Thumbs up to Tanner

Yes that game still hurts and is one of those "shoulda / coulda / woulda" type things but hats off to Coach Tanner this year. I was reading this article today and could not agree more when you look at the entire season. From starting the year with so many questions and going through the early part with so many doubters....it was good to see Carolina finish strong. I hope the football team is paying attention to what the basketball team did and what the baseball team did in finishing strong.

This year's squad without a doubt struggled in the pitching category. Once you get past the starters of course. It plagued them all year and finally caught up to them vs ECU in the bottom of the 9th (and 10th) of Game 3. But USC finished No. 25 in this week’s Baseball America poll and continued the streak of being the only team in the SEC, and just among eight nationally, that has made the NCAA tournament every year this millennium. Oh and USC now has had 10 consecutive 40-win seasons. WOW!

This is the team that was 9-12 in the SEC a few weeks back but managed to "man-up" down the stretch and finish 2nd in the SEC East. It will be interesting to see who goes pro b/c the team could prove to be really good next year and have a serious shot at getting back to the CWS.

So as us gamecock faithful get over the ECU loss just keep in mind the great job Tanner did this year and his entire 13 seasons at USC. I say keep it coming and I say that the gamecock baseball team had a great year. They continued the legacy of strong play from gamecock baseball! I don't think Tanner is losing his touch as many started to say not too long ago as he is one of the best and this season proves that.

SEC Basketball Recruiting Rankings

I know this is a little old but I just ran across it this morning and thought it was of interest. I feel strongly that Horn's class is much higher that the C+ given below. I think a solid B to B+ is due here for the fact it plugs holes and fits more of the Horn approach. I guess only time will tell though...

SEC’s basketball recruiting rankings, I link you here to the grades and explanations handed out by Michael LaPlante of Scouts, Inc.

Mr. LaPlante’s grades:
Kentucky — A+
Florida — B+
Mississippi State — B+
Arkansas — B
Ole Miss — B
Tennessee — B
Vanderbilt — B
Alabama — C+
Auburn — C+
South Carolina — C+
LSU — C
Georgia — D-

***Make sure to check out the LOHD 1st look at the 09-10 gamecock squad HERE.

LOHD on Twitter

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We followed the lead of our pal over at http://www.garnetandblackattack.com/ who recently got on twitter and can be accessed at - http://twitter.com/GABAttack .

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Gamecock Fans comment on...

Our friend Snead posts some good comments that I have reproduced below as I too what to know what gamecock fans think about declining ticket sales...is it a product of the economy or a product of lack luster performance?

I'm curious what y'all think about the ticket sales issue. I can tell you my parents, season ticket holders for 33 years, will probably make this their last season. Now they are retired and feel like there's better things to do than devote all day to a football game you could easily watch on tv, but the rising ticket prices and poor return on the field are causes as well. Does that make them "disloyal"? I don't think so. I think they are just tired of the pyramid scheme known as Gamecock football. Show me another product where the price continues to rise while quality does not improve?

Thoughts?

Visit Snead at his blog - http://lightscamerasnead.blogspot.com/

Gamecocks #25

Somehow we overlooked the fact that THE Univ of South Carolina baseball team was ranked #25 this week by Baseball America. That is a great way to end the season seeing how the team had lots of questions to start the season and was unranked to start the year.

Gamecock Clippings

There are 92 days until the football season opener.

• According to The State, with the implementation of personal seat licenses, a number of fans are not jumping to renew. USC President Pastides tried to put a spin on it, saying that in a recession, people are spending money elsewhere.....
• The SEC has moved to limit the signing of players in February to 28, the only other major conference with a similar rule is the Big Ten.
• SEC meetings: USC football ticket sales down

USC Baseball

• Bittersweet ending for Gamecocks
• 5 questions for USC baseball next season
• Morris: Better pitching holds key to USC improvement
• USC baseball's 2010 projected starting lineup

USC recruiting

• Lattimore cuts list to eight

Other News

• Ex-USC player Brown skips Eagles workout
• Coaches' last ballots to be confidential
• SEC boss to coaches: Stop verbal attacks
• Phil Steele has Clemson at #25

South Carolina Gamecocks LOSE vs ECU

Gamecocks lose a heartbreaker tonight to ECU. ECU Harris was the big man on campus tonight first with a 3 run bomb to tie it 9-9 then a timely hit in the btm of the 10th to give ECU the 10-9 win.

The Pirates had never defeated USC in seven postseason games until winning back-to-back game Sunday and Monday. USC ends season with a 40-23 mark.

Tanner's boys blew it tonight; all I can hope for is this young baseball team learns something and Tanner gets some strength in the bullpen.

SC v ECU open thread

Particpate in the open thread courtesy of Garnet & Black Attack - South Carolina vs. ECU Regional Final Open Thread

Winner faces UNC this weekend....GO COCKS!

Phil Steele on Gamecocks

Courtesy of Joe Person, here are some things mentioned by Phil Steele dealing with the Gamecock Football team...

• Steele has South Carolina picked to finish fourth in the SEC East
• Steele believes USC has the nation’s toughest schedule in 2009, pointing out the Gamecocks’ opponents had a winning percentage of 62.8 percent (98-58) in ’08.
• Steele labels USC 1 of 17 teams that are “Going Up” - meaning schools that will improve on their turnover margins and improve their overall fortunes.
• Steele ranks the Gamecocks among the three most inexperienced teams in the country based on a formula he devised.

ECU Regional Re-cap

ECU Regional
Friday

• USC 11, George Mason 3

Saturday

• East Carolina 11, Binghamton 7
• Binghamton 11, George Mason 6, George Mason eliminated
• USC 12, East Carolina 2

Sunday

• East Carolina 16, Binghamton 9, Binghamton eliminated
• East Carolina 8, USC 6

Monday - final game

• USC (40-22) at East Carolina (45-18), 6 p.m.

Note: The winner advances to a super regional at North Carolina.

Too Funny...Lane Kiffin Show with Alshon Jeffrey

Burn THE STATE paper over this Gamecock Ad

Leftover Hotdog made mention of this on May 15th after it happened but tried to downplay the fact. Seriously, it is not something to brag about but it seems THE STATE paper decided to run a ad about it recently. I take what they did as a jab at the Gamecock faithful, heck Ron Morris does it constantly and I hope the "power at USC" has already made some calls to the right people at the newspaper to express how this ad, despite being truthful, was not needed (i.e someone should be fired this Monday Morning over this....).

(h/t Snead & Georgia Sports Blog & Hey Jenny Slater)

ECU beats USC, forces a 3rd matchup

The Pirates, with 3 HRS, got a 8-6 victory against the Gamecocks on Sunday night. This forces a final game between the two today.

Related coverage---

• Morris: USC must follow ECU lead, turn the tables
• Box score: USC vs. East Carolina
• ECU holds off USC to force decisive game on Monday
• USC rally in ninth falls short

USC wins vs. ECU

USC in control now thanks to Justin Dalles who went 4-for-5 with seven RBIs, including a grand slam in the eighth inning and two-run homer in the sixth, to lead USC’s 17-hit attack in a 12-2 victory over ECU. Also SP Blake Cooper threw a complete game which is really good b/c SC can rest those arms now. The Gamecocks (40-21) advance to today’s regional championship game at 6 p.m. They will face the winner of the 2 p.m. game between East Carolina (43-18) and Binghamton (30-21).

Let the good play continue......

Related Coverage ---

• Gamecocks thump ECU, take control of regional
• Box score
• Morris: Big win leaves USC sitting pretty in Greenville
• ECU 'Jungle' proves cordial for fans
• Gamecocks make Bucs walk plank