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More pain for Hambrick, joy for Dogs

By Mike Berardino
Columnist


   Darren Hambrick couldn't help himself. He knew his South Carolina teammates would be looking to him for support, for guidance, for inspiration. He knew how important it was for him to stay upbeat and positive, to be what his coach calls "an encourager."
   But the disappointment of Saturday afternoon's 31-15 loss was too great to hide.
   And so as Georgia turned a close game into a laugher before halftime, Hambrick's body language betrayed him. No sooner had Olandis Gary crossed the goal line with Georgia's third touchdown than the senior linebacker's shoulders slumped atop those two long aluminum crutches.
   Dressed in a peach dress shirt and black slacks, he let his head droop forward as far as his neck would allow. He stared at the ground for an eternity. His fractured left fibula, wrapped in a new garnet cast, dangled just above the turf, tucked behind his healthy right leg.
   Pardon the expression, but at that very moment Hambrick appeared almost Christ-like. Only his Calvary was an enemy Southeastern Conference stadium, a place where the Gamecocks have now won just twice in their last nine trips.
   And he'll have to wait another 5-7 weeks for a personal resurrection.
   "It was frustrating, man," Hambrick said afterward. "I can't believe the guys played that bad. It comes down to pride. That's all. To get beat like that on national TV ..."
   His voice trailed off.
   The pain was still fresh.
   Hambrick tried to contribute. He stopped Mike Maddox and gave him a tip. He pumped his fist at Jody Caldwell, his replacement. He hobbled over to the USC bench for the first few defensive meetings. He tried to share his knowledge, his fire.
   But as Hambrick soon learned, a guy on crutches can only do so much. As much as he would have loved to take a swing at one of those frolicking Georgia receivers, tripping the enemy as he went skittering past, that just wouldn't fly.
   Instead, Hambrick was forced to watch as a fragile defense suffered flashbacks from 1995. These Gamecocks are getting ripped for 31 points and 388 yards per game.
   Powerless. That's how he felt.
   "I was playing the game in my mind," the Florida transfer said. "I'm sitting there calling plays. I knew the formations, I knew what they were going to do out of each set, but it didn't matter.
   "I was trying to tell the guys what was going on but they couldn't hear me because of the crowd noise. I'd tell them when they'd come to the sideline but it would be too late."
   Meanwhile, Georgia was holding a feel-good fest across the way. For one of the few times in his 13-game tenure, Jim Donnan actually seemed to be enjoying himself.
   When the Bulldogs scored with sinful ease on their first possession, Donnan yanked off his headset and handed it to the cable boy. Then he spun around, faced the home stands and started waving his arms in oversized loops.
   No, he wasn't trying to get his rounded frame airborne. He was requesting more noise, more spirit, more reaction from the fans.
   OK, he was also fishing for a compliment, but on this day that was permissible. With Georgia unveiling its new point-a-minute offense - for one half, at least - throaty shouts of approval kept raining down.
   A little later, Donnan pulled the same stunt and got the same response. (Give that man a megaphone.)
   Gary, one of two Marshall transfers who had a big day, said he'd seen Donnan that animated just once before. A few years back, as the Thundering Herd was waxing Tennessee-Chattanooga, Donnan leaped into a sideline huddle and - you might want to sit down here - STARTED BARKING LIKE A DOG!
   "He was pretty hyped," Gary recalled. "We got crazy."
   No barking from the coach this time. At least not publicly. But who could blame him if he did?
   Mike Berardino is sports columnist for The Augusta Chronicle.