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SOFTBALL PRO BASI The No. 10 Lady Gamecock The Baltimon softball team swept Ole Miss in defeated the a double header Saturday, team in Hava improving its record to 31-8 on innings. It's tl the season. since 1939 a baseball tearr Cuba. I Monday, March 29, 1999 Holtz offers F lesson for ; entire school : s of Lou H athletic program, the E B entire university has something to be proud h of. Holtz gives this 1} H school instant national a recognition and respect tl H that's difficult to come by at other universities. o Brock Vergakis The way this was v From the editor's desk achieved is remarkable. s: Before Holtz had 1( coached a single practice, the outlook for Carolina football had changed s from that of another dismal season to a legitimate h shot at a bowl game. With an impressive track record V that includes a national championship, few question t< Holtz's ability to turn around a program that has 1 lost more games than it has won in its history. t( What people must realize is that Holtz is only p one man. One man cannot win a war, and one man can't turn around an entire program on his own. w What he can do is inspire greatness from his play- w ers. Students will have the opportunity to bear wit- ii ness to this firsthand when Holtz speaks at the Horse- tl shoe April 7.1 hope the administration takes heed n to his message, as well. When football players walk around campus now, g there's a different air about them. No longer humiliated following a 1-10 season, they can look to the li future knowing there's nothing to be done about the fi past. Holtz has his team believing there is no reason tl it can't be one of the most competitive teams in the tl SEC as well as the country. And why shouldn't he? His attitude of "Why not?" is the exact attitude this C school needs. It's the attitude every dean, professor tl and student should possess. w He knows it's necessary to believe something is possible before it is ever achieved. If our players don't P believe in themselves, they will never succeed on the field or off it. h For too long in Carolina's history, USC has been under a dark cloud of mediocrity, athletically and tl academically. Holtz has the ability to lift the cloud tl and show the entire state what it's like to be a win ner. Misery loves company, and it s time for Caroli- v: na to be a loner. IV USC could be one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the Southeast as well, but it has e< yet to meet that potential. B This "Why not?" attitude shouldn't be confused so with being arrogant, of course. Respect and confidence are one thing; ignorance and arrogance are 01 .another. Recognizing problems exist at USC is the first tl step to solving them. The coaching staff will be the 1 first to say the football team has a lot of problems. gi But they will also be the first to say they're work- 01 ing hard every day to correct these problems. s? USC President John Palms recognized that, compared with other schools our size, the amount of grants and endowments our students receive is relatively small. To fix this, he initiated the Bicenten- } nial Campaign, a massive $300 million fund-raising effort. Fixing what's wrong leads to improvement; ig- b noring it leads to decay. The football team needs work st on fundamentals, so it will work on them. If it doesn't, fumbles and interceptions will be a part of Carolina football next season just as it was ^ in 1998. Accountability is something Holtz believes 111 in, and it's time for the rest of the university to C take part in it, as well. .Tmlr-nolio nmrramc of nfVinr t-rtVi/vilc Katra r>aii<rVit fl< wwwinuuoin pv/^iuiAiw Ub vidici OU1VA7XO ua?u vau^ut up with or surpassed USC's in recent years. Instead &1 of making the program stronger, the school just makes ^ it appear that way. Two years ago on its brochure, ni the journalism school said it was one of eight accredited programs between Florida and New York P' and the only one in South Carolina. sc On this year's brochure, USC is one of six on the entire East Coast and the only one in South Car- cc olina. w The other schools didn't disappear; in fact, A more of them gained this status, but because of the y? way the brochure was reworded, it appears we're bet- a? ter than wo really are. e? Instead of being held accountable for raising the program to a higher level, a smoke screen is constructed in the hopes no one will notice. f Try pulling something like that on the football * field. I doubt Brad Scott tried to tell Athletics Director Mike McGee that attendance averaged more . than 70,000 last season in order to save his job. On the surface, it's impressive until one realizes ? that attendance dropped steadily all season from more than 80,000 for the first game. lai Tf nnr football team is exDected to ho held ac- rr countable for its wins and losses, then so should the rest of our school. It's time for us to expect more, and so there's no reason we shouldn't. th There's no reason our football team can't win, fo and there's no reason our university can't prosper as an academic institution. I hope, the entire univer- tic sity will learn from Holtz's attitude of "Why not?" of When the leader of USC football takes the mi- ut crophone April 7 on the Horseshoe, everyone take sc notice. Pride, dignity, respect and accountability will m be major themes. What you will see is a man who believes in him- b< self, his team and this university. Perhaps we're sc spoiled to have someone like this, or perhaps we've ec just been neglected to have never had them before. fi< Either way, we've got him now, so take advantage and listen up. < w ?amcco Cuban National 4 na 3-2 in 11 lie first time 1 "V? I major league I ~ The Gameco Baseball sweej >y Michael Strickland assistant Sports Editor '% USC broke out the brooms this weekend to [ . ,,, weep a three-game baseball series with con- HHflHI jrence foe Vanderbilt. With Florida losing to Georgia Sunday, larolina is now tied for the lead in the SEC's lastern Division. USC (21-7, 6-3 in the SEC) Sunday outisted the Commodores 3-2, despite getting on! getting three hits. The Gamecocks used walks nd a gutsy suicide-squeeze bunt to pull out HH le win. With USC trailing 2-1 entering the bottom f the sixth, Trey Dyson and Mic Knox both miked to start the rally. After an Adam Poe H ingle, Tim Whittaker walked with the bases >aded to tie the score at two. With one out, and realizing his team was truggling to find hits, coach Ray Tanner ad Bryon Jeffcoat lay down a bunt, catching 4nMMN TJ completely by surprise and enabling USC ) score the eventual game-winning run. ranner said he knew he had to do something ^ ) prevent the final game of the series from slip.. ing away. "We had been scuffling offensively, and I ms thinking [Vanderbilt pitcher Mike Byrd] rould be around the zone with two strikes trylg to strike [Jeffcoat] out, and I tried someling that's not in the book of baseball," Taner said. "It worked out for us, and we scraped to- * ether enoueh to eet it done." Scott Barber (4-3) picked up the win in reef of starter Peter Bauer. Barber went three ill innings, allowing no runs on three hits. Jason Pomar garnered his fourth save of le season after getting the final two outs of ie game. _ Poe was the only offensive threat for fSC, going 2-for-2 after entering the game in ..t ^ ^ ie fifth inning. Poe was 8-for-12 in the series, rith 4 RBIs. pretty good al the plate right now,; Sen|or Lambert ^ oe said, rm just gomg up there to do my job Vanderbllt. usc , the Brian Roberts got the other Gamecock it, a one-out single in the third inning. In the third, USC scored thi The series finale's pitching duel came on its lead to 4-0. Jay Lambert ie heels of a two-day offensive explosion by rally, then scored on a Ri ie Gamecocks. runs scored) home run to ce Saturday, before a regional TV audience Nate Janowicz (3-for-5 ia Fox SportsSouth, USC trounced starter Roberts with a homer of 1 [ark Prior (3-3) and the Commodores, 12-2. the first time this season UJ The Gamecocks, who never trailed, pound- back home runs. 1 out 15 hits, with five home runs. Starter Kip Trey Dyson (2-for-4, 2 ouknight moved his record to 5-1 on the year the fifth to give USC a 5-0 ad went the distance, scattering six hits. Janowicz. The sophomore from Gaston also struck Vanderbilt got on the it seven and walked none. enth with a homer of its ow The major story of the game, though, was soe. ie offensive outburst by USC. Vandy's final run came Tie Gamecocks jumped out early on a Tim An- was unearned after a Jeffcc iolini solo homer in the bottom of the sec- base, id, ending an 0-for-12 skid by the California USC got seven runs in its ;nior. the plate for the final marg Volleyball loses in sj y David Kloninger The first was against t aff Writer Tigers, and the Gamecocks 7-2 lead before Clemson sta The Gamecock volleyball team played its The games were held in rst matches of the new year Saturday, host- tng, with every ball served ig a six-team tournament at the Volleyball team, making it harder for ompetition and Blatt P.E. centers. nate use, in its second week of spring practice, The first 11-minute ma Dsted arch-rival Clemson, as well as Michi- 59 Clemson victory, but ofl m State, conference foe Florida and ACC mem- score afterwards.USC co? jrs North Carolina and N.C. State in the tour- Christopher argued the score ament. points to the wrong team's The purpose of the competition was to help encing the outcome, ayers adjust to the long break between sea- However, the victory wa ins. and Clemson took the lead i The Gamecocks, coming off their second series, insecutive NCAA tournament appearance, USC, led by junior Ciysta ere short-handed with the losses of seniors more Kami Nordgaard, can shley Edlund and Cindy Robarge from last the morning's second" game 2 ;ar, along with Andrea Filbeck, but still man- iead with 15 seconds left, al jed to put up good fights in their three match- However, freshman Liz ] i. for a net ball, which gave CI the ball. 2lub Lacrosse falls to C the team showed up, it helped a "Ai y Brock Vergakis i0t(" Clemson's Sara Chadwick Katie I >orts Edltor said. a lot oi The Lady Gamecocks' club Chadwick led the scoring for good tx crosse team lost Sunday to arch- Clemson, scoring nearly half of they p] yal Clemson, 14-12. its goals. At times, USC's defense . Af In a high-scoring affair, Clem- was almost nonexistent. the otl n was able to outlast USC in "We had holes in our defense Thi e final minutes to take the lead across the board," USC player na's b; r good. Liz Fisher said. broke: When the Tigers were ini- Carolina might have suffered was in illy handicapped because three a worse defeat if not for great US their members failed to show saves by goalie Elise Whitman, ever C; ) on time. USC took advantage. "A lot of one-on-one situations net. it1 :oring two goals in less than a should have been goals that eree. linute of play. weren't," teammate Ann Mc- "W Carolina mounted a 5-2 lead Cormick said of Whitman. olation -fore the rest of the Clemson While Whitman might have said, luad finally arrived. With an been the heart of the defense, Mc- "T1 }ual amount of players on the Cormick filled that role for the up [foi jld, the Tigers began to attack, offense. Clemson had difficulty Plus, il "We were excited because it containing her, and she scored team as USC, and when the rest <^f four times. Sween ru TENNIS The No. 16 womens team fell to No. 12 T * I I T 5-4 Sunday in Knoxv I Uj ck )s Vanderbi Kc*- iP lllf lil \ Z fl |4 mM 9 ? , ;;--/ '- -,. i f* V Sean Rayford Ph ;es a throw to second base in Saturday's victory . three-game series, winning 15-8, 12-2 and 3-2. ree times to extend Roberts and Janowicz both homer walked to start the second time. Clint Collins also homered Dberts (2-for-4, 3 ing out of a mild slump, mterfield. Coach Tanner was glad to see his tej , 3 RBIs) followed tinue to swing the hot bats this seasoi lis own, marking "It's encouraging to see," Tanner 3C has hit back-to- made comments early in the year thai fense hasn't done as much as we want* RBIs) singled in But we've made some strides, not jus lead, knocking in but our offense has been better the h pie of weeks." board in the sev- As for the outing by Bouknight, 1 n by Hunter Bled- American continues to impress his co? "I thought [Bouknight] was outstandin : in the ninth and ner said. "When he's on the mound,) (at miscue at third like you've got a great chance to win." USC takes on the College of Cha final two times at Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Sarge Frye Fi in. >ring tournamer he Clemson Lady The Tigers then tied the score with jumped to a quick onds left, but inspired play from USC rted to come back, nior transfer Danika Taylor allowed tl "rally-point" scor- Gamecocks to win, 50-49. being a point for a The tie-breaker match lasted thr one team to domi- utes, but Clemson was still able to go a five with 14 seconds remaining, tch ended in a 52- This was too much to overcome fc icials debated the which lost the game and match. . _i_ Tri TT I A/1 i L i i_ Tinn A _ _i . . ii icn rvim nuuson- Aner a snort ureas,, uot tooK on mi (keepers had added gan State Spartans, who had alread score, thus influ- first-round match to Florida. The Gamecocks came out flat, perl s ruled legitimate, cause of the aggressive first round, ar n the best-of-three find no offensive punch, as they fell to tl tans, two games to none, il Moore and sopho- During the afternoon match agai tie roaring back in Lady Tarheels of UNC, theGamecocl ind finally took the aged to tie the match before time was 149-47. USC will begin its regular season Price was whistled tember. emson a point and "lemson m is awesome," Clemson's Sweeney said. "They had f good players, and it was 5 soon as one team scored, ^ ler would counter. ' e straw that broke Caroliick came when Clemson tended to be a pass. >C never recovered. When- Ailflfl arolina put the ball in the pwas called back by the ref- Jl JaBraTM e had goals but we had vis," team captain Luci Floyd ijlfr/lHllal lis one, everyone was fired r] because of the rivalry. t's the first time these two s have ever played, Matthews ey sa^d. ^ FROM THE SIDELINES tennis The day you take complete ennessee responsibility for yourself, ille. the day you stop making any excuses, that's the day you start to the top. O.J. Simpson Page 7 i -* r 1 u Marcn Madness i takes over Cameron by Sara Ladenheim Editor in Chief DURHAM ? With a 16-0 conference and a 37-1 overall record, the Duke Blue Devils are more than just a team - they are a way of life for many students at the university. Before the game was shown at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the frenzy smmm w began to build for the 5,000 or so who K showed up to support the team. It made no difference that the game was being played more than 500 miles away in St. Petersburg, Fla; the Cameron crazies continued on with their "sixth-man" activities. The crowded court leaped with what appeared to be an ocean of students vying for the jump ball as Elton Brand reached for the opening shot. Duke studentEric Forman told The Gamecock, "It was really exciting watching the game with 5,000 other die-hard Duke fans. It almost had that intangible real-game atmosphere unique to Cameron." Going into the national semi-final game, Duke appeared to have the early advantage, going up 32-20 at the half. Students refused to sit as the oto Editor ieaci continued to build around a against William Avery dunk with just 20 minutes to play, ed for a Michigan State came back, with ., break Brand getting into foul trouble with 10 im con- minutes remaining, i. During his five minutes on the said. "I bench, Duke never lost the lead, but : our of- saw it dwindle down to six points. Uoda? Michigan State continued to get inist cou- trou^e' sen(iing Duke forward Chris Carrawell to the free-throw line ;he All- eight times. ich. Carrawell, a 56-percent free-throw g, Tan- shooter, missed several key shots (4 for 8) as MSU began to chip away at Duke's rleston ^ea(*eld. "Those freethrows were crucial," Duke student Darren Clayton said. "If we had lost the lead, they could have made up the difference for Michigan ^ J_ State." J; Cameron echoed with the chants of "You got Branded" as Brand pulled five sec- down 15 rebounds, 18 points and one and ju- blocked shot in a double-double perle Lady formance. ee min- "I thought... it really showed how head by dedicated the crazies are to supporting the team," Duke Freshman Laurie Hig>r USC, ginbotham said. . "I think we have a great team eMichi- . j , . ,, , v lost a y?ar, aim uiey ve wuraeu nara uj get to this point.. .they really deserve taps be- it." id could Forman agreed. le Spar- "This ^ the fifth championship game , ? Duke has been in during the 1990s. To inst the . . . ,,, . . ? win this now would be incredible, it ; called. would seal our place as the team of the in Sep- last decade of the century," Forman said. The championship game will be broadcast at 9 p.m. today on CBS. H Megan Matthews Freshman Megan Matthews Improved her sfe. .J x. Ann ...UL i icuuru xo xo-o mm ner vie tory over Ole Miss this weekly end. Matthews was also a I relief picture In Wednes^ day night's win against Elon. ~ 1