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Mark Bradley

Steve Spurrier on a rampage: Rips a columnist, dumps Garcia

2:06 pm October 11, 2011, by Mark Bradley

Here's Steve Spurrier, hard at work. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)

Here's Steve Spurrier, working hard on his public image. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)

Having once received a handwritten letter from Steve Spurrier in which I, humble scribe, was described using a term most often reserved for the barnyard, I know full well that the man with the massive ego isn’t above taking umbrage over the slightest of slights. So it was with some amusement that I learned of the fit he threw in the direction of the State’s Ron Morris today.

Short version: The Evil Genius walked into his weekly press conference and ripped into Morris, who was sitting in the room. (Information is provided by WISTV.com, which also offers a helpful video of Spurrier’s bizarre spiel.) The E.G. informed the assembled media that he needed to “get something off my chest.” He then took Morris to task for a column he’d written this spring on Spurrier’s “borrowing” of Bruce Ellington from the South Carolina basketball program. Morris’ description of the E.G.’s “courting” of Ellington, was, quoth Spurrier, “a fabrication.”

So Spurrier offered the rest of the media this one-time-0nly deal: He’d go off elsewhere and do one-on-ones with the TV stations, and when he returned he’d brief the print/Internet folks. Only trouble was, Morris was there when the E.G. made his reappearance. So Spurrier left, his rationale being that he wasn’t going to help Morris write negative things about his program.

I’ve seen this Spurrier in action, and it’s at odds with the usual plainspoken and entertaining E.G. Before the SEC title game in 1994 here, he refused to answer — or even take — a question from Larry Guest, then the columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Guest and Spurrier had had a running contretemps, and it was my use of a printed Guest nugget that prompted the handwritten note mentioned by Mark Bowden in his New Yorker profile of Spurrier. (The nugget: Guest wrote that Spurrier sought to have a Gainesville Sun beat writer reassigned after the writer gave Auburn’s Terry Bowden the edge over the E.G. in one of those matchup-box things.)

For the record, I enjoy watching Spurrier in interview mode. (Who doesn’t?) I don’t enjoy it when a big-time coach tries to bigfoot a local writer. Mr. Morris is a fully accredited member of the media. He has every right to be sitting where he was. It’s part of the job. For the E.G. to decide, apparently after months of stewing, that he’d make a big deal of an old column was the height of unprofessionalism, not to mention immaturity.

Let’s also note the timing: Spurrier didn’t make his strange little stand after his Gamecocks had gotten whipped by Auburn. He did it a week later, after South Carolina had beaten Kentucky 54-3. Funny how that worked.

And for those who are saying: “Bradley, you just hate Spurrier because he called you a bad name?” … for the record, I don’t hate him. But I get called bad names on this little blog on a daily basis and I have, via necessity, developed a thick skin. The E.G. would be well served to do the same.

Oh, and that wasn’t the only strange news emanating from Columbia today: In a statement, South Carolina announced that the oft-suspended and recently deposed quarterback Stephen Garcia is no longer a Gamecock. We can only assume Garcia’s final offense was in saying, “You know, Ron Morris is a really fine writer.”

By Mark Bradley

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316 comments Add your comment

Fire Mark Richt

October 12th, 2011
11:57 pm

Spurrier hasn’t had much success as a “HBC” since 2000 or so. After the 16-13 loss to Auburn, the writer in question called out Spurrier’s coaching and poor clock management (including wasting a crucial timeout when the clock was stopped). But Spurrier can’t really complain about that, because that’s the writer’s job and his legitimate opinion. So he picks an obscure, previously ignored article from March that may contain a misstatement of fact and uses it as justification for blackballing the writer. Strange…

shmoe

October 13th, 2011
12:06 am

Mark Bradley,

Spurrier has only twice had to confront what he calls ‘fabrication’ in the last 26 years. I highly doubt that in the last 26 years, he had called out every single negative article ever written about him.

Having lived in Columbia for 6 years, I know first hand the kind of hack writing Morris puts out. He hates life. He hates the Gamecocks. If Spurrier says Morris made up a story about what happened with Ellington, I believe him. You’re also a hack, Mark Bradley, but at least you are humorous from time to time and you don’t take yourself too seriously. You do have that going for you. Morris does not, he is all sour grapes.

Spurrier is an arse, he is arrogant, and he is a lot of other things. But he is not a cheater, nor is he a liar. Maybe you should step out of your self-righteous bubble and stop defending your other hack, “fully accredited” journalist peers. Believe me, being “fully accredited” does not mean a darn thing in this world. The writers at Bulldog blog at SB Nation and Talking Chop write far better sports articles than anyone on this site besides DOB.

That is all.

shmoe

October 13th, 2011
12:10 am

The idiocy of this article and the blindingly ignorant comments are overwhelming.

shmoe

October 13th, 2011
12:18 am

“Fully accredited”…what a joke.

Your writing is an insult to my intelligence. Morris is a “journalist” (and I use the term VERY loosely) going through journalistic menopause. Maybe you are too, Bradley?

Spurrier doesn’t mind people writing negative stuff about him. Heck, it must have happened a million times. You think he gives a crap when people like Morris or you give their opinions? It’s when someone slanders and writes something not based on any kind of fact. You would have a problem with it too, you all would.

Please spare the “fully accredited” nonsense. Titles more often hide a lack a quality. Is every doctor created equal?

Please.

Thomas Brown

October 13th, 2011
1:01 am

Spencer Ware I was watching Saturday. Will Blackwell Jersey # 60, a senior, was up in the face of some gator-chomping Florida defensive linemen. Ware, a sophomore, whose freshman season was really about a handful of carries, if that, last season – a wasted year in other words, hustles over to Will Blackwell, grabs him by the scruff of his neck, and shoves him back into the huddle. LSU, with Spencer Ware leading the way with a QB controversy that has mesmerized the nation, does a lot more for LSU than just run the football. LSU has beat so far this season # 9 Oregon and # 13 West Virginia out of conference. Auburn is # 24, Arkansas # 10 and Alabama # 2 coming up for LSU. Spencer Ware had 100 yards vs Oregon, 100 yards vs West Virginia, 100 yards vs Florida and basically took the games off with Kentucky and Northwestern State getting 5 carries each game. I am sorry, but I vote Spencer Ware in the Top 3 Running Backs in The SEC, to-date, without question. But, then what do I know ? Spencer Ware is a Man. Why is UGA # 27 in wins after 2005 through today in won/loss ? This is the kind of leadership we do not have for The Georgia Bulldogs.

Snoop Dawg

October 13th, 2011
9:35 am

Snoop has observed that there is a lot of envy and jealousy in Georgia toward Steve Spurrier. Why? Because he has consistently made Georgia teams look inferior and inept. Spurrier has forgotten more about football than some mediocre or worse coach like Richt will ever know–regardless of how much he studies the “game of football.”

If Spurrier were the head ball coach at UGA, we would be consistently winning the SEC championship.

So stop your juvenile envy trash and recognize the man for who he is…

Ryan

October 13th, 2011
10:31 am

We know Bradley got his feelings hurt by John Smoltz years ago. Apparently Spurrier hurt his feelings almost 20 years ago, and Bradley
like a child holds that grudge. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Benito

October 13th, 2011
5:03 pm

Bradley as a writer it is expected for you to empathize with Ron Morris. Actually, sticking up for someone with the same profession that you have is to be admired. I don’t agree with you, but I respect you for protecting yourself and others like you.

That said, it is quite evident that Ron Morris has plenty of people that don’t favor him. And, this time I definitely support Spurrier.

Runnin With The Dawgs

October 13th, 2011
6:35 pm

Garcia should have been kicked off the Gamecocks long before now. He was a terrible role model for the kids of S.C.

Runnin With The Dawgs

October 13th, 2011
10:39 pm

I don’t see how Garcia stayed on the team as long as he did as much trouble as he stayed in.

Ryan Lea

October 14th, 2011
3:45 pm

Nice call Thomas Brown! Geaux Tigahs!

Really Bradley? Let it go. The E.G. is a just The G living out his years trying to improve his handicap and build a strong program from nothing. You are a twerp with nothing else to write about because the “Dawgs” have a lame duck coach in the midst of another mediocre year alongside an embarrassing Eastern Division. It’s okay to say you wish The G would have come to UGA rather than Columbia after DC…go ahead. Richt or The G? Who would you choose, Mark?

concern

October 14th, 2011
8:05 pm

Nothing would be better for Spurrier than another game with AU. After 3 loses to them in 13 months, maybe they could finally win.
Maybe time for coach to retire. Maybe better in golf. Then he can’t blame the QBs or anyone else. Ok maybe he would.

Phoot

October 15th, 2011
12:02 am

Bradley,

I don’t think you get it about the Garcia situation and the Morris situation. Garcia has had more than the average bear (Yogi Bear speak) share of chances to make it and Morris has far exceeded his share of criticism of the local team.

FloridaDawg

October 16th, 2011
12:21 am

I wouldn’t pay a dine to read The State on-line newspaper.
Nothing against the reporter. It’s just…. why would anyone PAY to read a newspaper on-line? They’re still over a hundred or so that haven’t gone out of business.

Domenic Racina

October 16th, 2011
3:59 am

Why do I always feel so sleepy after tennis. Zzzz

CFBFan

October 17th, 2011
10:40 am

Funny how you categorized this as a rampage…..he was very straight forward about what he wasn’t willing to do with Ron Morris in the room, but was not acting or saying anything unprofessional or immature. Just because he was finally tired of dealing with the guy who has written negative things for years about the SC football program, it was a rampage? Maybe you need to look up the definition of that word in your Webster’s before using it again. Here I’ll do it for you –

Verb:
(esp. of a large group of people) Rush around in a violent and uncontrollable manner.
Noun:
A period of violent and uncontrollable behavior, typically involving a large group of people.
Synonyms:
verb. rage – rave – storm
noun. fury – rage – rampancy – madness

Definitely not an applicable word in the particular situation. Again, just another reporter creating hype at the expense of others.

Steve Spurrier is definitely one thing that all of you media people have never been able to deal with….brutally honest.

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