The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 19, 1999, Page Page 6, Image 6
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The No. 15 USC women's tennis
team tied a school record
for its best start ever with a 8-1
victory Wednesday over TCU.
Page 6
Singleton:
'Come off
it, people'
=n "God sent
?me here to
piss the
world off. *
? Marshal]
Mathers
Before I
pull the
[_ trigger on
Shawn Singleton another diSingleton
3:16 atribe, I
have some
good news
and bad news for all you cretins out
there.
The bad news is that I've returned
from spring break with the attitude
of a snake after finding oufhow
much of a player I really was.
The good news is that Fm in a good
mood this week, so I will try to take it
as easy on you as I can.
Yes, sports fans, it's time to root for
the bad guy, for Sir Loin has returned
from Canada, impregnating all the Spice
Girls that Slim Shady didn't, for Eminem
works for peanuts and he's too
plain to fade the game of the 3-1-6.
Now that it's obvious my arrogance
knows no boundaries, this week's expmtinn
is ahnut t.hp t.wn wnrHs T hafp
more than any other combination since
they put the words "Gamecock" and
"football" together.
The two words are "political" and
"correctness." Standing alone, they are
harmless, but together, they pose a serious
threat to our ability to speak
the truth, especially in the world of
sports.
We can't say certain things around
people or grace our sporting franchises
with certain surnames because they
might be offensive to certain groups.
For example, Miami of Ohio changed
its nickname from the Redskins to the
Red Hawks because people complained
of the "racist" connotation of the former
name.
St. John's changed from the Redmen
to the Red Storm for the same reason.
I can only imagine the uproar
caused by the 1995 World Series when
the Atlanta Braves played the Cleveland
Indians.
Give me a break.
You won't see rapper Reggie Noble
change his stage name because some
Native American complains about it,
but whatever, man.
Nor will you see a certain nouveau
swing band change its name because
the mothers of America complain about
its incestuous overtones.
The worst of these name changes
came a few years ago when the Bullets
changed their name to the Wizards because
political correctness found the
name "Bullets" too violent.
Come off it, people. Basketball is
a game played by thugs, so the name
was perfect.
Besides, if Abe Polian had really
wanted to shed the criminal connotation
of his team's name, he should've
dropped the "Washington" from the title.
A name change won't change the
way the team plays.
The "Bullets" are still a bunch of
overpaid, underachieving thugs who
haven't won a title since 1979, when
they had Hall-of-Famers Elvin Hayes
and Wes Unseld.
If you really want to do something
good, Abe, how about going out and
signing some talent, not trying to be
politically correct?
This type of political correctness
makes me sick to my stomach, but there
is one other type that makes me want
to vomit even more.
In Columbia, I call these people
"McGee's Minions," for they see Game
-1 1? At?? 1 L __1 1 ?1
cock spuria uiruugn gciinei-cuiuieu glasses.
Please don't speak the truth about
USC sports in front of these people;
they will bite your head off faster than
Ozzy Osbourne.
Many people, some of whom are fellow
writers and radio personalities in
this city and on this campus, suffer from
this garnet-and-black form of blindness.
Nothing exemplifies this more than
a certain Web site called www.cockfans.com.
No, folks, it's not a porn site.
It's a Web site supposedly dedicated to
"true" Gamecock fans. One of the guidelines
for posting anything on the site
is that you cannot say anything derogatory
about our wonderful Gamecocks,
even if what you say is true.
SINGLETON page?
CLUB LACROSSE
The USC women's club
lacrosse team will host its
first home game of the season
at 2 p.m. Saturday
against Emory at the Blatt
P.E. Center fields.
Roberts
HPS 4. wM
' W:
| * Ik,.
? y<f^f
Gamecock first baseman Brian F
Wednesday against Elon spurred tli
Lady Game
by Michael Strickland
Assistant Sports Editor
Fifteen of the country's top women'
golf teams join the Lady Gamecock
this weekend in Blythewood for th
17th annual Lady Gamecock Classic
which begins today at The Universit
Club.
Fresh off a first-place team finis]
at the Casa de Campo Invitational las
weekend, the Lady Gamecock squai
looks to win this three-round, 54-hol
tournament for the first time since 198?
Leading the charge for USC is Lott
Moeller, an individual medalist las
weekend in the Dominican Republic
Averaging 76.12 strokes per rounc
the senior from Roedeko, Denmark, i
14th in the SEC in scoring.
Junior Emma Lofgren h'as beei
equally brilliant on the links and is 16tl
in the SEC in scoring, at 76.76 strokes
Lofgren placed fifth in the Domini
i can Republic, her best finish of the sea
son. Apryl Arrants (78.0), Cecilli
Ekelundh (78.2) and Stefanie Reynold
(78.35) have also played prominent role
in USC's recent success.
Red-hot as a team, the Lady Game
cocks have finished no lower than fourt]
in their past three tournaments.
Upstart S"\
by Jim O'Connell
Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ. ? South
west Missouri State enters the East Re
gional semifinals with some impressiv
numbers.
The 12th-seeded Bears allowed thei
two opponents in the NCAA tourna
ment an average of 41 points, and th
wins over fifth-seeded Wisconsin an<
fourth-seeded Tennessee were by a com
bined 41 points.
Duke enters the game with sorrn
1 impressive numbers of its own.
The top-ranked Blue Devils woi
their first- and second-round games b
an average of 41 points. Over the pas
11 games, their average margin c
victory has been 31 points, they stan
at 26.3 for the season. Duke has los
just one game this season and has woi
a school-record 29 straight. The Blu
4
2>P
The
leads US
I
m Mil jji'iiftiiLiMiii
-ill ^ M
L^yrS J|
toberts (right) warms up on deck,
le Gamecocks' 7-5 come-from-behind
cock Classic
The squad closed the fall sched
with a fourth-place finish at the Li
Paladin Invitational, and opened spr
S play with an impressive third-ph
mark at the Lady Gator Invitational
Gainesville, Fla.
y USC has struggled over the ye;
at the Lady Gamecock Classic, how
h er. To win this time, it will have to km
t off some of the country's best amah
i female golfers.
e Headlining this year's tournami
> is defending champion Jenny Chuas
e porn of Duke.
t Chuasiriporn, a senior, w
thrust into the national spotlight 1
^ summer with her miracle run to a pi
s off against Se Ri Pak in the U
Women's Open and is averaging a 7
1 score this year.
. Duke was also the team champ
r last year, capturing the Lady Gar
L_ cock Classic for the third time.
a Joining Chuasiriporn on the B
s Devils' squad is freshman Beth Bar
s whose 72.4 scoring average has helj
Duke win five tournaments this s
!- son.
h Other teams from the ACC in t
year's field include Wake Forest, Fl<
da State and North Carolina.
W Missouri
Devils lead the nation in scoring at 9
points per game, and their 51.7 she
ing percentage is second-best.
When the teams meet tonight
Continental Airlines Arena before six
g
seeded Temple and lOth-seeded P
due play in the other semifinal, the
ly numbers that matter will be on
e scoreboard.
^ "They are dominant," Southw
h Missouri State coach Steve Alford s
of Duke.
e Duke (34-1) hasn't had anybody e
stay close since St. John's lost 92-8?
n overtime Jan. 24. Since Feb. 11, o
y N.C. State has been closer than
it points, and that was a 15-point lc
if "This is a tough task for us in tl
d one, they are a very good basket!
;t team, and two, everybody has alrer
a said we're going to win," Duke coi
e Mike Krzyzewski said.
>amecock A
orts
Gamecock
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Sean Rayford Photo Editor
Roberts' base hit in the eighth inning
win.
-?. . 1
: starts Friday
ule Those teams are no strangers to the
idy Lady Gamecocks, as the Lady Deacons
ing and Lady Seminoles each finished 12
ice strokes behind USC last weekend, while
I in the Lady Tarheels were 29 shots off" the
pace.
ars From the SEC, a powerful Tenev
nessee squad comes in with two of the
ack conference's top 10 scorers.
iur The Lady Vols' Young-A Yang and
Jessica Lindbergh both have aversnt
ages less than 75. Tennessee placed seciri
ond to USC last weekend, falling short
by just three strokes,
a s Joining the Lady Vols from the SEC
ast are Alabama, Florida, LSU, Vanderbilt
ay- and Mississippi State. Furman, Ne
.b. braska, Uregon btate, Umo btate and
3.4 Texas A&M round out this year's field.
LSU's Tina Howard, 'Bama's Sarah
ion Johnston and Mississippi State's Pia
tie- Josefsson are each in the top 11 in SEC
scoring.
lue Play begins at 8 a.m. each tournater,
ment day.
led The University Club, USC's home
ea- course that opened four years ago, is
20 minutes from campus,
his The par-72 course will host the
iri- NCAA Women's East Regional this
spring.
State stands
3.6 Southwest Missouri State (22-10) M
>ot- has been overlooked quite a bit. One of Li
three teams from the Missouri Valley
at Conference to make the field of 64, the
^ Bears don't have the name, the stars yg
ur~ or thp histnrv tn rnmnpfp with Dukp 11
on" The Bears held both Wisconsin and M
Tennessee to less than 30 percent shoot- m
ing. Duke's worst outing of the season
^ was a 41-percent performance
against North Carolina.
This is Southwest Missouri State's 'v
j -n sixth appearance in the NCAA tournjy
nament and its second trip past the first
2o round. k
ISS Duke won consecutive national j|
hat championships in 1991 and 1992 and
,all has made five other Final Four ap- El
idy pearances under Krzyzewski, whose 45
ich NCAA wins leave him behind only Dean C
Smith and John Wooden M
SCHEDULE FROM TV
Women's golf hosts the Lady "You have
Gamecock Classic beginning supreme <
at 8 a.m. March 19 to 21. you'll lose
losing bee
Track and field hosts the
Weems-Baskins Relay beginning
at 3 p m. .March 19 and
20.
Friday, I
ack against
y Michael Strickland As for his o
ssistant Sports Editor gle in the eigh
With aggressive base running and at ^j8, ^a!f
little St. Patrick's Day luck of the Irish cPuld handle"
the plate late in the game, USC eked ijust wan1
it a 7-5 come-from-behind victory sa^ednesday
nightover visiting Elon. "Anytime}
Trailing the Fightin' Christians 5- help the team
entering the bottom of the eighth, the tentative and i
amecocks (16-5) staged a furious three- Along with
in rally. running incluc
With one out, Clint Collins start- two bases, an(
[ with a walk, and pinch-hitter Trey wh0 stoie 0ne.
yson followed by delivering a single -phe Gamec
torightfleld. bases on Elon
After Elon (5-16-1) removed rehev- T , , ? ,
Eric Cantrell (2-2) in favor of Brian , , miak,
USC shortstop Brian Roberts Jj eca^be 0 (
ngled in Marcus McBeth, who had e ei" *>auerme
on to run for Collins, to tie the Bauer, wh
ore at five. went four inn:
Roberts, who would go 3-for-4 at the 11111 on two
ate with three runs scored on the "I thought 1:
ght, then scored along with Dyson on Tanner said of
ate Janowicz's flare into short right formance. "He'
ild. be, but he's mi
Janowicz fouled off several two- Elonjumpe
rike pitches, eventually working off USC relie>
e count full in a stellar at-bat. home runs fr<
"I knew he was going to throw me Swenson and i
curve ball, so I just wanted to stay BrencUe
ick and not chase anything in the ? ?
. j . i . r a , However, E
rt, said the junior from Atas- T ,
dero, Calif. more'as C
"He happened to leave a curve ball ^)er ^ J38011 I
), and I hit it." ' from the USC
USC put tremendous pressure on Pomar pick
on the whole game with its base run- the year with j
/~r ninlVi-inninrr n
ng. ml""6 e
The Gamecocks stole five bases, led "We had a c
1 1998 national stolen-base champ in the eighth,
cherts. because, wow,!
With his two thefts Wednesday, the 0ut," Tanner si
nior from Chapel Hill, N.C., has 32 "\ye were i
r the year. back and win 1
Through the team's first 21 games, jjea(js
ith 35 remaining, Roberts is already w , , f
ore than halfway to his mark of 63 ,. . . c
Mississippi bt;
season ago. ? ,
Roberts was quick to cast the spot- P doiikii
jht to Janowicz, however. opener tonigh
"Things have worked out well," ranked Gamec
iberts said. Box Score
"I give most of the credit to N ate for B- Inn'n?
:ing so patient hitting behind me, and
i's still hitting .420, or whatever ELON 00
>'s at now." CAROLINA 0(
Women's tenni
record for besi
Tennis Roundup match again*
Special to The Gamecock ZOrbacks.
Women's Tennis
Men's Tenn
On a beautiful, warm Columbia
afternoon, the No. 15 South Carolina The No. 11
women's tennis squad Wednesday tied lost 4-3 to i
its best start ever with an 8-1 victo- Wednesday at
ry over No. 51 Texas Christian at Max- dium.
cy Gregg Tennis Center. In singles
South Carolina moves to 10-0, ty- vic defeated <
ing the school mark set by the 1994 Jerome Jourc
team for the best start ever. 7.5 0ver Job
Katarina Markovski, Celine Reg- Akesson beal
nier, Jennifer Radman, Leigh Eichel- g_g g.g
berger, Lynn-Yin Tan and No. 84 Qn ^ i0,
Tamara Sutton each won to secure cocks were (
the match before the start of dou- ?
, Bergman anc
,P ?\, r v ?r In doubles
In doubles, Carolina suflered its
first loss on the year when Radman P?m W1 w
and Valentine Vernaz fell 8-6 to Jes- Akesson-J0
sika Kjellgren and Leoni Weirich of Pavicevic.
jQu The only
The teams of Markovski-Regnier k)r ^SC was 1
and Eichelberger-Tan won for Car- feated Dradj
olina. TheGam<
The Lady Gamecocks (3-0 SEC) day to face S:
can break the record Sunday when They will ret
they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for a bia Sunday t<
in Blue Devil,'
oach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils
lissouri State tonight at The Meadowlands in East
IE SIDELINES
i to play with
confidence or else
; again, and then
comes a habit."
Joe Paterno
March 19, 1999
Elon
wn game-tying RBI sinth,
Roberts said he was
'Oking for any pitch he
ted to be aggressive," he
you're in a situation to
like that, you can't be
fall behind."
Roberts, the stellar base
led Janowicz, who stole
1 outfielder Adam Poe,
ocks also took two extra
wild pitches.
L after five innings, partd
the pitching of starter
o has struggled of late,
ings, allowing just one
while striking out three,
le threw well," coach Ray
"The Large Item's" pers
not where he wants to
iking some strides."
id ahead 4-2 in the sixth
^er Jarred Hunt, with
)m first baseman Jim
designated hitter Scott
Ion would score just once
rronkiewicz, Scott Bar3omar
slammed the door
bullpen.
:ed up his second save of
a one-hit, two-strikeout
erformance.
ouple of clutch hits there
, and we needed them
Elon Dlaved their hearts
aid.
very fortunate to come
ate."
to Starkville, Miss., this
three-game series with
ate.
ight will start the series
t at 7:30 for the 25thocks.
R H E
1 003 010 5 8 1
)2 010 130 7 9 1
is ties
t start
st the No. 17 Lady Rais
. USC men's tennis team
SEC rival Kentucky
Sam Daniel Tennis Staaction,
Vladimir PaviceCarlos
Drada, 6-2, 6-4.
ion won his match, 6-0,
lan Hesoun, and Olof
t Gustav Pousette, 6-3,
sing side for the Gamejuillaume
Legat, Jeff
I Juan Gamboa.
i play, Kentucky took the
uns over the teams of
urdon and Bergmanwinning
doubles team
Gamboa-Legat, who dei-Johan
Grunditz, 9-8.
icocks go on the road toEC
rival No. 5 Georgia.
urn to action in Columa
face No. 20 LSU.
>' way
Sean Rayford Photo Editor
play the upstart SW
Rutherford, N.J.