Saturday, May 09, 2009

Gamecocks 2.0

In this story - USC meetings support in need of revival - it lists these three factors as the cause of poor attendance at Gamecock Club meetings...

Three factors receive most of the blame: a condensed schedule, the economy and an apparent hangover from football season, when the Gamecocks lost to Clemson and had a poor showing in the Outback Bowl to finish the season.

I do agree with those reasons but I feel the biggest reason is trying to turn these chapter meetings into regional meetings and make it seem to much like a business. BAD MOVE!

The coaching staffs and the USC Administration has to get down to business at the foundation of what is the gamecocks. Grass roots. Go to their backyards. Show love in the small towns where sometimes garnet & black bleeds the most and away from the "big cities." This is not a shareholders meeting so stop trying to make it one. This is a college program that people love deeply and we know how that love can be in the south.

If you are going to churn up support well you got to go to the people. You have to engage them and make them feel ownership! You can not ask the people or in this case gamecock club members to drive 1+hour to hear the same ol speech. You have to run this thing like a campaign and focus on the grassroots. Trust me I know this.

It is time for the gamecocks to get serious about the gamecock club and about what can be!

It is time to get the damn gamecock club membership sticker in the mail....sorry I had to slip that in there. It's a membership organization and is not that hard to run it like one. Yes there are 15,000+ egos to deal with but keep it simple. The club is there to support the program(s). The club has to be responsive to its membership. Focus on the membership. It is not a corporation so Hyman quit treating it like one. It is time to focus on grooming the next generation of gamecocks but also showing loyalty to the many gamecock faithful who have stuck by the program during a occasional high and through the many lows. LOHD has always stated that "it is tough being a gamecock fan."

To ask people to drive to hear the same rhetoric is dumb and shame on Hyman for trying it. I know coaches need to be with families and recruit. But they also need to be in front of the masses that help fill the seats and help pay those salaries. Coaching staffs before them did it so it is not like this is a new concept. We are talking once a year here kids.

This could be the problem with college athletics and I feel it is time for USC to get back to fundamentals. If you focus on the basics then the rest will occur. So Hyman you will stay in the black, you will get your new buildings, etc.

I will be entering into a new writing chapter on this blog to showcase what I will call - Gamecocks 2.0. I will attempt to lay down some new thoughts on what the gamecock athletic department should be doing to get the fanbase stoked with not only what can happen but the energy that needs to surround the program.

I ask that you stay tuned......

Gamecocks lose Game 1 to UT

Blame it on pitching...again. UT got 3 HRs that lead to 8 runs. The 4th inning was disaster due to USC giving up 6 runs. Carolina just could not come back from that hole they dug.

Tennessee improves its record to 22-27 and 8-17 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 30-19 and 12-13 in league play. The two teams meet in game two on Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for 4 p.m.

Related Coverage---

Friday, May 08, 2009

USC v CU - “The Reedy River Rivalry"

Not 100% sold on the name of the rivalry since the Reedy River does not flow to or thru Columbia (unless you count how it dumps into the Saluda which does go into Cola) but nonetheless I am looking forward to watching them play in the Drive Stadium which has a 'mini green monster' like in Boston. I have enjoyed watching USC beat Furman at the stadium for 2 years in a row now.

Calling it the “The Reedy River Rivalry,” the schools and the Greenville Drive announced a partnership today that will feature games between the Tigers and Gamecocks at Fluor Field at the West End in 2010 and 2011 --- Tigers, Gamecocks to play at Fluor Field

Crucial USC Baseball Series Begins Today

South Carolina (30-18) returns to action this weekend on the road vs. Tennessee (21-27). The SEC series begins on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

South Carolina leads the all-time series 38-32 including two wins last year in the final three games played at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia.

Carolina sits in third place in the Eastern Division and seventh place overall with a 12-12 conference record. Carolina needs to win and I feel strongly that they need to win 2 out of 3 this weekend. To strengthen their chances in making the postseason.

Key stats via USCsports ---
  • South Carolina is hitting .307 as a team on the year (514-for-1674) with 82 HR and 333 RBI.
  • The team is fielding .973 (1273 putouts, 485 assists, 48 errors).
  • The pitching staff owns a 5.15 team ERA. 378 strikeouts in 424.1 innings.
  • Opponents are only batting .261 against the squad, second lowest opponents average in the SEC.
  • Carolina continues to be strong in the early innings, outscoring opponents 110-48 in the first two innings on the year.
  • South Carolina is 28-3 in games when it out-hits the opponent.
  • Carolina is also 27-10 when hitting at least one home run.
  • The Gamecocks also have a record of 19-6 when scoring in the first inning.
  • South Carolina has homered in 35 of 48 games this year with a total of 82.
  • Carolina is 27-10 when hitting at least one home run in a game.

Some recent Clemosn - USC rivalry talk


Reading this - Morris: Dabo knows rules of rivalry roads - today from ol' Ron Morris and then a few days ago this was issued - SC players will get clemson game. Well it is almost funny yet borderline dumb.

Come on guys...it is simple. Clemson is USC's rival whether you agree or not it is what it is...always has been and always will be. In a rivalry situation, the object is to win more than you lose versus your opponent. So to make this even simpler....USC needs to win constantly in every sport vs Clemson. Most sports recently have held their own vs Clemson except football.

Yes I want a SEC Championship badly in football and yes if you asked me would I rather have a SEC championship in football than beat Clemson this year. BUT Spurrier, Horn, Tanner and all other USC coaches need to stress that one goal for the season (no matter the sport) is to beat Clemson. No need to understand it or try to analyze it. Every kid who puts on the garnet & black must know that one of their goals no matter the sport is to beat Clemson.

LOHD Laugh of the Day


Thursday, May 07, 2009

drugs don't pay


Today MLB announced that Manny from Mannywood will be suspended for 50 games for violating the baseball drug policy.  

 

This was supposed to be the Dodgers year.  They are on a 13 game winning streak at home and have already jumped out to a nice lead in the NL West.  Now that there big hitter is gone for the next 50 games, let’s see what happens. 

USC Baseball predicted to be in postseason

Well it seems for all the hope the gamecock faithful has had in seeing the gamecock baseball squad make it to the postseason....you just might get that wish at least as of today. Still lots of work to do on the schedule and we just hope that want we witnessed vs Vandy is the new approach USC has...a mix of quality pitching and timely hitting. Makes sense right? SC has key series against UT coming up and a season ending series against Uga which how we do in both will have a lot to determine in how are postseason dreams shape out.

Back to the point....Southeastern baseball (http://www.sebaseball.com/) has issued their predictions for the regionals and it seems USC is slated to be the #2 seed in......Clemson! Ugh....

USC Big Man leaves Basketball Team

Seems the Mitchell Carter experiment is officially over according to Seth Emerson. The six foot ten man child is departing from the team to finish his career somewhere else. Seems he never blossomed like Odom had hoped and he was not the next Tim Duncan. Here is his numbers

2008-2009
Did not Play
2007-08
Averaged 1.3 points and 0.3 rebounds per game in four appearances.
2006-07
Averaged 3.1 minutes and 0.6 rebounds per game in 11 appearances.

In our preview that we did for next year you can now remove Carter. As you can see, it is not a huge loss for the team and it opens up a scholarship for use in the future. Which makes you wonder after reading this -Despite strides, hoops faces scholarship loss - if somehow this is related???

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

USC spring wrap-up by Chris Low

Chris at ESPN doesn't tell the gamecock fans much that we don't already know that is-

--In Garcia we trust
--USC has young promising talent
--Spurrier needs some offensive firepower
--Secondary has to step up after the NFL took a lot of talent

USC has 12 starters (five offense, six defense, one special teams) among 40 lettermen coming back for the 2009 season.

South Carolina spring wrap-up

Horn fills job on his staff

Was that quick or what? I am waiting for someone to complain about the hiring process on this one as to me...the outsider looking in....it was quick or maybe just bang-bang so to speak. Maybe this was all in the works for one to leave and one to join. Who knows....

Fact is Coach Horn wasted no time in getting L.J. Hepp to come to South Carolina as the director of operations for the men's basketball team.

Horn, USC fill operations director job

USC baseball gets 2

USC has picked up commitments from pitchers, a much needed area, for this year's class and for 2011.

Committing for the 2009 class was RHP John Taylor (5-10 175) of Florence-Darlington TEC. And committing for the 2011 class was RHP Taylor Guerrieri (6-1 180) of North Augusta.

USC outfielder Bradley honored by SEC

CONGRATS to South Carolina outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who helped lead the Gamecocks (30-18) to a conference series sweep against Vanderbilt, was named SEC co-freshman of the week on Monday.

Bradley batted 9-for-14 with a home run, four RBIs and four runs scored over the weekend.

Horn Staffer leaves USC Basketball behind

It was announced today that Robert Knotts, who served as the coordinator for operations for the men’s basketball team this past season, is no longer with the program.

Not a big deal but never good to have members of the coaching staff leave especially after being crowned Co Champs of the SEC East. Hope Robert finds success and hope Horn can fill the role of director of operations quickly.

Horn staffer leaves team

Monday, May 04, 2009

Former Gamecock Jasper Brinkley 2008 Highlights



Fitting to be a Viking for him I think!

Former Gamecock Emanuel Cook 2008 Highlights

Former Gamecock Kenny Mckinley 2008 Highlights

Former Gamecock Jamon Meredith 2008 Highlights



Packers got a stud!

Former Gamecock Captain Munnerlyn 2008 Highlights



Will be nice to watch play for the Panthers!

Former Gameock Jared Cook 2008 Highlights



The Titans got a steal!

The Future of USC football


Nice look for Gilmore, Holloman and Giles.