– Les Miles doesn’t need another nickname. He’s been the Mad Hatter, the Ball Clocker, the Grass Eater, and the Kick Faker. But after watching this video, I hereby decree, mutatis mutandis, that TRC shall henceforth call him the Honey Badger (link slightly NSFW for language). I get that the LSU mascot is not a badger, and that while Les did coach in the Big Ten, it wasn’t at Minnesota Wisconsin. Nevertheless, it’s clear to me from the above vid that this Honey Badger doesn’t care, this Honey Badger doesn’t give a $#*!.

– Victor Hampton was dismissed from the team, reinstated, and then immediately suspended. Or something. Its not clear what’s going on here, as we have an SID that is the sports equivalent of Newt Gingrich’s lone remaining campaign staffer. Why do we even know that he was dismissed in the first place? Why do we know that he was reinstated? Didn’t this sort of thing happen all the time over past summers, and all we were told was that “workout participation wasn’t 100 percent?” Regardless, young Vic needs to keep his head up, and know that some of us agree with the old Honey Badger on your past transgressions – we don’t give a $#*!.

Well said, 2chains, well said.

–The SEC should just drop the pretense and hold its conference baseball tourney in Omaha. An SEC team has played for the CWS title for what, four straight years? Won the last two, and now has three of the final four in this year. Little question for you to ponder: would this be what a college football playoff would look like? Start with 16 or 32 teams and end up with a bunch of SEC squads facing off? I think it might. And since the conference has now won 500 straight national titles in football, perhaps we shouldn’t give a $#*! what method the BCS uses.

– CTU is apparently putting together a remarkable recruiting class, at least at this early juncture. Just like last year. And the year before, and the year before that, and the year before that. All I can say is that I trust our staff, and also remember numbers like 34-17 and 29-7. I therefore don’t give a $#*!about a bunch of unsigned highschool juniors.

Is it safe to say that David Roth doesn’t give a $#*! about his job, and would walk through @*&$^# for his son. Good on you, David.

Oh, and while it might be some cheesy $#*!, the following proposal is heartily REC’D.

Before the 2010 College World Series, Michael Roth was a bit player for the South Carolina baseball team.  He was a situational lefty out of the Gamecock bullpen, and occasional pinch-hitter with batting practice power who rarely, if ever, delivered.

When Ray Tanner announced Roth would start against Clemson in the 2010 CWS I thought he had lost it.  I think maybe even Tanner thought Tanner had lost it.  He wanted three solid innings.  Then four.  Then five.  Then six.  When Roth continued into the seventh we knew something special was happening.  And we know how the 2010 story ended.

One year later Michael Roth is a Gamecock legend.  And I don’t use that word lightly.  What Roth has done from June 2010 to June 2011 is bona fide legendary.  From mid-inning bullpen specialist to All-American is simply not believable if we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes. 

The reason I bring this up now is because of the territory Roth crossed into on Sunday night.  He gave up four runs (three of which came on a bases-loaded triple) but all the runs were unearned.  He has not given up an earned run since May 13.  And his ERA dropped below one to 0.97.

That is insane.  A good ERA…check that…a GREAT ERA for a starting pitcher in college baseball with 100-plus innings to his credit is 2.50.  Below two is nuts.  An ERA around 1.50 is reserved for closers who throw a lot fewer innings. 

But 0.97?  Again, insane. 

And legendary.

• So, Devonte Holloman was arrested Saturday night for DUI.  Holloman was immediately suspended from the team and the message board debates began to rage ranging from “DUI is unforgivable, kick him off the team” to “it’s his first offense and he’s a good kid”, without much in between.  Look, driving under the influence is a dangerous, stupid thing to do, no doubt.  Holloman deserves punishment, and it should be relatively severe.  He should not, however, be kicked off the team.  I expect a long, hot summer of step climbing for Holloman, and a one to two-game suspension to start the season.
• Phil Kornblut tweeted this afternoon “What does it take to get permanently kicked off the USC football team?”  Instead of asking the twitterverse, he should probably track down some guys with first-hand knowledge like Demetris Summers, Kerry Bonds, Dakota Walker, Quintin Richardson, Moe Thompson, K.T. Mainord or Weslye Saunders.  Short memories some folks have. 
• Speaking of getting kicked off the team, apparently Victor Hampton said or did the right things to Coach Spurrier to get reinstated.  Good for him.  I hope he keeps clean and has a positive impact on the football team.  But chalk him up as another guy with zero chances left. 
• I heard Mark Schlabach on the radio this morning here in Atlanta, and he said he “gets” why some people are picking Georgia to win the East this year.  But he also said he got it a lot more before they lost their starting left and right tackles to injury.  He wrapped up by saying he wouldn’t bet too much on a team relying heavily on the contributions of a true freshman running back and a junior college nose tackle.  Finally, some sense?

Ah, well, while we’re waiting for football season, how about let’s win another baseball title to pass the time.

http://twitter.com/#!/vic2715/status/81782006551289856

I’m still getting used to this.  I can admit the University of South Carolina is a national powerhouse in baseball.  Perhaps, at the moment, the best and most stable baseball program in the country.  But still, I doubt. 

I doubted we could bounce back after losing two of three to Florida to close out the 2010 regular season.  I KNEW we were dead meat when we went 0-2 in the SEC Tournament the following weekend.  I was certain our season was over when we lost to Oklahoma in the first game of the CWS.  No way we could beat Arizona State, and certainly not red-hot CTU twice.  UCLA’s pitching was just too strong for us.  So we won the first game, it would still be an uphill climb.  Wingo on third with one out?  We stranded runners on third all the time, why shouldn’t this be one of those times?  Merrifield had looked terrible at the plate all game…

This year Florida was just loaded, no way we could beat them.  Vandy too.  Heck, we lost a series to Ole Miss.  No Matthews?  That hurts.  No Jackie?  No chance.  The NCAA screwed us in our regional draw.  UConn has two stud pitchers, and draft picks galore.  Christian Walker hasn’t hit a home run since April…

Am I sick?  Or just a Gamecock fan?  What’s the opposite of rose-colored glasses?  Because that’s me.       

Crap, the number one national seed is in our side of draw in Omaha.  (Pssst…I like our chances.)

• The dogpile:  you buying or selling?  I love the idea of the dogpile, but after about 30 seconds always look to see if someone is holding a body part in an uncomfortable way.  The one after our second victory over UConn was about as violent as I’ve seen, and only have to think back to UCLA last year to wonder if it’s worth it. 
• Speaking of the UConn center fielder, I can only think of one catch better than the one George Springer made against us Sunday.  Willie Mays?  Heck, no, that’s the most overrated play in the history of baseball. 

  

  The debate about the greatest catch ever begins and ends with one guy:  Jim Edmonds.  (Sorry, the MLB Gestapo apparently has stripped the internet of the greatest catch ever.

• The following theoretical comes from T-bone:  Hyman to Tennessee as AD, Ray Tanner promoted to USC AD, and Chad Holbrooke as new USC baseball coach.  Would you take that deal?  For me, 3-4 years from now, yes.  Today, no.
• Obligatory pile on LeBron James bullet point – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Its that time of year, gentle reader:  Preseason polls are trickling out, early All-American lists are being announced.  We here at TRC are not immune to the prognosticatory (word?  eh, maybe) ranking impulse, but we don’t EVER want to be mundane or redundant.  We want to be different.

Accordingly, we’ve decided to rank . . . our football coaching staff.

Yeah, it doesn’t make any real sense, and sure, we may well be doing it just to be ironic, but you’ve read this far, which must mean you are as starved for Gamecock football info as we are.

So here goes with the inaugural Grade School Preseason Ranking, which we may (or may not) update each week of the season.

1.  Steve Spurrier – Who else?  At this rate, the cat might just make something of himself one day.  He will be ranked #1 in this space for as long as he wants, a period of time he often describes as “two or three or so years at least.  Well, anyway.”

Score

2. Ellis Johnson – Grossly overranked here, in my opinion, but our rankings are composite scores and my other TRC cohorts are obsessed with the guy.  To me, he’s always trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, and that’s not even when he’s coaching.

3. G.A. Mangus – Popular pick in the old blogosphere.  Young, energetic, and a tireless recruiter, many have him pegged for the HBC-in-waiting.  We’re not ready to go there yet, but like his potential.

4. Shawn Elliott – based entirely on facial expressiveness.

Default Elliott Face – it gets much worse

5. Brad Lawing – based entirely on loyalty to the program.  He first coached here under Sparky Freaking Woods, for crying out loud.

6. Jay Graham – He helped get #21 on board.  And then he shepherded the freshman runningback through a record-setting year.  Heck, we’d rank him #6 on the strength of last year’s UGa beatdown alone.

7. Craig Fitzgerald – Chains, tractor tires, and attitude in the weightroom all speak well of this guy.  But its the heavy lifting of those mammoth eyebrows that earns our #7 ranking.

8. Lorenzo Ward – Our secondary, talented and experienced, was constantly confused and out of position last year, so someone – SOMEONE – has to be to blame, don’t they?  Well?  DON’T THEY???? HELLO?

9.  Junior Spurrier – Tough call.  We’ve had some hecka awesome receivers during his tenure, but we’re scared to rank him higher lest this morph into an awkward Skip Holtz situation.

10. Jeep Hunter – I dunno, but what does he coach again?  Heck of a recruiter and a super guy by all accounts, so he makes our top 10.

11. John Butler – Not ranked, due to insufficient data set.  A kickoff returned for a touchdown this year would instantly catapult him into the top 5.

12. Chris Cosh – yes we know he isn’t a current coach, but we’ve got 63 reasons to still be hatin’ on him.

[note: our individual ballots can be found here, if you are REALLY hurting for more info.]

The last few days have been awfully good if you’re a USC fan and CTU hater (guilty!).  The Gamecocks had a little resistance in the Columbia Regional.  Kudos to Georgia Southern and Stetson for being cute, scrappy little ballclubs – but ultimately they were no match for the defending champs and number four national seed.   

Our hillbilly neighbors to the north, however, had a weekend and weekday to forget.  CTU’s regional started off fine enough, with an easy victory over Sacred Heart (how do you even bring yourself to compete with that name on your chest?).  Then they ran into a little trouble against Coastal, but still had the bracket well in hand with a 2-0 record. 

Then along came UConn.  The Huskies rallied, gagged for a second, then finished off the Tigers with a dramatic walk-off win to set up a winner-take-all game Monday night.  It was at that point CTU tied together the shoelaces to their pretty white shoes and went face first into the crushed brick of whatever they call their crappy baseball stadium.

14-1.  Against Uconn.  On their home field.  In a do-or-die situation. 

Come on people, I know a lot of you wanted to see the Tigers at our place this weekend, but you have to admit – that was a freakin’ tasty piece of chocolate-covered schadenfreude we got to enjoy last night.        

• Congrats to JBJr., Matt Price, Scott Wingo, Peter Mooney, John Taylor, Adam Matthews and Bryan Harper for getting selected in the Major League draft.  For most of them their time in a Gamecock uniform is coming to a close (JBJr.’s probably already has), so enjoy while you can.
• By the way, you see who Jackie was drafted by?  A little club called the Boston Red Sox.  Who happen to have a minor league team in Greenville.  Which happens to be close to a little college called Clemson.  CTU fans will get to enjoy MORE Jackie!  I hope he brings his ring…
• Clemson football player/trackster/amateur ninja Joe Craig was suspended from the football team’s summer workouts by Dabo Swinney.  I don’t know, seems a little drastic for a simple assault and battery with intent to kill. 
• As our very own Tbone (a former John Law himself) pointed out last week, it is out of the ordinary to not have charges filed against SOMEONE when there is a scene like the Craig/Wesh bloodletting.  Other law enforcement officials agree.  When contacted, a CUPD official said, “Hey, no disembowelment, no foul.”
• Mark Bradley is surprised Georgia is picked third in the SEC East.  WHY???  They were 6-7 last year IN A DOWN YEAR IN THE SEC EAST (heard that one before?), lost their best offensive player (by far) and their best defensive player (by far).  Are members of the “dream team” recruiting class magicians?  Or hypnotists? 
• The University of Southern California was stripped of their 2004 BCS National Championship, and shortly afterwards a representative for Auburn contacted the NCAA.  Publicly, Mr. Lowder was informed the NCAA was not taking bids for the vacated title.  Privately, he was asked to bring a paper sack filled with large bills to the Gas n’ Sip off of I-20 in Anniston and “we’ll see what we can do”. 
• We should’ve known Terrelle Pryor was up to something by his Sugar Bowl helmet stickers.

Go ‘Cocks, beat UConn.  (don’t think about the bowl game…don’t think about the bowl game…)

h/t to Impalla_SS_Cock :