Wow, tough crowd

Steve Spurrier was wrapping up his postgame press conference on Saturday night, in a crowded, cramped interview room at Neyland Stadium. Eric Hyman, as he occasionally does, was listening in, standing a few feet away.

“I thought our coaches had a good game plan,” Spurrier said.

A voice could be heard behind me.

“I did too,” Hyman said as he left through the open door.

Hyman was frustrated. Spurrier was frustrated. The players who spoke next – Moe Brown, Eric Norwood, Stephen Garcia – were frustrated.

But nowhere was the aggravation more evident than among the fan base. A quick perusal of the message boards, and my own gameday blog, revealed an onslaught of visceral comments, many aimed at Spurrier.

It was a bit surprising, considering this was just one loss, dropping the Gamecocks – who entered ranked No. 22 in the country – to a still-respectable 6-3.

Look, you could easily understand the anger at not beating Lane Kiffin, or a seemingly-vulnerable Tennessee team. And maybe it was the way it happened – once again early turnovers leading to a rout, as it did last season in the Outback Bowl and the games against Clemson and Florida games.

But the reaction still seemed to outweigh the circumstances. What did fans realistically think this team would do, win the SEC East? With this schedule, that was never happening. Before the season I said a 7-5 record would be quite respectable, and at 6-3, the Gamecocks are on track for that or better.

Now if the Tennessee game is the start of another late-season slide, it would be acceptable to start heading to ledges. For now, though, the season appears to be unfolding nearly exactly as most expected.

The view from the ESPN booth

Todd Blackledge will serve as the color analyst for ESPN’s telecast of the South Carolina-Tennessee game on Saturday night. I caught up with him Thursday as he was driving – yes, driving – from his home in Canton, Ohio to Knoxville. He estimated his trek at about seven hours.

During our conversation, Blackledge took the inevitable question about his Friday night food feature, talked about Stephen Garcia and Lane Kiffin, and patiently dealt with a reporter who forgot that Penn State wasn’t in the Big 10 when he played there.

How often do you get asked where you ate the night before?

Just a ton. I mean I get asked a lot. It’s cool. The segment is still really popular in year 3. I’m actually not doing one this week since this is my third trip to Knoxville this season. … It’s to the point now where I get asked more where I ate, what did I eat, more than who do I think is going is win, what do I think of the game. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing.

How’d it start?

It was my idea a few years ago. I was at a meeting in Bristol and they talked to us about (not being) afraid to try new things. … And I left the meeting and talked to my producer, Bo Garrett, and said I’d had this idea for a little bit. … We started it Labor Day game in Clemson. We did a little place there called Mack’s.

Do you get a lot of suggestions from restaurants in advance of your trips?

I do. Probably more this year than the first two years. But not as bad as I maybe thought it might be. So far it’s been pretty good as far as me being able to slip into town and maybe figure it out. Sometimes I have to try a couple places. Because I won’t go someplace that I haven’t been and have to see if I like it. I won’t just show up the first time and do it.

Now, as for the actual game …
(Laughing) Thanks.

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More on the AP hoops poll

The wonderful thing about the AP writers poll, or the bad part if you don’t like being held accountable for your vote, is that each ballot is made public.

So while I’d love to sit here and break down the coaches’ poll, and find out which coach gave South Carolina its lone vote, I can’t.

I can, however, tell you that seven voters in the AP poll put South Carolina in their top 25. And I can tell you that all but two of them are based in SEC country. (Thanks as always to Pollspeak.com for the information.)

The voter showing USC the most love was Cory Curtis of WKRN-TV in Nashville. He had South Carolina No. 17, five spots higher than any other voter.

In fact, four different people had South Carolina at No. 22 on their ballot, including The State’s own Ron Morris. The others were The Louisville Courier-Journal’s Rick Bozich (who knows Gamecock coach Darrin Horn very well), Dan Wolken of The Memphis Commercial-Appeal and Dave Jones of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.

The other South Carolina-based writer voting this year, Steven Bradley of The Journal in Williamston, had South Carolina at No. 24. And the Gamecocks came in at No. 25 on the ballot of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Joe Juliano.

The preseason hoops polls (updated)

South Carolina gets a bit more preseason respect from the writers than the coaches in the basketball polls, both out today.

The AP writers poll has the Gamecocks 13th among the “also receiving votes” crowd, or a total of 38th.  The Gamecocks got 28 votes, or voting points. (If you don’t know, you get one point for a 25th-place vote, two for a 24th, and so on.)

The coaches’ poll is also out, and South Carolina got one vote. And no, Darrin Horn is not a member of the voting panel, so that means someone out there is at least showing the Gamecocks some favor. If you go by rankings, then South Carolina is 54th.

Really, the rankings aren’t bad, considering USC didn’t make the tournament last year, and there are 342 teams in Division I. Plus, it’s just a preseason poll, and you know how those usually turn out.

A few quick impressions and observations:

- The SEC has quickly recovered in the respect department. In the coaches’ poll, you’ve got No. 5 Kentucky, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 18 Mississippi State and Vanderbilt is fifth in also receiving votes. Florida, Mississippi and USC make it seven teams garnering votes.

And in the AP, Kentucky is No. 4, Tennessee at No. 10, Mississippi State is No. 18 and four schools (the same additional four as in the coaches’ poll) also got votes.

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Q&A with Tennessee writer

We return to one of our more popular segments, going behind enemy lines (to borrow a phrase) for an interview with a counterpart on the opposing beat. This week it’s Wes Rucker, who has for several years now covered Tennessee for The Chattanooga Times Free Press.

I also answered questions about South Carolina for Wes, and those will be found on his blog here. As you’ll see below, Wes was very generous with his time, giving the longest answers since I started doing this. Here you go:

So do people in Knoxville think Lane Kiffin is a crazy genius, or just crazy?

As someone who lives in Knoxville, and just a stone’s throw from campus, I see Lane Kiffin as an immensely popular figure with UT’s younger fans, and someone whose popularity with the older fans is growing. I think for every fan who rolls their eyes when Kiffin makes an outlandish statement, there are two putting their fists in the air. This is a proud, proud program, and I think fans grew tired of teams that seemed too tight in big rivalry games the past few years and were often blown out of the building in big situations.

For all the controversy that’s surrounded Kiffin — much (but not all) of it justified — there are two undeniable improvements he has already made to this program. Nearly every player on the field is playing as physically as possible nearly every week, and no arrest reports have surfaced since he arrived in December. It’s been a long time since both of those statements could be said in the same year around here. These players genuinely fear the wrath of coaches who didn’t recruit them, and the ones still here are, from most accounts, doing what they’re told when they’re told to do it.

These Vols are tougher than last season’s Vols, so far, and that’s the biggest difference I’ve noticed. They have holes, and they were never going to be serious SEC contenders this season, but Kiffin’s hand and footprints — from slaps on the back and kicks in the tail — are already all over this program.

More than 10 players have left the UT program since Kiffin arrived in January. There were myriad reasons for the partings of ways, but most boiled down to this: Quite simply, things go Kiffin’s way when he’s in charge, or they don’t go anywhere. That’s why his past few years have been so consistently controversial, in my opinion. Kiffin has a plan, and he follows that plan, and he has little use for dissension. He’s wired a lot like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and other super-successful, type-A-personality coaches, from what I’ve witnessed — but he’s also a lot younger and a lot less experienced, so he handles things differently in public than other in similarly high-profile positions.

Few would argue that Kiffin’s players play hard, though. They practice hard — too hard, some have argued — and they play hard. The Oakland Raiders were consistently physical and generally competitive despite talent deficiencies in Kiffin’s short tenure, and the same could be said of these Vols. Kiffin was hardly given a chance to start the rebuilding process in Oakland, though, much less finish it. He was hampered from the beginning, regardless of who or what caused that highly-public divorce. That hasn’t been the case at UT. Kiffin has gotten nearly everything he’s asked for here in Knoxville, so we should get the chance to see whether his plan will work.

[...]

The Eric Wolford show

Eric Wolford smiled as he walked over to media members after Monday’s practice. By now, the first-year offensive line coach is used to the routine.

“Monday night,” a USC official said to Wolford with a laugh, signaling it was the coach’s turn for interviews.

“Monday comedy show,” Wolford added with a wry grin.

The reason for the weekly Wolford show is simple: Monday night is the first media availability for assistant coaches and players, and that’s when coaches whose units are struggling are requested by reporters.

Wolford actually got somewhat of a reprieve Monday, as special teams coach Shane Beamer was getting more attention for his unit’s kickoff coverage. But it was clear there are still problems on the offensive line, and Wolford, as he always has, patiently answered all our questions.

Normally it’s a matter of personnel – who’s going to be shifted where to fix such-and-such hole. But as the season has worn on, Wolford has apparently figured out that tinkering with his lineup isn’t going to fix it.

It’s just going to take time. Recruiting time, and time in the weight room.

Wolford said his players are “a little bit physically behind,” and need more time with strength coach Craig Fitzgerald, like Wolford an offseason hire by coach Steve Spurrier.

“We need to be stronger, you know what I mean?” Wolford said. “We get matched up against the elite teams’ defensive lines in this league and that’s the thing that shows up. Unfortunately coach Fitz hasn’t had a chance to spend enough time with these guys. I don’t think there’s been enough commitment on the players’ part.

“You’re not gonna make up two or three years in six months, you know what I mean? You need to be benching over 400 pounds and you need to be squatting over six, power-cleaning over 50. Those are the numbers you’ve gotta have. This is the SEC.”

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Excessive celebration?

Apparently, Devan Downey better watch it from now on after he hits a big shot. And if Mike Holmes dunks on somebody, he better just run down court and not even smile.

Well, who knows if it’ll be that drastic, but the NCAA is set to crack down on excessive celebration in men’s basketball, according to reports out of ACC media days.

ACC coordinator of basketball officials John Clougherty made the announcement at that league’s media event on Sunday. According to The Raleigh News and Observer, Clougherty said there will be “zero tolerance” on such things as a player gesturing to fans or “hulking” over a player after a dunk.

“Act like you’ve been there before, we tell them,” Clougherty said he told players and coaches in meetings, according to the News and Observer.

This new point of emphasis escaped notice at the recent SEC men’s basketball media days, probably because coordinator of officials Gerald Boudreaux did not give an address, as he normally does. (To be fair, Boudreaux was around the hallways and available to speak to the media, but normally the point of emphasis is addressed during the podium presentation.)

So will this affect the Gamecocks? Downey, while an outgoing personality, isn’t known for taunting or talking to fans. Holmes has had some technicals, but they tend to be of the Rasheed Wallace variety, so this will just be another thing he needs to worry about. Sam Muldrow and Dominique Archie aren’t exactly emotional.

Maybe someone who should worry is Evka Baniulis. The senior forward has always liked to exchange smiles and friendly words with home fans, which has always seemed harmless. But if an official takes the point of emphasis a bit too seriously, we could more than a few A.J. Green situations.

USC and SEC notes

What a day here at the media daze. There will be a couple stories in Friday’s paper, but here are a few quick notes, mainly about the Gamecocks, from the afternoon session:

- Darrin Horn was asked about going into his second year, and the challenges that bring. The main one, he answered, was not getting complacent after a surprising good first year.

“We can’t just show up and do what we did last year,” Horn said. “As a program, we’ve only spent one year laying a foundation for what we want to do. To get to the level that we really want to be at, not just winning, but as a program, that’s going to take some time. So we’ve got to come back this year and continue to lay some bricks.”

- The topic of the league being better continued to reverberate. Horn was among those who agreed that the Gamecocks could drop a few spots in the division – they tied for first last year, and are picked fourth this year – and still make the NCAA tournament rather easily.

“You could drop two or three in a row and think your season’s coming to an end, and still end up winning the league,” Horn said. “It’s just that good. Ten-and-six could win the league.”

- Expect to see USC’s four newcomers on the floor.

[...]

SEC hoop notes

Georgia coach Mark Fox appears to know his team has an uphill battle – it was a consensus pick to finish last in the SEC among the 25 voters in the AP preseason poll.

But Fox also knows he can’t let his players think they have no hope.

“If I go into that locker room and say, ‘OK guys we’re gonna get second tonight,’ they’re not gonna give us a silver medal. It’s not track and field,” Fox said. “Our kids have to expect to win when they go on the floor. And we have to devise a way to play that gives ourselves a chance to win. … Because change has to start on the inside with this program.

“The culture of that locker room was something I felt we needed to address on day one.”

Too much youth? Kentucky coach John Calipari said his team may start three freshmen. He didn’t name them, but clearly meant guards John Wall and Eric Bledsoe and center DeMarcus Cousins. For that reason, Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings sounded a cautionary note on the Kentucky love.

“We started three freshmen a year ago,” Stallings said. “And if he can win this league with three freshmen, it tells me two things: One, he’s as good a coach as I think he is. And two, those players are as good as advertised, because it’s a tough league to win with that many young guys in your starting lineup.”

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Calipari faces the heat

As expected, John Calipari was the center of attention at SEC media days. The Kentucky coach was quizzed on everything: The high expectations this year at Kentucky, his relationship with Bruce Pearl – and yes, those vacated Final Four appearances.

I’ll go in order of how the conversation went. First, those high hopes.

Calipari, who had an unsuccessful stint in the NBA, coaching the New Jersey Nets, had an interesting comment about playing that league: There are 82 games, and in 25 of those most players aren’t up for it.

“The stars are ready for the 25,” Calipari said, adding it was a lesson for his Kentucky team this year, to be up for the game because they will get the best from everybody.

It was like that at two previous stops for Calipari, at Massachusetts and Memphis. He feels that readied him for being Kentucky’s coach.

“So now we walk into this, it’s no different,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who’s hurt, who’s in the uniform, we’re everybody’s big game and that’s how it. I think mentally I’m ready for it, but now I’ve got to get my team ready for it. Especially my younger players. They’re gonna be like, ‘Why are these guys playing so hard?’ … It’s not funsies anymore.”

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