re: Why does South Carolina historically suck so bad in the big two sports?

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I asked the question didn't I? Fill me in, buddy. You are the expert on Gamecock athletics

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We had several things working against us for most of our history ... not the least of which was a very small (well under 3 million) population base until just recently - from which Georgia and FSU would raid us annually for our best players for obvious reasons. Auburn to too some degree.

Clemson cheated to get where they got - and they paid the price but it really didn't hurt them in the end. And by "cheated" I mean, worse than SMU. Death penalty worthy.

We have always had this aversion to cheating, to paying recruits. I honestly wish we would get with the program in that regard.

We suffered through some really bad leadership, at the top, Board of Trustees and Presidents ... especially during the Holderman years. Bad decision, bad hires, bad fires, robbing of the athletic budget, etc.

We suffered through the losses of two good coaches for bad reasons ... Jim Carlen was fired on moral grounds - total hypocrisy by Holderman. Coach Carlen was a great man. Joe Morrison died during the steroid scandal investigation, of a heart attack ... he was a helluva coach.

We were snakebit there for awhile.

We were dealt a harsh blow with the steroid scandal in the mid 80s ... everyone was doing it, we were the sacrificial lambs of the NCAA. It cost us for years afterwards, the subsequent rebuilding. At the same time our fandom never quit, we kept coming to the ballgames ... that eventually helped to get us into the SEC.

Things started turning for the better, for us, with the hiring of Mike McGee as our AD under John Palms who was then our President. They got us the funding, started keeping the money in the athletic department and doing what was necessary to become a major player one day ... also thanks to the SEC and people like Bill Arnsparger and Jeremy Foley (Foley walked us through it as an assistant AD at the time), Vince Dooley, Johnny Majors, et al, not the least of which was Roy Kramer.

Oh, and Paul Dietzel ... he loved us, worked tirelessly for us. Lobbied to help get us in with everyone he knew in the SEC ... he was a great man as well. He really loved our fans - said from the day he started working here that one day we would be members of the SEC. Was single-handedly responsible for pulling the strings that got our big stadium enlargement in the 70s ... and that ended up playing a huge part in the SEC's decision to extend an invite when all was said and done.

Despite all of the negatives we've endeavored to overcome, we've certainly "sucked" no worse than have some others in their history in the SEC, and those with pre-SEC history ... and we've contributed to the conference and will continue to do so. As our population base continues to grow, and our recruiting footprint continues to expand, our facilities are always improving and we continue to make strides .... our time will come. It's just a matter of time.

Does that satisfy your curiosity?