The Feed Pail: August 28, 2012 - Are We Ready to Get Punched in the Face (Yes or No)?

TFP - Well they even inquired about you.

Keep the folks on the Gulf Coast in your prayers; Hurricane Isaac, at its last major track, is heading straight for the Big Easy and will likely make landfall sometime tomorrow as a Category 2 (top winds of 100 mph). Keep in mind that Hurricane Hugo was mostly a Category 2 when it made landfall back in '89, and many of us remember just how much damage it did to Charleston, Charlotte and surrounding communities - Cat 2's are extremely dangerous storms. If there is damage and suffering as expected, please consider making a charitable donation - the Red Cross and faith groups are already preparing relief efforts. Remember, as South Carolinians, it could be our homes next; the damage is rarely limited just to the coastal zone, either.

Safeguarding lives and property is of primary concern now, but to the extent college football can offer a bit of diversion to the stress of storm prep, then LSU fans will be happy that Isaac is not yet impacting LSU’s opener - but that is subject to change on a moment's notice. I expect the storm bands will also be dumping a lot of water on Nashville during our opener with Vandy. Does a wet-track (or wet field turf, as the case may be) help or hurt the 'Dores in their upset bid?

Gamecock Football

Pete Iacobelli: Spurrier, Carolina prepare for Vandy’s ‘Super Bowl’ - from the Orangeburg Times & Democrat. We need to get ready to be punched in the face by the 'Dores. Are the Gamecock players ready? Are their leaders up to the challenge? Vandy will not roll over. Do the Cocks get that?

Bart Wright: Upstart Vandy wants a kick-start against Carolina.

Darryl Slater: Gamecocks gameplan for other Rodgers - from the Aiken Standard.

Brad Senkiw: Franklin's push at Vandy is admirable and Spurrier says he won't hold Lattimore back at Vanderbilt.

Bleacher Report: South Carolina Gamecocks HC Takes Care of Business on Thursdays and Vanderbilt 7-Point Underdog vs. Gamecocks.

The links keep rolling after The Jump and take a Fan Poll.

The Daily Gamecock: Spurrier amuses at press conference. Read about it from Assistant Sports Editor Paulina Berkovich.

Gamecocksonline: Of course, you can watch the presser here - Steve Spurrier's Weekly Press Conference Quotes. Plus - Gamecocks Practice Monday Night with notes and post-practice remarks from G.A., Bubba and Shaq.

Gamecock Anthem: Adam Garrett has Monday's Practice Report: Gamecocks special teams set.

Spur of the Moment: Spurrier on Lattimore's workload, doubling up on punter numbers and why noise probably won't affect USC.

Sports Talk Radio: Mangus gives Shaw green light to go at quarterback.

Ron Morris: Spurrier in rhythm with Shaw.

WACH-TV: Former Gamecock Eric Norwood no longer with Panthers. Tough break for Eric, but I feel pretty confident that some team will quickly claim the former 2010 4th round pick off of waivers. Never forget, just how fickle the NFL is. Getting a degree is a player's best insurance against a rocky pro career; Eric can be proud he stayed to earn his.

Leftover Hotdog: Billy, Flounder and Bryant engage in a Gamecocks Great Debate: A Successful Season.

Life of a Gamecock: Marcus Lattimore DEFINES Priceless. Zachariah definitely has a different style than Adam.

Cocky Country: In case you've been in a 28 Days Later-esque coma, Katie has a Friendly Reminder: CAROLINA FOOTBALL STARTS THURSDAY. She also has some good notes.

Gamecock Basketball

Palmetto Recruiting: 6-1 Tarik Phillip of New York City remains at home while his transcript and test scores are reviewed by USC admissions. We can keep our fingers crossed, but this sort of thing never looks good.

Loose Feed

The Macon Telegraph: Georgia still waiting for word on SEC schedule beyond '12 Greg McGarity is already scheming. Should we be worried? Of course not! Greg is our friend too! I hope Ray Tanner is taking notice.

Saturday Down South: SDS’ 2012 SEC Predictions. I think Jon really feels Marcus will be the "come back player of the year" but politically has to pick Knile Davis.

NBC Sports: Big 12, SEC to show more replays on stadium video boards. I'm not sure the SEC officials are going to want to see some of their questionable calls on the big board.

Sports Talk Radio: Brian Rauf writes about the same thing - Your stadium experience is about to change.

Dr. Saturday: Oh, yeah - this will work - Florida to alternate quarterbacks in the first and second quarters.

The Sporting News: Oh, yeah - this will really work, too - To help clean up sport, NCAA should ban unofficial visits. DeCourcy is a basketball guy, but I think this is a dumb idea in any sport; and basing part of the argument on how *unfair* it is for poor kids versus kids whose families can pay for travel is beyond dumb.