And Ole Miss has never beaten SOS. Go Cocks!
- If we can't handle Ole Miss then we are going nowhere. We sure have a lot of doubting Thomas' on this board. 9-3. Book it Danno.
- I wonder how vandy really believes they can beat us?
- UGA, Clemson and Tenn - 50/50 chance but we should win these.
- I say we will beat ga.by 10 or more points,lsu by 2,tenn by 14 no quaterback and clemson by 3 to finish reg.season 10-2
- we beat NC ST, Wofford, UAB, UK, VandyOle, Miss, Arky, Clemson. And Upset LSU, and UT
On this year's offense:
- [It will be better]By leaps and bounds in my opinion. So many weapons compared to last year, and the offensive line actually looks good, for a change.If Beecher can keep his head on straight, the year's offense will look more like some of Spurrier's teams at Florida.
- At every position group we are improved.
- we seem to have numerous pieces on the offensive line this year. It looks like we may be 2 and even 3 deep at most of these positions and that is very exciting to me. We don't have many superstars, but if things come together as I hope they will, we could be a team with no big weaknesses. In addition, we should have enough depth to withstand a reasonable amount of injuries.
On what lies ahead:
- I really think we're getting close - sometime this year or next, Spurrier will have us there again - where we utterly destroy the teams we should beat, leaving no questions or lost opportunity or doubt on the field, and I can't wait to see it happen.
*editor's note - I don't know what he meant by "again" either.
- this season has a different feel to it and it's more than just plain optimism.Looking at this team you can't help but notice the talent and depth is a lot different from the past.SOS does has a quiet confidence about him and it is starting to show,he finally believes he has the parts in place to make a run at the SEC East.
- you ought to believe it when SOS says Beacher can be an excellent SEC QB. We have 7 QB's and TB is the best of them. Smelley is a good #2. QB will not be aproblem for us. Let the games begin.
- Absolutely no reason we can't get it done. And I mean this season....We have the coaching, depth & fan support..... No legit reasons we can't do it now....
- We have the best talent we have had since Spurrier has been here. We are two deep at essentially every position. We have the oppportunity to be good, very good. The coaches know this.
- We will begin to have CU's number beginning in 2008......
- I say 9 games but could be magical year, if we can come out of the gates like last year and not have meltdown, If we could start of strong and finish like we did the 2005 season when we beat Florida, Tenn, Arky we could see something that never has happened at USC. Go to the SEC title game.I still say if we some how some way go to the SEC title game and some how pull out a win we would be playing for the National Championship. The winner of the SEC title more times than not this decade has went on to play the NC and had won it.
- with bowl game, i say 10 wins at least.
- If you are a true gamecock fan, how could you be such a pessimist to think we will win 6 or fewer?
On NC State's fans:
- Never have I been around more crude, unintelligent rednecks (this includes Pickens county) than that God-awful cesspool of a place.
- Nasty.....nasty fans probably worse than Clemsonites. It is just that we have to deal with Clemmons on a daily basis.
- In my opinion, NCSU and LSU have the worse fans in the country period.
On lack of respect shown by the national media:
- Respect has to be garnered from the playing field, but the national media gives USC no chance to beat UGA. Other than Phil Steele, no one thinks USC is a tough game for the Dawgs. Everyone skips ahead to the Arizona State game and leaves Carolina out of the discussion. I, for one, am glad UGA will be #1 when they come to the Brice because this is a 50-50 game. I wonder if SOS and crew are aware of how they're slighted in the media? Georgia and Clemson will lose 3 plus games and Carolina would beat CU every year if they played in September!
Gamecock fans break down their season, game by game:
- NC State- 34-17 Carolina finally comes out an executes a good gameplan in a season openerat.
Vanderbilt-W 31-10 Vandy really lost a lot of quality talent
Georgia-W 21-20 Our D is good enough to keep Stafford rattled all game. Moreno will put up his numbers but I think UGA will be one dimensional.
Wofford-W 38-7 Ellis Johnson prepares for an offense that could possibly do well against us....Gamecocks don't have too much trouble and slowly build a big lead.
UAB-W 24-7 Gamecocks come out slow and the offense struggles to run the ball as well without MD
at. Ole Miss-W 28-20 Carolina comes from behind and avoids and upset.
at. Kentucky-W 45-24 We continue out dominance in football over UK
LSU- L 21-34 LSU jumps out to a big lead with a solid all around performance on both sides of the ball. We make a run in the second half but its not enough.
Tennessee-30-17 We finally play mistake free football for the most part and beat Tennessee as well as we should have beaten them the past two years.
Arkansas- 21-6 Arkansas struggles all season especially on offense and we continue to win.
at. Florida- 31-44 Florida's offense is too talented. We keep up in the shootout until the 4th when the gators pull away.
at. Clemson- 35-17 I would just love to see this..
season record-10-2
- nc state- W 38-10-offense and defense too much for wolfpack to handle
vanderbilt- W 31-13-defence looks strong offense relys mostly on running game but makes long passing plays to mckinley
georgia- W 14-13 first real test of how good we will be this year wofford- W 42-7 backups get good amount of PT/defense gets 3 sacks
UAB- W 24-10 culliver runs one back/brinkley and norwood too much for UABs offense to handle
ole miss- W 17-7 beecher is efficient and jason barnes grabs a fade into the end zone to put the game away in the 4th quarter
kentucky- W 27-9 loss of QB and RB to the NFL proves too much of a blow to UKs offense
lsu- L 14-17 heartbreaker but we remain in the top 10
tennessee- W 28-17 they run pretty good on us but it is not enough b/c their passing game sputters
arkansas- W 21-13 they get less than 75 yards rushing and we rattle their QB into making costly mistakes
florida- W 28-24 our 4-2-5 is tebows kriptonyte/ brinkley says hello to harvin behind the line of scrimmage on numerous occasions/ we get the W and u can hear a pindrop in the swamp
clemson - W 27-24 is used to having a party with opposing defenses until now/norWOOD lays the wood on spiller and he becomes a non factor/culliver and captain each get a pick and one goes to the house this swings the game in our favor and death valley becomes "deaf valley"
play auburn in sec championship game
- NC State- 34-9, defense is stout, offense is steady...solid winat.
Vanderbilt- 45-3...payback time yo
Georgia- Ryan Succop hits the first big FG of his career as time expires to win 24-23
Wofford- Wofford won't get into FG range until the 4th quarter. Gamecocks win 59-7
at. Ole Miss- Ole Miss will be a lot better this year...but they're not good enough...27-17at. Kentucky- UK lost too much...and they'll lose this one too...38-13
LSU- 27-31...a great effort...but come up just short
Tennessee- po'd from the LSU loss, UT catches the brunt...Gamecocks win 35-10
Arkansas- This game will be really tough...oh what's that you say, DMAC and F. Jones are gone? nevermind, we win it 31-6
at. Florida- What's that Queen song now? SEC-East Champs 19-17at.
Clemson- Ryan Succop hits another last second FG...to make the score 66-17.
season record- 11-1 SEC-East Champs...go 'Cocks!!!
On what it will take to be a champion:
- I've seen two Olympic Gold winners give their reasons for winning. When 7 Gold winner Phelps was asked about it, he responded that he always believed he could win it all and tie Spitz record. Another winner said her mom raised her to believe she could.We must believe we can win, believe we will win and toss all that negative garbage out of our minds when it comes to mind. Refusing to accept thoughts about curse BS and such is the first step and accepting thoughts that we can do it is the other.When we toss out the negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts, we will win. It's the MIND and what we believe!...
editor's note - someone pointed out to the above poster that it would take more than happy thoughts. here is how he responded
- Until people like yourself who dwell on the negative and call it reality are outnumbered we won't win big. ----------->What the hell has history got to do with the present? NOTHING!<---------- This team is a bunch of guys and coaches who play football and play it well. Surrounded by idiots who continually drum up garbage about a curse, history etc is bad for the team. Reality is what we make of it. It doesn't matter what you think, being positive and refusing to accept the nonsense that we can't win is good for the team. Negativity is something that can be overcome but it takes the acceptance of knowing it can be done. Winning will help. Consistent winning will help tremendously. Believing the past determines the future is idiotic and about as realistic as Santa!
On not being ranked in the pre-season top 25:
- We're in a perfect spot,lurking in the shadows ready to step up and have that special season.
- Pitt being ranked is a joke and speaks to how weak the Big East is. They have zero playmakers on offense.
Of course, it really doesn't take any special clair'voyance to point out the obvious like Morris did. It takes just a basic amount of common sense and an ability to recall from memory things that happened less than a year ago. Unfortunately, come football season, you won't find either of these traits in the common gamecock fan. Since returning to the team, on his FOURTH chance, Garcia has found his name in the headlines often, but it isn't for his play on the field. First he appeared in Coach Spurrier's office last Sunday morning with a sprained ankle. He told his coach that he had hurt it in the previous day's scrimmage. Of course, Spurrier couldn't recall him getting hurt at all, and he could recall that Garcia looked fine as he was leaving practice. When pressed by reporters on what play it could have happened, Spurrier told reporters, "You'll have to ask him that. I've asked and I can't get a straight answer out of him. Maybe you can get one." Spurrier added, "He said he twisted it in practice. That's his story and he's sticking to it." It isn't surprising that the ol' ball coach sounds like he doesn't believe Garcia. After all, this is the same guy that lied right to his face about keying a visiting professor's car last year. It is a bit more susprising that, given his blatant distrust of the embattled quarterback, Spurrier continues to go to bat for this guy. Simply put, Garcia is making a fool of Coach Spurrier. One has to wonder how truly bad the qb situation is down there for Spurrier to keep him on the team. I just can't envision him letting this kind of thing go on when he was at Florida. But it gets better.
Yesterday a reporter asked Spurrier if there was any truth to the rumor that Garcia had missed a team breakfast on Friday morning. Here was the coach's response:
“Oh, he’s missed a bunch of them. He misses everything. He’s struggling to do things right. But that’s just him. He can’t hardly call the play right. He gets confused. I don’t know what it is,” Spurrier said. “He just has a tough time. But he’s ... a redshirt freshman, never played. He’s got some ability, though, so we’re going to keep coaching him. “Hopefully, he’ll grow up and mature. But ... he’ll do some dumb things out here. There’s no, ‘Well, wait a minute, they’ve got a bunch of guys out there, let’s just check to a run over here.’ He’ll just throw it out there. But he’ll learn.”
If you read that quote too quickly you might have missed it, but Spurrier sent out a very important message with that statement. That message is: If you're a complete jackass but you can really play football well, there is a place for you on our team.
He may has well have said that verbatim. Now, I don't know what is going on behind the scenes. Maybe Spurrier is taking a different tone with Garcia behind closed doors, but I can't see any good coming from the way he's handling it with the press. And I can't see any good coming from having Garcia remain on the team. Actually, I take that back. I can see plenty of good coming from having Garcia remain on the team. Georgia fans, Tennessee fans, Florida fans, et al., can probably see a lot of good coming from it too. In fact, just about anyone who enjoys watching the gamecocks suffer from one self-inflicted wound to another will hope Spurrier decides to keep Garcia around. If I didn't know any better, I would say that I doubt Garcia will ever play a meaningful snap at South Carolina. But I do know better, and so do you(not you, gamecock fans). And it's not like Garcia is out robbing stores at gunpoint. None of his individual acts of stupidity were overtly malicious or dangerous. It's just the fact that he doesn't get it. Nor does he care to get it. He is the epitome of a prima donna. He makes more headlines than any other player on the team, and he hasn't accounted for a single yard of offense. But what's truly sadder than all of this, is that there are gamecock fans out there still defending this guy. Maybe some will leave a comment on this blog telling me how stupid I am, just like they did to Ron Morris after he wrote his column a couple of weeks ago. Or maybe they are busy trying to decide who to blame for this latest rash of "mishaps." Don't look too hard, gamecock fans, and be careful what you wish for.
Now, I'm going to try and make up for last week's blog malfunction by giving you some hot, stinky MOAG. Remeber when I told you it would get better and better the closer we got to the season?
On possible nicknames for this year's team:
- I was trying to come up with a Garnet catch word with some impact last night since I think this team has a good chance to match the 1984 teams success . Charm is a synonymn for magic but it doesnt quite have the same impact does it. How about Garnet Liberation (not bad), Garnett Redemption (not bad), Garnet Revenge, Garnett Power (maybe), Garnet Fire (had that one before) or Garnet Conversion? Anybody want to take a shot?
- Garnet Assault (but wouldn't be popular with the PC crowd)
Garnet Bloc
Garnet Slash
Garnet Apocalypse
Garnet Fist
How about Orange Crushers!!!
- how bout "The Garnet Gauntlet"?
"The Garnet Guard"
"The Garnet Wall"
"The Garnet Repressors"
- What about "A GARNET STORM" raining on the SEC and eventually the nation. You could have the team storming the field and the fans storming the stadium. As the date nears our competitors schedule they can feel "A Garnet Storm" brewing.
Responding to a writer who picked them to go 7-5:
- 9-3 worse case.
- He is going out on a limb I see..... Sees us losing to UGA, LSU, UT, UF, AND CU...My 7 year old could have come up with that prediction
On upcoming opponents:
- I also think that you could put Clem in the W column, i wouldn't put my money on Tammy for anything, so i would also take us and the points.
- I think we have 8 maybe 9 wins going into the CU game. I also think we beat them up there maybe handliy. CU are a very fragile team. When the drop a couple to upset during the year, the wolves will be howling for Tammy's head. Anything less than undefeated coming into our game is a poor coaching effort.
- Like I have asked many times why do people think we will lose to Ole Miss I dont understand?
*editor's note - amazingly, a gamecock fan pointed out to the author of the above post that it's b/c South Carolina hasn't defeated Ole Miss since they joined the league. but then this happened
- And Ole Miss has never beaten SOS. Go Cocks!
- If we can't handle Ole Miss then we are going nowhere. We sure have a lot of doubting Thomas' on this board. 9-3. Book it Danno.
- I wonder how vandy really believes they can beat us?
- UGA, Clemson and Tenn - 50/50 chance but we should win these.
- I say we will beat ga.by 10 or more points,lsu by 2,tenn by 14 no quaterback and clemson by 3 to finish reg.season 10-2
- we beat NC ST, Wofford, UAB, UK, VandyOle, Miss, Arky, Clemson. And Upset LSU, and UT
On this year's offense:
- [It will be better]By leaps and bounds in my opinion. So many weapons compared to last year, and the offensive line actually looks good, for a change.If Beecher can keep his head on straight, the year's offense will look more like some of Spurrier's teams at Florida.
- At every position group we are improved.
- we seem to have numerous pieces on the offensive line this year. It looks like we may be 2 and even 3 deep at most of these positions and that is very exciting to me. We don't have many superstars, but if things come together as I hope they will, we could be a team with no big weaknesses. In addition, we should have enough depth to withstand a reasonable amount of injuries.
On what lies ahead:
- I really think we're getting close - sometime this year or next, Spurrier will have us there again - where we utterly destroy the teams we should beat, leaving no questions or lost opportunity or doubt on the field, and I can't wait to see it happen.
*editor's note - I don't know what he meant by "again" either.
- this season has a different feel to it and it's more than just plain optimism.Looking at this team you can't help but notice the talent and depth is a lot different from the past.SOS does has a quiet confidence about him and it is starting to show,he finally believes he has the parts in place to make a run at the SEC East.
- you ought to believe it when SOS says Beacher can be an excellent SEC QB. We have 7 QB's and TB is the best of them. Smelley is a good #2. QB will not be aproblem for us. Let the games begin.
- Absolutely no reason we can't get it done. And I mean this season....We have the coaching, depth & fan support..... No legit reasons we can't do it now....
- We have the best talent we have had since Spurrier has been here. We are two deep at essentially every position. We have the oppportunity to be good, very good. The coaches know this.
- We will begin to have CU's number beginning in 2008......
- I say 9 games but could be magical year, if we can come out of the gates like last year and not have meltdown, If we could start of strong and finish like we did the 2005 season when we beat Florida, Tenn, Arky we could see something that never has happened at USC. Go to the SEC title game.I still say if we some how some way go to the SEC title game and some how pull out a win we would be playing for the National Championship. The winner of the SEC title more times than not this decade has went on to play the NC and had won it.
- with bowl game, i say 10 wins at least.
- If you are a true gamecock fan, how could you be such a pessimist to think we will win 6 or fewer?
On NC State's fans:
- Never have I been around more crude, unintelligent rednecks (this includes Pickens county) than that God-awful cesspool of a place.
- Nasty.....nasty fans probably worse than Clemsonites. It is just that we have to deal with Clemmons on a daily basis.
- In my opinion, NCSU and LSU have the worse fans in the country period.
On lack of respect shown by the national media:
- Respect has to be garnered from the playing field, but the national media gives USC no chance to beat UGA. Other than Phil Steele, no one thinks USC is a tough game for the Dawgs. Everyone skips ahead to the Arizona State game and leaves Carolina out of the discussion. I, for one, am glad UGA will be #1 when they come to the Brice because this is a 50-50 game. I wonder if SOS and crew are aware of how they're slighted in the media? Georgia and Clemson will lose 3 plus games and Carolina would beat CU every year if they played in September!
Gamecock fans break down their season, game by game:
- NC State- 34-17 Carolina finally comes out an executes a good gameplan in a season openerat.
Vanderbilt-W 31-10 Vandy really lost a lot of quality talent
Georgia-W 21-20 Our D is good enough to keep Stafford rattled all game. Moreno will put up his numbers but I think UGA will be one dimensional.
Wofford-W 38-7 Ellis Johnson prepares for an offense that could possibly do well against us....Gamecocks don't have too much trouble and slowly build a big lead.
UAB-W 24-7 Gamecocks come out slow and the offense struggles to run the ball as well without MD
at. Ole Miss-W 28-20 Carolina comes from behind and avoids and upset.
at. Kentucky-W 45-24 We continue out dominance in football over UK
LSU- L 21-34 LSU jumps out to a big lead with a solid all around performance on both sides of the ball. We make a run in the second half but its not enough.
Tennessee-30-17 We finally play mistake free football for the most part and beat Tennessee as well as we should have beaten them the past two years.
Arkansas- 21-6 Arkansas struggles all season especially on offense and we continue to win.
at. Florida- 31-44 Florida's offense is too talented. We keep up in the shootout until the 4th when the gators pull away.
at. Clemson- 35-17 I would just love to see this..
season record-10-2
- nc state- W 38-10-offense and defense too much for wolfpack to handle
vanderbilt- W 31-13-defence looks strong offense relys mostly on running game but makes long passing plays to mckinley
georgia- W 14-13 first real test of how good we will be this year wofford- W 42-7 backups get good amount of PT/defense gets 3 sacks
UAB- W 24-10 culliver runs one back/brinkley and norwood too much for UABs offense to handle
ole miss- W 17-7 beecher is efficient and jason barnes grabs a fade into the end zone to put the game away in the 4th quarter
kentucky- W 27-9 loss of QB and RB to the NFL proves too much of a blow to UKs offense
lsu- L 14-17 heartbreaker but we remain in the top 10
tennessee- W 28-17 they run pretty good on us but it is not enough b/c their passing game sputters
arkansas- W 21-13 they get less than 75 yards rushing and we rattle their QB into making costly mistakes
florida- W 28-24 our 4-2-5 is tebows kriptonyte/ brinkley says hello to harvin behind the line of scrimmage on numerous occasions/ we get the W and u can hear a pindrop in the swamp
clemson - W 27-24 is used to having a party with opposing defenses until now/norWOOD lays the wood on spiller and he becomes a non factor/culliver and captain each get a pick and one goes to the house this swings the game in our favor and death valley becomes "deaf valley"
play auburn in sec championship game
- NC State- 34-9, defense is stout, offense is steady...solid winat.
Vanderbilt- 45-3...payback time yo
Georgia- Ryan Succop hits the first big FG of his career as time expires to win 24-23
Wofford- Wofford won't get into FG range until the 4th quarter. Gamecocks win 59-7
at. Ole Miss- Ole Miss will be a lot better this year...but they're not good enough...27-17at. Kentucky- UK lost too much...and they'll lose this one too...38-13
LSU- 27-31...a great effort...but come up just short
Tennessee- po'd from the LSU loss, UT catches the brunt...Gamecocks win 35-10
Arkansas- This game will be really tough...oh what's that you say, DMAC and F. Jones are gone? nevermind, we win it 31-6
at. Florida- What's that Queen song now? SEC-East Champs 19-17at.
Clemson- Ryan Succop hits another last second FG...to make the score 66-17.
season record- 11-1 SEC-East Champs...go 'Cocks!!!
On what it will take to be a champion:
- I've seen two Olympic Gold winners give their reasons for winning. When 7 Gold winner Phelps was asked about it, he responded that he always believed he could win it all and tie Spitz record. Another winner said her mom raised her to believe she could.We must believe we can win, believe we will win and toss all that negative garbage out of our minds when it comes to mind. Refusing to accept thoughts about curse BS and such is the first step and accepting thoughts that we can do it is the other.When we toss out the negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts, we will win. It's the MIND and what we believe!...
editor's note - someone pointed out to the above poster that it would take more than happy thoughts. here is how he responded
- Until people like yourself who dwell on the negative and call it reality are outnumbered we won't win big. ----------->What the hell has history got to do with the present? NOTHING!<---------- This team is a bunch of guys and coaches who play football and play it well. Surrounded by idiots who continually drum up garbage about a curse, history etc is bad for the team. Reality is what we make of it. It doesn't matter what you think, being positive and refusing to accept the nonsense that we can't win is good for the team. Negativity is something that can be overcome but it takes the acceptance of knowing it can be done. Winning will help. Consistent winning will help tremendously. Believing the past determines the future is idiotic and about as realistic as Santa!
On not being ranked in the pre-season top 25:
- We're in a perfect spot,lurking in the shadows ready to step up and have that special season.
- Pitt being ranked is a joke and speaks to how weak the Big East is. They have zero playmakers on offense.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Apology To My Readers
Loyal readers, I do apologize for the lack of content on the site for the past 2 days. For you see, I have taken ill and my strength has been sapped. But good news abounds. I feel much better, and I promise a return to the blog's regular schedule starting tonight. Again, I offer my most sincere apologies, especially to the one anonymous poster who can't go 3 hours without expressing his distaste for the state of South Carolina. I know this has been tougher on you than anyone else.
Speaking of apologies, did anyone catch Kevin McCrary's canned mea culpa to Cris Ard today on his radio show? It was about what I expected from a genuine Louser coward like K-Mac. I assume there are plenty of gamecock fans out there who wish to apologize to the Clemson community as well. Well, good news. I offer you my blog, gamecock fans, to leave your humble sorrys. So get to it.
Stay tuned for my breakdown of the SEC East, and the real scoop on Stephen Garcia's ankle injury.......
Speaking of apologies, did anyone catch Kevin McCrary's canned mea culpa to Cris Ard today on his radio show? It was about what I expected from a genuine Louser coward like K-Mac. I assume there are plenty of gamecock fans out there who wish to apologize to the Clemson community as well. Well, good news. I offer you my blog, gamecock fans, to leave your humble sorrys. So get to it.
Stay tuned for my breakdown of the SEC East, and the real scoop on Stephen Garcia's ankle injury.......
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Bonus Blog
Thanks to all who took the time to vote in last week's poll. It appears that the majority of readers feel Clemson will win a minimum of 11 games. I agree.
This week's poll will be up shortly.
This week's poll will be up shortly.
Monday, August 11, 2008
SEC West Preview
Once again it's preview time, folks. Tonight I will feature the SEC West, a division that South Carolina has had even less success against than its own. Yes, it was necessary to say that. This division is one of the most intriguing in all of college football this year. How will LSU fare after losing so much offensive talent, including heir apparent Ryan Perrilouix(there's still time to win those 4 Heismans)? Will Auburn adapt to their new spread option offense? Will Sly Croom finally get Miss. St. back to respectibility? Will all of Alabama's players get arrested this year? Will Bobby Petrino still be Arkansas' coach in October? Why the f#*k did Ole Miss ever fire David Cutcliffe? The answers, in my estimation, are: well, yes, yes, yes, no, and good ol' fashioned SEC1013. I don't expect any of these teams to win a national title, or even a conference title for that matter. But I do think all 6 will make a run at a bowl bid. It is the deeper of the 2 divisions in the SEC, while the East is more loaded at the top.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. LSU
2. Auburn
3. Mississippi State
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Arkansas
LSU: You've all heard the phrase "defense wins championships." Well, that's a load of crap. But LSU is loaded for bear on that side of the ball this year. Les Miles has recruited extremely well during his short tenure in BR, and he has the horses to stop opponents from scoring a bunch. The real question is whether or not he has the ones needed to score a bunch. Forget the Perrilouix situation, LSU is better off without him. But nobody knows what to expect at quarterback now, so that could go any number of ways. With the other offensive weapons they have, it shouldn't take much more than a game manager under center, someone who keeps the mistakes to a minimum. I don't think LSU wins the division outright by any means, but with so many unknowns going into the year for everyone, it's hard to pick against them. Season Outlook: 10-2
Auburn: The other Tigers have just as much of an opportunity to play in the SECCG as those of the bengal persuasion. My concern with Auburn is that the spread offense may not take immediately. They did very well against Clemson in the Peach Bowl, all things considered. If they can carry that momentum over into this season, don't be surprised at all if Auburn wins the West. My main hope for them is that their OL stops intentionally hurting defensive tackles on opposing teams. As far as defense is concerned, they are much like VT, in that they are constantly loaded with fast, athletic, bone-crushers. It will be interesting to see how they handle losing Will Muschamp to Texas(Texas sucks). That guy was a human fireball, and he had to have been fun to play for. I think that's it on Auburn. Season Outlook: 9-3
Mississippi State: How great is it to see Coach Croom building a solid program out in Starkville? The answer, is very great. It's a good thing MSU stuck by him through the first couple of years. Lord knows most of their fans wanted to run him out on a rail, most likely because he was black. But, we're talking about Mississippi here, so what can you expect? Am I right or what? People in Mississippi are so damn stupid. I heard that most of the people from there have never even ridden in a car. I do know one girl from Mississippi though, and she seems pretty smart.....smart enough to leave. OH! Seriously though, I would never go to Mississippi. Season Outlook: 7-5
Alabama: Unlike most of the national media, I am not buying the Bama is back hype. In fact, I suspect they won't be any better than they were last season, and they might be worse. Clemson is going to wear their crimson asses out to start the season. Their quarterback sucks. Their running back wouldn't see the field for us. Their WRs all graduated. Julio Jones is a stud, but it won't show in his first game at the college level. They do have an awesome OL, anchored by 2 potential first round draft picks. On defense they are pretty thin along the DL. They've had 12 linebackers arrested since the end of last season. The secondary is good, but again, thin. This team lost to UL-Monroe last year.......at home. Coach Saban compared it to the bombing at Pearl Harbor. And that, well that's just funny. Bama is still 2 years away from making a serious run at the division title. Season Outlook: 6-6
Ole Miss: Cutcliffe was a good coach. Orgeron was a good recruiter. Now let's see if Houston Nutt can put it all together. I like Ole Miss to surprise some teams this year. I don't know if they'll win a whole bunch of games, but I think they will make opposing teams earn it on the field. I know they have a franchise tackle in Michael Oher, but that's about it. If they stay healthy and get a few balls to bounce their way, I could see this team finishing as high as third in the West, and I'm basing that on absolutely nothing. Season Outlook: 6-6
Arkansas: Can you imagine trying to keep a straight face if Bobby Petrino came into your house and tried to recruit your kid? What can he possibly say to convince kids to come play for him. I'm not joking when I say this. Don't be surprised if Petrino is coaching elsewhere, on his own accord, before January. In fact, expect it. They Hogs have lost a bunch of offensive firepower the last couple of years. Even so, they could probably rush for 700 yards against the gamecocks this year if they wanted to. Remember that? On defense, they have some big players, I think. And maybe a couple of guys that are fast. Season Outlook: 5-7
Now, the MOAGy goodness that keeps you coming back.
On team discipline:
- Bottom line - McDaniel simply would not be on our team...
It's as plain and simple as that.
editor's note: the gamecocks just spent 3 years trying to get a player admitted into school who was was accused of a similar crime(except his included kidnapping). The player was also kicked off his prep team for stealing money from teammates. He is expected to play for the gamecocks this year.
On next year:
- after this season more mainstream folks will be predicting 12-1 for 2009.
On recruiting:
- Our coaches don't care how many stars a player has, they are recruiting players that will contribute in the system.
- every kid that has committed has been to our camp or worked out for our coaches. I'd say you have to trust their ability to assess talent.
- You really don't seem to understand how things work. These 'Stars' are given right now based on sophmore and junior seasons. In the meantime these kids have camped right before our cxoaches eyes, giving them firsthand judgement of their their quality.
- the whole star system is flawed to say the least. Not all kids get evaluated, and some kids get evaluated favorably due to connections, schools, coaches, handlers etc. Besides all that, I trust our coaches to evaluate talent more than some 25 year old "kid" with a clipboard working for rivals.com.
- If stars mean talent, what happened to many of our so called high star recruits over the years? Right now, I cannot recall any high star recruits currently playing in the NFL from our past teams. I am sure there may be a couple, but I cannot recall them at this time. Sorry, but I will take our players over your 4 and 5 star recruits anyday.
On Jim Rome's blistering commentary of South Carolina today. If you missed it, he basically said what everyone already thinks about them, that they should sit down and shut up until they do something worthwhile on athletics:
- He talked about Southern Cal being the real USC and us being South Carolina University...SCU. Told South Carolina fans to get over it. Also said that until we win 11 national championships and 7 heisman trophies no one will refer to us at all. Never liked Jim Rome!
- He can kiss our A**!!!! Spur'em
- Now I remember why I hate this guy so much! F'N Moron! South Carolina University. Please A$$hole
- Someone tell Jim Rome that Jim Everett says that South Carolina is THE USC and dares Romey to say otherwise.Effin' punk.
- Rome has trashed our state before (due to the NAACP and NCAA boycotts) - which are insulting, demenaing, disrespectful and ignorant !!!so screw him !!! One man running his mouth who thinks educated people care what the heck he thinks.Time to start buying and showing off ALL our SC stuff every chance we get on National TV !!Too bad rome did not burn when rome did !
- jim rome is a west coast fagget. everett proved that when he whipped his ass
- I just listened to that piece of s*** go on a 90 second tirade about how we don't deserve to be referred to as usc. he went on to say that the rest of the country recognizes the abbreviation as that of southern california and not "southern" carolina. he also went on to go over the obligatory championship difference but failed to mention that last time we squared off we whooped that ass. i think that maybe if the rest of the country thought of him as a legitimate journalist his time slot would be better that 4 in the afternoon where espn thought that they couldn't stand to put one more nba inside edition and had to fill the half an hour with thirty minutes of his garbage. no wonder jim evert whopped his ass all those years ago
- Jim Rome has issues......dating back to the day when Jim Everett pounded his sorry a#%! into a table on his show!! The guy is a total loser who I swear has a Manny Ramirez dildo in his nightstand. He goes on about Man "O" Ram more than Stuart Scott does about Michael Jordan. He is a waste.
- Should make t-shirts for the August 28th game....."West coast Romer" with "The real USC" right underneath, and wear the SC hat. Unless you can think of something better. Maybe a little childish, but I think it would be funny.
On 2008 Season Predictions:
- 9-3, with losses to UGA, LSU, and Florida. I must emphasize that this offense seriously worries me. I think the talent and athleticism on our defense will allow it to take care of business. But with an unproven line, running back, wide receivers (with the exception of Mckinley), and quarterback we really have our work cut out for us. If that crew can get it going the sky is the limit for us but I am just not convinced. I want to know what you guys think of this.
- 10-2 We finish 2nd in SEC, UGA 1st. UGA lost to LSU in regular season, but beats AU in the SECCG. UF finishes 3rd with losses to LSU, UGA, and UT. UT finishes 4th with losses to us, UGA, AU, and Vandy. UK finishes 5th with losses to UGA, us, UF, UT, and M. State. Vandy last, going 5-7 and upsetting UT. We get an at-large bid to the Sugar Bowl, where we beat OU 27-21. Beecher has a passing TD to McKinley, and Davis gets 2 rushing TDs. Succop hits FGs of 39 and 46 yards.We end the season ranked #4.
- I don't see 7-8 wins...has to be more...9, 10 or 11 wins. This is about Steve Spurrier...this is his year!
- I have a hard time seeing less than 9 wins.
- We will begin to have CU's number beginning in 2008.
- I vote "10 or more".Why as a Gamecock, would you say anything less? There is not a team on our schedule we can't beat.
- I have been feeling for several weeks that this season has a 1984/2000 feel to it since we are coming off of a disappointing end to the previous season and the media is justifiably not showing us much respect, but barring injuries, I think a lot of us believe we are better than the experts think.
- There isn't a better coaching staff than what we have, and yes were are flying under the radar.
Here are the results of an online poll conducted amongst USCe fans, on how many wins they will have this season:
422 Votes
6 or fewer 1.90%
7 5.45%
8 30.09%
9 43.36%
10 or more19.19%
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. LSU
2. Auburn
3. Mississippi State
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Arkansas
LSU: You've all heard the phrase "defense wins championships." Well, that's a load of crap. But LSU is loaded for bear on that side of the ball this year. Les Miles has recruited extremely well during his short tenure in BR, and he has the horses to stop opponents from scoring a bunch. The real question is whether or not he has the ones needed to score a bunch. Forget the Perrilouix situation, LSU is better off without him. But nobody knows what to expect at quarterback now, so that could go any number of ways. With the other offensive weapons they have, it shouldn't take much more than a game manager under center, someone who keeps the mistakes to a minimum. I don't think LSU wins the division outright by any means, but with so many unknowns going into the year for everyone, it's hard to pick against them. Season Outlook: 10-2
Auburn: The other Tigers have just as much of an opportunity to play in the SECCG as those of the bengal persuasion. My concern with Auburn is that the spread offense may not take immediately. They did very well against Clemson in the Peach Bowl, all things considered. If they can carry that momentum over into this season, don't be surprised at all if Auburn wins the West. My main hope for them is that their OL stops intentionally hurting defensive tackles on opposing teams. As far as defense is concerned, they are much like VT, in that they are constantly loaded with fast, athletic, bone-crushers. It will be interesting to see how they handle losing Will Muschamp to Texas(Texas sucks). That guy was a human fireball, and he had to have been fun to play for. I think that's it on Auburn. Season Outlook: 9-3
Mississippi State: How great is it to see Coach Croom building a solid program out in Starkville? The answer, is very great. It's a good thing MSU stuck by him through the first couple of years. Lord knows most of their fans wanted to run him out on a rail, most likely because he was black. But, we're talking about Mississippi here, so what can you expect? Am I right or what? People in Mississippi are so damn stupid. I heard that most of the people from there have never even ridden in a car. I do know one girl from Mississippi though, and she seems pretty smart.....smart enough to leave. OH! Seriously though, I would never go to Mississippi. Season Outlook: 7-5
Alabama: Unlike most of the national media, I am not buying the Bama is back hype. In fact, I suspect they won't be any better than they were last season, and they might be worse. Clemson is going to wear their crimson asses out to start the season. Their quarterback sucks. Their running back wouldn't see the field for us. Their WRs all graduated. Julio Jones is a stud, but it won't show in his first game at the college level. They do have an awesome OL, anchored by 2 potential first round draft picks. On defense they are pretty thin along the DL. They've had 12 linebackers arrested since the end of last season. The secondary is good, but again, thin. This team lost to UL-Monroe last year.......at home. Coach Saban compared it to the bombing at Pearl Harbor. And that, well that's just funny. Bama is still 2 years away from making a serious run at the division title. Season Outlook: 6-6
Ole Miss: Cutcliffe was a good coach. Orgeron was a good recruiter. Now let's see if Houston Nutt can put it all together. I like Ole Miss to surprise some teams this year. I don't know if they'll win a whole bunch of games, but I think they will make opposing teams earn it on the field. I know they have a franchise tackle in Michael Oher, but that's about it. If they stay healthy and get a few balls to bounce their way, I could see this team finishing as high as third in the West, and I'm basing that on absolutely nothing. Season Outlook: 6-6
Arkansas: Can you imagine trying to keep a straight face if Bobby Petrino came into your house and tried to recruit your kid? What can he possibly say to convince kids to come play for him. I'm not joking when I say this. Don't be surprised if Petrino is coaching elsewhere, on his own accord, before January. In fact, expect it. They Hogs have lost a bunch of offensive firepower the last couple of years. Even so, they could probably rush for 700 yards against the gamecocks this year if they wanted to. Remember that? On defense, they have some big players, I think. And maybe a couple of guys that are fast. Season Outlook: 5-7
Now, the MOAGy goodness that keeps you coming back.
On team discipline:
- Bottom line - McDaniel simply would not be on our team...
It's as plain and simple as that.
editor's note: the gamecocks just spent 3 years trying to get a player admitted into school who was was accused of a similar crime(except his included kidnapping). The player was also kicked off his prep team for stealing money from teammates. He is expected to play for the gamecocks this year.
On next year:
- after this season more mainstream folks will be predicting 12-1 for 2009.
On recruiting:
- Our coaches don't care how many stars a player has, they are recruiting players that will contribute in the system.
- every kid that has committed has been to our camp or worked out for our coaches. I'd say you have to trust their ability to assess talent.
- You really don't seem to understand how things work. These 'Stars' are given right now based on sophmore and junior seasons. In the meantime these kids have camped right before our cxoaches eyes, giving them firsthand judgement of their their quality.
- the whole star system is flawed to say the least. Not all kids get evaluated, and some kids get evaluated favorably due to connections, schools, coaches, handlers etc. Besides all that, I trust our coaches to evaluate talent more than some 25 year old "kid" with a clipboard working for rivals.com.
- If stars mean talent, what happened to many of our so called high star recruits over the years? Right now, I cannot recall any high star recruits currently playing in the NFL from our past teams. I am sure there may be a couple, but I cannot recall them at this time. Sorry, but I will take our players over your 4 and 5 star recruits anyday.
On Jim Rome's blistering commentary of South Carolina today. If you missed it, he basically said what everyone already thinks about them, that they should sit down and shut up until they do something worthwhile on athletics:
- He talked about Southern Cal being the real USC and us being South Carolina University...SCU. Told South Carolina fans to get over it. Also said that until we win 11 national championships and 7 heisman trophies no one will refer to us at all. Never liked Jim Rome!
- He can kiss our A**!!!! Spur'em
- Now I remember why I hate this guy so much! F'N Moron! South Carolina University. Please A$$hole
- Someone tell Jim Rome that Jim Everett says that South Carolina is THE USC and dares Romey to say otherwise.Effin' punk.
- Rome has trashed our state before (due to the NAACP and NCAA boycotts) - which are insulting, demenaing, disrespectful and ignorant !!!so screw him !!! One man running his mouth who thinks educated people care what the heck he thinks.Time to start buying and showing off ALL our SC stuff every chance we get on National TV !!Too bad rome did not burn when rome did !
- jim rome is a west coast fagget. everett proved that when he whipped his ass
- I just listened to that piece of s*** go on a 90 second tirade about how we don't deserve to be referred to as usc. he went on to say that the rest of the country recognizes the abbreviation as that of southern california and not "southern" carolina. he also went on to go over the obligatory championship difference but failed to mention that last time we squared off we whooped that ass. i think that maybe if the rest of the country thought of him as a legitimate journalist his time slot would be better that 4 in the afternoon where espn thought that they couldn't stand to put one more nba inside edition and had to fill the half an hour with thirty minutes of his garbage. no wonder jim evert whopped his ass all those years ago
- Jim Rome has issues......dating back to the day when Jim Everett pounded his sorry a#%! into a table on his show!! The guy is a total loser who I swear has a Manny Ramirez dildo in his nightstand. He goes on about Man "O" Ram more than Stuart Scott does about Michael Jordan. He is a waste.
- Should make t-shirts for the August 28th game....."West coast Romer" with "The real USC" right underneath, and wear the SC hat. Unless you can think of something better. Maybe a little childish, but I think it would be funny.
On 2008 Season Predictions:
- 9-3, with losses to UGA, LSU, and Florida. I must emphasize that this offense seriously worries me. I think the talent and athleticism on our defense will allow it to take care of business. But with an unproven line, running back, wide receivers (with the exception of Mckinley), and quarterback we really have our work cut out for us. If that crew can get it going the sky is the limit for us but I am just not convinced. I want to know what you guys think of this.
- 10-2 We finish 2nd in SEC, UGA 1st. UGA lost to LSU in regular season, but beats AU in the SECCG. UF finishes 3rd with losses to LSU, UGA, and UT. UT finishes 4th with losses to us, UGA, AU, and Vandy. UK finishes 5th with losses to UGA, us, UF, UT, and M. State. Vandy last, going 5-7 and upsetting UT. We get an at-large bid to the Sugar Bowl, where we beat OU 27-21. Beecher has a passing TD to McKinley, and Davis gets 2 rushing TDs. Succop hits FGs of 39 and 46 yards.We end the season ranked #4.
- I don't see 7-8 wins...has to be more...9, 10 or 11 wins. This is about Steve Spurrier...this is his year!
- I have a hard time seeing less than 9 wins.
- We will begin to have CU's number beginning in 2008.
- I vote "10 or more".Why as a Gamecock, would you say anything less? There is not a team on our schedule we can't beat.
- I have been feeling for several weeks that this season has a 1984/2000 feel to it since we are coming off of a disappointing end to the previous season and the media is justifiably not showing us much respect, but barring injuries, I think a lot of us believe we are better than the experts think.
- There isn't a better coaching staff than what we have, and yes were are flying under the radar.
Here are the results of an online poll conducted amongst USCe fans, on how many wins they will have this season:
422 Votes
6 or fewer 1.90%
7 5.45%
8 30.09%
9 43.36%
10 or more19.19%
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sunday Matinee
Nothing really hilarious happened to the gamecocks this weekend, other than losing a court battle to Southern California(which led to some hilarious MOAG). So I figured I would just inundate y'all with some of the week's best.
On Georgia:
- Look at UGA's schedule last year and then come back and tell me "you fear them"! The best team they beat was a 5 loss Florida team. Tennesseee took them to the woodshed, as bad as the score was, it wasnt even that close, couldve been 68-7. They had a phantom penalty call that put them in position to kick a last second fg to win vs Vandy. USC beat them between the hedges and it shouldnt have been as close as it was. UGA got the best draw of any bowl game, Hawaiii lol please!UGA will not finish in the top 20 this year.
- Can you imagine UGA coming to our house ranked #1? Spurrier must be foaming at the mouth. He owns Georgia.
On the future of gamecock football:
- Ladies and gentlemen this is an exciting time for our program. Things are moving in the right direction. How can you not be pumped up about the future? It's a great time to be a Gamecock!!!
- Yup, it's a New Gamecock Generation! This Century we are 54-42 total and 30-34 in the SEC. Improvement over the 90's.
- A program is being built guys, with primarily high school recruits and quality ones at that. It's all coming together right as we are modernizing our facilities to attract an even higher quality of recruit. It's the perfect storm. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
On Clemson:
- I am from the upstate and am aware of what has gone on at that school for years. They run the best spin machine in the country. Everyone from the custodians, professors, board of trustees, students, campus police, news tv, news papers, and last but not least the coaches have but one mission and that is to protect clemson football and its players. It's gone on since the 50's and untill the NCAA gets back in there it will continue to happen. Just to warn you people will laugh at your accusations and say you are over reacting but the funny thing about it is that's how they have been able to get away with such things over the years. People don't want to believe what lengths those people will go to just to win a few football games ,but it DOES happen.
- However, I'm amazed at our fans, and administrations, unwillingness to notice, admit and do something about the other teams who have gained an advantage over us because of their cheating ways.
- ever heard of The Fridge(Wm Perry) He would come off the field at the end of a game holding his hands out four the cash to be handed to him!
- I did some research on CU and I'm not sure they have one legitimate win in their history. I posted it here and it received 2500 views and was called I'm fed up with Clemson. I posted it on FGF and it got 111 responses and 9000 views. Most of the responses were from CU fans because I touched a nerve. They told me to get a life even though some of them had over 10000 posts on our forum. I e-mailed the NCAA @scooper@ncaa.org and I e-mailed other media outlets. I'm tired of CU and if any USC fan has legitimate proof please take action.
On Stephen Garcia:
- No, they're not choir boys.But, there is no way in heck, these "higher profile" players are bigger criminals, or breaking the law with more consistency, than the other players or normal students around USC.
This next one deserved a category of its own:
- Clemson and Clemson fans know the easiest way to offset USC's chance of success, is to go after our best play makers. They have resolved to HIT us where it will hurt us the most. Every single time we gain momentum, gain a player, or land a recruit they start trying to find a way to throw the orange wrench into our progress and kill it.And, obviously, it hasn't been that difficult for them. Especially, when they're dealing with the naive and passive sorts that USC officials, coaches, and fans have been.Clemson got them some "insiders" hired into the right positions. Then they resolved to tear down their arch rival from within.This "warfare" is nothing short of what the mafia has done to manipulate their victims throughout history.
Now check out some of the responses to the previous post:
- I couldn't agree more. I own a business and frankly it would take quite an interview for me to hire a CU alum etc. My blood runs Garnet and orange has very little place in my life. GO COCKS!
- The momentum is swinging and the egg heads are being swept out. Mark my words the Clemson fellow cop is not the only one whom will eventually be looking for somewhere else to work. The Dean of admissions is also a Clemsonite, either him or one of his higher ups within the dept. If I were him I would take notice of what is going on and would not pull some foolishness.....but as we have seen recently that is not the case....guess what look for him to be re-assigned at the very least. Things are getting fixed. The3se situations...this cancer that has plagued the university for decades is being addressed. Spurrier is a maswter player and he is smarter than all those eggheads combined.
- It's almost like a "soft jihad"? Destroy from within. By their own hands.
- Right on, I will bet you will not find Carolina people in the Clemson system like we find Clemson people in the USC system. They are well versed at control. They systematically protect their athletes using whatever means necessary including the town of Clemson police and of course the campus police.
- Whether you like the underlying moral implications or not, from a football standpoint, CU, Georgia, FSU, etc. has our number. Look at the win loss records. Look at the arrest records.
On Georgia:
- Look at UGA's schedule last year and then come back and tell me "you fear them"! The best team they beat was a 5 loss Florida team. Tennesseee took them to the woodshed, as bad as the score was, it wasnt even that close, couldve been 68-7. They had a phantom penalty call that put them in position to kick a last second fg to win vs Vandy. USC beat them between the hedges and it shouldnt have been as close as it was. UGA got the best draw of any bowl game, Hawaiii lol please!UGA will not finish in the top 20 this year.
- Can you imagine UGA coming to our house ranked #1? Spurrier must be foaming at the mouth. He owns Georgia.
On the future of gamecock football:
- Ladies and gentlemen this is an exciting time for our program. Things are moving in the right direction. How can you not be pumped up about the future? It's a great time to be a Gamecock!!!
- Yup, it's a New Gamecock Generation! This Century we are 54-42 total and 30-34 in the SEC. Improvement over the 90's.
- A program is being built guys, with primarily high school recruits and quality ones at that. It's all coming together right as we are modernizing our facilities to attract an even higher quality of recruit. It's the perfect storm. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
On Clemson:
- I am from the upstate and am aware of what has gone on at that school for years. They run the best spin machine in the country. Everyone from the custodians, professors, board of trustees, students, campus police, news tv, news papers, and last but not least the coaches have but one mission and that is to protect clemson football and its players. It's gone on since the 50's and untill the NCAA gets back in there it will continue to happen. Just to warn you people will laugh at your accusations and say you are over reacting but the funny thing about it is that's how they have been able to get away with such things over the years. People don't want to believe what lengths those people will go to just to win a few football games ,but it DOES happen.
- However, I'm amazed at our fans, and administrations, unwillingness to notice, admit and do something about the other teams who have gained an advantage over us because of their cheating ways.
- ever heard of The Fridge(Wm Perry) He would come off the field at the end of a game holding his hands out four the cash to be handed to him!
- I did some research on CU and I'm not sure they have one legitimate win in their history. I posted it here and it received 2500 views and was called I'm fed up with Clemson. I posted it on FGF and it got 111 responses and 9000 views. Most of the responses were from CU fans because I touched a nerve. They told me to get a life even though some of them had over 10000 posts on our forum. I e-mailed the NCAA @scooper@ncaa.org and I e-mailed other media outlets. I'm tired of CU and if any USC fan has legitimate proof please take action.
On Stephen Garcia:
- No, they're not choir boys.But, there is no way in heck, these "higher profile" players are bigger criminals, or breaking the law with more consistency, than the other players or normal students around USC.
This next one deserved a category of its own:
- Clemson and Clemson fans know the easiest way to offset USC's chance of success, is to go after our best play makers. They have resolved to HIT us where it will hurt us the most. Every single time we gain momentum, gain a player, or land a recruit they start trying to find a way to throw the orange wrench into our progress and kill it.And, obviously, it hasn't been that difficult for them. Especially, when they're dealing with the naive and passive sorts that USC officials, coaches, and fans have been.Clemson got them some "insiders" hired into the right positions. Then they resolved to tear down their arch rival from within.This "warfare" is nothing short of what the mafia has done to manipulate their victims throughout history.
Now check out some of the responses to the previous post:
- I couldn't agree more. I own a business and frankly it would take quite an interview for me to hire a CU alum etc. My blood runs Garnet and orange has very little place in my life. GO COCKS!
- The momentum is swinging and the egg heads are being swept out. Mark my words the Clemson fellow cop is not the only one whom will eventually be looking for somewhere else to work. The Dean of admissions is also a Clemsonite, either him or one of his higher ups within the dept. If I were him I would take notice of what is going on and would not pull some foolishness.....but as we have seen recently that is not the case....guess what look for him to be re-assigned at the very least. Things are getting fixed. The3se situations...this cancer that has plagued the university for decades is being addressed. Spurrier is a maswter player and he is smarter than all those eggheads combined.
- It's almost like a "soft jihad"? Destroy from within. By their own hands.
- Right on, I will bet you will not find Carolina people in the Clemson system like we find Clemson people in the USC system. They are well versed at control. They systematically protect their athletes using whatever means necessary including the town of Clemson police and of course the campus police.
- Whether you like the underlying moral implications or not, from a football standpoint, CU, Georgia, FSU, etc. has our number. Look at the win loss records. Look at the arrest records.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Pull the Plug Nurse, He's Got Orange In His Blood
Folks, the condition I've presented to you on this blog is called mind of a gamecock. It is unavoidable and incurable. It targets children and adults, men and women, babies and the elderly. And once you get it, your fate is worse than death. Central to the disability is an overwhelming sense of paranoia. I've given you several examples of that paranoia on these pages, but I think it is important that you know.........it's getting worse.
Everywhere you turn these days, someone within the USC administration and/or fanbase is spouting off to the media because someone is out to get them. Be it a Clemson website operator, a Clemson coach, the Columbia P.D., or God herself, people are out to hurt the gamecocks. At least, that's what their brass would have you believe. The latest bloviation came today, from longtime university BOT member Eddie Floyd(link to article http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=834387):
"Our campus police have targeted our athletes," said Floyd in a telephone interview. He went on to imply, in none too subtle fashion, that the police targeting gamecock athletes are none other than Clemson fans. "We have a guy investigating our athletes who has Tiger paws in his office."
Dr. Floyd is described as one of the most respected members of USC's board of trustees. I'm sure he is. I'm also sure he is a highly intelligent, skilled surgeon from Florence. I'm sure he's made more money than I'll ever see. I'm sure he's lived an exemplary life. My intent here isn't to question Dr. Floyd's reputation. All I'm doing is showing you the proof. Mind of a gamecock, as I stated earlier, is unavoidable and incurable. We're talking about a man with the credentials of which most of us can only dream. But bring up gamecock football, and you have more potential for crazy than a bum with a prescription pad.
Later in the day, his comments having been rebuffed by some of his closest colleagues, Dr. Floyd offered a gentler accusation(link to article http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/football/story/482269.html):
"I feel they have overstepped in some areas," Floyd said Wednesday from his home in Florence. "After talking to some of the people, this is how I feel. And I always say what I feel, good or bad."
"My feeling is that (targeting athletes) has happened. I'm sure the administration may have a different opinion," Floyd said. "But certainly that's what I think."
Regarding the police officer with a tiger paw in his office, Floyd had this to say, "One of the investigators that had a tiger paw in his office, my understanding is he said it was a joke. I don't know." "I haven't looked at it. I haven't seen it. But that's what I heard."
So, what does this all mean? Essentially, it means Dr. Floyd disparaged the professionalism and integrity of the USC campus police department, with nothing more than a gut feeling and a poor sense of humor as evidence. This was done, of course, while conveniently overlooking the fact that the athletes being "targeted," were arrested for COMMITTING CRIMES. This is real f#@kin life, dog! It's time for the program to look inward for someone to blame rather than outward. And if you are going to lob such damning accusations, you might want to make sure you've got more than "Uh, I heard something, somewhere, I think" to back it up. Because right now, the only people being targeted are members of the USC campus police department. It'd be a real shame for Dr. Floyd if ever he needed their help.
So, gamecock nation, my appeal to you is simple. The next time your star quarterback gets arrested for keying a car, don't blame the person who gave him the key. Next time you have a meathead pair of twins brutally assault a small, solitary victim for no discernable reason at all, don't blame Budweiser for distributing the beer bottle they hit him with. Next time you have a player arrested for buying weed, don't blame Mexico for exporting the drug. Take some pride in yourselves. Stop it with all the self-pity, paranoia, and delusion. Thank you, and goodnight.
Seriously though, don't stop it with all the self pity, paranoia, and delusion. It's kind of important to me.
Let's here it from those who support Dr. Floyd:
- Dr. Floyd has valid points. Barny Fife and his brothers are alive and well and some of them are wearing tiger paws. They have messed with a lot of good people not just athletes. A self important bunch. USC could do without a police dept.
- All I want to know is, who on earth at the University of South Carolina decided to hire a Clemson graduate or fan for the Campus police? You've got to be kidding me. It seems like a no brainer to me. I'm not saying they aren't capable, but I mean come on, you could definitely find someone NOT affiliated with our rival.
- there is now way i would hire a clemson person for the campus police that should be addressed and if the allegations are correct about them going after athletes they should be fired. Heck i think they should be fired anyway.
- Bout time we started standing up to this BS!!! This is the type of stuff that has went on for years!!! The new powers are not gonna take it and I love it!
- Either way if there are witnesses that will attest to these campus police high-fiving after arresting one of our football players and they have tater paws all over their office or locker or what have you, they're toast and we have every reason to torch them. I'm not saying the above is facts but that seems to be the jest of what Dr. Floyd is adressing in the article.
- Whether he turns out to be right or wrong, I'm glad the discussion was made public by someone in a prominent position at USC.Why not put the USC-PD under the same scrutiny our players are placed under?
- I only have 2 comments:1) Steve Spurrier is the best thing to ever happen to our football program.2) The culture is changing before our eyes, my friends.
- Where there is smoke there is fire. Clemson is starting to get a little sloppy when it comes to cover ups.
- It's hard not to believe that our players are not singled out by the PD. My gosh, it is just hard to believe that the players we recruit are any different from players on other teams from the area. My goshs, CU, USC , UGA all recruit the same basic areas. You mean, that USC gets all of the bad apples from a particular region. No, that would be impossible, imo. PS: If there was someone who had a tiger paw rug in his office that worked for USC then he would be gone if it were up to me. Or else he would be required to remove the rug at the very least. I work for a Fortune 100 company. And I can assure you if I had a rug, picture, emblem, etc. of one of our competitors I would be gone in a heart beat.
- If It is indeed true that there are Clemson supporters in the USC police dept. that needs to be handled and now. There are plenty of qualifed USC grads or supporters to fill those jobs There is no place for them on our campus period. I should think that they would not want to be here unless they had bad intensions. As most of us know Taters will do anything to get negative things out on the Gamecocks. And we all know they will do anything to win .Whether it be paying athelets and almost anyting to win . Like the national championship that the bought.
- I appreciate the stance of Dr. Floyd has taken as it is the first time that I have ever seen a senior member of the university recognize and make comment on the subject of Clemson. You see, he recognizes something most of you do not. Clemson and its supporters hate, and I mean hate, USC much more than we dislike them. It is 24x7x365 how much they put into hating us. It is built into their system and passed down to family members for generations. Clemson is akin to a cult and for some reason, it gets in a persons blood and becomes infectuous. While I understand that the role of law enforcement is dangerous, I can also understand that if we have Clemson loyalties in our system, then the system could be compromised. Kudos to Dr. Floyd for he at least understands what is going on. Too bad the other trustees can not understand this.
- I posted a while back that those people were behind most of our problems and have been for forty years, they are the same as terrorist.
Get this, I swear this was really said:
- IMHO......Mungo should have either kept his mouth shut or Stood by Dr. Floyd. He doesn't have to agree with Dr. Floyd, but if he doesn't then he should have just said "I respect Dr. Floyd, but I do not have an opinion on what was said." It shows his character for what he is for him to come out and back stab a fellow board member. Not to mention, doing it so quickly. Maybe he is jealous that his name is not on the stadium anywhere or for just some other reason.
- Just one more example of USC fans eating their own.
- Mungo was probably a nerd that got beat up all the time when he was a kid and hates the world. Probably didn't get laid until he was married or paid for it. And no I don't have video evidence, it's my opinion based on historical analysis of such punks.
* editor's note: for anyone unaware of this fact, the Mungo mentioned above is another respected USC BOT member, who roundly refuted Dr. Floyd's comments later this afternoon.
On reasons why they hate Clemson:
- 1. Their irrational, delusional fans. It's impossible to hold a normal, intelligent sports conversation with these people. 2. The "cult" of Clemson. It extends from the fans to the coaches to the university administration. Truth and accountability are non-required electives at Clemson. 3. Orange and purple.
- the way they back stabbed us in the early 70's
- 1. They break the law and the rules and the refs, police, & NCAA let them get away with it. 2. They hide, cover up, and deny #1 and when they occasionally get caught they defend it. 3. The media is on board the tater train. 4. They are the luckiest team in college football. 5. They are obnoxious, obstinate, arrogant, and blind to reality. 6. They think they are ultimate perfection.
- Tater fans have overtaken UNC fans as the most arrogant and elitist around. At least UNC fans have some national titles and academic ranking to hang their hat on. Tater fans have taken a football championship 25+ years ago, some silly magazine ranking, about 30-40 SAT points, and a few head-to-head wins....and they have turned it into the stuff of LEGENDS in this state. Incredibly arrogant...and for very little reason.
- I hate clempson because police officers love them.
- They throw any form of morality out the window whenever it suits them.
- Their fans are the dumbest, most obnoxiously delusional pieces of trash to ever walk the earth.
Everywhere you turn these days, someone within the USC administration and/or fanbase is spouting off to the media because someone is out to get them. Be it a Clemson website operator, a Clemson coach, the Columbia P.D., or God herself, people are out to hurt the gamecocks. At least, that's what their brass would have you believe. The latest bloviation came today, from longtime university BOT member Eddie Floyd(link to article http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=834387):
"Our campus police have targeted our athletes," said Floyd in a telephone interview. He went on to imply, in none too subtle fashion, that the police targeting gamecock athletes are none other than Clemson fans. "We have a guy investigating our athletes who has Tiger paws in his office."
Dr. Floyd is described as one of the most respected members of USC's board of trustees. I'm sure he is. I'm also sure he is a highly intelligent, skilled surgeon from Florence. I'm sure he's made more money than I'll ever see. I'm sure he's lived an exemplary life. My intent here isn't to question Dr. Floyd's reputation. All I'm doing is showing you the proof. Mind of a gamecock, as I stated earlier, is unavoidable and incurable. We're talking about a man with the credentials of which most of us can only dream. But bring up gamecock football, and you have more potential for crazy than a bum with a prescription pad.
Later in the day, his comments having been rebuffed by some of his closest colleagues, Dr. Floyd offered a gentler accusation(link to article http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/football/story/482269.html):
"I feel they have overstepped in some areas," Floyd said Wednesday from his home in Florence. "After talking to some of the people, this is how I feel. And I always say what I feel, good or bad."
"My feeling is that (targeting athletes) has happened. I'm sure the administration may have a different opinion," Floyd said. "But certainly that's what I think."
Regarding the police officer with a tiger paw in his office, Floyd had this to say, "One of the investigators that had a tiger paw in his office, my understanding is he said it was a joke. I don't know." "I haven't looked at it. I haven't seen it. But that's what I heard."
So, what does this all mean? Essentially, it means Dr. Floyd disparaged the professionalism and integrity of the USC campus police department, with nothing more than a gut feeling and a poor sense of humor as evidence. This was done, of course, while conveniently overlooking the fact that the athletes being "targeted," were arrested for COMMITTING CRIMES. This is real f#@kin life, dog! It's time for the program to look inward for someone to blame rather than outward. And if you are going to lob such damning accusations, you might want to make sure you've got more than "Uh, I heard something, somewhere, I think" to back it up. Because right now, the only people being targeted are members of the USC campus police department. It'd be a real shame for Dr. Floyd if ever he needed their help.
So, gamecock nation, my appeal to you is simple. The next time your star quarterback gets arrested for keying a car, don't blame the person who gave him the key. Next time you have a meathead pair of twins brutally assault a small, solitary victim for no discernable reason at all, don't blame Budweiser for distributing the beer bottle they hit him with. Next time you have a player arrested for buying weed, don't blame Mexico for exporting the drug. Take some pride in yourselves. Stop it with all the self-pity, paranoia, and delusion. Thank you, and goodnight.
Seriously though, don't stop it with all the self pity, paranoia, and delusion. It's kind of important to me.
Let's here it from those who support Dr. Floyd:
- Dr. Floyd has valid points. Barny Fife and his brothers are alive and well and some of them are wearing tiger paws. They have messed with a lot of good people not just athletes. A self important bunch. USC could do without a police dept.
- All I want to know is, who on earth at the University of South Carolina decided to hire a Clemson graduate or fan for the Campus police? You've got to be kidding me. It seems like a no brainer to me. I'm not saying they aren't capable, but I mean come on, you could definitely find someone NOT affiliated with our rival.
- there is now way i would hire a clemson person for the campus police that should be addressed and if the allegations are correct about them going after athletes they should be fired. Heck i think they should be fired anyway.
- Bout time we started standing up to this BS!!! This is the type of stuff that has went on for years!!! The new powers are not gonna take it and I love it!
- Either way if there are witnesses that will attest to these campus police high-fiving after arresting one of our football players and they have tater paws all over their office or locker or what have you, they're toast and we have every reason to torch them. I'm not saying the above is facts but that seems to be the jest of what Dr. Floyd is adressing in the article.
- Whether he turns out to be right or wrong, I'm glad the discussion was made public by someone in a prominent position at USC.Why not put the USC-PD under the same scrutiny our players are placed under?
- I only have 2 comments:1) Steve Spurrier is the best thing to ever happen to our football program.2) The culture is changing before our eyes, my friends.
- Where there is smoke there is fire. Clemson is starting to get a little sloppy when it comes to cover ups.
- It's hard not to believe that our players are not singled out by the PD. My gosh, it is just hard to believe that the players we recruit are any different from players on other teams from the area. My goshs, CU, USC , UGA all recruit the same basic areas. You mean, that USC gets all of the bad apples from a particular region. No, that would be impossible, imo. PS: If there was someone who had a tiger paw rug in his office that worked for USC then he would be gone if it were up to me. Or else he would be required to remove the rug at the very least. I work for a Fortune 100 company. And I can assure you if I had a rug, picture, emblem, etc. of one of our competitors I would be gone in a heart beat.
- If It is indeed true that there are Clemson supporters in the USC police dept. that needs to be handled and now. There are plenty of qualifed USC grads or supporters to fill those jobs There is no place for them on our campus period. I should think that they would not want to be here unless they had bad intensions. As most of us know Taters will do anything to get negative things out on the Gamecocks. And we all know they will do anything to win .Whether it be paying athelets and almost anyting to win . Like the national championship that the bought.
- I appreciate the stance of Dr. Floyd has taken as it is the first time that I have ever seen a senior member of the university recognize and make comment on the subject of Clemson. You see, he recognizes something most of you do not. Clemson and its supporters hate, and I mean hate, USC much more than we dislike them. It is 24x7x365 how much they put into hating us. It is built into their system and passed down to family members for generations. Clemson is akin to a cult and for some reason, it gets in a persons blood and becomes infectuous. While I understand that the role of law enforcement is dangerous, I can also understand that if we have Clemson loyalties in our system, then the system could be compromised. Kudos to Dr. Floyd for he at least understands what is going on. Too bad the other trustees can not understand this.
- I posted a while back that those people were behind most of our problems and have been for forty years, they are the same as terrorist.
Get this, I swear this was really said:
- IMHO......Mungo should have either kept his mouth shut or Stood by Dr. Floyd. He doesn't have to agree with Dr. Floyd, but if he doesn't then he should have just said "I respect Dr. Floyd, but I do not have an opinion on what was said." It shows his character for what he is for him to come out and back stab a fellow board member. Not to mention, doing it so quickly. Maybe he is jealous that his name is not on the stadium anywhere or for just some other reason.
- Just one more example of USC fans eating their own.
- Mungo was probably a nerd that got beat up all the time when he was a kid and hates the world. Probably didn't get laid until he was married or paid for it. And no I don't have video evidence, it's my opinion based on historical analysis of such punks.
* editor's note: for anyone unaware of this fact, the Mungo mentioned above is another respected USC BOT member, who roundly refuted Dr. Floyd's comments later this afternoon.
On reasons why they hate Clemson:
- 1. Their irrational, delusional fans. It's impossible to hold a normal, intelligent sports conversation with these people. 2. The "cult" of Clemson. It extends from the fans to the coaches to the university administration. Truth and accountability are non-required electives at Clemson. 3. Orange and purple.
- the way they back stabbed us in the early 70's
- 1. They break the law and the rules and the refs, police, & NCAA let them get away with it. 2. They hide, cover up, and deny #1 and when they occasionally get caught they defend it. 3. The media is on board the tater train. 4. They are the luckiest team in college football. 5. They are obnoxious, obstinate, arrogant, and blind to reality. 6. They think they are ultimate perfection.
- Tater fans have overtaken UNC fans as the most arrogant and elitist around. At least UNC fans have some national titles and academic ranking to hang their hat on. Tater fans have taken a football championship 25+ years ago, some silly magazine ranking, about 30-40 SAT points, and a few head-to-head wins....and they have turned it into the stuff of LEGENDS in this state. Incredibly arrogant...and for very little reason.
- I hate clempson because police officers love them.
- They throw any form of morality out the window whenever it suits them.
- Their fans are the dumbest, most obnoxiously delusional pieces of trash to ever walk the earth.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Bonus Blog
Thanks for voting in last week's poll, folks. The majority believes the Gamecocks will win 7 games. That isn't surprising. I disagree with the majority. Stay tuned to find out how many games they'll actually win next year.
Please take the time to vote in my new poll, on total Clemson wins this year.
Please take the time to vote in my new poll, on total Clemson wins this year.
Tonight's Episode: The ACC Coastal
Folks, last week I promised a breakdown of the ACC Coastal division. That took a back seat to the deluge of stupidity coming out of Steve Spurrier's cryhole. But a promise is a promise, and without further ado, I give you Mind of a Gamecock's breakdown and predictions for the ACC Coastal division.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. Miami
5. Virginia
6. Duke
Picking VT to win this division, despite the massive losses at various skill positions, is a no-brainer. They have one thing that coaches drool over, a talented, experienced offensive line. As I mentioned, they did lose a bevy of wide receivers, and Brandon Ore was kicked off the team for being a jerk, but their quarterback tandem of Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon is a bit underrated. Glennon isn't great, but he is solid. And Tyrod Taylor is simply a star in the making. I wouldn't be surprised if he is firmly entrenched as the starter by the middle of the season. They lose a bit more on defense, especially along the line. But honestly, does it really matter. Frank Beamer has made a habit of re-loading every year on defense with fast, tough, athletic players. Macho Harris and Kam Chancellor anchor yet another excellent defensive backfield. And then there's special teams. It gets overlooked every year, but expect VT's special teams to win them a game or two this season. Season Outlook: 10-2
Holding down my #2 spot is Georgia Tech. They only return 8 starters from last year's team(but some of those starters weren't very good). This is a risky pick, but I am banking on the Yellow Jackets to run Paul Johnson's offense the way it is intended to be run. GT is a wildcard, b/c if they don't pick up the system, it could be a very long year. It takes a lot of discipline and effort to pull off the triple option. His players at Navy had what it takes. Whether the higher profile athletes at GT have it remains to be seen. Georgia Tech returns one of the top defensive lines in the ACC, led by Michael Johnson and his 6 foot neck. Behind that line is a bunch of young, inexperienced, but aqeduately talented linebackers and DBs. Of course, the defense will be running an entirely new defensive system as well. Gone are the days of blitz happy Tenuta-ball. In short, it is a total overhaul for the Ramblin Wreck. Maybe it's a stretch putting them at #2, but I'm willing to stick my neck out there on this one, despite the nerdiest fight song in the history of college football. Season Outlook: 8-4
Butch Davis' Tarheels come in at number 3. Talk about potential. The Heels are plenty talented, but largely young and inexperienced. They also return 18 starters. It's been a long time since anyone at UNC knew what it felt like to win football games, but Davis is making short work of that culture. The offense returns a league most 10 starters. Most of the talent is at WR and RB, where Hakeem Nicks and Greg Little should put up big numbers. Quarterback is an unknown. Frankly, I don't know much about TJ Yates, so I'm just going to assume he sucks until he proves otherwise. The defensive line isn't great, but it does boast one of the nation's budding superstars in Marvin Austin. I really don't care much for the Heels, so I'm not going to write anything else. Season Outlook: 7-5
Miami has experienced, perhaps, more of a roller coaster ride in the last 2 decades than any team in America. They have gone from great to terrible, to greatest team ever, back to pretty terrible again. For now, it appears things are on the upswing again. Randy Shannon has shown he can recruit with the big boys, now he has to show he can coach with 'em. The Canes return 11 starters from a team that really blew. Losing 48-0 at home to Virginia ought to be grounds for NCAA probation. But I'm not ready to write the Canes off just yet. I don't know what to expect from the offense. Nobody has won the quarterback job yet, but don't be surprised if RS freshman, Robert Marve, earns the job. Miami has lots of talent on the defensive side of the ball. Lots. It's just young and unproven. In short, Miami is still probably 2 years away from contending for the division crown. Season Outlook: 6-6
Virginia. Who gives a flying f@#k?
It would be prudent to keep an eye on Duke this year. I don't expect them to be bowl eligible or anything like that, but I do expect them to pick up a few wins in the ACC for the first time in a long time. David Cutcliffe is a really good coach. Why Ole Miss let him go, I will never know. He is burning it up on the recruiting trail right now. But let's temper the expectations for a few years. Duke is still Duke. I don't think they will beat anyone in the top half of the league, but like I said, don't be surprised if they pull off a few upsets. For you degenerates out there, I think the Blue Devils will be a very smart pick to cover a bunch this year. They may have the best quarterback that you've never heard of in Thaddeus Lewis. I'll be pulling for the Devils to win a few league games, mainly so Clemson won't have to be referred to as the last ACC team Duke beat. If they get a few bounces, they might actually be looking down on UVA at the end of the year. Season Outlook: 4-8
So there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Don't hold back. Hopefully I'll get to the SEC West tomorrow(SEC honks, don't be surprised when I don't pick all 6 teams to go 12-0).
Now MOAG.
On Georgia(this is long, but oh so worth it):
- OK, everyone is worrying about number one ranked UGA early in the season. Don't. Why you ask, well a little research is very encouraging. Let's look at USC and UGA in the past two years, and 3 years (Spurrs 1st season) versus identical competition, i.e., the SEC EAST.
Last 3 years:
UGA 8 wins-7 losses
USC 8 wins-7 lossesTie
Last 2 years:
UGA 4 wins-6 losses
USC 4 wins-6 lossesTie
Now let's look at the difference in SEC west Opponents:
Last 3 years: UGA West opponents: 53-55
Last 2 years: UGA West opponents: 37-38
Last 3 years: USC West opponents: 75-39
Last 2 years: USC West opponents: 52-37
See the difference here Gamecocks? EZ stuff. Not to mention that in the past two seasons, UGA has experienced an 0-6 streak versus the SEC East, which would have been 0-7 had not Vandy gift wrapped last years win for them. What I am saying is that Spurrier is going into hids 4th year, Richt his 8th, and yet we are equal to them in wins and losses versus identical (SEC EAST) competion over that time frame, plus we have played SEC West teams with over almost a 70% WP over that time frame while they have played SEC West teams with a below 50% winning percentage. Folks, do not fear georgia, I know you don't, but my god, they are so overrated it is not funny, in the middle of last year they were riding a 6 game losing streak versus the SEC East, and had not Vandy given them the gift, they would have been on a 7 game losing skid versus the East. They have made a lot of hay from their Fla. and Auburn victories, but all said, they have not done better than us the past three/two years versus identical competition even though their staff has been in place for 8 years. Remember, we beat them at Georgia last year, we will beat them at home. GO COCKS!!!!!
- we will not loose at home this year. to georgia or anyone! maybe 1 that is it.not unless the injury bug gets us.stay healthy we can win the east!
- Georgia, as all opponents, is to be respected, not feared
but we're a lot more dangerous to them than they are to us.
- They may be #1 in the nation, but they are still Georgia. They don't deserve any praise from us.
- Don't forget the Goats have also failed to score an offensive TD in 3 of the last 7 games against us and young Mattie Stafford has a 44% completion rate, no TDs and 4 INTs in two games against us. I predict a Quincy Carter moment for Mattie this September...He hasn't played a secondary as good as ours since, well, the last time he played us and we all know how that turned out.
- UGA has never been feared. The Cocks give them hell most years even in the games we've lost. I can remember several games with them over the years that they were flat out lucky to get a win over usually outmanned USC teams.
- Fear?Raise your mugs Gamecocks! This is the day we get to take down the top ranked team in the country in our house on national TV.This will be the day they will look back and say Spurrier finally got the Gamecocks over the hump.
- uga is the one team of the big 3 that we have consistently had a shot at. I think we are 7-11 in the last 18 with quite a few close games going both ways.
*editor's note: there is nothing really stupid or crazy about the last one, i just found it funny.
On ESPN:
- It seems like whenever ESPN talks about the SEC they always leave the gamecocks out of the equation. I know we havent really done anything lately to be talked about but it seems like they have something against USC. For instance today on sportscenter they were talking about UGA's key games this year and they left USC out. Also they talked about LSU's key games and they put App State on their and left USC out. What do we have to do to get some respect from these guys?!!
- ESPN has been against us long before this Corso v Spurrier thing.
- I always love it when the so-called experts consider USC to be a "sure win" for Georgia and UT every year when recent history suggests that to be far from the truth.
*editor's note: In the last 5 years, South Carolina has beaten Georgia and Tennessee exactly 1 time apiece
- If USC was 13-0 the previous year the fish wrap[The State] and ESPN would find something wrong!
- ESPN is stacked to the rim with Big 10 homers. They hate like heck to give any more credit to the SEC than they have to, because admitting the SEC is the #1 conference in America takes glory away from their precious Michigans/Ohio Sts/Penn Sts.So... admitting SC (which finished 6-6 last year) is a "big" game for the Dawgs (which it is EVERY year) would be admitting that even a 6-6 Gamecock team is extrememly dangerous (which it is) to the top SEC guys.It shows the true strength and depth of the SEC. They don't like doing that. They'd much rather point to another favorite conference (Pac-10) ASU.
On Ole Miss, a team South Carolina hasn't beaten since joining the SEC:
- Who really believes Ole Miss will beat USC?
- We WILL NOT lose to Ole Miss.You can quote me on that.
- I suppose ANYTHING is possible. But I don't think we will loose to Ole Miss
- Sure we might lose to them... heck there will be many upsets in CFB... ones we would not even think of right now. But there is no way I am thinking at this point in time that we will lose to Ole Miss!
On the band:
- Has anyone heard anything about the band?
Has the band got some new songs to get the fans fired up and going the entire game? HOPE SO.GO COCKS.
- I'm also interested in knowing the number of band members - musicians; not flag wavers. Also, the increase (hopefully) in brass instrument players (tubas, trombones, horns, etc.) - give me a LOUD band anyday of the week.Also, is the new (under construction) Band Practice Facility going up on South Sumter Street having any impact on band recruiting?
- I want to know how many low brass we have and preferably how many tuba's we have? You get that solid sound from the low brass. I hope we've made it 20 in the tuba section.
- hopefully the flag crew wont be terrible and embarrasing this year
- I agree, placement is critical. Absent moving the student section to back where it used to be, I think the band should be moved to the bottom of section 23 (from around the concourse into the seating area all the way back to however much room they need). This would do several things:
1. It would place the band in a more centrally located area, similar to where the LSU band is in their stadium (only lower).
2. They would get the benefit of the East Upper stands helping to hold more sound in.
3. They'd be VERY close to the opposing team, and that amount of noise certainly wouldn't help them (there may be some SEC regulation on the band's placement in relation to the visiting band, I don't know though).
4. The East Upper likely wouldn't be affected much, if at all, since the band doesn't face the East Upper as it is now. The only difference is the east upper stands may get a better echo as sounds bounces off the west stands.
5. Finally, no one would be displaced because those are student section tickets anyways.
*editor's note: I'm serious, folks. Someone actually thought that through.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. Miami
5. Virginia
6. Duke
Picking VT to win this division, despite the massive losses at various skill positions, is a no-brainer. They have one thing that coaches drool over, a talented, experienced offensive line. As I mentioned, they did lose a bevy of wide receivers, and Brandon Ore was kicked off the team for being a jerk, but their quarterback tandem of Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon is a bit underrated. Glennon isn't great, but he is solid. And Tyrod Taylor is simply a star in the making. I wouldn't be surprised if he is firmly entrenched as the starter by the middle of the season. They lose a bit more on defense, especially along the line. But honestly, does it really matter. Frank Beamer has made a habit of re-loading every year on defense with fast, tough, athletic players. Macho Harris and Kam Chancellor anchor yet another excellent defensive backfield. And then there's special teams. It gets overlooked every year, but expect VT's special teams to win them a game or two this season. Season Outlook: 10-2
Holding down my #2 spot is Georgia Tech. They only return 8 starters from last year's team(but some of those starters weren't very good). This is a risky pick, but I am banking on the Yellow Jackets to run Paul Johnson's offense the way it is intended to be run. GT is a wildcard, b/c if they don't pick up the system, it could be a very long year. It takes a lot of discipline and effort to pull off the triple option. His players at Navy had what it takes. Whether the higher profile athletes at GT have it remains to be seen. Georgia Tech returns one of the top defensive lines in the ACC, led by Michael Johnson and his 6 foot neck. Behind that line is a bunch of young, inexperienced, but aqeduately talented linebackers and DBs. Of course, the defense will be running an entirely new defensive system as well. Gone are the days of blitz happy Tenuta-ball. In short, it is a total overhaul for the Ramblin Wreck. Maybe it's a stretch putting them at #2, but I'm willing to stick my neck out there on this one, despite the nerdiest fight song in the history of college football. Season Outlook: 8-4
Butch Davis' Tarheels come in at number 3. Talk about potential. The Heels are plenty talented, but largely young and inexperienced. They also return 18 starters. It's been a long time since anyone at UNC knew what it felt like to win football games, but Davis is making short work of that culture. The offense returns a league most 10 starters. Most of the talent is at WR and RB, where Hakeem Nicks and Greg Little should put up big numbers. Quarterback is an unknown. Frankly, I don't know much about TJ Yates, so I'm just going to assume he sucks until he proves otherwise. The defensive line isn't great, but it does boast one of the nation's budding superstars in Marvin Austin. I really don't care much for the Heels, so I'm not going to write anything else. Season Outlook: 7-5
Miami has experienced, perhaps, more of a roller coaster ride in the last 2 decades than any team in America. They have gone from great to terrible, to greatest team ever, back to pretty terrible again. For now, it appears things are on the upswing again. Randy Shannon has shown he can recruit with the big boys, now he has to show he can coach with 'em. The Canes return 11 starters from a team that really blew. Losing 48-0 at home to Virginia ought to be grounds for NCAA probation. But I'm not ready to write the Canes off just yet. I don't know what to expect from the offense. Nobody has won the quarterback job yet, but don't be surprised if RS freshman, Robert Marve, earns the job. Miami has lots of talent on the defensive side of the ball. Lots. It's just young and unproven. In short, Miami is still probably 2 years away from contending for the division crown. Season Outlook: 6-6
Virginia. Who gives a flying f@#k?
It would be prudent to keep an eye on Duke this year. I don't expect them to be bowl eligible or anything like that, but I do expect them to pick up a few wins in the ACC for the first time in a long time. David Cutcliffe is a really good coach. Why Ole Miss let him go, I will never know. He is burning it up on the recruiting trail right now. But let's temper the expectations for a few years. Duke is still Duke. I don't think they will beat anyone in the top half of the league, but like I said, don't be surprised if they pull off a few upsets. For you degenerates out there, I think the Blue Devils will be a very smart pick to cover a bunch this year. They may have the best quarterback that you've never heard of in Thaddeus Lewis. I'll be pulling for the Devils to win a few league games, mainly so Clemson won't have to be referred to as the last ACC team Duke beat. If they get a few bounces, they might actually be looking down on UVA at the end of the year. Season Outlook: 4-8
So there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Don't hold back. Hopefully I'll get to the SEC West tomorrow(SEC honks, don't be surprised when I don't pick all 6 teams to go 12-0).
Now MOAG.
On Georgia(this is long, but oh so worth it):
- OK, everyone is worrying about number one ranked UGA early in the season. Don't. Why you ask, well a little research is very encouraging. Let's look at USC and UGA in the past two years, and 3 years (Spurrs 1st season) versus identical competition, i.e., the SEC EAST.
Last 3 years:
UGA 8 wins-7 losses
USC 8 wins-7 lossesTie
Last 2 years:
UGA 4 wins-6 losses
USC 4 wins-6 lossesTie
Now let's look at the difference in SEC west Opponents:
Last 3 years: UGA West opponents: 53-55
Last 2 years: UGA West opponents: 37-38
Last 3 years: USC West opponents: 75-39
Last 2 years: USC West opponents: 52-37
See the difference here Gamecocks? EZ stuff. Not to mention that in the past two seasons, UGA has experienced an 0-6 streak versus the SEC East, which would have been 0-7 had not Vandy gift wrapped last years win for them. What I am saying is that Spurrier is going into hids 4th year, Richt his 8th, and yet we are equal to them in wins and losses versus identical (SEC EAST) competion over that time frame, plus we have played SEC West teams with over almost a 70% WP over that time frame while they have played SEC West teams with a below 50% winning percentage. Folks, do not fear georgia, I know you don't, but my god, they are so overrated it is not funny, in the middle of last year they were riding a 6 game losing streak versus the SEC East, and had not Vandy given them the gift, they would have been on a 7 game losing skid versus the East. They have made a lot of hay from their Fla. and Auburn victories, but all said, they have not done better than us the past three/two years versus identical competition even though their staff has been in place for 8 years. Remember, we beat them at Georgia last year, we will beat them at home. GO COCKS!!!!!
- we will not loose at home this year. to georgia or anyone! maybe 1 that is it.not unless the injury bug gets us.stay healthy we can win the east!
- Georgia, as all opponents, is to be respected, not feared
but we're a lot more dangerous to them than they are to us.
- They may be #1 in the nation, but they are still Georgia. They don't deserve any praise from us.
- Don't forget the Goats have also failed to score an offensive TD in 3 of the last 7 games against us and young Mattie Stafford has a 44% completion rate, no TDs and 4 INTs in two games against us. I predict a Quincy Carter moment for Mattie this September...He hasn't played a secondary as good as ours since, well, the last time he played us and we all know how that turned out.
- UGA has never been feared. The Cocks give them hell most years even in the games we've lost. I can remember several games with them over the years that they were flat out lucky to get a win over usually outmanned USC teams.
- Fear?Raise your mugs Gamecocks! This is the day we get to take down the top ranked team in the country in our house on national TV.This will be the day they will look back and say Spurrier finally got the Gamecocks over the hump.
- uga is the one team of the big 3 that we have consistently had a shot at. I think we are 7-11 in the last 18 with quite a few close games going both ways.
*editor's note: there is nothing really stupid or crazy about the last one, i just found it funny.
On ESPN:
- It seems like whenever ESPN talks about the SEC they always leave the gamecocks out of the equation. I know we havent really done anything lately to be talked about but it seems like they have something against USC. For instance today on sportscenter they were talking about UGA's key games this year and they left USC out. Also they talked about LSU's key games and they put App State on their and left USC out. What do we have to do to get some respect from these guys?!!
- ESPN has been against us long before this Corso v Spurrier thing.
- I always love it when the so-called experts consider USC to be a "sure win" for Georgia and UT every year when recent history suggests that to be far from the truth.
*editor's note: In the last 5 years, South Carolina has beaten Georgia and Tennessee exactly 1 time apiece
- If USC was 13-0 the previous year the fish wrap[The State] and ESPN would find something wrong!
- ESPN is stacked to the rim with Big 10 homers. They hate like heck to give any more credit to the SEC than they have to, because admitting the SEC is the #1 conference in America takes glory away from their precious Michigans/Ohio Sts/Penn Sts.So... admitting SC (which finished 6-6 last year) is a "big" game for the Dawgs (which it is EVERY year) would be admitting that even a 6-6 Gamecock team is extrememly dangerous (which it is) to the top SEC guys.It shows the true strength and depth of the SEC. They don't like doing that. They'd much rather point to another favorite conference (Pac-10) ASU.
On Ole Miss, a team South Carolina hasn't beaten since joining the SEC:
- Who really believes Ole Miss will beat USC?
- We WILL NOT lose to Ole Miss.You can quote me on that.
- I suppose ANYTHING is possible. But I don't think we will loose to Ole Miss
- Sure we might lose to them... heck there will be many upsets in CFB... ones we would not even think of right now. But there is no way I am thinking at this point in time that we will lose to Ole Miss!
On the band:
- Has anyone heard anything about the band?
Has the band got some new songs to get the fans fired up and going the entire game? HOPE SO.GO COCKS.
- I'm also interested in knowing the number of band members - musicians; not flag wavers. Also, the increase (hopefully) in brass instrument players (tubas, trombones, horns, etc.) - give me a LOUD band anyday of the week.Also, is the new (under construction) Band Practice Facility going up on South Sumter Street having any impact on band recruiting?
- I want to know how many low brass we have and preferably how many tuba's we have? You get that solid sound from the low brass. I hope we've made it 20 in the tuba section.
- hopefully the flag crew wont be terrible and embarrasing this year
- I agree, placement is critical. Absent moving the student section to back where it used to be, I think the band should be moved to the bottom of section 23 (from around the concourse into the seating area all the way back to however much room they need). This would do several things:
1. It would place the band in a more centrally located area, similar to where the LSU band is in their stadium (only lower).
2. They would get the benefit of the East Upper stands helping to hold more sound in.
3. They'd be VERY close to the opposing team, and that amount of noise certainly wouldn't help them (there may be some SEC regulation on the band's placement in relation to the visiting band, I don't know though).
4. The East Upper likely wouldn't be affected much, if at all, since the band doesn't face the East Upper as it is now. The only difference is the east upper stands may get a better echo as sounds bounces off the west stands.
5. Finally, no one would be displaced because those are student section tickets anyways.
*editor's note: I'm serious, folks. Someone actually thought that through.
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