Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks. It's baseball opening weekend. A double header of basketball Saturday, and a football player is dismissed. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay.
[00:00:56] Welcome to episode 375 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, D. Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all had a lovely week out there. Gamecocks. I don't know about y', all, but I have full on Olympic fever. Like. Like, I am totally geeking out about this. I mean, every four years, I have a recurring obsession with curling. I think a lot of us out there forget that this sport exists for three years. And then you see it. You're like, whoa, this is the most bizarre thing to watch. It's electric. At the same time, the slowest game on ice, but yet packed pressure. Shout out to our mixed doubles team getting silver. And then you get hockey. Kicking off the skiing. I don't know. I could totally geek out about it. I have it on in the background all day, and I can't get enough of it. If that is not your speed, that's what makes the world go round. But, hey, I'm really digging it. But hope you all are ready for a good weekend here. Busy weekend. Very busy weekend around Gamecock Nation.
[00:02:07] Going to be a busy next few couple of months or so, really, given all the spring sports in full swing. And then you get basketball, and we're going to have March Madness to worry about. There's going to be a lot going on and absolutely love it. And then hopefully, we really are starting to put some of this cold weather behind us as well. But I do have a lot to go over, so let's jump right into this here, starting with a week in review.
[00:02:35] Tuesday, women's tennis beat that team in the Upstate Clemson Tigers. Beat them four to three. So shout out to our women's tennis team. Holding down business and sticking it to the Tigers. Wednesday, men's golf finished fifth in the Puerto Rico Classic.
[00:02:52] Gotta love that. I mean, imagine that. This happens every year, I think, and it's this tournament where I'm like, what a life. Like, can you imagine being that good at golf that you're able to play for your university and then presumably get flown out to play in Puerto Rico? Like, oh, my gosh, that's just. That's just the life. I don't think I'll ever reach a level of golf that I could be nearly that competitive.
[00:03:20] And then I do have a bit of news here from the football Program, interesting news here, not, not the best update here. Defensive lineman Devonte Miles has been dismissed from the team. News broke of this just a day or two ago. But long story short, he was arrested for possession of, I think a possession of drugs, marijuana and maybe, maybe a firearm was found in his car as well. I don't know, know the ins and outs about it. You know, it's always not great to speculate about legal situations, but it was enough to have Shane Beamer dismiss him from the team.
[00:03:56] It really has been historically a zero tolerance policy with that kind of stuff that you see from Beamer. I think you tend to see it that approach more than you did maybe 10, 15, certainly 20 years ago.
[00:04:08] But yeah, Devontae Miles, who didn't have a ton of production last year, but he was in on the action, he was in the rotation for sure and was going to be a decent piece of this line going forward, is no longer with the team. And I don't know if there is wiggle room where you can still add a player. There's no spring transfer portal. So I think it's just you're down that player and seems to be he made a big time mistake and you know, hopefully he is able to learn and grow and atone for that and come out stronger on the other side. But, you know, is this a little old school, you know, black magic energy here? You know, is this a little old school, like the program energy here? You know, I, I don't know, I could be okay. You know, you get, you get, you know, one or two guys get in a little trouble. Some of the best programs, that happens every year, look at Georgia.
[00:05:03] Maybe that's what the Gamecock football needs, a little shake up. I'm kidding. Of course I'm kidding. Of course I will do. I am willing to, you know, say whatever it is to get us to a much better record next year. But in all seriousness, I do hope Devontae is all right and ends up on the right side of this thing here.
[00:05:23] And then the big news from this weekend is it's baseball opening weekend. I mean, it's here kind of interesting. I think the fanfare around it all is a lot different than years past. I don't know, maybe that's just me.
[00:05:39] I have just felt that previously there's this big looking forward to big countdown to opening day and opening weekend in Colombia. And I just think the vibes are off still this year. I just think based off of how last year went, some of the sentiments that fans and the reporting and all that jazz around the coaching staff, and then you have some injuries on top of it. It just, to me feels a little off. And I'm still excited for baseball season. I think. Gamecock fans, we love our baseball team.
[00:06:16] That program means a lot to us. It has historically.
[00:06:20] Founders park is great. Lot of great memories there, but it's just a little different. And, you know, your expectations for the team are at least me here. I'm just saying, even dealing with injuries, you just got to be better, right? And it's hard not to be better than you were. Last year was pretty God awful.
[00:06:43] I mean, and it's a shame because we're used to saying, like, okay, well, regionals, but let's host the regionals. And then from there we can try and get to the supers. Like, that is the conversation that we were used to having from the coach that we fired, mind you. And before that, we were used to conversations of, is this a team that can go all the way?
[00:07:07] And so, my goodness, just a total, total recalibration of just saying, can you just improve a little bit from last year? I mean, last year the team won six SEC games.
[00:07:20] So if I'm going to put a number on this thing and it's still going to be low by Gamecock standards, I'm going to say just double that. Right.
[00:07:30] I want to see enough improvements to win 12 SEC games. And with that, you're going to have more overall wins than you did last year. I think it was 28 last year. So you're adding six SEC wins and give me another one thrown in there. Give me 35 wins this year.
[00:07:53] Right. And put together a somewhat respectable season. And it's not going to be easy. I mean, the team is dealing with some big injuries early in the year to key players.
[00:08:07] Talked about that already.
[00:08:08] But this staff did put in some work in the Portal and did put a lot of effort in this past off season to improve from last year.
[00:08:19] And maybe, just maybe, Paul Manneri and his staff, after getting their butts whooped last year, maybe they woke up a little bit and said, okay, this is a different ball game here, no pun intended. We got to approach preparation differently. We have to go about this, you know, in a new, in a new light. And I think that was part of the challenge last year, and especially if a lot of the reporting is to be believed, not embracing technology, advanced scouting, that type of deal. So hopefully a lot of that changes and hopefully you get a couple of big hits from the Portal guys and hopefully some of the younger guys flash and develop along the season and things like that, but it is just a weird position to be in as a Gamecock fan, like, not being super jazzed. And I'm just being honest with y', all, like, I'm. I'm looking forward to baseball season. I enjoy following along. I enjoy watching the, you know, the Gamecocks baseball team.
[00:09:18] But it's just this level of excitement is just nowhere near where it used to be, right? And it used to be appointment TV to watch the Gamecocks. And I would plan ahead of saying, all right, I need to be able to watch this series and be here for this game, and I can go see my buddy here, right? Go to Columbia for this game, this one. It's just not. We're just going to see how it goes, and hopefully the guys get some momentum early and carry them more than it did in SEC play this season. But the Yardcocks are getting things started against Northern Kentucky, and because of weather, it's a little bit different here. Double header Friday, and then the conclusion is Sunday. So your starting rotation is Riley Goodman, amp Phillips, and then Brandon Stone. So we are underway here, and it is going to be interesting to see who in that lineup can deliver consistently. Is there someone who develops over the year to be that clutch hitter that, you know, you so desperately need? Are there going to be some young players who are able to hit the ground running early? All these question marks and things that are exciting to follow along?
[00:10:33] How does this pitching staff, you know, deal with a lot of injuries? And, you know, can the bullpen hold up throughout the year? Are they deep enough?
[00:10:41] Going to be interesting to track along. But Gamecock baseball is back. The boys of spring are back. And, you know, look, if you improve from last year, again, what I put forth is not asking for the world there. It really isn't.
[00:10:58] You know, there were a few games last year that Carolina really let slip away that you could have had one. There were a few that were just absolute duds. I think there could be some. Certainly could be some duds this year.
[00:11:12] But if a couple of those closer ones you're able to win, then maybe you win the rubber match, right? Or if you can stop some of the bleeding on a homestand, then, you know, you can win a couple of midweeks and then you go and you take a Friday and all of a sudden some of these things can stack. And baseball is a finicky game where sometimes you have a team that the expectations are not there. And on paper, it doesn't stack up to the top teams in your league, but they come together and they play for one another and something clicks and baseball can be that way.
[00:11:57] And there is no reason to sit here and say that absolutely can't happen in Columbia this year. Is it unlikely? Yeah, probably. But again, if you improve, you know, not night and day from last year, if you win 12 SEC games this year, you know, you might, you might be on the bubble, you know, you're probably on the outside looking in of a regionals. But if you, if you do that in the regular season and then you get hot in the SEC tournament, like maybe you find, you sneak, you sneak yourself into one, right?
[00:12:31] And you know, be competitive against Clemson, right? Like, stick it to those guys.
[00:12:37] There's, there's little moments in every season and there's series in every season that if they break your way, they add up.
[00:12:47] And also on the flip side, there's games and series every season, especially in the front half of a year, where if they don't go your way, they can bite you in the ass. And that's kind of what we saw last year. I mean, there wasn't a whole lot to be excited about last year, but there were some moments earlier in the year that just didn't, didn't really click and there were some red flags being raised that ultimately came true. So we'll see.
[00:13:15] I am excited, I'm tempered. I'm hopeful that we can see at least a product that we can be more proud of, you know, and it's crazy to lower the bar to that, but it's where we are.
[00:13:30] But all right, turning our attention to the hardwood here, talking basketball. There were no midweek games from either team. Kind of weird, right? But nonetheless, we have a double game day Saturday, starting with the ladies here, 8:30pm Saturday. It is the long awaited matchup with LSU. The Tigers are ranked number sixth, currently sitting at 22 and 3 overall, 8 and 3 in the SEC.
[00:14:01] And I'm hoping that the Gamecocks are at full strength going into this one because this is must Watch tv.
[00:14:08] I remember talking about this game when the schedule dropped however many months ago for Gamecock women's basketball. Like it's on Valentine's Day. Make sure that your plans and your dinners and whatever are all wrapped up by then. Tell your loved one, who I'm hoping is also a Gamecocks fan, tell your loved one you have an appointment with the couch.
[00:14:32] You can watch that rom com later. It's not going anywhere. This game is going somewhere long Awaited, right? And this, this game has everything. This has Dawn Staley versus crazy Kim Mulkey. But also, and the real headline here and why I've been looking forward to this is because it is Malaysia Folwehlly going against her former team, or should I say the Gamecocks going against former player Malaysia full Wiley, who's having a pretty good season in her own right. Maybe not.
[00:15:05] I don't know, the lighting the country on fire, like taking, taking the sport by storm season that maybe her and her camp thought would happen by leaving South Carolina.
[00:15:20] But I believe it was still over 13 points a game. I think she's leading the Tigers in steals. So still a very good and capable player who obviously Gamecock fans when she was in the Garnet in black.
[00:15:35] And then the whole drama ensued with her entering the transfer portal and going to lsu. So this game is, this game has everything. And you know, I, I was talking about some matchups earlier in the year that have become rivalries. This, this game is a rival.
[00:15:51] You know, these two teams have gone to war with each other. These two coaches have gone to war with each other.
[00:15:58] And they really are just. Every time we play, I just feel like it's just two different styles of approaching the sport, two different styles of approaching team building and whatever.
[00:16:10] And it's, it's Gamecocks versus lsu. It's going to be really, really exciting. My crow to the game here is I'm stealing a football term here, but win the turnover battle, okay? Like, have less turnovers than lsu, protect the basketball and be in a position late in the game to win. I think you have a Gamecock scheme that is dealing with injuries and whatnot and just hasn't been full strength, has not been maybe as deep as we've been in the past, but you got to get up for this game and it should be a good one.
[00:16:48] And then looking at the men's side of things here also Saturday evening, kind of interesting how that works out. You can do, do the dual screen YouTube, TV, dual screen, bring in an additional TV. I mean, this is really like the antithesis. I think that's the right word of Valentine's Day.
[00:17:09] Nope, I'm blocking everything off. Or we're watching dual college basketball here, but the men are taking on Alabama. The tide are 17 and 7 overall.
[00:17:20] 7 and 4 in the SEC.
[00:17:23] And of course the guys are looking to get off the schneide, as they say, looking to find a win somewhere in the midst of a long losing streak. And it's going to be a challenge against Alabama. That is a program that has given the Gamecocks fits really since Nate Oates has been there. And maybe not as dominant as they have been in years past, but the record speaks for itself. They are still quite good and quite formidable. It will be a challenge. My crow to the game here. Keep the rebound battle close, right? Not going to say out rebound them. That feels like it's out of the cards for our our squad here, but just keep it close. You know, don't, don't be. You know, when it's all said and done, can't be out rebounded by like 12, right? Just keep it close. Give yourself enough second chances to get that kick out, get that second look and don't let Alabama get too comfortable with shooting the threes like they like to. But with that, y', all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'. All. Go Cox.
