The Auburn Tigers are 2011 BCS Champions.   At least for now. 

To put a spin on the famous Goldwater campaign slogan, “You know in your heart that they’re WRONG.”    And I think we all recognize it.

Cam is a hired gun.  Fairly is a dirty player.  Trooper is a known bagman.  And Chizik is complicit in it all. 

And they’ve gotten ever freaking break on every freaking bounce of the ball all year long. But that is sort of necessary for a championship run, isn’t it?

The numerous officiating mistakes and/or oversights were equally necessary, and were the hardest to watch.  A crooked team coached by crooked coaches should not get every single call, should they?

Well, witness this breakdown of the play that won the game:

\With that said:

SEC!  SEC!  SEC!  SEC!

On the day of the official end of competition for the 2010 football season, I’d first like to say on behalf of the TRC staff thanks to all our readers for making our little blog venture a success.  Because there is so much news and analysis on the web, we’ve tried to be a little different, and a little entertaining, and not TOO serious (read: silly).  We hope you’ve enjoyed reading as much as we’ve enjoyed writing.

We’ll continue the blog through recruiting, spring practice, basketball season, baseball season, academic casualties and bar fights until we’re back around to August and another glorious football season.

My final thought on this season is a mix of college and pro football.  A couple of weeks ago I was reflecting on the Gamecocks’ and Falcons’ (my favorite pro team since forever) seasons and wondered:  is this the greatest football season I’ve ever experienced?

I searched the internets and compiled win-loss records for the two teams since 1987.  I chose 1987 because that’s my first year as a true, die-hard Gamecock fan (my allegiances were elsewhere before that, but that’s a story for never, lest I risk losing readership).

The answer was a little depressing in that, strictly in terms of wins and losses, this is by far the best Gamecock/Falcon season ever with 22 wins – and the Falcons have the opportunity to add at least three more to that total.  The teams combined for 18 wins in both 2004 (USC 6, ATL 12) and 2008 (USC 7, ATL 11).  In 1998 – Atlanta’s Super Bowl year – the teams “combined” for 17 wins, with Atlanta securing 16 of those.

The teams combined for single digit wins in 1989 (9), 1996 (9) and the low water mark in 1999 (5 – all by the Falcons).  Overall, the teams’ combined record since 1987 is 316-355-5.

I hope for my fellow Gamecock fans that you follow a different pro team than I do.  If you are a Gamecock/Falcon fan, all I can say is:

I feel your pain.

As you may be aware, we here at TRC like to broaden the scope of the blog from time to time to bring you, our faithful readers, items of particular pop culture significance.   In the past we’ve brought you internet meme updates, and even tips on grammar and language usage. 

Today we are focusing on the “Wilhelm Scream,” a stock sound effect that has appeared in dozens of movies and television programs.   First recorded in the early 1950s, this sound effect of a man screaming has made it way into dramas, comedies, and action movies.  It’s in movies as far back as Them, as popular as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and as recent as Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story. 

Since this is still a sports blog, however, we thought it might be best to demonstrate using something more relevant.  We picked–totally at random, mind you–some Shane Beamer coaching footage from the past couple of years.  Listen closely and see if you can hear a Wilhelm Scream or two:

Yes, I should have done this last week, but there are a lot of things I should have done last week instead of absolutely nothing.  So, even though 60% of the BCS games have been played, who is here I am (and was) pulling against:

Bret Bielema - from hanging 70 points on Austin Peay and Northwestern, to putting up 83 points on Indiana, to the unneccessary 2-point conversion against Minnesota, Beilema has set himself up for some serious comeuppance.  Football has a strange karmic sense about it, which means payback will probably come in a much greater form than a two-point loss to TCU. 

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Nothing against the good people of Glendale, but I’ve never been a big fan of the Fiesta.  After all these years, it still doesn’t seem to belong among the Rose, Sugar and Orange.  This year’s epic tilt between Oklahoma and UConn certainly didn’t help (although I realize that’s not all their fault).  Now that they have a shiny new stadium in Dallas, the Cotton Bowl needs to be returned to its rightful place among the top tier bowls.  Or, re-rename the Chik-fil-a Bowl back to the Peach and give Atlanta a BCS game #nevergonnahappen. 

 Virginia Tech’s Uniforms – Nike and Virginia Tech, please stop.  There is no combination of orange, white and whatever that other color is (maroon, really?) that is going to look good.  Ever. 

Jim Harbaugh – Nobody is this likeable.  I’m very suspicious.  There must be something dark and disturbing he is hiding… 

Terrell Pryor – A case study for not paying college athletes.  The only guy who can make Kirk Herbstreit a sympathetic figure (not because I don’t like him, but because he’s so darned handsome), Pryor used the money he gained from selling his possessions to get a tattoo.  Hardship, indeed. 

Cam Newton and Auburn – If you don’t get this one, you must be new to the TRC blog.  Welcome.

In a previous post, we laid out 4 keys for the CFA Bowl.  Let’s review:

1.  Get #21 on Track.  FAIL.  He came out gang busters, with one over-the-shoulder catch for a big gain on the first series.  But the hit (a clean one, by the way) on Latti at the end of the first series spelled doom for this key and, in the end, for the Gamecock’s hopes.  Nice to see Bmad and Miles fight and claw for yards, but they don’t have the quick feet and wide angle lenses of Lattimore.  The murmurs of worry and disbelief in the GA Dome as #21 lay motionless on the ground were widespread.  Glad the kid’s OK, and that we will see him on his Heisman run next year and beyond.

2.  Stout, opportunistic defense. FAIL.  Stout?  Well, for the most part, yes.  But opportunistic?  Utter fail.  How many fumbles did we NOT recover?  How many picks did we NOT grab?  I lost count.  I loved these guys and their effort on Friday night, but the inability to take advantage of FSU miscues was a big part of the loss.

3.   Smart, efficient play from the quarterback position.   FAIL.  Do I need to even get into this one?  Three picks on three successive series (and a slew of other bad reads) were absolutely fatal to the Gamecock’s chances.  Again, I like how he kept his head up, and he bounced back for a couple of good 2nd half drives, but in the end Garcia’s play was not what we needed to win.  An interesting side note:  Spurrier stuck with him despite the repeated picks – what does that tell us?

4.  Run back a kick.   FAIL.  /shugs shoulders  /vomits /shugs shoulders /whimpers