Week 3's Dark Drinks, Dark Horses, and Dark Thoughts (COLUMBIA, SC EDITION!) - What I learned on and off the field

Dark Drinks:

Saturday morning kicked off with a cold beer and Bojangles about 10:15am; which is pretty much the best base layer that you could ask for when you have a day of tailgating ahead of you. We had a very long day planned of football and cocktails, and of course walking around to shake hands and kiss babies of the friends and other fellow alumni that I had not seen since last year. (Or since the engagement of me and the soon to be Mrs. Boss) I love tailgating, and I love being around my family and friends. They make it easy to sit around and have a drink. The conversation is outstanding and smart ass jokes and Kentucky/Clemson bashing makes it even better. Let’s flash forward to game time, where I have perfected the art of taking booze into a game. Simply flatten a 16 ounce water bottle, fill, and screw the top back on while flattened. This makes for an excellent disposable flask. I will also mention that pops pulled a move that should be praised, in running to the luxury box to see friends and reload on mini bottles for the second half. It’s a good thing he did, because the 24-21 final of the Navy/SC game made it a necessity. Below I’ll mention about what we got into going out after the game, but something as small as finishing up the night at an old school hangout bar with $1.25 Natty Light bottles (NEW! READ BELOW!) and a sub from your favorite shop at 2AM, makes you one happy and nostalgic college kid all over again.

Dark Horses: 

• Vanderbilt – Alright everyone…I’m acknowledging the elephant in the room and talking about it. This is not your father’s Vanderbilt Fightin’ Commodores. After manhandling Houston Nutt’s team in Nashville Saturday, Vandy is now tied for first in the SEC East. I’m not saying that SC needs any more motivation than knowing what happened a few years ago in Columbia…(6-1, #6 in the Nation, and lost on the 20^th of October at HOME to VANDY) but get ready to see what this team really is about. On paper, it shouldn’t be close…but if by some chance that ‘Dores make it past the Gamecocks, they are in the driver’s seat for the SEC East. Think about that. The end could be, and likely is, near.

• The Triple Option – Now, keep in mind this is coming from a former offensive lineman who LOVED TO DO NOTHING MORE THAN RUN THE FOOTBALL BETWEEN THE TACKLES. With that said, I love the option. I love the option even more when it’s ran to perfection…and that is what Navy did. They don’t have the athletes, nor do they have the speed or talent of a high caliber SEC squad. But what they do have is a quirky offense that works. Think about the old Dan Patrick line, “You can’t stop them…you can only hope to contain them”. It works here too. There wasn’t any question that South Carolina didn’t have the best team on the field, as they CLEARLY moved the ball without issues. (Unless you throw a busted hitch/go route off of your back foot…Garcia) The Triple Option offense is a beautiful thing when it is ran to perfection, and your team isn’t on the other side of the ball. Navy almost proved…well did prove depending on who you ask…that their style of offense is the great equalizer in college football.

• LSU & Their Defense- LSU wouldn’t be a true dark horse, but good Lord their defense is good. Their front 7 is something that defensive coordinators fanaticize about. Eight of their players had a tackle for a loss. MSU was held to under 200 total yards of offense. 15 tackles for a loss, 4 of those being sacks. If you are any team in the SEC West, you have the right to be terrified of this team. Mark it down, LSU wins the West. If you line up and know your front 7 is better than their front seven…on EITHER side of the ball…you win.

• Beezer’s subs…still good even after you graduate – There are few things that you obviously can’t do once you graduate college on a college football weekend. However, making it a point to go to Beezers (803-771-7771) at 2AM after a long day of celebrating takes you back to your younger days on campus. Godfather, meat and cheese only, extra hot sauce, oil, vinegar. 

• Natty Light in Red Stripe Bottles – I’ve never been so happy, shocked, and all around impressed with a move to bottles like the fine folks at Anheuser-Busch have done. After crashing Uncle Louie’s for $1.25 bottles, I was handed what I thought was a Red Stripe beer. To my surprise, I turned the label to read NATURAL LIGHT. What is this? How is this possible? This by far was one of the biggest highlights of the weekend because it is a beautiful thing to crush crappy beer through a classy bottle. Also, it was refreshing to be able to get 18 beers (3 rounds of 6) and have a tab of $20. That is absurd. I felt like the king of the castle.

• Stopping a big play before it happens – Kentucky fans, you have now placed yourself clearly into the BIGGEST DOUCHE OF THE SEC category. If you haven’t seen the video, I’m posting it below:

Can you really justify this? I know you are getting beat at home…to Louisville…in a supposed “rivalry” game…but come on. You are an awful team, with awful fans. HERP DERP NATION. I’m embarrassed that I am marrying someone who went to this school. (Editor’s disclaimer: I’m a Gamecocks fan who is potentially still bitter about the ass-whipping we received in Lexington last year)

• Alabama Talk Radio …even better after a loss – Oh Boy. We all knew this was coming. I’ve only been truly excited to make my 35 minute ride to work on a handful of days…but I was running to my car this morning. 94.5 WJOX out of Birmingham was OUTSTANDING talk radio. Auburn fans want to fire their defensive coordinator after dropping a game to Clemson…and giving up over 600 total yards in the process. Now, I’m not going to get into what this means to Clemson just yet…but needless to say it meant much more to Auburn losing the game. Fans are PISSED, and all I can say is that I have roughly 2 and a half hours before Paul Finebaum (Alabama translation: PAAAAAWWWLLL) gets going. I can only assume the hate will keep going. I kid you not; someone called in and just said, “Tom Petty has a song for Auburn that he just wrote. It seems appropriate. (Plays free falling from a computer, through the phone, on the air)”. Epic.

Dark Thoughts:

• The ACC makes bold moves, and ruins the Big East in Basketball – Can we all just agree that this addition does absolutely nothing positive for the ACC in football? Congrats everyone in the GA/SC/NC area… SYRACUSE AND PITTSBURG ARE LOVELY TEAMS AND CITIES TO VISIT. The other half obviously has to do with basketball, but come on man…is this the goal? Are you officially making the transition to saying “We are not a football conference, only basketball”? Great – this leave Virginia Teach, Florida State, and dare I say Clemson as the flag waivers of the conference. I hate this with a passion. HATE IT. What do you tell the other Big East basketball schools? What do you tell the conference? What about the Villanovas/Georgetowns/other non football schools?  

• Tailgating in a condo overlooking the stadium makes it tough to be outside with the common man – I’m not here to toot my own horn, or say that I have to have the nicest things in the world. Again, this is coming from someone whose family has tailgated in the SC Fairground for 28 years. HOWEVER, now that my youngest sister has been living in a condo overlooking the South Carolina football stadium, it makes it much more difficult to go back outside with the common man. Think about it…Do you want to cook? Go ahead. Would you want to sit down and relax on leather couches while watching the early games? Sure! Do you need to poop in a stable, air conditioned, and running water facility? OF COURSE! I hate that this is our last year with the place, but man…I feel sorry for those bums who have to be outside lugging coolers up and down the road. I’m a fancy man now…and must have one in the future.

• Domestic Disputes while on I-20 – The following is a true story that may have been one of the wildest things to see on the side of the interstate. About 7pm and 20 miles west of Atlanta, the soon to be Mrs. Boss and I were having a conversation about..I don’t know, how awesome Joker Philips is….when suddenly a white Tahoe slams on its brakes and gets in the emergency lane. A middle aged woman jumps out of the car when it comes to a stop, runs down the side of the road into the grass carrying her pocket book, and crying profusely. We would have stopped, but this was less than a half a mile from a big exit (where the Tahoe got off).Now, one can only assume that there was some incident that was severe enough in nature to cause this. And I’m not taking sides…but the only thing I could think of was the lady got a text from a lover and her husband/boyfriend read it.  I’m not saying I agree with these actions…but I understand.

• Putting in a luxury truck stop...or ANYTHING between Birmingham / Atlanta, Atlanta/Augusta, Augusta/Columbia – What are the odds we can make this happen? I’ve been on several long drives before…but these are just terrible pieces of interstate where nothing exists. I promise you, the fastest way to make a ton of money is to build something out at one of these locations. Make it a super stop with everything. There isn’t any excuse in the year 2011 that you have to go 35 miles between exits.

• Is Kentucky the new doormat of the SEC – Did anyone else feel that in the air about 10:30 or so on Saturday night? There was a changing of the guard in the SEC, and not many felt it. Kentucky is now the doormat of the SEC. They barely beat a Western Kentucky squad, played dead until the 4^th quarter against Directional Michigan, and got beat AT HOME against LOUISVILLE….who lost to Florida International. Vandy (their closest competition to worst) is 3-0 with wins over Uconn and now Ole Miss. Speaking of, some could place the Rebels here instead of the Wildcats. I don’t see that, as there is NO EXCUSE to lose to a Big East team at home…who lost the week prior to an International University in the United States.  

• Clemson could fall ass backwards into a great season if they win just one of the next 2 games – Here’s another terrifying thought. If Clemson wins just one of the two games against Florida State or Virginia Tech, they will likely win their division and play for the ACC title. This is what happens when you let an SEC poser such as Auburn go into Death Valley and think they are as good as advertised. Anyone with a pulse knew Auburn WAS NOT THAT GOOD.  (Just like Mississippi State IS NOT THAT GOOD) As long as Clemson doesn’t do anything stupid, they hold the keys. Remember kids, when you want to be good in the ACC, you have to be Wake Forest, NC State, Duke, North Carolina, and Boston College good.

-Gamblin Boss

SEC Week 2 Recap

Had an undefeated week 1, let's see how we did week 2:


CMU @ Kentucky:  Well despite their best efforts in the first half, the Wildcats, aka "Herp Derp Nation," pulled this one out (that's what she said).  After stumbling through the first half in what can only be described as some sort of Hilltopper Blues (get it?  like the old show), Kentucky turned it on and really showed the Chippewas who was boss.  Well done fellas, somethin to be proud of. OUR PICK:  Kentucky
Mississippi State @ Auburn:  I mean honestly, can someone please beat Auburn's ass.  Seriously, I've heard of being lucky but this is getting insane.  Look America, I'll make you a deal.  If someone will beat this horribly overrated, cheating, finesse team, I won't be quite so loud in demanding their National Title be taken away immediately.  That being said, Auburn, I will take some of this back if you take the other school in South Carolina behind the woodshed.  Tiger on Tiger crime baby!!!  Mississippi State...well I've enjoyed paying attention to you for two weeks.  Talk to you next year when Dan Mullen is at another school.  OUR PICK:  Mississippi State
Alabama @ Penn State:  Well I guess someone finally decided to play Quarterback for each team.  Unfortunately for Penn State, they didn't play the position very well.  The Tide rolled to victory 27-11 and it really wasn't that close.  The Tide look to be rolling (see what I did there)?  OUR PICK:  Alabama
Cincinnati @ Tennessee:  Oh Big East, y'all are silly.  Now there are rumors that if (when) the Big 12 folds, the Big East is ready to pounce and scoop up such football powers as (drum roll) Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State.  Yeah that should help.  Sure they're adding TCU, but I feel like TCU is prolly paraphrasing Ron Burgundy right about now, 'The Big East was a bad choice.'  Anyway, Tyler Bray threw for 4 TD's and the Vols rolled by 22.  OUR PICK:  Tennessee
South Carolina @ Georgia:  Whew, I am exhausted for the second straight week by the Gamecocks.  Would it kill anyone, for Carolina to win a blowout??  And before you start, I'm not counting Week 1...we were down at the half.  But alas, they squeaked it out.  And as Auburn can attest, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.  A three point win, would qualify as that.  OUR PICK: South Carolina
Southern Illinois @ Ole Miss:  I have nothing good to say about this game.  Ole Miss won by 18.  Congrats guys, seriously way to feel good about yourself.  OUR PICK:  Ole Miss
New Mexico @ Arkansas:  For like the 30th time in 36 games under Mike Locksley, the Lobos failed to score a touchdown.  This time managing to lose 52-3, seriously his time has to be up right?  I mean no one cares about New Mexico football but he's gotta be done right?  OUR PICK:  Arkansas
UAB @ Florida:  My parents watched this game with out neighbors...in Delaware of all places.  Apparently my boy got in, in the 4th quarter.  When I asked him, how did playing college football compare to high school (Delaware high school football of all places) his response was, "It was basically like playing high school.  They weren't very, ya know, fast."  Sorry to the Gamblin Boss family, but don't let this extinguish your spark! Be the spark!!!  OUR PICK:  Florida
UConn @ Vanderbilt:  Honestly Big East, you missed two opportunities to beat an average SEC team and a bottom feeder and, to quote Billy Madison, "YOU BLEW IT!!!!"  And to add salt to the wound, the Huskies blew a 4th quarter lead.  Fun fact of the day though, Vandy is 2-0...who knew?!?  OUR PICK:  UConn
N'Western State @ LSU:  Again, nothing to write about this game, other than LSU won 49-3.  Could be a good game next week vs the loser from the Miss. State/Auburn game.  OUR PICK:  LSU
Memphis @ Arkansas State:  Arkansas State absolutely crushed Memphis 47-3.  Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State QB, threw for 274 yards and 3 TD's and Frankie Jackson added 101 yards and a TD.  I'm thinking this is gonna be a long year for Memphis.  That sounds redundant. OUR PICK:  Arkansas State
San Diego State @ Army:  Well I guess you can just waltz into Mitchie Stadium and get a victory.  Not a very impressive game for the Aztecs, but a field goal with 9 minutes to go was the difference as the Aztecs won 23-20.  I now hate San Diego State.  OUR PICK: Army.

Overall it was not a bad week for us.  Combine our 10-0 week last week, with 9-3 this week and I'd say we're off to a good start. - Major Munnerlyn (formerly 63 sports)

Week 2’s Dark Drinks, Dark Horses & Dark Thoughts – What I Learned On And Off The Field

Dark Drinks:

• I’ve got to hand it to myself; Saturday was one of those days where when I woke up…I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY. Rolling out of bed at 9AM and hitting Waffle House for some hash browns and eggs would provide a solid base for my day of drinking. When we walked in to Casa De Waffle, I was surprised at how awesome this place was. Not only was everyone wearing some form of college affiliated shirt, but the cooks had their own Alabama jersey with their name on the back. You can’t hide class…even off of Highway 280 in Birmingham.
• I’m not going to lie; Saturday was a clinic on how you are to drink as an adult….14 straight hours. 10AM-midnight. Averaging about 2.5 beers an hour. The drink of choice was the one and only Natty Light (which you can get delicious 30 packs of here for $13) with a smattering of Jim Beam Devil’s cut thrown in to ease me through the Carolina/Georgia game. The soon-to-be Mrs. Boss even commented on how great of a shape I was in, considering how the Gamecocks got a W in Athens 3 hours ago at the time. One thing that I can tell you all is to AVOID the Thai Curry wings from buffalo Wild Wings after 11pm. Trust me on this – your stomach and everything else on the south end of your body will thank you. A- for consistent drinking effort throughout the day. Some could call in binge drinking…I call it an all day tailgate.

Dark Horses:

• Gamblin’ Boss’ PICKS: I’m not going to lie, didn’t think I would be doing this well. 6 wins, 3 ties, 2 losses and up a solid number of units on the year. Spread the word to your friends that I apparently seem to know what I am doing. Either that, or start fading me starting this weekend.
• More than 1 TV: My apartment was a mini sports bar on Saturday. From 11AM until 11PM, we had games going on 3 televisions. This is one of those instances where more than 1 thing is a good thing. I could enjoy the ADD Sports bar world, watch what I want, and be in the comfort of my own apartment.
• Central Standard Time: I’m beginning to think that CST is the way to go. For example, the Thursday NFL game got over about 10:45; which was plenty of time to still get a decent night of sleep. Saturday was bonkers with games kicking off at 11:00AM. Gameday was on at 9, with their pregame show on earlier than that. Was it weird seeing games that early on TV? Yes…but it felt oh so right.
• Auburn: OK, I get it. People were all over Mississippi State, and how this was the year they get things done in the SEC West. I will hold judgment until a few more weeks, but when you play in a division that has LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas in it (of whom you have to still play)…it’s mighty important to win the games that you should win. This was one of them. Auburn, could you be a dark horse? Is it possible for the defending national champion to be a dark horse? I don’t know…and I guess the point of what I am trying to get to is that I can’t get a good read on them. They have talent…but again. All they have played are the likes of MSU and Utah State.
• Mark Richt: I’m going to go out on a limb and say that he maintains his job. UGA should have beaten South Carolina this past Saturday. I fully can’t put the blame on coaching because they had some pretty bad luck. Had they not been half a foot offsides, they recover an onsides kick. Had they stopped Melvin Ingram (the one man wrecking crew); they might have had a chance. Murray made some great passes and he’ll be the guy who saves Marky Mark’s job.
• Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers edition: Wow, just wow. The kid puts up 422 in his regular season debut, and tied (get this) the exact same record shared by Matt Stafford as the most yards completed by a Rookie. HE MAKES IT INTERESTING AGAIN TO WATCH PANTHER’S FOOTBALL.  I’m thinking that he will be able to get 5-6 wins for the ‘Kittens this year, but after the first week they are tied for first in the NFC South at 0-1. Keep your head up Cammy Cam.

DARK THOUGHTS:

• NCAA Football > NFL Football: There, I said it. It’s very difficult to argue against this if you are all about close games and competitiveness. The first week of the NFL had some terrible games, including Buffalo/KC and Pitt/Baltimore. BLOWOUTS. Yea, yea…I know they said this morning that last night’s SNF game with Jets/Cowboys was the highest rated SNF game ever…but let’s be real. What else were you going to watch last night? MORE 9/11 DOCUMENTARIES? Last night was the modern day “what happens when the Wizard of Oz is on one of the only three channels.” Football wins over 9/11 any day of the week.

Getting back to my point, ratings could be skewed slightly because hey…there are what, maybe 30 games on TV a weekend? The NFL has only 16, with 15 on Sundays. If you watched NCAA football all day this past Saturday, you had the early kick of Auburn/MSU turn into a last play shootout, the afternoon game of South Carolina/Georgia turn into a slugfest that came down to an onsides kick, and finally you had the night cap of Michigan and Notre Dame. 3 outstanding games that came down to the last minute, second, drive, whatever. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m not surrounded by the trash that is Redskins/Baltimore fans anymore and I can dedicate most of my time to College Football….which leads to better enjoyment overall. I’m not saying that this is 100% always the case, but it is hard to argue that Sunday was better than Saturday.

• How terrible could the ACC be this year? As stated, I don’t watch the ACC’s competitive egg toss on Saturdays that often, but checking out the scores you have to wonder how they get an automatic BCS bid. Va Tech had a close, 1 TD game difference at East Carolina. Boston College got stomped BY CENTRAL FLORIDA. Wofford about beat Clemson….AT CLEMSON. Stanford destroyed DOOK. UNC squeaked a 2 point win out over RUTGERS at HOME.  UVA had to score 11 points in a minute and a half to beat INDIANA. You know it’s bad when you have to look at FSU’s win over D2 Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech’s win over hapless Middle Tennessee State for good signs. Do you think ESPN is loading the gun and getting ready to pull the trigger on themselves?
• Alabama fans: Saturday was a social experiment in a sense for me. I had about 5-6 hardcore ‘Bama fans over to watch the games…and not one time did ANY of them stray their eyes over to the South Carolina/UGA game. Even at halftime they found themselves glued to the commercials. I kid you not. 8 minutes to go, the Tide are up by 3 scores AND THEY ARE STILL WATCHING THIS LIKE IT’S THE FIRST PLAY. I’m not saying all Bama fans are crazy, but dear Lord are they dedicated. The game is over, and you have a HUGE SEC game on, yet you still won’t watch because you want to see another score.
• Zaxby’s Chicken Finger Plate (Large): I made one large glaring error in this weekend’s food choice while drinking. When my friends left, I said “bring me back some wings!”. Little did I know that they were going to Zaxby’s after a last minute change from Buffalo Wild Wings. I lost out on Zax sauce, toast, and delicious French fries.

Smackdown Review 8/30/11

The WWE has recently started a new trand of airing Smackdown live on Tuesday nights as opposed to its normal tape delayed Friday version. This has one serious benefit (mainly I am normally home on Tuesdays as compared to Fridays) while also having a major fallback (I now have to commit 4 hours to wrestling over two days). Last nights Smackdown was a continuation of the theme presented on Monday Night Raw which is that the biggest stars of each brand will compete on both programs. Thus last night we were able to witness Raw legends John Cena and CM Punk appear on Smackdown, which normally doesn't occur. With that in mind Smackdown led off its program with a match between John Cena and Wade Barrett. 

As I mentioned yesterday John Cena is a worse version of Hulk Hogan in every way.  He is designed to appeal to the 6-13 year old demographic in the same way Hulk was. Instead of telling kids to take their vitamins, Cena preaches that kids adhere to his three tenants Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect. He does this while also changing his t shirt color every four months so that kids have to ***SHOCKER*** BUY more t-shirts!! It is a fantastic ploy on the WWE's part and it is why we will never see Cena make a heel turn (the only way to redeem his character in my opinion) or not be in contention for the heavyweight title. Without the strap or him fighting for the strap, Cena is just another wrestler who is bigger than life, can't sell a move, or can't cut a promo. There is a reason I will buy CM Punk t-shirts and not Cena shirts. 

Last night Cena opened up Smackdown cutting another abysmal promo about how he was going to beat Alberto Del RRRRRRRRRRRRRRiiiiioooo at Night of Champions to win his 8 millionth WWE title. While he was in the middle of this terrible promo Wade Barrett came out to challenge him to a grudge match over some beef from a year and a half ago. It was the stupidest angle ever but they needed a match and the crowd liked it. Just like every Cena match in the history of man it ended with the five moves of doom. 

If you have never seen Cena before that is how every match ends.

Other highlights from last night include the following:

Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne cutting a promo where they mention how bad the tag team division has been recently. They go as far to say there are no tag teams anymore like Demolition or Legion of Doom. Listen Vince Russo, if you are reading our blog we appreciate it but if you are going to plagiarize at least give us a shoutout!

Sin Cara squared off against Daniel Bryan. I mentioned yesterday that I was not a fan of Cara due to my refusal to believe he could ever beat someone as big as Jack Swagger. Well when he is fighting another high flyer such as Daniel Bryan it works much better. Not only can they both sell each others moves, but I can actually believe that his stupid frogsplash-moonsault combo could actually harm D Bryan whereas it is comical when he uses it against a bigger opponent like Swagger. The E is obviously making a big push for Sin Cara as they had him defeat D Bryan (the Smackdown Money in the Bank Winner). 

Divas Match: Kelly Kelly two nights in a row!!! Twenty minutes of my life down the drain, two nights in a row!!!!

CM Punk, HHH, and Nash continued their feud with an official contract signing for Night of Champions. Like all contract signings HHH and CM Punk squabbled over why they needed to fight, a table got over turned and someone inevitably got kicked in the face. HHH and Punk both cut good promos about why they needed to beat each others asses. HHH used his famous "I am going to beat your fat skinny ass" line which always makes me smile while Punk methodologically discussed why HHH is a liar and he needed to bring the punishment. Both guys are at the top of the WWE when it comes to cutting promos and it is a treasure to watch them together. When they were done signing the contract, the NWO music hit and Nash ran down and kicked Punk in the teeth. Great segment.  

The main event of the night was a steel cage match between Christian and Randy Orton. It is a shame this feud is played out, because they really do great work together. I think steel cage matches were when I realized growing up that wrestling was fake. I could never quite understand why the jackasses took so long to climb over the cage or run out the door. It always seemed to me that they took waaaaaaaaaaaayyy too long attempting to win their match. Needless to say some poor kids illusions were shattered last night when a whole lot of that occurred.  Orton hit Christian with an RKO off the top turnbuckle to earn the pinfall victory. While he was exhausted from his victory Mark Henry ran out and beat his ass setting up their title fight at Night of Champions.

This Smackdown was a very mixed bag for me but it did well to advance a couple key story elements with an excellent cage match. 6/10

-Fishsticks