South Carolina, which for all we know isn’t so much a state as it is a whole chunk of Suriname that some genius grafted onto the continental United States, gives us Cock trouble again. No, it’s not a state agriculture official running a cockfighting ring out of a state building, since that is sooooo done to death already.

This time, a good old pyramid scheme like mom used to make ‘em strikes South Carolina, proving that success in one professional field does not guarantee professional competence in another. The pyramid scheme in question is BurnLounge, a sort of network alternative to ITunes where investors were promised profits in return for sponsoring sites where music was traded. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission in this case) has accused BurnLounge of being a pyramid scheme, and investors include former Clemson coach Danny Ford, Heisman winner George Rogers, and son of current head Cock, Steve Spurrier, Jr.


Mr. Bond, I have a business proposition for you.

A less than brilliant cameo is made by Bob Stoops in the story, who flashes Kirk Kerkorian-like business acumen in this quote:

“When Bob Stoops got me, he said, ‘I’ve spoken to a lawyer about this. I’ve spoken to my agent. I’ve spoken to some people to find out if this is a legitimate thing. And everything they told me, this is a legitimate (business). Put your name on it and go do it,’” said Spurrier Jr., a member of Stoops’ Sooners staff from 1999 to 2001.

It’s dumb, but not the dumbest investment we’ve heard of someone relatively successful making. That would be congressman and former San Diego Charger Jack Kemp’s decision to invest money in Au Magnetics, a company that promised to extract gold from sand. Alchemy! It’s what’s for dinner.

The SEC will continue their investigation, but it doesn’t seem like any of the big names associated with this are guilty of being anything other than gullible. (GOLD!) That may not be the case with Todd Ellis, Gamecock football announcer and former quarterback, though–he’s identified as a primary point of contact for the scheme in Columbia in the article, and that ain’t good for him.

(HT: Marc Isenberg, who has his own take on the story.)