Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Gamecock Sports The South, flags and sports, oh my! Shawn Singleton The Notorious 3-1-6 i “I’m about as subtle as a punch in the face. ’’-Don Shula “Bellamafia and wiseguys, little G’s of all ages, it is time to bring out the only man at USC who packs more boxes between the hours of 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. than UPS, Don Singletonio. (Cheers and applause as “Woke up This Morning” by A3 from “The Sopranos” soundtrack plays in the back ground) Announcer girl: Well, I think that... 3-1-6: It doesn’t matter what you think. Now give me money and bounce on a trampoline. (Females in the audience boo as “Hate Me Now” by Nas plays.) This latest diatribe is one of the hardest for me to write because of the subject matter. It was supposed to be a column on the NEA, but a more pressing issue com pelled me to change the topic. Three years ago, I was a freshman columnist in the Viewpoints section of this newspaper when I wrote a series of controversial columns on the Confederate flag. One of the reasons I am now a sportswriter is because of those columns. Now, you might ask the Don, “Why are you talking about this in a sports column? This has nothing to do with sports.” The people who are asking this question have no idea what is going on around them. A few weeks ago, 6,000 rednecks staged a rally to keep the Southern version of the Nazi swastika flying above the copper dome of the Statehouse. What many people out there don’t know is that 20 recruits, 13 of which were African-American, were in the city being wooed by Lou Holtz to play football for USC. It remains to be seen how many of these recruits will play here after seeing a bunch of rednecks who prob ably want to see segregation take shape again in this state. If you were a black recruit, would you want to play for a team that was winless the previous year in a state in which men like Arthur Ravenel can make racist comments in defense of the Confederate flag? I don’t know about you, but they would have to give me a brand-new car, $20,000 in cash and their best-look ing Carolina Classic to get me to play here. Last week, USC head basketball coach Eddie Fogler joined a consortium of black head coaches trying to get the 2002 NCAA Regionals moved out of Greenville if the flag is not removed. Last Thursday, the Southern Conference reached a compromise with the NA ACP to keep their conference tournament in Greenville for this year but move it in 2001 if the flag isn’t removed. Let’s get real here. In my opinion, what Fogler and the other coaches are doing might have a more imme diate impact than any rally, protest or boycott. My fa ther always taught me that to get your point across, you have to hit them where it hurts the most. In this case, the answer is South Carolina’s wallet. If these tournaments are moved, South Carolina will lose millions in revenue. The fallout could spread to all other venues as well, and in a state that depends heavi ly on tourism, this could eventually be devastating. This isn’t the first time an athletic body facilitated social change by levying economic sanctions. In 1963, the American Football League moved their all-star game from New-Orleans to Houston because the restaurants of New Orleans would not serve a black player who, in tum, refused to play in the game. The National Football League took notice, as well. They refused to give New Orleans, or any other south ern city, a franchise unless they desegregated their public facilities. In 1966, the Atlanta Falcons became the first NFL franchise in the South. New Orleans would get the Saints a year later. In July 1991, the NFL gave the state of Arizona a warning that if they didn’t adopt the King holiday, they would lose the privilege of hosting Super Bowl XXVI. In November that year, Arizona voters called the NFL’s bluff by voting down the measure. A week later, the league moved the game to Minneapolis’ Metrodome, where the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37-34. The blatant arrogance and racism of the citizens of Arizona had cost them over $700 million in lost rev enue. Two years later, they would adopt the holiday, and in 1995, they hosted Super Bowl XXX, where the Dallas Convicts defeated the Pittsbuigh Squealers, 27 17. The legislators of this state must realize that when it all comes down to it, it’s money and not heritage that is the deciding factor. They don’t care whether the rest of the country sees them as racist, uneducated, back woods hillbillies. They know they can’t afford to lose things like mon ey-making basketball tournaments, especially if they’re located in the richest and most conservative part of the state. They know that the days of the Old South, with its plantation class system, are over. In closing, I challenge all the white South Car olinians who hide under the transparent facade of her itage to explain why they support the Southern swasti ka to ask themselves these questions, “What is this flag worth? Is my ‘heritage’ worth losing millions of dollars in revenue? Can we move forward instead of back ward?” I cannot answer these questions. All I can do is pray and hope that the elected representatives of South Carolina have the courage and testicular fortitude to do the right thing. Women's track wins Fourway Track and Field Roundup Gamecock Sports The South Carolina women's track team stole the day Friday, winning the Florida Fourway and posting 13 NCAA marks. It is the second week in a row the Carolina women have won a dual meet as they won the Clemson Invitational last weekend. USC saw six women post NCAA qualifying times in at least two events each, including Miki Barber in the 200m,400m, and 4x400m relay; Me’Lisa Barber in the 55m, 200m and 4x400m relay; Rodena Barr: in the triple jump and 55m; Mechelle Lewis in the 55m and 200; Demetria Washington in the 400m and 4x400m relay and Ellakisha Williamson in the 55m hurdles and 4x400m relay. Defending NCAA champion Ter rence Trammell blew away the com petition with a 7.07. the fastest time in the world this year, to win the 55m hurdles. He was Carolina’s lone men’s NCAA qualifier on the day. Battling the flu all week, sopho more Miki Barber qualified automati cally for the NCAA Indoor Champi onships in winning the 400m at a USC record 52.94. Baiber also qualified for the 200m provisionally, winning the event at 23.80. Twin sister Me’Lisa Baiber was the run ner-up in the 200m at 24.07, qualifying provisionally. Barr won the triple jump at 42’ 11 1/2, just barely missing the NCAA au tomatic mark of 43’ 1 3/4. The mark was an NCAA provisional mark and shattered the school record by almost three feet. Barr later finished fifth in the 55m dash, posting an NCAA provisional time of 6.93, a lifetime best. Senior Patrick Tvarkunas won the men’s pole vault at 16’ 2 3/4. Washing ton picked up an NCAA provisional time at 53.52, missing an automatic mark by .02 seconds, to finish as the runner up in the 400m. The two later joined Williamson and Me’Lisa Barber to win the 4x400 relay and provisionally qualify for the NCAAs at 3:37.11. Mechelle Lewis was the runner-up in the 55m, posting an NCAA provisional time of 6.84 and breaking her own school record of 6.94. Lewis later finished third in the 200m, posting an NCAA mark of 24.09. Williamson was the runner-up in the 55m hurdles, posting an NCAA qual- ( ifying mark of 7.66 and breaking her own school record Jackie Madison pro visionally qualified for the NCAAs, fin ishing third at 7.85. Freshman Antoinette Wilks quali fied provisionally, finishing as the.run ner-up in the long jump at 20’ 1/4. Ju nior Lynette Keepler was the runner-up in the shot put, qualifying provisional ly at 50’0. Clint Crenshaw was the runner-up in the 55m at 6.28. Crenshaw was lat er fourth in the 200m at 21.62. Gerald Pressley was fourth in the 400m at 49.70. Both the men’s and women’s teams will travel to the East Tennessee State Invitational on Friday. The final results were: Wbmen’s scores 1. No. 4 South Carolina-166 2. No. 10 Florida-137.5 3. No. 14Feoigia-122.5 4. Aubum-94 Men’s scores 1. No.3 Florida-176 2. No. 4 Auburn-137 3. No. 14Geoigia-114 4. No. 11 South Carolina-102 I fsOMUCH FOR SAVING'' _MY NABI MONEY. Hob Anus on c:3tmtoCZjCjfM null NABI BioMedical Center 215 Assembly St„ Columbia SC 29201 254-2280 Help children, hemophiliacs, and heart patients who receive products made from the plasma of our donors. i — _I lie OH, YOU'RE THE BEST EVER. ■-rr_ Come see what nearly 300 student organizations have to offer you! For information call 777-5780 or stop by the Campus Activities Center. Sponsored by the Department of Student Life • Division of Student & Wc will never be silent... n . WUSC90.5 | i nomas cooper Jbmrary Spring Semester Tours Discover the world of information available in the Library-take a tour this semester! One-hour tours will be divided into two parts: a tour of the building for the first half-hour, and a tour of the Electronic Resources Network for the second half-hour. No sign-up is necessary. Just meet us in the lobby and learn what resources and services are available to you. January 10th _ January 27th Tours Monday: 11 am Tuesday: 11 am Wednesday: 2 pm & 7 pm Thursday: 4 pm The tour will last approximately one hour. The first part of the tour will include many of the library departments, such as Reference, Science Reference, Education, Government Documents, and Circulation. The second part of the tour will focus on the electronic resources available at the Thomas Cooper Library. USCAN, Internet, and CD-ROM databases will be demonstrated.__ BiAAMttiiiMMiK 0 2 o 0 o Corner of Gervais St. § o A A A A and Gadsden § I I w Across from Jillians o o Gets you: ^ ^ ^ Gervais St. § o y 799-2020 S 0 2 0 2 5 *an eye exam & jj 0 *2 six packs of disposables m o JO!* Dr. C. Earl Loftis Jr. J 0 *an eye exam & Office hours: M-Th 9am-6pm o 2 *1 pair of daily wear lenses Fri. 9am-4pm _ _ __VJ