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Today’s lead story is no surprise. South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier, according to multiple reports, is retiring effective immediately.
The Charleston Post and Courier has more on the sudden departure of the Ol’ Ball Coach:
Spurrier informed his team in a meeting Monday night that he was stepping down effective immediately, a source close to the team told The Post and Courier. His decision is expected to be made official at a press conference Tuesday, when an interim coach will be named to finish this season, beginning with Saturday’s 4 p.m. home game against Vanderbilt.
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Spurrier will step down as the most successful coach in South Carolina history, with an 86-49 record in 10 and a half seasons at USC. Also the all-time winningest coach at Florida, he stands with Bear Bryant as the only two coaches to hold that distinction at a pair of SEC schools.
Reportedly, offensive line coach Shawn Elliott will be named interim head coach.
This has been a very tough year not just for the South Carolina football team, but also for the entire state as the Biblical flooding continues to ravage the Palmetto State. We will all miss Spurrier, he was a unique personality as well as a remarkable success in Columbia, and neither the SEC nor college football will be the same without him.
Relevant tweets:
Spurrier's final SEC Media Day featured some of his best. http://t.co/7ZjEwYYvBj pic.twitter.com/tUEY8hqdwx
— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) October 13, 2015
It was just minutes before Steve Spurrier's retirement had an effect on USC recruiting: http://t.co/VIpZLiERH1 pic.twitter.com/V04HQy28Bf
— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) October 13, 2015
Tweet of the Morning
Yesterday had to be one of the most consequential Monday's in CFB history. Sarkisian fired, Spurrier retired, and Grier suspended for a year
— Micah Kamrass (@MicahKamrass) October 13, 2015
Indeed.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Looks like gusty winds will be a factor on Thursday at game time:
Has some updates for game time. Sounds like gusty winds could be a factor. https://t.co/llPYBBowKX
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) October 13, 2015 -
Parking arrangements for the Auburn game is causing some consternation among the student body.
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Kentucky football is reportedly talking to USC commit Velus Jones $$.
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Consider: Football Wildcats could be in first place in the SEC East when the dust settles on Saturday. Don’t count on it, but it’s a fun thought.
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Boom Williams back to the top of the UK depth chart at running back. That’s good to see.
Kentucky basketball
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Here’s your current Big Blue Madness guest list.
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Takeaways from UK basketball’s live practice. Consider:
A scout for the Dallas Mavericks told ESPN’s Andy Katz that the combine is "very beneficial" for NBA franchises "because we like to see them in this environment and how they adapt to all the pressure. Does the pressure bother them? Is there a fear factor?" The scout added that "Kentucky did a great job here."
Yeah, we killed it. Read the whole thing, lots of good stuff there.
Other Kentucky sports
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Junior men’s soccer player Napo Matsoso has been named CUSA Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Congratulations!
Links posts
College football
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Remember Louisiana-Lafayette, the team we struggled to beat in the first game of the season? They have a major NCAA recruiting investigation going on centering around former assistant coach David Sanders.
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The other USC, the one with the trojan mascot, has fired head coach Steve Sarkisian, who immediately checked himself into a rehab facility. Apparently, Sarkisian had allegedly been drunk and disorderly at a booster event back in August.
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After finally winning the starting job a couple of games back, Florida quarterback Will Grier has been suspended for the remainder of the season for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs, and this news on the heels of Florida breaking the top ten in the AP poll for the first time since 2013.
The SEC is getting a full dose of the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times" this week, that’s for sure.
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One writer at Dawg Sports is calling for Mark Richt’s head after the loss to Tennessee in Knoxville. I’m not sure that’s terribly appropriate after Georgia’s #1 running back, Nick Chubb, went down for the season to injury.
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Never too early:
Way too early South Carolina names: Justin Fuente, Tom Hermann, Kirby Smart, Chip Kelly, Jeff Brohm
— Brian Eldridge (@BriEldridge) October 13, 2015 -
This is extremely uncool, Bret Bielema. I hope the league office remonstrates with him, this sort of behavior is not acceptable in a college football coach.
College basketball
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Louisville is having a tough year. In addition to the scandal surrounding Breaking Cardinal Rules, assistant coach Ralph Willard is taking an indefinite leave of absence to address a "medical issue." We wish Willard well and a quick return.
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Speaking of Louisville, Tim Sullivan says there is no proof to this point that Rick Pitino knew anything about the sex scandal exploding in the River City. I’d be hard pressed to disagree, and my feeling is that he was out of the loop.
Having said that, this seems to be a mighty big deal, with a lot of people knowing at least something about it. Are we ready to conclude that he had no idea at all? Maybe, but one wonders why not.
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CBS has unveiled their top 101 players for college basketball. Whatevs. These sorts of things have very little appeal to me, but just in case you’re interested …
Other sports news
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John Wall just put some of his skin in the game:
To incentivize the cause, Wall will pay assistant coach Howard Eisley $100 for every game he commits more than two turnovers. Worst-case scenario, that’s a $8,200 loss.
Now, that’s an incentive… well, to most people, anyway. To John Wall, that’s probably a weekend night on the town, but hey, I still like it.
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Speaking of John Wall, Bill Simmons calls Colin Cowheard’s repeated criticism of Wall out, and in a brutally honest way:
"All of [Cowherd’s] assignations, his problems with Wall at the outset and what he was describing, it emanated from this thing where Wall was doing the Dougie early on. Not a good look, but all of the criticisms that Colin then put on him were classic racial coding kind of stuff," House said. "It was loathsome, and he doubled down on it."
Ouch.
Other news
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Playboy will reportedly stop publishing fully nude female photos. Six decades of young college men weep bitterly. Caitlyn Jenner cold not be reached for comment.
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Recent expert review of Keenland race track confirms that it is safe. That’s good to know.
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No longer in doubt: MH17 downed by Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile as it flew over Ukraine.