Garcia Dismissed From His Duties With Gamecocks

Garcia's colligate career will be remembered
for the all the wrong reasons.

It took five different suspensions and numerous off the field issues, but the South Carolina Gamecocks finally decided to dismiss quarterback Stephen Garcia Tuesday, putting an end to quite an era.


Reportedly failing a drug and alcohol test, was the last straw for the fifth-year senior and now will no longer take another snap for the No. 15 ranked Gamecocks.

After suffering his fifth suspension last spring, Garcia agreed to frequently undergo those tests, but has failed to meet the guidelines the team put into place for him, which they believed was the best opportunity for he and the program to succeed.

Garcia was recently benched in favor of sophomore signal caller Connor Shaw, who is coming off a spectacular game in the team's 54-2 thrashing of the Kentucky Wildcats. Shaw threw for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions.

Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks, who are currently leading the SEC East with a 5-1 record, will need their young sophomore to continue to shine with some quality opponents still on their schedule.

South Carolina's next game is at Mississippi State with a trip to the No. 10 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks two weeks after. They will then be visited by the newly unranked, but speedy Florida Gators and will host No. 8 Clemson the final week of the season.

As for Garcia, his legacy at South Carolina unfortunately will always be a kid with a big arm, who was given every opportunity to succeed by the "old ball coach", but could never quite shake his off the field demons.

Garcia's on the field career for the Gamecocks was much different.

His best season came in 2010, when he threw for 3,059 yards, 20 TD, 14 INT and completed 64.2 percent of his passes.

In 34 career games at South Carolina, Garcia threw for 7,597 yards, 47 TD and 41 INT, but his inability to perform under pressure will overshadow his success under Spurrier.

In maybe the biggest game of his career, the 6-foot-2 quarterback saw him team get obliterated in last years SEC Championship game against the eventual National Champion Auburn Tigers, 56-17. In the game, Garcia was outplayed in every facet of game by the Tigers former QB, Cam Newton.

Newton accumulated 408 yards of total offense alone and accounted for 6 TD, 4 passing and 2 rushing, without surrendering a turnover. On the other hand, Garcia only totaled 188 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT.

Following the loss, the Gamecocks would still punch a ticket to a the Chick-fil-A Bowl, setting up a matchup with the underdog Florida State Seminoles. Despite sustaining an injury to their former starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, the Seminoles were able to hold off the turnover-prone Gamecocks, 26-17 and stunned Garcia.

In the game, Garcia with three interceptions and no touchdowns, proving once again he would never be a big time QB.

It is interesting though after Garcia was longer No. 1 on the depth chart to have him cut now, in his senior season, after so many chances. You have to wonder if he was still their starting quarterback, would this move have been made?

South Carolina, whose only lose of the season came Oct. 1 against Auburn, 16-13, will now look to the future and hope Shaw can lead them to where they are capable of going.

Manny Being Manny

Ramirez had one hit in 17 at-bats
with the Rays in '11.

Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Manny Ramirez is calling it a career. Ramirez, who signed a one-year deal with the Rays this offseason, was batting .059 in five games with the team in 2011.

This does not come as a surprise with his recent struggles at the plate, but what does come as a shock is the reason why Ramirez is retiring.

According to Major League Baseball, there is a problem with Ramirez and the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Ramirez has chosen rather than completing and continuing the process under the Program to retire from baseball.

Ramirez, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was suspended 50 games by baseball in 2009 after testing positive for a female fertility drug. Even though the drug was not considered a steroid, it was commonly used by steroids users to restore their testosterone levels back to normal.

It is unclear what Ramirez has done to violate the Major League Drug Policy, but in any event Ramirez has opted for retirement.

A former first-round pick of the Cleveland Indians back in 1991, Ramirez quickly gained the reputation of one of the game's most feared hitters. In 19 seasons, Ramirez was a 12-time All-Star with a career batting average of .312. Prior to the start of the 2001 season, Ramirez left Cleveland, signing a eight-year $160 million deal to join the Boston Red Sox.

In 2002, Ramirez won the American League batting title with an average at .349. In 2004, Ramirez led the Red Sox to first World Series title in 86 years, being named the series' Most Valuable Player. His 555 career home runs ranks him 14th on the all-time list and finishes with 1831 career runs batted in.

Ramirez will always be remembered for his playful, yet sometimes idiotic antics. Which have commonly been know as 'Manny being Manny'. With Ramirez calling it a career we can finally look back on a wonderful, yet controversial career.

The 38-year-old outfielder is forever linked to performance-enhancing drugs, his numbers always tainted and now will begin the debate, will Manny ever be inducted in Cooperstown? We'll let you decide.