Turnover Margin Volatility & You(SC)

Football Outsiders recently looked at year-to-year points-off-turnover margins, concluding about what you would expect: extreme values in Season A revert toward the mean in Season B.

Of interest to Gamecock fans is that South Carolina finished 2008 ranked 100th nationally in Turnover Points Margin (-3.5). The Football Outsiders piece notes that values for last season's Turnover Points Margins weren't as extreme at the, er, extremes as they have been in past years. Nevertheless, with (hopefully) fewer turnovers this season and some bad luck swinging back in our favor, there's reason to hope we weren't as bad as we looked last season.

Marcus McBeth called up by Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox recalled former South Carolina Gamecock Marcus McBeth on Friday from AAA Pawtucket. In 51 1/3 innings at Pawtucket, McBeth has struck out 54, walked 17, given up 31 hits, and allowed 13 earned runs.

Like so many Gamecocks, Marcus McBeth was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2001 (e.g., former Gamecock Landon Powell is currently backing up Kurt Suzuki). McBeth was drafted as an outfielder but was converted to a pitcher in 2005.

Nastalgia Trip: By Request

Some of you requested you're favorite players from your childhood be posted. Here's a few that I've found first. More to come.

Sammy Sosa in Chicago. No, the other Chicago.

Roger Clemens: The AL East. No, the other AL East. Also, notice how small his head looks...

Ozzie Smith enjoying himself. I'm guessing post back flip.

A little Otis Nixon action for ya.

Nolan Ryan.

Ken Griffey, Jr. Sorry about the sideways deal. It's late and I don't feel like re-scanning.

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Bo Knows: powder blue.

Bob Wickman: asshole!

Barry Bonds. His head sure looks a lot smaller too...

Curt Schilling pitching for the O's.

Nastalgia Trip: First in a Series

As some of you may know, I've recently happened upon my baseball card collection from the days of yore. I promised to upload some of them just for kicks, and I'll start with the Braves.

No tour de force of the early ‘90s Braves would be complete with manager Bobby Cox. Just look at this young star. A happier face there never was.

The Pride of my Braves collection: two Chipper Jones #1 draft pick cards. What a stud.

The immortal John Smoltz. Pre-beard.

Mad Dog: Pre Braves.

Tom Glavine: Pre-Mets.

Steve Avery: Pre-Obscurity.

Sid Bream. Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!

Going Gallardo

On Wednesday afternoon Yovani Gallardo blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates for eight innings, striking out eleven, walking one, and allowing just two hits.

Somewhat more impressive is that he scored the Brewers' only run of the game with a seventh inning homerun off of Pirates starter Ian Snell, Gallardo's second HR of the season. While a homerun hit by a pitcher is certainly a rare sight, Gallardo's feat was even more unusual.

Not since Odalis Perez (LAD) took Rick Helling (ARI) out of the park on August 28, 2002 has a pitcher's homerun accounted for his team's only run(s) in a shutout victory. That is, of course, until today.

Random Factoid You Want to Know of the Day

While we may lay claim to 2009's Mr. Irrelevant, we already know that's not such a bad thing. Plus, Succop still GOT INTO the draft. The ACC's career leader in receptions? Not so much.

Good work, ACC. Your greatest receiver of all-time did not even get into the draft. You're a talented bunch.

Mr. Irrelevant? Try Mr. Important.

I recently read Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game – detailing one young man’s journey from the wrong side of the tracks to what we now know to be an eventual first round selection in the NFL draft. Michael Oher, the book’s protagonist, is said to be such a valuable asset to a football team due to his incredible combination of size, strength, and agility. Specifically, his unique set of physical attributes makes him an ideal candidate to play left tackle; a position which the author argues (and average NFL salaries support) is the second most important in professional football. The logic follows that as the passing game has increased in importance, so too has the value of the left tackle because good play by the left tackle is essential in allowing a quarterback to perform his duty. The quarterback’s duty is to throw touchdowns, and, as we all know, the team that scores the most touchdowns wins the game.

But that’s not always the case. There is another way to score points in the game of football: namely, field goals. It has always baffled me as to why kickers get so little respect in the football universe. They are constantly admonished for their small stature and berated for their follies - all the while their accomplishments being largely taken for granted.

Consider the following. Peyton Manning’s career completion percentage stands at 64.4%. Tom Brady’s is an even 63%. The active leader in completion percentage? Chad Pennington at a whopping 66%. Meanwhile, the 2007 NFL season saw 15 kickers average better than 85% on field goal attempts. Jeff Reed led the way for Pittsburgh with a 92% completion rate. Kickers, the unsung heroes of the NFL, are outperforming their quarterback counterparts. And it’s not just in completion percentage.

The fact of the matter is kickers score points – a lot of them. In 2008 the kicking game, and Ryan Succup specifically, accounted for exactly one third of South Carolina’s total points. Not possible you say? Believe it. Well, you might then reasonably assert that South Carolina’s offense was so putrid in 2008 that it is just not representative of football as a whole. You would only be half right. While kickers accrued fewer points across the SEC and NCAA as a whole, the percentage still hovers right around 25% (25% and 24%, respectively). In fact, we can see that the kicking game could be counted on for about 6.5 points per game on average across the NCAA while the passing and rushing games accounted for about 9.3 and 9.7, respectively.

Add a kicker’s point scoring ability to his other on-field duties and he is even more indispensable. A good kicker can neutralize the opponent’s ability to score on kick-off returns via touchbacks – a very real threat if the opponent has a Devin Hester-type player. In Succup’s case, his ability to handle punting duties as well further increases his value. In a close game field position takes on extra importance. An opponent pinned inside its own 10 yard line from a punt provides the punter’s team with a greater opportunity for scoring. Not only will the team likely have shorter distance to drive toward the goal once the ball is punted, the team will also have a chance to earn two points through a safety.

For some reason, few coaches seem to catch onto the importance of the kicking game in football. Lou Holtz, in particular, was infamous for his policy of refusing to allow a scholarship kicker on his teams. In the years under Holtz, the Gamecock teams (and fans) suffered because of it. So Kansas City fans, don’t make the mistake of thinking Ryan Succop is actually Mr. Irrelevant. Come August, he might just be the second most important player on the field.


Sources:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_cmp_perc_career.htm
http://www.getlisty.com/wfaa/2007-nfl-leaders-field-goal-accuracy/
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2008/Internet/trend/FBS_trend_conf_1.pdfhttp://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html

Manny Acta isn't good at his job

Manny Acta isn't good at his job. Furthermore, he appears to be unwilling to accept responsibility for the decisions he makes (decisions which culminated in a mind-blowing loss to the Phillies on Monday night), instead putting it all on the collective back of a pitching staff that was asked to do something that it wasn't physically capable of doing. Acta after the game:

I hope I don't wear out this word, but, again, it was deflating... Our offense just battled all day and scored enough runs. We played so hard for eight innings to score enough runs. You lose the game in one inning, it's just tough for the whole team.

First of all, the idea that the game was lost in one inning is preposterous, and speaks to Acta's flawed decision-making process. But I'll delve more into the chronology and consequences of said process later.

The Nationals' bullpen has come under a lot of fire in recent weeks for their incompetence, and I have no problem with coaches calling out specific players or groups of players if the situation warrants such measure. But it does grate on me when a coach comes down on a player for failing to do something he is physically unable to do (or unlikely to do, more probably), especially when the coach failed in the first place to put his players in position to optimize their performance.

I went into considerable detail about how I think a manager should handle the Phillies line-up in high-leverage situations after the Braves narrowly escaped blowing a lead against them during the first game of the season. Why any manager would leave a right-handed pitcher in against Ryan Howard in a situation where a lot of runs could be put on the board is completely beyond me.

Let's revisit Ryan Howard's career triple slash splits:

Facing LHPs: .231/.315/.468
Facing RHPs: .305/.412/.652

That's a no doubt Hall-of-Famer against one type of pitcher and someone who probably doesn't belong on a major league line-up against the other. Even so, Acta let righty Shairon Martis (who?), of all people, face Howard with the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate in the fifth inning. It's not like he left Pedro in to face Howard - no, we're talking about Shairon [expletive deleted] Martis. The rationale? Probably that Martis was only 2 outs away from being the pitcher of record. Ah, the things managers do to chase meaningless statistics. In case you were wondering, the result was a game-tying grand slam.

Fool me once...

Later in the game, Acta brought RHP Joel Hanrahan into the game in the eighth inning to pursue another meaningless statistic - saves. Hanrahan was charged with the task of recording the last out in the eighth inning with a two run lead and Ryan Howard at the plate and Chase Utley on first. Now, Acta had already used his lone bullpen lefty, Mike Hinckley, earlier in the game. However, that fact does not absolve Acta of the mistake he committed when he travelled to Philadelphia with only one LHP in the bullpen. Heck, bringing in Scott Olsen in this situation would have been a better idea.

The result this time was no less ugly: Howard walked, Werth walked, Ibanez hit a grand slam (Ibanez has the same problem with lefties that Howard has, though less pronounced).

Acta, noble soul that he is, put it all on Hanrahan, demoting him to middle relief. This decision represents a failure to realize that Hanrahan is his best relief pitcher and a failure to accept responsibility for putting Hanrahan in a situation in which he had a low probability of succeeding.

Because Manny Acta has a chronic habit of putting his players in these types of situations, he is not good at his job and should be divorced of it forthwith.

Some bullshit about a cable bill

Mike Morgan, beloved sportscaster and personality for Gamecock Sports Properties, was fired earlier this week. (Contradictory to the initial line that he resigned). It seems that it all boiled down to a personal vendetta that the President of GSP, Liz McMillan (my ex-aunt through marriage, incidentally) held against Mr. Morgan.

I sent the follwing email to Ms. McMillan just a few moments ago:

Ms. McMillan,

The shameful firing of Mike Morgan (to say nothing of the bizarre attempt to cover up his firing) should be considered a great loss for Gamecock Sports Properties and, more importantly, Gamecock fans and alumni everywhere.

The brilliant job he has done covering and calling Gamecock sporting events does not warrant the exile from the Gamecock family that you have cast upon him. Mr Morgan deserves better. The Gamecock family deserves better.

Sincerely,
Connor Tapp


I feel I should mention that, despite my relation to this woman, I've never actually met her.

For any interested party, Ms McMillian's email address is lmcmillan@ispsports.com

Bombs away

UPDATE: I've created a facebook group that you should all join to express your distaste for reckless behavior of Gamecock Sports Properties.

Please, if you have a moment, give them a call and complain about this bullshit.

Gamecocks Split Season Series with Tigers

So it's official. After taking the first two games from the Upstate Tigers, USC dropped the last two - resulting in a series tie for the season. And we all know what that's like:

For those of you unfamiliar with the philosophical musings of Eddie Erdelatz, you can find them detailed here.

Game four was a pitcher's duel - until the sixth inning, that is. That's when the Tigers broke the game open with 5 runs off USC starter Adam Westmoreland. It was all downhill from there. Story from The State here.

For a little over 2 years USC fans could boast that we had not lost a game to the team from the upstate in baseball. Well, .500 isn't bad. There's always next year to re-assert our dominance.

Quick with the hook

Putting strict limits on the workloads of young pitchers: smart
Putting strict limits on the workloads of durable, veteran pitchers: not smart

Exhibit A

Derek Lowe cruised through 8 innings on opening night against the Phillies, striking out four, walking none, and allowing just 2 hits. With that uber-efficient line, Lowe was able to take the game to the ninth with just 97 pitches.

With righties Rollins, Werth, and Utley on deck for the Phils, Lowe seemed a cinch to finish off the game... at least to this observer. Bobby Cox, as you can see from my irate facebook updates, disagreed. He took the ball from Mr Lowe and gave it to Mike Gonzalez, a lefty.

Lowe has proved himself to be highly durable while he was with the Dodgers, so "protecting" him in this situation hardly seems like a pressing priority.

So maybe there was a significant platoon advantage Cox was exploiting. Well, Rollins is a switch-hitter, so maybe he's better against righties?

Rollins (Career) v. Lefties: .287/.341/.452
Rollins (Career) v. Righties: .274/.330/.437

Not a huge difference either way, but he's actually stronger against lefties.

Werth?

Career v. Lefties: .293/.396/.546
Career v. Righties: .258/.346/.407

That split is the difference between Ryan Theriot and Matt Holliday. Bringing in the southpaw certainly makes no sense with respect to this match-up.

Utley barely has a split, but it is slightly pro-righty. So it might have made sense to send Lowe into the ninth and have Gonzalez ready to go if there were runners on when he got to Utley.

Certainly, bringing in Gonzalez makes a great deal of sense from Utley on, as Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez both struggle mightily against lefties.

An Eric Bruntlett double, a Jayson Werth single, and a Chase Utley walk later and the Braves were at serious risk for blowing a four run lead over the course of one half-inning. Fortunately, the hacktastic approaches of Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez bailed Mike Gonzalez and Bobby Cox out of that jam.

But Trey Hillman would not be so lucky...

Exhibit B

In the Royals' opener on Tuesday, a brilliant effort by Gil Meche was spoiled by Trey Hillman's decision to remove him from the game in favor of Kyle Farnsworth.

Meche (91) had thrown even fewer pitches than Lowe (97) and, like Lowe, had cruised through seven innings, striking out six, walking none, and giving up just one earned run.

Where Howard and Ibanez failed to make Bobby Cox pay for his mistake, Jim Thome succeeded, putting a decisive three-run homerun off Farnsworth on the board in the bottom of the eigth.

Though I would have left Meche in, some bullpen alternatives may have been acceptable. But if you're going to get cute with the bullpen, why not bring in a lefty to face the platoonerific Jim Thome?... or at least some non-Farnsworth reliever?

If I recall, the Royals have somebody pretty decent in their bullpen.

Gamecocks Blank Purple Paladins

Gamecock pitchers Jay Brown, Adam Westmoreland, and Michael Roth combined for a 10-0 shutout win against Furman on Wednesday.

The State's story here.

The University's story here.

In other news, Dawn Staley picked up the commitment of the #2 women's player in the country. Welcome to Columbia, Kelsey Bone!

Gamecocks Take 2 from Kentucky, Citadel Takes Away Any Chance of Gamecock Ranking Next Week

Carolina performed admirably on the road in the SEC this weekend, taking two of three from Kentucky. It could have been three of three, but senior reliever Alex Farroto gave up gave up a two run homer in the bottom of the 9th inning, giving Kentucky the "W" in the second game of the Saturday double-header. Given Farotto's performance thus far this season, I think we can all forgive this one setback. What was more troubling was the way Carolina's 13 run lead rapidly dissipated in the later innings of the first game. The Gamecocks held on for the win, but only after letting the Wildcats 1 run of tieing. The final score of the game? 20-19. The number of hits? USC - 25 UK 18. I think it's safe to say that Carolina's pitching is a bit of a concern this season. Still, I'd be remiss if i didn't mention Blake Cooper's complete game win on Sunday. The junior hurler allowed just 2 runs on 8 hits with 5 strikouts while Carolina held on for the 4-2 victory. Cooper's move Sunday from week day starter? I Like. Overall, taking 2 on the road in the SEC makes for a good weekend.

Complete Wrap-Ups:

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

In other news:

The Gamecocks managed to lose their Tuesday match against the Citadel. What gives? *Ahem* Pitching. Should we be upset that USC dropped only its first mid-week contest of the year? Yes. USC currently sits at 4-5 in the SEC and it hasn't even faced UGA or Florida yet. While it might be too much to expect USC to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament this year, we'll need to a strong showing in our out of conference schedule to make our case to get in. Sound familiar to anyone?

Also, I had the chance to attend the UGA vs. Clemson game Tuesday night. Georgia looked impressive. UGA happened to win, although, not before Kyle Parker and his nice pants made it interesting by driving in a run in the 9th to bring the Tigers to within one.

Trouble in ButtParadise

I think I've been made.

My trade offer of Chipper Jones for Ramon Hernandez has been vetoed. But there's been nothing on the league's message board. Where is the OUTRAGE?!

I will continue to create havoc, and keep you all posted.

Gamecocks Outlast Pesky Georgia Southern

The Gamecocks outlasted Georgia Southern Wednesday night in a 10 inning affair. Lefty freshman pitcher, Mike Roth, got the start for Carolina, giving up 1ER, 1BB, and 2HBP in two innings of work. Roth was replaced by fellow freshman pitcher Matt Price in the top of the third. Price pitched beautifully as well, going 7 innings while giving up 0ER, 1BB, and 1HPB. This is good news for the Gamecocks, as pitching has struggled a few times this season. On a related note, I’d love to tell you why Roth left in the 2nd, but the truth is I have no idea. Senior Alex Farotto came on in the 10th to finish out the game. Farotto’s stats were indicative of his entire season thus far. The only blemish in his inning of work was one hit batter after getting the first out on a ground ball.

On the opposite side of the ball (does that cliché work for baseball, too?), the Yardcocks just couldn’t get much going all night. Consider this odd series of events in the bottom of the 7th: after leadoff batter Scott Wingo walks on four straight balls, Bobby Haney proceed to strike out trying to bunt him over… with a 2-2 count. Then, after a Bradley, Jr. line out to center, the Gamecocks ended the inning when Wingo was caught stealing second. But it didn’t end there. In the bottom of the 9th Scott Wingo doubled to left field with two outs already on the board. Not to be outdone by his 7th inning antics, Wingo then ends the 9th inning by being thrown out attempting to steal third base. Amazing. The Gamecocks finally prevailed in the 10th when hometown hero and all-around baller DeAngelo Mack singled to right field with two outs, scoring hero-in-the-making Jackie Bradley, Jr.

As my dad always says, “A win is a win is a win.” Mid-week games can sneak up on even the best teams, as UGA’s loss to Wright State yesterday illustrates. Still, I have to think that Southern probably didn’t send their best pitcher to the mound with a weekend series a couple days away. Carolina needs to find a way to score some more runs without all the gaffes on the bases. Perhaps some of our sambermatricians out there could provide a comment or two on the soundness of the above-described base running strategy?

Gamecocks Take Down Cougars

I know one cougar I'd like to take down...
(Other titles considered for this post include: Gamecocks Get On Cougars Early, Cougars Lay Down for Gamecocks, Gamecocks Come from Behind - Finish Over Cougars, All is Not Lost, Cougars Still Hot. ...I could go all day, but I won't.)

Well, The Gamcocks took a convincing 14-2 victory at College of Charleston Tuesday night. As I was unable to follow the game live, on tv, radio, or even via the internet, I have no commentary to offer up. You can check out The State's coverage here or the athletic department's coverage here. One note of interest: former USC assistant coach, Monte Lee, left the Gamecocks last year and is in his first year as head coach of C of C, his alma mater.

Nick's Six: Best Sports (Movie) Plays EVER

This list needs no explanation. Let the debate rage.

Disclaimer: I will say that I don't want to hear anyone's shit about the floater from "Rookie of the Year." That play was horseshit and Henry Rowengartner is a bitch. Yes, I am partially biased because that pitch took the fictional 1994 Mets out of the fictional 1994 playoffs. Although I will give Henry props for enticing a runner to be picked off through a game of chicken.

1. The Annexation of Puerto Rico: This genius play entered our living room in the movie "Little Giants." It wasn't innovative, as it is basically just a very long version of "Fumblerooskie." But it went 99 yards, and helped to beat that bastard Kevin O'Shea and his team of future high school douchebags. The only problems I had with this movie are that the wide receiver cheats by using stick-um, and girls can't play football. Other than that -- it's a masterpiece.

Best line from the movie: "What a hunk. What am I talking about? I'm the Icebox. Icebox doesn't like boys. Except for that one..."

PS -- Look at the Icebox NOW.

2. Ahh...the ol' rosenbag as the ball, security guard stool, hidden ball trick: Although probably illegal, prodigious manager Billy Heywood in "Little Big League" got his team rolling with this play. It involved everyone, including the token African-American security guard. Add a montage to Dion's "Run Around Sue," and a bullhorn drowning out cuss words? Classic.

Best line from the movie: "What am I supposed to do? Go home and tell my wife I got cut by a 12-year-old but it's OK because he likes my baseball card?!"

3. The Catch: Before Jim Edmonds started making ridonculous catches for the Angels, Matthew McConaughey was doing it, but not without the help of some divine intervention. The only flaw in this movie is that it tells you believing in God will bring your deadbeat father back. Sorry, Roger...good luck on "Third Rock From the Sun." Also, this is the last movie I saw Matthew McConaughey in before I hated him (don't worry, "Dazed and Confused" came out a year earlier).

Best line from the movie: "I know who you are. I heard you on the radio. You sure do have a big chin."

4. Ricky Bobby's finish: If every NASCAR race ended like this (a firey wreck, followed by a a footrace to the finish, and ending with a simultaneous slow-motion dive), then I would consider tuning in.

Best line from the movie (not possible): "If you don't like Big Red, then Fuck you!"

5. The Jet steals home: OK, this play is at the end of "The Sandlot," but I mean...what other white guy besides Benny Rodriguez has ever stolen home? Please, I'd love to know. Then again he DOES look like Jacoby Ellsbury. I'd also love to know who made two sequels to this movie...they should be shot in the throwing arm.

Best line from the movie: "You play ball like a giiirrrrrrrrl!" (OBVIOUSLY)

6. Bobsled walk: There's nothing more touching than four Jamaicans carrying a sled down an icy hill while four Germans start a slow clap for them. "Cool Runnings" changed my life. Tears. But seriously, you can't tell me these guys would've past any routine IOC drug testing.

Best line from the movie: "I'm freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off!"

Hell Must Be Frozen...

...Because I actually agree with Columbia Sports Columnist, Ron Morris. In today's issue of The State, Morris actually makes a sentient argument for something. What's more, Morris' issue of choice is actually relevant! Morris, seen right, usually spends his columns jumping to conclusions and writing with about as much forethought as a monkey takes when it flings poo. I'm not even going to go down the road that most Gamecock fans take when discussing Ron Morris. I don't think Morris has it in for USC. I don't think Morris secretly cheers for Gamecocks losses or Clemson's successes. The only thing I know about Ron Morris is that 98% of the time he is incapable of conducting the most basic investigative journalism.

Here, though, Morris comes through in style. The Confederate flag is a hot button issue in the South, particularly in South Carolina. Whatever you think about the flag as a symbol, the bottom line is it is keeping the entire state of South Carolina from joining the 20th century. Get rid of the Confederate flag, and amazing things will start happening around the state. Mullets will disappear at a rate commiserate with that of the "Great Mullet Blight of the 90s." Only actual wife beaters will wear wife beaters, improving the efficiency of the legal system. Baby-momas will cease to be the predominant family unit. Hell, even Croakies might go out of style. Well one can always dream, anyway. As a Georgia native, I suppose I'll always be accused of not being able to fully understand the issue of the Stars & Bars as it relates to SC. I do know this: Georgia used to actually have half of its state flag devoted to the confederacy, but we actually booted it the fuck off. Why can't South Carolina do the same?

USC Drops 2 to LSU

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper247/stills/1tv390o0.jpg

Well, the Yardcocks dropped the weekend series to LSU by a 2-1 margine. After starter Sam Dyson pitched well in the Friday contest, the freshman starting pitchers failed to hold up on Saturday and Sunday. Although, it should be noted that Freshman hurler Nolan Belcher performed considerably better this time around than in his other outings. Belcher left with the score knotted at 3 in the 5th inning.

One of the bright spots this season, aside from the new Carolina Stadium, has been the play of Freshman Jackie Bradley, Jr. The kid's got all the makings of a college star in the making. This weekend Bradley hit .500 with 2 HRs. Two weekends ago, vs. Long Beach State, I had the opportunity to take in a game at Carolina Stadium. Even though the Gamecocks lost, Jackie Bradley, Jr. put on a show for fans. During the game he laid down a text book bunt (more on Ray Tanner's propensity to bunt in another post), coaxed out a walk, singled, and showed off his cannon for a arm from right field. He's going to be a good one, folks.

Also, per the article above, it appears Ray Tanner is finally playing around with the 2B spot. Whit Merrifield moved there Sunday in what could very well be a permanent move. Scot Wingo (So.) has held that position since last year. However, Wingo's AVG has hovered around the .240s in both seasons (I think, I don't have stats in front of me). That's just not going to get it done in college ball. The difference was, last year Wingo's OBP was helped by a ridiculously high 30 hit-by-pitches. This year, pitchers have not been so kind (or unkind, depending on your point of view) to Wingo. If USC is going to make any noise in the SEC or even make the post season, they are going to have to get more production out of their second baseman.

Former Gamecock to Keep Goal for USA National Team

Former Gamecock, Brad Guzan, will be in goal for the USA's World Cup qualifying match against El Salvador on March 28. After yellow cards in consecutive games, usual starter in goal, Tim Howard, will be forced to sit out the match with El Salvador. The match will take place in El Salvador's capital, El Salvador, and will be televised on ESPN2 at 9 pm. Guzan, who already has a pair of shutouts in World Cup qualifying against Barbados, currently plays for the English Premier League team, Aston Villa. In 2007 he was named the Major League Soccer "Goalkeeper of the Year."