Naval Gazing

A Few Midweek thoughts as we prepared for the Midshipman:

Copycat:  No, I’m not referring to CTU (although as we’ve mentioned before, everything they do is about as original as Chek Cola).  Instead I’m referring to the Coach Spurrier’s press conference assertion that the way to defend the option is the way that option teams defend the option when they play other option teams.  Or something.  It wasn’t really clear to me, but I kinda felt like the HBC shouldn’ta aughta said it.  Well, anyway . . .

Run to the ball:  Sort of the goal on defense, right?  Well, not this week for the Carolina.  Coach Johnson has our guys going through their practice paces without a football, in order to stress the importance of staying with their assignments.  This should be a surprise to noone, as several of our secondary guys have been playing without balls for a couple of weeks now.

1984:  Its never going to stop, is it?  References to that Navy game from almost thirty years ago are at a fever pitch right now, despite a wide range of facts that show its complete irrelevance.  It was a game with different coaching staffs, different schemes, different players, and a completely different athletic environment at The USC.   It happened before any player on either side of this week’s tilt were even born (Wait, Frisby’s gone, right??).  We’ve played, and soundly defeated, the Midshipmen two times since then, and WE LOST ANOTHER GAME THAT YEAR, PEOPLE!  But still the ghost of that game is ressurrected again and again.  Maybe the only way to kill the legacy of that old Navy game is to score 84 points on them this weekend.  So there, that’s the goal.

Volleyball:  You ever play volleyball?  Me neither.  But when I’ve been forced to do it by gym teachers or bikini clad beachgoers (what, it happened.  Once.), there is often this rotation thing after each point – you know the server moves over to his/her left and someone else moves back to serve and so forth, right?.   Well, that’s the Carolina defense.  Despite spending all spring, summer and fall training our old starting free safety to play strong, starting strong safety to play backup spur, and starting spur to play backup linebacker, we’ve apparently decided to scrap the whole exercise and move everyone back.  For now at least.  Maybe.  Actually, the volleyball analogy doesn’t work as you can’t give up 79 points in two games of volleyball.

Meme Watch:  As followers of TRC will probably remember, I occasionally (and unsuccesfully) try to force a viral happening on the Gamecock Interneteratti.  For example, I just created the word “interneteratti.”  Please use this term frequently from now on.  You are welcomed.  In the same vein, I’ve been troubled by the lack of a nickname for recently-recognized National Player of the Week, Melvin Ingram.  I know his odd combination of size, speed, power, girth, and athleticism makes him a difficult player to categorize for the coaches, but as fans let’s settle on something to call him, at least.  Accordingly, I hereby suggest we refer to #6 as “Boomstick” hereinafter and forevermore.  This moniker appeals both to the nerdy B-movie afficionado in me, and also succinctly captures his manly essense.  There, I’ve done it, prepare to be overrun by Boomstick references, sportsworld.

Tribble in Pickens County:  If you haven’t been exposed to the CTU handwringing over former third string QB Tribble Reese and his pregame antics last week, then do yourself a favor.  First, visit Tigernet, use your fake handle and password (admit it, you have one) and spy on the meltdown.  Next, read the media coverage of the event that is linked therein.  Then, read the Athletic Director’s response, wherein he asserts that Coach Dabo Swinney was not aware of the entire affair.  Finally, look at this picture FROM THE FREAKING EVENT showing just how unaware Dabo must be to claim to be unaware.   Oh, and visit Tribble’s own website, which was obviously written by Tribble himself (preview: he likes him some Tribble).

Pro Combat Unis:  I AM NOT ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THESE THINGS EXIST.