The Gamecocks – Won Anyway
For the first time in ages keeping the faith was worth it as a Gamecock Fan.
For the first time at the end of a bowl game I haven’t heard anyone say “we’ll get them next year”. If anything we’re saying “we’ll get them even better next year”. (See my pre-season post “Is This Year Finally Next Year”?”)
It wasn’t easy or always pretty. We were highly anticipated because of our senior quarterback and heisman-candidate running back. We won without either. Or as they say, we “won anyway”.
The first 11 win season in Gamecocks history looked a little bit different than any of the others. Instead of finishing the season with a team that didn’t really seem to care, you can see the passion in the play. I have more excitement around our formerly backup QB than any I’ve seen with USC. He’s got skill but more importantly he can be trusted with the ball to do the right thing.
We didn’t quite get that SEC ring that we hoped for, but this wasn’t the year. We’re the dominant team in the SEC east and it doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere but up.
So without a twinge of disappointment we can all look forward to saying “we WILL get them next year”.
Watch this epic video of the 2011 bowl game and season wrap-up. A must view for all Gamecocks fans.
Nice 2011 SEC / Gamecocks Schedule Wallpapers
Since most of us stare at a computer all day, might as well stare at your favorite SEC team’s schedule and memorize all the teams that you will be beating*
*this applies to S.Carolina fans only.
Here’s a link to a full roster of SEC teams
Here are the Gamecocks wallpaper links
USC Gamecocks: Is This Year Finally ‘Next Year’?
It was a familiar story. Watching a bowl game that wasn’t the one we should be in slip away quickly, capping a season that we consider great, but others consider good. And the familiar phrase “we’ll get ‘em next year.”
Is 2012 finally the “next year” Gamecocks fans always talk about? The one with an SEC Championship, a BCS bowl, or even something better? According to the LA Times (Get Cocky, South Carolina) and The Bleacher Report (S. Carolina defeats Oregon for National Championship) it just may be. Even the more sane predictions look good.
So what’s an experienced Gamecocks Fan to make of all of this? For me, I’m going to look at things differently for once.
A Year Without Lowered Expectations.
As a Gamecocks fan it’s always best to lower your expectations. Don’t get too excited. Assume we’ll start strong and then collapse. Or if we don’t assume we’ll make it to the big game and then implode. But what if, for once, we just believed? If we were to just assume we’ll win (like the fans of perennial college football powerhouses do) and we don’t win, so what? I’m pretty certain my thinking we’ve got a winner won’t have any effect on if we win, so why not enjoy the season.
We’ve played the underdog role before. It hasn’t really helped. Maybe this year we’re the team to beat.
A unique opportunity that comes along very rarely (and even more rarely for Gamecocks fans) of having the right players and the right schedule to win the toughest conference in college football. In the past I’ve looked the schedule up and down figuring out how we can recover from a Florida loss or a Bama loss. But not this year. This year I’m going to expect the win, not be surprised.
And this year, unlike so many others, our season isn’t defined by beating Clemson. Sure it would be awesome, but the ultimate prize should now be the ultimate prize. The SEC Championship ring. Clemson has little to do with that. Beating them but not winning it all will hopefully be a disappointment, not a consolation prize.
So I’m going to be the confident Gamecocks fan this year. What has a fan got to lose? Disappointment? Been there already. We’ve got one of the best teams in the land. If we meet our potential and play with the one thing we have had that other teams haven’t as much – heart – I hope that when it’s all said and done we’ll be able to say:
“We got ‘em THIS year.”
Video: Gamecocks Stun #1 Alabama
A quick video/picture montage I put together from the day that will live in infamy in South Carolina for many years to come.
Clemson Tigers Tackle Another Cupcake Schedule?
Perhaps a tad unfair…though they do start out with a laughable first few games and play in the perennially weak ACC…but ESPN seems to think Clemson has the most laughable schedule in college football this year. I tend not to agree, but if ESPN says something bad about Clemson, it’s likely I need to agree. Soon enough they’ll get back to blatantly pulling against the Gamecocks on our ESPN games and fainting when the Tigers brush that stupid rock.
“It would be tempting to say Wisconsin has this year’s phoniest cupcake-enhanced sked, but that distinction goes to Clemson: The Tigers open by hosting North Texas, which is on a 5-31 streak, then the next week host Division I-AA Presbyterian, which finished 0-11 in 2009, including a 34-point defeat by Elon. Here is Clemson’s schedule — that’s the real schedule, not a spoof.”
Read more at ESPN’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback Eats Some Cupcakes
Why College Football is Better than NFL
Now here’s a bitter rivalry that happens every year that no one’s ever going to win. I fall into the “College” football camp, myself, but if I were to explain why, clearly, it’s so much better than the NFL, I don’t think I could do it better than this article (the included image doesn’t have anything to do with the article, don’t worry).
Excerpt – #4 Lack of Parity
Parity sucks. Parity’s great in the sense that “every team has a chance”, but that’s where its virtues end. With parity, teams are less spectacular, teams are better matched, and consequently, the play is less exciting. Parity means that punt returns are stopped after five yards, that linebackers never block field goals, and that a running game is effectively neutralized by an opposing defense……..
………A lack of parity means there are Davids and Goliaths. But occasionally, the underdogs make a miracle happen (hello, Appalachian State!) that resonates so profoundly that it serves as a reminder of why it’s not always best when teams are evenly matched week-in and week-out.
Whining About the Papa John’s Bowl
Updated 1/3/09
Well, a poor performance in a lackluster bowl secured the Gamecocks second disappointing bowl performance in two years, with the years also being mediocre at best.
Here’s the commentary on the eye-closingly poor performance in the post season.
We might have had an excuse in last year’s Outback Bowl. For this one, there’s no explanation according to Ron Morris.
20,000 Gamecocks fans show up for the PapaJohn’s.com Bowl. Gamecocks offense doesn’t.
What more really can be said here, we didn’t even play the game. It was boring and humiliating. Again, as is customary for Gamecocks fans to say, we’ll get ‘em next year. Maybe our new Offensive line coach will help (yes, we did have an offensive line coach this year).
Well, it looks all but settled the Gamecocks will be bowlin’ at the Papa John’s Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. Considering the mostly lackluster season we had, I should be grateful. And with the possibility of an 8-5 season rather than what could’ve been a 6-7 at worst, we should take it. See The State story here. Update: Or did things just get more interesting?
But, just like the stupid Papa John’s Pineapple pizza, I don’t have to like it.
Perhaps if I whine loud enough they’ll decide they don’t want us. Or at least I can get free pizza coupons for being an unhappy customer.
If you haven’t heard much of the Papa John’s Bowl, here’s a brief top ten overview of it…and why I don’t want it long time. This is a crappy list, I know. So is the bowl. But I’ll feel better afterwards.
—————————————————–
1) Last year’s game – Rutgers beat NC State.
Rutgers and NC State last year had a combined 3-11 record the first half of the season. In 2006, powerhouses South Florida and East Carolina duked it out for the golden pepperoni.
2). Technically the name is the PapaJohns.com Bowl. It isn’t even the pizza place, it’s just their website.
3) On the brightside, that empty corner might get more use if we’re playing. Oh wait, it’s in Birmingham. Yes, this is actually a photo from the official Papa Johns Bowl website. Perhaps Connecticut travels well?
4) It’s on January 2nd.
The only upside is that in previous years, it was on Dec. 22 and Dec. 29. Everyone’s still asleep on January 2nd from the New Year’s games, getting rested up for the BCS games. Mainly I’m whining because I’m going to have to take an extra day off work. (oh that’s a Saturday. Well…I drive really slow ok.)
5) USC will likely play the winner of the Connecticut-South Florida game. Assuming one of them scores by Jan. 2nd. Does the plot thicken and USC ends up playing a top 25 team??
6) Spurrier on the bowl inciting confidence - “But if it is Birmingham, that’s certainly fine with all of us.”
7) If we lose I’m going to punish myself with eating Papa John’s crust plain without any garlic butter sauce on it for a year.
8 ) It’s the lowest rated SEC Bowl tie-in. While Papa John’s may be better the next day, SEC leftovers aren’t so great.
9) Actually this is an upside, at least we’re not the cheaper half of the pizza bowl rivalry.
10) Another upside, if we end up winning, Clemson can save face and say they lost to the PapaJohns.com Bowl Champion Gamecocks.
Bonus – this also is a picture from the Papa Johns Bowl website. This bowl may be alright after all. Go Gamecocks!
Great. Catch.
Saw this sweet play online and had to post it. Check it out from many angles…as you can see even if you’re not the intended recipient, it pays to pay attention.
This just goes to show that the receivers are, indeed, as important as the QB…..
Posted from
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/11/07/video-the-catch/
ESPN’s Early College Football Bowl Predictions
Deja Vu for the Gamecocks? And apparently ESPN’s expecting quite a few things to change before the season’s out..neither Alabama or Texas Tech are playing in the National Championship…
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowlprojection?season=2008
| Bowl (Matchup) | Mark Schlabach | Bruce Feldman |
| FedEx BCS National Championship Game (BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2)
|
Florida vs. Penn State | Florida vs. Penn State |
| Tostitos Fiesta (BCS vs. BCS)
|
Texas Tech vs. Boise State | Utah vs. Oklahoma |
| Allstate Sugar (BCS vs. BCS)
|
Alabama vs. Texas | Alabama vs. Boise State |
| FedEx Orange (BCS vs. BCS)
|
Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia | Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia |
| Rose Bowl presented by Citi (BCS vs. BCS)
|
USC vs. Ohio State | USC vs. Texas |
| GMAC (C-USA vs. MAC)
|
Rice vs. Ball State | Houston vs. Central Michigan |
| International (Big East vs. MAC)
|
Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan | Connecticut vs. Western Michigan |
| AutoZone Liberty (C-USA vs. SEC)
|
Tulsa vs. Vanderbilt | Tulsa vs. Vanderbilt |
| AT&T Cotton (Big 12 vs. SEC)
|
Oklahoma vs. LSU | Missouri vs. Georgia |
| Konica Minolta Gator (ACC vs. Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame)
|
Maryland vs. Notre Dame | Florida State vs. Notre Dame |
| Capital One (SEC vs. Big Ten)
|
Georgia vs. Michigan State | LSU vs. Michigan State |
| Outback (Big Ten vs. SEC)
|
Northwestern vs. South Carolina | Ohio State vs. South Carolina |
| Chick-fil-A (SEC vs. ACC)
|
Mississippi vs. Florida State | Mississippi vs. North Carolina |
| Insight (Big 12 vs. Big Ten)
|
Nebraska vs. Iowa | Nebraska vs. Northwestern |
| Gaylord Hotels Music City (ACC vs. SEC)
|
Virginia vs. Kentucky | Miami (FL) vs. Kentucky |
| Brut Sun (Pac-10 vs. Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame)
|
Oregon State vs. Kansas | California vs. Kansas |
| Bell Helicopter Armed Forces (Mountain West vs. C-USA)
|
Air Force vs. Marshall | Brigham Young vs. Rice |
| Pacific Life Holiday (Pac-10 vs. Big 12)
|
California vs. Oklahoma State | Arizona vs. Texas Tech |
| Texas (Big 12 vs. C-USA)
|
Rutgers vs. Memphis | Colorado vs. San Jose State |
| Roady’s Humanitarian (WAC vs. ACC)
|
Fresno State vs. Wake Forest | Louisiana Tech vs. Maryland |
| Valero Alamo (Big Ten vs. Big 12)
|
Minnesota vs. Missouri | Minnesota vs. Oklahoma State |
| PapaJohns.com (Big East vs. SEC)
|
Connecticut vs. Troy | Pittsburgh vs. Troy |
| Independence (SEC vs. Big 12)
|
Arkansas State vs. Louisville | Arkansas State vs. Kansas State |
| Emerald (Pac-10 vs. ACC)
|
Arizona vs. Virginia Tech | Wake Forest vs. Oregon State |
| Champs Sports (ACC vs. Big Ten)
|
Miami (FL) vs. Illinois | Virginia Tech vs. Iowa |
| Meineke Car Care (Big East vs. ACC)
|
Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina | South Florida vs. Boston College |
| Motor City (MAC vs. Big Ten)
|
Central Michigan vs. Wisconsin | Ball State vs. Illinois |
| Sheraton Hawaii (WAC vs. Pac-10)
|
Hawaii vs. Clemson | Hawaii vs. Stanford |
| San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia (Mountain West vs. Pac-10)
|
Utah vs. Louisiana Tech | Colorado State vs. Nevada |
| R+L Carriers New Orleans (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
|
Houston vs. Louisiana-Lafayette | Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette |
| Eagle Bank Bowl (ACC vs. Navy)
|
Boston College vs. Navy | Virginia vs. Navy |
| Pioneer Las Vegas (Mountain West vs. Pac-10)
|
TCU vs. Oregon | TCU vs. Oregon |
| St. Petersburg (Big East vs. C-USA)
|
South Florida vs. East Carolina | Cincinnati vs. UTEP |
| New Mexico (WAC vs. Mountain West)
|
San Jose State vs. Brigham Young | Rutgers vs. Air Force |
