Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Letters Welcome Letters to the editor on topics are welcome but subject to editing and condensation to meet style and space require ments. All letters must be typed and must be signed with the full name, address and phone number of the author. Unsigned letters or those with pseudonyms will not be printed. The letters should be addressed to Letters To the Editor, The Gamecock, Drawer A, USC, Columbia, S.C., 29208. HE WAN from 11:4 Part Time Nights 1211 College BICY Quality European B Manufactured By: 4 Paris-Sport, Falcon-] In Col C AT E'S ( Box Cedar Terrace 6420 Sumtel P1 776 1:15 to 8pv.m. A Where's spirit? BY BILLY COX A LETTER TO THE EDITOR What a letdown! Not only do I break a heavy date with Soc rates and Plato to watch the Gamecocks struggle with another outclassed opponent in the Coliseum Tuesday night, but I also find a horrendous number of vacant seats, which is bound to cause our athletic department officials to grimace. Say gang, whatever happened to those wild, wonder ful, del rious, stomping, sweat ing, swearing USC fans of two years ago? Where are those crowds that stood in line for hours, praying for a ticket? USC basketball is simply not what it used to be, and everyone in Columbia knows it. I can say for a fact that the fans in Raleigh and Chapel Hill are ten times as enthusiastic as those here in the Coliseum and, despite regional television, there are no empty seats to be found. To put it bluntly, the thrill of high national ranking began to die as we pulled out of the ACC. I mean, who can get psyched up by watching the likes of DePaul, Stetson, and LP TED )0 -2:00 BURGER KING PEED CLES icycles From $95.00 ltane, Bottecchia, VlIaino, Cinelli, Colnago umbia See: ~OTT AGE 9342 Shopping Center Hwy. (29209) tone: -1209 v on. through Sat. that Fairfield? Granted, all colleges have their share of weak sisters scheduled, but all ACC schools have at least six good home games a year. Now, after years of bickering and investigating, the NCAA has finally overturned the con troversial 1.6 rule, the 800 rule, and limited the number of athle tic scholarships available, a standard all colleges must now follow. Isn't that what USC orig inally left the ACC for, to escape the similar rulings of the Con ference? So why don't we re-enter the ACC? Seems the only thing left to hold us back is foolish pride, and we don't have a whole lot to be proud of in the field of sports these days. Even though it is unlikely that we could com pete with the talented ACC at present, wouldn't it be a wel come change to jam capacity audiences into the Coliseum, cheering the 'Cocks against the top 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams in the nation? Frank McGuire is too good a coach to waste his talents against Brand-X teams, with spectators coming just to see whether or not USC can finally hit 100. C. Le ANP 2 for SUITS SPORTC suedes SWEATEl tieneci ALL SHII tions PANTS - NECKWI Closest downtov lobby of the Hot GAMECOCK Although The Gamecock is a publication of the students of the University of South Carolina, it is not an official publication of the university. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily rep resent those of the university, the student body or all staff members of The Gamecock. Editor ....................... Jerelyn Eddings Editorial Page Editor ......,.. Linda C. Owens News Editor ................... Patrick Tyler Copy Desk Chief ................. Bill Grant Sports Editor ................... Steve Parker Asst. Sports Editor .............. Jim Hersh Advertising Manager .............. Art Frank Copy Editors ..............Val McDonald, Mary Myers, Sybil Norwood m Harper's IUAL CLEARANCE SALE 1 plus one dollar plaids, solids, stripes OATS - tartans, RS - crewneck, tur , sleeviess, valours ITS - to reduc - %A to 1/ reductions EAR - 3 for *14 ~n store to USC campus. Located in the lower el Wade Hampton. "UDENT ACCOUNTS WELCOME: