The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 03, 1999, Page 21, Image 21
% Todd Money
Money in the Bank
Christmas
requests
for the new
millennium
%
With the holiday season upon us
again (or all over us, to discard
the cliche), it’s easy to find peo
ple asking one another, “What’s the best
thing about this time of year?”
I can’t figure this out. The best thing
about the holidays is so obvious, it’s not
even funny.
No, it’s not getting together with
your family over ham and fruitcake. It’s
not putting up plastic trees with plastic
objects draped around them. And it has
absolutely nothing to do with “The Nut
cracker.”
ii s me list, res, maKing out me
Christmas want list is the absolute most
wonderful thing about this season. It’s
• - all about what you’re going to get me.
Nothing else even compares.
With that in mind, here’s a retir
ing sports editor’s final want list of
the millennium:
A is for arena football in the Car
olinas, which is much more ethical than
wrestling and just as much fun to watch.
Oh yeah, it’s already here.
B is for Boise State and Bowling
Green? Are you nuts? These are USC’s
new non-conference football opponents
other than Clemson, at least for the 2001
season. This is actually Lou Holtz’s pre
sent. Not mine.
C is for a contest, something the an
nual Carolina-Clemson basketball game
usually isn’t but should most certainly
be this season. Two of the youngest teams
in the country square off in an intrigu
f/ ing matchup at Littlejohn Coliseum on
Dec. 16.
D is for depth for the Atlanta Braves’
bench. Boy, nothing scares those pow
erful, All-Star-laden American League
champions like Howard Battle and Kei
th Lockhart. Someday they’ll get it.
E is for easy replacements for Ly
dia Bienias, Jennie Ondo and Mindy
Sanders of the USC women’s soccer
team.
F is for four wins for the Gamecock
football team next season. That’s being
optimistic, though. Actually, that’s what
I asked for last year, and we know how
that request turned out.
G is for just a few more great catch
^ es for Jerry Rice, who deserves better
than to have to stick out his career for
a lost franchise.
H is for a Hall of Fame induction for
I-—-r»mi
Pete Rose, who deserves at least that much.
But, I wouldn’t buy a used car from him.
I is for inspired NM players, who are
harder to find than hard sports news on
network TV.
J is for justice for Florida State wide
receiver Peter Whrrick, and anyone else
who gets away with mind-numbingly stu
pid crimes. Yeah, I’m sure that’ll happen
soon.
K is for kudos to football coach Glen
Mason, who left a reasonably good job at
Kansas to take a mediocre job at Min
nesota and turned his team into the Big
10’s big surprise this season.
L is for leniency under the Bowden
tree this Christmas, when daddy Bobby
tries to undercut son Tommy for beating
him out for Atlantic Coast Conference
Coach of the Year honors.
M is for more John McEnroe, who’s
even more fun to watch now that he has
a position of power in the tennis world.
N is for national championship hopes
for Vnginia Tech football, which hasn’t
been close to the position it’s in now in a
long, long time.
0 is for an offensive line. This is one
of those combination presents. Keep read
ing.
P is for plenty of playoff games for
Steve McNair and the Tennessee Titans,
who have shaken off all the crap that comes
with moving a franchise and become one
of the NFL’s top five teams. And, they
didn’t even have fans last season.
Q is for a quarterback who can win.
To get F, you must have this. Or, as Phi
losophy 101 taught me: Q—> F —> eter
nal happiness.
R is for restricting the number of
---_*1_*__ -
JJ/U1 U) UTTU1VW JIIUH J Umi VUli WUVV |/1UW
in a year. How many of these are there
now? The ESPN awards, the Sports Il
lustrated awards, the Player’s Choice
Awards, ESPN’s top 50 athletes, blah, blah,
blah. Meaningless.
S is for solace, which should also go
to the San Francisco 49ers. The only thing
woree than ripping up your franchise from
its roots after it finally gains respect (See:
1997 Florida Marlins) is letting it die a
slow, miserable death.
T is for tickets to the 2000 baseball
All-Star Game in Atlanta. Of course, this
means the Braves still won’t win a Wbrld
Series; the team that plays host to the mid
season classic never wins the fall classic.
Oh well.
U is for the unveiling of some other
postseason system for college football.
The NCAA will listen to me about this,
eventually.
V is for vile, insensitive, trash-talk
ing fans, who should never be afraid to
come to USC baseball games and blend
in.
W is for wrestling maybe, perhaps,
just for a few years, going out of style.
X is for a Xerox of basketball coach
Eddie Fogler’s conversation with the me
dia following Tuesday’s game with
Charleston Southern, in which both teams
combined for 53 turnovers and 49 per
sonal fouls. The first time I remember a
coach asking the media what the hell hap
pened in a game.
Y is for young, talented college stu
dents, who should never be afraid to come
up to their school newspaper to write for
its up-and-coming sports section.
Z is for zingers, which are always
neat for sports columnists to end with.
30$
«
I
I_|IIIII III
Carolina Sports _
University of South Carolina
Winter Break Sports Calendar
Date_Opponent, _Time
Dec. 16
Dec. 18
Dec. 21
Dec. 28
Dec. 30
Jan. 5
Dec. 15
Dec. 18
Dec. 22
Dec. 30
Jan. 2
Jan. 5
Men’s Basketball
at Cfemson
Campbell
at St. Joseph’s
UNC-Charlotte
S.C. State
... Tennessee
Women’s Basketball
Florida Atlantic
Georgia Southern
S.C. State
at N.C. State
George Mason
-Charleston Southern
9 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
TBA
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
5 p.m.
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
2 p.m.
5 p.m.
The champion of the 1999
Sports Challenge, sponsored by
Gamecock Sports, is:
TODD
MONEY
(40-20) |p
free G\K*?Jrx*
r v it's HERE*
toNxGht -^seR stoRw •
o on j DdSKetDaii Tournament begins at 8 pm • ?
Triples Volleyball Tournament begins at 9 pm • f
3 Point Shoot Out • Carolina Trivia Contest • |
Scavenger Hunt • Hole in One Golf Contest • ?
* Holiday Funk Aerobics at 9 pm * f
• Weight Room Open All Night • |
• FOOD • Door Prizes -- ALL FREE! • I
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