USC66
03-29-2007, 11:24 PM
Another Free Times article.
"The NCAA Tournament is Bullcrap: Or Why USC Baseball is Awesome"
Ron Aiken
I’m going to be the first American to go on record as saying I hate the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
As you may have guessed by now, my brackets, all seven of them, are toast.
One by one they have fallen by the wayside as my sleeper picks — the Wisconsins, Virginia Techs, Texas’, Dukes, Virginias, Marylands and Washington States — all have utterly disgraced my faith in them. Shame, eternal shame on all of you forever.
What’s worse, if you’re like me, you’ve probably been passed in the bracket standings by at least one, if not several, people with no business having success predicting sport outcomes. Currently in first place in our office pool is my editor, who admittedly knows as much about basketball (and sports in general) as your average parakeet.
Adding to the horror are when those office sports nincompoops insufferably trumpet their triumph over those with far greater knowledge but, alas, less dumb luck.
There are more reasons I actually don’t like the tournament, not the least of which is I hate hearing “The Big Dance,” “Cinderella” and “Glass Slipper” no less than a million times in the span of a few weeks. Specifically, though, it’s because, growing up a USC fan, I have zero knowledge of what it feels like to win a first-round game. Forget that USC only goes once every Haley’s comet appearance (and with no berth in sight, in my opinion), when they have gone they have crapped out the most disgusting, hideous performances in the memory of sport.
Just as the loss to Navy in football in 1984 blackened a portion of Gamecock hearts that never can be reclaimed, so did USC’s catastrophic basketball loss to Coppin State in 1997. That the game wasn’t even close (78-65) only added to the ignominy. The team’s loss in the first round the following year to yet another less-talented team, Richmond (62-61), only cemented in many fans mind the idea that USC simply never was going to deliver with anything remotely resembling consistency in college’s No. 2 sport and No. 1 stage.
However, one positive event happened in 1997 that has changed USC sports fan’s outlook on the month of March in the time since: Ray Tanner began his first season as the Gamecock’s baseball coach.
I’ll say this plainly, so no misunderstandings are possible: Ray Tanner is the best coach in any sport in University of South Carolina history, bar none. He took a program in decline (36-46 in SEC play the three seasons prior) and has made it into inarguably the premiere program in the nation’s toughest conference and inarguably into one of the top five programs in the entire nation. And, he’s done it for going on seven consecutive seasons now.
The numbers say it all: since 2000, USC is the fourth-winningest program in America (342-135, behind FSU, which has done nothing in Omaha, Rice and Texas, both of whom have national championships in that span); is tied for first with the most NCAA Regional appearances over that time; is third in Super Regional appearances (behind FSU and Miami); and is fourth in College World Series wins, with eight (Clemson has four in that time).
That’s nationally. Comparing USC’s play in conference, which is the only true and accurate barometer of a head coach in any sport, Tanner is sensational. First in the SEC in total wins since 2000. First in conference wins. First in 40-plus win seasons. First in NCAA regional and Super Regional appearances. Tied for first in College World Series appearances. In its previous three College World Series appearances, USC has been the last SEC team standing every time, twice dispatching longtime conference bully LSU.
Of course, Tanner also has won three conference titles and one SEC tourney title, a national runner-up, has had seven consecutive top 15 recruiting classes and has hauled in the nation’s No. 1-rated class three of the previous four seasons. His team this season is picked to win the SEC and currently is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America.
Had Tanner done nothing else at USC, he would forever be cherished — nay, worshipped — for his two wins over Clemson at the 2002 College World Series, wins that stand as the most significant victories over Clemson in any sport in USC history.
I’d argue that since 1998, while the basketball program has kindly withdrawn itself from NCAA consideration every year except one (and who can forget the excitement of scoring a whopping 43 points against Memphis?), baseball has become without question USC fans’ No. 2 passion. If the Gamecocks were struggling in baseball, I don’t think basketball coach Dave Odom would still have work in Columbia. He has gotten passes on seasons that were brutally mediocre, just horrifically bad, only because USC’s March Madness has been at Sarge Frye Field rather than directed at a program on life support.
Steve Spurrier is the greatest coach in college football. And yet, he hasn’t become the greatest coach at USC yet by a longshot. That could only come after a national championship appearance and two conference titles, with more certainly on the way to match. Until then, Ray Tanner deserves all the accolades Gamecock fandom can offer for producing the kind of winners on the field and off — recent arrests aside — that university athletics are supposed to be about.
"The NCAA Tournament is Bullcrap: Or Why USC Baseball is Awesome"
Ron Aiken
I’m going to be the first American to go on record as saying I hate the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
As you may have guessed by now, my brackets, all seven of them, are toast.
One by one they have fallen by the wayside as my sleeper picks — the Wisconsins, Virginia Techs, Texas’, Dukes, Virginias, Marylands and Washington States — all have utterly disgraced my faith in them. Shame, eternal shame on all of you forever.
What’s worse, if you’re like me, you’ve probably been passed in the bracket standings by at least one, if not several, people with no business having success predicting sport outcomes. Currently in first place in our office pool is my editor, who admittedly knows as much about basketball (and sports in general) as your average parakeet.
Adding to the horror are when those office sports nincompoops insufferably trumpet their triumph over those with far greater knowledge but, alas, less dumb luck.
There are more reasons I actually don’t like the tournament, not the least of which is I hate hearing “The Big Dance,” “Cinderella” and “Glass Slipper” no less than a million times in the span of a few weeks. Specifically, though, it’s because, growing up a USC fan, I have zero knowledge of what it feels like to win a first-round game. Forget that USC only goes once every Haley’s comet appearance (and with no berth in sight, in my opinion), when they have gone they have crapped out the most disgusting, hideous performances in the memory of sport.
Just as the loss to Navy in football in 1984 blackened a portion of Gamecock hearts that never can be reclaimed, so did USC’s catastrophic basketball loss to Coppin State in 1997. That the game wasn’t even close (78-65) only added to the ignominy. The team’s loss in the first round the following year to yet another less-talented team, Richmond (62-61), only cemented in many fans mind the idea that USC simply never was going to deliver with anything remotely resembling consistency in college’s No. 2 sport and No. 1 stage.
However, one positive event happened in 1997 that has changed USC sports fan’s outlook on the month of March in the time since: Ray Tanner began his first season as the Gamecock’s baseball coach.
I’ll say this plainly, so no misunderstandings are possible: Ray Tanner is the best coach in any sport in University of South Carolina history, bar none. He took a program in decline (36-46 in SEC play the three seasons prior) and has made it into inarguably the premiere program in the nation’s toughest conference and inarguably into one of the top five programs in the entire nation. And, he’s done it for going on seven consecutive seasons now.
The numbers say it all: since 2000, USC is the fourth-winningest program in America (342-135, behind FSU, which has done nothing in Omaha, Rice and Texas, both of whom have national championships in that span); is tied for first with the most NCAA Regional appearances over that time; is third in Super Regional appearances (behind FSU and Miami); and is fourth in College World Series wins, with eight (Clemson has four in that time).
That’s nationally. Comparing USC’s play in conference, which is the only true and accurate barometer of a head coach in any sport, Tanner is sensational. First in the SEC in total wins since 2000. First in conference wins. First in 40-plus win seasons. First in NCAA regional and Super Regional appearances. Tied for first in College World Series appearances. In its previous three College World Series appearances, USC has been the last SEC team standing every time, twice dispatching longtime conference bully LSU.
Of course, Tanner also has won three conference titles and one SEC tourney title, a national runner-up, has had seven consecutive top 15 recruiting classes and has hauled in the nation’s No. 1-rated class three of the previous four seasons. His team this season is picked to win the SEC and currently is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America.
Had Tanner done nothing else at USC, he would forever be cherished — nay, worshipped — for his two wins over Clemson at the 2002 College World Series, wins that stand as the most significant victories over Clemson in any sport in USC history.
I’d argue that since 1998, while the basketball program has kindly withdrawn itself from NCAA consideration every year except one (and who can forget the excitement of scoring a whopping 43 points against Memphis?), baseball has become without question USC fans’ No. 2 passion. If the Gamecocks were struggling in baseball, I don’t think basketball coach Dave Odom would still have work in Columbia. He has gotten passes on seasons that were brutally mediocre, just horrifically bad, only because USC’s March Madness has been at Sarge Frye Field rather than directed at a program on life support.
Steve Spurrier is the greatest coach in college football. And yet, he hasn’t become the greatest coach at USC yet by a longshot. That could only come after a national championship appearance and two conference titles, with more certainly on the way to match. Until then, Ray Tanner deserves all the accolades Gamecock fandom can offer for producing the kind of winners on the field and off — recent arrests aside — that university athletics are supposed to be about.