It hasn’t been 24 hours yet, and I’m pretty sure that every opinion, tweet, photoshop, gif and blog post has been executed on the Bobby Petrino scandal.  Instead of giving an official stance from TRC…HE’S A BUM AND HE GETS WHAT HE DESERVES HA HA AND I’LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO THE FALCONS…um, sorry, I guess that kinda gives away my stance…but anyhoo…

This is just the kind of incident that causes the little part of the internet that deals with sports fly off its axis, and makes people act like anything from priests to stand-up comedians, and everything in between.  So here, in case you’ve missed anything, are the best of Bobby and Jess from the last 24 hours:

• The Jessica Dorrell wedding site.  That’s right, it now links to nothing.  That’s because people got a hold of it and posted some of the nastiest, cruelest, meanest, and downright hilariousest stuff I’ve read in a long, long time.  Unfortunately I was late to the party and only got a taste of the shenanigans.  For those of you who missed it, you can catch a few of the greatest hits in the comments section of this EDSBS.com post.  Did she deserve that kind of cruelty?  I don’t know, but if she WAS having an affair with her 51-year old employer, husband and father of four while planning her own wedding, did she not?
• Also from EDSBS, “Las Cronicas de Boss Hawg: The Motorcycle of Lust!”
• This GIF.  
• Dabo reassures Clemson fans.
• Even with that reassurance, a photo surfaces…
• Pat Forde with an insightful post and a list of Petrino’s shady coaching history I’LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR SCREWING MY FALCONS!!! (sorry again)
• Dennis Dodd says Petrino’s a goner.
• Andy Staples is not so sure.
• Mike Bell thinks “those goobers” at Arky will keep Petrino. 
• Matt Hayes at Sporting News says Arky should pick up the phone and call Gus Malzahn, right now.  Sorry Feathered Warrior.
• Here’s the predictable finger wag, courtesy of John Pennington at Mr. SEC.  Thank you for staying above the fray reputable news man.

Will Petrino keep his job?  Probably not.  Just in case I’m already working on a GIF of Gus Malzahn riding into Fayetteville with Tyler Wilson on a feral pig pulling a wagon full of cash.

Conflicting reports surfaced yesterday about USC basketball players Damontre Harris and Anthony Gill requesting releases from their scholarships.  We think (operative word here is think) it was originally reported by The Big Spur.  Then, according to our friend Adam over at Life of a Gamecock, Carey Rich of 560 The Team said Gill requested his release after inquiries from ACC schools (plural).  More on that in a minute.

Around the same time, David Cloninger filed a report on Gamecock Central with direct quotes (good for him) from Harris and Gill saying indeed they had NOT requested releases and were still in the process of making decisions about their respective futures.  Apparently neither has spoken to new Gamecock coach Frank Martin aside from possibly a team meeting.

So, what to make of all this?  Well, as the old adage goes, where there is smoke there is fire (unless, of course, you’re Auburn and/or Cam Newton).  I believe Harris and Gill were probably soured by their experience in Columbia this past season, and even the prospect of getting top-flight coaching going forward may not be enough to keep them around.

The good news is reports of their departures seem very premature, and Coach Martin will have the chance to basically “recruit” them back into the program.  Let’s hope he’s successful.

Sweeping on…

People are strange. I texted the Harris and Gill news to fellow TRCers Tbone and Gman yesterday, and got a surprising response from both.  The response from the normally rabid doom-and-gloomers?  “So what.”

So what?  I know we sucked this past season, and there are a few players who if they requested their release, or were “encouraged” to find another program, I wouldn’t have so much of a problem.

But Harris is a difference-maker in the middle.  His offensive skill set needs work, but he made the SEC all-defensive team and was the team’s leading rebounder.  He would leave a big hole in the middle of the USC lineup if he left.

Gill…eh, I don’t know what to make of Anthony.  Every time I watched the Gamecocks play I heard the announcers rave about #13.  How mature he was for a freshman, how smooth his game is, what an outstanding player he’s going to be.  What I saw was a kid who was raw, and at times pretty soft.  He had some bright moments, but more often than not he seem overwhelmed by his surroundings.  I certainly don’t want to lose him, I think he has a lot of potential.  But I can’t say I’m as excited about him as our SEC play-by-play and color guys were.  Nevertheless…

The bottom line is we can’t afford to lose either, much less both.  The recruiting season is all but over, and the pickings that are left are pretty slim.  I’m confident somehow Frank Martin will bring in a couple of quality players, but the first two quality players he needs to concentrate on are already on campus.

Whoa, wait, back it up, you say ACC schools contacted Gill?  How is that even remotely within NCAA rules?  I’m waiting to hear your explanation about how poaching is now legal.  Go…

NEWS FLASH:  South Carolina has problems at quarterback!  Luckily, I have taken my medications and resigned myself to the fact this is simply going to be a perpetual problem as long as Steve Spurrier is head coach at USC.  We finally have a guy we like as a starter (c’mon, we all loved Stephen, but admit it, you didn’t sleep well at night) but apparently none of the backups can hit the broad side of a Cockaboose with a paddle.  Stay healthy Connor.  Stay healthy.

Open auditions Saturday, meet Ray Tanner at the pitcher’s mound.  The USC baseball team is close to putting things together, I can feel it.  With Michael Roth pitching on Fridays, you have to like your chances.  Colby Holmes has given us a solid Sunday starter, and the bats are getting a little better at hitting with RISP.  But Lordy, we have got to fix that Saturday starter thing.  Since Matt Price moved back to solidify the bullpen we have seen two miserable Saturday starts (or Friday as was the case against Florida.)  Forrest Koumas has been a shadow of the gritty freshman we saw last year.  Evan Beal looked extremely promising early in the year, but got smacked around against Vandy.  Beal will get another shot I believe, but if he doesn’t work out how about Adam Westmoreland?

Cash money yo.  We’re a little late on this one, but from the world of Dabo, his incoming nephew-of-a-Hall-of-Famer QB has apparently been dipping into the family coffers.  On March 26 he Tweeted (on Twitter no less) “Got Stack On Top of Stacks! With Clemson Paper Clips! #Swag haha — Chad Kelly (@ChadKelly12)” along with this photo:

#Swag ha ha indeed.  Except the tweet and photo have since been removed, so somebody must’ve not appreciated his #Swag ha ha.  But thanks to the miracle of the internets the photo still exists, and thanks to the miracle of saved drafts the tweet still exists.  Mike Bellamy says “hi”. 

Will they every learn?  Oh, wait, they’re at CTU, so I guess not.  HEY-OHHHHHHHHH!

yay sec yay kentucky way to go.  Ah mush.  While I’m proud to be a member of the greatest conference in the continental United States, my conference affiliation does not obligate me to celebrate a Kentucky national title in basketball.  It just doesn’t, and I won’t do it.  So there.

Mo Claiborne has a “4” attached to his name, and it has nothing to do with his 40 time.  I’m so unaffected by the story that Morris Claiborne scored a four (4) on his Wonderlic test during the NFL Combine, and I’m totally on board with the linked story – I don’t WANT to know Claiborne’s, or anyone’s, score.  It’s an amazingly low score (that I didn’t want to know) for sure, but people need to bag the righteous indignation and pray Mr. Claiborne stays healthy and finds someone to manage his millions well.  His life will center around recognizing formations, running, jumping and tackling well.  He’ll probably make more with one stroke of his pen than I’ll make in a lifetime, and good for him.  How was he able to get admitted to LSU, much less remain there for three years?  Hey, you don’t look behind my curtains and I won’t look behind yours.  (I speak not for the University of South Carolina, my lowlife opinions are mine and mine alone.)

A Hog Crashes a Hog.  Coming up next: Spurrier gets spurred, Miles gets mauled, Saban gets trampled, and Richt becomes a sickly little dog that catches cold from a stiff breeze and dies.  Bulldog indeed.  Child, please.

Tool of the Week.  Congratulations Chris Singleton, the TRC Tool of the Week.  Mr. Singleton bought $10,000 worth of lottery tickets once the Mega Millions pot grew to $656 million.  He said it was “either that or blow it in the club”.

Oh, excuse me Mr. Singleton, when you’re done wiping your ass with hundies, Allen Iverson is on line two.  And the starving children of Africa are on line three.

Buck. Out.

It has been a while since we’ve had a podcast, so we have a lot to pack into 30 minutes, including:

• How in the world we passed over Tommy Amaker for Frank Martin
• The strange case of Ray Tanner pinch-hitting Michael Roth
• Women’s basketball (just kidding)
• Carolina’s Pro Day
• This week in Dabo!!!

Listen live, or listen later, right here:

TRC Unleashed Episode 21

https://twitter.com/#!/LarryWilliamsTI/status/185150783749230594

In other news, Sammy is bad at math.

And bad at losing.

If all goes as planned – and as Gamecock fans we know to be extremely cautious with our expectations and emotions – Frank Martin should be announced as the new head basketball coach at South Carolina tomorrow morning.  This is an outstanding hire for USC, and anyone who thinks differently is just plain stupid (but I respect your stupid opinion).

Let’s begin by looking at some of the other names mentioned during the search:

• Tubby Smith – blah, this ain’t 1998 people, and it may not have panned out that well even if it was.
• Tommy Amaker – double blah. Sure, he got Harvard to the tournament this year, but his stint at Michigan was a disaster.
• Shaka Smart – If he didn’t go to Illinois, there was no way he was coming here.  Aside from Smart’s Final Four last year, Martin’s resume is still more impressive.
• Jeff Capel/Steve Alford – Medium-sized names, but a second chance at the big time was not what we needed to offer here.
• Gregg Marshall – Ah, here we go. You want to get some feathers ruffled, this is the topic to do it with. Hey, I don’t deny Marshall has done a great job at both Winthrop and Wichita State, but he would still be my second choice at best here.

As for Martin, he took a moribund Kansas State program that had gone to two NCAA tournaments in 15 years, and proceeded to take them to the dance in four of his five years.  His tournament teams won at least one game each time they participated (a fact that should not be lost on the University of South 1973! Carolina) and in 2010 took the Wildcats to the Elite Eight where they were upset by Butler.

Martin is an ace recruiter, having brought talent to KSU from Florida, Texas, New York and Ohio among other states.  He landed McDonald’s All-American Michael Beasley and Parade All-American Bill Walker to Manhattan, Kansas.  He took lightly recruited guard Jacob Pullen and developed him into a Devan Downey-like point guard on his team that went to the Elite Eight.  With the much-lamented dearth of talent in the state of South Carolina, it will be interesting to see if he can lure the same type of thoroughbreds to Columbia. (BTW, on a local radio show today former Texas coach Tom Penders said of Manhattan, KS – “Even on a nice day there’s a 40 mile an hour wind blowing dirt in your face.”  That must’ve taken quite a salesman. Columbia sounds like Turks and Caicos compared to central Kansas.  Side note: No offense Omaha, we still love you and want you to move to South Carolina but understand you have commitments.)

Frank Martin is an A++ hire for South Carolina.  A guy with a national brand (the media loves him), a proven winner at a high level, an outstanding recruiter, and an intense teacher of the game.

Many people were calling for a “Spurrier-like” hire for our basketball program.  Given our realistic options, I’d say Frank Martin is just that.

On to the sweep…

I’d rather be lucky…Gamecock Man over at Garnet and Black Attack beat me to writing about it, but one of my predominant thoughts once the Frank Martin hire started to look realistic was “lucky”. Lucky because if Martin and Kansas State AD John Currie had even a decent relationship, Martin would’ve never even peeked southward at our job.  It appears Currie and Martin had a strained relationship at best, and once Currie suspended Jamar Samuels from the NCAA tournament shortly before the Wildcats’ first round game, the relationship was irreparably damaged.  Eric Hyman pounced, and Martin apparently saw a shiny new arena and better support and resources in South Carolina, and jumped at the position.

Mad props to the Tar Heel.  Speaking of Eric Hyman, we spend quite a bit of time giving our AD the business over various issues, but he deserves quite a bit of credit for this move.  It has been fast, stealthy, efficient, and hopefully tomorrow…FINAL.

Almost Pro Day.  Gamecock Pro Timing Day is Wednesday, and we will all be on the edge of our seats to see if C.C. Whitlock can perform well enough to work himself into the late rounds of the draft.  Oh, and Stephen Garcia will be in town too.  I hope he has some good, Christian handlers with him (not Baptists though, which I’m sure goes without saying).

Redemption Time.  Alshon Jeffery gets a chance Wednesday to reverse his fortunes after a disastrous non-performance at the NFL Combine.  He needs a big day to move back into the upper half of the second round.  A monster day could get him back into the first round, but even with that the doubt he has created may be too much to overcome.

Last place don’t feel too good.  However, I feel better about our baseball team after this past weekend at Florida.  Being able to win one game and take the other down to the wire against Florida was, in my estimation, a step in the right direction.  UF is by far the best team in the country, and the way we played most of the weekend tells me we are still upper echelon, even with our abundance of youth and inexperience.  The record will take care of itself as long as we can stabilize the Saturday and Sunday starters. The season don’t start until June, folks.

Jesus loves CTU.  That’s the only explanation I can give for the report that CTU is a finalist for the nation’s number one recruit, DE Robert Nkemdiche.  At various points his leader has been Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss (one of these things is not like the other because his brother plays for the Rebels).  After a couple of visits to the upstate with teammates, now a trifecta (Nkemdiche and his two teammates) for the kitties doesn’t seem to be out of the realm of possibility.  We can make fun and taunt and put flaming dog poo on his porch, but somehow Dabo is doing something right on the recruiting trail.  (cough…$$$$$…cough…oh, Robert, looks like you dropped something)

70-33.  Just felt the need to add that after semi-complimenting Dabo.

Girl power.  Congratulations to Dawn Staley and the Lady G’s for their impressive season and deep run in the women’s tourney.  TRC has now surpassed our quota for writing about women’s basketball by 300%.

Yay for us.

What could possibly cause Bruce Ellington to announce one week he’s giving up football to play basketball exclusively, then turn around the following week and say he’s reconsidering his decision?

My guess is he went back and watched 2004’s most excellent sports movie Friday Night Lights, and specifically the scene where Boobie Miles realizes his football career is over:

Video note: Public Enemy jacket, mid-top fade, acid wash jeans – like looking in a mirror from 1988.

OK, maybe the thought of never playing football again spurred by a movie scene isn’t it. My guess is 23 immediately regretted his decision, and decided to talk to the HBC about it.  To the HBC’s credit he apparently didn’t try to talk Bruce into anything, probably helped him sort through all the pros and cons, and told him to sit on it a for a few days before making a final, final, final decision.

My personal feeling is he made the right decision when he chose basketball only, but I admit that’s the selfish fan in me speaking.  Ellington is exciting on the football field, but his 317 yards from scrimmage and 2 TD’s can be replaced.  He has great potential as a kick returner, but so do three or four other guys on the team.

He is critical to the success of our basketball program.  His sophomore numbers were similar to his freshman numbers, but the games and practices he missed hurt both the team and his personal development.  I don’t blame the guy for doing it, mind you.  Again, I’m just being a selfish basketball fan who really wants to see this program get turned around in a hurry.

I fully expect his final decision to be football and basketball again.  And I’ll be excited to see him do both, even if I disagree with it.

On to the sweep…

The Rumor Mill. Eric Hyman made an interesting statement when announcing the new basketball coach search, essentially saying “whatever rumors you hear, they ain’t coming from me or my department.” But it has also not stopped the mill from turning.

Gregg Marshall is fading, asking for too much money. Frank Martin (LOVE) is the hot name today, even though he’s been out recruiting for Kansas State since their elimination from the NCAA tournament.  Tommy Amaker is a top candidate.  Tubby Smith is going to get a good look.  Shaka Smart would be on the list, but he appears to be headed to Illinois.  Steve Alford’s season at New Mexico has put him in the conversation.

All of the above appear to be nothing more than rousing from the rabble that run blogs and post on message boards. If Hyman is to be believed, nobody knows nothin’.  And frankly that’s the way I like it.

If I were a betting man, I’d take the field over anybody listed above.

Falling Skies. I keep up with our baseball team pretty closely, but I have to admit on opening day when I looked at our roster I was taken aback.  While we have a deep starting pitching staff, and some veterans out of the pen, many days our lineup consists of anywhere from five to seven newcomers.  Talented newcomers, no doubt, but newcomers nonetheless.

That didn’t make the weekend sweep at the hands of a fired up Kentucky team any easier to take, though. So far this team is lacking timely hits and its play in the field has left a lot to be desired.  With a home series with #1-ranked Florida on the horizon things certainly don’t get any easier.

There is definitely reason for concern, but nobody needs to panic just yet.  There will be bumps in the road, but as the lineup gets settled and some of the freshmen get more acclimated to the college game this team will win on a consistent basis.

I can see this team hosting a regional, but probably not a super.  But with Roth, Price, Holmes, Webb et al on the mound, I still like our chances to get back to Omaha.

And if we are 1-5 or 0-6 after this weekend, don’t go trying to buy fireraytanner.com.  This program is built to win for many years to come.

MMT&A. Are you a fan of MMA/UFC?  First, The Ultimate Fighter on Friday nights on Spike TV is a serious adrenaline rush.  I recommend.  Second, watch this promo of the March 3 fight between Ronda Rousy and Miesha Tate.  Then watch the entire fight itself.

Now that’s entertainment.

Buck. Out.

I, and we, have tiptoed around the subject on this blog for the better part of the season.  We’ve pointed out the failures and deficiencies during the course of the season.  We’ve expressed our frustration with the program here and on social media platforms.  But I’m not sure any of us have come right out and said it, so now that the season is mercifully over, here it is:

Darrin Horn must go.

Following up a 15-16 season with a 14-16 season with a 10-21 season is not acceptable.  Not at South Carolina, and I dare say not at any power conference school.

We have below average basketball tradition here at USC.  I get that.  Heck, what little basketball tradition we do have is dying off with each passing season.  The last time we won an NCAA tournament game was 1973 for crying out loud.

But that is no excuse to hang on to a guy who not only has not had a winning season in three of his four years here, but has driven the program into a ditch at a dizzying speed.  And the worst part – where is the hope if he stays?  South Carolina fans are supposedly famous for saying “wait ’til next year”.  Think any rational Carolina fan is saying “wait til next year” if Eric Hyman announces in the next couple of weeks that Horn will be back in 2012-2013?

We have a moderate amount of talent, but Horn has either wasted scholarships or failed to develop several players currently on the roster.  Whatever the reason, that’s on him.  We couldn’t shoot, were sloppy with the basketball, fouled at inopportune times, didn’t foul when we needed to, and were downright undisciplined more often than not.  That’s not all coaching, but much of it is.

I watched today as Brenton Williams came off the bench to score 13 points in 13 minutes and hit back-to-back three pointers to fuel a second-half rally.  Then, in the final minutes of the game, he had a nice comfortable seat on the bench. Why?  My guess is Bruce Ellington took his spot on the floor, and Williams couldn’t be in there for match-up reasons.  But if you can have Eric Smith and Williams on the floor at the same time, then you can most certainly have Ellington and Williams on the floor at the same time.

Speaking of Ellington, why did he sit with four fouls until the four-minute timeout?  Jimmy Dyches, one of the best color guys in the business and a basketball man through and through, was calling for Ellington to come back in at the 10-minute mark.  What have you got to lose at that point?  Your seeding in the NIT?  (You are welcome to point out that we made our run with Ellington on the bench, but I would respond that maybe our run would’ve been even bigger and better with him on the floor.)

That was how it was all season.  A Saturday afternoon point guard like me pointing out glaring coaching errors by our million-dollar coach.  I don’t claim to know as much about basketball as Darrin Horn, but it sure felt like it at times.

If Hyman announces Horn will be back next year, I hope he gives me a reasoned explanation as to why.  Don’t tell me he “deserves more time” without telling me why.  Don’t tell me about how hard it is to win here without telling me how Clemson has done just fine in a much tougher conference.  Don’t tell me it’s a “process” without telling me how long I’m going to have to endure it.

You know what he can tell me?  We’re cheap.  We don’t want to pay Horn’s buyout because we’re cheap and we don’t really mind that we’re not good at basketball and we want to focus our resources elsewhere.

That will be much better than telling me Darrin Horn is the man for the job, because it is quite obvious he is not.

With rumors swirling that Texas A&M will be our new “permanent” Western Division opponent in the expanded SEC, I have seen arguments on both sides as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for USC.  Tryptic over at Garnet and Black Attack did an excellent job of skewering our administration for once again kowtowing to the SEC elites, while others have made pretty weak arguments as to why we will benefit from this new arrangement. 

If I have one beef with the situation I would have to echo Tryptic’s sentiments – at what point is the USC admin going to stand up and at the very least make someone compromise, much less give in?  It seems like we’ve taken a “thank you sir may I have another” mentality when it comes to any type of negotiations within the conference. 

Other than that, my reaction to playing Texas A&M on a yearly basis?  A hearty “meh”.

My image of Texas A&M is that they have a rabid fanbase, very good traditions, but have always played fourth fiddle to Texas, Texas, and oh yeah, Texas.  Which, quite frankly, appears to be why A&M has decided to forge their own path in the best football conference in the nation.

If it actually comes to pass, I will look forward to it, but quite honestly after the novelty wears off I’m sure I’ll look forward to it no more than I did annual contests against Arkansas or Mississippi State.  In other words…meh.

I would like to take just a second to address one pro and one con that I think have built momentum that people aren’t really thinking through:

PRO – This will open up East Texas as a recruiting area for us.  Right, much like our membership in the SEC has opened up the states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky for us.  I know Texas is a proverbial hotbed of high school football with all their Friday Night Lights and blah blah blah, but if you think we’re all of a sudden going to start roping in three and four star talent from the Lone Star State you need to think again.  There are something like 1000 FBS and FCS schools in the state of Texas, and they’re bordered by Arkansas and Oklahoma to boot. There are way too many schools nearby that mama can drive to and see her baby play every weekend. I’m not saying we won’t get a guy here and there, but a biennial trip to College Station is not going to change where (SC, NC, GA, FL and somehow NJ) and the way we recruit. 

CON – It’s so far away.  News flash, so is Arkansas.  So are Mississippi State and Ole Miss.  And Vandy for that matter.  People who went to Fayetteville are probably going to go to College Station.  People who fly are going to fly and people who drive are going to drive.  USC alumni in Arkansas will be replaced by USC alumni in Texas.  What is going to happen is we’ll have between 7500 and 10,000 fans in College Station every two years, which I would guess is about the same number we have at every road game other than Georgia and Clemson.  The two schools are ridiculously far away from each other, that’s a fact, but I’d be shocked if it affects visiting attendance numbers. 

Sweeping on…

Dance like no one is watching. CTU defeated USC in baseball on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep, setting off a wild celebration at Doug Kingsmore stadium.  Now, we admittedly poked a little fun at our upstate brethren for how over-the-top the celebration was, but upon deeper reflection we admit we really can’t blame them.  

First, a walk-off win in baseball is always cause for joy that may go beyond the bounds of the accomplishment.  Second, the Tigers did defeat a highly ranked, two-time defending National Champion. Even though they lost the first two games of the series, they beat what is currently the premiere program in the country. And most of all, the pressure of not only getting dominated in baseball, but in football and basketball as well, has been weighing heavily on the CTU fanbase for quite some time now. That explosion of joy at the end of the game was well-earned and totally understandable.

So, when you see a CTU fan don’t make fun of them for their championship-like celebration, just pat them of the head and softly say, “Good for you Sparky, good…for…you.”

Hornwatch 2012. Since the last time I questioned the fitness of Darrin Horn to be our basketball coach, not only have things not gotten better, they’ve actually gotten worse. So it makes perfect sense that he was basically given a vote of confidence by the Board of Trustees and Eric Hyman last week. 

Oh wait, no it doesn’t…         

We didn’t lose the series, mind you, just one game.  But it was enough to elicit a wild celebration in the upstate.