The Cock-A-Booster Crystal Ball is dusted off and ready to roll!

Tennessee at N. C. State

The drunk dogs from the Research Triangle leave the Raleigh kennels this weekend, and prowl into Atlanta to hunt some pigskin peaches.  They will run into some hillbilly minutemen from Knoxville at the Georgia Dome with their muskets against the wall.  The Red and Black Howlers have a little stronger bite this fall and should return home with coonskin caps. The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says... N. C. State by 5

Buffalo at Georgia

The Red Clay Hounds open up the Athens Alpo Hut this weekend, ready to welcome in some Blue Oxen from Upstate New York.  Jeff Quinn wasn’t able to get the Peach Pups to UB Stadium to play, so he’ll have to let his Moo-Moos graze on some hedges instead.  This may be the toughest game on Jawja’s schedule until they come to Columbia. The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says...  Georgia by 17

Bowling Green at Florida

The Falcons from Doyt-Perry Stadium leave the home nest on Saturday, ready to jam their talons into the Gainesville Lizards.  But don’t be surprised when the Citrus Crocs are ready for the feathered flock and they end up roasted rotisserie style.  The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says... Florida by 22

Michigan at Alabama

Brady Hoke and his Big House Rodents paw into Big D on Saturday, hoping to do a little ivory hunting at the Jerry Jones Pigskin Resort.  If Saint Nick and the Tuscaloosa Trumpeters have anything to say on the subject, no pachyderms will end up on the Ann Arbor walls.  The Elegant Elephants have a very thick hide this fall, and they should get out of Cattle Country with their trunks in tact.  The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says... Alabama by 3

Kentucky at Lousiville

The cousin-mating cats from Lexington head into horse-land this weekend, hoping to pluck the pigskin feathers off of the hometown redbirds.  The land of Denny Crum should take advantage of the chance to beat their neighbors, as they certainly can’t seem to do it in a certain other sport.  Charlie Strong has his flock ready to defend the home perch and they should end up with some kitten in their beaks.  The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says... Louisville by 7

 

Clemson vs. Auburn

The Loud-Meowing Kittens from Pickens County scamper out of the Upstate scratching post for Atlanta this weekend, and they intend to scratch up some fellow felines from The Plains.  The Toomer’s Corner Cats have largely been ignored this summer, and that may help them spring an upset.  We’ve seen what happens to the Palmetto Moo-Moos when they head to Atlanta flying high and bragging before.  The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says... Auburn by 4

South Carolina at Vanderbilt

James Franklin and his Music City Boat Captains are in the home harbor on Thursday, ready to welcome on board the loud-chirping Steve Spurrier and his Richland County Roosters.  The last time the high-flying Poultries swooped into the Grand Ole Opry riding pre-season hype, their wings were clipped.  The Head Ball Coach has been reminding the Columbia Cluckers about that disaster, and they should get out of Nashville without being deep-fried.  

The Cock-A-Booster's Crystal Ball says... South Carolina by  6

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

  Other winners this weekend:

Arkansas

LSU

Ole Miss

Missouri

Coming this week and every week - CLAWS vs. PAWS...

The Cock-A-Booster and The Tiger Swag are joining forces this season for a fun new feature called CLAWS vs. PAWS.  We will garner their prediction powers and expert game analysis and post their weekly game choices for the USC and CLEMSON games on both blogs.  As the season progresses we will keep a prediction scoreboard and see who comes out on top after the bowl games are complete.

Here is how the scoring will work...

The Cock-A-Booster and The Tiger Swag will each predict both the USC and the Clemson games for the upcoming weekend.  They will pick an outright winner of the games and then pick against the spread.

Each time they pick a winner vs. the spread they get a TOUCHDOWN (7 pts).  If they just pick the winner but miss the spread they only get a FIELD GOAL (3 pts.).  If they miss the pick alltogether the other team gets a SAFETY (2 points).

So, stay tuned for the first week of CLAWS vs. PAWS...

Coming up later this week... CLAWS vs. PAWS - Week 1!
(we will use Monday's USA TODAY Sheridan Lines -  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sheridan) 

USC vs. Vanderbilt (USC favored by 7)
Clemson vs. Auburn  (CLEMSON favored by 3.5)

Our annual trap game to open the season!

Before I set out my reasoning for why I am not a fan of the setting of this first game, let me be crystal clear on one point:  I predict and believe we will not get upset on Thursday at Vandy.  Spurrier has likely done a yeoman’s job playing the film of the last time we opened the season in Nashville as a favorite.  For that matter, he could have popped in the Kentucky game from two years ago where they upset us and made fools of themselves celebrating.  Or you could watch last year’s Auburn game as another example of how we always seem to cough up a stinker each season.  

Thursday night won’t be that game for 2012.  I see Vandy more in the role that we were before “The Blackout Game” against the Head Ball Coach and his Gators in 2001.  Winning SEC teams get used to being a program that everyone else goes Cuckoo to beat.  Heck, Clemson is in a state of near-drooling obsession with beating the Gamecocks which shows you how things have changed.  

So will we run into a toe-stub at some point?  I hope not but probably.  Maybe Mizzou at home for example or Florida in the Swamp.   The bad bonus thing is that in a year where Georgia has essentially been given a freebie schedule and allowed to move games around to make them comfortable, we don’t have the luxury of making an error.   But outside of the whining puppies in Athens, every SEC team has to deal with this when they have a team that is capable of winning a championship.  LSU, Alabama, Arkansas all must run a murderer’s row of games to win a title.  Carolina and Florida do as well.  

And IF we’re as good as I think we are, and knowing we have to go to LSU while Georgia is doing their nails, we must not lose against the Commodores!  For the three Vandy fans reading this, do NOT take this as a shot at your team.  I love James Franklin and what he is doing.  Finally Vandy has the right coach that fits in my humble opinion.  But if we’re being honest, we are the more talented team with more on the line and we should win this ball game.  

For an old-school negative Gamecock fan like me, every time we win one of these “dangerous” games, we fade a little bit farther into the background.   And we couldn’t be happier to keep on fading out into irrelevance too.  So let me finish with a positive thought headed into 2012: What a great time to be a Gamecock fan!  I remember 1998 and 1999 very well and am so thankful that we are now a team that is “worried” about only winning 8 or 9 games.  The goal of being “bowl eligible” is now a distant memory and the goal “winning the Southeastern Conference Championship” is where we want to be. 

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MOO U News: A tribute to Terry Don “Dinga Donga Doonga Linga Joe Ray Bob” Phillips!

This is a FAKE story.  Please do not take it too seriously.

The Cockabooster lost a true source of golden material recently when Clemson AD and World Tobacco Spitting Champion Terry Don Phillips left his post.  We were sad as you would expect, but here are ten songs our Tiger friends can sing to honor the legacy of this great roadkill eating machine:

•          “You polished my Mudflaps, and the strings to my heart”
•          “The Ballad of Terry Don” (aka Dueling Banjos)
•          “A little dust on the bottle” (but don’t let it fool you about what will happen inside the stadium)
•          “If you wanna play in Clemson, Terry Don needs to fiddle in the band”
•           “Orange, Orange W(h)ine”  (Goes to my head, makes me forget that I have an overrated football team)
•          “Terry never was the Cadillac Kind” (or the indoor plumbing kind)
•          “Every once in a while”  (A tribute to how often Clemson beats Carolina in anything)
•          “On the Tiger Rag”  (okay, this one is really about Jack Leggett)
•          “A Country Boy can Survive” (having to live in Clemson)
•          “The whiskey ain’t workin anymore” (and neither are Dabo’s excuses)

MOO U News: Chad Morris ready to expand his offense to 72.4%

This is a FAKE story.  Please do not take it too seriously.

Clemson’s Offensive Coordinator, the latest flavor of the month up in Tigger Town chosen to play the role of savior of the Orange Kittens football team, is finally ready to open up more of his genius to the civilized world. Last year, Morris made it clear that only 70% of his playbook was used at Death Valley. That could explain why the Klimpletons were only able to amass 13 points in Columbia.

Clemson Offensive Guru - Chad Morris

To rectify that ugly portion of a horrible season closing, Morris is opening up 2.4% more of his playbook. “Yes, we have a situation where these kids can handle a little more of my brainpower so I am happy to do this. Maybe by the end of the year I can move it up to 76%. We’ll see.” Morris went on to point out that Sammy Watkins, one of 5 preseason Heisman winners in Pickens County this fall, isn’t the best receiver for the Tigers in 2012. That is probably true, as all of the other receivers will not be stoned when they take the field.

Apparently, there is also no truth to the rumor that Dabo Swinney is starting to get jealous of the unearned accolades that Morris is receiving, although Swinney when asked did remind everyone that Clemson beat Virginia Tech last year and that he used to sleep with his Mother.

Are you ready for some football? -

Awesome video by JUSTIN KING!

Cockabooster returns with 2012 Predictions!

Yes, yes, the Cockabooster has largely taken the Dog Days off this year due to a family relocation and job change in my “real world” life.  I have missed some golden material from Dabo and crew in the upstate barns but I will be remedying that shortly.  So we are back and ready to go with football approaching and what better way to return than with my predictions for the Gamecocks this fall?  

(Before I do that, let me say that I hope all fans, Clemson and Carolina alike, have been enjoying my friend Willy Powell’s blog, www.thetigerswag.com  He has done a great job and we will start doing some joint articles in the future.)  

CONNOR SHAW

So onto my picks we go.  The featherheads in the Garnet and Black are expecting a big year, and why wouldn’t they?  Connor Shaw proved he can handle the reins as an SEC quarterback, Clowney and Taylor bookend a ferocious looking defense, and Lattimore is hopefully ready for an entire season of national headlines and publicity as (arguably) the nation’s top running back.  The offensive line is MUCH better than last year’s group and the talent at wide receiver is tremendous.   Frankly, the only two “question marks” for me are some slight concern about the secondary and having to replace the playmaking ability of Ingram, Gilmore, Allen and Alshon.  

Since I believe every word I just typed is accurate, why am I not predicting a parade and championships?  Well, to be honest there is that old bugaboo that comes with the Southeastern Conference:  the schedule.  Now I know everyone outside of Athens has to play a tough conference schedule every year, but just because you have to accept playing it every year, it is still a factor when projecting wins and losses. 

I think this Carolina squad is overall better than last year’s.  Just my opinion, humble as always.  Having said that, I have us at 9-3 when it is all said and done.  Here is my breakdown: 

Sure wins:                      ECU, UAB, Wofford, @Kentucky

Probably should lose:     @LSU

Probably should win:      @Vandy, Tennessee, Georgia

Swing games:                  Mizzou, Arkansas, @Florida, @Klimpsun

Most folks may switch a game or two around into other categories, but that’s about where the Gamecocks are in most people’s minds.  I see us losing to LSU and losing one each of these sets of three:   

1.  Florida, Vandy and Clemson

2.  Mizzou, Georgia and Arkansas

JADAVEON CLOWNEY

Is 9-3 negative?  I guess so, but honestly I think we’re still a better team than last year.  We won all of our close games in 2011 and that was great.  But that wheel can turn the other way and it might this year.  I am just glad I lived to see a day when I am predicting us to win 9 games and it is viewed as a bad thing.  Steve Spurrier has definitely changed the mindset of this University and that is awesome.  





PARTICIPATE IN OUR NEW POLL TO THE RIGHT (TOP OF COLUMN). HOW MANY GAMES DO YOU THINK THE GAMECOCKS WILL WIN THIS YEAR?


 

MOO U News: Jack Leggett hails Tanner promotion as “big day” for Clemson Baseball!

THIS IS A "FAKE" STORY - DO NOT TAKE IT TOO SERIOUS!

AUTHOR: RUSTY CRANKSHAFT --

Clemson baseball Coach Jack Leggett, who has been consistently whipped by Ray Tanner’s Gamecocks time and time again in recent years, has been on Cloud 9 since Tanner was named the new Athletic Director in Columbia.  Leggett held a press conference to talk about what Tanner leaving means for his future. 

“What a tremendous day for Clemson University and our baseball program.  I have no idea what kind of Coach Chad Holbrook will be in Columbia, but I can tell you that we’ve got nowhere to go but up with Ray gone. “  The Gamecocks have ended Clemson’s postseason runs three notable times of late, including 4 head-to-head devastating whippings in Omaha at the College World Series.    

Leggett had been pushing Texas A & M very hard to hire Eric Hyman as their AD in the hopes that USC would hire Tanner, and actually offered part of his salary to Tanner to make sure the deal got closed.  A spokesman for Texas A & M made special note of Leggett’s involvement when Hyman was hired.  “Yes, we thought it was strange that a Clemson head coach interjected  himself so directly in our AD hiring process here in Texas, but give him credit.  He really helped make it happen.”  

Clemson AD Terry Don Ding A Ling Ping Charles Nelson Reilley Phillps says Leggett’s actions buys him another chance to change his fortunes around.  “I don’t want to get rid of Jack.  He is as insane as Dabo and is a horse’s rear end on top of it.  He’s the perfect Clemson coach.”

Thanks Eric Hyman…now shut up and leave!

The Eric Hyman era in Columbia was nothing else if not interesting, controversial and debated.  It also will not just die.  Under the guise of giving an “exit interview” to the State paper for some reason, Hyman made sure to rehash all the things about him that folks either loved or hated one last time.  Granted, the particular writer at the State who did this “interview” was practically his spin agent for the last few years so who was really surprised but I digress…

So he yearned for and grabbed one more diva-esque moment in the midlands spotlight before going to College Station, sopping up the forum like a biscuit on gravy.  Now I don’t begrudge a man like Hyman his large ego.  He is a successful person and most successful people have one.  So the fact that he talked about himself for a long time to claim that he doesn’t want to talk about himself is not a big deal in and of itself.

What WAS troubling were the lengths at which he went to predict that Ray Tanner would be blaming him for future mistakes like coaching hires.  Get over yourself Eric.  If you’re out there preening like a rooster to make sure you get credit for good things that happened during your era, then you’re going to get the blame for the bad.

So let’s cut through all that nonsense and get right to what are and always have been the fundamental debate points about Hyman:  1. Was he a masterful AD who created Carolina’s 1^st consistently successful sports era, or was he just a good accountant who happened to have the title when the fruits of Mike McGee’s era combined with the infusion of SEC revenues; and 2. Was Hyman’s YES program the only way to do what he was trying to do with the ticket priority at football games, or was there another way that wasn’t as punitive against long-term boosters?

As someone whose family was “pinched” in a big way on question 2, let me say that I side with Hyman.  Folks giving Roundhouse dues and getting tons of 50-yard tickets were hurting the program.  That had to end and in my opinion.  So no matter what the “specifics” were within the program, those folks were not going to like it.

But when it comes to the first question, count me among those who believe that Hyman was just the guy there when all the good broke loose.  He clearly has a good business mind and is a great accountant, and no one disagrees with that.  And yes, Spurrier and Tanner both said nice things about him while he was AD.  Well DUH!  He was their boss at the time.  What did anyone expect?  But was there really a bad way to captain the Spurrier/Tanner/SEC money ship ?  I guess a total boob could have messed that up if they worked hard enough at it but come on!!

So hopefully Hyman’s interview with the State and this response are the last we have to say about his era in Columbia.  Let this closing statement be delivered and received in the same tone that Mr. Hyman gave the fans all the years he was here:  Thanks Eric for whatever good things you did (or didn’t mess up) while at USC.   Now shut up and leave!