Residential Space

Now that the college football season is behind us, I’m finally ready to write about the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, and I have evidence that the chicken curse is alive and well:

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

Sept. 1
LA.-LAFAYETTE [PPV]
W, 28-14

Sept. 8
*at Georgia [ESPN]
W, 16-12

Sept. 15
SO. CAROLINA STATE [PPV]
W, 38-3

Sept. 22
*at LSU [CBS]
L, 28-16

Sept. 29
*MISSISSIPPI STATE [LFS]
W, 38-21

Oct. 4 (Thu.)
*KENTUCKY [ESPN]
W, 38-23

Oct. 13
at North Carolina [ABC]
W, 21-15

Oct. 20
*VANDERBILT
L, 17-6

Oct. 27
*at Tennessee [ESPN]
L, 27-24 (OT)

Nov. 3
*at Arkansas
L, 48-36

Nov. 10
*FLORIDA [ESPN]
L, 51-31

Nov. 24
CLEMSON [ESPN2]
L, 23-21

Now, please note the 6-1 record during the first half of the season, the only loss occurring against LSU when that team was ranked #2. The chicken curse took effect between October 14th and October 20th, because how else do you explain how a team ranked #6 in the country suddenly suffers five straight losses to mostly unranked teams? The guy that writes this blog was having the same freak-out thoughts I was during the Vanderbilt game.

As always, I am a loyal fan. I can complain, and I can question why things like this happen, but next season I will still be screaming: “Go Cocks!”

I don’t get it. I honestly don’t get it. The chicken curse is real.

After rising in the rankings to SIXTH in the nation in college football, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks are absolutely blowing their chance for a bowl game. After beating Georgia and Kentucky, they nearly lost to UNC Chapel Hill (an unranked team), and then lost big-time (in the words of Dick Cheney) to Vanderbilt (an unranked team at the time), Tennessee (an unranked team at the time), and this past weekend lost to Arkansas (another unranked team). And to rub salt in my wounds, I saw today that Clemson, our sworn enemy, is now ranked in the top 25. Watching Gamecock football in a location 3000 miles from the Palmetto State is my connection to the homeland (well, that and watching The Colbert Report as Stephen was crafting his entry into the presidential primary race in SC).

While I watch Ohio State sit in the #1 spot, I know they probably deserve it, but Oregon is having a dynamite season too! And yet – rather than acknowledging that Ohio State is awesome, my first thought is – “The Gamecocks defeated them in the Outback Bowl two years in a row, so EAT IT.” I suppose that is the loyalty that the Gamecocks enjoy from their fans – that even when they are 1-23 (which was the case my junior year in college), Williams-Brice Stadium sells out, Cocky is one of the top five most popular mascots in the country, and we still insist that we are the real USC (look it up – University of South Carolina, founded 1801, much before the University of Southern California, who stole our acronym).

We face off against Florida this weekend – maybe since they are actually a good, ranked team we may be able to beat them. Plus, we have their coach, and we defeated them last year. If they can pull this off, I may forgive them. If not, then I’ll still cheer for them anyway.

My alma mater, the University of South Carolina, defeated the University of Georgia on the football field this past weekend. Georgia was ranked #11, and my gamecocks were not included in the Top 25 – but guess what?! THEY ARE NOW! They are 2–0 this season and ranked #17 after their impressive performance against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

How to explain their stellar season opening? Perhaps this results from the enthusiasm of their competent coach. Or perhaps it is because of the birth of their newest fan.

Am I right, G?

I’ll subtitle this one: “Another beef I have with the Media.”

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics this year, but what has driven me nuts is the media commentary. Many of the commentators are so negative, focusing on mistakes athletes have made or what should have been done differently. When Lindsay Jacobellis fell in the snowboarding competition, they hung her out to dry. Every interview I saw directly after the event was so demoralizing – do you wish you hadn’t been celebrating on that last stretch? How does it feel to know that the gold medal was yours, and you lost it at the last second? Why don’t they just add – don’t you feel like a total failure? That life is now meaningless? You lousy silver medalist!

When Apolo Ohno won the bronze medal at the start of the games, the interviews again were terribly negative. Ohno’s answer was wonderful – that he didn’t see how anyone could think that winning a bronze medal at the Olympics is a bad thing. But the press continued to harp on this, acting as though Ohno had failed the whole nation by not beating the South Koreans in front of him. He seemed fine with it – but the press wasn’t. Is this because we’re so self-righteous that we believe we have to be the best at absolutely everything? Part of what I love about the Winter Olympics is that it isn’t a given that the U.S. will win everything – it’s truly an international competition.

I, for one, look forward to watching the events in person in Vancouver four years from now. No commentators, no media – just sitting in the stands and seeing events unfold before me.

Wow, what an amazing performance by the female figure skaters in the short program! I’m usually not one to get too absorbed in figure skating, but the program that Irina Slutskaya put on was enchanting. For starters, her music kicked ass – a modern version of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. It was so jazzy and full of rhythm, unlike the typical flowery stuff to which others skate. Then, she wore pants rather than a skirt and put her full energy into true performance. A real, solid athlete. Oh, and she’s another foreign athlete that can give interviews in English.

Sasha Cohen’s performance was, of course, dazzlingly perfect for an Olympic performance. Fun to watch, artistic, and as soon as I saw it I knew she was the gold medalist. Wow – just, perfect is all I can really say.

It seems the feud between speed skaters Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis continues. Davis publicly stated (with Hedrick sitting next to him at this particular press conference) that (paraphrasing here) it would have been nice if Hedrick had congratulated him on his gold medal victory earlier in the Games. Hedrick, taken aback and visibly at a loss for words, replied with (paraphrasing here too) that it would have been nice if Davis had participated with his teammates in the relay (the pursuit, I believe it is called). Yikes. To Hedrick and Davis (two loyal blog readers, I am sure), I say this: you are acting like stereotypical women. Get over yourselves. Better yet, admit that you’re in love and stop fighting it. You can’t fight this feeling anymore…you’ve forgotten what you started fighting for…so bring the ship into the shore, and throw away the oars forever…

Ahem.

Evan and I have really enjoyed watching the Olympics this year – previously, we (particularly Evan) have not taken much of an interest in the Winter Games, but because of our new enthusiasm for downhill skiing we have been glued to the tv this time around. In addition to our fascination with the alpine skiing events, we have not missed a speed skating or luge event either. By the way, the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver!!! If anyone wants our spare room, speak now.

My comment here, ironically enough, has nothing to do with sports, but everything to do with our education system. We have long known that other countries value the teaching of foreign languages. During our April 2005 trip to The Netherlands we were constantly reminded that English was the third language of many with whom we conversed, and their English was nearly as good as ours. Amazing. During the 2006 Olympics, I have lost count of the foreign athletes interviewed by our media sources, and the Gold Medalist always seems to be able to speak English. I suppose English is one of the “universal languages,” and that it would be difficult for our athletes to learn every European language plus several Asian languages, but still – not many of us are fluent in a second language, but Europe has done a damn fine job of ensuring that their citizens know at least two well.

So that is my first point. Point #2: there are quite a few athletes from the Seattle-area participating in the Olympics! Scott McCartney, a 28-year-old from Redmond, has represented us well in several alpine skiing events. He has been our favorite athlete for whom to cheer! Also, Apolo Anton Ohno, the well-known speed skater, is from Seattle. Other athletes from this area include Christian Niccum (Woodinville – luge), KC Boutiette (Tacoma – speed skating), Jeremy Teela (Tonasket – biathlon), Libby Ludlow (Bellevue – alpine skiing), and Kelly Stephens (Seattle – ice hockey). It has been a blast pulling for the locals.

By the way, Shani Davis just won the gold medal in a speed skating event, the first African-American to ever win a gold medal in a Winter Olympics individual event, and the interview he just gave was so pissy. He seriously looks royally pissed off about something. That’s my official coverage of the event from my living room.

More to come… (that’s not a threat, more like a trailer ending)

Wow.

I am so excited! I have never given a rip about NFL football, but when Evan and I moved to our condo, we found we had a very clear view of Qwest Stadium, home of the Seattle Seahawks. On game days the stadium is lit in a brilliant blue, the team’s color. Towards the end of October the intrigue with this team grew within Seattle – a team that has pretty much been down on its luck for the three decades of its existence was winning. Hmm…

In December the enthusiasm was evident. People (like yours truly) who traditionally hated NFL football were talking about the Seahawks. Seattlites were psyched! On December 24th the Seahawks defeated the Colts, and suddenly talk turned to – what if we made it to the Super Bowl? We won home field advantage, a boost for the city as thousands were sure to flood in through the Sea-Tac airport on the weekends (and they have!). I watched Seattle overtake Washington (how ironic) last weekend, and this weekend, a group of eight of us yelled for our team as they defeated the Carolina Panthers in a 34-14 victory.

So now it’s on to the Super Bowl. Some of you are probably saying - but who cares about football? I cannot describe it properly, but there is a sense of pride in knowing that a team unexpected to do anything significant has given my new town a reason to be excited.

And by the way – it did not rain today. It was a gorgeous day full of sun!

Previously posted on November 12, 2005 at: http://spaces.msn.com/members/jodidodds/Blog/cns!1p1a54g1PSNkhyBLLbfi4i8A!138.entry