Stephen Garcia Suspension: Fan Outrage Reaction Roundup

We know little more of Stephen Garcia’s indefinite suspension from South Carolina football on Thursday morning than we did when the news broke Wednesday night, but some South Carolina fans have already heard enough. We can understand this, really, since while Garcia’s neverending parade of misdeeds is a source of continued delight to us, they actually need him to play football. Over at Garnet & Black Attack, one Gamecocks blogger thinks the reports of Garcia’s drinking (denied by the quarterback himself, it should be noted) might actually be a weird relief if true:

I’m more inclined to say that Garcia should be dismissed if alcohol wasn’t involved. Alcoholism is a disease, and while his behavior is in some regards fairly typical of college male behavior, his tendency to continue to damage his reputation with his partying is certainly alarming. I wouldn’t want to throw Garcia under the bus if what he really needs is, at the very least, the chance to show that he’s interested in treatment.

Currently, 76% of respondents in a poll on the blog think Garcia should be dismissed from the football team.

Another of our G&B bloggers thinks Garcia’s lost sight of what it means to don the garnet and black:

18-22 year old men that are expected to become agressive headhunters on Saturdays typically aren’t going to be angels. They may run into some trouble in their four or five years as a college student-athlete, but to be suspended five times in a five year span is ridiculous. It’s even more ridiculous that it’s happened to a player who plays a position that requires the greatest responsibility and demands leadership.

We wind up our morning outrage roundup with a sublimely ironic palate cleanser from South Carolina beat writer Travis Haney:

The senior, suspended for the first week of spring practice for an incident during bowl week, was asked to leave the leadership and life-skills function.

Oh, Stephen. Never, ever change. Not that there’s much chance of that.