The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 23, 1999, Page 11, Image 11
Schedule
■ Men’s soccer vs. U-17 Nationals, Wednesday
■ Volleyball vs. North Carolina A&T, Sept. 1
tto (Bamccoct? - pm* h
*k.
Basketball
schedule
an eye
opener
Basketball Roundup
The Gamecock
The last USC men’s basketball sched
ule of the millennium has been released.
The schedule for the 1999-2000 season
features at least 19 games against teams that
participated in postseason action last year.
As part of the 29-game slate, Carolina will
participate in the prestigious Puerto Rico
Shootout.
The Gamecock hoopsters’ first 2 1-2
weeks of action should serve as an imme
diate test for this year’s squad.
The field in the Puerto Rico Shootout
includes the likes of Michigan State,
Texas, Providence, DePaul, Arizona State,
American Umversity-Puerto Rico and USC's
first-round opponent, Virginia.
After the holidays, the Gamecocks will
face five teams consecutively who made
NCAA tournament appearances last season.
Those include Tennessee, Kentucky,
Arkansas, Syracuse and Auburn, four of which
are conference opponents.
“Last year, I said prior to the season that
I may have overscheduled that team, and
that proved to be true to a certain extent,”
coach Eddie Fogler said.
“This year, especially with such a young
team, our schedule will certainly prove to
be demanding.”
Carolina opens its regular season Friday,
Nov. 19, hosting in-state rival Wofford.
Before they set out for Puerto Rico, the
Gamecocks will host The Citadel. Upon
their return, the USC men will conclude
their November schedule with a home game
against Charleston Southern.
The next game against an in-state rival
will come Dec. 4, when Carolina battles the
Furman Paladins at Frank McGuire Arena.
On Dec. 16, USC will meet"the Clemson
Tigers at Clemson.
Sixteen of the Gamecocks’ 29 games are
against SEC opponents, 12 of which were
invited to postseason tournaments last sea
son.
The Gamecocks will conclude their sea
son with the SEC tournament, March 9-12
at the Geoigia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.
rl
1999-00 Gamecock Basketball Schedule
Home games in ALL CAPS; * denotes SEC games
Nov. 3 COURT AUTHORITY (exh.)
Nov. 10 LITHUANIA (exh.)
Nov. 19 WOFFOI
Nov. 21 THE CT
Nov. 25-27 Puerto
Nov. 30 CHAS.
Dec. 4 FURM
Dec. 16 Clemso
Dec. 18 CAMPB
Dec. 21 St. Jo
Dec. 28 UNC C
Dec. 30 S.C. ST
Jan. 5 TENN
Jan. 8 Arkansas*
Jan. 13 SYRACUSE
inii
KENTUCKY*
Auburn*
Georgia*
VANDERBILT*
Tennessee*
^~%FLORIDA*
Kentucky*
e Miss*
ISSISSIPPI STATE*
LABAMA*
ISIANA STATE*
GEORGIA*
Florida*
4 I Vanderbilt*
jyi.2 SEC Tournament
(Atlanta, Ga.)
Brad Walters Gamecock Graphics
Women’s
soccer wins
~ «
scrimmage
Soccer Roundup
- The Gamecock
USC’s women’s soccer team defeated
UNC Charlotte 6-2 in their only preseason
scrimmage of the 1999 campaign.
The game was a rematch of last year’s
NCAA first-round contest, when the 49ers
defeated the Gamecocks 2-0.
Carolina got on the board early in the
first half on an Angerla Austin comer kick.
The 49ers answered with a goal by Emily
Ulmer six minutes later.
Carolina took a 2-1 lead at the 15:42
mark with senior Leslie Lamb 's first goal at
forward.
Ten seconds later, UNCC tied the score
when Carrie Hughes recorded her fust col
legiate goal. The Gamecocks then broke the
tie for good with a 6-yard shot from senior
Jennie Ondo.
Three other Gamecocks would go on to
score goals in the second half to give Car
olina the win.
Columbia over L.A. no-brainer
for Gamecocks' new shortstop
by Jeff Romig
Special to the Gamecock
When Brian Roberts signed with the Baltimore
Orioles after being selected as the 50th overall pick
in the June 2 baseball draft, USC suddenly found it
self without its shortstop and lead-off hitter.
Both of those roles were filled last Thursday,
when top USC recruit Drew Meyer attended his first
class as a freshman. Meyer was selected by the Los
Angeles Dodgers with the 83rd pick in the draft, but
the two sides were never in the same ballpark on con
tract matters. To Meyer, though, it wasn’t about how
much he could make.
“It’s not a matter of money,” Meyer said. “It’s a
matter of setting myself up financially, so I’ll be sat
isfied for my life. Suppose I sign and break my arm,
get in a car accident or just don’t succeed? Then
I’m stuck with no college experience, no memo
ries from college and no education.”
Meyer had a good idea he would be a Gamecock,
even on draft day. “When they drafted me, I had it
set in my mind that they weren’t going to come up
with the offer," Meyer said. “I haven’t been count
ing on going pro. It was kind of like a storybook,
and I already knew the ending.”
It wasn’t so cut-and-dry for the Dodgers. In mid
July, the organization sent its top representative to
Charleston to meet with the Meyer family.
Meyer was out with some friends when his moth
er, Carol, called to let him know whom he would
be meeting with. “She said, ‘Hey, Tommy Lasorda’s
coming to the house on Monday.’ I was like, ‘Wow!
Who? Say that again,”’ Meyer said.
When the situation actually came to a head, Mey
er was still a bit in awe. “We were all sitting in the
den, and the next thing we knew, the doorbell rings,
and we see him,” Meyer said. “You’re looking at him,
and you’re thinking Slim Fast commercials and video
games. It’s hard to realize that he’s actually in your
living room telling you jokes.”
But the jokes had to end eventually.
“That’s when we saw the next side of Tommy
Lasorda - the negotiating side. It was pretty serious,”
Meyer said. Could you say no to Tommy Lasorda?
Essentially, that’s what Meyer did.
The Meyer family told the Dodgers that Drew
wouldn’t sign for the $667,000 the club’s first-round
pick, Jason Repko, another high school shortstop, had
agreed to. That move surprised the Dodgers.
“That took them aback,” said Meyer's father,
Frank. “They said it would be difficult to offer their
second pick more than they offered their first pick.
They said that wouldn't work.”
USC Head Baseball Coach Ray Tanner knew that
if he was going to get Meyer, he’d have to deal with
this whole recruiting process.
“I've always felt that he is going to be an impact
player,” Tanner said. “He plays hard. He hustles on
and off the field. He’s talented.”
As it looks now, the Dodgers made their
choice, and for the next three baseball seasons, Tan
ner’s Gamecocks will benefit from it. “He does all
the things that it takes to be an impact player, and he's
been successful,” Tanner said.
And he has been-at every level. At Bishop
England High School, Meyer’s teams won two state
championships. He then won a state legion cham
pionship in 1998, and this summer he traveled to Tai
wan with the USA junior national team, starring for
the squad and bringing home a gold medal. “My next
two goals are a College World Series championship
and a Major League World Series,” Meyer said.
Judging from his track record to this point, Mey
er’s goals could very well become reality.
Tanner can look forward to just penciling
Meyer into his lineup each day and looking for good
things to follow.
“We signed him to come in and play shortstop
every day,” Tanner said. “As good as he is, he's com
ing into a great league and he’ll be a freshman. I'm
not worried in the least about how he'll perform.”
The Slate
National League
Eastern Division W L Pet GB L10 Str
Atlanta 77 49 .611 - 7-3 W-4
New York 76 49 .608 .5 7-3 L-l
Philadelphia 65 58 .528 10.5 3-7 L-l
Montreal 50 73 .407 25.5 5-5 L-3
Florida 50 73 .407 25.5 3-7 L-2
Central Division
Houston 75 50 .600 - 6-4 W-2
Cincinnati 73 49 .598 .5 7-3 W-2
St. Louis 63 62 .504 12 6-4 W-l
Pittsburgh 61 63 .492 13.5 4-6 L-2
Milwaukee 55 67 .451 18.5 3-7 L-3
Chicago 52 70 .426 21.5 2-8 L-l
West Division
Arizona 72 52 .581 - 7-3 W-2
San Francisco 64 59 .520 • 7.5 6-4 W-4
Los Angeles 56 68 .452 16 5-5 W-l
Colorado 56 70 .444 17 7-3 W-l
San Diego 55 69 .444 17 3-7 L-4
Wild Card Race
American League
Oakland 68 56 .548 6 7-3 W-2
Boston 67 56 .545 8 5-5 L-3
Toronto 66 60 .524 10.5 1-9 L-2
Seattle 60 62 .492 13 6-4 L-2
Chicago 59 64 .480 16.5 7-3 L-l
Baltimore 55 68 .447 20 5-5 W-l
Tampa Bay 55 69 .444 20.5 8-2 W-4
National League
Atlanta 77 49 .611 - 7-3 W-4
Cincinnati 73 49 .598 .5 7-3 W-2
Philadelphia 65 58 .528 10.5 3-7 L-l
San Francisco 64 .59 .520 7.5 6-4 W-4
St. Louis 63 62 .504 12 6-4 W-l
Pittsburgh 61 63 .492 13.5 4-6 L-2
Milwaukee 55 67 .45'1 18.5 3-7 L-3
Colorado 56 70 .444 17 7-3 W-l
American League
Eastern Division W L Pet GB L10 Str
New York 75 48 .610 - 5-5 W-l
Boston 67 56 .545 8 5-5 L-3
Toronto 66 60 .524 10.5 1-9 L-2
Baltimore 55 68 .447 20 5-5 W-l
Tampa Bay 55 69 .444 20.5 8-2 W-4
Central Division
Cleveland 75 47 .615 - 7-3 W-3
Chicago 59 64 .480 16.5 7-3 L-l
Minnesota 51 71 .418 24 3-7 L-l
Kansas City 49 74 .398 26.5 3-7 L-3
Detroit 48 74 .393 27. 4-6 W-l
West Division
Texas 74 50 .597 - 6-4 W-2
Oakland 68 56 '.548 6 7-3 W-2
Seattle 60 62 .492 13 6-4 L-2
Anaheim 50 72 .410 23 4-6 L-l
Sunday’s Top News
• McGwire hits 50th home
run; Cardinals split double
header with Mets
• Braves’ Maddux chips bone
in pitching wrist Saturday,
could miss next start
• Hingis ends Seles’ domi
nance, takes du Maurier Open
in tennis
• David Gossett wins golf’s
l/.S. Amateur Championship
• Dennis Rodman released
from jail after being arrested
on investigation of public
intoxication
NASCAR Pepsi 400, Michigan Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
by Harry Atkins
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BROOKLYN Mica — Bobby Labonte fig
ured nobody was going to beat Dale Earn
hardt.
But after watching Earnhardt and Jeff
Gordon wear out one another in a tremen
dous duel for the lead late in the NASCAR
Pepsi 400, Labonte shot past both of them
Sunday for his fourth victory of the season.
‘ ‘ It was pretty awesome, ’’said Labonte,
who started 19th in the field at Michigan
Speedway. “Ifyou didn’t clear both of them,
you knew you were going to be in trouble. ’ ’
Labonte decided to go for it on lap 183,
diving low into the first tum.
“We kept trying that move a few times,”
Labonte said. “Jeff and Dale were awful
strong there, and I couldn’t get by them.”
It was Labonte’s third Winston Cup win
at the 2-mile superspeedway in Michigan’s
Irish Hills region, where a crowd estimat
ed at 153,532 looked on.
Unlike the June race at Michigan, when
points leader Dale Jarrett won easily in a
caution-free race, there was plenty of bump
ing and grinding which yielded six cautions
for 26 laps. |
The sixth and final caution came on
lap 162, when rookie Tony Stewart tapped
Jeff Burton, causing him to spin out and
hit the wall past turn. Wiien the race was
restarted five laps later, it was a fierce bat
tle to the finish.
“When you get side-by-side to
the comer, you just don’t go as fast,”
Labonte said. “So we got back in
line behind Jeff, and he ;uid Dale got
together. I got low. The next thing
you know I had a run down the front
straightaway.”
Labontq remained third in the
standings.
Charlie Wallace
Senior Writer
Unrealistic?
Don’t tell
USC fans
□fler what seemed like the .
longest summer of my life,
a new school year is final
ly here.
Every year, certain perpetual
sights and sounds welcome stu
dents back to the capital city.
What would a new school year at
USC be like without ongoing
construction to beautify the cam
pus, or 600 sorority-girls-to-be
strutting, their stuff for a week,
or the blazing, hot-as-(fill in the
blank) sun baking our bodies and
making sweat run down our
faces?
With all of these Carolina tra
1 ditions greeting us upon our ar
rival, one in particular seems to
steal the show every year: unre
alistic football expectations.
Carolina fans and students all
seem to possess a certain biologi
cal gene that other schools’ fans
somehow lack. This gene com
bines all of the fanaticism of Car
olina football with that of big
time SEC football. This, in turn,
generates unearthly expectations
for the upcoming football season
at USC.
It’s not uncommon to be sit
ting in a barber shop in Five
Points and hear old jftiys there
talk about how, with a little luck
and a little coaching, along with
some career years from players,
USC has a chance to go 9-2 and
maybe win a bowl game.
Students join in this time
honored tradition, as well. I’ve
overheard people in the line at
the Grand Marketplace talk about
teams the Gamecocks “should
beat.”
“Dude, we'll beat N.C. State,
we can beat Georgia, East Caroli
na can be beat,” they say. “We’ll
lose to maybe Florida and Ten
nessee.”
Talking up the football team
is richer in tradition than the
football program itself. If teams
played at the level of fans’ sup
port and hopes, Carolina would
be in the top five in the polls
everv vear.
After 1998's debacle of a sea
son, I was sure the talk would
stop and people, myself included,
would come to their senses and
realize all USC needed to do to
improve was win two games this
season.
Alas, the arrival of one Lou
Holtz trashed all those ideas. En
ter the 11th winningest coach in
college football history to stir up
more talk. Every year seems to
be the year Carolina football can
make a name for itself. If Lou
can’t do it, I’ll bet the farm and
say no one ever will.
So, realistically, just how
good or bad will Carolina be this
year? Actually, things are look
ing up for the Gamecocks. USC
returns only three starters on of
fense, six on defense. However,
most of the players on the team
earned a decent amount of play
ing time when they were thrown
into the inferno that was last sea
son, as the coaching staff went
looking for answers.
In one or the tew good coach
ing decisions of 1998, for exam
ple, coach Brad Scott used fresh
man quarterback Phil Petty in
every game. Scott was preparing
for the future, one that he, ironi
cally, wouldn’t be part of. Under
offensive coordinator Skip
Holtz's guidance. Petty can really
blossom in the next three years.
The runningback position
looks to have a lot of potential.
With three Mr. Footballs in a
stacked recruting class - Andrew
Pinnock from Connecticut, Ryan
Brewer of Ohio, and homegrown
Derek Watson - and a vastly im
proved Boo Williams, a star will
Wallace SEE PAGE 12