The Daily(?) Feed // 03.09.11

by The Feathered Warrior on Mar 9, 2011 12:49 AM EST in South Carolina Gamecocks News

BASEBALL

Bradley Jr. continues to stew as game three appraoches | Spur of the Moment
I'm still not buying the heated bat incident as affecting the outcome of Sunday's game whatsoever. It's not as if Carolina was lighting up Clemson pitching prior to Leggett's bellyaching. And the Gamecocks were in posiiton to win it until Price's disastrous outing. I doubt Price was thinking about Leggett's foolishness when he was getting shelled by the Clemson hitters.

Gamecocks Baseball Field Report: Tiger Blood Edition | Leftover Hot Dog
General Malaise echoes my concerns:

According to most of the experts, Clemson is supposed to be a good team. How good they may really be will become evident in the next couple of months, but beating them is important for the program, and something we should be proud of. That being said, there are some concerns in the bullpen. On Sunday a two run lead was blown and on Tuesday a 4 run lead was nearly blown. That will be an area that must remain strong for USC to make a run deep into the post season.

Gamecocks Win 5-4 Thriller over Clemson in Greenville | Gamecocks Online
The official wrap-up.

South Carolina vs. Clemson Highlights | YouTube
If you're like me and weren't able to be at any of the rivalry games in person, here's your chance to get a feel for the atmosphere.

MISCELLANEOUS

Andy Demetra (GamecockRadio) | Twitter
I don't have a twitter account, but if I did you could bet your bottom dollar I'd be following Andy Demetra. Apparently he and Tommy Moody were road-tripping up to Greenville for the conclusion of the Clemson series yesterday. An excerpt:

"Tommy Moody will NOT enjoy the mix CD I made for the ride to Greenville. I think he thinks Lupe Fiasco was a utility IF for the 1973 Angels."

and...

"Tommy also thinks Kanye West was the name of the high school that Garris Gonce attended. This could be a long drive."

and then there's...

"Update: Tommy shocked to discover Kid Cudi is a rapper, not the winner of the 1983 Preakness."

Too funny. They're like a contemporary odd couple. Keep 'em coming Mr. Demetra.

Super Scoreboard | Gamecocks Online
I've been waiting for something like this to appear for a while. It's about time.

TRACK & FIELD

Gamecock Track Earns Three Entries for NCAA Indoor Championships | Gamecocks Online

Selections for the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships were released Monday night by the Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee with the South Carolina track and field programs earning three entries. The event takes place Friday-Saturday, March 11-12, in College Station, Texas, at the Gilliam Indoor Track Facility.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Muldrow Named SEC Defensive Player Of The Year, Ellington Named To All-Freshman Team | Gamecocks Online
Congratulations are in order for Sam Muldrow and Bruce Ellington. The fact that Muldrow was defensive player of the year but somehow missed the first and second teams is a little mystifying to me. Perhaps Gamecock Man or someone else who knows about basketball can explain that one. I suspect the fact that Bruce Ellington made the All-Freshman team has some of you stupefied as well. Again, since what I know about basketball could literally fit inside a basketball, I will refrain from comment.

USC hoops has become a distant third in the school's sports chain | Anderson Independent Mail
Yeah, but the thing of it is, USC fans would flock to the basketball program if they ever showed a glimmer of hope. There was a lot of excitement around the program in Darrin Horn's first year. Except they failed to make the NCAA tournament and consequently squandered all that goodwill.

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Comments

Basketball will always play 3rd fiddle at USC

just the way it rolls. Baseball will always be our best sport, and Football is on the rise. Not to mention baseball and football are the 2 most popular sports in this state.

by Gamecockrock on Mar 9, 2011 9:12 AM EST reply actions

Maybe...

But USC at one time had a much stronger history in basketball than it did in football, and nowadays we have all the resources needed to field a great program. I’m with the FW on this one. Basketball may never surpass football and baseball at USC, but if we got a good coach in here and started winning some games, the fans would pack the CLA and support our team. It’s not that no one cares; it’s that we haven’t had better than NIT teams for the past decade.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Mar 9, 2011 10:17 AM EST up reply actions

I agree.

USC fans, especially the older crowd, are really pining for some basketball success. If we were to ever make the NCAAs two years in row, look out. I think we’d be selling out the CLA on a regular basis.

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on Mar 9, 2011 11:51 AM EST up reply actions

+1

Basketball is third fiddle right now because it’s not doing well. We actually have a decent amount of tradition and history in that sport, and if we made a return to that kind of success, fans would be all over it. It’s really hard to imagine people camping out for basketball tickets at USC, but back in the day, that’s exactly what they did.

So if you build it, they will come, etc. I think USC has a pretty loyal fanbase, all things considered, but the basketball team has been stuck in neutral for a very long time.

by RumblinFish on Mar 10, 2011 12:38 PM EST up reply actions

the difference...

were not in the ACC anymore (i would have to assume anyways). Basketball is the one sport the ACC is over the SEC in, and competing for recruits against the ACC isnt easy. We got 2 games to sell to recruits every year (UK), while ACC schools have Duke, UNC, Clemson, and the like.

by Gamecockrock on Mar 10, 2011 1:10 PM EST up reply actions

I'm going to have to disagree with that.

For one thing, the SEC East isn’t just UK anymore. Florida has had more success over the past decade. And let’s talk about Florida, for example. The Gators didn’t have anything in terms of a basketball history before Donovan took over there. Now, they’re a national powerhouse with multiple national titles and final four appearances to their credit. Look at what Mark Fox is cranking up in Athens. Rich Stansbury manages to get great players to come to Starksville, MS, for goodness sakes. (Although rumor has it he cheats, so maybe he’s a bad example.) To make a long story short, it can be done. There are basketball players to go around.

I’m sure that being in the ACC comes with perks for a basketball program, but I don’t think it explains how much we stink these days.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Mar 10, 2011 1:21 PM EST up reply actions

well yea now the SEC is decent

but im talking about over the course of our mediocrity. Florida is still a fairly new bigtime program, and UGA is brand spankin new. Since the basketball team hasnt been doing much (which was right around the time we joined the SEC) is actually what I am talking about.

Nowadays yea, we can compete with the ACC or Big East or Big Ten, but for that time period of 1990-2008/2009, it just wasnt anywhere close to competitive.

by Gamecockrock on Mar 10, 2011 1:25 PM EST up reply actions

and the upgrades to the SEC basketball programs

have given us pretty good recruiting classes over the last 1-2 years. But that talent is still too young to expect much of anything out of

by Gamecockrock on Mar 10, 2011 1:26 PM EST up reply actions

In terms of ACC vs. SEC...

I heard someone call into 107.5 recently and give his take on why the basketball team is floundering so much. In his opinion, leaving the ACC severely damaged our ability to recruit and also cut short a rise to national prominence that we were mounting at the time. I’m not someone who thinks we should have stuck around, but I do think the timing of it dealt the basketball program a crippling blow.

He also went on to say that the fans don’t care as much anymore because we don’t play opponents on the level of Duke, UNC, and so on. He made it sound like we had little rivalries going with Maryland and NCSU as well, along with Clemson of course. So our lack of a natural SEC rival (and general lack of blockbuster competition) has negatively impacted fan interest.

I agree with you that the SEC East is a solid and growing division, but I think that caller had a lot of great points. If we had bitter rivalries with Georgia and/or Florida/Tennessee, we would draw bigger crowds. (Though to be fair, we’ve had some great games with UF in recent games.) As it is, we can only pack the arena when UK rolls into town, and that’s just because they’re the only SEC blueblood.

(Of course, in order to create those rivalries and get that fan support, we have to start winning. But without fan support…well, yeah, it’s a conundrum.)

by RumblinFish on Mar 10, 2011 2:30 PM EST up reply actions

The historical argument I can definitely see.

Clearly, leaving the ACC when we did really hurt us, stunting what at the time appeared to be our rise to national prominence. I think you could also argue that the many years as an independent hurt us in football, too.

I’m just not sure I buy the idea that we can’t recruit now because we’re in the SEC.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Mar 10, 2011 3:15 PM EST up reply actions

you dont think Horn is the answer?

by Gamecockrock on Mar 9, 2011 1:06 PM EST up reply actions

Let me just say that I hope he is and think he has potential.

However, this season has been far from encouraging, and I do think we could have won 3 or 4 more games with slightly more sane coaching.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Mar 9, 2011 2:13 PM EST up reply actions

His offensive strategy consists of his long range shooters beating their shooters.

That’s not a strategy, that’s what people do on the playground.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Mar 9, 2011 5:01 PM EST up reply actions

I dont know much about basketball either

but I would have to assume Muldrow not making 1st/2nd team SEC is due to his offensive numbers, which I would expect would have to be pretty bad. Ellington… I think that speaks for the lack of freshmen talent this year.

by Gamecockrock on Mar 9, 2011 9:13 AM EST reply actions

With all due respect to Sam...

What surprises me is that he got the DPOY award, not that he was left off the All-SEC teams. Don’t get me wrong; Sam is a great shotblocker, and I’m glad he won the award. However, he’s not a great rebounder and he’s hardly such a good shotblocker that he totally shut down other teams post offenses. Compare him to Jarvis Varnado, who also, by the way, scored lots of points, which is what also helped him get on the All-SEC lists.

Ellington is a head scratcher. He probably ranks pretty high among conference freshman in ppg, which is the only explanation.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Mar 9, 2011 10:25 AM EST up reply actions

Ellington making All-SEC is about as weird as Gilmore making it.

Sometimes I think these lists are compiled purely off name recognition. That said, I’m still happy for Ellington, and if he had continued the level of play he started the season with, he would have definitely been deserving. As it is now, it’s just kind of puzzling since he’s been locked in a fierce slump.

by RumblinFish on Mar 10, 2011 12:43 PM EST up reply actions