I first became a Steve Spurrier fan when he built his dynasty at the University of Florida. I moved to St. Cloud in 1989 and always marveled at his offensive genius and the chip he carried on his shoulder, which invited such nicknames as "Steve Superior" from his arch-rival coach, Bobby Bowden at Florida State University.

Spurrier gives it back as well as he gets it. He used to say FSU stands for “free shoes university,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to some of the Seminoles sins committed over the years. He also handed it out to arch-rival Tennessee, saying you can't spell Citrus Bowl without “U” and “T.”

Love him or hate him, everyone has an opinion about "the ole ball coach," as he calls himself. And, love him or hate him, the vast majority of people are pulling for him to do something special with this year's South Carolina Gamecock football team, which recently embarrassed his Alma Mater in The Swamp.

When Spurrier took the head ball coach job at South Carolina, my favorite school, you can imagine how excited I was to learn that Gamecock mediocrity would soon be coming to an end. All the stories about this being "graveyard for coaches" would finally go away. But, as ESPN commentator Lee Corso would say, not so fast. It took him five years to finally beat his old Gator team in the Swamp, a nickname he himself awarded to the Florida field. It is arguably the greatest home field advantage in college football.

Now that the Spurr-dog has won the SEC East, the fanatic Gamecock faithful will take over Atlanta for the upcoming SEC Championship game. It will be an appropriate ending to an inappropriate season. The distraction of the Cam Newton affair notwithstanding, the game will have national interests for a multitude of reasons- some good, some bad.

In Deuteronomy it suggests "Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin." There's no question that Cam Newton's father, reportedly a minister by profession, has not been following his own biblical advice. In the end, the father's sins might be visited upon the son. It could cost him a Heisman Trophy and a National Championship if the FBI and NCAA conclude the kid was involved.

Newton's father reluctantly admitted to trying to extort money for his son's services. Did the son know? Does it even matter? Are the father's sins now the son's? Only time will tell, but this sorry sideshow is taking away from what should be the glory and honor of a great season from Auburn and a nice feel-good story about Spurrier.

There is no question that Newton is an extraordinary athlete. South Carolina came as close as anyone to stopping him when the teams played earlier this year at Auburn but the Gamecocks lost by a 35-27 margin. Spurrier's team actually had a double digit halftime lead but the Newton-led Tigers bounced back to win it in the fourth quarter.

Of all the teams that Auburn and Newton have faced this year, the Gamecocks may matchup as well as any. USC also beat previously top ranked Alabama this year, so the bright lights don't scare the Spurr-dog. Pedestrian losses to the likes of Kentucky and Arkansas leave Spurrier hurling his visor and screaming at his quarterback. Gee, where have we seen that before?

So there a plenty of storylines to go around for this game. The shame of it all is that Rev. Newton's actions on behalf of his son, knowingly or not, have soiled the kid's reputation, which was already suspect at best because of charges of theft and cheating at the University of Florida, where he was originally enrolled.

Now that Carolina has thoroughly cleaned Florida's clock in the Gator's own backyard by a resounding 36-14 score, maybe the spell has been lifted from the snake-bit program. By the time the game had ended, the Florida faithful became unfaithful and began departing the stadium early in the third quarter. So much for the greatest home field advantage in America.

My advice to my Florida friends is a simple and well practiced phrase we've used for years in Gamecock country. "Wait till next year!"