The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 26, 1999, Page Page 6, Image 6
INTRAMURALS SPRING
The finals for the intramural The annual
basketball tournament will be game is set
held Sunday in the practice 17 at Williai
facility adjacent to the Carolina Tickets are <
Coliseum. The eight-league USC Athletic
championship games start at 2 and are $5 J
p.m. and end at 9 p.m. for children
Page 6
Final Fou
i
Connecticut fans salute the most
successful Husky team in history before
the team's departure.
by David Coen
University of Connecticut Campus Daily
Fans came from all over Connecticut Wednesday t
give the University of Conncecticit men's basketball tear
' a final tribute before Jim Calhoun's team departed fc
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Fans filled all of the lower and a small portion of th
upper level of Gampel Pavilion to salute the most sue
cessful team in school history.
"This is the biggest thing that's happened here," sai
Jim Mayo, a 1983 UConn grad who brought his 3-year
old son with him.
"Being a sports fan in Connecticut, this is all we'v
got. This is my sport, my country-club membership.
Mayo's excitement for the 32-2 Huskies was share
by the more than 1,000 fans, a mix of UConn student:
alumni, toddlers and regular old Constitution State res
idents.
"We're here because we love UConn basketball," sail
Coreen Margnelli, who came to Gampel from Ellingtor
Conn., with her husband and two kids.
"It's awesome, it's unbelievable. I might start to cr
again."
The actual ceremony, which oftly lasted about 20 min
utes, was highlighted by a concise speech from Calhour
"We're psyched, we're ready to go," he said to th
screaming fans.
"But we wanted the opportunity to say 'than!
you."
Before Calhoun gave his speech, each Husky playe
was introduced, one by one.
Khalid El-Amin came out of the locker pumping hi
arms and giving high-fives to every fan along the wa>
When Richard Hamilton was introduced, the chant;
of "One more year" could be heard over the screaminj
UConn fans.
Last to be introduced were senior captains Rick]
Moore and Rashamel Jones. The two also gavi
a short speech to the standing fans.
The ceremony was more a thank-you to those fan
than a tribute to the players.
FINAL FOUR page*
i /i mi
(jotter inoi
by Jared Kelowitz meda
Assistant Sports Editor _ Palm(
?'????????????? _
Sophomore Kyle Thompson has one thing on
his mind this season: to lead the men's golf team fiT
to an SEC title and, eventually, a national cham- ^1
pionship. ^
"I think we have the right team to [win SEC two-d
and NCAA championships] .We just need to keep ^01
shooting low scores," Thompson said.
As for individual goals, Thompson says he NCA^
wants to win every tournament, and goes out to finish
the first tee every day with that attitude. At fh'
"It may seem cocky, but that is what you have ^ve ^
to be thinking, and really it's what everyone wants enth 1
to do," he said. s001"6
Thompson lets his actions do his talking, and Sc
although he downplays his achievements, he has Pace 1
compiled some very impressive statistics in his Ti
short career. rnom
Last season as a freshman, Thompson showed total <
potential to be a great golfer, earning a First Team top 2(
All-SEC selection while participating in all 13 of the S<
USC's matches. E^
Thompson had a scoring average of 73.13, a to Th
stroke total of 2,852. be acc
Gamecock fans didn't have to wait long to see T1
Thompson's ability in his first season, as he in his
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FOOTBALL
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r. Connecticut's Richard Hamilton (left) and Ohio State's S
s in St. Petersburg, Fla. Ohio State will again play the role
y
"You guys are the ones that get us moti- "We're fe
y vated to come out here and play every day," to a group of
s Jones said. Pe^
Only Jones and Moore spoke, and as the \n?
s team left the court, they did somewhat of a cg^
victory lap, shaking hands and saying "thanks" pep
_ to the hundreds of adoring fans lined around The aud
^ the court. ious to get i
npson excels
led in his first-ever collegiate event, The He was named
stto Classic. ican and won the 11
ther great things followed, as he built upon He was the 19!
>round, season-low 67 to finish in a tie for the Year, qualified
In the Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate. ateur squad and v,
; the SEC Championships, he compiled a Champion,
ay total of 140, good enough to earn him a He won the st
third in the tournament. * onship in 1996 ar
e also made a strong showing at both the All-Regional
East Regional and NCAA Championships, jje ^ piaye(j
ing 85th and 60th, respectively. World Jr Team G
i end of the season, Thompson had posted md eamed meda,
\-r-v 1 II or\H oiv f^rv VI I finipnoo onn urn o ooxr_
jy- A-\J CU1U D1A IAjy-tJ\J 11111011*;O UllU W CIO O*, V - TTT . . 1 Q ; 1
in use history for lowest individual total y!r 511(1 ,
, Thompson, boi
in a tournament. .
. far this season, Thompson looks to be on *ts ^ parents, St
? exceed those numbers. being his biggest l
trough 20 rounds in the 1998-99 campaign, biggest fans.
pson wields a scoring average of 73.35, a * thank my pa
if 1,467 strokes, three top 10 finishes, five wa^ through and
) finishes, a low round of 69 and a win at tournaments no ma
iminole Classic. son said.
fen though collegiate golf is relatively new "Without them
ompson, success is something he should day."
lustomed to. Possibly Thom
lompson achieved many impressive feats in high school cam
high school career. Upstate Nike pro
I^ESt W : WW ' ;%. ::J
Sean Rayford Photo Editor
Hemson at the Sol Blatt P.E. Relds.
anrack ST
Iw p-m- today-&
12 Softball (doi
Ult&
xamecock
wn continn
Sped
coonie Penn will do battle in the first game of the Final Foui
of the underdog as they have done all year against the favoi
ieling pretty good," Calhoun said Jonathan Wu, a 7-year-o
'reporters on his way out of Gam- during a UConn-St. John's g:
been a Huskies fan for as lo
w it's time to get back to busi- member
was for the fans." urr ' , , in.
mony kicked off with the UCoirn He wasj,born at halftlm
lting out the school's fight song, convenient, Jonathan s mot
ience filed into their seats, anx- "We named him after th
i glimpse of their favorite team, he's been a UConn fan all hi
on and on In
an AJGA First Team All-Amer- June 1997, shooting an amateui
)95 Maxfli PGA Championship. 66.
35-96 Jay Haas S.C. Player of Thompson wasn't just a sta
[ for the 1996 U.S. Junior Am- high school, though; he also m
ras the 1996 Carolinas Junior in the classroom.
He was a member of the Nal
ate 4-A high school champi- ciety and finished in the top 1
id 1997, and was a 1996 and graduating class,
and All-State selection. To people wanting to excel i
for the victorious 1996-97 USA Thompson says:
}olf Championships in Japan "You need to balance your s
ist honors in the Dorman, Joe your sport,
rn Cross Invitationals. "I've seen some guys who do
n in Panama City, Fla., cred- no school work, and then some o
eve and Caryl Thompson, for about school and don't practice
nspiration in life, and also his think the most important thing
to achieve a healthy balance."
rents for supporting me all the And for those looking for s
for always getting me to my always mark the ball on heads,"
itter where I had to be," Thomp- "and if I am playing a ball and
me, I won't take it out of play e\
, I would not be where I am to- tie cut or nick in it."
Thompson and the rest of
pson's most exciting moment linksters will be in action this
ie when he participated in the they travel to Statesboro, Ga., i
fessional golf tournament in the Chris Schenkel Classic.
Softball sweeps Fu:
by Michael Strickland usc coasted to ?
Assistant Sports Editor mercy-rule win in the
~ picked up the win foi
i .-jmBKr 1 After an <- ,>
I .jr;v , ~ 10-0 on tne season a
Plfc innings without alio
I softbanTeam She also struck,
^"S^db?Seibs MaSvrenowaron
12/ noon tosweep pitchrfftcStoo
I \Y/ doublelmader ^'*mn?thre
PICTPft against visiting mgp"et ?hitting _4
urman game, led a balanced
Gamecocks (28-7,3-1) used'the same ^or"3 H
formula they have all season long, win- ghe ^ ^ s
rang with clutch hlttrng and dommant ^ ^ batter>s ^
P^&andtookthegamesbyscores "I think rm swing
0 T ^ , . es and making good t
In Game, showing no signs of a po- sen|0r from p0mpt01
tential letdown before an SEC series ?T, ,,,
this weekend. USC wasted no time ". . .u "!
,, : J r- well at> i ton, uiuugi
getting on the board, scoring five runs usc Head Coacj
in the bottom of the first. wag p}eased with h
Joyce McMillinsingled to start the performance.
game, and after Kim Pietro singled real] |]ked thc
her home, Adnenne Genovese doubled ji i 1 >
. tv; , swinging the bats,
m Pietro. ?t?t? ? ?,,, , ? j
Megan Matthews then tripled whiie> s0 it was ^,
home Genovese. . / , . , ? e
A/* T m i , , tmg back into confei
After Leanna Troesh reached on nor-, , ,
, i , j ** aai UbChaditsba
an error and later scored, Matthews jtehin ^
came m on an Adnanna Baggetta sin- fteLady Qameoicks
i
LE FROM THE SIDELINES
Vandeibilt, 7 "The tackling drill was one of
iige Frye Field. the most disappointing things
... . . I've experienced in a long
lbleheader) at Ume WgV ^ hmg ,o
ite, p.m. t y. improve our tackling or try to
get tackling outlawed."
?Lou Holtz on spring
practice tackling drills
Friday, March 26, 1999
l?^| Singleton:
NL East just a
two-horse race
way ofmisunder
Shawn Singleton Columbia
Singleton 3:16 is a most interesting
town with a
checkered past many people still
| Jp have a hard time letting go of.
\m Nearly three years ago, I came on
the scene, and many have a tough time
handling the truth that comes with my
fire and brimstone week after week.
Earlier this week, I had to eliminate
a person I once thought was a
friend of mine, as if I really cared about
. % her anyway.
A man like me needs something
to fire him up to be able to write the
kind of wonderful diatribes I put out
This week's reaming is about Amer
mm ica's national pastime, especially in the
South, and no, I'm not talking about
al to The Gamecock , , rr ,1 i_ 1 1
dragging people off the backs of trucks,
r Saturday night Batter up, folks, it's just a friendly
red Huskies. game of baseball, but this time, Fm going
to swing harder than Sammy Sosa
Id who was born in a Greene Street apartment as I give
ame in 1992, has you my National League preview,
ng as he can re- Let us begin with the senior circuit's
Eastern Division.
. This is primarily a two-horse race
e, so 1 was rea between the hated Atlanta Braves and
her said. my New York Mets.
e Husky dog, so Steve Phillips has added a great
s life " deal of free-agent talent in the "Rotten
Apple," acquiring Rickey Henderson
? and Robin Ventura and reacquiring
^ I _ Bobby Bonilla.
Can their pitching hold up for the
^stretch run, though?
Look for them to trade for a big -record
round of name pitcher before the deadline and
come out with at least the wild card.
,, , The Braves, on the other hand, are
r on the links m . _ ? ', , ,, \ .
, , , a rose in full bloom during the hot
anage o exce months of summer, yet they wilt with
the chills of the autumn air.
tional Honor So- Andres Galarraga is out for the sea- ,
0 percent of his son with cancer, and his 44 home runs
Tin 11 Ko OAvnlir miooQr]
rv 111 uc ouicij uuootu.
n college sports, Ryan Klesko has yet to prove hdcan
hit lefties, and Brian Jordan had the
chool work with pleasure of hitting behind a man who
hit 70 homers last year,
all the sport and Bret Boone finally had the season
ther guys are all the Reds hoped for, but can he duplithpir
onnrt en T cate it in the city formerly called Terminus
and Marthasville?
Once again, Atlanta's pitching will
,.T have to make up for the lack of run supuperstitions,
I rt
Thompson said, However, closer Kerry Ligtenburg
it is working for js out for the season, and if Mark
ren if it has a lit- Wohlers doesn't recover from his bout
with Steve Blass Disease, the Braves
' the Gamecock will have major problems out of the
weekend when bullpen.
to participate in If the umpires stop calling ungodly
strikes, maybe someone other than
a Brave will win the Cy Young this year.
The NL Central is perhaps the
CJ weakest division in the game.
This division will be a free-for-all
in which 85 wins might be good enough
l five-inning, 8-0 to take it
game. Matthews Houston won 102 games last year,
USC, movmg to but Moises Alou is out for the season
s she went three with a torn ACL, and Randy Johnson
wing a hit. js now fo Arizona,
out three to run Chicago, who won the wild card last
o 163 on the year. season in a thrilling one-game playoff
iges more than 5 with San Francisco, has issues on the
Lme- pitching end, especially with Rookie of
n Sam Russian v ir? \tt?a ?a c? ai
? tuc 1 COl IYCII y YY UUU UUl 1UI U1C actt"
innings from the son and possibly for good,
e hits while strik- Milwaukee is moving into a new
ballpark and expects to christen it prop107
entering the erly, and Pittsburgh might be right in
IUSC attack, go- the middle of this mess. *
Bis and two runs j see Cincinnati coming out of this
load of manure, however,
uccess to patience With the acquisition of Denny Neagle
and Michael Tucker from those evil
jing at good pitch- Braves, the Reds now have veteran
contact," said the leadership on a very young team.
i Plains, N.J. # Watch out for them as the season
i I'm swinging as progresses.
l-" In the wild, wild West, it would be
i Joyce Compton Very easy for me to pick the Dodgers,
er squad's first- with their hiring of Davey Johnson and
their ridiculous signing of Kevin Brown,
way we came out After getting Brown, the Dodgers
Compton said. sent Ramon Martinez to Boston.
n't. nlavarl for a ?r:n i.i~_ /-> m__i?i
? i?j vy in uie vjreurgia i ecu aiuinni pan
to play before get- out in Dodger blue, or will blue be the
ence play." color 0f in the City of Angels?
ts cooled by the Arizona signed flamethrower Randy
Ef in Game II, but Johnson, and he and Omar Daal should
were able to turn
' 1
SOFTBALL page 7 SINGLETON page 7