Southern Exposure: SEC Baseball chatter

♦ SEC Baseball Tournament Expansion Just A Shameless Cash Grab (sbnation.com)

We promise no hypocrisy among profiteers - the machinations of the Southeastern Conference's Wall Street mentality (the cool movie from the 1980s, not the failed economic institution of 2011) has in some way benefitted every fan, booster, corporate sponsors and yes, media member over the last two decades of unchecked growth. But at least most of the SEC's manuevers towards national dominance and fat paydays have shown some level of tact.

The shameless expansion of the SEC Baseball Tournament merits absolutely none of the acclaim of the SEC's previous ground breaking expansions - the football division / title game revision of 1992, this surely ain't.
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The SEC wants you to believe that an arbitrary tournament - stuck in dismal Hoover, Alabama forever as a direct result of home office nepotism - has the ability to punch a bubble team's ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The reality is that very little has changed in formatting, regardless of the addition of single elimination play (which in baseball just plain sucks).

♦ Huskers vs Gamecocks: Getting To Know South Carolina Fans (cornnation.com)

How loyal are Gamecock fans to other sports beyond football? (You can go on about your two baseball titles if you like!)

Interesting question. Basketball attendance is at an all-time low right now, and lots of fans are arguing about why that's the case. Of course, it's partially that the basketball team isn't doing well right now, but there seems to be a sentiment among some fans that this is a "football-baseball" school; that seems to be how some want to identify. So, that leads to less support for some of the other sports than might be ideal. Personally, I'd like to see people get behind basketball, as I'd love to see us field a good team.

For baseball, as you might imagine, Gamecocks fans are among the most supportive in the nation. Of course, baseball is by far our most successful sport--we've only just recently won the two national titles, but we've always been good and have come close to winning it all a few times before. So fans have a lot to cheer about with baseball.

Cheers, sayings, things Gamecock fans say to one another or during a game. What can Husker fans expect to hear from your fans?

The best is probably the "Game" "Cocks" cheer. One part of the stadium yells "Game," the other part then yells "Cocks." You can get a sense of this here. It can be pretty impressive if the whole stadium gets going. You of course won't get the full effect at a neutral site, but you'll hear it.

♦ And not baseball, but certainly noteworthy . . . this ad is slated to appear in the Sunday Shreveport Times