Who misses the annual Spurrier-Fulmer war?

posted by David Cloninger, 10/29/2008 09:15:00 PM

"And no one dared,
Disturb the sound of silence."
----------- SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

It used to be I looked forward to this week all year, even when Steve Spurrier was coaching the despised Florida Gators. You just knew that the buildup of verbal barrages the Head Ball Coach would sling at Tennessee was going to be epic.

The kindler, gentler Spurrier is great to get along with, but sometimes I miss those one-liners he'd crack at every opportunity.

Don't we all remember?
"You can't spell 'Citrus' without UT."

"I know why Peyton (Manning) came back for his senior year: he wanted to be a three-time Citrus Bowl MVP."

There were plenty more -- those were the two most famous. Of course, an 8-4 record against the Volunteers while he was at Florida helped rub a little more salt in the wounds.

But we've all had to remember those jibes as fond memories. For one thing, USC has lost two straight to Tennessee. For another, the Gamecocks aren't challenging for the SEC title every year as the Gators used to do.

Even with the Vols really struggling this season, Spurrier hasn't commented much or said anything even slightly controversial about Fulmer's job status. No jokes, no quips, no nothing.

Sigh.

Spurrier took a few steps on that path when he was first hired at USC, replying to a question about some rampant discipline problems by saying the Gamecocks weren't near as bad as some of the Vols, who were getting into full-blown fights. Fulmer testily replied that Spurrier should keep his nose in his own business and out of Tennessee's, and added another salvo with, "Maybe it rained that day and he didn't get to play golf."

But that's really been it, except for the summer after the 2005 game, won by USC 16-15. That's when a fan at a booster meeting asked how the Gamecocks beat Tennessee and Spurrier sniggered, "The same way Vanderbilt did."

I can understand why Spurrier doesn't want to say anything. He's found out that every breath he takes will probably be reported in the media, no matter if it's on the booster-club circuit or at a press conference. There's also no need to build up the Gamecocks as something they're not -- Spurrier has had a going-on-four-year stretch that's been better than most of USC's coaches, but the program's still not on a championship level.

Plus, for the first time in a long while, USC's actually favored to beat Tennessee. Spurrier knows his players know that, there's no way to avoid at least some of them knowing, so he's not going to give them any extra swelled-headedness.

And there's really no sense giving Tennessee any bulletin-board material. It ain't like USC's blown away any competition this year, save N.C. State, so the Vols doubtless know they can hang with the Gamecocks and perhaps pull out a win. They're playing to save their season and perhaps their coach's job, and that couldn't get a better start to it than beating the coach who needled Fulmer so well during the 1990s.

It's a different game at a different school so Spurrier has to use a different approach. I understand.

Can't blame a guy for being nostalgic.

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