Lunchable Links 8/28

About as in-depth on Nick Saban as you're gonna get right here. [GQ]

Follow up: Are Bama fans bored with winning? [Wall Street Journal]

Crazy situation for C.J. Spiller. No timetable for his return to Bills yet. [CBS Sports]

"I've talked to defensive coaches. These guys are actually practicing faking injuries in practice."--Kirk Herbstreit [AL.com]

Titus Young Is A Sad Disaster [Deadspin]

Rolling Stone offering up some teasers on their upcoming investigative report on Aaron Hernandez. Fact checkers must be getting some overtime. [Rolling Stone]

College Football's Most Dominant Player? ESPN. [NY Times]

Elliot Johnson of the Braves breaking triple down like a NASCAR driver. Pretty funny.  [via Deadspin]



Breaking Bad in 2 hours. (Seasons 1-4)....new ones are on demand






ONE. MORE. DAY.

A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE

A new book sheds light on one of the nastiest, most unpredictable rivalries in college football.What follows is an excerpt of what happened after a 12-6 Carolina win in 1902. The Gamecocks snapped a four-game losing streak against the Tigers, but what happened after the game could have potentially derailing the rivalry forever.

After the game, joyous Carolina students celebrated downtown by unveiling a large transparency that depicted a Gamecock crowing over a wounded Tiger. Clemson cadets were not amused, and a bloody confrontation followed after they tore down the image. The Carolina side claimed later that cadets brandished swords and wounded two students. The Clemson side claimed later that Carolina students brandished brass knuckles and inflicted injuries. The account from Charleston’s News and Courier read:

The South Carolina College boys were naturally very happy to-night. They had a great jubilee as the result of their victory over Clemson College. About 9 o’clock there came near being a serious row between the Clemson and Carolina boys. The South Carolina College boys had a large transparency with a tiger representing the Clemson team and a game cock on top of this tiger. The tiger had a twist in its tail. The South Carolina College boys were marching down Main street with the transparency when a body of Clemson boys rushed into the South Carolina College boys’ ranks to capture the offending display. It was not ten seconds before a good row was going on. Sticks were in use and the South Carolina boys were incensed because one of the Clemson boys struck one of their number over the head with his drawn sword.

The cadets issued an ultimatum: don’t dare bring a similar transparency to the popular Elks parade the next night. Carolina’s students did not oblige, redrawing the image on another piece of cloth and displaying it at the parade. The series of events that followed was disputed between the two sides, but it was generally accepted that Clemson’s cadets marched to Carolina’s campus with swords and bayonets drawn. A vastly outnumbered group of Carolina students, armed with shotguns and pistols, barricaded themselves behind the eight- foot walls that surrounded the Horseshoe. Jerome Reel, the Clemson historian, says the fault was clearly with the cadets. “They were hot-headed and inflamed. The Carolina kids were very proud, and they taunted them. It’s the nature of kids. And the reaction was an overreaction: ‘Fix bayonets and march.’”

James Rion McKissic, a Carolina sophomore who would later become the school’s president, was armed with a handgun. A fellow student told him, “Make every shot count.” The two sides were seething and on the verge of a bloody—and, very likely, deadly—riot.

From the mayhem, a peacemaker emerged in Christie Benet, who’d helped coach the Gamecocks to the exhilarating victory a day earlier. He climbed to the top of the wall and offered to fight any cadet to settle the dispute. There were no takers, so Benet climbed down to Clemson’s side and tried to arbitrate. A six-person committee was formed with three men from each side. The committee suggested burning the cloth transparency, and Carolina’s side reluctantly agreed.

The event did not create much of a splash in the next day’s newspaper. A short story with the headline “They’ve Buried the Hatchet” ran on page eight of The State, and it painted a picture of a warm, amicable resolution between the two sides: “Every member of the two committees applied a match to the cause of the trouble. Quickly the flames ate their way into the painted cloth and finally the last shreds fell to the ground in darkness and silence. Three cheers were given by Clemson for Carolina and were returned heartily.”

But more details began to surface about the incident, and Carolina students weren’t happy to hear that the cadets trumpeted themselves as the victor of the altercation by virtue of the burned image. Benet, who would later become a U.S. senator, wrote a letter to The State presenting his account of the episode, and the story gained momentum. An editorial ran in Monday’s paper chastising Clemson’s cadets while also calling for the retirement of Clemson’s commandant of cadets, Lieutenant E.A. Sirmyer, for abetting the “raid” by disappearing after the cadets announced their intentions to march on campus. The editorial credited Benet and the other arbitrators for averting a disaster that “probably” would’ve resulted in deaths.

“The colleges of the State are not enemies of the other, and they should not be permitted to appear as enemies. Fair rivalry in sports should not provoke bitterness nor should its results breed hatred. Harmony between those who are alike the beneficiaries of the State should be demanded.”

The flames were fanned further after Clemson president P.H. Mell wrote a letter to The State providing a different account of events while also staunchly defending Sirmyer. The State published a lengthy editorial the same day disputing a number of Mell’s points, asserting that there was “no excuse” for marching on Carolina’s campus and nothing insulting in the transparency.

“One shot fired them would have brought on a battle, and perhaps dozens of the young men for whom South Carolina is providing an education would have fallen in death upon the grass of the campus.”

A number of other newspapers across the state joined in the condemnation of Clemson and its commandant. Some historians would later argue that The State’s sensationalism made an innocuous confrontation seem much worse than it was. Carolina’s trustees later elected to suspend the series, and the Gamecocks and Tigers would not play again until 1909.

But had Clemson’s cadets and Carolina’s students truly lost their tempers that Friday night after the big game, a budding rivalry might not have simply been put on hold but lost forever.

"Classic Clashes of the Carolina-Clemson Football Rivalry: A State of Disunion” by Travis Haney and Larry Williams is available at www.historypress.com, www.amazon.com, or any bookstore.

I'm Thankful For....

Instead of me going on and on about what I’m thankful for this year, I decided to devote my space this week for others to vent before the holiday. Thank you. I agree, that’s quite a gesture on my part. But there’s always what was really said, and what we know they wanted to say. So to celebrate the Thanksgiving season, I’ve compiled the Thanksgiving edition of “What We Wish They Said”.

“And y’all gave me hell about some tattoos. Told ya it could’ve been worse!”- Jim Tressel, currently consulting for the 0-10 Indianapolis Colts, former Ohio State head coach, ’02 BCS National Champion, 12x Coach of the Year


“They just boys bein’ boys, man. We over here poppin’ bottles, puffin’ Bubble Kush and paying dimes for a good time, then you got Sandusky towel fightin’ and showering with little leaguers? What the hell that white dude thinkin’? Now dat is a lack of institutional control!” –Nevin Shapiro, Ponzi schemer, convicted felon and Miami booster who allegedly gave $2 million in illegal benefits to athletes at the University of Miami. Side note: Miami this past weekend removed themselves from bowl eligibility because of the violations; their game on Saturday versus Boston College will be their season finale.


“Honey, I’m gonna be gone for a few days. With the economy like this I can’t currently afford Christmas presents just yet, so I’ll be in Atlanta for a bit. If there’s any game a gullible Georgia fan will pay 4x the ticket price to see live it’ll be this one.” --Every third-party ticket seller for the SEC Championship game as the Georgia Bulldogs--and their fans--head to the Georgia Dome playing the “nobody believes in us!” card.


“Really guys, NC State?!?!?! Are you trying to get me killed?!?! You know it’s a contract year for me!! If you don’t get your act together and make everybody think I’m a good coach again I’m going to throw a fit every day during bowl week. That’s right, a first rate hissy fit. You got that?!?!” –Dabo Swinney, Head coach of the Clemson Tigers, who somehow fumbled their way out of national title contention. Programming alert: If you are from the Southeast you already know to replace ‘somehow’ with ‘predictably’.


“Jay Cutler broke his thumb!!! Jay Cutler broke his thumb!!! Our season might be saved after all!” – Any member of the Atlanta Falcons organization or fan base


“God bless you.”–Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos quarterback, former Florida Gator, and all-around great guy who stands for more than the average guy can understand, so he catches grief for it. As far as I can tell this is really what he’s thinking.


Games of the Week


Green Bay @ Detroit-Thursday-12:30p-FOX

There is much anticipation for this one. Haven’t said that for quite some time.


No. 3 Arkansas @ No. 1 LSU-Friday-2:30p-CBS

Isn’t having the Top 3 teams in the nation from not only the same conference, but from the same division ridiculous? SEC WEST! SEC WEST! SEC WEST!


Aquinas vs. Landmark Christian-Friday-7:30p

The Irish are continuing to leave their imprint on the school record books. Keep up the good work, boys.


No.13 Georgia @ No.23 Georgia Tech-Saturday-High Noon-ESPN

“I know I’m asking a lot you guys, but hunker it down one more time!”


No.17 Clemson @ No.12 South Carolina-Saturday-7:45p-ESPN

Tommy Bowden made a living underachieving with Clemson, but at least he knew how to beat Carolina. Dabo is in a contract year, you best believe a loss here will rearrange some of the digits around on that paper.

Predictably Irrational

When do the dominoes start to fall for undefeated teams in college football? Just check around when the initial BCS rankings are released.


Those pesky rankings, all they ever do is confuse everything and everyone. Yet, ratings show we don’t mind it a bit. We enjoy talking heads giving their take and stirring the pot to promote viewership for a system that has not existed one year without some sort of controversy. It’s opinion and chaos that sells, remember. But before we open that can of worms, lets not wax poetic on why we need a playoff system, but profile the teams that have had their bubbles busted—and one that came mighty close-- since the BCS rankings came out.

Stanford- Almost blew their chance at the big one with a three overtime thriller against USC on Saturday. I personally was all-in for this one once I saw that Georgia Tech was doomed against Clemson. The Cardinals still have a long road ahead as they still play Oregon before finishing the regular season with Notre Dame.

Clemson- Look, it was unfortunate running back Andre Ellington could not play against Tech and then have the bye week to regain his health back. Clemson was reduced to a pass-only offense when they could not establish any type of run game. And four turnovers have never helped a team win a big game on the road. Or so I’ve been told.

Wisconsin- You could say the hailmary pass that connected in the Michigan State game was a fluke. A fluke that cost the Badgers a shot at the BCS title game. But the same thing against Ohio State? For a team that looked to be the most complete in the nation, its funny that the same gimmicky type play would cost them two weeks in a row. No matter how small, a chink in the armor is still a chink in the armor.

Oklahoma- The injury-riddled Sooners were the shoe in for the title game against the LSU-Alabama winner, so all they had to do was win out the rest of their games. Not even convincingly, just win, baby. How horrifying that the dream came to a crashing halt against an also injury-plagued 4-2 Red Raider bunch who on their best day, sadly, were enough to beat my pick of this years BCS champion. Crap.



“A Dream Come True”

That’s exactly how Scott Elledge, Executive Producer of Chevy Game Night Live on WJBF’s digital channel 6.2, explains the thrill of bringing live football on Thursday nights into the homes of everyone in the CSRA.

“As an ex jock myself (Elledge played football at Middle Tennessee State University) I know how big a deal it is to have the local outlets covering your game, much less a full production with six cameras, incredible graphics, sideline reporters, etc.”

For the eleven game schedule that concluded last Thursday, it has been an exciting first year not only for football fans but for the administration of those schools as well.

“Outside of the usual player spotlight segments we have each week, we were also able to donate $500 back to each home team with the help of our sponsor, the CSRA Chevy dealers.”

And it’s that exclusive time slot on Thursday that seems to be the key for all those involved.

“You are able to watch a bunch of local teams that otherwise you might not have the opportunity to see,” said Grovetown’s Rodney Holder. “We have to coach every Friday night, so it’s nice to be able to sit back and watch a live game each week of the season.”

And the games have been great theatre for those able to watch them live or replayed Sunday on WJBF Channel 6. Holder can attest to the excitement around the games as his Warriors defeated the Greenbrier Wolfpack in the first game of the season 28-24 in a thrilling finish. And for his post game report on how the entire production played out?

“If you can’t get behind this you’re just crazy. The excitement and exposure for the kids playing on Thursday night is incredible.”


Games to Watch


Burke County @ Thomson-Friday 7:30pm

The CSRA’s version of LSU-Alabama. Seriously. No hyperbole here.


South Carolina @ Arkansas- Saturday 7:15- ESPN

Must win for the Gamecocks in order to stay atop the SEC East division.


LSU @ Alabama- Saturday 8:00pm-CBS

Even causal fans are talking about this game and how important it is.


Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburg Steelers-Sunday 8:20- NBC

Don’t miss this one. Always one of the best played games of the year in the NFL.