USC guard Devan Downey is helped up off the floor in the final moments of the second half against Alabama in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 2010

CRIMSON TIDE REBOUND FROM 18 POINT DEFICIT TO KNOCK OFF LOWLY GAMECOCKS

After an atrocious finish to the 2010 season, the University of South Carolina men’s basketball team was mercifully put out of their misery on Thursday with a 68-63 loss to Alabama in the first round of the SEC tournament.

The Gamecocks, who went just 1-6 in their final seven regular season games, went into the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn. on life support and looking for a miracle run to make it to the NCAA tournament.

Early on, it appeared the Gamecocks might take the first step by defeating the Crimson Tide.

USC took an 11-point lead into halftime — a lead the Gamecocks extended to 18 midway through the second half. But a Charvez Davis three-pointer with just over 11 minutes remaining spurred a Crimson Tide comeback.

Alabama outscored USC 17-3 in the next six minutes — including a run of ten straight points — to bring the game within four points. The Crimson Tide took the lead, 60-59, with 2:07 remaining and the two teams battled back and forth until the end.

With 15 seconds remaining, Alabama’s JaMychal Green scored a bucket to give the Crimson Tide a three point lead. But USC’s Sam Muldrow threw the ball to a Crimson Tide defender while moving down court and a pair of Tony Mitchell free throws iced the win for Alabama.

“We just played like a team that was trying to hang on, instead of one that was trying to make plays and pull away,” said USC coach Darin Horn after the loss.

USC finished the season with a 15-16 record and is unlikely to receive a bid to the NIT. Devan Downey in his final game as a Gamecock, led the team with 21 points.

Alabama, meanwhile, will play No. 2 Kentucky in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Congressman Gresham Barrett

8 BANKS ON CHAMBER’S BOARD RECEIVED CONGRESSIONAL BAILOUT CASH

Less than a day after making their first-ever endorsement in a gubernatorial primary race, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is already getting cold feet about their pick.

News hit on Wednesday that the Chamber was canceling a Business Fly Around event with Congressman Gresham Barrett, the man they endorsed on Tuesday.

“Due to an unanticipated vote in Washington, the Barrett campaign has canceled the Business Fly Around originally scheduled for Thursday, March 11th,” his campaign said in a statement on Wednesday.

Now, Barrett has spent a total of three days in Washington this entire year. He is by far the most absent Member of Congress, skipping work 40 percent of this session.

And I’ve asked around, but no one can seem to find this very important, “unanticipated” phantom vote. So we all know that story is a complete load of crap.

The truth is that Chamber President and CEO Otis Rawl was catching some seriously flak over the endorsement.

Why?

Well, it had a little something to do with the fact that eight of the Chamber’s board members belong to banks that received millions in federal bailout funds in 2008. You know… that bailout that Barrett infamously supported.

It turns out the other Chamber members weren’t too happy that their endorsement was bought with taxpayer money.

D’oh!

More than 273,000 workers are without a job in South Carolina, the highest in state history

JOBLESS NUMBER HITS RECORD 273,455

South Carolina’s unemployment rate hit 12.6 percent in January according to new numbers released on Wednesday by the State Employment Security Commission (ESC).

That number is up two-tenths of a percent from the revised December jobless rate and gives South Carolina the fourth-highest percentage of unemployed workers behind Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island.

The ESC reported that state’s labor force was up 3,569 workers over the December level, but the number of unemployed climbed 4,605 to a record 273,455.

By contrast, the national jobless rate decreased from 10 percent in December to 9.7 percent in January.

Once again, Allendale County was the hardest-hit area of the state, with 24.3 percent of workers without a job. Lexington County had the highest number of employed workers, with only 9.4 percent jobless.

South Carolina Congressional candidate Rob Miller address Democrats in Beaufort County, March 9, 2010

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE FINALLY SPEAKS IN FRONT OF CAMERAS, RESULT NOT PROMISING

South Carolina Congressional candidate Rob Miller is pretty tricky to track down. When he isn’t dodging questions, he’s kicking video cameras out of his campaign events.

But when asked about an amendment to the Congressional health care reform package that would prohibit the federal government from paying for abortions, Miller broke his shady silence and answered the question… while our cameras were rolling, no less.

“I think it’s redundant,” Miller responded. “I mean, there’s no reason for it. There’s already legislation in place going back 10 or 15 years. It’s an excessive piece of legislation that I think would strip from some areas some of the life-saving aspects of the previous legislation. I thought it was unnecessary, I think that’s the biggest thing for me. So I would have voted against it.”

The statement came during a meeting of the Democratic Club of Beaufort County on Tuesday. And it separates Miller, who is running against 2nd District Congressman Joe Wilson, from the rest of the Blue Dog Democrat pack — including U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, the Democrat from Michigan who introduced the anti-abortion amendment.

In fact, the Stupak Amendment is one of the main things preventing the Democrats from ramming through their massive takeover of the U.S. health care system. That and overwhelming public opposition.

But Miller’s comment also shows that he has a multiple personality disorder — telling Democrats one thing and telling the media and the public another. Just moments after the event, he decided to become non-committal on the subject when speaking with reporters.

“Miller said after the meeting he wanted to wait until the final (health) legislation was crafted before commenting on the bill,” the Hilton Head Island Packet reported.

Miller tries to act like a more conservative, Blue Dog Democrat, but inevitably falls in line with Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. And unfortunately, that means he sees no reason to stop taxpayer-funded abortions.

A screen shot of a TV ad by E*TRADE Financial of the now-famous “talking babies”

ACTRESS CLAIMS SINGLE-NAME MONIKER ENTITLES HER TO $100M PAY DAY

I haven’t exactly followed the life and times of Lindsay Lohan as closely as some other bloggers in this state, but apparently the 23-year-old actress turned tabloid sensation has fallen on some rough times.

Things have actually gotten so bad that she has decided to sue the financial company E-Trade over an ad they ran during the Super Bowl earlier this year.

The ad features the E-Trade baby having a video chat with girlfriend. After explaining that he was “sorry about last” and that he was busy — “like a wolf” — on E-Trade, the girlfriend asks “and that milkaholic Lindsay wasn’t over?”

“Lindsay?” the boy replies, just before a baby girl sticks her head into the frame and says, “Milk-a-what?”

You can view the ad by clicking here.

Well, according to Lohan, she has the same single-name recognition as Oprah or Madonna, and that means she essentially owns all rights to the name Lindsay.

“They used the name Lindsay,” Lohan’s attorney told the New York Post. “They’re using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn’t they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody’s talking about it and saying it’s Lindsay Lohan.”

The best part is, Lohan is seeking $100 million in damages. Yes, $100 million because E-Trade used the name Lindsay in a commercial.

The suit was filed on Tuesday in the Nassau County Supreme Court.

And, if by some miracle Lohan’s judge is on crack and awards her damages, this could be bad news for shows like “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” and movies like “Wet Hot American Summer” — all of which feature characters named Lindsay.

Interestingly, Tara Reid has twice played a character named Lindsay. So she’s super sued.

Left, Clemson University political science professor and quotable gun for hire Dave Woodard sporting a “Trey Gowdy for Congress” lapel sticker, right Woodard and Gowdy at a campaign event in Spartanburg, March 9, 2010

QUOTABLE GUN FOR HIRE SPOTTED AT GOWDY EVENT

South Carolina’s quotable gun for hire is at it again.

Clemson University political science professor Dave Woodard, who uses his academic title to give “scholarly, objective” quotes to local media outlets for anyone willing to throw him a little cash, was spotted at a campaign event on Tuesday for Upstate Solicitor and Congressional candidate Trey Gowdy.

The below pictures show Woodard having a good ole time in Spartanburg with Gowdy and even sporting a “Gowdy for Congress” lapel sticker.

That’s not too shocking given that sources told The Palmetto Scoop in November that Woodard has tasked his students with making phone calls for public opinion surveys and writing campaign plans for clients including Gowdy, who paid Woodard $2,900 in July.

But it is a little confusing that media — like his go-to Seneca Daily Journal-Messenger — would continue to quote Woodard as a “Clemson University political science professor” rather than an “adviser to.”

Like just last month when Woodard bashed Congressman Bob Inglis who, “coincidentally,” happens to be Gowdy’s opponent.

“His support for ‘global warming’ initiatives have made him a target,” Woodard told Jessica Sibley of the Daily Journal-Messenger. No mention whatsoever of Woodard’s ties to Gowdy.

I guess that is “analysis” you can quite literally take to the bank.

Miss High School America Carina Romero accepts her crown in Branson, Mo., March 6, 2010

CARINA ROMERO BEATS OUT 49 CHALLENGERS TO BRING CROWN TO SC

A West Columbia teen has proven that not all beauty pageant contestants from South Carolina will become infamous for very public meltdowns.

In fact, some can even grab headlines for winning.

Such was the case on Saturday when Carina Romero, Miss South Carolina High School, was crowned the 2010 Miss High School America at the Dick Clark American Bandstand Theatre in Branson, Mo.

Romero is a sophomore at Hammond. You can view her victory over the other 49 girls above.

Main Street in downtown Greenville

‘GOOGLE ON MAIN’ TO CREATE GIANT HUMAN CHAIN IN EFFORT TO LURE HIGH-SPEED ISP

When search engine giant Google announced last month that that they were becoming an Internet Service Provider and looking for a place to try it out on “at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people,” folks in Greenville thought it would be a perfect fit for their city.

So they launched an Internet campaign to make Greenville the official home of Google Fiber ISP. Dubbed “Google on Main,” the campaign will culminate with a giant human Google chain later this month.

Here’s an explanation of the event from the official Facebook page:

In less than 3 weeks on March 20th, you can take part in history by helping to create the world’s first and longest human Google chain! This huge, nighttime community-created event called “Google on Main” will be held in downtown Greenville on Main Street and will require quite a few glowsticks. (Rumor is that a helicopter will also be involved to help film the final event.)

We’re not just doing this for fun, we’re also doing it to help Greenville win its bid for Google Fiber (Google’s experimental ultra-high speed broadband network that is 100x faster than current broadband and would be available in EVERY Greenville home). Google may only select one city in the US, and it needs to be Greenville, SC.

So why do folks in Greenville want Google ISP? Well, according to Google, it will be capable of delivering speeds more than 100 times faster than most U.S. Internet connections with up to one gigabit per second. And it will do so at a “competitive” price.

Not bad. Almost makes me want to drive to Greenville on March 20 to take part. Almost.

In lieu of that, the Google on Main folks are asking you to send a short mobile video to wearefeelinglucky@gmail.com explaining why you think Greenville should get Google ISP. The videos will be posted on their YouTube channel.

Director Quentin Tarantino at the 41st Annual NAACP Image awards at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Feb. 26, 2010 (Getty Images)

MAN SEEKS $1 MILLION IN WHITE-JEWISH CONSPIRACY

I know it’s blasphemy in the film industry to say this, but I’m just going to come out with it… Quentin Tarantino is not my favorite director. Not even close.

I honestly don’t have a favorite director. But if I did, it wouldn’t be Tarantino. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a lot of his work like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds, but I think he’s slightly overrated (see: Jackie Brown).

So, with all that said, I was still a little disappointed to hear Tarantino has been accused of plagiarism by a man who claims he ripped off his concept for “Kill Bill.”

From TMZ:

In a lawsuit filed today, Dannez Hunter claims in 1999 he submitted a treatment to Miramax about a fictional character named Ren. Short story — he says eventually Miramax, Harvey Weinstein and [Tarantino] ripped off his work, including the “concept/character name Ren.” He claims [Tarantino] pilfered Ren witnessing her mother’s sadistic murder, the knife through the mother’s abdomen, and on and on.

And there’s this. Hunter, who says he was from the inner city, applied for a job at Miramax but “was never given a return phone call, as numerous similar situated less qualified Jewish and White people were bestowed job after job after job.”

Hunter continues his Jews-run-Hollywood themed lawsuit by alleging he was denied royalties in the “Kill Bill” franchise compared to similarly situated Whites and Jews. Hunter wants more than a million bucks. Mazel Tov.

The natural question is, why did Hunter wait so long to file this lawsuit? After all, Kill Bill was released in 2003. I’m guessing the answer has something to do with White and Jews.

Either way, this Hunter guy better be careful or he might get a visit from a samurai sword wielding Uma Thurman.

“Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you’ve lost. They belong to me now.”

Oh, crap… Now I’m going to have to pay hunter royalties for using that quote from the movie.

Lawmakers received hard copies of the proposed $5 billion spending plan

HOUSE TO BEGIN DISCUSSION ON $5 BILLION SPENDING PLAN NEXT WEEK

After a full two months of the General Assembly’s 2010 session, South Carolina lawmakers are gearing up for months of debate over the state budget.

Up first: The State House of Representatives, who on Tuesday received hard copies of the thousand-plus page, $5 billion spending plan. The House will begin discussing the proposal and adding amendments next week.

If you have hours of free time and enjoying looking at an endless sea of numbers, then click here to view the entire budget online.

With a state revenue shortfall of $560 million, the legislature is having to consider some tough budget cuts.

Chief among the cuts is a plan to drastically decrease services to disabled South Carolinians.

The budget created by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dan Cooper (R-Anderson) includes millions of dollars slashed from the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN). The DDSN cuts include $35 million from the Department of Mental Health, $2.4 million from AIDS drug treatment and $10.7 million from Medicaid that will impact everyone from individuals with autism to folks with diabetes.

The one that pisses me off most, though, can be seen in this picture taken by State Rep. Nathan Ballentine (R-Lexington) — gutting $195,000 in wheelchair ramp funding.

Seriously… let’s put Dan Cooper in a wheelchair for a few days and have him try to roll around the majority of this state that doesn’t have ramps or curb cuts and see how much he likes it. It’s not only annoying, it’s dangerous.