I took my two-year old son fishing Saturday morning. It was his second fishing excursion; his only other experience was two weeks ago, when my father gave him his first rod, reel, and tackle box ... and that resulted in 15 minutes of him skipping rocks. So, at 10:00 a.m., we set out in my old pick-up for a local pond that is stocked with catfish. I baited the hook (bread), helped him cast, helped him set the hook, helped him hold the rod while reeling in the cats, and took them off the hook for him. I did this on all of the fish he caught; well, all but one. After hauling in four fish, he told his old man that he wanted to do it by himself. And with that, I watched as this small boy cast his line, locked the reel, set the hook when the cork went under, reeled in his catch, and landed a seven-inch catfish all by himself. I was speechless.

All in all, he caught six cats that morning, none of which were keepers, but that wasn't even the point of the trip. When we left at quarter after 12, I had all but forgotten that I had planned to be at my friend Aaron's house for a 12:30 kickoff; I was a proud poppa. To make matters worse, when I emerged from changing clothes, there stood this new fisherman, my oldest son, in a Gamecock jersey. He hugged me and said, "You go see Gangcocks play, Daddy?"

It was a strange coincidence that at that very moment, allergies caused my eyes to water.

I'm sure you're wondering, "WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME!?!?" And the answer is ... not a whole lot, but I'm working towards a point, which is ... as excited as I was to see kickoff and the first USC game, I arrived at 1 p.m., and didn't even care. I found that odd as well, as I HATE missing USC games. I HATE being forced to leave USC games early (as was the case Saturday due to exhausted little boys). And yet, this weekend, things seemed different. Oddly, things seemed different on the field, as well. There was a confidence, a maturity, about the team that seemed to say, "It doesn't matter what you throw at us, we're ready this time." Hopefully we'll both be able to maintain that maturity during the UGA game on Saturday.

Side note: Of course, there was a more comedic moment involved in the weekend. As Will landed that fifth cat, I was bending down to pick up my pliers ... only to get slapped in the head by a seven-inch cat. He then proceeded to tell me, "It's okay daddy, you didn't hurt the fishy."

I'm not sure what to take away from this game. Is Vanderbilt any good? Is USC any good? I'm conflicted. From what I saw of the game, there was a distinct lack of pressure on Jay Cutler, and I doubt that Vanderbilt was the best blocking team USC will encounter. Also, Cutler was able to find wide-open receivers when he had time. This disturbs me because USC will play teams with better blocking and a more threatening running game, and they may very well dismantle the Gamecock secondary. NOW I know people want to downplay this concern, but heading into a game against UGA, I'm not sure any concern should be downplayed. That said, other than that and a fearful kicking game, I was ecstatic with the way USC played.

I noticed a distinct difference in the blocking by the offensive line. Despite the opponent, there was a sense that the Gamecocks were easily pushing around the Commodore defensive front. This was something that was missing last year, and it was great to see such amazing blocking, combined with excellent backs, and a quarterback (in Dondrial Pinkins) who seemed a step faster and more decisive this season. Combined with the receivers, this was a pretty good showing for our offensive team.

I had to laugh, though, while watching Lou Holtz's "run oriented" offense. So many people were afraid that the offense would be even slower, some even mentioning Holtz's old love for the veer. Well, after the first game, the formations and design of the plays didn't seem a whole lot different than in 2003, with one notable exception that brought about this exchange:

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here for a few more paragraphs.

GameDay is coming to Columbia for only the second time since the show took to the road in 1993. This is a GREAT bit of exposure for USC and USC fans, and yet I have received e-mails like this one:

Tina, and those of you that are so worried about GameDay and wearing black:

Having GameDay broadcast from your game is an honor. It means that the crew thinks the game important enough to receive their coverage. Trust me, when they check their contingencies (as they did following Notre Dame's loss to BYU) and they don't find a game compelling enough to warrant a GameDay remote, they go back to Bristol for an in-studio GameDay. Revel in the GameDay appearance.

As for the Florida players: Someone else stated it better earlier when they asked why it made the ball easier to find for the UF players, but not for the USC players. Also, I'd like to add that the stadium doesn't look empty when people wear black, and waving white towels isn't a sign that we plan to surrender. You freakin' people probably avoid eating chicken before the game, don't you, as it is bad mojo? Quit whining, wear black, and wave the dad gum towel. Or if you choose, wear whatever color you want, clap politely, and stand up only on third-and-long for the USC defense. (Whew, almost whipped out the ol' soapbox again.) Oh, and it is the Student Gamecock Club that wants people to wear black. Support the team; support the students.

Is it wrong of me to wish physical harm to an SEC referee? There is one referee, and I think we can all picture him in our heads, that seems to be more obnoxious, more paid-off, and more anti-new regime than any other zebra working for the SEC Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Bobby Gaston. ("Incorrect calls? There are no incorrect calls!! And if there were, which there are not, we would burn the incorrect calls at the gates of Knoxvi ... er ... Birmingham. You lie. LIES!" Um ... back to physical violence ...). I watched this smug, coke-bottle spectacled individual once again miss holding call after holding call against Tennessee, and thought to myself, "I wish I could be that blind and biased, and still keep my job." To steal from a well-known southern author, if this guy's fair and balanced, my butt's a typewriter.

I like the black uniforms, kind of. I think I'd like them better if there was a white oval surrounding the block C on the helmet. Other than that, they're fine. Actually, we are 1-0 in them, and if this makes the players feel better, then I love them. If USC wears all black against UGA, it will be the first time in ... well, a REAAALLY long time. And we haven't had ANY success in all black. Hey, our luck has to change sooner or later, right!?!? (Trying to convince myself.)

Well, that's all I have this week. Oh, for those that care (namely me), Rose-Hulman opened the season with a 16-12 win over Earlham. Watch out D-III football, the Engineers are coming.