Football

USC-Clemson Recruiting Battle Heating Up for Bashuad Breeland. Breeland is a defensive back; he has offers from many high-profile schools, but appears to be mainly considering Clemson and USC. He's a talented player at a position we need depth at, and of course it's always good to beat out Clemson for a player, so let's hope we can get him.

Gamecocks Baseball

Gamecocks Lose to Hogs. Despite taking an early 4-0 lead, we ended up losing 7-4 after pitiful offensive play in the middle and late innings. I'm not terribly well versed on how the baseball standings work, but I'm guessing that we're really starting to dig ourselves a hole and need to win the next few series if we're going to have a shot in the SEC.

Other News

Renaldo Balkman Starts and Helps the Nuggets Win Their Seventh Straight. Balkman, who saw only limited time in Denver earlier in the season, has gained a much larger role in the team's rotation as of late due to an injury to fellow Nugget Kenyon Martin. The injury appears to be a blessing in disguise for the Nuggets, as Balkman is playing quite well and has helped the Nuggets go on a seven game win streak. I'd say Denver is playing as well as anyone in the NBA right now, and it's good to see a former Gamecock help them along.

Those of you that want to continue following Balkman should check out the SB Nation Nuggets blog Pickaxe and Roll, where Balkman is quite a fan favorite. Pickaxe's author Nate Timmons wrote a fine column praising Balkman a couple of weeks ago that I think everyone should read. Among other nice things he said about Balkman, Timmons nicknamed our guy "The Crime Stopper" and compared him to Dennis Rodman for his hustle and rebounding prowess.