Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Politics stalii LARRY W1JJAMS Asst. Sports Editor ir About an hour and a half down In- Interstate 26, a small miracle has been ** happening for the city by the water known as Charleston. Most of you know of the s.u. stingrays nocKey team. necK, most ~ of you have even been to a few games to see what all the hoopla is about. e1 Most of you didn't go home disappointed. A program still in its infancy, " the S.C. Stingrays have been a breath ? of fresh air to the tri-county area and its ^ surrounding communities. S1 "This is going to be the best thing since sliced bread," the pioneers who v were seeking to make the dream real & must have said. "Imagine: bringing a 01 virtual unknown sport to Charleston. A sport that blends excitement, crowd interaction, fighting and, most of all, in- ? terest." ? These people gambled. Now, a few t( years later, these same people are reaping the rewards. Fans flock to the North e Charleston Coliseum religiously, fol- a lnwiner +V10 'Rava lilro fhpvVf> haon Hia. ?. W T. 1.16 ?? -?"J ~ J ? 1 hards forever. D That brings us to the bustling met tropolis known as Cement City - Co- 0 lumbia. The capital city is the home of s the Fighting Gamecocks, sweltering sum- v mers, the Legislature, a lake and, yes, a Hootie. ^ If you haven't figured it out yet, then 0 try to picture Columbia's attitude on things after seeing the virtual overnight r success in Charleston. Do you think we 0 a) applaud Charleston's effort, praising ^ the accomplishments of its program, proudly accepting the Stingrays as a r great representative of South Carolina; ? or b) applaud Charleston's effort, but remain jealous that we don't have our ? own hockey club to eryoy. * I think you will agree with the obvious choice, b), as it's evident that the higher powers in Columbia want a slice ? of the pie. Well, they went out and got c it. What you are about to read is pure t iK "the bei prob< . . CO Visa U.S.A. Inc. 199S ing hockey's lvestigative reporting based on infor- t( lation from sources who didn't wish to e identified. is Plain and simply put, Columbia has 1 een awarded a minor league hockey d sam by the East Coast Hockey League. 3 s many would say, its a done deal; how- e ver, it boils deeper than that. n With everything that means any- u ling, from professional sports to tiddly ti inks, you have that dreaded word "pol- p ics." Politics can be good, but in the n ports world, it's anything but. In colsge and professional sports, politics in- h ades the sanctity and integrity of the 2 ame, totally disregarding the opinion C f the fan. b For example, ask yourself why Co- b unbia isn't looking forward to the Car- d lina Panthers rolling into Williams- ti irice Stadium this fall and bringing in ins of needed recognition for the city, li Hockey in Columbia could begin as v arlv as November. Problem is. tbere a re about a million question marks and v gos that need to be solved or adjusted v efore everything is concrete. a The central question is an obvious s ne. Where will the team play? Well, a c imple answer would be the Coliseum, c rhich the university controls. This means o deal would have to be worked out be- r ween the city and the university to acommodate the team. t Well, simply put, the athletics di- d ector here, Mike McGee, and the may- i r of Columbia, Bob Coble, don't exactf see eye to eye. Coble is still fumed over i ilcGee letting the Panthers slip up the g oad to Tigertown (Cowtown). Now, I here's no doubt that Coble and McGee j oth want hockey, but ifs difficult to ne- t jotiate something like this with the hard j eelings left from the Panthers fiasco. First of all, it would be conceivable i or the hockey team to play in the Coli- i leum during basketball season. It would 1 ?nly take four hours for a crew to change 1 he basketball floor to a hockey rink, and 1 ice versa. But, as expected, politics has < Wh.oev< st things ably bad 3 The Gamecock progress ii ) figure into the equation. 1) For hockey to be played in the Coljeum, the length of the floor must be 90 feet. In regular form, the arena oesn't allow this, which means that ,200 telescopic seats must be retractd to accommodate hockey. Now that light not seem like a lot, but if you fig re a,zuu times aoout $>zu a seat - muiiply that times the number of games layed, and you've got a heckuva lot of loney down the drain. 2) When Eddie Fogler came to USC, ie was supposedly promised a new 0,000-seat arena in the near future. )bviously, with coach Fogler hopefully eing the one who will take Carolina asketball to the prominence it enjoyed ecades ago, you don't want to stir up he hens nest at this point in time. Reportedly, the city has agreed to ease the Coliseum for 99 years. This /ould allow the university to construct . new arena. The journalism college, irhich lies underneath the Coliseum, trould remain in the university's control nd function as it is today. The city alo would like to use the Coliseum as a onvention center of some sorts. Basially, we have a situation that depends n the university being cooperative or tot. Don't think for a minute that this tockey team of the future is being shodlily put together like some other things n Columbia. Mnro fVion million dollars has been nvested into this project by Ralph En[elstead, who is in the casino business, ie and his wife fund 15 scholarships a rear for the University of North Dakoa hockey team, a team that Engelstead )layed for in his college days. The arena at North Dakota is named ifter Engelstead, who has been negotiiting with Coble for quite some time. Sngelstead is interested in converting ;he old CCI prison off Huger Street in;o a hotel and casino. Obviously, this loesn't look to be a sure thing because zr Said in life ar a trust It's every\vVi? -you. "waXtt to Friday, March 3,191 1 Columbia of gaming laws across the state. The president of the hockey club has already been named. John Gaspirini, nicknamed Gino, is probably not a name most of you are familiar with; however, Gaspirini is probably the most reputable man in intercollegiate hockey circles. Often nicknamed the Joe ratemo 01 NCAA hockey, Gaspirini has racked up seven NCAA championships and has 87 former players in the NHL If this man doesn't know how to run a hockey program, then no one does. One source said this about Gaspirini: "He's a class act. Him running this organization as president is one of the best situations in the country." So it boils down to this: The future hockev team in Columbia is obviouslv blessed with some people who know what they're doing in Engelstead and Gaspirini. The problem is, people in the State House and at the university have to get THEIR egocentric problems worked out before any of this is a reality. The main problem lies here. As with so many of the sports today bickering and bargaining about contracts, endorsements and power, the key ingredient is being left out. When was the last time you heard the word "fans" mentioned in these "negotiations" throughout the sports world? If there are no rear ends in the seats, these people are out of a job. ALL of these people are out of a job. Do you think for a minute they care if we're satisfied with management or a spoiled brat player getting paid millions of OUR dollars? Heck no. Just remember You heard it first here, and if you feel mistreated or overlooked, also remember that it all begins with one word - politics. e free" Fund. . X<Z be/ i IS Rich carries Gamec Senior Carey Rich will play hla as the Gamecocks take on Ti points a game this season. BUM Now accepting 1995 A mm Applications are availab 301 South Assembly St. 256-4110 during nc 15aii EM * ? Mental illness In Withdrawal from social These could be the first we Unfortunately, most of us Which is tragic. Because n In fact, 2 out of 3 people w For a free booklet abou National Mental Health As 1-800-1 B Learn to see 1 National Mental Health Association Scoring f in the p t 5 ocks - PP:- j/t . ^?k < mj^^m m JL&f * ttB f ft ft : ft rf*^* KIM TRUETT The Gamecock last hoir.o gams for USS Saturday tnnassoa. Rich is averaging 13.2 applications for II Sport ? R GIRLS le at Capital City Stadium, For more information call >rmal business hours. Ilco ck SKf^l /i ?sx ?? /* V f tmmwmmmmwmm is warning signs, too. activities. Excessive anger, iming signs of a mental illness, don't recognize the signs, nental illness can be treated, ho get help, get better, t mental illness, call the sociation: 369-NMHA. the warning signs. Pj_ toints it f ^ * dtoeeocitpols aint iv