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_ ^Gamecock Sports _ _ Friendly competition or hard-nosed business? ere is no point in denying the ob ious. College athletics, football es ecially, is nothing but a bunch of businesses trying to outsell one another. Whether it’s joining athletic confer ences, signing ludicrous T. V. contracts, or raising ticket prices while upgrading the stadium to a capacity level larger then most cities, football today is a well oiled money-making machine. These revelations are no secret to the common fan. The advent of T.V. has spumed a massive amount of exposure to teams. With exposure comes a price, and that price is advertising. Here is a challenge: Go to the mall. Resist the urge to buy a pretzel and try to pay attention to the scenery. As you're walking through, ignore adults and make sure to look at every kid you pass. What you’ll notice is that at least half of them have some sort of college sports team clothing on, such as hats, jerseys, shorts and jackets. Why is this? Kids watch tele vision, and they watch a lot of it. Atmeucs aepanmenis Know tms very well. It’s no secret that the more suc cessful a team’s program is, the more items are bought, thus bringing another kind of exposure. So, the million dollar question that a struggling or suocessful athletics program has to ask itself is, “How do we maintain or build a winning program that will in turn give us multimedia exposure, thus helping advertising, so we can raise ticket prices while raising the seating ca pacity of our 100,000 seat stadium?” Only there is no Regis Philbin, no life lines, and only one choice, not four. And that choice is simple: recruit athletes. Sounds easy enough, but recruiting is the real ugly side to college athletics. The NCAA imposes certain rules, le gal and illegal, and colleges break them. Sometimes they get caught, but more of ten than not, they get away with cheat ing. This is the challenge that the USC football team is currently wrestling with. The university’s resume, unfortunately, reads similar to a bad joke: 1999 record-0 11, Conference-Southeastern (arguably the nation’s toughest), bowl record-1 8, winning seasons in the past decade three. However, throw one of the most successful coaches in history into the equa tion, and all of a sudden USC has a shot. The truth is, Carolina’s recruiting class so far isn’t too bad. It’s quite good for a team who is 1-21 the past two years. Most players relish the shot of playing for a leg end. So far, Coach Lou Holtz has garnered 21 out of 25 possible commitments. “I chose South Carolina because I think they’re about to turn their program around,” said prize commitment Dondr ial Pinkins, a quarterback from Camilla, Ga. “I can make a name for myself there.” Pinkins was slated to visit several schools such as Auburn, N.C. State and Central Florida in January, but he can celled those. “Coach Holtz was a major reason why. I did not make my visit to Pittsburgh this weekend,” said Gonzie Gray, one of Mary land’s top defensive back prospects. “I’ll visit South Carolina next weekend, and that’ll be it.” However, the harsh realities some times set in. Case in point: Johnnie Morant. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound wide-out from Parsippany, N.J., chose Syracuse over the Gamecocks Tuesday. He was rat ed the No. 3 receiver in the nation. “I liked my visit to South Carolina. I love their stadium, campus and coaches,” Morant said. “Holtz is the man.” Pretty promising huh? Morant changed his tune a few days ago when he said “I just committed to Syracuse. It is just a perfect fit for me. Syracuse is close to home and I can play early there.” Like the the boyfriend who gets dumped and never saw it coming, Morant leaves fans as well as Holtz wondering “What did we do wrong?” But we must remember, the guy is 18 years old. I remember when I had a hard time choosing a college. I was get ting letters every day from schools say ing, “We want you,” and “You’ll love it here.” _ I am now one of 26,000 players on a team. But, when the team recruiting you lias only 25 free openings, it can get nasty. Recruiting trips turn into the Sodom and Gomorrahs of vacations. Alumni wear ing suits give you hundred-doilar hand shakes. Promises of new cars, apartments and seaside resorts are made. “Isn’t this illegal?” thinks the naive 18-year old that everybody wants. And then the sinker, “You can be the next star. You can lead us to the national champi onship.” There is no telling what Morant, Pink ins, and Gray were told on their trips. I’ll be a good fan and swear that I have full trust that Coach Holtz is doing noth ing illegal. As for Syracuse... Rest easy, fans. It only takes four years to turn a program around. Re cruiting is indeed a business within abusi ness, and as a good friend of mine asked me the other day, “What would you do without me?” I hastily replied, “I don’t know.” - I Charlie Wallace Senior Writer I Sidewalk Cafe a# FI^B <SW* THEBATE6CA!t ^ -wrntmmm CoWtl gfljjH® -[ -' ' S^P* > jt&mi ThePatto (Romt l~zzrr-11-*** The winners of University Dining Services’ Spring Meal Plan Sign-up Contest: Christine Cook, winner of a color television, Daniel Dolamic, winner of a Walkman, Nicholas DesRocher, winner of a sports bag filled with goodies. Missing in action is Steve Cronin, winner of a meal plan and Danita Reese, winner of a CD case. Also shown is Kenneth Williams of Dining Services. MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 700- Instructor's Instructor's 8:00 AM Choice Choice 7:30- Cardio Jam Cardio 8:30 AM Yoga Jam Noon Step & Step & Step & 1:00 PM Sculpt Sculpt Sculpt 1:05- Faculty/Staff Faculty/Staff Faculty/Staff 2‘05 PM Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics 2:00- Step Body 3:00 PMSculpting 3:15_ Slide Lower Body slide Upper Body 3:45 PM Blast Blast 3:55- Ab Ab Ab Ab 4:15 PM Express Express Express Express 4:30- Cardio Kick Cardio Kick Cardio 5:30 PM Jam Boxing Jam Boxing Jam 5:30- Water Water Water Water 6:15 PM Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics 5:45- Athletic Body Athletic Body Instructor's 6-45 PM Condition Sculpting Condition Sculpting Yoga Choice 7:00— Circuit Power Circuit Power 8*oo PM Training Interval Training Interval 8:15- Cardio Step Step 9’15 PM Tae Box Express Step Express --- — -; Pick up a new Spring Brochure ! Don't m^ithe new7:30am Cardtajam/Yoga Class g* on Tuesdays! ♦Participants must pay a $10 Aerobic Fee for the spring semester before taking aerobics classes. Any persons needing special assistance for a disability, please call the \ Office of Campus Recreation at least 48 hours prior to the event. P USC is an AA/ADA/EOE V Department of Student Life Division of Student and Alumni Services I he South Carolina Association ot Scholars and The National Association of Scholars present Professor Alan Charles Kors speaking on “The Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Campuses” An Examination of the Threats to Free Speech In and out of the Classroom at American Colleges and Universities 2:00 p.m. Friday,, January 21, 2000 The Russell House Theater USC Columbia Alan Charles Kors is Professor of History at The University of Pennsylvania Editor-In-Chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Enlightment Co-Author with Harvey A. Silvergate of The Shadow University (HarperPerennial, 1998) Classes are starting now! Call today to reserve your seat. DATE: January 20, 2000 TIME: 5:30 p.m. LOCATION: The Kaplan Center 1717 Gervais Street Columbia. SC 29201 KLlAlAJ leader JOJest Preepr 1-800-KAP-TEST - www.kaplan.com *MCAT is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges ZJ/ie Qdniuersity of Sou/A Garofina’s Second /Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service January 17, 2000 Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, what are you doing for others? -Martin Luther King, Jr. > 1 4 A new tradition began on January 18, 1999 when over 750 faculty, staff and students gathered to commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for one of the nation’s largest Day of Service celebrations. You are invited to continue the commitment and kick off the new year during the second annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. 9 a.m. Kick Off and Registration Russell House University Union For more information call 777-6688. Sponsored by the Office of Community Service Programs, Department of Student Life, Divison of Student and Alumni Services