The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 29, 1981, Image 8
Wednesday, July 29,
GA
Gett
Sidel
TRACY HELMS
Sport* Editor
Steve Gettel knew the
feeling. The pain would
ascend from his right ankle
into a piercing throb
whenever the offensive
guard thrusted from the line
of scrimage. It was the same
nnin that haH nlamipH him
r ? v
throughout most of last
season. He knew the feeling,
and when it reappeared last
week during tryouts with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Gettel knew his aspirations
of playing professional
football would have to be put
on hold.
Gettel, who ended an
*: 1 rn<vtkn1l
CXCC|J11UI1(1I lUUlL/dii Lai cci
at USC last season, informed
Tampa Bay July 20 that he
was withdrawing from
training camp due to the
ankle ache. He also told the
Bucs that he would give it a
much healthier trial next
year.
"Well, I figured that I
u/rtnlH crivp thpm no look at
all rather than a bad look,"
Gettel said Monday. "I
didn't feel that I could
perform up to my potential
right now.
"I WENT OUT there (to
By MAH1
Ei
Like Charles Dickens' "Ta
womens' softbal and volieyba
in charge of the best of sports
She has achieved national p
with a three-year total of 88 >
last season within the 16 tear
Deen a razor-snarp conirasi o
having no more than 11 victor
Last spring, when the resj
ministrative positions and til
and secretly awarded, she th
be rewarded with on of those j
But Ron Dickerson from
o mr? tHo Accictnnt Athli
**VVM???V 4 KUUIUMAIIV ? KMI11
sports in May, phasing out P
womens' athletics. "We real]
was going to be an adminisl
said, adding, "they brought t
f much about him."
That appointment made,
thinking about her career an<
to wait for an administratis
she visited the University oi
was told she could work t
volleyball and Softball tea:
ministration and get her mas
1981 __________
,ME(
el's P
ined I
training drills) but I felt
restricted by my ankle. I
knew it was time to go."
"My ankle was hurting me
on my initial explosion from
the line," the Ormond
Beach, Fla. native explained.
"I wasn't getting
"I figured that 1 w
look at all rather 1
didn't feel that I cc
my potential right n<
that 'pop' that I felt I
needed."
Gettel first injured his
ankle during spring drills in
1978. "The fracture stayed in
place until it was hurt again
in the Michigan game last
season," he recalled. "From
that point on, the season was
pretty painful.
"1 had surgery last
January where the ankle
was wired, but that didn't
1_ ? * n _ ax _ 1 J <init
worn, urenei saiu. men
the Tampa people operated
and removed the wire. My
ankle will be 100 percent, it
will just take about another
month."
Gettel, who signed a pact
VIWI III
K PLATTE
ditor
Je of Two Cities," former head
til coach Judy Martino has been
and the worst of sports,
irominence in womens' softball,
>vins against 31 losses, finishing
ns in the nation. Volleyball has
if 42-49 with the last two seasons
ies in 30 or more attemDts.
jected lady and coach saw ad~
ties bandied about, taken away
ought her service to USC might
jobs.
the University of Pittsburgh
etic Director of Non-Revenue
am Parson's role as director of
ly didn't know at the time there
Lrative position open, Martino
his fellow in but I don't know too
the coach did some serious
1 especially the future if she was
e opening. During the summer,
f North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
is an assistant coach to their
ms plus enroll in athletic adter's
degree.
doc:
'ro Hoj
By Mi
with the Buccaneers in May,
is optimistic about better
results from future NFL
tryouts.
4,I DEFINITELY want to
go back and give pro ball
another shot, with Tampa
ould give them no
than a bad look. I
>uld perform up to
ow."
-Steve Gettel
Bay or another team," he
saia. i m preuy mucn
obligated to Tampa, and I do
have a concrete opportunity
there.
"I'm certain that I will be
in the best shape that I've
ever been in when I go back,
so I'm pretty confident about
my chances of making the
team."
But until that return,
Tampa Bay's loss is
Carolina's gain. Gettel will
serv? as a graduate
assistant with the Gamecock
football squad this season,
primarily aiding the of
no Qui
Her decision to leave USC ca
Friday, she will clean out her
papers and leave the roundhou
"When 1 realized after the
there wouldn't be a possibility <
started thinking about leavini
here. Although some of the ph
"I really liked it
here... although
some of the
phil oso ph ies I
didn't agree with."
- Martinc
and some things don't s<
everywhere I guess."
l-Iof rolatinricViin niifVi Pom
lll/l A vlO VlvllOllI^/ TTIMI JL mil
at time^ although both womei
superiority over other womc
were also both competing
although they had no input int
program.
"There were a lot of things i
K
pes
n He
fensive line.
A three-year starter at
USC, Gettel drew some
comparisons between
college and professional
football.
"I ENJOYED WHAT I
saw of it (pro ball)," he said.
"For the players, it's just
like any other job. The
coaches don't get on you too
much because they really
don't have to. The players
know that if you don't give a
lot nf pffnrt thprp ic cnmr?
other player who will, and
nobody wants to get beat out
of a job.
"There are differences in
knowing the game better and
knowing exactly what to do,
but college and pro football
are relatively the same,"
Gettel continued. "There
definitely is not as much
comradery in the pros,
though."
The 6-1, 255-pounder said
he will continue weight
training and running to build
up his ankle.
And with a rejuvenated
ankle, Gettel's next attempt
at the NFL should get off on
the right foot.
ii9, rc
ime shortly thereafter and this
desk, pack up her plaques and
se for the last time.
y hired Ron Dickerson, that
of an administrative position, I
g," she said. "I really like it
lilosophies 1 didn't agree with
1
Wr
w ?
eem fair but that happens
Parsons was somewhat heated
1 were trying to achieve athletic
ins teams in the U.S. But they
for power in the department
o who would direct the worn ens'
ive didn't hear about; they were
F?IES? *
.
* * 4
?a^ix, 'sj^ *- j -?g :-.-.:-:->:fi-^>^g^M^^^vv??'. i
' ' % )
; " f
. '>**iv'**fm$#$^<**?P.-*-'?-' - -.v.v. ' ''. .v.-. -.y
f
1
Steve Gettel will serve as a graduate assistant for
USC this season.
i
?
administrative decisions,"Martino said. "We weren't part of
them and we weren't even aware of them. It was just a lot of
gossip."
"There were times when we (Parsons and Martino) went ^
head on head and we got little support, very few of the
womens teams got any support," Martino said. "There were
a tremendous amount of administrative problems within the
womens department."
Martino says, that because of the problems involved with
the womens' athletic department, it will be harder for
i -
iemaies 10 move up into the management aspect of athletics.
"It (the hiring of Dickerson) was probably their way of
straightening things out."
If there was any bitterness, it is subsided by *he fact that >
the women's program has been given everything 'hey asked v
for during Martino's three years. "I've never been hurting
for what I've needed in a sport financially," she says. By
August 10, the new coach for volleyball and softball will be
chosen with a some amount of Martino's advice and
supervision. "After working three years of building and
building and building, I would not want to see it destroyed,"
Martino indicated. "I would want someone of very high
cancer ior my players because they deserve it. I hope, they
don't hire someone they don't know at the last minute."
Some of the resumes received are people who Martino
knows from here years of working and playing softball and
volleyball. "I know already that there are some resumes t y ,
here that look great on paper but I know the people and they
wouldn't be division one material," she said. "I do have three
or four people that would do an excellent job."
S?c Replacement, Page 7