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Carolinabulldogs

first SEC test:

September 4, 2013 • Volume 35 • Issue 23

ready to visit the

New York City?Big Apple alums back gamecocks in a big way

2 • Spurs & Feathers September 4, 2013

HEAT, tar heels, LIGHTNING can’t stop the Gamecocks

The home opener for South Carolina came on the hottest day of the year, but temps in the high 90s and a tough North Carolina squad weren’t able to stop the 6th-ranked Gamecocks from a 27-10 victory.

Photos by Allen Sharpe/Jenny Dilworth

September 4, 2013 Spurs & Feathers • 3

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What’s Inside? - Table of Contents

Georgia game look-ahead ..........................................4

“Battle of Carolinas” recap ...........................................6

Gamecock Club honored at halftime ......................8

Checking in with track & fieldand cross country coaches ..........................................9

Men’s & women’s golf fall previews ............... 10-11

Women’s soccer assistant coach profileand checking in with sand volleyball ...................12

Catching up with Glenn Snyder .............................13

South Carolina/Georgia depth charts ..................14

South Carolina to hostAll Sports Reunion ......................................................15

Gamecocks in New York ............................................16

Dinobrite Productions makesGamecock Mixtape .....................................................18

All of the information in the Spurs & Feathers’ newspaper will be mailed out to Gamecock Club members and subscribers early each week, but if you want the information before the hard copy arrives in your hand you can visit www.spursandfeathers.com. Each edition will be made available the Monday after each foot-ball game. Check www.spursandfeathers.com regularly for daily information on all things going on in the Gamecock nation.

You can also like us on Facebook at Spurs & Feathers and fol-low us on Twitter @SpursFeathers.

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Senior forward helps leadwomen’s soccer team ................................................19

Inside the Gamecock weight room .......................20

A Big Ole Good (Gamecock) Album ......................21

“Inside the Chart” with Andy Demetra ................22

Equestrian team bringschampionship pedigree ............................................23

Association of Lettermen events ...........................25

Florence County Chapter raisesfunds for Athletics in fan’s memory ......................26

Swimming their way to the top .............................28

Nothing could be finer! by Ed Girardeau ............30

Upcoming events: Gamecock Club ......................31


By Bart WrightContributing Writer

In the Steve Spurrier era, the Georgia game has always been the most significant early-season date for every Gamecocks’ season, but the twist this week might be the frame of mind of each coach as they look ahead to Saturday in Athens.

Chances are Spurrier and Georgia Coach Mark Richt were both feeling some anguish about Georgia’s tumultuous evening in Clemson when suspensions, injuries and botched plays contributed to a season-open-ing loss at a time the Bulldogs needed a little boost of momentum for the Carolina game.

For Richt, it represented an opportunity lost, maybe several of them. He decided to play without his starting safety Josh Harvey-Clemons after the sophomore was involved in a marijuana incident last spring. Harvey-Clemons is considered a difference-maker in the Georgia secondary and his absence was surely felt in the defeat.

Losing running back Todd Gurley for a spell in the first half didn’t help the Bull-dogs’ cause. Gurley only had 12 attempts in limited duty but he accounted for 154 yards – 12.8 per carry – in helping Georgia control the clock.

Quarterback Aaron Murray struggled after leading the Bulldogs to the Clemson five with a first down late in the third quarter, only to have the drive end up in a turnover and a lost opportunity at a crucial time. Mur-ray is now 3-12 against top-25 opponents.

Spurrier knows the Bulldogs controlled the clock, dominated the game on the ground, gained more yards passing, more yards rush-ing and only gave it away with penalties and the critical turnover. He no doubt would have preferred to see a Georgia win with the Bull-dogs feeling a little giddy about themselves, instead of gnashing their teeth about a game they should have won.

But there are edges Carolina takes into the featured Saturday game, as well.

For one, Spurrier will remind his play-ers that they contributed to an 0-2 start for Georgia two years ago after a 45-42 win in Athens. It’s been done before.

The Gamecocks have edges of their own, starting with Jadeveon Clowney, who a lot of critics assumed was out of shape in the open-ing night victory last week against North Carolina.

Instead of conditioning, it might well have been a more prosaic issue that slowed Clowney – being a college kid. It has hap-pened in various spots around the country, most notably with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel who had a raucous off-season of autograph sessions and celebrity visitations that stirred up unnecessary at-

tention. In Arizona, another Heisman can-didate, Ka’Deem Carey, was suspended for the opener. Clowney appeared to let the preseason hype get to him. That, and high humidity and the frustration of chasing plays designed to run away from him were a com-bination he let get to him.

The criticism delivered by ESPN’s Kirk

Herbstreit, that Clowney was playing, “not to get hurt,” seemed unfounded. The guess here is that we will see something closer to the Clowney we expected this season when they line up Saturday.

That gives the edge to the Gamecocks against a Georgia team with confidence and performance issues.

Spurrier, Richt must have seen the same thing in Georgia loss

AP Photo/RichARd ShiRo

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray calls out a play during the second half against Clemson Saturday en route to a 38-35 road loss.



by mike [email protected]

South Carolina’s offense proved to be the unit with the ability to strike quickly despite pre-game predictions, as the sixth-ranked Gamecocks rode a 17-point first quarter to a 27-10 victory in the season opener.

The 17 first-quarter points were the most the Gamecocks have scored in the first quar-ter of a season opener since putting up 23 against Central Florida in 1996. The charge was led by a three-play, 82-yard drive that was capped by a 65-yard touchdown pass on Connor Shaw’s first attempt to Shaq Ro-land. The score came only 1:19 into the first quarter.

“We did some good running, and obvi-

ously hit some big plays in the game … so we had some good plays, but had a lot of bad plays too,” head coach Steve Spurrier said. “We’re happy to beat them. Who knows how good of a team they or us will be. It was a good first game.”

The Gamecocks capitalized on big plays by scoring their second touchdown on a 29-yard pass on Dylan Thompson’s only throw of the game. Mike Davis responded to North Carolina’s field goal to open the second half with a 75-yard touchdown run as he outran his pursuers. His run was the longest rush from scrimmage for the Gamecocks since an 88-yard run by Bobby Wallace in 2006.

The Tar Heels’ offense was able to move the ball by putting together a couple of long drives and capitalizing on third downs dur-

ing the game, but they were only able to net 10 points. The drives were 16 and 17 plays, respectively. However, the Gamecocks were able to answer both with scores of their own.

The Gamecock offensive line performed well, allowing the offense to put up 406 yards, including 228 rushing yards. They al-lowed only one sack. Davis led the way with 115 yards on 12 carries and the touchdown.

South Carolina’s defense performed well overall, despite the two long drives. They only surrendered 293 yards, 99 of them rushing.

“We played a team that snapped the ball 79 times and only had 10 points, a team that averaged 40-plus a ball game last year with a veteran quarterback coming back … we’ve got a lot we can work on, but there are some

positive things we can take from it,” defen-sive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said.

Standout Jadeveon Clowney had no sacks, but was around the ball on many plays. T.J. Gurley led the Gamecocks in tackles with nine, and many players saw action due to the heat and speed of the game.

The game also had an hour and 44-minute weather delay with 8:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. After the break, the teams traded possessions and the Gamecocks made a goal line stand to secure the victory late.

The Gamecocks will look to keep the of-fense clicking as they travel to Athens, Ga. next week to take on the Bulldogs in an SEC East top-25 showdown. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. The game will be nationally tele-vised on ESPN.

Gamecocks claim battle of Carolinas in season opener

PHOTO BY ALLEN SHARPE

Shaq Roland races past the North Carolina defense to give South Carolina an early advantage over the Tar Heels in the season opener at Williams-Brice Stadium.


PHOTOS BY ALLEN SHARPE AND JENNY DILWORTH

Roland stretches out for a catch above. Below Brandon Wilds in action against UNC.


Photo by Allen SharpeRick Cutaia accepts the Director’s Cup Black Division award for Charleston County.

Photo by Allen SharpeAthletics Director Ray Tanner, Gamecock Club Executive Director Patrick McFarland and York County president Chip Comer share a laugh. York County was the Garnet Division winner.

Photo by Allen SharpeHorry County president Ryan Graham accepts the award for most improved chapter.

Photo by Allen SharpeAiken’s Chris Fulmer is given the Gamecock Club’s Most Valuable President award. He is joined by his wife, Kathy.

Gamecock Club honors chapter MVPs



Two members of South Carolina’s track and field coaching staff got the honor of represent-ing Team USA in international competition over the summer.

Track and field head coach Curtis Frye was able to do so twice, serving as men’s head coach at the World University Games and an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles at the 2013 IAAF World Championships. Both were held in Russia. Gamecocks’ assistant coach Delethea Quarles served as an assistant for jumps and combination events at the World Championships as well.

“The advantages of a trip like that is to gain new experiences, even if you may have done some of these things before,” Frye said. “Growth never stops … there’s an opportunity for everything that you’ve been selected to do, and sometimes you don’t realize until you’re in the midst of a situation how good an opportu-nity really is.”

In serving as both a head and an assistant coach, Frye discussed the differences in his duties also saying he enjoyed both experienc-es. Frye said he enjoyed being a resource, but he also liked being the decision maker as the head coach.

“I like making the decisions because many things that people see as urgent, because you’ve done them before … they’re not ‘panic urgent,’” Frye explained. “So I had a lot of wealth to draw from and it made it easy for us. I liked being a resource, but being a resource makes you need to be removed from the decision … you have to paint a picture for someone as an as-sistant of what needs to be done,” Frye added.

Both coaches talked about the process of being selected to the national team coaching staff, with applications, merit evaluation and committee selection. They echoed each other saying that it was a great honor and opportunity.

“It means a great deal after being in coaching for over 20-something years. To get selected of course is a great honor

to serve your country and to represent your university … It just kind of elevates what you’re doing,” Quarles said. “To me it’s one of the ultimate things to have been selected for in my career.”

The honor to serve at the World Championships was great for both coaches, being one of the highlights of the sport every two years (second only to the Olympics). Quarles noted that it is an important competition to get on the radar for Olympic team selection, and having student-athletes competing at that level is a tribute to those athletes.

The coaches were also reunited with some former Game-cocks at the World Championships, which they said is one of the ultimate testaments to the program. “It’s one thing to serve, but it is another thing to have someone

under your coaching and teaching that is se-lected to be there. That is probably the ultimate … that you have people there that you person-ally had something to do with them being there,” Quarles said.

“It’s not necessarily a goal of ours, but more of a product of the system. It’s really a credit to those athletes that we’ve had here that they go on to compete internationally,” Frye con-firmed.

The staff was excited to have both Jeannelle Scheper and Kierre Beckles from the program competing at the World Championships, as well as alumni Natasha Hastings, Lashinda Demus and Jason Richardson performing well from the program.

These athletes going on and doing well in in-ternational competitions has helped to promote the program and separate from others around the country. The coaches said that it is all a credit to the athletes they have been fortunate enough to have in the program, and also a product of the relationships the staff has been able to have with them while on campus.

“We care for the whole athlete, and we have just been blessed to have individuals who are gifted enough to compete internationally. We like to create a life-long relationship with the

athletes, and it is great to see some of them go on to be suc-cessful on an international level,” Quarles said.

Both coaches are excited about the upcoming season and the chance to help more athletes improve and grow as people go-ing forward.

“I’m a juiced up guy from this trip. I’ve been reenergized on why we do what we do. We’re impacting lives so that they can impact the world. That’s what coaching is,” Frye said. “Meet-ing people where they are, and helping them get where they want to be is probably the thing that motivates me the most.

“We want to build something that we can be proud of here at South Carolina long range … I’m just proud to be a part of the initial, now the actuality, and hopefully a part of the continua-tion,” Frye added.

Track and field coaches represent on the national level

submitted photo

South Carolina head track & field coach Curtis Frye and assistant Deletha Quarles in Russia.

by brian [email protected]

South Carolina assistant track & field coach Andrew Allden is in his second stint at the helm of the Gamecock cross country program.

Allden previously coached the Gamecock cross country team from 1996-2000. During his first stop with the Gamecocks he helped lead the team to a program-best placing of fifth in the SEC standings in 1999.

He returns to the Gamecock

cross country program after running AA Elite Coaching in North Carolina for the past nine years.

Allden was on the job for less than 20 days before leading the Gamecocks into their first cross country event on Aug. 30.

Despite the whirlwind start to the year for Allden and his 31 student-athletes, the thing that excites him the most in the up-coming season for the team is the depth that the program has currently.

“I see a lot of potential … if

I compare it to the teams that I was working with here in the late 90s, I would say that the team is deeper, so I think we are stronger at No. 10 and I think over time that’s going to have a significant ripple effect. I am excited about what I would describe as the quality depth of the program,” noted Allden.

The depth to which Allden al-ludes was particularly evident in the Carolina Challenge meet on Aug. 30 with South Carolina picking up seven of the top-14 finishers in their home event.

The Gamecocks finished sec-ond as a team in the event.

The 5K Carolina Challenge was the first of two consecu-tive home meets to start the year for the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks will host the 5K Gamecock Invitational #1 this Friday evening at Hilton Field. The Gamecocks will hit the road for the first time for the 5K Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. on Sept. 14. The Gamecocks have seven meets in total before the SEC Championships on Nov. 1.

Gamecock cross country off to solid start



The Gamecock men’s golf team had a strong season in 2012-13 and returns a core of contributors this season.

The Gamecocks have high expectations for the upcoming year. Golfweek ranks South Carolina in the top-20 in the nation (18th) to begin this year’s campaign.

The season will get underway for the Gamecocks on Sept. 6 as they play in the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Dalton, Ga. The event is three-day tournament that will be the team’s first test.

“I think the ranking is mainly a reward from last year … it’s always good to be in the top-20, top-25,” head coach Bill Mc-Donald said. “I think it’s a statement that we made a good run last year, and they know we have a nucleus coming back.

“Personally, I think this team could go well beyond that. I think we have that capability this year to get ranked a lot higher,” McDonald added.

The team’s depth will be one of the strengths as three of the five players from last year’s postseason lineup will be ready for action in the opening event. Caleb Sturgeon, Matt NeSmith and Will Starke will anchor the lineup for the Gamecocks.

“Caleb Sturgeon is our team leader I would say, and Matt NeSmith and Will Starke are sophomores now,” McDon-ald said. “Matt was the top player in the country coming in here, and he lived up to that reputation. Will was a top-15 player in the country as well and he’s ex-tremely talented.”

McDonald also mentions junior Will Murphy, a player who has contributed for a couple of seasons, and some of the other members with experience as adding to the team’s depth.

McDonald also notes that the two fresh-men on the roster have made the transi-tion to college well and impressed on the course so far.

“I’m extremely impressed in our first week or so back with our two freshmen, Ben Dietrich and Kieron Fowler …. they are two outstanding young men and re-ally good looking players,” McDonald commented. “They’re going to help us, and I think that they could both be really great Gamecocks.”

The depth of the team also was aided by the player’s participation in events and work over the summer. McDonald said that summer play is something that he strongly emphasizes, not only for player development, but for developing the pro-gram as well.

“I’m trying to encourage the guys to get out and play often and play high level events,” McDonald expanded. “It’s a great time of year for them to just fo-cus on golf … there are a lot of really great events all over the southeast and the country that they can play in and get great competition.

“A lot of times you will see a player come back from a really successful sum-mer, and it will springboard them into a much better collegiate year,” McDonald explained.

McDonald explained that this bump from summer play often comes from the student-athletes getting familiar with col-legiate competition and learning that they can compete on the college level. Overall, he stresses that it is important to keep working and competing because the sum-mer work pays off during the season.

Summer play also helps to decide the lineup for early-season events, such as the first one on the Gamecocks’ schedule. McDonald noted that he based most of the lineup for the first event on which players had the best summer, thus keep-ing them from having to go through extra qualifying rounds early in the year.

The regionals and big tournaments for the golf schedule may come in the spring semester, but McDonald said that the fall portion of the schedule is just as impor-tant. He added that there are a few differ-ent things that can be accomplished in the fall, but all the events count.

“Our schedule is an accumulation start-ing now all the way to conference and on into regionals hopefully, so they’re very important tournaments,” McDonald noted. “With that being said, you also want to try to develop your team during this period as well and play as many guys as you can.

“The goal is really a combination of try-ing to play at a very high level and also getting as many guys into the lineup as possible,” McDonald concluded.

The Gamecock golf team looks to be in a prime position heading into the fall portion of the schedule, and they hope to capitalize on potential to put together an-other successful season.

High expectations for men’s golf entering upcoming year“I think it’s (ranking) a statement that we made a good run last year, and they know we have a nucleus coming back.”

~ Head Coach Bill McDonald

PHOTO BY ALLEN SHARPE

NeSmith lived up to his high expectations as a freshman by being named an All-American.



This season’s version of the South Caro-lina women’s golf team has head coach Kalen Harris excited about the upcoming season, despite the fact that she doesn’t put much stock into South Carolina’s pre-season rank of 20th.

“A ranking is a ranking, and things change throughout the year. It doesn’t matter,” Harris said. “Hopefully we’ll im-prove on that ranking. We’ve got our goals set very high this year, and I think we can accomplish a lot.”

Harris says that the depth of this year’s squad will be its biggest asset, and the fact that she can field a lineup that is strong from the top to the bottom will make this team competitive in every event.

“It’s probably the best depth that we’ve had since I’ve been here … we’ve got a whole arsenal from one to five, and that’s really exciting that every kid can put up a low number,” Harris explained. “There’s not a whole lot of weakness from our one to our five.”

The returning class will bring experi-ence and talent to the team, and many

of the players performed well during the summer. Justine Dreher, Sarah Schmelzel and Chlesey Couch all participated in very competitive events over the summer.

“We had a lot of success this summer, and people played a lot of golf. Justine Dreher did very well at the British Wom-en’s Amateur … she beat several really, really strong players,” Harris said.

The returners were not the only players to draw compliments from Harris, as she said that the two freshmen coming in this year may comprise the best recruiting class in her time heading South Carolina. Even though the recruiting classes are small, the quality of this group gives them acclaim.

The two newcomers are Katelyn Dam-baugh from South Carolina and Alex Yang coming over from China. Dam-baugh was one of the top recruits in the nation, and Yang brings a reliable, steady game to create a combination that should greatly benefit the Gamecocks.

“She’s had a lot of success and she’s extremely talented. I think she is going to be a player to watch throughout her four years … she’s always hit the ball a long way and been very talented,” Harris said

of Dambaugh. “She’s going to be an excit-ing player to watch.”

Of Yang, Harris said, “she has an un-believable short game, and plays a lot throughout the world and is just a very steady player. She hits a lot of fairways, hits a lot of greens and her short game is just phenomenal.”

The individuals on the team all bring talent, and Harris says that they will bring out the best in each other. The competition among the players does not take away for the team unity, as she says that they have bonded together and pushed each other to get better.

“We have great chemistry … it’s a fan-tastic group. We have people from both sides of the country and all over the world, and I think the camaraderie is good,” Har-ris said. “The competition factor amongst themselves is good … playing against each other every day will make them work harder and make them better.

“They will just have to step up a little bit more. The teams that I’ve been around and been able to work with, that has al-ways made better players,” Harris added.

The competition in the SEC is another

added factor that Harris credits to making both the players and the team better. She said that the better teams push the Game-cocks to be better, and if they played in another conference the team might not be as good.

Overall, Harris said that the goal is always to contend for championships in every tournament despite the inconsisten-cies that can be present in golf. She is con-fident that this group’s depth will pay off and allow the team to do just that.

“The game of golf is strange at times, it’s similar to baseball I’ve heard, there’s a lot of luck involved. You have to have a lot of patience and just stay with it, stay with your process and kind of wait for your upturn,” Harris explained. “That’s part of the game, not to get too down on yourself, just remain positive and keep working on your process to stay with it.

“We’re just going to continue to work on our short game, work on our wedge play and scoring game and really get that through to them ... I think we’ve got a lot of talent and we’ll be patient in the pro-cess and the success will come,” Harris said.

Women’s golf looks to depth for strength



For most married people it would be an interesting adventure to also go to work with your spouse every day.

But for Shelley and Jamie Smith it has led to championships for the South Carolina women’s soccer program.

The married tandem has helped lead the Gamecocks to an SEC Tournament champi-onship and an SEC regular season title in the last four years and the Gamecock women’s soccer program has become perennial con-tenders not only in the SEC, but also nation-ally during the stretch.

The tandem is now in its 13th year together

as a coaching duo and the proof of whether it works is in the championships.

The interesting dichotomy between the two spouses and colleagues has definitely evolved over the years though.

“I joke around that she (Shelley) is ex-tremely tolerant of me … she is really good and she listens when I have input and we kind of bounce things off each other. We are constantly talking about it in the house, which is probably not a good thing some-times, but it is nice that you can go home and have someone to talk about issues with,” Jamie Smith said.

Jamie Smith also believes that while other programs talk about a family environment, that is something that they actually provide

to their student-athletes. “I think for us being a husband and wife

they (student-athletes) are truly an extension of our family … it is how we treat it; as if they are our own, so hopefully that is how they feel it is,” Jamie Smith noted.

Shelley Smith echoes his comments.“It has worked out so well … obviously we

both have been so invested in building a pro-gram so it means a lot to us and it is a family as well. I always say I couldn’t do half the things I am able to do now as a coach and as a parent … we have just been a team in all aspects. We can count on each other to do what we need to do to get the job done as a family and as a professional,” Shelley Smith said.

A former AFLAC Assistant Coach of the Year award winner, Jamie Smith began his time with his wife Shelley at South Carolina coming off a strong background as a men’s assistant coach at Brown, Dartmouth and Vermont. He was at one point the interim head coach at Vermont.

An accomplished player in his own right, Jamie Smith graduated from Providence College in 1994. He was a three-year starter for the Friars where he is still second all-time for career saves with 263. He would later play professionally before getting into coaching.

Smith has been able to take his talents in

Jamie Smith huge part of South Carolina women’s soccer


The newest program of South Caroina athletics has begun work for its upcoming inaugural season this spring. Head coach Moritz Moritz said that the excitement level is so high for the group in every aspect that the team has gone through in getting the program started from scratch.

“The excitement level has been amazing for every little thing. It’s such a cool group because they’re so appreciative of everything, for the opportunity to build this,” Moritz said. “The littlest things, like getting a shirt that says ‘sand volleyball’ on it … being able to go lift as a group and have team meetings as a group, they’re so fired up.

“It’s exciting to be able to see them rejuve-nated in a lot of ways … it’s cool though, to see them come together, gel as a group and be excited about the future of the program.”

Moritz credits the team for being ambitious in approaching every challenge that they have faced thus far in the process. He said that the new members are self-motivated, with the new student-athletes learning the paths to the weight room, timing the walk to the practice courts and exploring the academic enrich-ment center on their own volition.

The team has begun working with the strength and conditioning staff, and Moritz said that the staff is fantastic at what they do. He said that they are “not trying to reinvent the wheel” with the program, but the staff has done a good job of creating a specific pro-gram for the team.

“We’re definitely working on fine tuning the student-athlete that is going to have fast footwork and really be able to explode off the surface,” Moritz said. “Now they’re develop-ing speed and footwork with moving and maintaining good posture and good eyes.

“We’ve got until March to really work on strengthening, conditioning and getting geared up. They’re a little bit sore coming in to start the second day, but I think that is kind of to be expected with the first week. So they’re good. They’re all fired up, there is great energy in there, and we’re just having a lot of fun with that preparation phase,” Moritz added.

Moritz credited not only the team, but also every part of the support staff for the student-athletes on campus, from the staff at the Dodie Academic Enrichment Center, the nutritionists, academic advisors, the athletic training staff all the way up to the adminis-tration.

“We can’t speak highly enough of every-body that has their fingerprints on every

student-athlete in some way … we have quality people that are helping us with every different aspect, strength and conditioning, academic advisors that are unbelievable. It’s such a great opportunity and the resources that our kids have to develop is huge for us,” Moritz said.

Moritz said that there is a great relationship between the team and the support system of

people working hard to help them to be suc-cessful. He added that this makes the team recognize that there are no little things or me-nial actions because everything is important in the creation of a new program.

“It is imperative to be excellent students, ex-cellent athletes and excellent representative of South Carolina in the community. When you keep those things in mind with the resources

and support, you’re going to be success-ful. There’s good people doing a lot of good things to help us, and they’ll probably never get the recognition they deserve,” Moritz continued.

With all that support, the countdown to competition has come even more to the fore-front for the coach and team. Moritz installed a ticker that is counting down to that AVCA Sand National Championship tournament, which is about 250 days away. He said that it is a good reminder of what the team is work-ing for in the process because the goal is to be competing in that tournament.

The team will take the court for the first time next week and begin training with balls and working on volleyball in a match-like setting. Moritz said the team will work on individual training with a focus on technique and fundamentals, taking the time to break down every skill to a baseline skill set and then building back up from there.

He said the excitement level that has been high in the first week or so will really get amped up when the team is able to go out and take to the courts. This will be true for not only the team, but for Moritz as well.

“That’s what we live for; that’s why we got into this job … the best part is to be on the court. You’re really working on the techni-cal aspects, getting feedback and seeing the response and adjustments that they’re making and learning too. That’s everything that we love to do, and that’s the reason that we got into coaching,” Moritz explained.

The team is excited to take another step in the process, and every one is important be-cause that ticker is constantly counting down.

**editor’s note: Spurs & Feathers will be following sand volleyball all year. This is the second article in what will be a year-long adventure with south carolina’s new-est athletic program.**

Sand volleyball commences efforts to get ready for inaugural seasonPlease see smith, Page 21



Most people change their ideas of what they want to do with their life many times before settling on a career.

That was not the case with former Spurs & Feathers writer Glenn Snyder who after 30 years with the publication has moved on to other new and exciting opportunities.

Snyder has known what he wanted to do with his life since he was 13 years old.

“When I was 13 I came to Columbia and saw the horseshoe and met our coach at the time, which was Marvin Bass. I knew that day I was going to come to school here, I was going to be in Columbia the rest of my life and I wanted to do what I have been doing for 30 years. So my life has worked out pretty well,” Snyder said.

That life as a Gamecock is nowhere near coming to an end as Snyder has just been hired by The State to work with GoGamecocks.com.

“I am going to do it from a different slant. I am going to do it kind of from my experiences in all my years. I am going to do a preview of each game, a postgame and then on Wednes-

day I am going to do kind of a special feature … I am also going to do twice a week an hour online chat,” Snyder noted.

Snyder is pretty excited about the opportu-nity due to the fact that he has seen the good and bad with Gamecock athletics.

“I was a writer when we were 1-21. You think about the creative writing back in those days,” Snyder joked.

Snyder over the years has become extremely close with Steve Spurrier and he knows that his new opportunity with GoGamecocks.com might not have been possible without the ef-forts of the Head Ball Coach.

Spurrier’s efforts most importantly mean that Snyder will be able to continue his im-pressive streak of catching Gamecock football games.

“Let me tell you. This number will blow your mind. Tommy Suggs is the only person on earth that has seen more. I have seen 342 (football games) in a row,” Snyder remarked days before the season opener against North Carolina.

Now Snyder is at 343. 400 is just around the corner.

Catching up with Glenn Snyder

PHOTO BY ALLEN SHARPEGlenn Snyder (pictured with Spurrier) has been hired by The State to work on GoGamecocks.com.


OFFENSEWR: 4 Shaq Roland 6-1 190 So. Lexington, S.C. 8 Shamier Jeffery 6-1 207 So. St. Matthews, S.C. 80 K.J. Brent 6-4 188 So. Waxhaw, N.C.WR: 1 Damiere Byrd 5-9 166 Jr. Sicklerville, N.J. 23 Bruce Ellington 5-9 196 Jr. Moncks Corner, S.C. 19 Jody Fuller 5-11 217 Fr.-RS Charlotte, N.C.WR: 3 Nick Jones 5-7 174 Jr. Moore, S.C. 13 Pharoh Cooper 5-11 184 Fr. Havelock, N.C. 82 Kwinton Smith 6-4 212 Fr.-RS Hamer, S.C. LT: 53 Corey Robinson 6-8 341 Jr. Havelock, N.C. 74 Mason Zandi 6-9 293 Fr.-RS Irmo, S.C.LG: 50 A.J. Cann 6-4 314 Jr. Bamberg, S.C. 65 Brock Stadnik 6-5 286 Fr.-RS Greensboro, N.C. 52 Bryce King 6-3 281 Fr. Dillon, S.C.C: 51 Cody Waldrop 6-2 319 Fr.-RS Seffner, Fla. 54 Clayton Stadnik 6-3 281 Fr.-RS Greensboro, N.C. 70 Alan Knott 6-4 272 Fr. Tyrone, Ga.RG: 67 Ronald Patrick 6-2 315 Sr. Cocoa, Fla. 75 Will Sport 6-5 294 So. Milton, Fla. 69 D.J. Park 6-4 334 Fr. Dillon, S.C.RT: 71 Brandon Shell 6-6 323 So. Goose Creek, S.C. 73 J.P. Vonashek 6-6 283 Fr. Saint Marys, Ga. 55 Na’Ty Rodgers 6-5 296 Fr. Waldorf, Md.TE: 89 Jerell Adams 6-6 237 So. Pinewood, S.C. 88 Drew Owens 6-6 244 So. Charlotte, N.C.QB: 14 Connor Shaw 6-1 209 Sr. Flowery Branch, Ga. 17 Dylan Thompson 6-3 218 Jr. Boiling Springs, S.C. 5 Brendan Nosovitch6-1 220 Fr.-RS Allentown, Pa.FB: 41 Connor McLaurin 6-0 237 Jr. Raleigh, N.C. 31 Jordan Diaz 6-1 233 Jr. Hamilton, N.J.TB: 28 Mike Davis 5-9 215 So. Lithonia, Ga. 22 Brandon Wilds 6-2 223 So. Blythewood, S.C. 7 Shon Carson 5-8 219 So. Scranton, S.C.DEFENSEDE: 90 Chaz Sutton 6-5 263 Sr. Savannah, Ga. 34 Mason Harris 6-3 218 So. Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. 44 Gerald Dixon 6-2 268 So. Rock Hill, S.C.DT: 97 J.T. Surratt 6-2 307 Jr. Winston-Salem, N.C. 92 Gerald Dixon Jr. 6-3 318 So. Rock Hill, S.C. 93 Deon Green 6-4 287 So. Windermere, Fla.DT: 99 Kelcy Quarles 6-4 298 Jr. Hodges, S.C. 52 Phillip Dukes 6-3 315 So. Manning, S.C.DE: 7 Jadeveon Clowney 6-6 274 Jr. Rock Hill, S.C. 5 Darius English 6-6 226 Fr.-RS Powder Springs, Ga.MLB: 8 Kaiwan Lewis 6-0 221 So. Mays Landing, N.J. 11 T.J. Holloman 6-2 228 Fr.-RS Stone Mountain, Ga. 28 Jonathan Walton 6-0 234 Fr. Daphne, Ala.WLB: 21 Marcquis Roberts 6-1 225 So. Powder Springs, Ga. 10 Skai Moore 6-2 205 Fr. Cooper City, Fla. 32 Larenz Bryant 6-0 215 Fr. Charlotte, N.C.SPUR: 9 Sharrod Golightly 5-10 195 Jr. Decatur, Ga. 42 Jordan Diggs 6-0 214 Fr.-RS Fort Myers, Fla. 6 Chris Moody 6-1 212 Fr.-RS McDonough, Ga.CB: 27 Victor Hampton 5-10 202 Jr. Darlington, S.C. 4 Ahmad Christian 5-10 189 So. Jacksonville, FlaSS: 25 Kadetrix Marcus 6-1 195 Jr. Stone Mountain, Ga. 20 T.J. Gurley 5-10 196 So. Cairo, Ga.FS: 12 Brison Williams 5-11 218 Jr. Warner Robins, Ga. 17 Chaz Elder 6-2 199 Fr.-RS Union City, Ga.CB: 15 Jimmy Legree 6-0 187 Sr. Beaufort, S.C. 3 Jamari Smith 5-10 183 Fr. Jacksonville, Fla. 1 Rico McWilliams 5-11 187 Fr.-RS Hampton, Ga

South CarolinaOFFENSESE: 82 Michael Bennett 6-3 205 Jr. Alpharetta, Ga. 86 Justin Scott-Wesley5-11 206 So. Camilla, Ga.LT: 72 Kenarious Gates 6-5 327 Sr. Grantville, Ga. 79 Mark Beard 6-5 300 Jr. Adamsville, Ala.LG: 64 Dallas Lee 6-4 295 Sr. Buford, Ga. 78 Watts Dantzler 6-7 307 Jr. Dalton, Ga.C: 61 David Andrews 6-2 295 Jr. Johns Creek, Ga. 66 Hunter Long 6-4 312 So. Memphis, Tenn.RG: 68 Chris Burnette 6-2 314 Sr. LaGrange, Ga. 75 Kolton Houston 6-5 280 Jr. Buford, Ga.RT: 71 John Theus 6-6 298 So. Jacksonville, Fla. 75 Kolton Houston 6-5 280 Jr. Buford, Ga 63 Xzavier Ward 6-7 278 So. Moultrie, Ga.TE: 88 Arthur Lynch 6-5 254 Sr. Dartmouth, Mass.. 87 Jay Rome 6-6 254 So. Valdosta, Ga.QB: 11 Aaron Murray 6-1 208 Sr. Tampa, Fla. 14 Hutson Mason 6-3 202 Jr. Marietta, GaTB: 3 Todd Gurley 6-1 232 So. Tarboro, N.C 4 Keith Marshall 5-11 219 So. Raleigh, N.C.FB: 48 Quayvon Hicks 6-2 257 So. Blackshear, Ga. 43 Merritt Hall 5-11 226 So. Alpharetta, Ga.FLK: 26 Malcolm Mitchell 6-1 190 Jr. Valdosta, Ga 31 Chris Conley 6-3 206 Jr. Dallas, Ga.DEFENSEDE: 56 Garrison Smith 6-3 299 Sr. Atlanta, Ga. 94 John Taylor 6-4 336 Fr.-RS Millen, Ga.N: 96 Mike Thornton 6-1 290 Jr. Stone Mountain, Ga. 93 ChrisMayes 6-4 321 So. Griffin,Ga.DE: 58 Sterling Bailey 6-3 282 So. Gainesville, Ga. 47 Ray Drew 6-5 276 Jr. Thomasville, Ga.OLB: 89 James DeLoach 6-3 265 So. Millen, Ga. 84 Leonard Floyd 6-4 220 Fr. Eastman, Ga.OLB: 59 Jordan Jenkins 6-3 246 So. Hamilton, Ga. 91 Josh Dawson 6-4 254 So. Tucker, Ga. 84 Leonard Floyd 6-4 220 Fr. Eastman, Ga.ILB: 51 Ramik Wilson 6-2 232 Jr. Tampa, Fla. 42 Tim Kimbrough 6-0 228 Fr. Indianapolis, Ind.ILB: 52 Amarlo Herrera 6-2 244 Jr. College Park, Ga. 45 Reggie Carter 6-1 229 Fr. Snellville, Ga.CB: 4 Brendan Langley 6-1 181 Fr. Marietta, Ga. 2 Sheldon Dawson 5-11 190 So. North Memphis, Tenn.CB: 5 Damian Swann 5-11 178 Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 6 Shaq Wiggins 5-10 165 Fr. Tyrone, Ga.SS: 11 Connor Norman 5-10 201 Sr. Duluth, Ga. 39 CoreyMoore 6-2 214 Jr. Griffin,Ga.FS: 28 Tray Matthews 6-0 196 Fr. Newnan, Ga. 20 Quincy Mauger 6-0 200 Fr. Marietta, Ga.

GeorgiaDepth Charts for Sept. 7, 4:30 p.m.

*These depth charts are taken from the listings from each team’s previous game. Spurs & Feathers goes to print shortly after each football game. Please visit www.spur-sandfeathers.com over the course of the week for updated depth charts.


South Carolina Athletics Media Relations

The University of South Carolina Athlet-ics Department has announced the dates for the 2013 All Sports Reunion. The reunion will take place during Homecoming Week-end, November 1-2 in Columbia. To kick off the weekend, former student-athletes are encouraged to attend the 2013 All Sports Reunion Reception on Friday, November 1 in the Athletics Village. On Saturday, for-mer student-athletes will join fellow alumni at the My Carolina Alumni Association Homecoming Tailgate in Gamecock Park (former Farmer’s Market) prior to watching the Gamecock football team take on Missis-sippi State.

“The Gamecock All Sports Reunion gives us a chance to honor former student-athletes who have worn the Garnet and Black and represented the University so well,” said Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “We have a long and storied history at USC and by honoring our past; we hope to keep this tra-dition going so that Gamecocks for years to come will be treasured in the memories of

all that support Carolina.”This year’s event will be open to all for-

mer student-athletes from all sports and all years. Please visit Reunion Registration to register. Registration deadline is Oct. 18. For more information, contact Jay Brown, Gamecock Club Assistant Director at 803.777.5723 or [email protected].

Athletics department to host All Sports Reunion

“We have a long and storied history at USC and by honoring our past; we hope to keep this tradition going so that Gamecocks for years to come will be treasured in the memories of all that support Carolina.”

~ Athletics Director Ray Tanner



Gamecock fans in the Big Apple may have a New York state of mind, but in arguably one of the toughest places to live in the coun-try they have not forgotten their roots and how to show southern hospitality to their fel-low Gamecocks.

The New York City Gamecock Club and the Greater New York chapters of My Caro-lina Alumni Association work hand-in-hand to make New York feel like home for Game-cock fans in the area.

There are roughly over 8,000 alumni in the greater area and the chapter is one of the larg-est out of the Carolinas and Atlanta.

This is something in which My Carolina Alumni Association president Nick Mat-thews and New York City Gamecock Club president JR Buzzelli take great pride. Mat-thews is also the vice president of the New York City Gamecock Club chapter.

“We have a large alumni base in the area, but it is transient and the turnover is great. We help newcomers navigate the city and we also cater to people in the area on vacation or that are even just there for the week. Some of the most rewarding comments we have received is that (when they were with group) it felt like home with the atmosphere,” Mat-

thews noted.The group has been around for a long time,

but things really began to pick up for the group five years ago with 50 people coming out to support the Gamecocks at watch par-ties on a regular basis. Three years later it was around 200 people a game.

Now the NYC Gamecocks begin the 2013 football season with 400-plus people at each watch party, which is held at The Mason Jar in New York City.

According to Buzzelli, the NYC Game-cocks are a “very active chapter.” They have even gotten The Mason Jar to completely buy in to their product as the restaurant recently joined the Gamecock Club’s Garnet Market.

“This is a remote chapter so it is tough to go to home events. Most people in the area may be able to only go to one or two games a year. When we have the game-watching events we try to make it a home away from home. There are no commercial breaks because during the breaks we have a band play the fight song, or have raffles, or give out general Gamecock

statistics,” Buzzelli remarked. Buzzelli feels that it is a home away from

home for the roughly 8,000 or more Game-cocks in the greater New York area who either went to school there, have children that go to school there or are just general Game-cock fans.

“You meet alumni everywhere up here. This year alone, 122 kids are coming to

South Carolina as freshman from the area,” Buzzelli said.

According to Buzzelli, ev-ery other SEC school in New York City also has about equal

the amount of alumni and fans in the area so it makes it a very competitive situation with the other SEC chapters.

Despite the competitive nature between SEC schools, the NYC Gamecocks jointly work with the other SEC chapters to host events. In fact, there was even an SEC tail-gate in Central Park.

The alumni association in the area may be large, but the Gamecock Club is still continu-ing its growth with the club, featuring just over 100 members.

The fledgling New York City Gamecock Club may be a work in progress, but Buzzelli is excited about where they are currently.

“I don’t benchmark against other chapters. I benchmark against the opportunity and with 8,000 people living in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area with very high inter-est in the Gamecocks, I am excited about the future. It’s a lot of work but also energizing and a lot of fun to work with so many pas-sionate Gamecocks.”

According to Matthews, one of the ways they have gotten the word out about the NYC Gamecocks is through social media avenues and their website.

This mindset has helped to draw in the large crowds for their game-watching, alum-ni, networking and philanthropic events.

In fact, the NYC Gamecocks want every Gamecock fan to know that if you visit New York City come by and watch a game with the group, or even that you can just come by The Mason Jar and show your Gamecock Club card to get a discount. They want to be one of all Gamecock fans stop in the city that never sleeps.

For more information on the NYC Game-cocks, please visit their official website at www.nycgamecocks.com. You can also fol-low them on Twitter @NYCGamecocks and like them on Facebook at NYC Gamecocks.

A Carolina New York State of Mind

“You meet alumni everywhere up here. This year alone, 122 kids are coming to South Carolina as freshman from the area.”

~ New York City Gamecock Club president JR Buzzelli

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Pictured on left is Cocky outside of The Mason Jar in New York City. Pictured on the right is the NYC Gamecocks watching last year’s South Carolina-Arkanas game inside The Mason Jar.




Dinobrite Productions set their goals pretty high when deciding to do a video to promote their Gamecock Mixtape.

They wanted to simply make the best Gamecock video ever.

Recorded for the most part in the summer of 2012 at The Jam Room recording studio in Columbia, S.C., the Gamecock Mixtape took a lot longer to formulate than expected with everything finished with the mixtape basically around the time of South Carolina’s fourth straight victory over Clemson in No-vember of 2012.

Realizing that they wanted to spend more time getting things together for the release of the mixtape, the Dinobrite Productions duo of producer Joey Thompson and artistic director Fabio Frey decided that a top-notch video was in order.

After doing the video for “Rock Out (aka the Spurrier Rap)” three years earlier, the tandem originally felt that doing a video might not be in their best interest, but in the end they decided that it would be the best way to get the word out about the mixtape.

They then decided to dream big. And dream big they did.

Dinobrite Productions even formulated that since their dream for making the best Game-cock video ever was so big that they would even have to take off a few months from doing their normal day-to-day job of putting together top-notch videos for organizations like United Way and universities such as Dartmouth and South Carolina (for example the Carolina’s Promise capital campaign videos).

Once they took off work for a few months, they got down to business with one simple, but extremely large idea guiding them: “What if we had George Rogers and Marcus Lattimore drive off in a Ferrari?”

“It was the basis for everything,” Thomp-son noted.

The duo wrote the idea down in their office, on their phones and even put in each of their houses to constantly remind them that was the goal.

Through Gamecock video-making legend Justin King knowing Marcus Lattimore and George Rogers buying in, the idea actually became a reality.

Thompson mused that to them having the opportunity to work with Lattimore and Rogers on this video was to them akin to the experience of the Red Sox coming back from

three games down to win the 2004 American League Championship series over their rival Yankees. It was that big.

“The day of the shoot on July 1 it was over-cast and we were worried that the guy with the Ferrari would not show up if it was rain-ing, but the clouds opened and he showed up. That kind of good fortune carried throughout the video. I guess you could say we felt the Gamecock gods were with us,” Thompson said.

Lattimore and Rogers were not the only two to buy into the video with Gamecock greats Mike Hold, Alex Hawkins, Brandon Bennett, Steve Taneyhill, Andre Goodman, Ryan Brewer, Travelle Wharton, Troy Wil-liamson, Johnathan Joseph, Tim Frisby, Jas-per and Casper Brinkley, Captain Munner-lyn, Cliff Matthews, Travian Robertson and Devonte Holloman all making appearances in the video. Even Sir Big Spur and Darius Rucker made appearances.

After nabbing their goal of Lattimore and Rogers for the highly-polished, professional video, Dinobrite Productions then set out to make an overall video that was a “cool his-tory lesson” for Gamecock fans.

The duo read about Gamecock history, watched Gamecock documentaries and even looked through old yearbooks to show

not only South Carolina fans, but everyone nationally just how far the Gamecocks have come.

“Another goal was not only to help get the word out to Gamecock fans, but out to the na-tional audience as well. We wanted to show just how hardcore our fans are,” noted Frey.

That goal has been accomplished for the most part as the video has been featured by ESPN and other national media outlets.

One of the reasons Dinobrite Productions feels it was so successful is that while it is a rap video, and although everyone may not love rap, they went about making a product that was clean by FCC standards and profes-sionally done.

The video as noted is just the lead-in to the Gamecock Mixtape, which was profes-sionally mastered by the same person (Joe Lambert) that mastered Macklemore’s last album. Frey laid down most of the beats and Dinobrite Productions conceptualized all the songs eventually rapped by various rappers from the Palmetto State.

The mixtape even features a special skit with Rogers and Gamecock baseball legend Michael Roth.

The video accomplished and the Gamecock Mixtape on the street, Frey and Thompson now set their sights on their future, which

could include moving on to New York and/or Los Angeles.

The duo met at South Carolina by doing comedy skits and they were actually the first comedy production team to be featured on Comedy Central’s Tosh.O twice.

The strong resume now accompanying them, they will depart hoping to unleash a comedy movie on the world in the next five years.

They depart South Carolina having done exactly what they wanted.

“You set your goals high and sometimes it turns out even better than you could imagine. This video is something we will always be proud of and is hopefully something that the fans will cherish forever,” Thompson con-cluded.

For more information on the Gamecock Mixtape, please visit gamecockmixtape.com. To learn more about Dinobrite Productions, please visit dinobritevideo.com.

Dinobrite Productions sets out to make something dynamite for Gamecock fans

“Another goal was not only to help get the word out to Gamecock fans, but out to the national audience as well. We wanted to show just how hardcore our fans are.”

~ Artistic Director Fabio Frey



Senior forward Danielle Au was honored as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for netting two game-winning goals in the Gamecocks’ undefeated opening weekend that included an upset of seventh-ranked Duke.

Au is also in the top-10 in the program record books for goals and points, but the statistics and accolades are not important to her.

After its strong start, South Carolina has jumped into the rankings and been recog-nized nationally for their play. This includes the honor for Au as well goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and midfielder Elizabeth Sinclair being selected to teams of the week by Top-DrawerSoccer.com and CollegeSoccer360.com.

Au said that the team has come together with great chemistry and is focused on achieving as a group rather than individual honors.

“We couldn’t have gotten any of that with-out the team - certain balls slipped through, certain passes made - if someone didn’t work hard in this aspect we wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity. We’re just really lucky that we’ve all gelled really well and gotten those opportuni-ties,” Au said. “We’ve worked really hard in the summer and spring, and it’s exciting that we can catch a couple of breaks and do well.”

Head coach Shelley Smith said that Au has been doing the little things to get better, and she has been working hard since the end of last season to improve. Smith is pleased with her dedication and the way she has been leading by example.

“It means a lot when your seniors have that much invested, and it helps bring the young players along … It’s not what she’s done while we’re next to her, it’s what she’s done all year,” Smith added.

Au credited the team gelling together and group mentality for the early season success-es, and hopes that these can be continued and repeated throughout the season. She said that this year’s squad is special and could be capable of great achievements in the always tough SEC.

“I think our team gels really well. We’re re-ally competitive and serious during practice, but as soon as practice ends or we’re in the locker room, we’re having fun and joking around,” Au explained. “In years before we

had great talent, but we’ve never just looked as good as we do now as a team.”

Au said the goal for the team will be to go into conference play undefeated, but recognized that sometimes a game can just go against you. The other goal for non-con-ference play is to continue to build the team chemistry that led to the team’s success over the first weekend.

“We have a lot of new faces, so it will be hard to adjust and travel, but I think we’ve done well with adversity so far. I think it will be a good challenge, but also a good oppor-tunity for us,” Au said.

The personal goals and team goals align well for Au, as must be the case on any suc-cessful team. She said that she does not re-ally pay attention to statistics or accolades, but rather just wants to do her job the best she can to help the team win.

“I didn’t even know about the accolades because I don’t have Twitter or social media … but obviously as a forward you’re always trying to create scoring opportunities. So you always have that in the back of your mind, but it’s never about the statistics or

results, you just want to win,” Au noted. “Part of your job is to score and set people up, but I don’t pay attention to the sta-tistics.”

Smith knows that Au will be an offensive weapon for the team go-ing forward, whether she is scoring or setting up teammates with chances.

“Obviously she’s proven she can score goals already this year. She will continue to produce for us. If she starts to gain attention from other opponents it will open up others around her who are capable of scoring as well,” Smith commented.

Overall, the goals of Au’s senior season are to have a successful season, even saying that she would love to have an undefeated season for her season. She thinks this group is ca-pable of that, but knows that realistically that is quite the challenge.

“I want every game to be a battle for us, and I want us to compete well. I think we have the ability to do that. I really think the team this year is special … I think we can make a run in the playoffs and the SEC and return to being a top program,” Au said.

The Gamecock soccer team is set up for a competitive run, and as the season unfolds they will see if they can continue the level of play displayed in the season-opening week-end. If that can happen, then Au’s hopes may be attainable as the team looks to contend both on the SEC and national levels.

Veteran leading team to success on the pitch

“In years before we had great talent, but we’ve never just looked as good as we do now as a team.”

~ Danielle Au

PHOTO BY ALLEN SHARPEDanielle Au was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts on the pitch last week.



When most people think about preparing to play football, they assume it is just a bunch of big guys lifting a lot of heavy weights. Direc-tor of Football Strength and Conditioning Joe Connolly says that there is much more in the process than just weightlifting in preparing these athletes to play.

“My goal, and really my job description in general … you’ve got general physical preparedness and specific physical prepared-ness. We’re talking about running, condition-ing, lifting; getting guys bigger, stronger, faster,” Connolly explained. “Position coaches handle the specific, and I handle the general part of it.”

The facilities play a big role in allowing the players to improve under Connolly’s guid-ance, and the football facilities and weight room draw his praise.

“We’re blessed to have a great facility here … we try to stay up on the latest technology, but also try to have the best equipment for the guys. We have all the different bells and whistles you can have,” Connolly said.

The priorities for Connolly and his staff dif-fer between work during the season and off-season preparation. Recovery and regenera-tion must become the focus during the season and must play a big role in their efforts. Dur-ing the season he also attends all the meet-ings to mentally go through the same things the players and coaches are put through.

Every two days a group of players, split into offensive and defensive categories, come in for a session with the strength and condition-ing staff, but they are not always in to lift weights. The groups come in on opposite schedules to keep Connolly busy all the time during the season.

“A lot of times we will have a recovery and regeneration circuit where we’re working on soft tissue quality, mobility and flexibility, then getting them out the door,” Connolly said. “Really it breaks down to an individual basis.

“When we do actually lift it is a lot of main-tenance. We like to get them in and get them out with a pretty decent tempo and get a little blood flowing to promote that recovery. We do a lot of yoga, a lot of pilates and we’ve gone so far as to do meditation for the guys,” Connolly continued.

Overseeing the stretching before practices and games and working with the injured players are other important facets of Con-nolly’s job description. Working to maintain the strength and conditioning of injured play-ers and trying to get them back on the field as soon as possible are valuable aspects on gamedays and at practice. For this, Connolly

and staff work directly with the athletic train-ing staff.

Connolly does note that summer work is one of the most important times of the year. Starting in May or early June, depending on the academic calendar, the players come for four weeks, have a week off for July Fourth week, then come back for another four weeks.

Summer workouts are on a voluntary basis, but getting all the players to attend and work is basically the standard in programs around the nation. The players train for two hours a day, four days a week during the summer, and the staff promotes the players coming in for individual work to supplement the team workouts.

“On a weekly basis we do everything we possibly can. We do speed, agility, quickness training, we do conditioning and obviously strength training,” Connolly said. “We do individuals needs training, whatever that

may be. We do muscle mass gain, weight gain, core strengthening or shoulder mobility. Whatever that may be we handle all of that.

“We also handle recovery … again, we do a lot of soft tissue work, a lot of massage, a lot of yoga and a lot of pilates. We try to do everything we possibly can and stay up-to-date on current research … we try to get the guys to the best place they can be and the place their coaches want them to be,” Con-nolly said.

The first summer session has a bigger focus on gaining speed, both linear and lateral, and strength, while the second summer session has conditioning as the focal point. The goal is to get the players ready for camp and the season in the second session.

These summer programs had excellent at-tendance and commitment from the athletes, and Connolly said that this has been the norm for some time now. Connolly said the two factors that contribute to the collective buy-

ing in of the team are “the quality young men that have been recruited … and the positive results of the past few years.”

Connolly also says that there must be a balance between the hard work and fun, es-pecially during the voluntary summer period. He said the key is to sprinkle in some fun so that they guys will want to come in and keep working.

A.J. Cann and Chaz Sutton both got special mention for their work over the summer, but Connolly said the whole team improved. He explained that Cann and Sutton both really seem to love the process of getting better and doing whatever it takes to get there.

One of the main keys Connolly preaches to the players and his staff is the process that it takes to get ready for gamedays. Connolly says that every day players can either get bet-ter or worse, and they have to be committed to and like the process of getting better.

“If you break down a calendar … 67-72 percent of your time in a 365-day calendar you’re preparing for three percent of your time,” Connolly explained. “You’re preparing for those games, so if you don’t like the pro-cess, then you’re going to be in trouble. All our guys, they really enjoy the process.”

In his five years on staff, Connolly has seen the change in the program’s culture with a new commitment to winning and getting bet-ter. He said that some of that comes from the staff, but mostly it is a credit to the athletes that have come into the program because at the end of the day it is all about discipline and mental toughness.

“It doesn’t matter how great of an athlete your player is if they are not mentally and physically tough enough to play football,” Connolly said. “It’s been fun, and again I believe that it has a lot to do with the quality and character of the young men we’re bring-ing in and our coaches are bringing in.

“The guys buy in, they’ve got great at-titudes and they love to work, and that’s the difference … it’s the ones that have the men-tal fortitude and mental capacity to be able to handle the 365-day grind. That’s the differ-ence,” Connolly confirmed.

Inside the Gamecock weight room“We’re talking about running, conditioning, lifting; getting guys bigger, stronger, faster.”

~ Joe Connolly



Patrick Davis’ “Just a Big Ole (Game) Cock” has been a huge hit among Gamecock fans since its release in 2010.

Davis eventually took the fame he found amongst Gamecock faithful from “Big Ole Gamecock” and wrote the baseball anthem “Wingo & His Yard Cocks” and also put to-gether a popular YouTube series entitled “Big Ole Gamecock Great Interviews” (which Da-vis states still has 25 yet to be seen videos).

The “Just a Big Ole (Game) Cock” song and phenomenon in itself was part of a strong grassroots movement by Carolina fans to promote the song to other members of Gamecock Nation and Davis himself, who is a South Carolina graduate who over the last decade has plied his trade as a singer/songwriter in Nashville for major music pub-lishers EMI Nashville & Warner Chappell Publishing.

The Camden, S.C. native has not just been successful individually, but also as a song-writer for acts such as Lady Antebellum, Jimmy Buffett, Jewel and even fellow Game-cock, Darius Rucker.

Returning to his roots and hoping to build on the strong bond many Gamecock fans already feel for his previous Carolina related material, Davis began putting together a concept album involving the Gamecocks and just recently unveiled “The Gamecock Al-bum,” an album he released in collaboration with The South Carolina Athletic Depart-ment.

South Carolina Associate Athletic Director/CMO Eric Nichols and Davis worked hard to find a way that the album could be what Da-vis calls “a win-win” for everyone.

“I wanted something that would be benefi-cial for all parties involved: the fans, the pro-

gram, myself and the university. I wrote five songs with our great state and the University of South Carolina in mind, and then I added seven of my more popular solo works to ‘The Gamecock Album,’” Davis noted.

Although he had been approached over the years by a bevy of Gamecock fans on the idea, what Davis did not want to do is put to-gether a concept album just to get it out there.

Instead, he wanted to put together some-thing that was extremely well done and also “enjoyable for the long haul.”

Despite being known more as a country singer/songwriter, Davis feels that the album will be enjoyable to fans of all genres.

“My idea was to create something that was not just great to listen to in your car or around the house, but also an album that

Gamecock faithful will crank at tailgates and even inside the stadium on game days. I feel like the songs on the album from ‘Game Day Carolina Girls’ to ‘My Carolina’ to ‘We Ain’t Far,’ which includes guest vocals from my Gamecock brothers Darius Rucker and Edwin McCain, are tunes that every South Carolina fan can relate to and hopefully get excited about,” Davis said.

Davis has accomplished that and much more with the “The Gamecock Album” with the best part being that some of the proceeds will be going to the Gamecock Club.

“I was thrilled when Eric Nichols came to me with the idea … being a songwriter and musician I honestly never thought I would have anything to do with the athletic department at USC, but this project is just a real blessing for me, being a lifelong fan and everything … the Gamecock Club is so important to the University I just feel it is a perfect, happy coincidence. To me, it is like a nice little bow on the top of a present.”

Even Clemson fans have taken notice of the greatness of “The Gamecock Album.” Well, at least one song according to Davis.

“I have had a number of my Clemson friends tell me that they have tried hard to dislike ‘My Carolina,’ but they just can’t … which of course makes me smile,” Davis said.

“The Gamecock Album” was released to the public on Aug. 23 and it can be purchased now on GamecocksOnline.com, PatrickDa-visMusic.com, iTunes and at local retailers, including Jewelry Warehouses. It will also be sold on game days at Williams-Brice Sta-dium.

News, music, tour dates and more on Davis can be found on PatrickDavisMusic.com. Davis can be followed on Twitter @PDMu-sic.

Just a Big Ole Good (Gamecock) Album

coaching the men to new heights as a mem-ber of the women’s staff at South Carolina.

“She (Shelley Smith) taught me a lot when I first got here having come from the men’s side … there are things that are different than the women are than the men, but there are a lot of similarities. The similarities were easy to pick up and we worked together on them. She did a good job on helping me with the things that were different,” Jamie Smith said.

Even with as much success as the program has obtained during his tenure, Jamie Smith nevertheless concedes that he is still trying to figure out the differences in the men’s and women’s game to this day. He even likened it, ironically, to a relationship with a spouse.

“Constantly I am learning things, just like in a relationship with your wife or sig-nificant other you are always learning new things. I am the same way when I am around the girls and the team. I am constantly try-ing to get better with the team,” Jamie Smith remarked.

Shelley Smith notes that Jamie’s wealth of knowledge and experience from working with some of the top men’s coaches in the country is a huge boon to the South Carolina women’s soccer program.

“I have relied on him from a lot of those years he learned so much about the game under great mentors. I think his vision and his ability to teach the game is phenomenal. He plays a big role in coaching the athletes.

“As a head coach we feel we are a team of coaches. He has a way to push the players.

Sometimes I may be a little softer. I think we complement each other well. When they need to be pushed or kicked a little harder he’s got that kind of drive. I think that is why we work well together. It has worked out better than we ever imagined when we got into this 13 years ago,” Shelley Smith said.

Shelley Smith continued that now the unique relationship and Jamie’s efforts with the team are really an advantage for the Gamecocks.

“Jamie is such a good teacher of the game, men or women; he is good at what he does. He’s learned how to coach women. He is very good. Not all men have that ability. He truly does. I am very thankful for all he brings to the team and our family,” Shelley Smith concluded.

Smith, continued from page 12


by Andy demetrAContributing Writer

For 30 years, Eddie Dunning has carried on the tradition of painting the Fighting Game-cock logo at midfield at Williams-Brice Stadium.

And like any good tradition, he wants to pass it down to the next generation.

For the past year, Dunning has quietly been teaching the art of painting the Gamecock to an understudy: his 22-year-old nephew Jonathan Dunning, one of the newest mem-bers of the athletics grounds crew.

“I know I’m not going to be down here for-ever. You have to look down the road,” Dun-ning said last week.

So far, his nephew has shown a knack for the job.

“It was tricky at first. But it started to come to me as I did it more and more,” Jonathan said.

This year, the Dunnings’ work began three days before the Gamecocks’ season opener against North Carolina, under a sun-splashed morning sky at Williams-Brice Stadium. They first laid out a 38-foot by 28-foot sten-cil, dotting it with black paint to create an outline of the Gamecock. They then colored the logo a few strokes at a time, alternating between garnet and black paint, using a pair of pressurized airless sprayers.

Eddie and Jonathan worked in tandem, painting the Gamecock in short, precise bursts from head to tail. Every few strokes, Eddie stepped back to analyze their work or give instructions.

As Jonathan followed him around, nozzle in hand, he used the same techniques that his uncle had learned over three decades of painting.

“You have to know how to move your

hand,” he explained. “You have to maneuver your wrist, so the paint catches [the grass] the right way.”

Eddie Dunning never thought he’d become the caretaker of one of South Carolina’s most beloved images, a symbol seen by 80,000 fans at every home game and millions more on television. Dunning had been on the ath-letics grounds crew for a year when South Carolina decided to replace the artificial turf at Williams-Brice Stadium in favor of natu-ral grass in 1984.

As part of the makeover, supervisor of fa-cilities Sarge Frye hired someone to paint the Gamecock at midfield. But after dotting the outline, Dunning said the man backed out.

“He got nervous. He said ‘I can’t do this,’” he recalled.

Frye then asked Dunning, who had painted the end zones the day before, to finish the job. Dunning had no formal artistic train-ing – not even an art class at St. John High School in Cameron, S.C. – but he agreed anyway.

“I didn’t let them know. But the Lord spoke to me. He said, ‘today I’m going to make you an important man.’

Dunning has been doing it ever since, painting the Fighting Gamecock the week before the season opener and touching it up throughout the year when the colors fade. His work earned him the 2001 Order of the

Silver Crescent by then-Gov. Jim Hodges, honoring his contributions to the state of South Carolina.

It was in 2008 that Frye’s son Jerry first suggested he bring in a relative to learn the family business with him. That idea came to fruition last September, when Jonathan was hired as a member of USC’s grounds crew. Eddie still carries a picture of Jonathan and his older brother, posing in their Calhoun County High School football uniforms, in his wallet.

Since the week of the UAB game in 2012, Jonathan has been working alongside Eddie, little by little learning the secrets of painting the perfect Gamecock. Like how to keep the sprayer close to the ground to narrow some of the filling. Or how to leave four inches of grass between the top of the Block C and the 50 yard-line marker.

While he has no plans to stop, Dunning knows he can’t continue forever. He says teaching his nephew is as much about honor-ing God as creating a legacy.

“You’ve got to have enough knowledge to know that your work is not finished. You’ve got to teach someone else, to keep His work going on Earth,” he said.

Last week, their final lines sprayed, another Fighting Gamecock set to debut, the Dun-nings had one last family tradition to uphold. Together, they climbed up to the third level of Williams-Brice Stadium to inspect their work.

Jonathan remembered the first time he gazed down at his and his uncles’ Game-cock, a view he’ll hope to have for many years to come.

“It felt good when I first did a little bit of it,” he said.

“My uncle said, ‘you’ve got a little bit of you in there.’”



Most teams would feel that it had been a pretty good year if they won an SEC championship, but with a program with a national championship heritage and as storied as Gamecock equestrian, it is known that higher heights are always sought.

South Carolina equestrian head coach Boo Major feels that even though her team ended last year on a “pretty good note” with a title at the inaugural SEC equestrian championships at Auburn the team could have fared better at the NCEA national championships.

“We could have been better at nationals. It was a little bit of a let down after working so hard to win the SEC. Sometimes that happens,” Major noted.

The reigning SEC champions return a solid core to their lineup in 2013-14 team, but they also bring in 12 newcomers, which includes 11 freshmen.

“I feel like we have a real enthusiastic, cohesive group. We have very good leadership with a great senior class. There is not a bad one in the bunch; in competition or out of the arena,” Major said.

Preseason preparations for the 2013-14 South Carolina equestrian team began on Monday, Aug. 26 with a record 40 student-athletes on the roster.

The large number of student-athletes will more than likely allow for strong competition, par-ticularly among the surplus of newcomers with Major feeling with the depth she will be able to hopefully plug new student-athletes into the right spots.

The Gamecocks will have just under a month to get settled before opening their 2013-14 sched-ule with two home meets.

The two home meets to kick off the year

against Kansas State on Sept. 20 and Fresno State on Sept. 27 were scheduled by Major to get her team ready for the grind of the year.

In fact, the Gamecock equestrian schedule was designed with the idea of having many more events in the fall of 2013 so that the team would not be worn out as they prepared to host the 2014 SEC Championships on March 28 and 29.

“There is a lot of behind scenes stuff that goes into hosting a championship. So I scheduled

more events in the fall so they would not be burned out - both mentally and physically - by the time we hosted the championship,” Major said.

The fact that the Gamecocks are hosting the second-ever SEC championship is something in which Major takes great pride.

“We are already in the planning stages right now. We are doing upgrades and our locker room is scheduled to be done by December. Auburn did a tremendous job hosting (the SEC equestrian championships) last year, but one of our goals has been to do it better than they did. We also hope to not have our student-athletes as involved in the running (of the championship),” Major said.

Before that though, Major wants to make sure her team is ready for the first competition of the year against Kansas State on Sept. 20.

“The main thing is that we are all focused and all looking towards the same goal which is a good competition against Kansas State. I think they’ve got to be willing to kind of go the extra mile … one of the things they’ve got to do is just make sure they stay focused that when they are in practice, or at the training room, or in the weight room that they are paying attention to what the folks are telling them to do and they get the most bang out of their buck from each of those areas that they can over the next three weeks,” Major concluded.

Gamecock equestrian takes championship pedigree into upcoming year

SOUTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS



by jay brownGamecock Club

Hall of Fame Induction: Thursday, Sep-tember 12th in The Zone at Williams-Brice Stadium. The reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner and inductions starting at 6:30 p.m.. The event is open to the public; tickets are $50 per person and may be ordered from the Association of Letterman (803-760-0534) or the USC Athletic Department (803-777-4274). Tickets are also available in the Game-cock Club Lobby at the Rice Athletics Center (1304 Heyward Street).

The class of 2013 Hall of Fame Class includes:

• The late arlo Elkins, who guided Caro-lina’s women’s tennis team to 17 consecutive NCAA tournaments, and 19 overall. Elkins coached the Gamecocks from 1983-2012, with his teams winning 438 matches.

• All-America baseball shortstop Drew Meyer, a first-round draft choice by the Texas Rangers, who still holds the SEC record for most base hits in a season with 120 in 2002.

• All-America softball pitcher Megan Mat-thews (buning), who played from 1998-2002. Matthews won 101 games for Carolina, and led the nation in saves as a true freshman. When Matthews closed out her career in 2002, she was the Gamecocks’ all-time leader in strikeouts, complete games and innings pitched.

• Four-time women’s track All-American Charmaine Howell, who excelled in the 800 meters, finishing as runner-up at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. Howell won a silver medal in the 2000 Olympics in the 4x400 relay. She also ran at the world championship in 1999.

• Max runager, outstanding punter for coach Jim Carlen’s teams of the late 1970s, who was voted to Carolina’s all time team in 1992. Runager punted in the NFL from 1979-1989 for the Eagles, 49ers and Cleveland

Browns. He punted for two Super Bowl teams - the Eagles in 1980 and the 49ers in 1984.

• Dave DeCamilla, who anchored the offen-sive line for coach Paul Dietzel’s Gamecocks from 1968-1970. DeCamilla was named first-team All-ACC in both 1969 and 1970. Caro-lina won the ACC title in 1969.

• Chris boyle, baseball catcher for coach June Raines from 1981-84 who helped lead the Gamecocks to two College World Series appearances. In his career Boyle drove in 198 runs, second only to Justin Smoak’s 207, and he also had 224 base hits.

• And the late jake bodkin, who was voted first-team All-ACC on coach Warren Giese’s offensive line in 1960, after being named second team in 1959. Bodkin won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for the state of SC in 1960 and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills.

also, the annual USC association of Let-termen’s Golf Tournament will take place Friday, September 13th at Cobblestone Golf Course (280 University Club Pwky.,

blythewood, SC 29016) beginning at 12:00 pm. There are still sponsorship opportuni-ties available:

• block C Sponsor: $1500- advertisement with company link on Lettermen’s website, ¼ page ad in 2013 Lettermen’s Directory, 3 by 6 ft banner at dining area, 2 sponsor signs on holes 2 and 11, 1 foursome golf team in the golf tournament, 4 passes to Lettermen’s As-sociation Lounge at Williams Brice Stadium and 2 passes in Colonial Life Arena

• Gamecock Sponsor: $1000- advertisement with company link on Lettermen’s website, 2 sponsor signs on holes 3 and 12, 1 foursome golf team in the golf tournament, 2 passes to Lettermen’s Association Lounge at Williams Brice Stadium and 2 passes in Colonial Life Arena

• Varsity Sponsor: $500- Thank you recog-nition on Lettermen’s website, 2 hole sponsor-ships

• Hole Sponsor: $200- sign placed at tee-box in recognition of company

Hall of Fame Ceremony, Association of Lettermen Golf Tournament coming up



The first Monday of June every year for the past six years in Florence county has been a fun afternoon of golf with many Gamecock person-alities helping to raise money for South Caro-lina Athletics. This year the Florence Chapter of the the Gamecock Club hosted the Sixth An-nual William Rhea Memorial Golf Tournament with the biggest turnout for the event ever.

The event is named after Rhea, a former South Carolina student who graduated from Trinity Collegiate in Darlington, S.C. Rhea was a freshman at USC when he died in a beach house fire in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. that claimed the lives of seven college students on Oct. 28, 2007.

“He was a huge Gamecock fan; he loved golf and he loved baseball,” Florence County presi-dent Michael “Scat” Scaturro said. “So when we started this thing, we decided that we would name it after him knowing that he was a big Gamecock fan and went to school there.”

The first year of the memorial tournament was the year that Carolina Stadium was built to house the South Carolina baseball team. Since Rhea loved baseball, the funds were earmarked for the new facility.

“They were looking for money for a sound system in the new locker room, and we raised over $10,000 and donated it to them to put the sound system in,” Scaturro said. “Then Coach [Ray] Tanner invited William’s brother, An-drew, to throw out the first pitch of the opening weekend series. That was pretty special.”

The funds raised by the tournament over the years have gone to help many Gamecock programs, and the Florence chapter has been able to donate over $75,000 to the Athletics Department. Since donating to the baseball team the first year, they have contributed funds to the Gamecocks’ cheerleaders, marching band, swim team, golf team, FCA and the Frye Foundation.

“This year we had the biggest turnout ever with 28 teams,” Scaturro noted. “From this year we donated some money to the indoor practice facility, and Dodie [Anderson] is tripling what-ever else goes into that fund, so that multiplies itself times three.

“We’ve touched a lot of different sports up there, and been fortunate enough to be able to send a decent amount of money up there to them,” Scaturro added.

The participants are joined by a coach or Gamecock celebrity, and they get the chance to spend some time with the coaches and get to know them on a personal level.

Scaturro mentions that the assistant coaches from the football team participate every year, and at this past tournament men’s basketball

coach Frank Martin, the soccer coaches and many Gamecock Club staff all participated. Tommy Suggs, former Athletics Director Eric Hyman and University of South Carolina Uni-versity of South Carolina president Dr. Harris Pastides also have all attended the event in the past.

The tournament is scheduled for early June every year to accommodate the schedules of the football coaches and allow them to partici-pate. Scaturro said the timing enables many of them to come because it is after recruiting and spring practice but before the season. The coaches’ attendance is a highlight of an event where everyone in attendance enjoys a great time together.

Former Gamecock athletes frequent the event often as well, especially former baseball and basketball players from the area when possible.

“It’s just a fun afternoon of golf and interact-ing with the coaches, and we’re able to raise some money and donate it back to the Univer-sity,” Scaturro said. “There are a lot of good Gamecock folks at this thing. The main thing for us is to give back to Gamecock Athletics, and do it in a young man’s name that was a big Gamecock fan.”

Golf tournament raises funds for Athletics in fan’s memory

“We’ve touched a lot of different sports up there, and been fortunate enough to be able to send a decent amount of money up there to them.”

~ Michael “Scat” Scaturro

SUBMITTED PHOTOPictured is Lexington County Gamecock Club President Steve Gunter, his son Bill Gunter and Florence County Gamecock Club President Scat Scaturro.

SUBMITTED PHOTOThis year’s winners were (left-to-right) Forrest Matthews, Jay Shealy and Gamecock Club As-sistant Director Jay Brown (not pictured Stephen Thompson).



south carolina athletics media relations South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming coach McGee Moody had an incredibly busy summer with one of the highlights being part of the staff at the World University Games.


Swimming head coach Mc-Gee Moody was another one of South Carolina Athletics’ members to earn the honor of serving on the coaching staff for Team USA. Moody was picked for the team in mid-May after getting informed by the national team director, and he was on the staff for the World University Games in July.

Moody said that the logistics of serving in this role were complicated because of the timing, but it was an oppor-tunity that he could not pass up. He was already scheduled for a mission trip to South Africa, with only one day between the games and his trip. The national team agreed to fly him from Moscow to Johannesburg for his mission work, and that sealed the deal for him.

“It was a no-brainer for me. I’ve always wanted to repre-sent my country as a coach, and being given the oppor-tunity was a great honor,” Moody said. “For about 26 days I was elsewhere, all over the world really. The op-portunity that I was given to represent our country and to help the sport of swimming was incredible.”

Part of the draw for Moody was a chance to be a part of the staff that was put together to serve Team USA. He said the staff had a sort of Big Ten/SEC flavor, and many of the other coaches were people that he looked up to on his way up through the coaching ranks, including Jack Roach and Frank Berson from the US National Team. Moody added that the experience gave him a great amount of insight into performing on the national and international level, and how other coaches run their programs.

“It was really interesting to see the makeup of the staff. While we were out there a lot of the time was just spent talking about swim-ming. Because all of us are ‘swim-heads,’ that’s all we talked about out there. How to advance the sport, to make it better and what can we do dif-ferently,” Moody explained.

South Carolina was also honored with the opportunity to bring a student-athlete to participate in the World University Games. Swimmer Michael Flach was chosen to the team and performed well in both events in which he participated, including win-ning a silver medal as a part of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Flach also swam in the

200-meter butterfly, advanc-ing to the finals and finishing sixth.

“The US is an elite swim-ming country in the world, so putting guys on national teams is a big deal for us … he had a great meet. He did some things he’s never done before,” Moody said. “Mi-chael was a standout and the national team director tagged him as a guy he thinks has a really legitimate shot at mak-ing the US Team in 2016, so we’ve got to act on that now.

“He had a chance to be a part of a medal-winning relay, which to me that’s the ultimate in representing your country because it’s just that. You are working with other guys from the US to try to win. The only team that beat them was the Russians, and being in their home country, they brought their “A-team” … you do the best you can against those guys, and our guys swam great and I was really proud of all of them,” Moody said of the silver-med-al winning relay team.

Moody also noted that there were multiple Gamecock student-athletes competing on the international level over the summer. Swimmers Gerard Rodriguez and Marwan El Kamash both swam at the World Championships held in

Spain over the summer. Both swimmers competed

well, and Moody explained that the experience was a huge deal for Rodriguez, be-ing a native of Spain.

“He represented his home country at the World Champi-onships in his home country. He became kind of a rock star over there a little bit, which is cool,” Moody expanded.

Moody said that the sum-mer was incredibly hectic for South Carolina’s coaching staff, and they did not see much of each other. Moody was not the only one to travel internationally, as associate head coach Jason Memont traveled with the Gamecocks to the World Championships.

He is quick to credit his staff

for helping to coordinate the many different training plans that were specified for each athlete in their programs and competitions over the sum-mer.

“I’m not the head coach that I am without my staff. They deserve a lot of the credit for this. A lot of times it’s the head coach who gets a lot of the glory, and it’s the assistant coaches do a lot of the work,” Moody said. “I’m very thank-ful for the staff that we’ve been able to hold onto here and the work that they do.”

Moody said that it is good to have all of the student-athletes back on campus to put the focus immediately back onto the NCAA season. The staff will also take a long-term

view and look at the events next summer and working to get ready for the next national and international competi-tions in the future, with the goal of being great at NCAA Championships and also put-ting more athletes on national teams.

“We have a lot of work to do not only physically in terms of preparing for those cham-pionships, but also mentally and in team aspects,” Moody said.

Moody and his staff are ex-cited to have the group back on campus ready to make progress toward the goals that they have set for the team in the upcoming year. They are poised to push for a success-ful season and much more.

Swimming their way to the top for Team USA



Openers are a mixed bag. I always go into a new year anticipating an undefeated sea-son. I am about as optimistic as they come. I even thought we would win them all in 1999. That did not go so well, but hope always springs eternal with the kick off of a new season.

There have been some openers that have not gone exactly according to plan. 1984’s first game was one of those, when The Citadel came out and gave us all we wanted and more. If not for a half back pass by Quinton Lewis for a long score, a touchdown saving tackle on the ensuing kickoff, and a red zone stand, that season could have never happened. Even last year’s first game against Vanderbilt was closer than you would like and we were fortunate to get out with a win. There are many examples of such close calls, much less the ones that went the wrong way.

That being said, this is altogether a dif-ferent era. Expectations really are realistic that USC can win every single one. North Carolina did not represent chopped liver, and for those of us old enough to remember, these guys used to be a real pain, and love looking down their noses at us. Just harken back to the beginning of the summer to the baseball Super Regional. UNC’s head coach Mark Fox referenced the real Carolina, all this represented more than your average, every-year opener. I am sure that I speak for a lot of Gamecock fans when I say, I do not like the Tar Heels.

So the sound thumping of North Carolina is sweet in more than one way. The season is off to a great start with a convincing win over an opponent that might go on to have a pretty good year, and a group I just love beating. Yes, it could have been more resounding in terms of the final score, but a win is a win, and this really was never in doubt whatsoever. From the third play with Conner to Shaq, to the thunderstorm delay, to the literal mop-up after, they never had a chance.

And all the postgame on JD Clowney and whether he is in shape. I think we will all find out just how in shape he is. Maybe he needs to eat extra fruit, or a steak, or what-ever he needs to feel better, but the guy goes 100 miles per hour and he is right. You can practice and run as many wind sprints as

you want, but you cannot duplicate playing an opponent who is playing full speed, in 100-degree heat, with 80,000 fans scream-ing, on national TV. As he said, he will get better with every game, which is scary for our opponents! And you gotta love him ref-erencing the score. It is all that matters.

So what could be finer than beating North Carolina? I’ll tell you what would be finer, beating Georgia for the fourth year in a row! Basically folks, here we go. Talk about not being fond of a particular school, this is it. At least Clemson is in South Carolina.

Growing up in Aiken, we are a stone’s throw from the Savannah River. Believe me, when you cross that river into Augusta, Ga., you are in a different world. And for a lot of reasons, but the one I am talking about here, the population is decisively Dawgs. I worked in the 1980s in night clubs as a DJ. They never stop barking. And our brethren in the Augusta Gamecock Club will need our help in the Border Bash on Riverwalk in Augus-ta, Friday night before the game. They will need as many of us there as possible.

But three wins in three years has made the Dawgs whimper just a bit. Four would be huge and would put USC on the fast track to the SEC East. Georgia does not have the schedule that they have had the last two years, and a loss would not mean the end of the world just as a loss to us has not killed Georgia’s Division hopes the last two years. But needless to say, a win would make life much easier!

Watching the game Saturday night, Georgia’s line certainly was exposed by Clemson. Quite frankly, they were not very impressive (we’ll worry about Clemson later). Gurley is a man and stopping him in particular will be important (not to mention Marshall). And they will be ready. When Brian and Mike were at SEC Media Days, they asked Murray about South Carolina. Instead of the pat answer of, “we’re only thinking about the first game,” Murray was willing to talk about how important it would be to beat the Gamecocks and the fact that he had never beaten South Carolina. They did not quit against Clemson and they will not quit on this one either.

This one is important. With a loss already, the pressure will be enormous on the Bull-dogs not to go 0-2. I’m certain they will play much better than what we saw in the first game. But I think the Gamecocks will be better as well, and it will be tough, but this is definitely one that we can win. Clowney will have something to prove and four wins in a row against Georgia is within reach. Execute and we will be one step closer to the goal for the season. And that would be finer!

Ed GirardeauContributing

Editor

Nothing Could Be Finer! - Bring on Georgia

photo by travis bell/sideline CarolinaSouth Carolina’s Brian Scott hauls in the game-winning pass from Phil Petty over Georgia’s Bruce Thornton in Athens, Ga. on Sept. 8, 2001. The Gamecocks won 14-9.

photo by lee studio/sideline Carolina

The University of South Carolina Gamecocks host the University of Georgia Bulldogs in this Oct. 5, 1968 photo. Georgia earned a narrow 21-20 victory in the game.


20th Annual 2013 South Carolina – Georgia Border BashSeptember 6th at 4p.m. at the Augusta Common in Au-gusta, Ga. The event will feature live music, cheerlead-ers, and mascots from both South Carolina and Georgia. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. Children 12 and under are free, and VIP tickets are available. Visit borderbash.net for more information.

Greenville County UGA Bus TripSaturday September 7th, 2013$40.00 per person(Includes Bus, Box Lunch, Drinks/Water)•The bus will arrive at 10AM as the K- Mart Lot, Hwy 29/I-185•The bus will depart at 10:30AM•Reservations: Call Dan at (864) 244-3739, Joan at (864) 316-5756, or T. Wayne at (864) 901-8462

Bus Parking- Georgia GameSeptember 7th, 2013 Athens, GAClassic Center (300 N. Thomas Street)•Gamecock buses have parked here for years•Arrangements by the Greenville County Gamecock Club•Total cost is $50.00 per bus•To reserve call Dan Drew at (864) 244-3739

Spartanburg County Gamecock Club “Leave the driving to us!” First come, first serve so don’t wait; seats will fill up fast! 2013 AwAy FootbAll GAme bus trips

Sept. 7 - Georgia (Athens, GA) COST: Early Bird (Before Aug. 1st) $ 45/seat After Aug. 1st $ 50/seat) Departure Time & Place Jason Deli’s Parking Lot ( W.O. Ezell Blvd. Spartanburg) For more information please contact Glen Cox at (864) 597-8380

Oct. 19 - Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) COST: Early Bird (Before Sept. 15th) $ 50/seat After Sept. 15th $ 55/seat) Departure Time & Place Jason Deli’s Parking Lot ( W.O. Ezell Blvd. Spartanburg) Departure Time: TBA (once game time is confirmed)

Please make Check payable to : Spartanburg County Gamecock Club Mail to: P.O. Box 5146, Spartanburg, SC 29304

Please remember reserved bus seats DO NOT include game tickets. Please contact Glenn Cox, (864) 597-8380, with questions.

The Edgefield County Bus Trip To GeorgiaThere are fifty seats available and will be reserved on a “first come, first served” basis. The cost is $35.00 per seat. The Edgefield County Gamecock Club will provide cups, ice, plates, napkins and a variety of soft drinks and mixers. Food will not be provided. Feel free to bring coolers with your tailgating food. The bus will depart from the Johnston, S.C. municipal parking lot at a time TBD. To reserve your seats, contact Edgefield County Gamecock Club

President Frank Davis at (803) 275-7056 (cell); (803) 275-4786 (home) or by email: [email protected]. Deadline is September 1st. Seats are likely to sell out so get in touch ASAP!

Florence County Gamecock Club Fall RallyWednesday, September 186-8 p.m.at the Floyd Conference Center at Carolina’s Hos-pital System; 805 Pamplico Hwy., Florence, SC 29505.Dinner begins at 6 p.m. with Roger’s BBQ House fur-nishing your meal, and the program starts at 7 p.m.AD Ray Tanner along with head baseball coach Chad Holbrook and head men’s basketball coach Frank Martin will be attending along with other special guests.Contact Club President Scat Scaturro at (843) 621-8008, or Rocky Rietkovich, Florence County Gamecock Club Board of Directors, Public Relations Officer (843) 495-0288.Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at Roger’s BBQ House, Jernigan Law Firm, Mickey Finn’s, Crawford Law Firm or from a mem-ber of the Board of Directors.

Spartanburg County Gamecock Club – September Meeting Thursday, September 19th 7 p.m. at Spartanburg Downtown Marriott Convention Center Admission is FREE and the meeting is open to all Gamecock fans. Guest Speaker will be Phil Kornblut, host of the syndicated radio show SportsTalk. Phil will give us his insights and thoughts on summer practices and the 2013 football season. Come early & listen to Phil as he broadcasts his statewide radio program LIVE from Spartanburg, 6-7pm!

Upcoming South Carolina Athletics Events z Sept. 6-8

Men’s Golf: Carpet Collegiate Classic ......................................all day

z Sept. 8-10

Women’s Golf: Cougar Classic ....................................................all day

z September 6

Women’s Soccer at Clemson .................................................5:30 p.m.

Cross Country Gamecock Invitational (5K) ...............6 p.m.

Volleyball at Clemson......................................................................7 p.m.

Men’s Soccer vs. High Point ........................................7 p.m.

z September 7

Volleyball at Furman ......................................................................12 p.m.

Volleyball at Winthrop ....................................................................4 p.m.

Football at Georgia ....................................................................4:30 p.m.

z September 8

Women’s Soccer vs. SMU .............................................1 p.m.

z September 10

Men’s Soccer at Coastal Carolina................................................6 p.m.

Home events are bold

Don’t forget to check the calendar on spursandfeathers.com for all upcoming Gamecock Club and athletic events.


Documents

Spurs & Feathers 94