Live from the SEC title game, now a place for Gamecocks
If I knew words to the South Carolina fight song, I'd sing it now. (Photo by M. Bradley)
Not that I have anything against Auburn fans — like I always say, Auburn fans are the best in the world! — but I begin today’s live proceedings with a special shout-out to the folks in garnet and black.
South Carolina, you are here.
I didn’t think your team could make it. Lee Corso didn’t think your team could make it. I’m sure there were times — probably in 2007 and 2008 when he was losing to Vandy — when Steve Spurrier didn’t think his team could make it. But here I sit in Ye Olde Dome, and there it is down below: “Carolina” painted in one end zone. (If you don’t believe, photographic evidence is supplied above.)
Auburn has been here before — three times, winning once. Arkansas has made it twice. Mississippi State has even graced this game, but until today the SEC East has always been represented by Florida, Tennessee or Georgia. (Most often the former, as I’m guessing you’re aware.) South Carolina taking its division isn’t quite like the Mets winning the World Series in 1969, but it’s not far off.
Fun with numbers: In its football, which dates to 1892, South Carolina has won 10 games in a season once — in 1984 under Joe Morrison, when it won at Notre Dame and Clemson but lost at Navy. It has won nine games twice — in 2001 under Lou Holtz and this season. It has won as many bowl games as a program (four) as Jim Donnan won in five seasons as Georgia’s coach. (And Donnan got fired, not long after Quincy Carter threw five interceptions and the Bulldogs lost at, ahem, South Carolina.)
The Gamecocks have won only one league championship — the ACC in 1969 — and they’re on their third league. Even this year they cut it close, nearly squandering a strong start by losing to Kentucky, which is difficult to do in any season, and then to Arkansas at home.
But they made it. The Evil Genius and his minions went to Gainesville and whomped the Urban Crier, and the other USC now finds itself in the A-T-L. And the nicest part about that is that long-suffering Gamecock fans suffer no longer.
It was one of life’s great mysteries, right up there with the riddle of Stonehenge and the popularity of Jay Leno: Why did Gamecock fans keep coming back? Their team was the unchallenged master of the cosmic flop, and yet Williams-Brice Stadium was always full. Any neutral who suggested a given year might actually be different for the garnet and black was met with a sneering dismissal from every SEC outpost save Columbia: “Have you never heard of the Chicken Curse?”
Turns out it took an Evil Genius to override the Chicken Curse. Turns out Spurrier knew what he was doing, even if it did take him a while to do it. Turns out South Carolina is playing today to win the conference that prides itself as the nation’s finest.
The Gamecocks aren’t supposed to win this game — I think they’ll prevail, not that I’m ever right about anything — but I’m guessing they don’t much care about perception. They weren’t supposed to get here at all.
And with that, the floor is again open for questions, comments and nominations for Gene Chizik as quipster of the year. I’ll be here all day, and I’d be obliged if you’d join me. And just so my Auburn pals don’t think I’m ignoring them … here’s a photo of the other end zone. War Eagle!
"War Eagle, fly down the field, ever to conquer, never to yield." (Photo by M. Bradley)
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983 comments Add your comment
JJhonson
December 4th, 2010
8:27 pm
Jeff- FU dude.
You call me out for what i posted even though it had nothing to do with you.
You then call me out for being arrogant and having no respect on this site…
You have no idea who i root for and what my experiences with Auburn team or fans are! but you are sure quick to try and bait me with your comments assuming i’m a UGA fan and demanding to know who i root for.
Get the F*CK over yourself and stop trying to be a bully on an a sports blog!
So don’t act all innocent a-hole.
Jeff
December 4th, 2010
8:28 pm
Classy JJ.
war SEC champ Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:28 pm
Dodger,
You mean like ealey in the parking deck?
War Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:28 pm
Hey Aubie’s Denial,
Where is the evidence that Auburn cheated? Enjoy the Liberty Bowl.
DodgerDAWG
December 4th, 2010
8:28 pm
Aubie’s Denial…surely you can do better than to plagerize a former US president…GET original
Crazydawg
December 4th, 2010
8:28 pm
Must admit you Tigers have a heluva Team. Don’t let some uga fans make us all look bad. Good luck in NC game.
lester
December 4th, 2010
8:31 pm
I’m really embarrased for the SEC that a dirty player and a filthly program will be representing our conference in the BCS title game… Go Ducks!
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:31 pm
I’m glad there are some UGA fans willing to look past one game with some bad hits, a fight and pull for Auburn. UGA fans should have a lot more disdain for Spurrier than AU. One ugly game doesn’t weigh more than the ol’ Ball Coach running up scores and saying derogatory things about UGA specifically for years. I had the same feeling last year having to pull for Bama to go all the way to the NC game. I always pull for UGA until late November when we play UGA.
War Eagle!
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:32 pm
Solicitation by a player or an agent makes a payer ineligible, except, for whatever reason (perhaps $20 million reasons to the SEC) in the Case of the Son of the Preacher Man. Ask a USC fan, or their AD, or the ACC commissioner who is asking for this to be reviewed again, or ESPN (many at ESPN), or Bama (who had a player suspended for merely attending a party), or A.J. Green (whose jersey, according to the math applied in the one day Newton suspension for 180K, around 5 million). Precedent says this season will be vacated. I ALWAYS pull for the SEC Champ, even Florida, but not this year. Most everyone except AU fans will become Duck fans on Jan 10, and this season will always have an asterik. One concession, what sucks is that you guys had to sit out the year USC cheated to get to the game, ya’ll got hosed in 04, this year you are getting the benefit of the SEC’s and the BCS’s thirst for dollars.
lester
December 4th, 2010
8:33 pm
Auburn Man- Don’t count on UGA fans to pull for Auburn anymore. When AU ran a clean program, you were like a beloved cousin across state lines. Now that you have a cheat running your offense and the dirtiest player in college football anchoring your defense, UGA doesn’t care for you anymore. You’re a stain on the conference.
Crazydawg
December 4th, 2010
8:33 pm
Fla St 10 & Va Tech 14 still in 1st..good game.
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:34 pm
Yeah Aubies Denial…I bet you would. Talk is cheap from the sanctimony of self riotousness.
Crazydawg
December 4th, 2010
8:34 pm
Lester you don’t speak for all Dawg fans, thank you!
lester
December 4th, 2010
8:35 pm
Auburn Man- Please use spellcheck. There is no such word as “riotousness”
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:35 pm
Lester, that comment wasn’t meant for you. I was speaking to those UGA fans of a higher breed than you that see the big picture.
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:37 pm
LOL….yeah well too many drinks. I usually catch such typos. Spell check on….
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:37 pm
Auburn Man, one of the best times I had while at UGA was after Bo ran all over us. We partied with you guys all night. Used to respect AU, but the blind loyalty, and the lack of integrity, is an embarassment to the greatest conference in the game, and, it is an embarassment to the greatest game America has. AU should fess up, bow out, and start playing by the rules.
mcmansion
December 4th, 2010
8:37 pm
The notion that UGA fans actually give a sh*t about Auburn is crazy. Auburn is full of kids from Cobb county that didn’t get into UGA, but still wanted to go to an SEC school. You’ll always be the little brother for Alabama and also for UGA.
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:38 pm
Kind of weakens the point when misspelled. I guess you got it though.
If
December 4th, 2010
8:39 pm
Cam Newton wore a G on his helmet, all you would hear from Ga fans was how Cam and Ga were being persecuted just like with AJ.
lester
December 4th, 2010
8:40 pm
The “big picture” is this. We all play in the same conference. When your AD decides to let a kid play football at your school AFTER that player’s family has admitted trying to extort money in a pay – for – play scam, then YOUR school and the conference loses credibility. Cam Newton is a stain on the conference. Your team is good enough to win without him and thats exactly what you should have done.
What a joke
December 4th, 2010
8:40 pm
Aubie’s Denial, Gosh, I didn’t know you was GOD. So smart and having judgement powers over all.
A Former Auburn Fan
December 4th, 2010
8:40 pm
I hope coach Dye can get that slease off of him that $Cam left there when he hugged him.
War Freakin Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:40 pm
YEAH. we aint done nothing since 2004 but now we are bad.
Hope the FBI and NCAA don’t dig too deep.
We are the best. Just ask us!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:41 pm
Sorry if this is a second post, last one didn’t take . . . . one of my favorite memories is partying with AU fans after Bo ran all over us. And when ya’ll scored on that fourth down thing in Athens, and beat us and Shockley, did it again. Have always enjoyed the AU UGA thing. But, AU fans need to demand integrity. Winning is worth any price and IF this thing turns into what it looks like its going to, AU is embarassing the conference and the entire game. Sorry Auburn man, but that’s how I feel, and, how many SEC fans feel. Newton is awesome, sad what his father did to him . . .
What a joke
December 4th, 2010
8:41 pm
Ok, now Lester thanks he’s God.
If
December 4th, 2010
8:41 pm
Typical for Ga fans though, when they are up they sneer at everyone below them, and when they are down they denigrate everyone above them.
Pat Dye
December 4th, 2010
8:41 pm
Did you all see how yellow my bald spot is? I wonder if I have some kind of disease.
War Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:41 pm
mcmansion,
Cobb County if full of kids who didn’t want to go to that cesspool of filth in Athens. There are thousands of Auburn grads in Atlanta who decided to go to Auburn. Have fun at the Liberty Bowl.
lester
December 4th, 2010
8:42 pm
AJ sold a jersey for $1000 and UGA asked him sit out 4 games.
Cam’s father tried to extort $180,000 from Miss State and the AU athletic department decides that no punishment is necessary.
That is the difference between a clean program and a filthy program.
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:42 pm
mcmansion… maybe if your parents hadn’t bought the mcmansion they could have afforded the out of state tuition to AU instead a Hope scholarship to UGA.
smart dawg
December 4th, 2010
8:42 pm
When did Pat Dye become a saint?
War Freakin Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:44 pm
Aubie’s Denial it is embarassing that you don’t know how to spell embarrassing.
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:44 pm
What a joke . . . turn on ESPN, or listen to the ACC commissioner, or Pay Hayden at USC. People all over this country are amazed at the NCAA and SEC’s lack of action . . . . you might not like it, but, it is what it is. Its a shame too, I actually feel sorry for you guys. Having such a great season go to waste, as it will, eventually. Worse, for all those guys who played with SCam this year. They will be punished for the good Rev’s actions . . .
mcmansion
December 4th, 2010
8:45 pm
“There are thousands of Auburn grads in Atlanta who decided to go to Auburn”
Yeah, that decided to go to Auburn the day after their rejection letter from Athens arrived. Ask anyone up in Cobb or North Fulton from Walton, Lassiter, Chattahoochee, Milton high etc. Auburn is everyone’s “backup” school. I’m not trying to insult you, this is just life.
Ga fans
December 4th, 2010
8:45 pm
from winners on the field to whiners on the blogs
ummmm.... lester?
December 4th, 2010
8:45 pm
And you think UGA is clean?
Wow… what color is the sky in your fantasy world???
There is no evidence anywhere that Auburn has done anything wrong. Not one single solitary shred of evidence.
I know you desperately want to believe it, thinking that somehow, some way it redeems the loss the bulldawgs suffered at the hands of a superior Auburn team, but it’s not going to happen.
The bitterness in you is festering. Let go of it. You’ll feel better.
WDE
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:45 pm
Agreed War Eagle!!!!
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:46 pm
Pay Dye wasn’t a saint when he was at UGA, glad he left!!!!!!!!!!!!
mcmansion?
December 4th, 2010
8:47 pm
Your ignorance is showing.
So you really thing someone would get rejected by Athens and then spend thousands more per year in out-of-state tuition to go to Auburn???
You’re not REALLY that stupid, are you?
War Freakin Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:47 pm
We all have the same name. Must be an inbread thing in Alabama.
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:48 pm
Now that’s funny War Freakin Eagle, I don’t care who you are, that’s funny!
War Eagle
December 4th, 2010
8:49 pm
Hey Lester,
And Saint Richt had the Thugs stomp on the logo at Auburn and start the fight at the end of the game.
The SEC and the NCAA cleared Auburn and Cam. Get over it and deal with 6 and 6!
mcmansion
December 4th, 2010
8:49 pm
“There is no evidence anywhere that Auburn has done anything wrong. Not one single solitary shred of evidence.”
Cecil has already admitted to trying to extort money from colleges where Cam would play. No one said that Auburn paid anything to anyone. However, you are allowing a slime bag extortion artist to play football at YOUR school. If you don’t think that is dirty, then I can’t help you. The rest of the country, excluding Montgomery AL area, thinks its dirty.
Aubie's Denial?
December 4th, 2010
8:50 pm
I watched the entire game and listened to the commentators not only remarking on the decisions by the NCAA and the SEC, but heard them also agreeing and saying it was the right thing to do.
You obviously have selective hearing and well as tunnel vision.
I think the kool-aid is starting to take its toll. Back away from the bar, kiddo.
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
8:50 pm
6-6 is better than 0-14 War Eagle, its only a matter of time.
I am still in jail
December 4th, 2010
8:51 pm
Hey Bulldog Nation,
I am still in the Auburn Jail after setting fire to Toomer’s corner after my Dogs got whipped in Auburn. I missed spending Thanksgiving with my family and I am afraid if someone from the Bulldog Nation doesn’t come bail me out, I might miss Christmas.
Please come bail me out and Go Dawgs!
The Bulldog fan who set fire to Toomer’s Corner
mcmansion?
December 4th, 2010
8:51 pm
Cecil Newton admitted nothing of the kind. Get your facts right. He only admitted to having discussions with Rogers. For all you know, it was the MSU booster (Bell) who initiated the discussions and was offering money.
Wow, you really ARE dumb!
Auburn Man
December 4th, 2010
8:51 pm
Aubie’s Denial I’m sorry but UGA losing to Colorado did far more to embarrass the SEC than anything AU did. Seems to me the people who have the strongest feelings about the Cam story are very far from the facts. The people who investigate say no foul but Bubba from Georgia says he knows better. If you think UGA has never been on the wrong side of cheating then you’re naive. The FBI looked around this and if you think they couldn’t see a 200K influx of cash to a broke out of business church and /or preacher then you must be better than the FBI at investigation such matters.
tony from marietta
December 4th, 2010
8:52 pm
I’m perplexed that anyone would deny that kids from Atlanta use Auburn as their backup school. This is common knowledge.