The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 12, 1976, Page Page 5, Image 5
%
USCbi
Carolina fans, long able to fa
basketball for comfort when ot
let them down, are now faced w
realization: something has ha
Gamecock basketball. A proi
was once among the nation's b
languishing among the mediocr
also-rans.
This apparent demise haj
slowly one could hardly notice ii
compare the program to a chilc
filled balloon, flying high and
firet hut slnu/lv sinking as t
gradually seeps out. That an;
not be a good one, but what h;
this. Carolina, once a team
NCAA playoff bids seemed as
not make a post-season tournan
kind this year. And, with a 6-!
date, USC's chances of winninf
seem slim at best. Most unus
To fullv aoDreciate the
requires a look at what has hap
year since Carolina was seem
Tangc
By Billy Cox
The first Tangerine Bowl foot
game was held in 1947. Just be;
the event was scheduled to be
someone noticed that the hosts
forgotten to bring the game 1
Twenty-eight years have elaj
since the Tangerine Sport
Association's (TSA) first
cracked, but somehow, early p
setting tradition seems to alv
muddle things up. With a 1
iuck, mougn, Tangerine n
[are yo
typica
I T
| JL JLJL.1^11 JL
! THE FR
IFUTUR]
ILOOK A
Pi Kap
| If you're
I 1^11 771J
^ c* it & ? jl ? :
| mail this?
i|| Campus I
I 85110 USC
wmtmmmmmmmmmmmmammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmammmmm
_ 1 _
isKeioa
By Sports Edit
11 Kontr An ik ^ ^.C fl%/% n/\11/\rfS n
aa uaviv vii u1c tup til uic v^uucgia
her sports Carolina basketball \
ith a stark 1969-70, when th
ippened to Gamecocks won all
gram that Atlantic Coast Confe
est is now only to lose in the fina
es and the when Roche was inju
was the best a Carolii
jpened so The next year saw
t. One can Tom Owens era. as
1's helium- 23-6 and made it to th
bright at Carolina's averag
he helium tendance was 12,5
alogy may Coliseum listed seati
appened is The next two
to whom productive ones, wit
sured may to the NCAA region
lent of any now a curious
5 record to developing: fewer
I 20 games attending home ga
ual. longer a member of 1
situation weren't as interests
penedeach play Niagara, Creij
tingly near ture and Canisius
trine Be
? Zo
people may someday be ab
ball exploit it's vast potential,
fore Until only recently,
gin, powerhouses such as Ju
I 1 C..1
IlciU V/Uiicgc, mui 110 nai vcjr, oui,
>all. and St. Vincent prowled with
>sed fragile confines of the sta
s walls. In the past three j
egg however, the TSA has aim
ace- grabbing bigger names
/ays Georgia, Florida, and Caroli
ittle hopes of drawing larger ci
>owl into Orlando.
|(J lliifiU I
L FRAT1
AKE A LO
* mi?X?lVT?rr,1
,/i i ?ii\mi
E TAKE
lT THE PH
A
pet ^Lipua
interested I
5)606 or
joupon to |ca:
*ox JCA
Sport
11: wha
tor George Morris
te basketball realm. Carolina, <
vas at its pinnacle in tendance v
le John-Roche-led Two yeai
their regular-season of a declin
rence (ACC) games, evident. C
ils of the ACC playoffs had a big c
red. The 25-3 reecord to depend
la team has ever had. Winters to
the end of the Roche- winning 22
the Gamecocks went center Tor
e Eastern Regionals. future seei
e home game at- But the d
23. The Carolina yet fully u:
ng capacity is 12,401. lack of Win
seasons were also was the U
h Carolina making it newcomer:
lals both times. But Jackie Gil
phenomenon was that Bosv
Carolina fans were dissention.
mes. USC was no Five in '75
the ACC, and fans just Perhaps
id in seeing Carolina came on F
ghton, St. Bonaven- in Coliseui
> instead of North Canisius.
JPWi
oks to expi
ile to And perhaps the biggest nai
all-little-known but defei
elite three-time champ Miami of
anita has never gotten the even br
Ross, deserves from the pollsters,
in the irony s that the Redskins, a
idium the nation's best teams, s
- ?- ? ?? nii/i/i/\on
rears, uicy ic|icai uicu auv-tcas
ed at year, may not be invited
-like because they draw less tha
na--in couraging number of follower
rowds The crowds did pour intc
infested central Florida--m<
OF THE
SRNITY?
OK AT
V WITH A
A
KES
f raternn
.ME
MPIJS BOX
MPUS PHONE NC
8
t's wr
21emson, Duke, etc. T
;ac cfill nrattv crnnH thn
r UU U V* A A |/? VVVJ gUUUy MIV
rs ago, however, the firs
e in basketball power b
oach Frank McGuire no
:enter, and the Gamecocl
on scrapping play and
win. The team surprised
! games, and with 6-9 tr
n Bos well waiting to pl?
med bright again in 1974
ecline continued for reas<
nderstood. Perhaps it v>
iters' backcourt leadershi
eam's failure to adjust
s Boswell and freshman
loon. Some have even
veil was a cause of
Whatever the reasons
" was profound dissapoir
the crowning insult to th
'eb. 26 when the smallest
n history came to see US
Instead, they stayed h<
ansion j
me of them Carolina fa
iding in attendance,
Ohio- obvious the TSA
eak it with a gorilla on
The Tangerine Bowl
mong be blamed for tr
hould That was merely
next Mother Natui
back shivering spe<
n en- Winnebagoes loi
s buzzer squeaker
* lake- what the fans
?st of they were part
?$$$$? which included
:|i seats. The upf
!' section of end
| blocked off. In <
Tangerine
|i edition of seats
finished and uns
30,000 lawsuits
!;<; should the
the ground, the
;;; off the area.
patroling the e
:j: required to sig
the TSA from li
of a collapse.
I
[yj|
"If 1 D/
< 4 as
I 121
ong?
he at- watch Clemson pla;
ugh. television. When Carol
t hints to watch Clemson play,
ecame wrong.
longer So that brings us to t
ks had no longer has Bosw
Brian dissention he may ha\
1 most, also miss his points i
ansfer stead, Carolina has ha<
ly, the frontcourt and an incoi
-75. McGuire has been fore
jns not man defense-somethii
ras the longed for-but lacks th
p, or it successful. A three-gu
to the been implemented, bt
guard already small frontcou
hinted And if the first three hi
team indication, the Colisei
, "Top drop again this year
itment. games with Notre Dan
e team What is at the cru:
crowd McGuire says players <
JC play
ome to Please See
for bright
ithful--but to those What 01
it was painfully many fans j
was still operating ground levc
AV. fkn it 1 1 I
iu? uai.iv. wn, uic uieu iietKb s
people shouldn't the tiny, m
le rotten weather. zone scorefc
an uncanny act of fortunate f<
re that drove press who c
:tators to their heights of th
ig before the final there were
3. weren't too 5
> realized was that it doesn't r
of a sellout crowd cold wind 1
over 30,000 empty purple, 'T
>er decks and one rained.
zone seats were There w<
j rebuilding stage., blunders kn
Bowl's newest joint press
? was deemed un- coaches--ai
;afe, and to prevent before Caro
from flooding in posed to arr
j structure crash to red carpet
TSA wisely roped leaving the
In fact, the police Or nearly t
mpty stands were governorJan
n releases freeing the stadium
ability in the event a ticket nor
Please
BBBMnHHRMttMHHHMnflMHMSMfa
O m. m m ^tO*.
\YS and NK3?
Ay after 2 p.m.
I College St.
y Maryland on
ina fans stay home
something must be
iiis year. Carolina
ell and whatever
e caused, but they
?nd rebounds. Incl
to rely on a small
isistent backcourt.
ed to use a man-tolg
many fans have
e players to make it
ard offense has also
it it puts Carolina's
iff in uiArco oViono
I* v AAA V? V/l QV OliU^V.
ume games are any
im attendance will
(despite upcoming
ne and Marquette).
k of the problem?
are the essence and.
MORRIS, Page Six
future
le had, in effect, were
E>erched amid wooden
;1 bleachers, craning
:o look behind them at
idget league-like end
>oard. For the unjw
members of the
limbed to the dizzying
e press box to find that
iiu t>K?u> ten, incy
surprised. "As long as
ain,"said one, as the
was turning his face
11 be all right." It
ire other traditional
a. Like scheduling a
conference for both
n hour-and -a-half
linafs plane was supive.
Or rolling out the
for the Miami players
plane-red side down.
>arring South Carolina
les B. Edwards from
because he had neither
the proper credentials.
See BOWL. Page Six
5"
-ITS I
BUKIitK I
KING I
- ' .-"J v,.. < ..... ^ \