Image via psdgraphics.com

Ahhh, the Fulmer Cup. In case you’re not aware, the Fulmer Cup is awarded by the hilarious, genius, fabulous website EDSBS, and honors, or “honors”, schools based on how many arrests and other off-the-field problems they have during the offseason.

Last week, South Carolina, with two points, was tied for ninth place with Cincinnati, Iowa State, and Washington State. After John Angelo Watley’s arrest this weekend, though, the Cocks have 12 points and jumped all the way up to second place. They trail only TCU, who has a stunning 37 points, thanks to their big drug scandal.

In case you’ve missed out on the details, Watley was arrested Sunday and charged with grand larceny, financial transaction card theft, and second-degree burglary. He stole more than $2,700 worth of stuff, including a MacBook, an iPad and money, from a home on Senate Street in Columbia. He also actually got caught doing the stealing by the house’s inhabitants, who apparently woke up while Watley was committing the crime.

Watley is the third USC athlete to have a run-in with the police in the past few months. Football player Byron Jerideau and baseball player Tanner Lovick have also been caught breaking laws. I’m all for offseason excitement, but this might not be the best way to achieve that.

In case you were wondering, three other SEC teams, all from the East, are in the Fulmer Cup Top 10: Florida (No. 3, six points), Kentucky (tied for No. 4, four points), and Georgia (tied for No. 7, three points). Clemson is also on the list, tied with the Gators (and Oregon State) for No. 3 and six points.

Photo via USC Athletics Dept.

Blergh. We had been doing so well on the football-players-getting-in-trouble front.

According the The Big Spur, USC linebacker Angelo Watley was arrested Sunday on charges of grand larceny, financial transaction card theft, and violent burglary.

Cheese and rice, man.

Watley was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where he’s being held on $50,000 bond. He has obviously been suspended from team activities.

More good (by which I mean bad) news: TBS also says this is not Watley’s first run in (for serious issues) with the police! Apparently, he was also arrested in July of 2011 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and charged with six counts of “terroristic threats and acts”.

UM.

I’ve honestly never heard of Watley, and he was redshirted this year, so I literally know nothing about him, except that he makes horrendous life choices.

No further details about the incident or other punishment have been made available.

It was a good weekend to be Gamecocks, as the women’s basketball team sent the seniors out on top in their final home game and the baseball team swept Elon to remain perfect on the season.

Senior Markeshia Grant hugs Dawn Staley following USC's win over Arkansas.

In the final game of the season, the ladies defeated Arkansas in Columbia this afternoon by a score of 53-47. South Carolina got off to a rough start and trailed for more than half the game, but they came from behind and fought hard in the second half to overpower the Razorbacks, who aren’t exactly a pushover.

La’Keisha Sutton, one of the outgoing seniors, led the team with 18 points. Fellow senior Charenee Stephens added 11 rebounds, a team-high. USC’s finishes the season 21-8 overall and 10-6 in conference play. This marks Coach Staley’s first 20-win season at South Carolina. Per GoGamecocks, this is the first time in a decade that the Gamecocks have won 10 SEC games, and the first time in nine years they’ve won 21 games.

The ladies will now wait to find out whether they’ll be the No. 5 or No. 6 seed at the SEC Tournament in Nashville. They’ll play either Ole Miss or Alabama on Thursday.

» Continue reading “Gamecock Weekend Wrap-up”

Grad school has consumed my life this week, sorry kids. Here’s a quick roundup of the latest happenings in Gamecock Nation:

• Michael Roth: still a stud. The guy pitched a seven-inning no-hitter today and was selected as a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes athletes for their work both on and off the field. 30 baseball players were selected, and that list will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the season. The winner will be announced during the College World Series (you might have heard of that), it’s kind of a big deal). Roth isn’t the only Gamecock on the list – Todd Hornsby of the Jacksonville State Gamecocks was chosen as well.
• Alshon Jeffery: not fat. Jeffery’s official measurements at the NFL combine  were  6’3″, 216 pounds. That’s just a little bit off from the over 230 pounds he was rumored to be at (key word: rumored). AJ is waiting to decide whether or not he’ll run the 40 in Indy (where the combine is being held) or wait until USC’s pro day. Jeffery, who has been accused of being slow, claims that he’s faster now that he’s lighter. Some unsolicicted advice for you, Alshon: run it now, and then again in Columbia if you need to. It can’t hurt.
• Men’s basketball: does not need Bruce Pearl to be the coach. Believe it or not, there are actually some who believe Pearl coming to South Carolina would be a good thing. Seriously, people. Yes, Darrin Horn is failing spectacularly, but at least he follows the rules. I don’t care whether Pearl could put us in the win column lickety split, he is a sketchy dude, and the proof of that is in the show-clause penalty the NCAA placed on him. We have enough problems, we don’t need potential cheating, too.

Vandy’s pretty good, South Carolina’s pretty bad.

The Gamecocks didn’t even break 50 points tonight.

Recap = complete.

The next opportunity to lose game is in Columbia on Saturday against Tennessee. Tip off is set for 8 ET.

There’s not much else to say at this point.

P.S. In non-downer news, I went to a seminar with Rachel Nichols, Pete Thamel, Stewart Mandel, and Pat Fitzgerald on sports and media coverage today at Northwestern, and both Coach Spurrier and the Gamecock baseball team were mentioned. Read all about the seminar here.

In case you haven’t spent all day on twitter retweeting things from the Gamecock football players like I have, you need to know that Gamecocks QB Connor Shaw is running for Student Body President at USC*.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Connor’s, so consider this an official endorsement from Cocky Country:

*Connor Shaw is not actually running for Student Body President at USC. But if he were, he would get a full endorsement from yours truly.

Congrats to Coach Dawn Staley and her team!

The No. 25-ranked ladies bounced back from Thursday’s loss to No. 18 Georgia and defeated Alabama 69-55 in Tuscaloosa this afternoon, earning their 20th victory of the season.

They also notched their ninth SEC win, meaning they’ll have a winning record in the conference for the first time since the 2002-2003 season.

South Carolina (20-7, 9-5) went on a 21-6 run during the first half and took a 12 point lead to the locker room at the half. They couldn’t quite match that crispness in the second half, but they did enough to come away with the win on the Tide’s Senior Day. Bama didn’t give up and attempted to come from behind late in the game, but the Gamecocks were able to hold them off.

La’Keisha Sutton led USC with 13 points and seven rebounds. Markeshia Grant and Ieasia Walker were also in double figures. Jasmine Robinson led Bama with 17 points. The Crimson Tide were only 19-69 on field goals, while Carolina went 25-45. The Gamecocks led by as much as 18, Alabama led by as much as…1 point, and that was with just over 14 minutes left in the first half.

» Continue reading “Women’s Hoops Reaches 20 Victories”

So…we all know I love twitter. Sometimes, though, people make poor choices re: the tweets they send out. We all do it. It’s worse when it comes from someone behind a corporate twitter. The newest offender: Easton Baseball.

Whoever handles the tweets for the sporting goods company sent this out from their account earlier today:

I mean, VMI played well and we still came away with wins so I don’t think it matters how many runs were scored, but okay.

The Gamecocks’ have one more year left in a contract with Rawlings, who apparently caught wind of Easton’s tweet, because they sent out one of their own later in the day:

» Continue reading “Well, This Is Awkward: Easton vs. Rawlings Edition”

LB Dantzler hit the first homer of the season for USC today. (photo via the Gamecocks' Facebook page)

Sorry for the delayed post, kids. Anyway, on with the recaps.

The Gamecocks played a double header today and came away with two more wins, completing the sweep of VMI. Game 1 was won 3-2, Game 2 was a 13-1 blowout. This is the third year in a row that South Carolina has started off with a sweep. A fantastic way to begin the season and the road to a threepeat, huh?

Matt Price, making his second start ever for Carolina, threw five innings and gave up no hits, but did surrender two runs. Ethan Carter came in and earned the win, pitching four scoreless innings in relief of Price.

The Gamecocks didn’t have to play catch up at all in this game, as they got on the board first in the bottom of the first, thanks to a defensive mistake by the Keynets. In the bottom of the sixth with the score even at 2-2, Joey Pankake scored the winning run on a Dante Rosenberg hit that almost cleared the yard. USC had 10 hits to VMI’s two, with each team also committing an error.

» Continue reading “Gamecocks Complete Opening Weekend Sweep”

The best fans for the BEST TEAM in the country.

Welcome back, baseball. We’ve missed you.

As a slight aside, I started my day by listening to “Wingo & His Yardcocks”. Excellent choice on my part.

Anyway, everything is as it should be: South Carolina baseball is back in action and staying in the win column. The team opened their 2012 season at home today against VMI with a 2-1 victory.

Continuing last season’s theme of being the comeback kids, the Cocks were down early but won anyway. VMI was up 1-0 in the second inning, but  Carolina evened the score in the third. The teams stayed locked at one run apiece until newcomer LB Dantzler’s game-winning hit in the eighth inning, which scored Evan Marzilli. USC had a total of nine hits to VMI’s five, and each team committed an error.

Preseason All-American starter Michael Roth came away with a no decision, but in six innings of work, he struck out six batters and gave up only four hits and the Keydets’ lone run. Per Gamecock Central, 63 of his 89 throws went over the plate, too. In other words, about 71% of his pitches were strikes today. Not too shabby.

Forrest Koumas earned the save, and Tyler Webb, got in some tosses, too. Former closer Matt Price will take the mound as the starter for Carolina tomorrow against VMI.

» Continue reading “Yardcocks Start Season With A Win!”