Gamecocks in league of their own

South Carolina tackle Na’shan Goddard said the possible switch in coaching from Lou Holtz to Steve Spurrier is “like going from J-Lo to Halle Berry.”

Reggie Hayes of the News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Ind., couldn’t resist:

“If Goddard knows what it’s like going from J-Lo to Halle Berry, South Carolina boosters have clearly raised the bar for recruiting violations.”

The downside of D.C.

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun points out that Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s “attempt to purchase a major stake in the Six Flags amusement chain just focused attention on his inability to purchase one flag in the NFL.

“I’d call the Snyder era a roller-coaster ride,” Schmuck added, “except that roller coasters go up once in a while.”

The us generation

Worrying about what the Bowl Championship Series has in store for California, Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “The BCS is just another monument to the big-school athletic directors of America, whose motto is, ‘Actually, now that you ask, yes, it is all about us.’ “

Hard to swallow

When Jack Rogers, chairman of the Alamo Bowl, invited Ohio State, he called the team “exciting.” Even Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel found that a stretch.

“There was a point in the season where we were just trying to get a first down,” Tressel said.

That must have been the point where Chuck Culpepper of Newsday wrote that watching Ohio State was “like watching well-coached molasses.”

Artest protest

More fallout from the Ron Artest suspension.

Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press: “Detroit has really looked good, hasn’t it? It has shown the world that its basketball fans can hit their intended targets, but its quarterbacks can’t.”

Speak of the devils

Pete McEntegart of Sports Illustrated.com continues his pursuit of the horned Mannings.

“Last week (I) joked about the numerical oddity that each of the first touchdown passes by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning traveled 6 yards and noted that 6-6-6 is the number of the devil. Yet the spooky connection to the devious digit continues. Consider that on Thanksgiving, Peyton threw six touchdown passes, while on Sunday Eli completed six passes and Fox showed six shots of Archie in the stands. OK, we made that last one up, but something strange is going on here.”

The last word …

“Bad news for fans of the Chicago Bulls. Not one of their players was suspended for the year. They gotta keep playing.”

– Jay Leno