Well, I wasn't going to post until after the Clemson game to avoid a jinx, but after some intense stat sheet studying here are some keys to a Gamecock win.
Defense
Make Whitehurst throw as many (or more) interceptions as TD’s. INT/TD ratio has always been make or break with this kid (all 35 years he's started at CU). If possible keep him below 60% on completions. 65% max.
If the INT's don't materialize, keep them under 150 yds rushing on the day.
Bonus fact: Ko needs 13 tackles to hit 100 for the season.
Offense
Mitchell needs more TD’s than INT’s. In the 2 games he started and USC lost, his INT/TD ratio was 1/2 (UGA) and 1/1 (Bama). In every win but Florida, he's thrown 2 TD's or more... We don’t even need 200 yds passing, but we must win the turnover battle to win. It's a fundamental truth in football and it weighs heavily in this game.
Freshman receivers (Rice and McKinley) need to produce. Arkansas is the only game in the 5-game win streak where Rice caught for less than 100. In that game McKinley picked up the slack. If Rice stays below the century mark McKinley must step up.
Keep up red zone production. We're 4th in the SEC for red zone scoring and first for TD percentage. Spurrier doesn't let up inside the 20 and he won't start on Saturday.
This one’s going to be closer than some USC fans think. I know a number of 'us' are so confident of a win our heads are nearing explosion level. Don’t expect redemption for 63-17, at least not for another year or two.
Perhaps I’ve learned a lesson from years past, but anything can happen in this one. Perhaps I still have “Lou-syndrome”. Our team isn’t that talented. Our team is young and they’re overachieving. Clemson’s better than their record indicates. Carolina isn’t as good as theirs.
Perhaps, however, this USC team has two key ingredients for success others have lacked: heart and character. The Gamecocks are taking it one game at a time and they’re playing to win. To paraphrase Spurrier, this isn’t a stats team, it’s a results team (so ignore my points above). Perhaps the opposite has been Clemson’s problem under Bowden. Maybe that’s why I’m confident that if and when it comes down to coaching, the Spur will always stand victorious.
This team's hungry for a win Saturday, especially the seniors. Bowl game? Check. Tennessee? Check. Florida? Check. Clemson? ___. This team, unlike previous USC teams under previous coaches, will not lie down and accept defeat if the going gets tough. As our fight song says, “that’s when the Cocks get going.” This year those words are finally ringing true. History says the first team to score in this one wins. Hell, history says the Gamecocks are bound to lose, but they call it “history” for a reason. Just ask fans in Gainesville and Knoxville.
Last week my predicted score was 3 points off. Let's hope I'm that close again.
Final – Cocks 24, Farmboys 20
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Tao Teh Christ?
The Western mindset engrains in us a habitual lifestyle of busyness and of competition. We fight for the best parking spot, we watch TV or surf the net to pass time, and we choose our vocation to make the most money, not to procure genuine happiness.
In his assessment of man’s love for God in The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm asserts that such a mentality comes from an Aristotelian or ‘Western’ logic that focuses on finding answers. In Western society man’s highest gain becomes the act of gaining itself.
This leads, in my analysis, to conflict as opposed to resolution, to anger as opposed to understanding, to conformity as opposed to individuality. Still, I embrace this mindset in many ways in my life. We all do. I’m always seeking to “know” God or to find absolutes in my own life-journey. Deep down I wonder if the absolutes we Westerners boldly affirm are shaped more by our experiences and our culture than they are by some graspable truth undergirding creation.
Diametrically opposed to this mindset is that of paradoxical or ‘Eastern’ logic which, in brief, would claim that the greatest knowledge one can know is that we cannot fully ‘know’. In the Christian’s quest for knowledge of God this would result in the conclusion that our limited minds cannot fully wrap around God’s reality.
The trouble I have, as I desire to bridge the logic gap in my life, is that paradoxical logic seemingly comes into contention with the belief we Christians have that we can “know” God through Christ. Or do we? Can we "know" God through Christ, or do we get snapshots of divinity (albeit perfect and true)?
I look at Christ’s teachings and in many ways see Eastern philosophy at work. Christ is one who calls us to look within ourselves through prayer and meditation so that we may act rightly toward others. He himself did this. Christ is one who calls us to shed our possessions and follow an ascetic path (read Merton’s No Man is An Island). If you seek to live out the essence of discipleship I think/hope you’ll find some agreement here.
Ultimately the call of God (in my life) isn’t to understand the inner-workings of the Trinity but to focus on living rightly. In other words, being (in the silent presence of God) leads us to doing (justice, kindness, love). Is that not Christ’s teaching in a nutshell? To ‘be’ in the moment so that we may get to work ‘doing’ God’s will?
Now that I’ve opened Pandora’s Box, I’ll leave it at that.
The only conclusion anyone can get out of this post is that I’ll probably never make it through the ordination process.
In his assessment of man’s love for God in The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm asserts that such a mentality comes from an Aristotelian or ‘Western’ logic that focuses on finding answers. In Western society man’s highest gain becomes the act of gaining itself.
This leads, in my analysis, to conflict as opposed to resolution, to anger as opposed to understanding, to conformity as opposed to individuality. Still, I embrace this mindset in many ways in my life. We all do. I’m always seeking to “know” God or to find absolutes in my own life-journey. Deep down I wonder if the absolutes we Westerners boldly affirm are shaped more by our experiences and our culture than they are by some graspable truth undergirding creation.
Diametrically opposed to this mindset is that of paradoxical or ‘Eastern’ logic which, in brief, would claim that the greatest knowledge one can know is that we cannot fully ‘know’. In the Christian’s quest for knowledge of God this would result in the conclusion that our limited minds cannot fully wrap around God’s reality.
The trouble I have, as I desire to bridge the logic gap in my life, is that paradoxical logic seemingly comes into contention with the belief we Christians have that we can “know” God through Christ. Or do we? Can we "know" God through Christ, or do we get snapshots of divinity (albeit perfect and true)?
I look at Christ’s teachings and in many ways see Eastern philosophy at work. Christ is one who calls us to look within ourselves through prayer and meditation so that we may act rightly toward others. He himself did this. Christ is one who calls us to shed our possessions and follow an ascetic path (read Merton’s No Man is An Island). If you seek to live out the essence of discipleship I think/hope you’ll find some agreement here.
Ultimately the call of God (in my life) isn’t to understand the inner-workings of the Trinity but to focus on living rightly. In other words, being (in the silent presence of God) leads us to doing (justice, kindness, love). Is that not Christ’s teaching in a nutshell? To ‘be’ in the moment so that we may get to work ‘doing’ God’s will?
Now that I’ve opened Pandora’s Box, I’ll leave it at that.
The only conclusion anyone can get out of this post is that I’ll probably never make it through the ordination process.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Going Bowling
I'm not sure what's happened over the past few weeks here in Columbia, but as Steve Spurrier mentioned yesterday, "the guys are playing like winners." At 6-3 with two games left, they are winners. I'll admit, following the Vandy game I was preparing myself mentally to see this team finish 4-7. Two games later, we're going bowling. We can win the next two, the only question lingering is, 'will we?' Some thoughts on the rest of the season...
0 wins - Independence
1 win - Peach
2 wins - Outback
Florida's in town next. I'll be in Black Mountain for work (4th year in a row for the UF game). Don't worry, I'll be watching with the Shandon folks while my advisors are delegated the task of ensuring the spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being of 15 middle school youth.
On to the game... After UF slipped past Vandy in overtime I think there's no question this is a game we can win. Talent-wise the Gators have a solid advantage, but when it comes to heart there are few teams, if any, flying higher than the 'Cocks this November. No doubt Spurrier will be preparing some interesting things this week. This is not a game he wants to lose. It should be close. It will be exciting. I, for one, can't wait!
No matter what happens, the following week will bring Spurrier's induction into the USC/Clemson rivalry. Walking outside Death Valley about an hour after 'the Brawl', I told a Clemson-fan buddy of mine that "if," and at that time it was still a case of "if," we landed Spurrier as our coach, "(they'd) better enjoy the winning while (they) can." I stand by that statement.
Now, I'm not saying we'll beat UF and/or Clemson this year. What I am saying is that the first strokes of a masterpiece are hitting the canvas in Columbia weeks before Turkey Day '05, much earlier than many would've predicted. With all the off-field turmoil, media bashing, and general taunting our program has suffered in the last 12 months it's little short (kind of like an Arkansas 4th down) of a football miracle that the Gamecocks are sitting at 6-3.
Other highlights: First win at UT, second since joining the SEC in 1992. First win at Arkansas since 1997. 3 losses; to the current #3 (Alabama), #9 (Georgia), and #17 (Auburn) rated teams in the Coaches Poll. Passing records are falling and falling fast. Impact players are YOUNG. The team is playing like a team every down, every week.
Lou Holtz talked long and often about needing a culture change. Well, with Steve Spurrier in the Cockpit, the lip service has ended and the culture is changing before our eyes. Teams, coaches, and fans of other programs feel it. The Iron Fans feel it. The Gamecocks and coaches know it. It may take a miracle to win both of the next two, but as Coach has said for two weeks now, "God is smiling on the Gamecocks." Let's hope the smile persists.
Final record: 7-4
See you in Atlanta!
0 wins - Independence
1 win - Peach
2 wins - Outback
Florida's in town next. I'll be in Black Mountain for work (4th year in a row for the UF game). Don't worry, I'll be watching with the Shandon folks while my advisors are delegated the task of ensuring the spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being of 15 middle school youth.
On to the game... After UF slipped past Vandy in overtime I think there's no question this is a game we can win. Talent-wise the Gators have a solid advantage, but when it comes to heart there are few teams, if any, flying higher than the 'Cocks this November. No doubt Spurrier will be preparing some interesting things this week. This is not a game he wants to lose. It should be close. It will be exciting. I, for one, can't wait!
No matter what happens, the following week will bring Spurrier's induction into the USC/Clemson rivalry. Walking outside Death Valley about an hour after 'the Brawl', I told a Clemson-fan buddy of mine that "if," and at that time it was still a case of "if," we landed Spurrier as our coach, "(they'd) better enjoy the winning while (they) can." I stand by that statement.
Now, I'm not saying we'll beat UF and/or Clemson this year. What I am saying is that the first strokes of a masterpiece are hitting the canvas in Columbia weeks before Turkey Day '05, much earlier than many would've predicted. With all the off-field turmoil, media bashing, and general taunting our program has suffered in the last 12 months it's little short (kind of like an Arkansas 4th down) of a football miracle that the Gamecocks are sitting at 6-3.
Other highlights: First win at UT, second since joining the SEC in 1992. First win at Arkansas since 1997. 3 losses; to the current #3 (Alabama), #9 (Georgia), and #17 (Auburn) rated teams in the Coaches Poll. Passing records are falling and falling fast. Impact players are YOUNG. The team is playing like a team every down, every week.
Lou Holtz talked long and often about needing a culture change. Well, with Steve Spurrier in the Cockpit, the lip service has ended and the culture is changing before our eyes. Teams, coaches, and fans of other programs feel it. The Iron Fans feel it. The Gamecocks and coaches know it. It may take a miracle to win both of the next two, but as Coach has said for two weeks now, "God is smiling on the Gamecocks." Let's hope the smile persists.
Final record: 7-4
See you in Atlanta!
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
The Place of Disconnect
11.2.05 3:19pm
I spill my desires
Through the cracks of an open mind
Onto soiled streets of need
Down into the basins of sanity
‘Fear not,’ I preach
Consumed by the search for God
I fade slowly
Overcome by the demands of the day
Slipping into contemplation
I meditate on the All in All
I meditate on Allah,
Freeing my soul from worldly repute
In the place of disconnect
Competition is no more
Veneration no longer a need
Charity transcends it all
In the place of disconnect
Christ resides
Vishnu comforts
God speaks beyond religion and creed
In meditation
‘To be’ is ‘to live’
In meditation
God reveals the path.
I spill my desires
Through the cracks of an open mind
Onto soiled streets of need
Down into the basins of sanity
‘Fear not,’ I preach
Consumed by the search for God
I fade slowly
Overcome by the demands of the day
Slipping into contemplation
I meditate on the All in All
I meditate on Allah,
Freeing my soul from worldly repute
In the place of disconnect
Competition is no more
Veneration no longer a need
Charity transcends it all
In the place of disconnect
Christ resides
Vishnu comforts
God speaks beyond religion and creed
In meditation
‘To be’ is ‘to live’
In meditation
God reveals the path.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
