The TRC Unleashed trio returns in a foul mood. Age and  frequent prostate exams are obviously getting to the guys, but they manage to trudge through another edition of your fifth-favorite Gamecock sports-related podcast with topics such as:

• Spring games are way overrated
• Spring tailgates are way underrated
• Who impressed at the Garnet and Black game
• @bclickclack
• This Week in Dabo
• The baseball sadness

We also have a kicking new opening thanks to [name redacted because we’re not sure if she wants us to reveal it].

Anyway, we’re grumpy, but still lovable. Enjoy.

Click the graphic to listen.

This has been a disappointing baseball season. I know that sounds silly considering we entered this weekend series with Florida with a 27-7 record and ranked 8th or 11th, depending on the poll. But after getting swept by a good Gator team with a mediocre record, the problems with this team are glaring like the noonday sun – terrible defensively, lacking in quality at-bats, no bullpen with the exception of Adam Westmoreland, and yes, there have been some questionable coaching decisions.

The way we lost these games to Florida only exacerbated the frustration:

• Thursday – Trailing by a run in the top of the 9th, we get a clutch 2-out hit from Chase Vergason with T.J. Costen at second. Costen trips and falls rounding third and is thrown out to end the game.
• Friday –  The Gamecocks take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth only to see the Gators score 3 and secure a 4-3 victory.
• Saturday – Chad Holbrook’s squad claws back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game at 4-4. The Gators then put up a 10-spot in a horrific bottom of the sixth, and cruise to a 14-5 victory to complete the sweep.

They were all hard games to watch. When you lose games like that the fan frustration boils over, and people start tweeting and Facebooking and blogging. Some complaints are reasonable to point out (like the above) and many go over the top. People can get stupid in times like these, but I understand. If you don’t like it you can ignore it or not respond to it.

Or, you can be Andy Demetra:

It’s no secret this guy gets under our skin, and this is a prime example of why.

First, the “clever” play on words, a Demetra trademark – “Win Anyway”, “Whine Anyway”. I felt like I was experiencing his wordplay again for the first time. Yuck.

Second, the finger-wagging. As a representative of USC and the athletic department there are ways to respond to fair criticism and unfair criticism alike that don’t make you sound like a condescending a-hole. People say stupid things, and people respond in kind with stupid things. The play-by-play guy for a major university sports program doesn’t have to lower himself into that conversation, and if he does there’s a proper way to do it. The proper way is not to insult your fan base.

Finally, as a guy who covers this team day in and day out, it’s ok to point out some shortcomings. Not only is it ok, we should demand it. Otherwise he just becomes the Baghdad Bob of Gamecock sports.

“All is well!”

I got news for you, it ain’t. And it’s ok for us to talk about it. Really.

Buck puts forth some more raw audio while headed north on GA 400. This week he talks about his reaction to the horrific injury suffered by Kevin Ware of Louisville, and CBS’ decision to halt replays of it. Enjoy.

(Press graphic to play.)

Editor’s Note: To enhance the reading of this blog post be sure to check out the fine interview with Marcus Lattimore conducted by Connor Tapp and George Stevens over at Garnet and Black Attack. Also, if you haven’t listened yet, Justin King joined us for TRC Unleashed earlier this week, check it out. 

USC held its annual pro day today at Willia…

Whoa,  whoa, hold up a minute. When did “pro day” become a thing? I mean, I know it’s been a thing for a long time, but when did it become a THING? You know, press types fighting for press credentials, non-press types fighting for press credentials, me checking Twitter every ten minutes for updates, etc. These types of days can’t keep happening, I have to be productive at work at least more days than not. But I digress…

As of this writing I haven’t seen many updates on who helped themselves, hurt themselves, etc. I’m sure that will come out in time even though I WANT IT NOW INTERNET. The best player nugget I saw was Byron Jerideau throwing up 37 reps of 225 on the bench, which is grownassman strength, and should help him.

Two things did happen today that made me smile. The first, golden quotes from a guy who perspires golden quotes. The second, inspiration from a guy who seems to have no other option but to inspire.

First, Steve Spurrier gave these nuggets to The State beat writer and close personal friend of the blog Josh Kendall:

Awesome, and requires no further commentary from me. That would just screw up the beauty of it all.

The other thing – the inspiration – well, you know who that’s about.

I wrote this the day after Marcus Lattimore went down with the worst injury I have ever seen in my 30+ years of playing and watching sports. I encourage you to click on it and read it. Not because it’s filled with great writing or inspiring words, but because it helps lend perspective to where #21 is today.

Today, Marcus worked out for scouts, and the scouts applauded him when he was done. I dare say that’s never happened at any other pro day workout, for any other player.

Then I arrived home this afternoon and watched this great tribute from Justin King. Enjoy.

TRC Unleashed returns this week with special guest Justin King, writer/producer of videos like this. Oh, and this. You know, the ones that make you want to run through brick walls and/or kiss your girlfriend/wife square on the lips. Justin tells how he got started making Gamecock videos, and how one video helped him land his first job at ESPN. He also gives us his thoughts on Gamecock football and why we should be optimistic headed into the 2013 season. Seriously good stuff.

Of course, there’s all our other typical TRC nonsense, including a pseudo movie review and Gman giving us some basketball recruiting scoop. But really, the interview with Mr. King makes it all worthwhile.

Click on the graphic to listen. Hope you enjoy!

The deal is this – a combination of extremely busy lives and extreme apathy have led to a dearth of blog posts on therubberchickensblog.com in recent months.  So in an effort to remain somewhat relevant, to get some things off our chest, and maybe to even innovate a little bit, we introduce a new audio blog post concept we (I) call BuckShots.

BuckShots will be short – between 5-10 minutes – audio segments that take a lot less time to put on the site than an actual written blog post would.  (OK, add laziness to the first sentence as well.)  The initial BuckShots was recorded on the way home from work today, and discusses my love for the NCAA tournament and hate for South Carolina’s mind-boggling lack of appearances therein over the last 30 years.

Click the graphic to listen. Hope you enjoy.

We know how this looks, since our friendly rivals over at Half Cocked launched their apparel line several weeks ago. But we have been literally talking about this for years, so you’ll have to take our word for it that they have obviously been tracking us with drones and stealing our ideas. And maybe plotting to kill us. Either way we’ve got our heads on swivels.

Anyhooooooo, the TRC t-shirt is now available for your wearing pleasure, available in gray OR white, and maybe in your size. The shirts feature the Buck-designed TRC button on the front*, with the name of our podcast, “Unleashed”, underneath. 

And on the back…aw, man, the back…is our web address written in a very wacky and unconventional way that has quite possibly never been thought of.  WE ARE SO COOL PLEASE LOVE US.

*We don’t have a fancy professional designer willing to do pro bono work for us like some people. Actually, my wife is a fancy professional designer but she refuses to do work “that doesn’t contribute to our bottom line and encourages your obsession with that stupid &?*%$# website”. (Her words not mine.) 

An opinion piece by some lonely sportswriter is coming this summer. It will be about Frank Martin, and it will sound a little something like this…

“Frank Martin doesn’t care about the kids he coaches.  If he did he wouldn’t have run off <insert name> and <insert name>, who gave their blood, sweat and tears to this basketball program.”

The words may be different, but that’s going to be the gist of it.

It happened in 2005, when Steve Spurrier didn’t renew the scholarships of six South Carolina football players (although much of the consternation was due to the timing of the non-renewals). And when Frank Martin figures out a way to create some personnel space in his program – whether via transfer, dismissal, non-renewal, whatever – he will be cast as a bad guy by a few.

He will be applauded quietly by those who know how these things work.

The South Carolina basketball program has been dormant for too long. It’s been too long since a conference championship, too long since an NCAA tournament victory, too long since a Gamecock basketball arena has been consistently filled with fans who had something to cheer about.

The list of guys who couldn’t get it done is extensive – Foster, Felton, Newton, Fogler*, Odom, Horn.  Frank Martin will get it done, and if he doesn’t then Lord help us.

*LOVE Eddie Fogler, and he came closer to getting it done then anyone.  

Frank Martin gets a pass this year, and will probably get a pass next year as long as his team shows some improvement. But while Martin has as much time and rope as any college basketball coach in the country, he knows there is also an urgency that simply comes with the territory.

And Martin is going to step on some toes along the way to get it done.  He has to because South Carolina basketball is a mess.

He’s going to step on the most toes when the season is over and we start hearing about transfers and/or dismissals and/or academic casualties. Gman thinks that in addition to senior Lakeem Jackson we could see as many as four guys depart the program. I think that’s a little high, but I have to admit it wouldn’t shock me.

Michael Carrera will be back. Laimonas Chatkevicius will be back. Brian Richardson will be back. I hope Brenton Williams will be back (especially after seeing him torch MSU last night). I like to think Minda Kacinas will be back.

Outside of that, I wouldn’t stack cash on anyone else, including Bruce Ellington. (In our chat with Carey Rich last week, he interestingly stated that if he had to guess he didn’t think Ellington would return to basketball next season.)

While I have no idea who might be a candidate for a bus ticket out of Columbia, I’m sure Coach Martin has some idea, otherwise he wouldn’t be pursuing JUCO talent like Chad Frazier (who committed to Texas A&M last week).

JUCO and unsigned high school talent are being mined to join the likes of Sindarius Thornwell, Justin McKie, Desmond Ringer and Ty Johnson next year. As Rich stated in our podcast, this roster and team will look very different come the fall.

So when you see the opinion pieces about what a bad guy Frank Martin is this summer, don’t buy into it. He’s just doing the job we hired him to do, and difficult decisions that impact 18-22 year old kids are a part of that.