FANATICUS ECONOMICUS: NOT REALLY

Proof that FLA sucked last year and didn’t deserve to play Ohio State. Imagine, nearly getitng beat by a middle of the road SEC school. The Gators should hide their crystal football in shame, or send it to Notre Dame or some other deserving, elite program. I mean USC beat Auburn in 2002 AND 2003!

Is that a threadjack?

The beauty of sports is its ultimate improbability while time remains on the clock. Look back to the end of the 1989 Alabama/Penn State game. Blair Thomas spends the game running roughshod over Bama only to have Joe Pa get to the goal line and try a field goal on third down to win the game. The FG is blocked by the 6’10" Thomas Rayum (sp) causing me to run wildly out of my Tuscaloosa apartment screaming for joy. EDSBS indeed.

I think that’s right Orson. As a Tide fan, some of the sweetest wins were those UA had no business winning (think UA-LSU 1998), and some of the worst losses were where UA absolutely should have won and simply gave the game away (think UT 2002).

Just a few inches…just a few…away from the national title. Just think if you had lost that game? I mean you can’t win a national championship and not be undefeated right? No way…but wait…You did lose last year! You lost to Auburn, and were just a hair away from losing to the ol ball coach as well. amazing..in all seriousness though, i’m glad yall whoppoed OSU’s ass. SEC all the way

Sorry Orson. I stop in here between articles on National Review and The Economist and rather than opine on topics of the ilk discussed therein, I attempted to relate to the resident Buckeye fan. I shall henceforth cease.

I meant UA-UT 2003.

that stadium was so loud right before and after that kick there was almost no sound anymore, it was like the sound waves had turned to liquid… sorry if that doesn’t make sense but if you were there you’d understand

and oh yeah- shaken baby syndrome is exactly right…. as in, after we blocked that kick, i was literally picked up and shaken by two fans standing next to me on the bleachers….

Reggie Nelson inadvertently impregnated 5 people in the scrum that ensued after that blocked kick.

Orson… coming from the OTHER side of that game (the loss still burns)… you appropriately explained exactly what that was like. Well done! I can watch that clip all day long and get that knot in my stomach that “we may just beat them this time” even though I know 18 Ft 9 in Jarvis Moss was going to throw out his Pterodactyl wings and block the kick.

That was the best and worst day to be a Gamecock!

rjs, it makes perfect sense.

I was at Game 1 of the ‘88 WS, and when Gibson hit that ball, I thought I had gone deaf. The crowd noise sounded like a whisper, and my father’s mouth was moving but I couldn’t hear anything he said.

That Shermer’s onto something- I remember being at Wide Right I way more vividly than being at 31-21 in 1999, even though the latter happened 8 years more recently, and was part of an MNC season. Although, I was of drinking age in ’99, so that might have something to do with it.

Specifically, most people will reject the proposal of a 50-50 probability of gaining or losing money, unless the amount to be gained is at least double the amount to be lost. That is, people feel worse about the pain of a loss than they feel better about the pleasure of a gain. Twice as badly, in fact. (emphasis ours)

Then explain to me why I am willing, no make that eager, to take a 50/50 wager on a football game with a ten percent sanction if I lose? Am I defective?

Yes, rjs, you make perfect sense…all sound becomes fluid and in my case I started feeling more than hearing some strange classical music score in place of actual sound which places me in some b-movie I must have slept through.

That game was one major headscratcher and the relief almost pissed me off. Fuckin’ SOS…man, I love that guy…

I wasn’t there but I had the next best experience; Mick Hubert on AM850.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

I got and still get that feeling from watching the Terrance Edwards drop from 2002! There was no one within 100 yards of him (actual distance may have been less) There goes the undefeated season and the NC shot… still makes me feel sick.

And…..thanks for ruining my morning.

“most people will reject the proposal of a 50-50 probability of gaining or losing money”

Tell that to Vegas…

Reggie Nelson looks like he’s going to erase some fans at the end there.

Ugh. 1994. The only thing worse for me than Gilmore covering Frank Sanders was returning home to find my 80 year old Grandmother talking shit on my answering machine. “Wah Eagle” in the sweetest southern Alabama accent you could ever hear. Pick a mascot Granny!

I didn’t have a side in that fight but down the stretch I kept wondering what the fuck OBC was doing. It was the worst clock management this side of Andy Reid and his being content with a field goal when they moved the ball at will made me wonder if he’d lost his mind. He did not coach well and I lost some respect for him that day.
Click clack.

The 1994 Fla/Aub game for me resulted in the greatest single f-bomb day I have experienced. Something about a bunch of interceptions and improbable receptions…resulting in expulsion from various dining and drinking establishments, loud and graphic expletives and a steamer of a hangover after spending the night on the bathroom floor. The fact my wife is still with me is testament to her undying tolerance and love of crippled animals.

1. - The four of them that were chicks were totally advertant.

Jebus, you do know the OBC is the Arch-Gator, do you not? And I think he coached and they played about as well as they could have…and we were lucky.

sb, the game was in hand and he didn’t coach to win. That’s what losers do.
This is not the OBC I know and (begrudgingly) love.

Jeebs, we blocked 3 kicks! Thats luck, not “not playing to win”. I think your faith in the OBC is safe.

…sorry, I meant "That’s Florida’s luck, not SOS’s “not playing to win”."

Two things:
1. Thanks, Orson, for ruining my day. I was at that game and I still haven’t gotten over it.

2. Jebus, the Gamecocks punted twice. Against the national champion Gators…who needed three blocked kicks to win. Horrible coaching by Spurrier, I know.

Two things. First, I was in the stadium, sitting about 60 rows up behind Suckass on a slant. I thought for certain he was going to make it. Shaken Baby is the perfect definition for that game. The ENTIRE game was two steps forward, three steps back, and by the end, I was embarassed to even be in the stadium. We were actually in the cock section and when he got blocked, I apologized to them, because they probably deserved to win the game.

After the block, the entire group of guys I was with just sat there, with the Cock fans. They were pissed because they just cannot get over the hump and win games like that. We were absolutely drained. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Rixbomb game where FSU converted on 3d and Ocala and then threw the Hail Mary in. I sat in the North end zone for that one and literally could not move for 20 minutes after the game I was so angry.

I never said it was horrible coaching. I am saying he should have put the ball in the fucking end zone, based on, you know, the 2 previously blocked kicks you mentioned?
He had his foot on their throat and didn’t finish them.

Quite possibly the worse loss I have ever witnessed as a USC fan, magnified by the fact that I was forced to watch it in person. I felt like I was stuck in A Clockwork Orange with my eyes unable to look away for the horrible sight before me. Talk about alternating currents of hot and cold. To go from absolute certainty that the kick was going to be good to another blocked kick. I still want to throw up whenever I think about it.

ps: “I didn’t see that he had failed the drug test till the Monday after the game” my ass!!!

I threw up after the kick, I was inconsolable for hours. Then I drank a lot.

Jebus, probably true…anyways, it’s just another case of the Gamecocks being the Gamecocks.

jebus – He did go for the throat. I believe on first or second down, he threw an out-n-up or a wheel route (or something) that connected down to inside the 10. Play got called back for illegal formation or holding or something like that. Its kind of fuzzy in my mind, but I’m pretty sure the pass was completed down there. After that, he we super conservative thinking he was in FG range (it was still a pretty long one to go conservative on). I remember thinking the same thing after that long completion. He definitely took his foot off the gas peddle after the penalty.

If SOS went conservative, and I don’t think he did, then he must have been feeling Gator-like…kinda hard to shake the orange and blue outta your system, and if you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about, y’ain’t a Gator.

Thinking back, there were inexplicable decisions even when he coached Florida, that left everyone wondering what happened. Specifically, the only game SOS lost to UGA…the dawgs couldn’t stop Fred Taylor running, so we continued to pass and lost the game. WTF? And I don’t think he took his foot off the accelerator against UGA as they are a favored whipping boy.

34 – you are correct, we threw the ball WAY down deep into Gator territory and was called back for some bullshit penalty (thats my opinion at least).
Yeah, my knees buckled and I doubled over in pain after that happened. Very painful. The most painful experience since the Gardner push-off incident in death valley.

That being said, I look forward to another interesting game this year!!!!!! We now have a 6’8", super-jumping player we are lining up in kick block formation that we are excited about, Clifton Geathers. Wow, that game was painful, thats about all I can say.

The same Clifton Geathers that couldn’t make it into UGA? LOL.

All we heard from the Cocks when he committed to UGA was that we signed marginal student-athletes. So what happens? He can’t get into UGA, recommitts to SoCar, and now he’s “a 6′8″, super-jumping player”.

Y’all are too much

Close to literally sick? I was literally sick with nausea. So much so that to my never-ending shame, I was not a part of the amazing screaming roar right after the eerie silence. My knees literally went weak at the snap and I still couldn’t actually believe the thing was over until someone had jumped on the ball, the teams had stormed the field, and the referees left the field.

You describe the situation pretty well, but to me the sting of “holy shit that was close” wore off very quickly, because we were still in the hunt for the title. Unlike the 2002 Auburn game, when the blocked field goal sent the thing to overtime. The crowd reaction was similar (at about 80% that volume), but the feeling that “that definitely should not have been that close” was much harder to shake.

Orson – that clip hurts. I was watching the game on TV with my wife (she’s a Badger alumni who just doesn’t understand SEC football spirit). I was holding a beer in a 3-pt stance in front of the tv (like I always do in tight plays) when he the kick was blocked. The first thought through my head was “No f’ing way”, the second was to look for flags, the third was to throw my beer at the tv. In the end, I finished my beer, set it down on the coffee table and went to the garage to find something to do without replying to or hearing whatever the hell my wife was saying. That ending is the unfortunate tale of being a Gamecock fan. It’s why Andrew Pinnock coughed it up against UGA a few years ago on the wining drive on the 2, it’s why we lost to Navy in 84 when we were #4 in the country, undefeated and looking at a title game, it’s why every winning drive this year all came up short against the big SEC teams, Arky, UT, and AU, it’s why Corso said not even Spurrier will succeed at SC and the rest of the world agreed with him. Well, fuck Corso. There’s more beer in the fridge and there’s always next season!

Well, at least that was settled on the field. My experience in agony is a retirement present for tom Osborne. ‘97 season. Rose bowl win. Undefeated season. Rolled over most of the opposition. Heisman. NC in the bag right ? Nope.
When the polls came out, the only thought that was in my mind was "He kicked the godamned ball. He said he did! It was f’ing Missouri!" I loathe Nebraska and Tom Osborne.
I won’t even get into this year’s NC and who was in it and why. Good game, though, UF crushed them.

This type of thing is why in my perfect game formula, I always pick an asskicking over a close win. The torment that you go through in a close win almost makes winning more of a sense of relief than of joy.

#41: The sweet just isn’t as sweet without the sour

Beavis: Butthead, why are some things cool and other suck? Why can’t everything be cool.
Butt-head: Because if nothing sucked, we wouldn’t know how cool the cool things are.
Beavis: Oh, oh yeah, right.
Butt-head: Dumb ass.

hey, what does Clifton Geathers not getting into UGA and the fact that he is 6’8" and can jump high have to do with each other? You have a quote of me saying he is a marginal student athlete? kiss my ass.

I never get tired of that clip. If they gave out YouTube Oscars, that would kick the shit out of lonelygirl14.

Wow..it’s quite a game. I mean looking at the video, seeing people panic and hearing the loud crowd roar when Ryan Succop was blocked Jarvis Moss’ arms. How nerve-wrecking the game was, but it’s part of it all. The sweetest part of the game is seeing the crowd go nuts and jump on their seats, and it only means a thing; the game was superb!

my sister got engaged before the gatorwalk at that game. i remember just screaming and screaming, thinking that the gators couldn’t lose right after she got engaged. i’ll admit to getting a little teary eyed.

Fuck Jarvis Moss, the cheating piece of shit. He was high on that jump – much like he was high on cocaine the entire season but didn’t get “caught” until Western FUCKING Carolina came to play.

And whoever thinks OBC didn’t coach the shit out of that game (including the aforementioned deep throw called back for nothing) doesn’t know a damn thing about college football and should go to a sports blog entitled “Every Day Should be the WNBA All-Star Game”