Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Birds Is This Any T1 Visitors To O By BLANDING CLARKSON, JR Half-time shows have become an accepted and appreciated part of Carolina's home basketball games. The students, fans and coaches are all in favor of these displays of en tertainment,. A group of local citizens serves as an Entertainment committee to got these attractions. Are their ef forts to go for naught ? The fine Eau Claire High School band was invited to perform be tween the halves of the Virginia Ugame last Friday. When the mem bers arrived at the Field House, however, the doors were closed in their faces. Assistant Athletic Director Frank Johnson met the band members and told them they would not be al lowed inside, despite their invitation. Upon hearing this, half of the Sham rock musicians left for home in dis gust. The remainder stayed outside in the lowering temperature of the December night. Finally, a member of the USC basketball staff was in formed of the situation and helped the remnant of the band gain en trance. Once they got inside, the state of affairs was not improved very much, CIG's VENDORS, INC. 2412 Two Notch Road COLUMBIA, S. C. "Pick Your Pack" Come in and see our latest Fall and ALLIGATOR All C $38 COPEI 1409 N LUCKY STRIk presents: 15CR ''Be tter work on his a he's got a head/ike "Wowi M + A four- M letter man." CHANGE TC Go V Vay To Treat ir Campus? ,since the aforementioned Mr. John son informed them there was no area reserved for them. le stated that they would have to "sit where. ever they could find room." With aid from some of the Block C Club members present, they were able to find seats together in a corner of the Field House. Marching at halftime was out of the ques. tion, however, since half of their members were missing. They did manage to play good renditions of the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Dixie," as well as adding frequent spirited bursts dur ing the game, contributing much to the Gamecocks' support in their triumph over the Cavaliers. Carolina is working hard on many fronts to create a good public image. We got some "real good" publicity from this incident. Is this the way we treat visitors to the University ? Athletically, Coaches Bass and Stevens are bringing us to the fore front in both teams and spirit. Why don't certain other members of the athletic department take the hint and shape up too! NOTICE Positions are now open for persons wishing to write on the sports staff of the "Gamecock" second semester. If you are in terested, please contact either Carroll Gray or Blanding Clark son, or leave a note in the "Gamecock" o f f i c e showing where you may be contacted. selections of Ivy Styles for Winter TOPCOATS olors .75 AND'S ain St. .E . TUF fomach a rock." WHEN DOES A LUCKY T4 question because, as you and smoke more of then Lucky that tastes a little Luckies are the ones you is a free Lucky. Ask for a LUCKIES and Palutd Qf 'd St9 Vest, 1 DePaul Is First Foe Saturday The fast-breaking Birds of Coach Bob Stevens go West to seek their fortune when they take on strong quintets from DePaul, Michigan State and Michigan on a sweep through the Mid-West be fore Christmas. The Gamecocks meet a DePaul team, described by Coach Stevens as "blazing fast," at Chicago to morrow night. Six-five forward M. C. Thompson, a 15-point scorer last season leads the Blue Demon fast break and they depend on 6-9 center Bill Debes to get the rebounds. A sort of homecoming is the highlight of the Birds' next two games on the trip, for Coach Stev ens played at both Michigan and Michigan State. He was also an assistant coach at State for five years before coming to USC. Michigan State lost only one starter last year and the four regulars coming back all averaged over ten points per game. They also possess an excellent group of sophomores to fortify their bench. The top threats in the line up will probably be 6-4 Dick Hall (16.2 ppg) and g u a r d Art Schwarm (15.1), the only senior in the lineup. Two identical styles of play will be on exhibition at this game, since Stevens learned his basket ball at State. Both squads will use constant or perpetual motion of fenses and tight man-to-man de fense, with execution of plays and effort deciding the outcome. Michigan had only a 6-18 record last year and lost their top scor ing threat, but in the difficult Big Ten, records are no indication of strength. Three sophs will join lettermen in the lineup, with 6-7 junior Tom Cole expected to up his 12.1 scoring pace of last year. "Those beach toughs better. not kick sand g in my face % next summer!" "Now that's what I ca/I a iSTE BETTER THAN A LUCKY1 well know, college students ar i than any other regular. Still, bit better than any other kini get for Christmas. The only thu carton this Christmas. get some taste f 'hen I Up, ip and away go Jim Pc players in Friday nighti game. P got his opportunity on one of tli ArrENTION! This box is to call your atten tion to a story in the upper left hand corner of this page. It tells of a situation which the sports staff of the "Gamecock" feels is, or should be of vital interest to everyone on the USC campus. USE ! CHRISTMAS NTA SEALS TER SPORTS" power play" 'There's a dangerous e crazy about Luckies there is one kind of i. These extra-special ig better than a Lucky or a change! <$is u eel ma South dell and Bob Rebhan of the Hird, a odel faked him defender-4, 6-9 Richard e beautiful give-and-go play,-. they poulle, Speedy G Break Fo The "gi-go" Gamecocks of Coach Bob Stevens have been living up to their nickname in fine style in their early season games, using excellent speed and Stevens' "quick-break" sys tem to run up three wine in a row. The ability to outrun the op position on offense has played a very big role In the Birds' suc cess to date. It is rather dis heartening for their opponents to come carefully down the Costen Signs To Play Ball For Redskins The big question at the begin ning of the 1961 football season concerning whether Jim Costen had the spark necessary to lead the Gamecocks has been answered several times. Costen ranked high in total of fense and p)ass offense in the ACC, votedl ACC "Back of the Week" after the Mlaryland game, scored the winning touchdown against Clemson, and just lately has signed a contract with the Wash ington Redskins of the National Football League. P'laying mostly on defense, Cos ten sttd that he will have to learn a man-to-man defense which the pros use. Ie said he would rather play offense, but is not too choosy as long as he can make the team. [David Slattery, Washington publicity director, said Costen would be tried as a defensive back due to his alertness and ability to React and travel quickly. C'osten was rather surprised when he heard the Washington team planneJ to use him on defense. Coac.h Marvin Bass took all p)recautions by not taking a chance getting him hurt playing defense. Hesides playing dlefense there are other factors which may (uest ion Jim. In college a 180 pound backfield man is fairly nor mal, b)ut there are a few of this size in the pros. l'laying dlefense will be an asset to this problem although not an answer-a 180 pound man tackling ai 215-230. pound fullback is quite a task. In college this would be a rare ex perience, but with the pros it would be like eating three meals a (lay (it's just an everyday job). Outside of the defensive andl weight problem there arises the big jump from college to the pro fessional. Literally, the word pro fessional means a person who pos sesses qualities unmatched by amateurs. Of course, to be a pro fessional one must go through periods of training and prepara tion, but still there is a wide space between college and professional ball. Costen will be playing with a team, of which his college coaches, Coach Marvin Bass, lack Scar bath, and Joe Tereshinski, were For( Irive pasm ou-nianeuvered Virginia Viatstra. off his feet, while Rebhan dI on the visitors. gmecocks r Scores court, set up a shot, see it miss and the BIirds start their seem ingly perpetual flight down the floor. So far Carolina has enjoyed great success in this depart ment. In the game with Lenoir hliyne, a rather wild affair, the first half saw both teams swoop ing down the court to get the ".snow bird" bucket. The Bears kept the pace for several min utes into the last period, but the BIirds kept up the pressure with their highballing attack and soon the depth-less home team was left in arrears. Against Tennessee, the USC advantage in quickness and pure speed soon showed itself on the scoreboard. Whenever the taller visitors made an error, the Birds would stream down the court to put in two points before the slower Volunteers could regroup their forces. In the Virginia game, the Gamtnecocks weren't able to use the break with such devastating effectiveness as they faced a team that was closer to their size and therefore more equal to them in speed. Still they were able to turn frequent stolen balls into qurick two-point plays with ease. D)epth has helped the Birds to maintain sharpness in their Forward Ronnie Collins constant running game this year. In previous seasons, they tended to "burn themselves out" with their early pace, but in the current campaign they can run all-out for the entire period they play, since they know there is someone capable to come off the bench to relieve them. Increased defensive alertness has also played a large part in keeping the ball rolling, so to speak. Intercepted passes and stolen balls have set up many Carolina points this season (see picture-Ronnie Collins goes in for an easy layup after stealing the ball from Viri-a.) ]1Aassic Carolina Defending '60 Crown BY BLANDING CLARKSON Assistant Sports Editor Defending Gulf South Classic champion's, Carolina's Gamecocks invade Shreveport, La. on Decem ber 27 to try to make it two Tournament crowns in a row in the three-day holiday affair. Last year the Birds defeated Mississippi in the fina.ls, s5-79 to complete a surprising three-game sweep on their way to the title. Offensive f i r e w o r k s propelled them to wins over Louisiana Tech and Centenary on their way to the title contest. This year the lineup of teams entered in the Classic is as fol lows: Memphis State, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi Southern, Mur ray State, Centenary, Northeast ern Louisiana, and Hamline. USC Stars The scoring antics of USC stal warts Art Whisnant and Scotti Ward were the highlight of the Christmas affair in 1960. Both were spectacular, averaging al most thirty points apiece in the three outings and making the All Tournament team without any trouble. Ward, in particular, sparkled for the Birds with his outside shooting, playmaking, and court leadership. lie was named the Gulf South Classic's most valuable player, giving Carolina a clean sweep of the honors available at Shreveport. The 1961-62 edition of Game 1oc(ks has served notice that it has to he considered when tourna ment predictions are being made this year. They won their first three games against Lenoir-Rhyne, Tennessee, and Virginia in high scoring affairs despite a lack of real size. Improved Play The level of competition will probably he even higher than last year, when most of the games were high-scoring, heart-stopping affairs. Several of the teams that participated last year are said to he improved and to the eight team group were added several strong newcomers. Carolina may be ranked behind Memphis State in the seedings for the Tournament. These teams will probably be the two top quintets enteredl, but they may fall prey to the startling upsets that tourna ments of this sort seem to abound The Tigers of Memphis State have only one starter returning from a tough team that ran up a :20-3 recordi last season, but with him as a nucleus, they are ex pected to be almost as formidable this year. High Scoring Team The returnee, 6-6 Frank Sny der, will p)robably move to center to make room for a tremendous group of sophomores, three of whom may start. The Tennesseans possess fine shooting, good speed, and racked up 84.9 ppg last sea son, so a high scoring contest may result if they play3 USC. Another outfit that can boast of a sterling record from last year is little known Mississippi South ern. They posted a 23-3 slate in the last campaign and can field a front line measuring 6-8, 6-6, and 6-4 that may cause tourna ment trouble. The rest of the squads in the Tournament are not noted as be ing exceptionally strong this year. The three teams mentioned above stand excellent chances of advanc ing into the semi-finals. Run vs. Run It should provide an interesting comparison of scoring styles if Carolina and Memphis State are put in opposite brackets and sur vive the eliminations to the title game. It may provide some new records for the Gulf-South record books, since the Score of such a match would probably approach the century mark.