tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80977169503004538872024-03-05T22:05:21.437-05:00mind of a gamecockA semi-daily look into the highly dysfunctional mindset of Gamecock fans everywhere.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-58436620302392073612015-06-28T15:08:00.001-04:002015-06-28T15:08:14.845-04:00A Shakespearian Tragedy...or ComedyYou may be the fate of Ophelia,<div>Sleeping and perchance to dream. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To say that 2014 was a heartbreaking season for the Gamecocks would be a gross understatement. The SEC East favorite up until kickoff of the season opener, the Gamecocks were embarrassed in the Cockpit. Will the Gamecocks find redemption in 2015?<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">September 3rd</a> vs North Carolina: The Gamecocks will prove themselves to be the “real” Carolina in the season opener. 28-17<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2">September 12th</a> vs Kentucky: Spurrier has never lost to the Wildcats at home, and this year will be no different. 38-10<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://3" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3">September 19th</a> @ Georgia: The Gamecocks won’t have Sandstorm for a psychological weapon between the hedges. This game will be an offensive shootout between the duo of David Williams and Cooper vs Georgia’s Chubb. This game is inconclusive.<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4">September 26th</a> vs Central Florida: Last time these two teams met on the gridiron, the first half looked as if the Knights might upset the Gamecocks. Won’t happen this time around. Williams and Cooper show out. 49-7<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://5" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5">October 3rd</a> @ Missouri: Missouri lost a ton of talent, last year was their last chance of a title for the forseeable future. The Gamecocks prevail in Connor Shaw stadium. 35-14<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://6" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="6">October 10th</a> vs LSU: Last time these two played the #3 Gamecocks’ dream season was derailed by a last minute LSU touchdown and an intercepted Hail Mary. The Gamecocks will remember this, but will it be enough to upset the Tigers? Inconclusive<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://7" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="7">October 17th</a> vs Vanderbilt: The Gamecocks’ haven’t lost to Vandy, let alone in Columbia, in many a moon. This year will be no different. Offense shows out and an improved defense flexes it’s muscle. 52-3<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://8" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="8">October 31st</a> @ Texas A&M: Payback coming off the bye week. This game will be close, but a steady dose of David Williams and Cooper will wear out the Aggies. Gamecocks pull away in the fourth. 28-17<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://9" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="9">November 7th</a> @ Tennessee: The Volunteers are one of the South’s hottest teams, but South Carolina will be coming to Knoxville with vengeance on the brain. These two teams will be evenly matched. Inconclusive.<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://10" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="10">November 14th</a> vs Florida: It won’t take two special teams miracle plays and an overtime to pull this one off. Florida will be getting used to the new coach, and will look embarrassingly uncoordinated in Columbia. 17-7<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://11" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="11">November 21st</a> vs The Citadel: Almost a repeat of UCF. The Gamecocks handily defeat the military academy. 42-7<br><br><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://12" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="12">November 28th</a> vs Clemson: That team from upstate will be in the same position as the Gamecocks last year with their secondary having graduated. 28-7<br><br>Final regular season W/L prediction: 10-2. The Gamecocks will drop two out of three to LSU, Georgia, or Tennessee, but not all three. The defense will be much improved with some fresh help. The green quarterback, whether it’s Mitch or Nunez, will catch on quick.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-78602387761631365842015-06-16T16:18:00.001-04:002015-06-16T16:18:09.796-04:00 Some Good 'ol Fashioned MOAG<h1><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- Butch Jones and Tennessee are becoming the Dabo Sweeney and Clemson Tigers of the SEC. I fail to see how the Vols could be so much better than the Gamecocks when we had the same records last year with very similar schedules, we led by two touchdowns vs them late in the game and have in my humble opinion more upside this coming season. Much of the Tennessee love has been created by Jones's hype a lot like Sweeney. One poll lists our chance of winning the SEC <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">25/1</a>WHILE Tennessee IS 8/1. Time for us to go to Rocky Top and return with a victory. I'm not much of a Jones fan and would love to stomp the Vols who are proclaiming greatness before they have accomplished anything much like the Pickens Paper Tigers.</span></font></h1><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- <strong>Their fans will not be satisfied with only beating us this year so Butch will have pressure for once with the lofty pre-season expectations.</strong></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><strong style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- It's all hype. You look at Tennessee since Fulmer and the highlights are three wins over us</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>- I do not believe I am sunshine pumping when I say I believe we can win 9 + games this year. Why? </strong><br><strong>1. the offense can be somewhere from nearly as good to better than last year. I look for the defense to be quite a bit better.</strong><br><strong>a. OL should be solid though not quite as good as last yr. we do need to stay as healthy as possible. </strong><br><strong>b. QB. CM more accurate DT. Longer ball control drives should be the norm. </strong><br><strong>c. RB's will be a strength</strong><br><strong>d. WR Cooper is a stud. We have young talent that must step it up</strong><br><strong>e. TE. Considering Anderson had a year filled with injury, I look for us to be a little better than last yr.</strong><br><strong>summary: I expect a good O this yr. SOS will devoye 100% of efforts on the O.</strong><br><br><strong>2. Defense</strong><br><strong>a. DE significant talent up grades. Lewis & Sawyer. should have a solid rush this yr.</strong><br><strong>b. DT has size and depth. They should be better as a group solely due to experience.</strong><br><strong>c. LB. 3 high quality starters. should be a team strength.</strong><br><strong>d. CB. solid 2 deep with athletic talent.</strong><br><strong>e. S's. JUCO newcomers a real shot in the arm. Have experienced returners as well.</strong><br><strong>summary: Hole is a better DC than Whammy. He will find ways to put our best defenders in positions to excel.</strong><br><strong>The 4th qtr collapses vs UT, Mizzou, UK should not happen again. I could see us winning 9 games ... maybe 10.</strong></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><strong style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- Pretty much agree on the D. We'll be significantly better overall (possibly a top 25 unit).</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>- <strong>I'm with OP and think a 9 win season is in the cards. There's a reason SS hunted Hoke all those years. Maybe he's a Stoop in the wings. I am not a sunshine pumper either. I am a realist. Last season has been stewing on SS' mind since Jan. He wants revenge against those teams that Ward could not stop in the 4th qtrs. and against those nasty Clemson tigers.</strong></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>- </strong><strong>I believe we will go undefeated at home.</strong></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong></strong> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><strong style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- In all seriousness, the absolute best thing about our football team and our program overall is we don't wear urange and we aren't tiggers. Even if we're winless, I'd rather be Garnet than jailhouse urange.</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong></strong> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><strong style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- I like our helmets</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"></p><div id="Signature"><div name="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="margin: 0px;"><br></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-56991885597830827242015-04-30T13:48:00.001-04:002015-05-11T13:11:51.479-04:00Can Spurrier Win 6 in 2015<div>The moon cast a pallor across the vacant urn,</div><div>As the spector of coaches breathed and burned. - J. G.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>As an amateur writer, with little more than cursory access to my least favorite team during the offseason, I'm often left with little more than my own sound reasoning and astute observations by which to assess the butt-whomping everyone knows is coming to Columbia in 2015. Facing his toughest schedule yet (with his greatest dearth in talent yet) points decidedly at Spurrier spending his final year in Columbia much like his diminutive, bespittled predecessor, Lou Holth, spent his - sad, disconnected, and full of regret. And so I thought it fitting today to take a look at the South Carolina schedule to see just how bad it will get. What I found was even more hilarious than I could have imagined. Today we preview games 1-4. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... May the football Gods have mercy on your soul, Ol' Ball Coach.</div><div><br></div><div>NORTH CAROLINA- S. Carolina and Spurrier welcome college football back into our lives in their annual lead off spot against what will FINALLY be a plucky UNC team. The Tar Heel offense is loaded this year, led by the good when he wants to be senior quarterback, Marquise Williams. I think he'll want to be good in this game, and he'll carve up a vastly retread Gamecock defense. The UNC defense got exponentially better this offseason with the firing of one of the games great dumbasses, Vic Koenning. I'm kidding, I doubt their defense will be much better, but that shouldn't matter because they're facing a Gamecock offense that loses 9 starters (9) from last year's meaningless record-setting bunch, and they'll be searching early for their 2015 identity. Simply put, don't expect much scoring from Spurrier's bunch in this one. </div><div>PICK: UNC 31, USC 9</div><div><br></div><div>KENTUCKY - I expect Spurrier to win this game, though it certainly won't be easy. Last year Kentucky had the 2nd funniest of three blown 14 point, 4th quarter lead Gamecock losses; this year The Wildcats boast perhaps the league's second best quarterback in Patrick Towles, and he'll make like unpleasant for Spurrier all day. Reeling from the first of two humiliating 2015 losses to ACC teams, his bunch will find a way to create turnovers all day, turning what should be a fairly easy Kentucky win into an implausible Spurrier victory.</div><div>PICK: USC 9, Kentucky 7</div><div><br></div><div>GEORGIA - What can I say about the Georgia/S. Carolina rivalry? By my estimation the Dawgs should have lost exactly one game to the Cocks. Ever. Even so, this game is historically decided in the 4th quarter, and I expect this year to be no different. Georgia just put a handful of quality players into the NFL, but they are deep enough to re-load at nearly every position on defense. Both teams are searching for a quarterback, though neither has anyone as talented as Clemson's Deshaun Watson. Between the hedges in 2015, the Dawgs win a close, ugly, turnover-filled spectacle.</div><div>PICK: Georgia 17, USC 9</div><div><br></div><div>CENTRAL FLORIDA - Spurrier will regret ever scheduling this game. South Carolina will win, but the physical toll exacted on his starters heading into the teeth of the schedule will last for weeks, perhaps months. In fact, I expect a major contributor to go down with a season-ended in this game. Don't ask me why, because I won't tell you. Pharoh Cooper will play like an All American this day, and account for all 9 of the Gamecocks' points.</div><div>PICK: USC 9, UCF 3</div><div><br></div><div>Tune in Wednesday for games 5-8.</div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-18625293350775877112015-03-31T20:28:00.001-04:002015-03-31T20:28:30.125-04:00Vacation<div>"Got on that little white boat,</div><div> I didn't have a care." - M. H.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>I got tired of not working, so I went on vacation. MOAG will be back Monday, April 6. To tide you over until then, the S Carolina football team rushed for 0 yards on 17 carries during Saturday's scrimmage. Lawl.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-82855551669395513972015-03-23T00:32:00.001-04:002015-03-23T00:32:17.186-04:00SEC East Preview<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2015 SEC EAST Predicted Standings</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. Tennessee – The Vols bring 17 starters back, including a 9-pack of ponies for new OC, Mike DeBord. The offense is Jones's, but it's in good hands with the best pair of double-Ds (DeBord & Dobbs) between Clemson and the mighty Mississip...the old miss, the old man. Tennessee gets Georgia, S. Carolina, and an improved Arkansas at home. Their toughest road games are @Florida, who sucks, @Mizzou, and @Bama, but they get open date before that one. Expect the Vols to be 2-1 in conference at worst heading into the Bama game, but after that it's smooth sailing with the exception of a potential toss up at Mizzou.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The Vols are a hungry team that's served its 40 years in the desert. In fact Butch Jones is Moses without the neck. Josh Dobbs is a poor man's Deshaun Watson, but a poor man's Deshaun Watson is immensely better than anything else the East has to offer at the position. They boast an experienced O-line group that should create time and running room, with which Dobbs and a dynamic set of skill position players will take advantage and make points.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">2. Georgia – Mark Richt's bunch, though embarrassingly talented, has question marks on both sides of the ball. The quarterback position is up for grabs between 3 young bucks, and though Nick Chubb will destroy everyone with his killing power (Todd who?), the top 2 receivers, Conley and Bennett, are gone after 9 seasons of service each, and every other wideout is probably suspended or something for the horrible crime of reefers. The OL should be solid, as should DL and linebackers, but the secondary is still unsettled, as it has been since the departure of Bacardi Sylvester Rambo. Will Richt be able to put past seasons behind him and not have the classic blunderbuss to the face game against someone like SC or Kentucky? The road schedule is managable but they draw Bama and Auburn from the west. At least Richt managed to take advantage of Muschamp's hysterical attempt at coaching and wrest control of the Cocktail party.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3. Missouri – Who cares…maybe they'll win it again and lose to UConn.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">4. Florida – Boom somehow didn't leave cupboard bare, so there's lots of talent for Jim McElwain to work with. The offense has been an unmitigated disaster last few years so it should improve based on law of averages. The defense brings back 7 from a salty unit that gave up only one touchdown to Mizzou last year. The bottom line? Florida fans want improvement fast and if Jimmy doesn't deliver he might get a faster hook than Boom. One Mr. Foley better hope things improve too, or he'll be asking Steve Spurrier different kinds of resume questions.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">5. Kentucky – Stoops didn't land a banner class this year but he did add some depth. Towles is the best returning QB in the East not named Josh Dobbs. They, along with Missouri and Tennessee, provided us with some of the most hilarious 4</span><sup style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">th</sup><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> quarter comebacks in 2014. They'll be good enough to upset some teams on the right day, but they're not a serious threat to make a run at the division title.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">6. South Carolina – This is the most intriguing team in the division besides Tennessee (and maybe Florida). The Gamecocks are like a hillbilly who wins the lottery but goes bankrupt within 5 years and has nothing to show for except a bunch of Affliction t-shirts and black jeans. They lose 9 starters on offense and 6 on defense, so essentially the best side of the ball is all gone and the worst side of the ball brings back the majority of an historically bad defense. This comes back to recruiting…Spurrier has not done a good job of adding quality and depth on either side of the ball but the effects have manifested more quickly on defense. Clowney ain't walkin through that door unless he grows 4 inches shorter, gains 170 lbs, and changes his last name to English.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They have a beast of a schedule, including road games at Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri and A&M, of which they should lose all. They have tough home losses to LSU and Florida as well. I predict 2-6 for the Cocks in the division…4-8 overall with the season bookended by 2 beat downs to ACC opponents, UNC and Clemson. And a word here about Clemson, they are going to be really, really, really great.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">7. Vanderbilt – There but for the grace of Spurrier goes Vanderbilt.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">For<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> everyone who longs for a throwback to the days before George W. Bush ruined the world, the SEC East in the coming years should help you stomach all the gay marriage and black presidents. If there's one thing we know, it's that college football is cyclical, and nothing would represent a return to normalcy more than Tennessee and Florida jockeying for the title while South Carolina fans crow incessantly about next year. South Carolina sucks.</span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-51362618217372446882015-03-16T11:42:00.000-04:002015-03-16T13:13:44.950-04:00Chicken Boogers & House Wood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
"Here at this table, I'm able to leave it behind.<br /> Drink 'til I'm dreamin', a thousand miles out of my mind."</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
- Waylon Jennings, Drinkin' & Dreamin'</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
Mind of a Gamecock was founded on the belief that Gamecock fan was just a smidgen more less intelligent that your average college football fan (more or less); however, it has departed from its roots. Therefore, I give you some good ol' fashioned MOAG for your Monday. Today's topic is predictions for the 2015 season (in other words...next year). Enjoy, and remember, don't forget to tell your friends. Please don't forget to comment below if you have anything you'd like to say. I publish everything.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- I predict that Pharoh and Deebo will be the two best WR in
the country. I also predict that we will have 10 plus wins this year.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- Chris Lammons will lead the SEC in INTs</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- We win the East and beat Clemson.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- The defense will rank in the top 5 in the SEC.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- We will win the East.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We will sweep the “big 4” clemmons, <st1:state><st1:place>tenn</st1:place></st1:state>,
<st1:state><st1:place>florida</st1:place></st1:state> and uga</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- UGA won’t have any players suspended for the first few
games.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- Brandon Wilds will be one of the top 3 RB in the SEC.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- Assuming Wilds stays healthy, [we’ll have] two 1000 yard
rushers. And Mitch (or whoever the QB may be) breaks Shaw’s consecutive
completions record.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- 10-2. 3500 yard passer. Two 1000 yard rushers. Two 1000 yard
receivers.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- 10-2. Mitch is dominant after a slow start.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- Connor Mitch leads us to 10+ wins and is all SEC.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- David Williams leads the league in rushing.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- We win the East again & demolish <st1:state><st1:place>Tennessee</st1:place></st1:state>
this year.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- We’ll win 10 games, losing at TA&M and UGA, but will
win all games at Willy B.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will win
the East thanks to <st1:country-region><st1:place>Georgia</st1:place></st1:country-region>
losing 3 games it shouldn’t.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- Mitch will break Dylan’s single season passing
record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The defense will lead the
conference in INTs.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- No losses in games where we hold double digit leads.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
- UNC won’t score against us.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-5516294905230159592015-02-06T18:04:00.004-05:002015-03-04T11:36:34.608-05:00A Couple More Years<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
"I've walked a couple more roads than you, baby, that's all.</div>
<div align="center">
And I'm tired of running while you're only learning to crawl." </div>
<div align="center">
- Waylon Jennings</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
"Nothing beside remains round the decay </div>
<div align="center">
of that collosal wreck, boundless and bare."</div>
<div align="center">
- Percy Shelley</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Life has a curious habit of imitating the art it once inspired, more often for worse than for better. The iteration of homo genus that spawned us first discovered fire over a million years ago, and, once they all stopped shitting themselves in sheer terror, they got down to the hilarious business of self-extermination. We first made an appearance around 400,000 years ago, and so far we've taken that inclination to exhilarating new heights. The more technologically advanced we become, the more rapidly these unintended travesties occur. In the 15th century, Da Vinci put his futuristic visions of flying machines on paper. Less than 500 years later the Wright Bros. successfully flew "a machine heavier than air." 61 years after that we flew to the moon. That is an utterly, preposterously, astonishing achievement, but it hasn't all been flowers. Our dream of leaving the ground has manifested itself into a commercial enterprise on which we now depend, often with disastrous consequences. We scoff at our ancestors and their "primitive" fire, all the while ignoring our own folly (Air Korea? Get real). In 1966 Bill Shatner blew our minds by talking to another person through his watch, and now you can't be at an airport without seeing a hundred bluetooth douchebags behaving like schizophrenics on crack. Exactly 30 years ago we marveled at the sci-fi classic, The Terminator, but I reckon it won't be long now before someone flips the switch on real artificial intelligence. If I was a betting man, and I am, I'd put our odds at surviving the next 48 hours after that at about 1,000,000:1. If by now you're wondering what the hell I'm rambling about, simply put, we reap what we sow.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Shortly after being de-pantsed on National Television by a cheerleader and a one-legged quarterback, the Ol' Ball Coach showed the first outwardly visible sign that perhaps neither his head nor his heart still resided in Columbia. That's speculation on my part, but it ain't exactly wild conjecture when a head coach tells the college football world he has probably 2-3 more years left in a 4 year player cycle. His comment delighted fans of both Clemson and everyone not named The University of South Carolina, led to a delightfully devastating decommitment parade, and ultimately begat his deliriously delightful registration on Twitter©. Spurrier eventually reversed field on his early retirement decision, saying, "<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Yeah, I’m back on the 4-5 [year plan?]. You got to always stay on the 4-5 [year plan?],”</span> but that came more slowly than a Gamecock safety reversing field to try and tackle Artavis (last name not necessary). The whole episode brought forth a slew of S. Carolina fans who wondered, "What the fuck?!," and "Why the fuck?!" Nearly as many Clemson fans began proclaiming, "CoL! The rotten, old son of a bitch is going to destroy everything he's spent the last 10 years building." I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of the Gamecock fans, and I also agree with the Clemson fans...partly. Spurrier is a rotten, old son of a bitch, but he isn't destroying anything with his whimsy. He isn't destroying what he built, because he didn't build shit.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gamecock fans, now is when you shut up and listen. Spurrier didn't build anything. Deal with it. Wear the sunglasses. He won a lot of football games during the last 5 years - hell, he win two Citrus Bowls and now we all know you can't spell Citrus without USC - but he didn't do it through program-building. He did it by capitalizing on an unprecedented surge of elite, in-state high school talent. Gilmore, Holloman, Jeffery, Cann, Hampton, Lattimore, Quarles, Clowney...all NFL players, all from in-state, all went to S. Carolina. This is a small state. That many blue chippers playing prep ball here, qualifying, and going to the same school at the same time- either Clemson or S. Carolina - is an amazing historical anomaly. To be fair, you have to credit Spurrier, the mean, old bitchy bastard, for getting them all. That's a big accomplishment; however, the problem is precisely that it IS an anomaly. If we accept that premise, and we do because there's a precedent, then we have to accept the conclusion that, in order to sustain such a high level of "success," he was going to have to replace all that elite talent with more elite talent, which is precisely what he didn't do. No sir, Spurrier was happier'n hell the last 2 years to remind everyone of all the unprecedented achievements his Gamecocks had enjoyed. He and his staff of indecent exposers chose smugness and arrogance at the exact time they should have chosen humility and recruiting. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;">From 2009-12, the Gamecocks signed 11 Rivals 100 recruits, 10 of whom were from South Carolina. Since then, they have signed 3 (1 in each class), and only 1 is from this state. Given this data, it's no secret why they were so terrible this year, and why they will continue to be terrible for the foreseeable future. Spurrier can't go outside the state and routinely land the elite talent it takes to win 11 games. He doesn't have Dabo's juice. It's is simple as that. For the last 3 years Spurrier has been too busy patting himself on the back to notice that Dabo has been out there hustlin & baucin in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and pretty much anywhere else he wants. During their unprecedented 5 game winning streak over me, the Gamecocks had the superior talent every year with the exception of 2009, but this year it was clear which team had more talent and SEC speed (hint: it wasn't the SEC team).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;">It seems likely at this point that Clemson will win at least 19 of the next 20 games in the series, because Dabo is building a program. Spurrier is building a retirement fund. A couple more years coach? It would take you a couple hundred more years to re-attain the level of success you enjoyed for...a couple years. And you have no one to blame but yourself, jerk.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-8289923943409367022015-02-06T11:59:00.000-05:002015-02-06T11:59:45.738-05:00High TimeI'm sorry, y'all; I got knocked offline...dang computer went ham on me.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBs0pDSGyKIG5xzjRzw72my2s7J3mZPmGgmIPeaRh5i9f6hIxnVQ0vhnYExAZcgdaGERjt0V6VwTt6kkFra1wabkDkkOMQzMPI8EzfkxqP4YgqVYvdTWCGCPvW3WtbiRmD9l_yvXGxcNY/s1600/Techdifficulties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBs0pDSGyKIG5xzjRzw72my2s7J3mZPmGgmIPeaRh5i9f6hIxnVQ0vhnYExAZcgdaGERjt0V6VwTt6kkFra1wabkDkkOMQzMPI8EzfkxqP4YgqVYvdTWCGCPvW3WtbiRmD9l_yvXGxcNY/s1600/Techdifficulties.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm happy to say we're back up and running now, and the way things look it'll be business as usual around here for a long, long, long time. I have a lot of fresh ideas that I think everyone will really enjoy, so be sure you check in every now and then. In fact, I'll have a new piece up later this afternoon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-36218979478263250682010-09-23T14:24:00.004-04:002010-09-23T14:32:51.703-04:00In Observance of Kenny McKinleyThere will be no blog this week. If you know or love someone who you think might be suffering from depression, take a minute to tell them what they mean to you.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/42/422320.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 361px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 299px" alt="" src="http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/42/422320.jpg" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-7896633812705327112010-09-10T08:33:00.004-04:002010-09-10T08:52:25.306-04:00Quick Thought Before The WeekendNCAA Letters of Inquiry aren't sent to notify schools that nothing is wrong. They are usually followed by lengthy <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">probations</span> and losses of scholarships. The last person I heard say, "I'm not worried about this <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">LOI</span>" was a Southern Cal fan. The time before that it was a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bama</span> fan. As one astute Gamecock fan put it, "The NCAA is moving from our backyard to our kitchen." In the course of two months of informal investigations into one player (Saunders), the NCAA uncovered a massive free rent scandal involving The Whitney, a luxury hotel in downtown Columbia on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Devine</span> St. near Yo Burrito; "inaccurate" paperwork involving an insurance policy for Chris <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Culliver</span>; and a couple of free meals provided to Marcus <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lattimore</span> by a booster. The NCAA stated in their letter that South Carolina was already aware of the issues being investigated, but that new issues could be discovered in the course of their investigation.....that they hope to have concluded by the end of the calendar year.<br /><br />That's 1, 2, 3, 4 more months, at minimum, of formal investigation into an SEC football program. It's akin to the FBI telling Buffalo Bill they are planning to search his house, for 4 months, looking for skin vests. Oh, they'll find the vests, but odds are pretty good they'll find a whole lot more. At a school where systematic recruiting violations have been taking place for years, it will be like shooting fish in a barrel. This time I wouldn't count on getting a slap on the wrist either. Just think, Gamecock fans, we cheated our butts off in the 80s and we got a return on it. We won multiple conference championships and a national title. But back then cheating was acceptable, even encouraged. That's not the case anymore. Y'all have been cheating for (at least) 5 years under <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Spurrier</span> and the best you have managed is a bowl win over Houston. I hope it was worth it. Better get busy hiding your skin vests, and don't even try to put them in the closet. Too many skeletons in there already.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-68237920025808382982010-09-09T18:23:00.004-04:002010-09-09T18:27:21.219-04:00BREAKING: NCAA Announces Formal Investigation Into South Carolina Football Program<a href="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9459/nelsonmuntzrie2dg3.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 344px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 232px" alt="" src="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9459/nelsonmuntzrie2dg3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-85832233479885289202010-09-03T14:28:00.005-04:002010-09-09T13:30:09.243-04:00Hats Off To You, Larry FedoraSteve Spurrier is a queen. I'm not talking about queens in the traditional bigoted sense of the word, but rather the modern hipster version. If this latest NCAA flap has taught us anything, it's that Spurrier's legacy of being a pull no punches, smarmy S.O.B. was built entirely on being nothing more than a drama queen. Back in the day everyone ooh'd when the Ol' Ball Coach talked about Free Shoes University, and ahh'd when he said you can't spell citrus without UT. Spurrier told anyone who would listen, as much as they would listen, that he didn't suffer lightly teams, coaches and players who violated NCAA rules. "Oh, my!" how times have changed. It's easy to be an ass when you're the young, moderately attractive head coach at the University of Florida. It takes considerably more diplomatic acumen<strong> </strong>to pull it off when you're trapped in college football purgatory, waiting for the ghost of Bear Bryant to come spirit you away to Florida retirement, where, when you say the words "we" and "national champions" in the same sentence, nobody will think you are going senile. Nobody really thinks that (yet), but after last week's hypocritical display, people are starting to question what, if anything, is left of the pre-Gamecock Spurrier.<br /><br />In the hours leading up to kick-off against mid-major superpower, Southern Miss, it looked as if the Gamecocks were going to be missing up to 10 key players because of NCAA violations committed in relation to the illegal free rooms they had received at The Whitney, a luxury hotel in downtown Columbia on Devine Street near Yo Burrito. Somehow, at the 11th hour, the NCAA issued a reprieve, clearing all but 3 of the players involved in the scandal. Apparently, being cleared by the NCAA was good enough for Spurrier, the man who publicly whined for 10 years in Gainesville any time a player at another school received so much as a ride home from practice with a graduate assistant. Never mind the fact that all the players involved had been receiving illegal benefits. This season is too important for Spurrier's legacy to let something like character interfere with his decision-making process. Everyone knows it's 2010 or bust for Spurrier in Craptown, SC, but it's just sad to see a man who pretended to stand for so much, for so many years, reduced to a pathetic scavenger, all for the glorification of his massive ego (<em>Seinfeld, Sn. 4, Episode 72). </em>These guys all broke rules. He knows they all broke rules. But apparently having that magical, 9 win season that Gamecock fans dream about was more important than doing the right thing. Contrast that with USM's Larry Fedora, who refused to play his best player - the only player who gave them even a fighting chance at a win - because he didn't like the effort the guy was giving. That right there is something to applaud, but I doubt you'll see Spurrier quipping to the press about that.<br /><br />At least one positive thing came out of South Carolina's surprisingly good performance last Thursday night. Expectations in Columbia might be at an all-time high, which, as we say in the blog industry, is good for business. Take a look:<br /><br /><strong>On the Georgia game</strong><br /><br /><strong>- We know it'll be a tough game and it always is, but we'll typically win in the end.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- Their trash talk won't stop if we win, it'll just turn into excuses of how they lost to themselves.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- I'm not so sure they're better anywhere other than o-line and kicker.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- Make no mistake about it this is (Besides beating Clemson 3 straight) the most important game in Steve's stay here and when we win we will be playing with the houses's money. It is a two-game swing any way you look at it and UGA has a very favorable schedule compared to us. Arkansas will be their toughest opponent after us and Fla. LSU appears not very good, at least until they rotate back on our schedule.I believe we are more ready than we have ever been with weapons galore and a stellar defense. Most of these kids come from a winning program and a NCAA title trumps a stupid curse if you believe in that sort of thing and I don't. I do believe in prayer and pray the Lord will be with all our young men, keep them safe from injury and help us to do and give our best and to him be the honor and glory. Amen GO COCKS1</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- Most like to think uga and us are close to equal on talent but there is still a sizeable gap after the top 22. But our coaching for now more than makes up for it. I think I saw where one of their defensive ends squatted 795 lbs.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- I would love to see Stephon on AJ. He would shut him down I am sure. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- Those people have convinced themselves that Georgia is the '85 Bears and we're the '76 Bucs. Bunch of arrogant, bombastic pricks, all of 'em. Nobody deserves to lose and lose and lose as much as the UGA fanbase.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>On Clemson</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- I can tell you for a fact Clemson football players get preferential treatment. When a party is busted and underage football players are there drinking, the cops just tell them to leave. I've seen it with my own eyes and my bro in law who is a HUGE clemson fan said when he went there, it was the same exact way. The local cops are almost all Clemson fans. They're not gonna arrest one of their own players and risk harming their season... </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- Bottom line is it takes money and a lot of other benefits to make them hang around that place for an extra year or in some cases to go there at all.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- Pickens county has highest rate of incest as well as other crimes than anywhere else in the State of SC. Clemson is smack dab in the middle of that.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>- My Nephew the Tater student taught up there. The way he tells it people with money are a rarity up their and their biggest source of income is from the Goverment.</strong><br /><strong></strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-42925824269259808452010-08-25T07:40:00.003-04:002010-08-25T11:12:04.338-04:00The Price of Greatness<em><strong>"Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep."</strong></em><br /><br /> It's been said that paranoia can be good in small doses. Problem is, paranoia, like meth, can be habit forming and bad for your mental piece. Famed educational philosopher, Robert M. Hutchins, put it more succinctly, saying of paranoia, "You know you've got it when you can't think of anything that's your fault." So here we stand on August 25, just 8 days away from the start of the 2010 college football season, a season that once appeared to hold so much promise for Steve Spurrier's University of South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks were coming off a record-tying 2nd consecutive bowl appearance in 2009, they had signed a really good running back on National Signing Day, and Stephen Garcia had gone at least 365 days without getting arrested for the first time since joining the program in 2007. There was even chatter of challenging Florida for SEC East supremacy. Then the bottom fell out.<br /><br /> In July, starting tight end Weslye Saunders became embroiled in an NCAA investigation into the legalities of an agent-sponsored party in South Beach last Spring, thrown for potential high-round picks in the 2011 NFL Draft. Though the school and the NCAA have been tight-lipped about the issue, MOAG has learned that officials are concerned with two things at this point. Who paid for Saunders to go on the trip, and what the hell was he doing at a party for 1st day draft picks? Despite this setback, the team still had reasons for optimism. After all, according to ardent Gamecock supporters, Saunders was officially listed as 2nd on the team depth chart behind noted hustler Patrick DiMarco. And though that was solely a product of his week-long suspension during the Spring, it was still a reassuring thing for fans to tell themselves. Besides, if they could get through the next few weeks without further trouble, the Gamecocks still had plenty of reasons to believe their magical season, the season they have waited on since (insert the year you were born here), was on the horizon. But so was something else...<br /><br /><strong><em>"It starts when you're always afraid. You step out of line, the man come and take you away."</em><br /><br /></strong><strong></strong><strong> </strong>In early August, NCAA officials returned to Columbia. They even reportedly stopped practice and ordered Saunders to come with them for another round of You <a href="mailto:$#%@ed">$#%@ed</a> Up, Kid. Most South Carolina fans had believed that the issue had been put to rest. And why shouldn't they have, given the NCAA's history of starting and concluding major investigations in a matter of weeks? Despite their well-reasoned belief that it was over, the investigation was still active. Saunders' eligibility was now officially in question. To make matters worse, another investigation was underway. Various media were reporting that 3 players had been living all summer at The Whitney, an upscale hotel on Devine Street near Yo Burrito. Whitneygate, America's first gate scandal since Watergate to involve an actual hotel, was dismissed by fans as a non-issue. After all, coach new about it and compliance signed off on the lease. Yet it was still proving to be a distraction for a team that, at one point, appeared poised to do great things. Assistant Head Coach for Defense Ellis Johnson even admitted such. <br /><br /> Over the past two weeks, it has come to light that as few as 7, and as many as 10, players were living at the hotel. The NCAA is concerned that the players might have been staying at the hotel rent-free, or possibly at a reduced rate not offered to the general public. If their investigation bears that out, it could be deemed a violation. For a team that showed so much promise, these investigations so close to the start of the season could prove costly. Assistant Head Coach for Defense Ellis Johnson said yesterday that he didn't know exactly what the penalty - or penalties - would be, but that the staff has been given a range of potential punishments depending on what the NCAA finds. As a precautionary measure, the school told all the players to move out immediately and settle up on their bills. <strong>As a precautionary measure</strong>. In Saunders' case, being at the heart of two investigations could sideline him for some or all of the season. Coach Spurrier has said he expects the NCAA to let him know something before the start of the season next Thursday. But Saunders, apparently not content with just having his eligibility at risk, has decided to up the ante this week. On Monday, Spurrier announced that Saunders has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. He'd missed several team meetings and was late to a scrimmage last Saturday morning. When questioned by coaches about his tardiness, Saunders realized he had two options. He could tell the coaches the truth, whatever it was, and accept his punishment, or he could lie. In a stunner, Saunders chose option 2.<br /><br /><strong><em>"Stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody looks what's goin down."</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br /> Many coaches will tell you they would sooner coach scrubs than liars. Coaches need to be able to trust their players on and off the field. At the beginning of the initial agent investigation, Spurrier went to bat for Saunders, saying, "Weslye told us he didn't do anything wrong, and we believe him." And it was the right thing to do, because players need to know their coach has their back. A lack of reciprocal trust can destroy team chemistry, but every now and then such truisms need to be put to the test. Sensing that now was one of those times, Saunders decided to conduct an experiment to see if he could somehow find the perfect blend of selfish behavior, public humiliation, and total lack of respect for the school and coach who gave him a free ride to college. Not only did Saunders lie to the coaches about where he had been, the lie itself was that he had been - get ready for it - meeting with NCAA investigators about his case(s). A quick check with the compliance office uncovered that no such meeting had taken place. So not only did he lie, he actually used the investigation, that he created, as his lie. If there were ever three words that Spurrier wishes he could unsay, "we believe him" would have to be them. Now Spurrier not only has every reason not to believe a word that comes out of his mouth, but he also has a reason to believe that Saunders would lie to anyone, including the NCAA, to save his own skin. For his part, Saunders has skillfully played the victim card from jump street, accusing others of misunderstanding him and trying to bring him down, which brings us back to the paranoia issue.<br /><br /> For a long time it was just the crazy, crazy South Carolina fans who felt that the world was out to get them, but this summer has turned even the players into true believers. Even so, our focus here at Mind of a Gamecock is the crazy, crazy fans and the funny things they say. We don't yet know how these investigations and suspension(s) will affect the promising 2010 season, but we do know this - that 9 win, 2nd in the East dream season might be on hold until further notice. What I can give you right now is this:<br /><br />- "Riddle me this.....a player at Clemson can be allowed to live in a house on Lake Hartwell (owned by a CU supporter) along with his girlfriend and their baby for 3-4 years and the NCAA doesn't find fault. A player at Carolina has a legitimate contract with a local hotel for an extended stay and the NCAA finds fauult? At what point will the playing field be level? Clemson has multiple players staying 'off campus' in 'put up' situations on or near the lake. Always have and always will. It's time USC stands up to the NCAA, The State, and any other group that is creating this constant harrassment."<br /><br />- "This is a media created this whole story, before the season starts their looking for anything to talk about."<br /><br />- "Just like the NCAA to do away with athletic dorms and then look into housing. What is up with these hostesses at Cheating Clemson Tech and Kiffin's kittens? Why doesn't ESPN run with that? That's what continuously gripes my tail. Spiller and his girlfriend living on the lake driving a Tahoe. Heck I can't even afford the gas for a Tahoe, how does he?"<br /><br />- "I'M SURE JOE PERSON IS BEHIND ALL THIS!!!!!"<br /><br />- "Joe Person and The State rag need their media credentials pulled!!"<br /><br />- "Joe Person has worked feverishly to report anything negatively on our program true or not. Joe's been busting our balls over this hotel situation almost every day and would like nothing more than to see it be true and NCAA sanctions befall our program. The state rag as been that way for as long as I can remember and I'm 60!"<br /><br />- "Reading papers across the country over the years, I have never seen any local paper covers the local sports team with more negativity than The State. Plain and simple.<br /><br />- "I really think it bothered the snake that our baseball team won NationaL championship this summer!"<br /><br />- "If it were Clemmers players, you wouldn't read a damn thing about it in the snake."<br /><br />- "This has been going on at the State for over a half a decade and it's time it STOPS!"<br /><br />- "Why is it The State will turn a blind eye to a politician they like, but go after Carolina at the drop of a hat? If the hometown paper can't support the hometown team, what use are they?"<br /><br />- "Last minute bad luck always seems to stab us in the back, and we have more than a chance to win the SECEast and the title."<br /><br />- "This is no curse, this is a conspiracy."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-69276657155066799022009-12-06T15:03:00.003-05:002009-12-06T15:43:23.773-05:00Gamecocks Trip To Clemson, Get PunkedAnother year, another victory for the Clemson Tigers over their pathetic midlands rival. Today's easy 72-61 win was the 6th in a row for Purnell's squad. That should come as no shock to readers, as beating South Carolina every year is just something Clemson does. But what made today's win exceptional was the way the Tiger defense completely shut down the gamecocks' best player, Devan Downey. Downey didn't score until 10 minutes were left in the game, and he ended up with 7 total points (5 of which were garbage points). Downey could not shake the Tiger D, his frustration showing with each possession.<br /><br /><br /><br />Coming off a mind-numbing loss to Illinois the other night, frustration is just what the Tigers needed to exorcise. Amazingly, this might end up counting as a quality win for Clemson when the selection committee is deciding where the Tigers will land in the Dance. Soon enough conference play will begin, and this year the ACC is up for grabs. Clemson isn't ready to win it at this juncture of the season, but this is a talented bunch that could make a strong run once it's all said and done. With a week off to enjoy today's glorified practice, a rested Tiger team will run through its OOC slate before a showdown with Duke on January 3rd. The gamecocks will recover from this, largely because they play in the worst conference in the history of college basketball, but Downey won't soon forget getting pwn3d by his rival.......again.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's some MOAG, both football and basketball-related. Let's start with a doozie:<br /><p>- Spiller Hurt His NFL Stock Last Night</p><p>- Classless Spiller sat on bench after loss and Tech player came over to him. He is such a puss; he can run all over the field but cant walk to congratulate the winner?</p><p>- Spiller only came back for his senior season to improve his chances in the draft and get a bigger paycheck, has nothing to do with being classy.</p><p>- If we had Holmes and Archie we would be killing Clempson !</p><p>- Sad fact is that Clemson is not that good...The team we just lost to is not that good. I think they will be on the bubble come March. With Archie and Holmes I am confident we would have won.</p><p>- Sorry taters you suck in basketball too!!! LOL (editor's note - this was said 23 minutes after the game)</p><p>- If we had Archie and Holmes this game wouldn't be close.</p><p>- I'm about to toss my laptop watching the team shoot after taking the ball away so many times. This is not the offense that showed up vs Jacksonville State. And this is not the Defense that showed up either.</p><p>- Even being Downeys worst game ever they still only won by 11. Taters happy we only play once a year.</p><p>- Pitt's secondary is very weak. You saw what that Cinci quarterback did yesterday just imagine what Garcia will do.</p><p>- We play in the SEC. Pitt's defense should be nothing to us.</p><p> </p><p><br /> </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-67534065471947264722009-11-29T16:57:00.002-05:002009-11-29T17:06:27.144-05:00Uncle Fester'sI just got back from Columbia, and it was truly a great weekend. Lots of old friends, laughs, and fellowship. I used to live in Columbia, and it was fun being back in my old stomping grounds. Also, a couple of my friends unwittingly hung out and had a great time at a gay bar, which was an excellent encore to an already pleasant day. But even so, it's great to be back home with my family. There's nothing quite as warm as getting a big hug from your daughter after being away. I'll have more later this week as we prepare for the big ACC Title game this Saturday, but for now I'm going back for another hug.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-50164866154703912272009-11-27T06:55:00.003-05:002009-11-27T08:16:45.060-05:00Early Friday MOAG- Look. I have said it before and I will say it again. CAROLINA plays HANDS DOWN the toughest schedule out of CAROLINA and KKKLIMPSON!!! NOTHING and I mean NOTHING that happens on SATURDAY will change that! taters can brag all they want now or after the game on Saturday, but the BOTTOM LINE is that CAROLINA plays a MUCH, MUCH better conference than KKKLIMPSON. That's a fact. They can sugar coat it all they want, but that is the WAY IT IS. taters got NOTHING to brag about. NOTHING. If they win the rest of their two games the fact is that they played a much weaker A-SHE-SHE schedule than the GAMECOCKS. Period. They have to live with that. We can hold our heads up for playing the VERY BEST in the land!!!GO COCKS!!!<br /><br />- The truth is we have NO reason to play clempson.We play the Highest profile schedule in America.Nothing and I mean Nothing good comes from playing clempson.On the other hand it is clempsons season maker.The best thing we could do is DROP em.That would be sweet.They would be left with nothing to hang their hat on.<br /><br />- If it were up to me I would never play another ACC team in any sport unless it was a tournament. That charter group of clowns could not take it when we starting beating their a$$e$. They did everything they could to take us down and I would do the same if given a chance.Had we stayed I think we would have countless ACC championships in all 3 of the major sports.<br /><br />- would not bother me one way or the other, taters, neighbors, but we have other teams we play that mean more to us financially and from a p.r. standpoint, so it would convince some with results<br /><br />- Most Clemson fans have an inate ability to make people dislike them. That's why I decided after going to Carolina, that it was a more civil and cultured environment that suited my style and personality.<br /><br />- rivalry be damned. Think with your head instead of your, well heart I guess. Is it logical for SC to keep playing CU? Nope, so why do something illogical year in and year out?<br /><br />- Every Cock has its day. USC will soon start beating the Taters more and more. The losing shoe's gonna hurt on those orange stained feet.<br /><br />- Clemson is the last school to talk to anyone about owning someone.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-62483542212118274032009-11-26T22:50:00.002-05:002009-11-26T23:35:02.340-05:00I'm Thankful For MOAG- Clemmons University about to run into a BUZZ SAW. This is one of those rare times that Ive felt this good about a USC/CU game. I know many of you have doubts due to the history but I think huge celebrations will be going on in here saturday night. This will be year one of a string of victories over the hated rival.<br /><br />- Seems like Klempsin has the coaches' and players' full attention this year. That's the difference!<br /><br />- I agree. I think Spiller and Parker get knocked out of the game and the domino effect is we win big. We're the best defense they will see all year since they don't play Virginia Tech (how is that anyway?)<br /><br />- next year starts Saturday<br /><br />- Tatersuck Fag Univ is just trying to copy what we did with Under Armour! They need to try and match the publicity that we got with the wounded warriors gig! That faget University will do anything to try and "one up" us!!!!<br /><br />- Hey where can I down load one of those pictures of the kid pupping in the clumpsun helmet?<br /><br />- Taters really do have an inferiority complex to us. They beat us regularly enough that they shouldn't. But then they do things like last Saturday. After we had a classy camoflage uniform and cleats with honor, integrety, committment etc. on the back, to honor the fallen warrior project. They come out and redneck up what is a nice gesture to honor our military. I guess the coaching staff saw our guys and rushed off to the local army/navy store and bought some camoflage hunting pants. I know they meant well, and it was nice. But you just kinda have to laugh at them. Bless their hearts.<br /><br />- think we can shut Spiller down running. We match up better against the shifty types.<br /><br />- Somebody has to win this ballgame so it might as well be us ....people near and far have Clemson so built up , yet they forget how they got that way , they play PoS teams that are all "use to be's"...<br /><br />- he is good but who wouldn't be playing against the teams he has played against , put him against big powerhouse teams he would be CJ SPILT !!<br /><br />- If our defense hits him hard and early, we could mentally take him out of the game. I dont think he has been physically challenged much all year with the acception of the FSU game.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-80594146187380220382009-11-25T00:14:00.003-05:002009-11-25T00:15:32.530-05:00Important NoteI'm not sure what happened, but today's blog posted below the sunday and monday blogs. Scroll down until you get to the one entitled, Urgent.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-24040015862016302982009-11-23T19:12:00.003-05:002009-11-23T20:52:34.609-05:00Monday Night MOAGJust more of the good stuff:<br /><br />- We are every bit as good as TCU or Georgia Tech, and we're better than Miami. Taters gonna find out on Saturday.<br /><br />- If we suck so bad and yall are the future ACC Champs (at least champs of your division), then why did vegas set the line only at Clemson 2.5? I mean, it's such a SURE win and we're just this bottom tier SEC team... Why would the ACC champs only be a 2.5pt favorite over lowly South Carolina?<br /><br /><br />- Clemson is 22-47 vs Georgia Tech (32%)South Caraolina is 35-61-4 vs Clemson (37%)So if SC does not have a chance vs Clemson this weekend, why does Clemson even show up for the ACC Championship Game? The numbers show, as bad as SC is vs Clemson, its better than Clemson vs GT.<br /><br /><br />- We just came off a 24-14 home loss to the number one team in the nation, beat the number 4 team earlier in the year at home, and played the number 2 team well on the road. 20 points may be enough.<br /><br />- fortunately for us we are facing a team that spit the bit against Maryland.<br /><br /><br />- This time next week....I will have been celebrating a Gamecock victory for hours. Not a shred of doubt in my mind. I BELIEVE! GO COCKS!!!<br /><br /><br />- This is rivalry week, time to get excited. This game is in our house and that western SC technical school full of inbred hillbillies should have nightmares after what is going to happen to them at WB next Saturday!!!! Get ready for a beat down you toothless redneck SOB's because next Saturday at noon hell will be unleashed on your sorry a$$es!!<br /><br /><br />- Keep Spiller and Ford from busting big plays and they are dead meat!<br /><br />- James and Demps didn't do a dang thing and netiher will Spiller and Ford!!!<br /><br />- We've played a MUCH more difficult schedule and when you look at the top 2 teams in America, we've played BOTH of them WELL into the fourth quarter! With the proper mindset, we SHOULD BEAT CLEMSON!!!!<br /><br />- Carolina will win. The ACC does not stack up like the SEC. The only deserving team to go to the ACC championship is GT. Everyone else is mediocre (yes, the word used to describe our team and program). The SEC will be against 2 undefeated teams as of now. Clemson is 8-3 and has a chance to play for the crown and go to the Orange Bowl? Come on, no competition. We played a hard schedule with freshmen/sophmores and they at most times, gave it all they had. The SEC is a tough conference to dominate and if you do, you earned it. The thought of GT playing Clemson makes me sick. We are at home for the SC/Clemson game and the stands will rock again. This is our year to win and decent bowl depends on this game. 2010 will be interesting and should go our way as our guys gained a lot of good experience this year as a young team. We are a year ahead of other programs b/c we had freshmen/sophmores on the field. They should play well for the next few years.<br /><br /><br /><p>- They havent seen a defense like ours all season and our home field advantage will be too much for them to overcome.</p><p>- If we play the way we did against florida we WILL win. Plain and simple if the players can get over making the #1 team in the country sweat for 3 quarters..... we WILL win.</p><p><br /> </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-73581241798383420992009-11-22T20:24:00.002-05:002009-11-22T21:29:13.698-05:00Sunday Night MOAGJust some good ol' fashioned moag for a Monday morning.<br /><br />- No reason to lose to the Taters this year....NONE! and don't give me any of that Spiller & Ford crap.....I ain't buying it.....we've had 2 weeks to prepare for this one.....we've played better teams all year long.....it's time to open up a can on the Taters.....this crap (losing to those rednecks) needs to stop and it needs to stop now!!! Am I fired up? You better believe it.<br /><br />- You're absolutely correct!! I do believe if we don't give it to them (examples: Tenn. & Ala. - even some inexcusables in the Ark. game) & play smart & tough for 4 FULL quarters (unlike the 3 we played against Fla.), we'll beat them! No reason not to with 2 weeks to prepare!!<br /><br />- If we come out on D and hit them and on O we try to run the ball like we did against Florida we should be fine. If Clifton plays like he did against Florida we should be fine.<br /><br />- Clemson will come into next week with a vaulted 6 game winning streak(of course Im assuming they will win today} but who have they beaten? NOBODY! only MIA is hanging on to the top 25 and they are losing to Duke and got lucky to beat wake..<br /><br />- when Garcia is done he will be 3-0 against Clemson.<br /><br />- I just feel like we are better than them. I realize they have looked well at times, but outside of the Wake game, they have dicked around all year against everyone they have played. If I am not mistaken, they have been favored in every game they have played this year but 1. We are better than anyone they have played since September. We just have to put it together one time on Saturday and I think we could lay it on them.<br /><br />- The frustrating thing for us is that we watch Klempsin stumble and bumble through a vastly inferior conference only to have their little hearts break year after year until finally they backed into it.<br /><br />- Your team usually beats us because of a lot of intangibles not the least of which is you have seemed to want it more.<br /><br />- The defensive gameplan for Ellis Johnson could not be more simple. On top of that, we have the personel defensively to shut them down. No reason whatsoever why we should not win this game and with somewhat of a cushion to spare. NO REASON WHATSOEVER.<br /><br />- We will win by two touchdowns, even if Clemson brings us their best game. We have them at home, had a week off,and can build on a strong showing in the Florida game.<br /><br />- We bring in more money than Clemson, will soon have better facilities all the way around than Clemson, play in a more attractive conference with better TV exposure than Clemson, have a better bowl record over the past 15 years than Clemson, have a better winning percentage against the rest of the SEC and ACC this decade than Clemson, and based on all that have landed more highly regarded recruiting classes this decade than Clemson.<br /><br />- We have an 80% winning percentage against the rest of the ACC this decade. Clemson doesn't have that. Clemson has a 17% winning percentage against the rest of the SEC this decade. We are obviously well above that.<br /><br />- The WAC deserves a BCS bowl tie in more than the ACC does. Just a fact and really can't be disputed.<br /><br />- Boise would go undefeated in the ACC. Nevada and Fresno would both win Clemson's division.<br /><br />- We played #1,#2 and #4,we won aginst #4 so we are at least 1-2 aginst top 10 teams.You will finish 0-3.<br /><br />- Carolina-clemPson opening line is out. It's a PICK 'EM. Goes to show you what Vegas thinks of the ACC<br /><br />- Clemson beats teams the Byrnes High could beat and now there world beaters. I think we have just as much talent as Clemsucks and we are going to win that game Saturday.<br /><br />- I credit Dabo for doing a good job with an average team this year. USC can easily win this game if they play sound football.<br /><br />- I think there is NO EXCUSE for us losing to them again.<br /><br />- Didn't realize that Dabo was still running down "The Hill" way out front of his team, acting like "Attila The Hun". Does he beat his chest too? When he's at press conferences - he keeps talking about team, team, team but when he's on the hill in front of all the fans, AD, TV cameras, etc - it's about me, me, me.<br /><br />- clem won't beat us, we can only beat ourselves...***Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-55368176235094418022009-11-22T11:03:00.006-05:002009-11-25T08:41:06.892-05:00Urgent<em></em><br /><em>Your desire is insane</em><br /><em>You can’t stop until you do it again - Foreigner</em><br /><br /><br />I don't know how old I was the first time I heard these lyrics. I don't know how old I was the first time I watched a Clemson/South Carolina football game, though it probably came when I was an infant in 1978. All I know is, these words were first sung in 1981, the same year Clemson won its first national championship in football, and effectively kicked its program into hyper-speed, leaving South Carolina choking on its cosmic dust. Nearly 40 years have passed since those two events collided to create the University of South Carolina's worst nightmare, and 40 more will certainly pass in kind.<br /><br />Every November the South Carolina Gamecocks offer themselves up as sacrificial lambs to the mighty Tigers of Clemson, yet every year they enter the game actually believing they have a chance to win. They are fools. So are their fans. Since the Great Year, Clemson owns a 20-7-1 record in the series, dominating their arch rival in every imaginable way. Though that record is thoroughly impressive and shameful, consider that the record in Columbia over that same period is even more of both. On Clemson Tiger field at Williams-Brice stadium, the Tigers are 12-2. In four days that record will be 13-2. The Gamecocks are, in a word, goosed.<br /><br />Nobody knows whether or not the bard, Lou Gramm, was specifically thinking of the Clemson/South Carolina rivalry when he first sang this song, not of forbearance, but of desperation. I have my opinion, but that's not important. Urgency breeds carelessness, and carelessness breeds 2-13 records against your arch rival on your home field. They want to win, but they aren't good enough. Their desire is insane. After losing on Saturday, they and their fans will spend a few months wallowing in their athletic crapulence. They'll talk of moving the game to the start of the season, or canceling the series altogether. They'll turn on each other, half of them wanting to fire Coach, the other half supporting Coach because "he's really building a winner here." It's become as much a part of the holidays as turkey and naps. But then around early February, the Gamecock faithful will come to life again, celebrating a vastly overrated recruiting class, its ranking bloated by worthless 4 star JUCO linemen and no less than 6 average safeties turned wide receiver. And then it will start anew. They won't be able to stop, and they'll do it again. They're so urgent. Emergency.<br /><br />Just as I was born at the start of the Danny Ford era, my daughter came to us at the start of Dabo Swinney era (make of that what you will). She will probably watch bits and pieces of her first Clemson/South Carolina game this Saturday, though she surely won't remember it. Perhaps somewhere a young Brit is putting together a musical arrangement that will capture perfectly the theme of this rivalry over the course of her young lifetime. The odds of that are better than Carolina winning on Saturday.<br /><br /><br />Now today's MOAG, looks like the moral victories are starting early this year:<br /><br />- I like the Gamecocks chances against clemson solely on the basis that SC is a better team.<br /><br />- I have being saying the same thing since we joined the SEC, let's move the game to the beginning of the season and then we can shuffle our SEC schedule so that we aren't being punished at the end of the year. Let's start concentrating on winning the SEC and less about Clemson.<br /><br />- The game belongs at the BEGINNING of the season. Anyone who thinks that this rivalry game should be at the end for tradition's sake is ignoring the game's history to begin with. No one says it has to be the opener, either - just near the beginning of the season. Let's get this thing going at the beginning of the season before USC has been through the SEC blender and the taters have finished their milquetoast ACC schedule. At least then we'd both be fresh instead of just the taters every year.<br /><br />- There is no reason NOT to move it<br /><br />- Better hope you get us this year taters because your next year is the real year one of the spurrier era.<br /><br />- why do the taters fear moving the game up? I think we all know the answer.<br /><br />- I have a new fight song for wimpson and the entire ACC for that matter. It's from Tiny Tim and the title fits your program like a glove "Tip Toe Through The Tulips". Now please go back to the bathroom because that's where your best thoughts come out. I'm waiting for the answer to the fairyland loss. Then I'll listen to you. GO GAMECOCKS!!! ROCK!<br /><br />- You guys shadow box all season while we fight Ali for 11 rounds. Then you come in the ring for your match with us. That's what it's like. No excuse,just saying.<br /><br />- Itwould give us a fair shot at the Tigers; as it is now, they play an ACCschedule that is arguably softer on the W/L's column, but moreso on theirinjuries. We enter the game afetr a grueling SEC schedule. If if is a test of the true in-state rivalry, then let's Tee it up on a level field on the first game.<br /><br />*Special thanks to Ron Morris for making all of this possible todayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-48458267910985044412009-11-19T20:42:00.004-05:002009-11-19T22:34:09.016-05:00Another Man Done GoneGreetings MOAG fans and Gamecock losers who read this blog because you can't help yourselves. Y'all probably remember my blog from October 15 of last year, when I wrote about the psychological grip - mind of a gamecock - all Gamecocks come under sooner or later. The subject that day was Steve Spurrier, and my blog proved that even coaches weren't immune to this horrible wonderful disease. Well, today another of the top cocks accepted his fate. He goes by the name of Ellis Johnson, and here's what he had to say about the Clemson game today:<br /><br /> <strong>"When Carolina was in the ACC, the game typically affected the championship or the conference standings." "Then, when they became an independent, the Clemson game was a red letter day. Now that Carolina is in the SEC, it's a great environment every week. We have a bunch of big-time games every year at Williams-Brice Stadium or on the road. So we have to bring this game into focus and tell these kids that it's a big game for our university and our people and it needs to be a big game for you."</strong><br /><br />Now that you've finished laughing at the first part of that statement, let me translate the rest for you: "Since we have a bye week I'd like to get my excuse out there early. That way, by the time the last second ticks off the clock in 9 days, the few remaining gamecock fans left in the stadium will have heard it so many times they believe it as fact." Sure thing, Ellis. That's why, minutes after losing to Florida last weekend, your players were in the locker room talking about their "second season." Because they don't understand the importance of this game. As pathetic as it is that you expect anyone (other than every gamecock fan in America) to buy that tripe, it isn't nearly as pathetic as your shameless attempt to devalue the rivalry because your team can't keep up. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You had more to say:<br /><br /> <strong>"It's just different here." "When you play Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida and all those guys and every time you go into a stadium there's 70,000 to 90,000 people, it's hard to make it a red letter day," Johnson said. "It's a game like we play every weekend. Our kids are in those tough environments every weekend in this conference."</strong><br /><br />Ellis, shut the <a href="mailto:#@&%">#@&%</a> up. I mean that in the nicest way possible. I'm not being rude or condescending; I'm trying to help you avoid making a spectacle of yourself in the future. If your guys don't get up for this game, it isn't because they've already played big games. It's because they know they are going to lose every time they step on the field with Clemson. You've been a part of this rivalry for a long time. It isn't any different now than it was 20, 40, or 60 years ago. To borrow a timeless line from Caddyshack 2's Jackie Mason - We win, you lose! That's how it's always been, and that's how it always will be. So one day, when the SEC finally decides it needs a new whipping boy and y'all go maverick again, you can look back on this day with deep shame, knowing you got served by The Blawg. I'm sure whatever failed gamecock coaching staff in place then will have a new set of ready-made excuses for why they've lost 10 of the last 12 to Clemson. If not, well, it is Green Week, so maybe they can recycle this one if it isn't in the garbage where it belongs.<br /><br />Now for some MOAG, but before I get to it let me say a quick word. This is Clemson week MOAG, which I consider a treat for my readers. Sure they say stupid stuff about Clemson all year long, but this week they really kick it up a notch. Mere delusion becomes sheer hysteria, and everyone benefits. Enjoy:<br /><br />- I believe this will be the best defense that the Tigers have faced all year. I believe that Clemson will win big Saturday against a hopeless Virgina team and then the Cock beat them the following week and then you will hear the excuses. USC wanted it more, they were thinking about Tampa etc, etc, etc.<br /><br />- Funny how every experience I have with Clemson people is about as classless as "Lloyd and Harry" you showed me.Seriously, do they beat class out of kids in the upstate??? I just can't figure out how a whole group of people can lack so much.<br /><br />- In this rival game, throw out the records and the best team does not always win. Anything can happen as history has proven!<br /><br />- Clemson will have the better overall record the vast majority of the time due to their schedule. It boils down to we need to start playing our best game of the year like Clemson does. That would lead to different results.<br /><br />- they would have won 5 games with our schedule, they probably would lose to either kentucky or ole miss maybe even both<br /><br />- I say Vegas will still have us as a point or two favorite....<br /><br />- I think by game time, Vegas will realize thet 5.5 is way too high... Line will be down to 2 or 3 tops.. Cocks win though 35-28<br /><br />- We will be favored in this game by a few points by the time game time rolls around!! Whatever the line is to start with people around the country are going to put thier money on the SEC TEAM and we will have to give more points.<br /><br />- Join "BEAT CLEMSON" cause on Facebook!!! I created the cause titled "BEAT CLEMSON" on Facebook. Hope it spreads like wildfire! The link is below.<br /><a href="http://apps.facebook.com/causes/401197/40330489">http://apps.facebook.com/causes/401197/40330489</a><br /><br />Yes, I included the link. That's all for tonight.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-19709180875465156842009-11-10T22:01:00.005-05:002009-11-11T10:46:55.490-05:004 Out of 5 Ain't Bad, Plus a Bonus<strong>Before I get to blogging today, I need to pass on a couple of administrative notes:</strong><br /><br /><strong>1. I'm a family man now, and even though she doesn't possess the ability, I won't be publishing comments that I wouldn't want my daughter to read.</strong><br /><br /><strong>2. I won't publish comments left anonymously. Now onto the good stuff.</strong><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><strong></strong> I will be the first to admit that I was not thrilled with the idea of Assistant Coach <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Swinney</span> becoming Head Coach <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Swinney</span>, and 5 games into the season, I felt like my reservations were justified. But Coach <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Swinney</span> appears well on his way to shutting me, and a lot of others (Philip), up. Nine games into the season, four of the five major team goals are still alive. That's winning the Atlantic division, winning the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ACC</span>, winning a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">BCS</span> bowl game, and winning the Heisman Trophy for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">CJ</span> Spiller. I consider that last one a team goal, because, despite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Spiller's</span> individual talents, no player can win it without the support of his teammates on the field. That's pretty dang good for a 39 year old with very little coaching experience. Not only has Coach <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Swinney</span> changed the mindset of the players, but he has changed the mindset of the fans as well. We believe that Coach <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Swinney</span> can lead us back to our glory days. This morning (11-11-09), right here, I am proud to announce that, for the first time, I am 100% All In.<br /><br /><br /> I'm not sitting here saying that Clemson will achieve all, or even most, of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">afore-</span>mentioned goals, but I am saying that the team and the fans finally believe that Clemson can achieve all those goals. Yes We Can! And, unlike our fowl friends down the road, it isn't gonna be next year. Speaking of those guys........Rejoice!! Clemson fans, we just got some more good news last night. Steve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Spurrier</span> announced that he planned to stay in Columbia for at least 3-4 more years. If you've been paying attention, that news should excite you.<br /><br />Now <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">MOAG</span>.<br /><br /><strong>On Switching Conferences</strong>:<br /><br />- If we swapped schedules right now, Clemson would go 6-6, or 7-5, Carolina would go 7-5 or 8-4, and Carolina would beat Clemson 75% of the time. In other words, they would swap places. If Clemson fans, who follow a perennial 8-4 team in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">ACC</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">dont</span> think they would start losing to Carolina if they played <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Bama</span>, Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee, and we played Wake, NC State and Virginia leading up to our game, then you are in total denial.<br /><br />- The reality is, you would be limping into your rivalry game just as we do every year, because we are similar programs and you play cupcakes for 4 weeks prior and we play some of the best teams in the country. And you usually win.<br /><br />- Clemson would fare no better in the SEC than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">USC</span>, and there's a good chance they'd fare worse...<br /><br />- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">usc</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">wouldnt</span> have any trouble with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">florida</span>"no defense" state and most of the others with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">clemsons</span> schedule we would go 10-2 or 9-3<br /><br />- How many CU victories over SC SHOULD be attributed to a demoralizing defeat at the hands of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">UF</span> the game prior?<br /><br /><strong>The Florida Game</strong>:<br /><br />- SC beats <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">UF</span> on Saturday...............watch and see. SOS knows how to beat these guys.<br /><br />- I predicted this about two weeks ago...I'm sticking by my prediction.<br /><br />- WE CAN BEAT THE GATORS! I am starting to get excited about the game. We can make history with this win and IT IS POSSIBLE. If everyone would get behind this team and get fired up it would motivate the players. We have talent! We are capable of playing good football. Who is in???? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">GOOO</span> GAMECOCKS!!<br /><br />- with the refs it's going to be nearly impossible.<br /><br />- I have been predicting the Gamecocks will beat <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">UF</span> this week all season, I think they will overlook our boys and I also think the crowd will be a big difference. I do not see <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">UF's</span> offense being as strong as it was last year and I have a strong feeling the Gamecock D will be up to the challenge!<br /><br />- Not many of you give our guys a chance this weekend, and some of you think the Clemson game is more important anyway...I may be one of only a very few that is very optimistic about this weekend.<br /><br /><strong>On <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Spurrier's</span> Future</strong>:<br /><br />- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Spurrier</span> ain't going no where but to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">atlanta</span> in the next year or 2.then he will keep going back a few times before he retires for good.<br /><br />- Even if <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Clemsux</span> were to win again, they <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">dont</span> want to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">seeDarth</span> Visor on our sidelines for 2,3,4 or even 5 more years.<br /><br /><strong>On SEC/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">ACC</span> Power Poll</strong>:<br /><br />- why the HELL are we behind so many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">acc</span> teams <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">clemson</span> is probably their best team and we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">gunna</span> kick their butt in two weeks<br /><br />- BS we are supposed to believe that out of the 24 teams in the SEC and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">ACC</span> that we are only better than 11 programs,what a joke.<br /><br /><strong>On the Bye Week Before Clemson (which they begged for 5 years ago):</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />- I think the bye <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">wek</span> hurts us right before the Clemson game. While Clemson is focusing on there next opponent, we are already preparing for the Taters. We may be to ready to play this game and emotion last for maybe 4or 5 plays and them reality sets in. That may not be the case but for some reason, Clemson always comes out, plays harder, hits harder and has a better game plan.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-6986869599610728112009-11-09T12:36:00.003-05:002009-11-09T13:10:28.829-05:00The Old, Old, Old Ball CoachI am a dog lover. I always have been. One of my least favorite movies of all time is Old <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Yeller</span>; however, even at the tender age of 7 I understood why dude had to do what he did. The legendary dog had become a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">liability</span> to his family, and he needed to die before he hurt someone. Well, it's time for the Gamecocks to channel Travis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Coates</span>. They need to take their beloved coach out to a field, tie him to a post, and blow his brains out.<br /><br />In the last 4 games, South Carolina has scored a total of 49 points. They can't run the ball to save their lives (you know it's bad when professional writers are actually trying to suggest that Brian Maddox was a bright spot on Saturday against Arkansas). And it actually seems to be getting worse. The cure for a struggling offense desperately trying to avoid a 6-6 finish is probably not games against Florida and Clemson, both of which play great defense.<br /><br />The problem for the Gamecocks here is two-fold. They don't want to be known as the school that ran off two coaching legends in succession, but they also can't continue doing what they've been doing under <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Spurrier</span> and expect to get any better. It's a troubling <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">dilemma</span> (not for me) that is the result of grossly negligent foresight on their part. Rumor has it that A.D. Hyman hired Gary Patterson when he was at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">TCU</span>, and if anyone is capable of fixing the Gamecocks, it's Patterson. But <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">TCU</span> could easily match, or better, any offer South Carolina made him, and does he really want to kill his career yet? I doubt it.<br /><br />So it promises to be another long, long off-season, replete with a drastically overrated recruiting class, a fresh group of bad <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">assistant</span> coaches, and delusional fans finally having arrived in "next year."<br /><br />Here's some classic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">MOAG</span>:<br /><br />- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">USC</span> is a better team than Clemson regardless of how crappy we feel as a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">fanbase</span> after the last couple of losses. Clemson has Spiller. That's it. Granted <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">USC</span> has no chance of stopping him so maybe they can step on that hurt toe. I'm sorry but Clemson is NOT better than, UT, Ark, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">UF</span>, Ole Miss, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Vandy</span>, or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">UGA</span>. Great, they beat a horrible Fla St. team and are going to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">ACC</span> Championship to represent the best of the worst. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">USC</span>: 32, Clemson: 10<br /><br />- why the HELL are we behind so many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">acc</span> teams <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">clemson</span> is probably their best team and we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">gunna</span> kick their butt in two weeks<br /><br />- Spiller is weak. Spiller is a good player <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">dont</span> get me wrong, but he fakes injuries every game to avoid contact. He is running up and down the field... cutting on a dime yet he bounces outside on every play when a cut is not wide open he just runs out.<br /><br />- we are 5-0 at home this season and have won 5 of our last SEC games at home. We have to defend those accomplishments at Williams Brice this weekend and our players will be named courage, valor, honor to support our wounded warriors. Get fired up and help support this team and their cause against the #1 team in the country!! We have lots to play for and a mountain to climb this Saturday afternoon.<br /><br />- you can always count on Clemson to play their best game of the year against us. Maybe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">thats</span> due to their coaches getting them prepared. I would like to at least see us get a few breaks in the contest, instead of the tigers getting all the luck.<br /><br />- I still cannot believe that the taters were so foolish as to hire a real estate agent as a football coach!!! I know that taters are dumb, but even this was hard to believe!!!This right here tells you the difference in the prestige of the two programs in our state. One program in COLUMBIA is a top-flight, flagship school for the state with high standards that can only be met by HIRING THE VERY BEST.The other program in the cow pasture is a trailer park of a school without even enough prestige <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ot</span> hire a real football coach! All they could do was to get a real estate guy or an insurance salesman or whatever he is. I'm not sure.There has never been a better <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">tim</span> to be a GAMECOCK!!! COACH <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">SPURRIER</span> has turned this program around AGAINST ALL ODDS in the TOUGHEST CONFERENCE IN AMERICA. In the meanwhile <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Dabo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Dabo</span> Do has been busy loosing to teams like Maryland in the weak A-SHE-SHE with a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">teamload</span> of convicts and a stadium full of fans with no teeth who work at Waffle HOUSE. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">LOL</span>!!!!We are living in a GOLDEN AGE of GAMECOCK football. Enjoy it while you can! I sure am!!!GO COCKS!!!<br /><br />- Not one for moral victories and excuses; but Can anyone tell me WHEN...in the name of all that is good and decent...will we get a schedule reprieve? I mean 11 straight weeks is INCREDIBLY UNFAIR!!! If that was not enough, we are having to play our very best competition when we are nursing the injuries and fatigue of 8-9 straight weeks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8097716950300453887.post-2113285344432245132009-11-04T09:46:00.002-05:002009-11-04T09:48:54.960-05:00Blog NoteI'm remembering now one of the big problems I had with the blog last year. All the anonymous comments create confusion amongst the readers. It's a disservice to everyone, so from now on I won't be publishing any anonymous comments. Thanks for your understanding. Iit's going to make for a livelier and more sensible conversation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11464764001997791621noreply@blogger.com0