“What We Have Here, is Failure to __”

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day, The University of South Carolina had the nation’s full attention as it was playing in the first New Years Day bowl game of 2009. What the country watched was a terrible football effort that was so bad, it turned into a public relations debacle for the states flagship university…not to mention the SEC.

Not only was the game over after USC’s first couple of offensive plays (interception and fumble), the team continued on with five turnovers, 100 penalty yards and body language that looked…well, like it did against Clemson.

Beyond the terrible effort on the field, the announcers made it even worse. The guys in the booth wouldn’t stop talking about our last two debacles (UF & Clemson). Further, they kept talking about the offensive legend, that can’t do anything with the Gamecocks offense.

The guys in the booth told the nation that one of our coaches said that USC is probably the most underachieving program in the country. Even the fact that after 100 years of football, Carolina has lost exactly as many games as it’s won was mentioned. No more. For 100+ years, Carolina is below .500 again.

I don’t blame the guys in the booth for saying what they did, as it’s true. I’m only saying that it’s awful to know that the country is hearing all of this negativity, while watching a USC beatdown.

To make matters worse, two juniors told The State that they would not be returning.

I hate to pile it on here, but it doesn’t help the shame that Spurrier gets a $100,000 bonus check because of the bowl bonus in his contract. I’m not saying he shouldn’t get it, because he’s being rewarded for getting the team to a bowl. But dern. It’s a little bit of a pill to swallow after such a embarrassment.

I feel sorry for the good fans that went to Tampa. Everyone should have stayed at home, including the team.