It these two logos confuse you . . . then you are stupid

 

Word came down yesterday that the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the University of South Carolina in its dispute with the University of Southern California over the use of the interlocking ‘SC’ logo.

Now I’m man enough to admit that this smarts a little.  It makes me want to point out that our USC was founded in 1801, and their USC only came along some 79 years later.  I could also add that the other USC wasn’t always known as the Trojans, instead being called the Fighting Methodists until they got crushed in a track meet in 1912.  After their track and field debacle, a local reporter compared them to other losers from history, and settled on the wife-stealing and horse-loving men of Troy.  This is a true story.

I could mention those things, but I think I’ll show some restraint and civility by pointing out a few areas where SC (the horse-lovers, not us) have excelled:

- Works in metallurgy: Until recently, none of us knew that the prize bronze trophy of the Downtown Athletic Club could spontaneously vaporize.

– Works of Rarity: A home loss to the Washington Huskies: an unknown commodity in even the finesse (read ‘feminine’) conference called the PAC 10.

– Works of Cutlery: Orenthal James Simpson.  Nuff Said.

– Excellence in Head Coach Douchery:  see Carroll, Pete and Kiffikins, Lame supra

– Works of Protection [insert your own male prophylactic brand reference here]

– Works of Encouragement: the Virginia Cavaliers (fiiii - nesse!) now believe they are a good football team.

Oh, and SCOREBOARD.  We can keep calling scoreboard until we meet on the gridiron again.  Granted the last time was 1983, but the score was 38-14 Gamecocks. 

Maybe we could meet up in a bowl game in the next couple of years?

Oh, wait.

 

With the off-week crawling past us, we at TRC traded posts with other Gamecock bloggers around the ‘Net.  This one is brought to you by Leftover Hotdog, a blog that provides some of the best content we’ve seen.  Check it (the post) and them (the blog) out.

Four games into the South Carolina Gamecocks 2010 season and the ‘Cocks are sitting at 3-1 (1-1 SEC) with a legitimate shot at the SEC East division title.  There is plenty of football to be played but without a doubt the Gamecocks have a serious chance this year to make some noise in the SEC race.

The usual suspects in the SEC East title hunt – Florida, Tennessee and Georgia – are having trouble this season and are sitting vulnerable for a team like USC to capitalize on the opportunity.  Much has been written on what they have to do and it boils down to winning the Arkansas game in most scenarios then beating Florida.  It can be done but what has to happen first is for Coach Steve Spurrier and USC qb Stephen Garcia to get on the same page.

The last 12 months, Coach Spurrier has rode Garcia like a donkey in the Grand Canyon.  From telling him to “bull his way” for extra yards to changing that stance recently and pleading for Garcia to slide.  In between that, there have been the publicly vocal complaints that Garcia holds the ball too long, his timing is off, he doesn’t check his receivers’ right, too much scrambling and etc etc as this list could go on and on.  The point is Spurrier is trying to coach his quarterback up by being critical and choosing to make the thinking public.

It is agreed that Garcia has his flaws but to his credit he has gotten better over the last two seasons.  Let’s be honest here, a quarterback under Spurrier will never play good enough.  Garcia does have areas to improve and surely Garcia feels the same without someone telling him.  One thing is for certain and that is Garcia is the best choice for the football team in 2010 under center.

Garcia is ranked 16th in pass efficiency nationally (161.62).  He is 56-81 in passing that has resulted in 5 TDS and 743 yards.  He does have some blemishes and that is 2 INTs / 2 fumbles.  Along with the passing is the fact he also has two rushing TDs.

Garcia can win and can lead this team.  Spurrier knows it.  The Head Ball Coach needs to change his philosophy with Garcia and publicly give Garcia a hug.  Stop the bashing and hug it out.

Spurrier is a little old school in the fact of calling players out and what not.  That is one way to handle the situation but another way is through encouragement.

A hug can go a long way and is what is needed right now with the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide coming to town.  By the act of a public hug, the page can be turned on this rocky relationship and focus on taking USC down a new path in the SEC.

We take on our local sports media in another off-week post that is hosted elsewhere on the web.  Check our the fine Leftover Hotdog blog for our thoughts on Gamecock sports reporting.

And you know what I’m talking about.

Since Saturday I have had numerous conversations with Gamecocks fans.  I’ve read several articles in print and on the internet.  I’ve listened to post-practice comments from the coaches and players.  And we here at TRC have even had a board meeting on the topic.  From all of these discussions, one thing sticks out to me:

We’re all still mad.

We’re still mad that our defense couldn’t hold a thirteen-point lead.  We’re still upset that the offense turned the ball over in

 each of its last four possessions.  We’re still flabbergasted that our safety couldn’t scoop up a game-clinching fumble.  We’re still befuddled by our inept return game.  We’re still annoyed that Chris Culliver is a veritable personal foul machine. 

We’re still furious that we lost the Auburn game.

Now, unfurrow your brow for a moment.  Unclench your fist and stop pounding your head on the table.  I think it’s a good thing that we are not happy.  Maybe we’ve grown up as a fan base, as coaches, and as a team.  Maybe we finally think like an SEC school.

Think about it: we could be in gleeful, spastic, celebratory afterglow like the C.T.U. crowd.  They are still so amped about their overtime loss to an SEC squad that they can’t stop strutting and congratulating every overall-clad bumpkin they meet.

We used to be similar to C.T.U. in its quest for belonging and outside affirmation.  Not long ago, we Gamecocks would be thrilled to hang with a perennial power in front of a national tv audience.  Now, we are used to the experience, and even have a name for it:

We call it Saturday.

So are we upset?  Yes.

And thank goodness for it.

Defensive Coordinators around the Southeastern Conference have struggled to contain University of Kentucky WR/QB/RB/Superman Randall Cobb for a couple of years now.  The answer is now apparent:  the man is powerless against Red Lobster Cheesy Biscuits.

His twitter feed tells the tale.  First, the Insult:

Next, the Proposed Resolution:

And finally, the Capitulation (a scant three hours later):

League D-coordinators, take note.  Cheesy Biscuits are this Superman’s kryptonite.

Hard to believe, but with the third game now in the books, the 2010 football regular season is 1/4th done.  I’m hoping that the season is actually only 3/14ths over, if you take my meaning, but its nice to still have that as a reasonable aspiration this far into the year.

Its hard to look at the season thus far and find many nits to pick.  Carolina sits at 3-0 and has risen from the deep ranks of ‘others receiving votes’ to as high as 12th in the polls.  Georgia appears out of the picture, Tennessee looks hapless, Florida looks vulnerable, Kentucky is starting strong, but their schedu . . . wait, I fell asleep there for a second, and Vandy already has their one allotted annual SEC win.  Oh, and C.T.U. is unranked, having lost the only real game they’ve played thus far.

Garcia isn’t about to set any records, but the big goose egg in the loss column thus far squelches any latent QB controversy.  The Defense looks solid, other than some trash points surrendered to the Paladins and Mustard Buzzards.  Gurley, Moore, and Jeffrey all look like legitimate threats.  Special Teams look vastly improved.

And there’s this kid from Duncan, SC that you may have heard about . . .

But still, question marks remain. 

A big issue still on the table is OL depth.  We started the year with three tackles, and are now (at least temporarily) down to two.  We started with three guards, and we may also be down to two.  We have one center.  Other than these seven, we are left with practice players and true freshmen.

We also have questions at Spur and Safety that might be ignored for the time being. However, any type of injury or suspension at those positions will be a major obstacle.  If you don’t believe me, just review Coach Johnson’s comments from earlier in the year when he said we couldn’t call nickel coverage for part of the USM contest because of lack of personnel.

But bigger than all of these (relatively) routine matters is the biggest threat of all to the 2010 campaign:

Distractions.

To review the off-the-field issues thus far: until scant moments prior to the USM game, we had upwards of twelve players in NCAA eligibility limbo. Then, in the week prior to the Georgia contest the NCAA notified the higher-ups that we were formally under investigation.  Shortly after the Georgia contest, we learned that our All-SEC-type tight end was dismissed from the team.  And then, in the hours leading up to the Furman contest, a starting OL returned home for a death in his family.  And THEN after the game, our nickel backer learned that his brother had been shot.

And this week,  Kenny McKinley, the school’s all-time leading receiver and close friend to many of the team’s upperclassmen, took his own life.

Whew.  Its been a busy three weeks.  And frustrating.  And bizarre.  And perplexing.  And sad.

Given all of these distractions, its understandable if our players and our coaching staff are finding it difficult to focus on the upcoming Auburn game. 

I know I am.

So the quarter season report?  Good thus far, but with looming distractions that threaten to turn a promising year into an average one.