University of South Carolina Libraries
TRACK AND FIELD ? In the latest Trackwire poll, 1 USC's men's and women's g track teams were both ranked a in the top 10. The men's team p is ranked No. 8, while the E women moved up four spots to No. 7. i I |Page 6 Folks' best and worst interviews ?- As the next three weeks will mark my columns Gamecock (I UMH know, yOU're a][ m holding. William Folks tears);! Common Folklore guess now is probably as good a time as any to embark on a sort of "Folklore Retrospective," a final run of columns profiling the past two years in which I've been privileged to write for you, the students and faculty here at USC. To all of you: It's been a fun ride. I started with The Gamecock back in the spring of 1997 at the urging of former Carolina assistant Jeff Lebo (whose family used to live across the street from me in Shandon). I wrote a few articles here and there on USC's basketball team that year, as it raced to a 24-8 record and the school's first-ever SEC championship. My first real sports interview was with USC guard BJ McKie, then a sophomore, for a story that appeared in that year's Tipoff Carolina game program. Boy, was I ever psyched! Armed with a pen that ended up not working, a notepad I should have been using for class and a little hand-held tape recorder I bought at the Radio Shack down in Five Points for about $60,1 sat down and talked with BJ for about 15 minutes in USC's team conference room. Trust me, I learned that day that pretty much anybody could be a sportswriter. It doesn't take much beyond, well, a pen, a notepad, and $60 in venture capital to get yourself started. Anybody with half a brain can do it, something I've probably proven by now. Looking back over that first article, I'm still embarrassed at what a pathetic writer I was. Some of you will quite justifiably insist that I haven't gotten much bet ter m the intervening years. All the same, it has been the mission of Common Folklore over the past 20-odd months or so to provide (or at least attempt to) an original perspective on the increasingly convoluted, exacerbatingly effusive enigma that is Gamecock athletics. Some of you fellow writers out there probably just noticed that, alongside that goal, I've also endeavored everearnestly to explore new and novel niches of abominably asinine assonance and altogether abhorrent alliteration. Er, better make that endeavored over-earnestly, come to think of it. And go ahead and change "abominably asinine" to a pair of words not starting with the letter "a." (Mom, obviously I wasn't kidding when I told you I needed that Ritalin prescription). Dispensing with the self-deprecating humor for a moment, though (which I'm sure only the English department and a few pharmaceutical-heads actually got, anyway), one of the questions I'm often asked by my readers is this: "Billy, what have been some of your best and worst interviews?" Well, since you asked; I'll tell you. The best was without a doubt Carolina's sophomore diving sensation, Michelle Davison. I did a story on Davison back in March 1998 (after she broke the SEC record on the 3-meter board). I can honestly say that I've yet to meet another USC athlete who puts as much time and effort into her dream as this young woman. She does more before 8:00 in the morning than I could do in a month. This remarkably gifted, intense, and dedicated young woman started training at the age of 7, and her lifelong commitment to the sport continues to pay dividends for her now as she prepares for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Just two weeks ago, Davison finished her sophomore season at the NCAA'Championships in Athens, Ga., by placing fourth and fifth in the nation on the 1- and 3-meter boards, respectively. Three years ago, she finished 11th in the entire planet competing at the FOLKS page 7 SPRING fOOTBALL 'he USC spring football ;ame is only five days way. Kickoff will be at 1 i.mon Saturday at Williams Irice Stadium. Tennesi by Jared Kelowitz & read Todd Money offth Senior Writers ^ The No. 9 Lady Gamecocks opened V1C^C a four-game series Friday afternoon Lad] with the unranked Lady Vols of Ten- ^ay1 nesee. UI"da By Saturday's end, the Lady Vols ^ had shocked USC and everyone pre- ness sent at Beckham Field, snatching three t? 1 ^ of four from the Carolina softballers. Two doubleheaders were played, Mcft one Friday, the second Saturday. krea In Friday's first game, the Lady I Gamecocks relied on a mostly infalli- was ble start by Megan Matthews to Juml overcome their offensive woes. l00^1 The freshman allowed, went the dis- ^ tance, just five hits, one run and two scon walks while striking out 11. son ' The performance helped give USC knoc a 2-1 victory. field Carolina's only offensive output came in the first inning. Joyce McMillin led off with a single and was sent to more second on a sacrifice by Kendra Mc- usua Cutcheon. A wild pitch allowed tlieE McMillin to advance to third. En After the wild pitch, Lady Vol hurler Jackie Beavers couldn't seem to find en^' the plate, walking Kim Pietro. wer? With runners on first and third, throi coach Joyce Compton then resorted to ^ her bag of tricks to secure the first run *n ^ of the game. Ladj Compton called for a double mnu steal, and it was perfectly executed, ^ allowing McMillin to score, giving USC ness a 1-0 lead. the 1 The deciding run of the game for USU came in the third inning alter 11C1U McMillin again reached third, this time 1 after an error by Tennessee shortstop h??> Lisa Warren. a^er McMillin scored the team's and her kefoi own second run of the game when she Football te by Pete lacobelli Associated Press Lou Holtz's trash talk came full circle Sunday with his South Carolina Gamecocks cleaning up the area around the Williams-Brice Stadium and the State Fairgrounds. The team turned out in full force, ready to pounce on litter and continue a campaign their new boss got going with a few innocent January comments about trash on his new state's highways. Since then, South Carolina has gotten a litter czar in state Sen. David Thomas, ItGreenville, a Litter Task Force and more trash talk than the Gamecocks probably heard during their 1-10 season that brought in Holtz. "Very seldom does anybody listen to what I have to say," Holtz said Sunday in his orange vest. "I was very surprised. But also, it was just a tremendous need." Holtz was troubled on one of his first trips along Interstate 26 with all the litter on the roadway. "You don't see as much pride as I thought I would [in South Carolina]," he said Jan. 5. Sen. Thomas helped form the Litter Task Force and got a commitment from Holtz to film public service announcements. Bomberball by Todd Money ^ Sports Copy Editor things There might be a lot of talk in Co- urday lumbia about plans for a new minor- Just al league baseball stadium, but on open- mn- T ing weekend for the Capitol City balkei Bombers, South Assembly Street the fir showed its normal summer side again. In The home team didn't disappoint tured the fans, sweeping the Asheville notche Tourists in a two-game series. Uribe, A strong pitching performance by to 3-2. Jason Saenz helped the Bombers to a Th 5-3 win Saturday, and Brian Jenkins' bined 1 grand slam in the 10th inning Sunday four bj clinched a 9-5 victory. Bombe McKie wins con "Tb Community Watch pleasec Special to The Gamecock their C Kentucky soccer player Carrie Krame: Kuhnell and USC basketball player hours o Ud Mcme nave Deen namea recipi- nave m ents of the 1998-99 Southeastern Con- ter plao ference Community Service Post-Grad- see the uate Scholarship, commissioner Roy and wil Kramer announced Thursday. Mcl The two were chosen by a com- munit mittee of faculty athletics represen- hometo tatives from the 12 SEC universities, hi high Each will receive a $5,000 post- in HOP graduate scholarship provided by the hood in SEC. ipated i munit] July 19 Spoi The Gamecock see surp lied home thanks to a sacrifice fly le bat of senior center fielder Pietro. 'hat game would be USC's only try all weekend, as it lost to the i Vols 5-4 in the second game Friand was beaten 8-0 and 4-1 Saty !arah Ayres got the win for Tenee in Game 2 Friday, moving her L-7 on the year. Picking up the loss for USC was lillin, dropping her to 7-2 and king her seven-game win streak, n Saturday's matinee game, USC blown off the field early. Tennessee Ded off to a quick start and never sd back. n the second inning, the Lady Vols id three runs on an Adrianna Wilijlast. The powerful right-hander :ked a 3-2 pitch over the centerwall, allowing Kenyail Norris and i Fitzgerald to score. rennesee went on to tack on five ! runs and shut out the Gamecocks' illy high-powered offense, putting nercy rule (an 8-run-or-more lead) feet after five innings of play. lame 2 started out much differy, as only four hits and no runs ; managed between both teams ugh the first 41-2 innings of play. , Megan latthews started for the third time le series for USC, blanking the x ' Vols on two hits over the first five could mu -,gS Cutcheon lyres was just as effective for Ten- stranding ee, however, until the bottom of t( Tfth, when USC's Kim Schultze en<^ ^ ed a hard liner down the left- nesseesV line up, Mattl lie base hit scored Megan Dona- *!?nn-v, who was just returning to action breaking her left hand six weeks When .e ter, the b Carrie Sv am cleans i "It was just amazing the amount of phone calls we got about our Adopt-a-Highway program after coach Holtz talked about it," said Mary Pat Baldauf, executive director of Keep America Beautiful of the Midlands. Anyone traveling Bluff Road or George Rogers Boulevard would have seen scores of Gamecocks, each holding orange trash bags and in vests similar to Holtz's. "You never know what to expect with coach Holtz," joked assistant coach Jon Fabris, who got yelled at by players when a trash bag in his belt broke and skipped across the road. "Who's making more trash?" safety Arturo Freeman yelled. Freeman, who missed last season with a knee injury, got his teammates fired up when he jumped on a piece of paper?the first piece of trash ? and held it up like he would a recovered fumble. Freeman didn't know how to react when he first heard Holtz's litter speak ? or that the Gamecocks would be out on a sunny Simday to back up their coach's views. "We laughed about it, we said there was no problem," Freeman said. "It's very important that we do this, make the state more attractive." begins agai e Bombers' Chase Mulvehill got ing a single n rolling in the first inning Sat- eighth inning with a two-out, two-run double, In Sunday Eter Asheville had walked in a again started hat after Capital City's Saenz runs in the se i in a score in the top half of Aaron Cook,, st. third on a Rol the third, the visitors manufac- deep left, a run when Matt Holliday The 4-0 1< d a sacrifice fly to to score Juan wasn't enough , trimming the Bombers' lead ina knocked Bombers' Yor ree Capital City relievers com- and the Tour to hold Asheville to one run on each of the nt ts in the last four innings. The Capital Ci rs also got some insurance, scor- on an Earl Si lmunity service e Southeastern Conference is Press Conferer I to honor Carrie and BJ for at an October ommunity service work," B Press Confe r said. "Through their many Erase Hepatitis f volunteerism, Carrie and BJ sage, among otl ade their communities a bet- organization, e to live. Hopefully, others will McKie has contributions they have made guest speaker a 1 follow their lead." die schools and tie has been involved in com- the area, y service activites in his Healsowoi wn of Columbia since he was ed Way Kick-C school. McKie has been active ed and deliverec 'E for Kids, a non profit child- er Gospel Missk lmunization program, partic- in a DSS Foste in every HOPE for Kids com- and volunteere y rally since 1994 and the School "Rock-a 95 Governor's Immunization SCHEDULE Baseball vs. C Wednesday, Sa Softball vs. Illi A 1 p.m. Tuesday ts ~ rises US v. jJb9F .. Iv mbbwsbmb! ?p|^? j B |p^:" , . - ^ Matthews prepares to serve up a strike to tl vas all the Lady Gamecocks Swinford, the 1 ster, however, as both Mc- er, took a Matthev and Pietro failed at the plate, plating three run \ Schultze at second. scored Swinford oi Dp of the sixth spelled the the damage had t arolina. After getting Ten- The Lady Ga barren out on an infield pop- no more, going wii lews gave up a liner to left the sixth and sev( Steele and then hit Amah- Afterward, the le with a pitch. mostly about a Norris lofted a liner to cen- team's offense. acoc ixroro lnorJoH fnr TTT'c "T fVnnlr ujo'vp UOVU TT VI V XVUUVU lUi V JL KJ VXHHXX " ^ T v /inford. bats going," Donal up Columbi Courtney Worsham of Team Gamecock, the team's charity project arm, said the response to the team cleanup has been great. Fans have asked how they can help, she said. "It's a great thing for the team to take on because they're role models and they can take their coach's idea and really run with it," Worsham said. The team pulled together last August for a charity car wash to support former teammate Randy Wheeler, paralyzed in a car accident outside Miami on his way to Dolphins' training camp. Holtz had a few raised eyebrows when the project first came up. "I told them they could either practice or pick up trash," he said. "They got very excited about picking up trash." Baldauf thinks with Holtz's continued support, South Carolina could soon become one of the Southeast's cleanest states. "He's achieved godlike status here already," she said.' "PeoDle have been working in the trench es for many, many years, but it took Lou Holtz to come out and say something to bring attention." n with swee in in each of the fifth and to make it 5-2, but ? ;s. rors led to two unea /s Game 2, the Bombers sixth, Asheville got out fast, grabbing three the seventh, tying th cond off Tourists starter Relief pitching fo and then another in the down the game's scori jert Stratton solo shot to when Capital City st half with a walk by jad after three innings Ramos and Bobby Hill i, though. Asheville's Col- out, but Chavez read a leadoff homer off the Brian Cole follow* 1 German in the fourth, hopper that Asheville ists then scored runs in couldn't handle, lee !xt three innings. loaded for Jenkins, ty's Jenkins came home "It was a change-i lyder single in the fifth afterward of his gan award [HSfRTi ice, was spokesperson I basketball camps in H r Care Mentor Lunch ? d^aUhelr Middle RQB|NS0N I FROM THE SIDELINES Ipmsnn 7 n m I "The wav a team filavs as a ige Fiye Field. whole determines its success. You may have the greatest inois-Chicago, bunch of individual stars in t, Beckham the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime." ? Babe Ruth Monday, April 12, 1999 C softball ^ , J Jl, * fP^ . J/ti p* jmmj rjgffl wBBBBw Hr n| Bk Wm^ PRhhrt I Sean Rayford Photo Editor ie Lady Vols in Saturday's loss to Tennessee. ream's senior catch- to get them in bunches, actually. We've vs pitch to deep left, got to put them together and just s. Fitzgerald later try to score runs early." a a sacrifice fly, but Compton was more succinct. >een done. "We're not going to win a whole mecocks could do lot of ball games when we score one thout a whimper in run, and that's the bottom line," Compjnth innings. ton said. USC players talked The Gamecocks go to Arkansas for i drop-offin the another conference doubleheader on Friday. Game time is set for 5 p.m. just got to get the 100 said. "We've got ia-area roads mnnffifniiT" ' * ' i'i'1 5^| BP^,S$iS fHftftoiirtr jjflH' . :?kl lHi Sean Rayford Photo Editor Lou Holtz and the USC football team took time off from practice to clean up trash. ip of Asheville ifter Bomber er- "They [Asheville pitchers] had rned runs in the struck me out on change-ups twice, another score in an(j j was pretty much looking for a e,ga"10:, , , change-up, and I got it," Jenkins said, r both sides shut ? - . , , ng until the 10th, That was a great way to finish that arted the bottom e1"." Bombers manager Dave Engle Corey Erickson. said. "They battled us real tough, then each struck "A lot of guys had a chance to win bed with a walk, the game there and Brian [Jenkins] id with an infield came through." iving thePba"es With 4,1086 tw0 win8'4,16 Bombers improve to 3-0 on the season and help," Jenkins said gin a four-game home set with Del Marle-ending blast, va at 7:05 Monday night. Alana Robinson Wj^M Robinson, a freshman, won the women's discus at the South Carolina Collegiate Track Championship on Saturday with a toss of 165'IXT. Robinson has now provissionally qualified for the NCAA Championship.