Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Pep Talk By Jeff Shrewsbury Joe Morrison ei in a quiet, unas It was homecoming 1985, and USC had just pounded Duke 28-7. I was p waiting in the press area for Coach t< Joe Morrison's post-game interview d deep inside Williams-Brice Stadium. n It was the first time I had ever seen c Joe other than on television or from 200 yards away. p He was a bulky man compared to n most. He was tanned, quiet and h mysteriously shrouded in black with his collar turned up. He wore a black baseball cap pulled down over his J' brow. h As the players thundered into the g locker room, happy at the win and e< with smiles on their faces, Joe was w clapping his hands as he stood next to q the big garnet double doors that led to the lockerroom. He smiled at a h few of the players as they rushed by, b> and he patted a few on the behind. li After everyone had trotted rr through the doors, Joe followed them in for his post-game pep talk. rt There was a few moments of quiet, ai then a loud cheer. Then Coach Joe m emerged to face the press, as he did w every week, no matter the outcome ai of the game. th I caught a glimpse of him slipping gi his way through the throngs of peo- h< pie who moved aside in silent awe as th they realized it was him tapping them hi on the shoulder. As soon as he was through the door of the interview room, the press m grew quiet. They knew he was there. re He commanded their attention, even if they couldn't see him right away. cc He impressed me immediately in re the way he captured his audience on cc each carefully chosen word. Cj I felt like I was in the room with ha someone who had a certain presence sh that only celebrities have. If you have sh ever been in the presence of someone fa famous, or have even seen one, you co find yourself sensing them. You th know they are in the room. M Joe Morrison was like that, at least with the press. 1 can't say what he was like with hi: his friends and family because1'the th press did not make up his friends for th the most part. There were the few irr who got to know him ? as well as anyone can get to know someone bii who shelters his personality ? but G< for the most part, Morrison stayed an away from the press as much as possible. It seemed he had no love for we reporters, but then again, who likes in having Questions fired at him thi everywhere he goes? ye; For a long time, I felt Morrison was distrustful of the press. I figured tal it went back to his playing days in the aw NFL, but I think now that it was ' something else. yo ? v I S I ON C E Bring this ad to H. Rubin Visio Streetiocation for special vali students and faculty. But huri expire March 31, 1989. BUY A PAIR, jhf GET A PAIR FREE* r) Bring this coupon by H. Rubin's / 1338 Main Street location and when you buy a complete pair of glasses choose your second pair from the 1989 fashion collection free* $119 DAILY OR EXT BAUSCH & SOFT CONTACT What a price to write home about! This spe eye examination and follow up visits. Tinti are slightly higher. How can H. Rubin do $15 OFF ALL SUf Ray Ban, Porsche, Carrera H. Rubin's gol Street before March 31, 1989 for $ 15 c Eye Exams Are Performed 1 *Free second pair of glasses are first division, other special prescriptions (for contacts or gla charge. This ad must be presented at the tii offers are good only at the 1338 Main Street k 31, 1989 and are not good with any other pr irnecl respect suming I don't think he really disliked the ress. I think he knew it was their job i ask him questions and his job to ecide how to answer them. He was a laster at dodging, avoiding and ircumventing. But I don't think the press, per se, ut him off. 1 think Coach was just ot really an open person to people e didn't know. I think he was shy, in a way. After four years of covering Coach oe and occasionally running into im on more informal terms, with reetings exchanged and smiles trad1, 1 realize he was just a quiet jock ho didn't like to answer a bunch of uestions. I can't tell you if he was good to is players or if he was a good coach, ecause 1 didn't play for him, and ke everyone, I have an opinion that lay or may not be accurate. But I can tell you he commanded :spect ? from the press, the coaches id his team. It seemed like that was lost important to him. When I ould see him with players, coaches id the press, it seemed he wanted le respect he would probably have ven his head coaches. I don't think ; cared if everyone liked him, but I link he cared that people respected m. Most of the people I know, who ay or may not have liked him, spected him. And I can also say without fear of mtradiction that he was completely sponsible for making the entire >untry aware of what South ! arolina football was. USC may not < tve made it to national champion- i ip stature, and it may have had its ; are of bad publicity, but ask any n around the nation who the head i ach of South Carolina was and ey would say, "That guy in black, orrison." | The country respected him. Whether Morrison did wonders for s players or would have been one of 1 e great coaches of all time, hated e press or was just shy is all 1 elevant. What he gave to the city of Colum- * a, the state of South Carolina and amecock football is what counts, d that is immeasurable. Morrison raised the expectations : have for USC teams and football the state, and he led this area rough six entertaining, stimulating ars. It's ironic to me, however, that it ces a man's death for people to j aken to his life. So long, Joe. We're going to miss u. N I t K in Center's Main les for U.S.C. ry, these offers Ky ENDED WEAR LOMB ' LENSES* rial nffpr inrllidPS contact IfenS. 3d, astigmatic and bifocal lens MGLASSES I t-em all. Come to 1338 Main iff your new pair of sunglasses. iy Dr. Mark Taylor single vision lenses. Bifocals and I sses ) will incur a slight additional I Tie of purchase and these special I ication. These offers expire March I omotional offer. Gamecoc] By DAVID CARAVIELLO Staff writer The USC men's basketball squad used extensive bench play, stifling defense and a lot of emotion Monday night to demolish the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi 105-63 in a game which USC head coach George Felton dedicated to the late Joe Morrison. A moment of silence was observed before the game, and the Gamecocks wore black patches on their uniforms in honor of Morrison, who died Sunday night of a heart attack. "I've been around a lot of schools," said Felton after the game, "but I've never been around a person that truly cared like Coach Joe Morrison." "There was a lot of emotion about Coach Morrison," senior point guard Brent Price said. "Before the game, Coach Felton told us about Coach Morrison and what a competitor he was. He told us to go out there and play like a bunch of Joe Morrisons." The Gamecocks did. All 12 players entered the scoring column in the victory, USC's highest-scoring game this year. The win also signaled the end of a three-game losing skid in which the Gamecocks fell to Florida State, Oral Roberts and Clemson in a two-week period. Felton believes the team has returned to its early season form, during which the Gamecocks scored two victories over Top 20 teams. "I think the kids are back to the way they were against Ohio State," he said. "I saw intensity, and I saw defense, which were the most important things we wanted to accomplish tonight. It was a game that showed people that we really can play, and I uiuugiu 11 was a great ream enori. The Gamecocks, now 13-6, 3-2 in (he Metro, exploded out of the huddle to an early 11-4 advantage and never looked back, outscoring the Golden Eagles 28-16 the remainder of the half. The Gamecocks held their largest lead of the half with 4:56 remaining on a dunk by John Hudson that put USC ahead 33-13. Southern Miss shot a woeful 36 per- j cent from the field in rhe first half, digging themselves into a 39-20 hole at halftime. In the second half, the rout con- ^ tinued as Joe Rhett, Barry Manning, ( Golden Eag rom staff reports The Lady Gamecock basketball team heir first Metro Conference setback Mot leartbreaking 91-89 loss to Southern Mis Jattiesburg, Miss. Trailing by 10 at halftime and by as mr a the second half, USC battled back t( srii Spanish Galleon " '? (rrr/iiiVulFb*<v*.$C. Welcome to O.D. Luau -A Lei For Everyone. Sunny 106.5 & Coors Nite Special Prices, Free Givea\ Dancing Under The Stars WKZQ & Bud Lite Nite -Special Free Giveaway Men's Legs Contest and Kec Contest -- with prizes for bo ks demolis and Brent Price hit successive c buckets to give USC a 21-point ad- t vantage only 50 seconds into the second stanza. Southern Miss was able r to cut the lead to 18 on a David Han- p nan three-pointer at the 18:28 mark, c yet Price answered with a triple-shot \ of his own immediately afterward to > boost the lead to 21. The Golden t Eagles would never get any closer. HI II L ^H^HiflP $gUmjk ^mi USC guard Barry Manning slams one ho 'ictory over Metro Conference opponent Coliseum. Manning finished with 18 point! les hit USC game with seven seconds lef suffered Middleton sank a jumper to iday in a Southern Mississippi's Ren sissipi in throws with one second remai tory for the Golden Ea my as 16 improved to 6-2 in the Metro a tie the Lady Gamecocks fell to 7-1. Iwasi lie m> i cs if- iff^/Avl^ ? " , -4l?~joqJS V) ' "" ?. '"" c*-" ' * C^HEADQUAR Ocean 2 Nays I S.C. 1-803-24{ * SPECIAL RA ) Toss OCEAN DRIVE BE) th ih Southe iespite a technical foul on Felton at he 12:56 mark. The remainder of the game was a nenagerie of blinding breakaways, >asses and dunks as USC easily :oasted to a 42- point win. The night vas fittingly climaxed with senior Bill /erneau's 3-point basket at the tuzzer to close the score at 105-63. Southern Mississippi's offense ] <i M * % ** ^K**' , | W W /j/r>* ; W Jtm^ TEDDY LEPP/The Gamecock <. i m a art M<knrl>ti1c 1 AC iC "5 /"^ ^ ~ I. I V III IHUHUaj 3 IUJ-UJ VlUIIICtUCK Southern Mississippi at Carolina ( > and led USC with eight rebounds. with first ]N t to play when Karen Schonna B< knot the score at 89. rebounds, whi ee McGee hit two free Parker had 1( ining to secure the vie- Gamecocks. ( gles. Southern Miss for Southern Conference, while the USC, now ] ponent Cincin :-FMa BRf % jlr < TERS ? -WAVE 104 3nve bands sue Producers Spring Bre E23BEEB * Weekends Deck Partie Volleyball T lTES * College) ^CH, S.C. ' Semi"Finals Break '89 rn Miss emerged battered and bruised after a terrible shooting display of only 39 percent for the game. The Eagles also committed 24 turnovers and were outrebounded bv the Gamecocks, 46-29. Southern Miss coach M. K. Turk was able to find at least one positive aspect of the game. "The best thing about that ballgame is that it's finally over," Turk said. "South Carolina played well from the opening tap, and they played a very determined basketball game. We didn't rise to the occasion. . . We succumbed to the pressure, we didn't rebound the ball well, and 1 don't know what happened to our offensive execution. It certainly wasn't there tonight." Felton believes that USC must play WQV It r\ lH onoinct CrxiitUnrr. 1.1 >. ??u; ii uiu tic^aillol juuuiii ii 1vii32) the remainder of the season. "We have to take what we've done tonight and do the same thing on the road," he said. "I'm going to expect only the best from this team, and I've told them that. We're ready to do what we set out to do, and we're going to do it with desire, dedication and a tremendous amount of pride." Price led all scorers with 22 points, while Manning contributed 18 points and eight rebounds. Hudson scored 13 points, and Troy McKoy and Joe Rhett added 10 and 11 points, respectively. Clarence Weatherspoon led Southern Miss with 18 points. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (63) Weatherspoon 5-12 8-9 18, Bates 1-4 0-0 2, Boyd 1-4 1-2 3, Pettus 0-3 0-0 0, Chancellor 2-9 1-3 5, Hinton*5-7 5-7 15. Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Crowell 3-4 0-0 6, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Brown 2-5 1-2 5, Hannan 1-1 0-O 3, Jones 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 23-59 16-23 53. use (105) Dozier 2-6 4-4 8, Rhett 5-7 1-2 11, Hudwin 6-9 1-2 13, Price 7-10 7-7 22, Manning 9-17 0-1 18, Roulston 0-4 1-2 1, English 1-4 1-2 7, McKoy 5-9 0-0 10, Glover 0-2 1-2 2, Breckenridge 2-2 2-3 6, Vernau 1-3 1-2 5, Sykes 1-10-0 2. Totals 41-74 21-27 105. Halftime ? USC 39, Southern Miss 20. l-point goals ? USC 2-4 (Price 1-2, Vertau 1-2), Southern Miss 1-10 (Hannan -1). Rebounds ? USC 46 (Manning 8), Southern Miss 29 (Hinton 9). Assists ? JSC 25 (Price 6), Southern Miss 10 Chancellor 3). Total fouls ? USC 22, iouthern Miss 21. Attendance ? 7,678. 4etro loss inner led USC with 35 poipts apd 12 ;in i r\: ij.j ? * iic L-isd uiai. ctuueu 10 poinis? lyiartna i and Beth Hunt had 13 for the Lady ?atrina McCants was the top scorer Miss, with 26 points. 15-5 overall, will next face Metro opnati at Carolina Coliseum Monday. ESOME rERNATIVE 90.5 m * J .? & Miller present in concert ; :h as the Romantics, the ;, IBM, etc. along with Miss ; ?ak '89. 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