Another Wacky Week In Gamecock Nation
posted by Scott Hood, Monday, March 10, 2008
It was just another wild and wacky week in Gamecock Nation.
It started on a positive note with the baseball sweep over the Tigers but soon took a dark turn on a number of fronts. But then the week became bright again.
Dark. Light. Dark. Light.
It seemed every five minutes somebody was hitting the “On/Off” switch.
There were more than enough twists and turns and ups and downs to keep even the most casual of observers fixated.
Hours after USC’s first victory over Clemson, offensive lineman Kevin Young was involved in a fight with a Midlands Tech student in Five Points.
Police responded to the scene. Young was apparently handcuffed at the scene by multiple police officers.
We were in the Upstate covering Sunday’s second baseball game between USC and Clemson when news of Young’s situation broke. The Gamecocks completed the weekend sweep of the Tigers around 5 p.m.
But, rather than celebrating the double win over Clemson, the news related to Young was the main topic of conversation among Gamecock fans.
After police arrived at the scene, what happened next was been one of the most hotly debated topics in Columbia last week. Did police officers use excessive force to subdue Young? Then there’s the question of why a person charged with resisting arrest was not hauled off the jail. Instead, Young was ‘field booked’ and ticketed at the scene.
At first, it looked bleak for Young, that he would be indefinitely suspended. But, events soon turned in his favor.
Spurrier insisted Monday night at the Orangeburg County Gamecock Club that Young had done nothing wrong and that he didn’t plan on taking any disciplinary action against his player unless he was proven to be a liar.
What we do know is this: Young’s attorney has filed a formal complaint with the city charging the officers with using excessive force.
The City promptly asked SLED to investigate the allegation city police officers punched and beat Young. Young met Thursday with the state investigators.
We’ll see where it goes.
About 24 hours after the incident involving became public knowledge, so did the indefinite suspension of DB Carlos Thomas for violating team rules and “behavioral problems.”
When will Thomas return? No one knows.
As of right now, he and wide receiver Dion Lecorn, arrested earlier for simple possession of marijuana, was suspended from all team activities. With the start of spring practice set for March 19, you hope one or both are able to return in time to workout with the team.
We also learned around the same time that RB Mike Davis would be suspended for one game for excessive class absences last season. At first, many people thought he would miss the season opener against N.C. State, but Spurrier said Thursday night at the Florence County Gamecock Club meeting that Davis would likely sit out the UAB game.
Whew. Disaster averted.
Then there were the reports QB Stephen Garcia would have to miss one or more practices due to a high number of class absences last fall.
But, again, a negative turned into a positive when Spurrier said Thursday night in Florence that Garcia would likely not miss any spring practices.
Most of the news related to the football team overshadowed Dave Odom’s final home game as head coach of the men’s basketball team on March 5. Already suffering through a poor season, USC lost to Kentucky.
No surprise there. They compounded that defeat with an embarrassing 89-56 loss Sunday afternoon at Tennessee. Was USC really outscored 51-19 in the second half? Unfortunately, yes.
Frankly, that should never happen in Division I basketball.
But, hey, the baseball team got back on track by sweeping Duquesne after getting hammered by Charlotte Wednesday night.
Like I said, there were plenty of ups and downs.
Somehow, all of the aforementioned developments was squeezed into one short week.
I’m left with one question.
Did I miss anything?
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Nine days ago, when I arrived at Sarge Frye Field for the first game of a home-and-home series between South Carolina and Clemson, little did I know the craziness that would be uncorked over the next week or so.
It was just another wild and wacky week in Gamecock Nation.
It started on a positive note with the baseball sweep over the Tigers but soon took a dark turn on a number of fronts. But then the week became bright again.
Dark. Light. Dark. Light.
It seemed every five minutes somebody was hitting the “On/Off” switch.
There were more than enough twists and turns and ups and downs to keep even the most casual of observers fixated.
Hours after USC’s first victory over Clemson, offensive lineman Kevin Young was involved in a fight with a Midlands Tech student in Five Points.
Police responded to the scene. Young was apparently handcuffed at the scene by multiple police officers.
We were in the Upstate covering Sunday’s second baseball game between USC and Clemson when news of Young’s situation broke. The Gamecocks completed the weekend sweep of the Tigers around 5 p.m.
But, rather than celebrating the double win over Clemson, the news related to Young was the main topic of conversation among Gamecock fans.
After police arrived at the scene, what happened next was been one of the most hotly debated topics in Columbia last week. Did police officers use excessive force to subdue Young? Then there’s the question of why a person charged with resisting arrest was not hauled off the jail. Instead, Young was ‘field booked’ and ticketed at the scene.
At first, it looked bleak for Young, that he would be indefinitely suspended. But, events soon turned in his favor.
Spurrier insisted Monday night at the Orangeburg County Gamecock Club that Young had done nothing wrong and that he didn’t plan on taking any disciplinary action against his player unless he was proven to be a liar.
What we do know is this: Young’s attorney has filed a formal complaint with the city charging the officers with using excessive force.
The City promptly asked SLED to investigate the allegation city police officers punched and beat Young. Young met Thursday with the state investigators.
We’ll see where it goes.
About 24 hours after the incident involving became public knowledge, so did the indefinite suspension of DB Carlos Thomas for violating team rules and “behavioral problems.”
When will Thomas return? No one knows.
As of right now, he and wide receiver Dion Lecorn, arrested earlier for simple possession of marijuana, was suspended from all team activities. With the start of spring practice set for March 19, you hope one or both are able to return in time to workout with the team.
We also learned around the same time that RB Mike Davis would be suspended for one game for excessive class absences last season. At first, many people thought he would miss the season opener against N.C. State, but Spurrier said Thursday night at the Florence County Gamecock Club meeting that Davis would likely sit out the UAB game.
Whew. Disaster averted.
Then there were the reports QB Stephen Garcia would have to miss one or more practices due to a high number of class absences last fall.
But, again, a negative turned into a positive when Spurrier said Thursday night in Florence that Garcia would likely not miss any spring practices.
Most of the news related to the football team overshadowed Dave Odom’s final home game as head coach of the men’s basketball team on March 5. Already suffering through a poor season, USC lost to Kentucky.
No surprise there. They compounded that defeat with an embarrassing 89-56 loss Sunday afternoon at Tennessee. Was USC really outscored 51-19 in the second half? Unfortunately, yes.
Frankly, that should never happen in Division I basketball.
But, hey, the baseball team got back on track by sweeping Duquesne after getting hammered by Charlotte Wednesday night.
Like I said, there were plenty of ups and downs.
Somehow, all of the aforementioned developments was squeezed into one short week.
I’m left with one question.
Did I miss anything?
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Previous Blog Entries
Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.