Click here to listen to TRC Unleashed – Episode 23, where you can hear the staff talk about:

• The ‘Cocks chances at the 2012 CWS
• Reminisce about the 2002 tournament and CWS
• Missing Mike Morgan
• This Week in Dabo (it’s a doozy)

Among other things.

What kind of losers hold a podcast at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night?  Wait, you answered that way too quickly…

Anyhoo, Buck, Gman and Tbone are back after a nearly two month hiatus to cover super important topics regarding Gamecock athletics, including:

• A preview of the 2012 CWS (we seem to do this every year, what’s up with that?)
• A review of the regional and super regional held in Columbia
• This Week in Dabo
• The real reason recruits commit to Clemson
• Any other football news we can dredge up
• GABA’s College Tworld Series

You can listen live, or later, right here.

Join us if you can.

The incredible postseason success of the USC baseball team continues.

In winning their 21^st consecutive NCAA tournament game (and 24^th straight at home), the Gamecocks will get a chance to add to their College World Series record of 11 consecutive wins. 

It has been an improbable run, one that in a more high-profile sport would be the subject of HBO or ESPN documentaries and (more) books chronicling the runs. 

Michael Roth, Matt Price, Evan Marzilli, and Christian Walker have all been indispensable parts of the two National Championship teams and the current CWS team.  And as those four threw their last pitches and took their last swings at Carolina Stadium, they received well-deserved standing ovations and one absolutely necessary curtain call for Roth.

Win or lose in Omaha over the next two weeks, we know there will be a statue someday for the architect of all this success, Ray Tanner.   

But as we watched 29, 22, 31 and 13 participate in one final dogpile in Columbia, it got me to thinking – do they deserve more? 

I’m not talking about retiring numbers, I don’t really believe in that practice except in extraordinary circumstances (see Steve Wadiak and George Rogers). 

But how about a mural?  What better way to honor the cornerstones of our two (and maybe three) time National Champions by permanently putting their faces at the entrance to Carolina Stadium?   

Or even better, put their faces on the outfield walls.  Even if you just put them up for the next 2-3 years, the fans would have a reminder of the monumental accomplishments of these guys.  Plus, if you want to intimidate the competition, the steely eyed stare of Matt Price, even in mural form, couldn’t hurt.

A standing ovation and a place in the historical record is nice, but these four deserve more.  They have helped make South Carolina the current gold standard in college baseball, and put us historically in the conversation with legendary programs Southern California, Texas and LSU.    

They are special players, and should be remembered in a special way.

Sweeping on…

Clemson and Oklahoma were good, but they’re obviously not Francis Marion.  At no time this season was there more hand-wringing and finger-pointing than when USC lost to Division II Francis Marion 5-4 on April 11.  It was an embarrassing loss for sure, but fortunately Ray Tanner was able to keep his job and so far things have turned out ok. 

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how the Patriots season turned out, and the Googles told me they were upset in the Division II Southeast Regional Tournament by Catawba College by a score of 8-4.  Francis Marion finished the season with a 40-18 record.  You can bet the memories of one of those 40 victories will last a lifetime.    

Statistics Central. After whining incessantly for about 18 hours on Twitter about the circumstances surrounding the suspension of Sunday’s game against Oklahoma, David Cloninger of Gamecock Central hit us with a couple of interesting statistics about USC’s return to Omaha: 

• USC is the first team to head to Omaha with a chance at a three-peat since LSU in 1998 (they were not successful) and just the third team ever.
• Southern Cal was the first, winning five straight titles from 1970-1974.
• USC is #10 in all-time CWS victories with 28 (including the aforementioned 11 straight).
• Arizona is #9 all-time, with 33 wins.  None of the eight teams above them are in the CWS this year.
• Florida State has 20 appearances in Omaha without a title, far and away the record.  Second?  That would be CTU with 12.  (CTU did not make it to Omaha this year, BTW).

Good stuff.

Down with Demetra II.  There has finally been some heated debate about Andy Demetra on Gamecock Message Boards.  Not surprisingly, the split appears to be about 50/50 between love and hate, and not much in the middle. 

That’s cool, everybody gets an opinion.  But it’s things like this, in addition to his voice and delivery, that really stick in my craw:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s right, he tweeted the text of his final call.  I’m sure because he was proud of his own perceived cleverness of it.  How self-absorbed is that?  And for heavens’ sake, that avatar…

Ugh, ok, I’ll drop it.  I just think a classy, humble guy like Mike Morgan deserved/deserves to call this run.

The Tweet Sixteen.  While TRC was booted in the first round by a late-charging Wes Mitchell, ITS_DABO rolled to another victory in the garnetandblackattack.com  “Garnet and Blacketology” tournament. 

Great work by those guys, but there’s been a really funny dynamic to the whole deal.  A few have outwardly campaigned, a few appear to be paying no attention whatsoever, but the largest group appears to be paying attention but not outwardly campaigning for fear of looking like they care. 

You care guys, we see you. 

Go Cocks.  

Details still sketchy, but this sounds tragic.  Pray for our Auburn University brothers and sisters.

It’s official as of today:  CTU Head Coach Dabo Swinney just signed a new 6 year contract that will pay him almost 2 Million a year.

Impressive, right?

Well, we were inspired by the folks at Sportstalk Radio Network to use the SC Freedom of Information Act to gather more information on the contract, and we can now offer this exclusive look at one of Dabo’s memos from the contract negotiations:

We’re all still smarting from our GABA Bracketology beatdown, so we’re falling back on a familiar TRC meme:  Things that are completely unrelated to other things:

In this installment, we look at the SEC football coaches, if they were 2012 summer movies:

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That’s what I yelled as I departed The Ray.  The CTU fans within earshot just kept on walking, heads down.

Wow, was that sure a fun weekend of baseball.  You would think it would sort of be ho-hum after the last two years, but it isn’t  — not by a long shot.  It’s never ho-hum to win a regional and to do it by spanking your rival.  Again.

Game 1: It was epic, a true classic.  I had the (dis)pleasure of sitting in the CTU parents and girlfriends section for that one.  Man those are some annoying folks.  They pretty much whined and cried about everything.  I guess you could say the fans reflect the coach.  Oh well, on to the game…..

Roth did not have his best stuff, but great D made up for it.  Pankake’s backhand in the hole and throw to third being one example.  Others who stood out:  Rosenburg with several great stops on pitches in the dirt, and Marzilli with another great catch in center.  At for the hitters, I was personally very glad to see Adam Matthews have a big game.  Termed a “Tiger Killer” by Tommy Moody, Adam did not disappoint.  I had a great seat for the HR and the almost HR (how that did not go out, I’ll never know-it hit the top of the yellow line and bounced up).  While the crowd was pretty stunned after Vergason was tagged out in the 9th and after Matthew’s almost won it, there was a feeling in the air that we were gonna win.  The CTU fans pretty much shut it down in the extra frames-preparing themselves for the inevitable.  And there it was.  LB’s blast over Felder (the bat flipper punk) was pretty sweet. One down, one to go.

Game 2:  While lacking the drama of Game 1, this one proved to be big fun as well.  Sitting with the Gamecock faithful this time (and right under the Rooster-that’s one cool looking bird), it proved to be another day at the ballpark for this team.  After a mid-season slump, Freshman left-hander Jordan Montgomery did his best Michael Roth impression.  The kid was simply fantastic.  What impressed me most was how cool and collected he looked throughout the game.  And when Webb came in from the pen throwing strikes, I had the feeling that it was over.  Sure, we had a little excitement there in the 9th, but the crowd didn’t really seem that concerned.  A confidence, like nothing I have ever experienced, sort of gripped the stadium.  After all these years , I think we finally know what it feels like to be the absolute best at something.  Sure we may not win it all this year, but our baseball program is the best there is.  That’s what Game 2 felt like.

Random Observations:

I think Joey Pankake is becoming my favorite player on this team.  The dude rarely has a bad at bat and almost always hits the ball hard.  I think we are seeing a star in the making with that guy.  It sort of reminds me of watching Walker two years ago.  Get ready to enjoy the ride.

We have beaten CTU in the last 6 meaningful baseball games we have played against them.  They can say all they want about history and such, but we OWN them in baseball (and in pretty much everything else).  To be honest, I never thought I would see this day.

Ray Tanner always seems to push the right buttons.  It’s freakin uncanny.  In Game 1 the guy next to me couldn’t understand why he let Sullivan, a .177 hitter, bat in the 8th down one run with a runner in scoring position. When he said that, I had two thoughts:  1) Ray likes older players in big spots, 2) Ray was saving Kyle Martin, his last lefty bat, for the 9th.  Well, guess what happened….Martin pinch hit for English in the 9th and led off with a hit.  We tied the game and advanced to extras.

19 wins in a row in the NCAAs.  Back to my point about us being the best.  I’m gonna go our there and say that this is a streak that may never be broken.  Note to Athletic Department:  start looking for an artist to create the Ray Tanner statue.  Gonna need it.

This will be a ton of fun to watch next week.  I have to admit, I wish we’d thought of what Connor Tapp came up with here.

And even though we come in as a four seed, the boys at GABA recognize that we may actually be the team to beat in the Blogger/Writer Region.

Just a brief sizing up of our competition:

• Chris Clark – peaked as a second-team slot receiver
• SpursUp Blog – ha ha!! Like we’re going to lose to a girl!
• Wes Mitchell – jocksniffer
• Life of a Gamecock – agoraphobe
• Scott Hood – Yankee
• David Cloninger – #Cloningered
• John Whittle – worthy opponent (note to self: keep folding chair within reach)

I think we breeze through the bracket, and will face Michael Roth in the semifinals.  Roth is not as popular as he’s been the last two years because he hasn’t won a National Championship this year (yet).  Fortunately voting closes before the Super Regionals are over.  We win in a squeaker.

In the finals I see us facing Team Garcia.  (How do we NOT pick @ITS_DABO?  Hey, Jennifer Hudson didn’t win American Idol even though she was clearly the most awesome.)

Once in the finals, we’ll put on some AXE body spray, offer Team a couple of Mike’s Hard Lemonades and put on an Oasis CD, and she will forget there ever was a College Tworld Series.

We anxiously await our trophy…

With the Memorial Day holiday now behind us, the summer movie season is in full swing.  As such, it comes as no surprise that the Sportstalk Radio Network is out with its latest cinematic tour-de-force: The Sammy Watkins Cruiser Cam Video.  Although still in EXTREMELY limited release, we were able to screen the film and (SPOILER ALERT) offer a review to you, our loyal readers.

First, a word on production values.  While the source material for this film is in a difficult electronic format, the crack production team of Phil Kornblut and Kevin McCrarey solve that particular Gordian Knot by setting up an iPhone in front of the video monitor and coupling an “audio out” port with a multi-directional mic.  This cobbled, yet ingenious, method of capturing the raw police footage works on several levels.  First, the lack of focus renders the slack-jawed members of the campus police almost humanoid in appearance, and second, it provides occasional, albeit unintentional, insight into the filmmakers themselves. In one particularly revealing incident at the 12:33 mark, the bare hobbit feet of McCrarey are accidentally interposed upon the table in front of the screen.   The revelation of his awkward ankle tattoo (which appears to be a Tiger performing an unspeakable act on a goat) does not lack in subtlety, but begs the question of whether or not the directors are actually Clemson fans.  The muddiness of their loyalties is only underscored by Kornblut’s gleeful laughter throughout the film.

The choice of color is likewise intriguing.  Much like the late Stanley Kubrick’s use of reds and blues to signify danger and safety, our filmmakers have capitalized on the reflections of the police cruiser lights to wash the entire production in burnt orange and bright purple.   This is, of course, an oblique reference to Clemson’s school colors which, not coincidentally, are the same as police lights reflecting off nighttime offenders.

Surprisingly, the main dramatic arc of the film does not center on its purported subject, Mr. Watkins.  The titular character is instead depicted as quiet (uncommunicative), clumsy (he drops pills, a baggie of marijuana, and several footballs), and prone to feigning injury at the slightest touch.

Instead, the drama of the film is carried by the conflict between seasoned detective Alonzo Harris and the rookie cop, Jake Hoyt.  The two officers are depicted as arguing throughout the film, as the rookie insists on conducting an investigation by the numbers, while the more veteran Harris attempts to reason, cajole, bully, and finally threaten at gunpoint in order to head off the arrest of the Tiger athletes.  One early exchange:

Jake: I told you, I’m not gonna take that money.

Alonzo: All right, burn it, barbecue it, fish-fry it, I don’t give a [beep]. But the boys’ll feel better about it.

Jake: [beep] their feelings.

Alonzo: You’re not making them feel like you’re part of the team.

Jake: The team? You guys are [beepin] insane. All right, I’ll go back to the Valley. I’ll cut parking tickets. Why does it have to be this way?

 Alonzo: I’m sorry I exposed you to it, but it is. It’s ugly, but it’s necessary… Sometimes you gotta have a little dirt on you. . .

[It should be noted that the cops’s names and this dialogue are, in an apparent homage by Sportstalk, lifted directly from the 2001 Ethan Hawke/Denzel Washington film, Training Day.]

The special effects are also impressive.  Clearly rivaling a Michael Bay production in technological adroitness, Mr. Watkins’ 2013 Cadillac Escalade is impressively transformed into a slightly ragged-out 1999 Deville.  The entire transformation takes place off-camera, and the viewer is left to wonder about the source of the Escalade, the nature of its transforming properties, and exactly why Mr. Watkins would choose to turn it into such a clunker.

Alas, as with all true film, sometimes the undisclosed mysteries are as compelling as the overt narrative.

In the final analysis however, the film fails to deliver.  We are not made to care about these characters, and are instead reduced to mere observers of dispassioned players upon the stage.  This may have been the director’s intention, in which case the entire banal production is a stinging commentary on the ultimately unrewarding and underwhelming product that CTU perpetually fields.

– fin–

Tune in next week for our review of the new hit video, “The Dabo Dance.”

The 2012 University of South Carolina promotional video/campaign was launched this week with the “It’s Great to Be a Gamecock” video.  The video has mostly received praise from the Gamecock fan base from what I’ve seen on social media platforms.  But as a professional marketing man, I think the video ultimately misses the mark by a wide margin.

First, let’s start with the positive – the imagery.  The stark black and white shots that dominate the first minute of the video are fantastic, particularly the spectacularly lit images of Lattimore, Shaw, Taylor and Clowney (the white jerseys were an excellent choice).  The point-of-view game footage throughout the video is nice, giving you the feeling you’re there.  And the practice footage of Connor Shaw (“one more, one more”) could’ve easily felt fake, but it doesn’t, it’s actually quite genuine. 

On the downside, the “brick and mortar” and Farmer’s Market images don’t seem to fit.  I get the idea, but there are just not enough of them to tie it into the rest of the video.  They are images looking for a theme.  Plus, while the new video board is going to be an exciting addition to Williams-Brice, who cares about seeing footage of the old board being taken down?  Again, not a good fit. 

One final note on the imagery – I would’ve liked to have seen a more distinguishable jump from black and white to color.  It’s so subtle that the first couple of times I watched the video I thought “when did that happen?” 

The final shots of the new video board in CGI, and the shot of the stadium from the corner of the end zone are magnificent.  All in all, the folks who chose and produced the images we see deserve a solid A.  Not quite an A+, but they’re not far off. 

At about ten seconds in, the voice over commences, and it is immediately a disaster.  What a bad choice.  An overcooked, stuffy professional v/o man is absolutely not what this video calls for.  This video needs someone more “normal”, maybe even someone with a little South Carolina twang.  The days of the John Facenda-sounding voice talent are gone folks.  Give me an everyman, every day.  Voice over gets an F.

Then there is the cliché-riddled script.  I guess the writer (Andy Demetra, not surprisingly) was pandering to the fan base when he wrote this, much like Dabo does with his speeches to the CTU base.  

This script is a whole bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing.  Just listen closely to the words, and how they’re strung together.  It’s one cliché trailing another from Mr. “back to back for the garnet and black.”  I seriously think Demetra has a notebook filled with sayings he thinks we like to hear, and just can’t wait for the right moment to break the next one out. 

“Kiss the ring!”  Shut up, you’re the radio guy, not the first baseman.  (Do you get the idea I don’t like Demetra?  Good, cause I don’t.)

Script gets a D+.

Last but not least, the music is not my favorite either.  I’m not a musician, so I can’t exactly put my finger on it, I just know it doesn’t work.  I’ll give the music a C, but it gets the benefit of the doubt since it has to carry a horrible voiceover choice and an equally horrible script.

If I watch the video with the sound down it gets me much more fired up than with the sound up.  And that’s too bad, because I think the guys at Gamecock Productions are on the right track, they just have to learn to put all the pieces together. 

Maybe they should’ve called in Justin King as a consultant.

Sweeping on…

Fan First Fan Fest.  As I mentioned below, I had the opportunity to attend the Atlanta Gamecock Club’s Fan Fest on Tuesday evening at Gwinnett Braves stadium outside of Atlanta.  The good news is there were only about 150 Gamecock fans willing to make the trip up I-85 (a long haul if you’re not familiar with the ATL), so there was ample opportunity to talk to new head basketball coach Frank Martin, and ample opportunity to look at Steve Spurrier from a safe distance, lest Jamie Speronis claw your eyes out.

Martin was everything I had read about him – affable, congenial, and he genuinely seemed happy to be hanging out with his new set of fans.  When I talked to him personally he gave me nothing blogworthy, just a lot of “glad to be here” and “thank you for coming”.  And his speech was a condensed version of every speech you’ve heard him give so far, so there was nothing new.

When it came to Spurrier, I was armed and ready to bring hard evidence that he had taken a can’t-spell-Citrus-without-UT-style shot at CTU or any SEC rival.  But alas, he was on his best behavior.  The only thing remotely Spurrier-esqe was a comment about UGA’s schedule being “a whole lot easier than ours”.  When talking about players to watch for the upcoming season, he had high praise for Ace Sanders, Shaw, Taylor, Clowney, and effusive praise for Kenny Miles, his dedication to USC, his work ethic and willingness to return for his final season.

But, not a single mention of CTU.  That’s a bummer. At the same time I think it tells you that the HBC doesn’t feel the NEED to talk about them.  That might be the biggest slap in the face of all.

Hardball Blues.  Last night’s loss to Vandy in the SEC baseball tournament on the heels of a home series loss against LSU apparently had a lot of Gamecock fans searching for tall bridges.  Calm down folks.  First, we never play well in Hoover.  I don’t accept that, and I don’t believe it will last forever, but at the same time I think it has exactly zero impact on how we’ll play in the NCAA tournament.  (And we have proven we can still make it to the CWS without hosting a super regional – see: 2010).

Media-type Blues.  On the other side of the cage, the media-types on Twitter last night were awfully testy before, during and after the USC game.  First, the aforementioned Andy Demetra had an uber-smartass response to a Tweeter who asked if the game “was going to be on AT&T Uverse”.  Our friends at Team Garcia called him out on it and he responded that he didn’t want to be “hassled” while he’s getting ready for a game.  Hassled?  Seriously?

Then, apparently the bridge jumpers were in a tizzy after the game, calling out Chad Holbrook among others, so much so that John Whittle and Demetra (there’s that guy again) proceeded to call them “whiners”.  SportsTalk continued their tradition of getting into at least one slapfight per night (which we quite enjoy, actually, those guys crack us up). 

First of all folks, it’s Twitter.  You don’t have to respond to anyone.  Ever. 

Second, there is a happy medium.  If you need directions to it, shoot me an email.  

Half-Cocked is Right.  Our friends over at Garnet and Black Attack have a podcast called “Half-Cocked” that you should check out.  In their most recent episode they discuss Twitter accounts (mostly Gamecock related) that are worth following. 

You know what the first one they mention is?  @GamecockRadio.  You know who that is?  FRIGGIN’ DEMETRA!!!

You know who doesn’t get a mention?  @RubrChickens OR @ITS_DABO. 

Man, those dudes owe us big.

Happy Memorial Day errybody!