In the last few weeks we’ve watched the development flair up between USC’s Coach Spurrier and The State Newspaper’s Ron Morris. As a USC alumni and Gamecock fan this is frustrating to watch, at best. As a local fella that casually reads about his favorite college football team, but ‘gets’ the larger picture, it’s just plain awkward.
For the sake of time, I’ll touch on one instance of frustration. A few weeks ago Spurrier called Gamecock fans out for leaving the ballgame early. If you remember, it was a noon game, and as we all know the visitor’s side of Williams-Brice Stadium can get pretty sweaty. Morris, in turn, wrote a diddy about how USC should get out of the SEC if they don’t want to be forced into noon games.
Does Morris have a right to write such things? Sure. Should he? Depends on who you ask. Conversely, was Spurrier wrong in trying to whip up the base into staying in the stadium longer? No.
I’m typing about this single incident on purpose, as the accusation about poaching the basketball program for players is a, “He said, he said,” and the attempt to parallel Spurrier’s program to the debacle at Penn State is not much more than shock writing. I am, however, looping them all together as a, “What’s all this about?”
As I’ve typed before, Spurrier doesn’t need this. Sure, he loves coaching, winning, and we think he likes it here, but he’s been there and done ALL that. Like he said the other day, “I’ll head to the beach.” Who knows if he’d leave the program, but why are we even here??
Here’s where I’m coming from. We’ve got something going right now. Spurrier has changed the culture at Carolina, and we like it. USC’s brand has vaulted exponentially, which not only recruits football players, but more and better students, as well. Further, Columbia is a different city with a new atmosphere. Further still, as USC is South Carolina’s flagship university, we’re a different state.
Gamecock football is finally a force to be reckoned with, and quite frankly it’s a lot of fun. That said, constantly watching someone rip apart the root of what got us here is, honestly, is hard to watch. If one must write because that’s the job, that’s one thing. If one is writing for a “gotcha” story or shock value, that’s another. To illustrate, it’s like a crowbar in the cogs of the Gamecock fun factory. In sum, it’s a major BUZZ-KILL!
PS: One day we’ll see a bar in 5 Points named, “The Crow Bar,” or “CrowBar.” Not bad!!
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