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jfl25

By jfl25
in South Carolina

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distortedlogic Town

distortedlogic

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Musings of a Gamecock.

Another ugly game from SC. Another game of chances squandered away with too many big mistakes to overcome. Another game where SC should be able to compete and even win yet they find ways to look like boys among men. It must be nice to be a Clemson fan, to know that your team can and will overcome bad games (Maryland). To know that your team routinely gets better as the season progresses instead of worse. To be able to watch your team win meaningful games in November (heck, just to win games in november). To be able to see a coaching staff and team get really fired up and play to their potential. To be able to beat your in state rival on a regular basis. To be able to sniff a championship game a few weeks after everyone thought it was impossible. As an SC fan, I am realistic. I don't expect SEC championships every year or annual BCS bowls. But I wish there were more to celebrate than "having 5 consecutive non-losing seasons." I wish there were better efforts late in the season than I have seen the past 3 games (Vandy included), or the during the past 3 seasons. I wish SC would finally take those next steps and be the type of football team they have the talent to be. Ah, if only Clemson wore garnet and black and hailed from Williams Brice, with "USC" on their jerseys and a Gamecock on their helmets; then maybe, just maybe I could pull for them, and see a little of what a reasonable fan would like to see.

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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I'd like to set up an arrangement where, for one year, we switch Carolina and Clemson's schedules. Carolina plays the ACC again and Clemson gives the SEC gamut a go. Remember that Alabama-Clemson game from last year? Yikes. Clemson's ability to rally back when times look tough over the past couple of weeks is very impressive, and they should be commended for that. However, let's not forget that ACC football is different from SEC football.

Carolina's schedule is literally the toughest in the nation. Through our schedule this season we will have played three top-5 teams by the end of the year. So the fact that we aren't 3-7 right now based purely on the competition is impressive. The competition of the worst SEC teams (Vanderbilt) is still brutal even on off years. This is not an excuse for Carolina's record, but an explanation. In order to win the SEC, Carolina has to become an elite team. Because Florida, Alabama, Georgia, UT, and LSU consistently produce elite teams we have to match their level of competition. There really isn't much middle ground between where we are today and winning the SEC title.

It's not unlike Clemson's goal of winning that elusive ACC basketball championship. They have a very good team, but they just can't seem to do it because the competition in the ACC is at a high level. UNC and Duke are back at it again this year, and though Clemson is ranked (preseason), let's not assume the other ACC teams are going to be pushovers or even out of conference teams like USC (finally).

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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The Clemson-Carolina game time has been set for noon in Columbia.

But first, Clemson must take on Virginia this weekend. A 'W' will send the tigers to the ACC Championship in Tampa against Georgia Tech. One step at a time, my friends.

Who all is attending the Palmetto Bowl?

Clemson should go to the ACC Championship. Isn't UVA last in their division? This game is really more of a formality, IMO.

I won't be at the Palmetto Bowl this year, but I think it will be a good game. As is true with most years, both teams have been highly unpredictable this season. I think Corgimatt's standard doom and gloom for Carolina speech is unwarranted. Both teams have a lot of talent, and both are capable of screwing up. IMO it's too close to call.

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distortedlogic Town

distortedlogic

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I think Corgimatt's standard doom and gloom for Carolina speech is unwarranted. Both teams have a lot of talent, and both are capable of screwing up. IMO it's too close to call.

I understand what you mean, but I have thought this many years before and it never works out for us. Take last year for example. Clemson was about as down as they have been in my lifetime, and there was no real reason that USC could not have won the game. But they never even seemed to get off the bus so they got it handed to them. This year, just like the last few, I feel like USC stacks up pretty evenly in talent, and see no concrete reason why they cannot win. BUT, it is the intangibles that give me no indication that this game will be any different than most in the series. Absolutely I hope they win. But realistically, I can't expect them to win. It's not that I think they are not able, just that I think they don't know how to (beat Clemson). Until they can show otherwise there's not much else to go on; except hope, which doesn't translate into reality.

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CorgiMatt Town

CorgiMatt

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Clemson was founded out of Governor Ben Pitchfork Tillman's hatred for the Midlands and South Carolina College (USC). When Carolina fielded a football team, Clemson immediately announced they had one, too, and that their first goal was to beat South Carolina College. They lost the game that year, but the series, as we all know, has become lop-sided in their favor, because it is their mission to always one up USC in every category they possibly can. I've said this before. A little reiteration doesn't hurt.

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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I understand what you mean, but I have thought this many years before and it never works out for us. Take last year for example. Clemson was about as down as they have been in my lifetime, and there was no real reason that USC could not have won the game. But they never even seemed to get off the bus so they got it handed to them. This year, just like the last few, I feel like USC stacks up pretty evenly in talent, and see no concrete reason why they cannot win. BUT, it is the intangibles that give me no indication that this game will be any different than most in the series. Absolutely I hope they win. But realistically, I can't expect them to win. It's not that I think they are not able, just that I think they don't know how to (beat Clemson). Until they can show otherwise there's not much else to go on; except hope, which doesn't translate into reality.

I don't do predictions on the outcome of any game, and this one is no exception, except to say that writing off Carolina so quickly seems wrong to me. I expect a win every time.

What do you think about the Vandy or UK wins versus the UGA or UF losses? The wins over Vandy and UK were dirty, but they were wins. The loss to Georgia was one of the best games I've ever seen Carolina play. The Mississippi and Florida games fall in that category too. Florida wasn't a win, but it wasn't for a lack of ability. I think that if Garcia had not thrown the pick, that we had the momentum to get the TD and the D to stop Florida for the rest of that quarter. Obviously hypothetical situations don't amount to much, but it gets my point across. Thoughts?

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CorgiMatt Town

CorgiMatt

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I never get my hopes up that we'll beat Clemson. That way, after the game I can just retire to my bed for few days to try to sleep it off as opposed to checking myself into a mental institution due to a big emotional letdown. I take annual leave the week after that game. It's just my way of handling it with my obsessiveness. That's an exaggeration, but y'all get my drift. When I think about leaving SC, the rivalry is always among the things I would be glad to get away from. When Clemson loses to Carolina, they can say with confidence, "Wait till next year," and for them next year really does come.

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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In addition to changes in the coaching and the team, the fans have to have high expectations. Since y'all love the Clemson comparison- they expect to win the ACC every year. Do they do it? No. Not in recent memory. In basketball, USC has more ACC championships than they do, and we hold the all-time record over them. Does that matter? No. The fans expect it, the team wants it, and they are making progress. The difference I see in Carolina fans is that some generations have jaded expectations, and perhaps rightfully so. Still, I see that changing.

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distortedlogic Town

distortedlogic

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I don't do predictions on the outcome of any game, and this one is no exception, except to say that writing off Carolina so quickly seems wrong to me. I expect a win every time.

What do you think about the Vandy or UK wins versus the UGA or UF losses? The wins over Vandy and UK were dirty, but they were wins. The loss to Georgia was one of the best games I've ever seen Carolina play. The Mississippi and Florida games fall in that category too. Florida wasn't a win, but it wasn't for a lack of ability. I think that if Garcia had not thrown the pick, that we had the momentum to get the TD and the D to stop Florida for the rest of that quarter. Obviously hypothetical situations don't amount to much, but it gets my point across. Thoughts?

Perhaps we just look at things a little differently. I think that our expectations, with anything in life, have a lot to do with how we perceive things. If you go to a restaurant on Sat evening and expect to go right in, you probably have unrealistic expectations and are "setting yourself" to be frustrated. If you expect to have to wait at least 30 minutes the wait will not bother you, and you may even be pleased with a 15 minute wait. If you drive during rush hour and expect to have no traffic it is unreasonable. If I buy a lottery ticket and expect to win I am most likely in for disappointment. So on and on. How does this apply to SC football? In principle, very well I think. I think expectations are better placed when they are reasonable (which is of course a relative term). When those expectations are realized, then they can be raised. If your child starts to play basketball, you don't tell them to expect to make every shot because you know that is not reasonable. You try to teach them the right way to shoot, work on making some of them, and then raise their expectaions gradually. Expecting SC to win every game just isn't realistic and (for me persoanlly) doing so would set me up for a lot of frustration. SO I make my expectations more realistic. But I can set my hopes as high as I want, because hopes are a different matter.

As for Vandy and UK; they were wins that could have been loses, so I am pleased that they found ways to Win instead of lose. But, they also showed me that the team had a lot to improve on, and I realized that wins over the tougher teams may be hard to come by. The Georgia game was one of the toughest loses I have seen in a long time. Not so much bec asue I expected them to win before hand, but because I felt like they outplayed UGA nearly the whole game and yet could not pull it off. I felt like they were the better team, yet they weren't able to take the next step to win one they weren't supposed to. I do think they did it against Ole Miss this year, and that was a good win. But I'm not sure they have truly taken that next step. It is kinda the old, "One step foward, two steps back." So for Clemson, I am not "writing them off," I just see no basis for expecting them to win. Hope is one thing, but SC has not shown they are able to win these type games with any regularity (ie. the Ole Miss game seems more like the exception), let alone beat Clemson with any regularity. SC doesn't need to beat Clemson 10 in a row to show me something, they just need to win "their share" for a reasonable amount of time. That has happened only once in my lifetime when they won 3 out of 5 from 92-96. Other than that, Clemson has one almost every game in my lifetime.

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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I've not been paying attention as long as you. Since I've been watching, Carolina has a winning record, albeit only slightly above .500. I am confident that Carolina can hit .500 every year. There is only one logical next step in the expectation level.

I have no problem with rigid expectation. However, if it remains unfulfilled, then excuses are no longer acceptable. Satisfaction typically requires that you must either demand change or lower your expectation.

Agreed. People (Gamecock fans) are demanding change, which to his credit he did a lot of it during the off season. Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed a lot of change and improvements this year compared to the past 4 years. It's not the same ol' Carolina.

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GvilleSC Megalopolis

GvilleSC

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The Clemson Tiger mens basketball team has moved up to number 19 in both polls this week.

In related news, the Clemson Athletic department continues to announce additional sell outs for the season. HALF (or 8) of the home games for the season are already sold out:

-Winthrop (tonight!)

-Illinois

-Miami

-South Carolina

-Boston College

-North Carolina

-Duke

-Virginia

I think the most telling and exciting part of this news is that the Winthrop game tonight is sold out! It's great to see people excited about the Tigers taking on the Eagles this early in the season. The rest of the ACC games at Littlejohn should follow suit and be at capacity when we get closer to each respective game's day.

In related news, South Carolina is 0-1 against the ACC thus far. :silly: Two more to play, I believe.

Go Tigers!

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