Sometimes, it's not worth answering those who would provoke you. For example, C&F is aware of some members of the blogosphere who are having fun with our young ruffian, Stephen Garcia, who has returned to Columbia. (And, yes, with official university blessing.)
Our conquering hero arrives.
Anyone who has read C&F's writing, both at Cock & Fire and at Garnet and Black Attack, is aware that he has always regarded the hero worship for THE SAVIOR OF THE PROGRAM with amusement. And so I find it neither necessary nor worthwhile to respond to the sniping.
(BTW, Jarriel King could soon make his Powe-like entry. And Gurminder Thind was placed on a medical scholarship. If anyone cares.)
What, then, to do with this?
Spurrier opened a news conference by pointing out that marijuana possession charges against Dion LeCorn were dropped on Monday.
"Usually when a guy’s arrested for whatever, that always make the headlines. And the guy that runs the Clemson Web site, he likes to send those articles to recruits all over the state," Spurrier said after a golf media outing at Woodcreek Farms Country Club in Elgin.
"So I just wondered if he sends the articles about all charges dropped. So you guys that know that dude over there, tell him he can add that one today hopefully when he sends them out."
First of all, it should be pointed out that Spurrier didn't bring this up out of nowhere. It was an issue that was on his mind for a specific reason -- the now-abandoned charges against LeCorn, whose name now officially has a capital "C."
In any case -- um, can we say, "Spurrier being Spurrier"? This is what he does. Every once in a while, HBC blows off some steam, in front of the media, no less. It thrills the homers -- "See what they're doing!?" -- and cranks up the crowd that hates Spurrier. For those of us more worried about football, it's a nice diversion, perhaps.
Emerson makes two points. On the one hand, it could be a violation of NCAA rules in certain circumstances. But, given that we don't know whether those circumstances exist or not, what's the news in negative recruiting?
This would be an interesting story if it were true that a web site publisher were behind it, because it would mean some-one was acting as a booster. There’s a perception out there that a lot of web reporters who cover recruiting go over the line in advocating the school they cover. But, again, the evidence isn’t there yet in this specific case. ...I’m sure assistant coaches everywhere would be shocked, SHOCKED to know there is negative recruiting somewhere else. Because every coach only recruits by talking about the virtues of their program, and no staff has even one member that tries to succeed by bringing down the competition. Especially when it comes to the in-state rival.
So is it unethical? Perhaps. That’s arguable either way.
But should we be hyperventilating over this? I don’t think so.
C&F understands what Spurrier is trying to do -- take up for his players. In a way, that's commendable, and one of the reasons C&F is glad Spurrier is South Carolina's coach.
But, for the rest of us, a suggestion: Worry more about South Carolina than what other fans or blogs might or might not be saying about us. After all, I'd rather they talk about us than we talk about them.