CHIMO & GEORGE

Chimo and I attended the annual Spring football game at Williams Bryce Stadium. A beautiful day, good crowd, and, well, football. Glorified practice, but still fun. Here is a pic of Chimo sitting at the statue of Gamecock great George Rogers (who was in attendance at the game too).

USC SOFTBALL

Attended today's game against Marshall University, won by the Gamecocks. Very nice stadium, impressive team (from what I could see), and a really enjoyable atmosphere. Lots of chatter from the teams, songs, a good bit of excitement. Long time since I've been to a softball game, but I think I will return. Plus. . . .Cocky!

NATIONAL CHAMPS

In 1993 I had a Lady Gamecock center in my class, a delightful person, and she invited me to attend one of her games. I had never really considered it before, but I went and had a great time, and have attended games ever since whenever I could, even when our teams struggled. It has been such fun since Dawn Staley got here. I have met her and she was really nice. We don't reach this pinnacle often, so this championship is really special. And it was wonderful to see the guys play their hearts out too. And yes, I got teary eyed.

GAMECOCKS VS MISSOURI

Chimo and I were treated to great seats at today's Gamecock game against Mizzou. We came away with a victory in a spirited tilt. The tickets were courtesy of our friend Nate. We also took along our neighbor and Chimo's friend Avi to his first college game. We had a really good time. Herewith a few pics, of the band marching via the Garnet Way and two of us in the stands.

FOUNDER'S PARK

One of my favorite places to spend an afternoon, watching the Gamecocks play. This was taken during a midweek game, the sun starting to fade away on a really beautiful day. This is the best college baseball stadium in the nation.

THE HBC (SPURRIER)

No more will his visor slam sideline here,
but forever the HBC our fans will cheer;
he forged a team that fought for glory,
and fielded a squad that was SEC worthy;
while he did not garner a title in hand,
the garnet was tougher in football land;
he taught his players to be better men,
sandstorm polished, a house to defend,
he got the best both on and off field,
now we wonder what his legacy will yield.

SANDSTORM (GO COCKS!)

Blizzard of waving
white towels spinning to greet
the Gamecock players.

DREAM WEEKEND

Been nearly a dream weekend for Gamecock sports. Ranging from a mid-week capture of the SEC Women's Basketball Regular Season Championship (marred slightly by an away loss to Tennessee on Sunday) to a invigorating come-from-behind-in-ninth-inning-with-two-outs victory in the third game (at Clemson) to earn a sweep of the hated upstaters. The #1 Equestrian women convincingly beat the #2 Auburn team; USC softball took down the #3 Arizona State team. The much-maligned Men's Basketball team scored a huge home victory Saturday night over #17 Kentucky. Pretty impressive. Spring football practice ready to start. Yes, it is nice to see competitive and victorious squads.

GAMECOCKS

Just because we wish it so, means not that it will pass;
this lesson’s one we all must learn in the Gamecock class.
Runs my blood, it’s red and black---garnet the deepest hue,
any orange is anathema, do not this misconstrue.

They always fought with all their heart, especially on game day,
ran out to strains two thousand one, sandstorm on white display,
from first kickoff to last tackle, they’d hit with abandon,
they feared no foe, this fact is true, but seldom champion.

Football saints are lively here, from Rogers to Norwood,
When Lattimore took the field, we always felt they could,
defeat all squads, from Florida to the great North land,
and many others in between, I’m sure you understand.

Jadeveon polished our fame, no one could say “Who dat?,”
he pulverized a Wolverine, and handed Smith his hat.
Sidney Rice and Sterling Sharpe could surely catch that ball,
while Alshon and McKinley too, flew often past them all.

Sheldon Brown and John Abraham were known to give a lick,
while Swearinger and Gilmore too, could make a tackle stick.
Ryan Brewer bowled them over, while Succop split the posts,
Connor Shaw and Phil Petty racked up the winning boasts.

So many more graced our field, their names are not forgot,
Wharton and Boyd, Culliver and Dunta, and even A. Pinnock.
Munnerlyn, DiMarco too, and who could forget Ace Sanders?
Ajiboye and Cunningham, were not gridiron outlanders.

Kalimba, Ko, Dunta and Zola, we’ve surely had strange names,
But on the field they won our hearts, and more than a few games.
Faison to Watson, and all others, who flashed their spurs with pride,
we celebrate each footballer who’s graced the Gamecock side!

CLOWNEY

Riding home from work I heard some sports pundit (am I allowed to say "idiot") opine that Clowney's quest for the Heisman is already over. Really? After the first game!!?? One in which the opposing offense did everything but wave the white flag(including downright illegally trying to injure him with a blatant targeted chopblock/clip from behind) while they were running away from him, and still he managed to be in quite a few plays. I hate the Heisman system in the first place: there should be an award to players from both sides of the ball. Offenses can tailor their system to favor a specific player, and the defenses must stop them. It is much harder for defensve players to garner stats because they mostly have to react. Furthermore the NC line (and give them some credit) were often hitting him with two or three players, which meant other guys were not being defended as well. AS for his conditioning. . .he was running his heart out on a hot and very muggy day. Anyone who has lived in South Carolina in the summer knows what is is like to breather hot, liquid air and it wears you out, and that is just getting out of the car. As for annual awards, I hate watch lists and preseason speculation, although it is likely impossible to stop, but the groups responsible for taking advantage of picking winners for their own financial reward love to stoke the fires in hopes more people will watch the events and repeat their brand. I can't think of a single college defensive player I would rather have on my team than Clowney. He has an impact the second he steps on the grass, even before the ball is snapped. I wouldn't be surprised if many teams run away from him all year. I'll take 200 yards and ten points opposing every game if we can. . .and if that happened, a likely championship. Go Clowney. Go Cocks.

GO GAMECOCKS 1213

Justin King makes great Gamecock videos.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9sG6MQvOj0

GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

The Cocks successfully defended their home turf and dispatched the plucky Liberty team (coached by ex-USC assistant Toman) to earn their way to the NCAA superregional. As usual, the Cocks had to have a little drama, but they extended their home-field mastery in the championship tourney, and now must face either UNC or FAU, which will be decided later tonight. Our bats came unlimbered for the weekend, and I hope that keeps up. Bottom of the order particularly productive, but everyone chipped in, which is how you win at the end of the year. And two of the games were nationally televised, which can't hurt recruiting. And all the more pleasant because the team we beat twice to win the regional, defeated our hated rival Clemson twice. Can there be anything better? Well, yeah, there can be. . .another national title.

NFL DRAFT

Although first night of coverage of NFL Draft on ESPN was passible, second night was simply horrible. Why do we need four commentators (and many more actually), several of whom are only mildly informative and almost none of them entertaining, to shepherd us through the experience, spending their time (mostly incorrectly) guessing which players the teams will select? I'd much rather get good information on players who were actually selected. Twice, after waiting patiently for my team to pick, they talked completely over the selection (even blocking the veteran chosen to announce the pick so that he never even appeared on screen, except for in the background), and I heard nothing about the rookie's skills or whether the pick would help my team. No. . .they had to go on and on about Matthieu (and another fellow), as if they were not going to let a morsel of info they had studied about him go to waste. Of course, they allowed NY picks to be shown, as well as other favorites. I was disappointed and can't imagine the lower rounds being better, unless they just dispense with  fluff and just follow the selections. Kiper was fixated on the length of players' arms, and basically parroted combine results the whole time. You could see him looking down while others were talking, deciding what he was going to say about each player. Dilfer was a waste of time, in my opinion, and Wingo should have kept better control of the group. Photo clips of  players were often poor, and occasionally even silly. Although many former players chosen to represent their old teams were good on the field, there wasn't much star power tonight.

They continued to kibitz over my teams' selections on the next two days. The Rams did well in their picks, but very little talk about them.

And the Gamecocks are finally coming off the board. Lattimore to 49ers, Devin Taylor to Lions, Ace to Jaguars. Swearinger went early to Texans. I hope a couple more get chances.

Seven total Gamecocks selected, and second Mr. Irrelevant in five years. Last one has had a good career, Succop of thre Chiefs. I think Justice Cunningham will do well, though seems there are already established TEs there.

My overall assessment? Although many complained about the lack of star power, I think a larger percentage of players in this draft will have productive careers than some of the star-powered drafts of the past. 

SEC

SEC football is simply the strongest in the nation right now, and has been. No conference comes close. There are teams who on good days playing their best can defeat SEC teams, but I don't see too many that could survive 8 weeks of SEC hammering, unless they joined the SEC and could similarly recruit. One has to give Texas A&M a lot of credit (and having a special QB) for doing as well as they did, and will likely to next year. Next season should be pretty exciting. I am optimistic about the Gamecocks. I would love to see maybe a TAMU v. USC SEC title game. That would be cool. But Alabama is still dominant, and Georgia will be strong (both depending a little on how much they lose). USC loses a good crop this year. But Clowney and our QBs will be back. Young OL will be bigger and better, I think. If another running back emerges to pair with Davis, we should be ok. Shaq needs to step up at receiver. Biggest challenge I see is linebackers. GO COCKS!

TWEET HEAVEN

One of the two tweets I made on the Clowney hit during the Outback Bowl got mentioned in The State newspaper. How cool is that? I am not-so-secretly delighted. Such a dweeb am I. My friend Eric Bargeron noticed it and passed it along to me.

http://m.thestate.com/state/db_295846/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=47WwIlNP&storycount=49&detailindex=2&pn=&ps=

The second tweet I wrote, however, was better: IHOP should introduce the Vincent Smith: Corn flour (maize) blueberry pancakes topped with whipped cream and crushed pineapple.

CLOWNEY HIT

I am putting this link of Clowney's enormous hit in the Outback Bowl for myself, so I will have it. Amazing. Ignited the team. I think it gave them confidence to come back and win the game. And it showed the world in one play just how special a player he is. Top two highlights of Sport Center tonight belonged to the Gamecocks. Hopefully a couple recruits said to themselves, "I'd like to be a Gamecock."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC44nP7ClxM&feature=youtu.be

GAMECOCKS

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love my Gamecocks. It is almost an obsession, a love that can often temper or accelerate emotions, cause heartache or joy, confuse or clarify. At least for me and probably a couple hundred thousand other fanatics. I realize I am not alone in this mania, as millions follow their individual teams fervently as well. I don't even allow orange in my house for the most part (although since my eldest son likes the Gators, I permit certain combinations as long as blue is involved and orange is not the dominant color). How crazy is that? The only one in my family with a similar level of devotion to one team is my sister Bobbie, who loves the Buckeyes. And to a lesser extent, Paul loves the Seminoles. Both of them are suffering a little this year, as OSU can't bowl and FSU lost to UF.

The solid defensive effort put in against Clemson by the Gamecocks on Saturday, as well as a good stand-in performance by second stringers such as Dylan Thompson and Kenny Miles, was a thing of joy to watch. I kept expecting Clemson to explode, and it just didn't happen, largely because of the ability of the Gamecocks to hold the ball on long drives, repeatedly making lengthy third downs, and great defensive plays. When the ref robbed our defender of an interception midway in the game, I thought to myself, "here it comes, paid-off officials again" (which I know not to be true, but there have been odd occurances over the years). Even one of the holding calls against us on a running play looked shady. But the Cocks overcame. People complained about the interference calls against Clemson, though I thought their DBs were hitting our receivers early almost every time. Clowney simply dominated at his position, and the plan to limit touches by their offense succeeded. Their playmakers seldom touched the ball. Boyd had a great year against largely inferior ACC and nonconference foes, but against two good defenses he didn't look so good. I think talk of him winning the Heisman disappeared. I don't know what USC will do against whatever opponent we get paired up against in a bowl, but this has been another great year. It could have been enormous, had we earned three more points against LSU. The Florida debacle hurt, but anyone can have a bad game, and the team didn't play poorly defensively against the Gators. We lose a lot of great players this year, so I hope talented newcomers are in the pipeline.

So I get another year of not having to listen to the Orange smack talk. After so many years of pain, this really feels nice. A senior class that never fell to their upstate rivals. How cool is that? And we should have a competitive team next year, barring injuries. Perhaps we will get another star in recruiting this year. I feel for my Tiger brethren. . .just not too deeply! GO GAMECOCKS!

MUSING AFTER THE LOSS

Luckily they didn't fall with a thud,
as so many critics thought they would,
they fought hard and came really near
to putting the conference on its ear
I hope next week they eat Gator meat
and in Atlanta the Tide they greet,
so for now I'll just grin and bear it,
they're still great, this I swear it,
so get ready for the Gamecock storms,
I hope they wear their old uniforms!

GAMECOCK APPREHENSIONS

I am delighted with this past weekend and the start of a new week, especially because of a dominating performance by the whole Gamecock team over our rivals---the Dawgs of Gawga! And it really was a domination. Sure, they had a few chances and we had a little luck when we needed it, but the defensive line really looked good (especially stoning them on the goal line), and the offensive played within itself, didn't make too many mistakes, garnered a few exciting plays, and again our special teams did pretty well (Ace was great). So why am I not dancing around? Because these are still our beloved Gamecocks, and there is plenty of room for disaster. I know, I sound like a worrywort, but I am also a realist and have had my heart crushed before. Like losing Lattimore last year and letting Auburn slip past us. I teasingly and cheekily have remarked that our current mantra might be, "Who are We Afraid of? Wofford!" True Gamecocks know the linger doubt that Navy caused us so many years back. And we have often played down to our opponents. So it is prudent to remain calm, not overly excited, and hope for the best. Still, I think USC has a great team, possibly even championship-caliber, if they can play like they have over the last six quarters, stay focused, and do their job (and not have an crushing unexpected turn). USC still has really challenging games ahead, and a few potential traps to face. But unlike some years in the past, I think we have a team capable of handling these hurdles, and I really hope they can. At least the Gamecocks are in the national title discussion (and that hasn't happened often). Anyone in the nation who watched the game saw the enthusiasm the fans here have always had for our boys in garnet and black, and no doubt a few aspiring gridiron stars thought, "Hmmmm, I'd like to play there." I hope so. We have suffered for a long time, and yet have never failed to support our team, and it would really be nice to have a fabulous season (which it has been thus far). Defeated a strong rival; now greater goals are there for the team. Good luck to them.

TROUBLED SOULS

Two years ago former Gamecock wide receiver Kenny McKinley, one of the most beloved and likeable players in USC history, killed himself while a Denver Bronco, allegedly over reduced playing time due to injury. The Gamecock nation mourned. Then today it was another similar tale, this time a lesser-known and short-time former Gamecock (who was currently on the Tennessee Titasn roster, though also dealing with a debilitating injury), who killed himself at his former high school in Tampa. Such a shame. I hope that the NFL and NCAA squads spend time on mental health issues, maybe even screening, to avoid such events. I doubt there are more problems amongst football players than the general population, but these individuals definitely have better access to professional help and should avail themselves. It is sad whenever anyone associated with USC sports comes to an early end, and I wish strength upon his family and friends.