Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_Gamecock Sports__ The real Number One I David Cloninger | Who Else? As I walked out of Sunday’s 17-8 loss to Florida at Sarge Frye Field, I couldn’t help but think, “Well, it had to end sometime, right? We couldn’t go 56-0.” For those of you who know my fierce devotion to Gamecock athlet ics, this might come as a surprise. Re ally, I wasn’t that mad. In fact, I was relieved the baseball team was con vincingly beaten now so it wouldn’t happen later at the hands of some re ally horrible team. Then came Monday. I was just minding my business in the Gamecock newsroom when my friend Chris called. Chris is the sports information director for the baseball team, and he wanted to let me know about USC’s good fortune in the week ly baseball polls. I was pleasantly surprised when Chris informed me the Gamecocks are currently ranked No. 3 in the Baseball America poll, but more importantly, No. 2 in the official rankings, the Col legiate Baseball poll. And then the bomb dropped. Of course, being ranked No. 2 means only one other team in the en tire nation is ranked ahead of USC, and out of God-knows-how-many other teams, guess who is the only one ahead of the Gamecocks? I knew it before Chris said it. “Yeah, we’re only behind (imagi nary shudder) Clemson.” Duh-duh-daah! This is yet another example of how some supreme being is out to get me. First, North Carolina undeservedly makes the tournament and thanks to Bill Guthridge selling his soul to Sa tan, beats Stanford to make the I Sweet 16. Then, USC drops a game it really should have won to a classless bunch of no-talent idiots from Gainesville, thus depriving it of a re ally good chance to take the No. 1 slot. John Smoltz is out for the season with a bum elbow, and USC spring foot ball practice is starting to look more and more like that scene in Gone With The Wind where Scarlett is looking at all of the injured soldiers. Yes, those orange-clad cretins from the northern pasture have somehow managed to claim the No. 1 spot over our boys, although for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Let’s look at the statistics. Clemson is 19-3* 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. South Carolina is 22-1,5-1 Southeastern Conference. Hmm. How is three losses better than one loss, 19 wins better than 22, and three wins against the unranked Maryland Terrapins compared to three wins at then-No. 4 Auburn and two wins over unranked Florida match up? Strength of schedule? Clemson has beaten Rice, who wits ranked No. 7 at the time, but is now unranked, de fending NCAA Champion Miami, who is currently No. 17, and gone 2-1 with No. 22 East Carolina. Otherwise, they have lost to Central Florida and UN LV. USC, meanwhile, has taken three games from Auburn, beaten East Car olina and defending Southern Confer ence champion The Citadel. Oh, wait, how about the upcoming schedule? Clemson has The Citadel, who is unranked but a tough competi tor, No. 3 Florida State, No. 7 North Carolina, No. 16 GeoigiaTech, No. 25 Wake Forest and one game with No. 12 Georgia to look at besides the Game cocks. South Carolina has three games with Georgia, No. 15 Alabama, No. 19 Mississippi State, No. 23 LSU, No. 28 Kentucky and the series with Auburn besides the Tigers. Which one sounds tougher to you? USC’s last and only loss was a nine run fiasco to Florida. Clemson’s last loss was a nine-run fiasco to East Car olina. In the latest polls, here’s how the - two teams stack up. Collegiate Base ball - Clemson No. 1, USC No. 2, USA Today Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coach es - USC No. 2, Clemson No.5, Base ball America - USC No. 3, Clemson No. 7. Maybe it’s the players, not just the teams. Let’s see; Clemson’s Mike Cal itri leads the team with a .364 average, while Michael Johnson has a team-lead ing three home runs for the year. Al so, six Tigers are batting above .300. The Gamecocks are led with a .500 average from Marcos Rios, but he is used primarily as a pinch hitter. Next on the list is Brandon Pack with a .368 mark. Nine Gamecocks are above .300, while Tripp Kelly has tripled Johnson’s output with nine dingers. There’s more than just hitting in this game, though. Pitching is the biggest aspect, according to some. The Tigers have Scott Berney with a 6-0 record, a sparkling 0.80 ERA and 29 strikeouts. Bemey is backed up by Ryan Mottl with a 1.19 ERA, a 5-0 record and 31 strikeouts. USC can’t really compare, I guess. I mean, Carolina just has Kip Bouknight with a 7-0 record, a 2.05 ERA and 57 Ks, while Peter Bauer is 4-0 with 32 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA. How in the bloody hell did Clem son get the top spot over USC? Be cause they swept the stupid turtle base ball team at Clemson? The geniuses in charge of this decision probably were in on the famous Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas trade. All I’m saying is to let the stats and facts speak for themselves. I suppose I could bring up the idea that all of USC’s players can spell their own names without the aid of a tutor, plus the fact they don’t fill the resin bag with cow manure, but really, it’s not necessary. Pay no attention to the polls. We all know who the real No. 1 is. Carolina Unity "Let us not be blind to our differences-but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity." John F. Kennedy June 10,1963 March 21 Giwayen Mata Dance Troupe 8:00 pm Russell House Theater Sponsored by Carolina Productions March 23 Clean Carolina 3:30 pm On Greene Street in front of the Russell House Sponsored by the Student Government Association Block Party Featuring Live Music 5:00 pm Russell House Patio Subs & Drinks Provided Sponsored by the Student Government Association March 25 National Service Day 8:30 am Carolina Plaza Light Breakfast provided Sponsored by the Alumni Association Scholar’s Day USC Horseshoe March 30 President’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast 7:30 am Russell House Ballroom Sponsored by the Office of the President, the Carolina Chaplains Association, the Department of Religious Studies, and the Division of Student & Alumni Services April 1 Carolina Showcase 10:30 am - 2:00 pm USC Horseshoe Legacy Invasion 10:30 am - 2:00 pm USC Horseshoe Sponsored by the Alumni Association “Places in the Heart" A “Hoosiers" shown throughout the week on WRHA CHECK YOUR LISTINGS Sponsored by the Residence Hall Association Sponsored by the Carolina Student Judicial Council, the Office of Student Judicial Programs, University Housing, and the Student Government Association Women’s Cross Coratby The South Carolina women’s cross country team has been named one of 69 participating schools that hold a team GJA. of 3.25 or better. The Gamecocks’ team GPA is 3.38, good for 32nd on the list and second highest among SEC schools. Tlie rankings were chosen by the Wom ens’ Intercollegiate Cross Country Coach es Association Board of Directors. Men's Goif The No. 13 South Carolina mat’s golf team posted rounds of 310 and 303 Monday and stand in 12th place with a 613 total after two rounds of the prestigious Morris Williams Intercollegiate at the Austin Countiy Club. No. 8 Br^iam Young blistered the 15-team field with a 6-under 282 in the second round and has a five stroke lead on No. 5 Oklahoma State with one round to play. In Monday’s second round, Carolina got an even-par 72 from Thompson and a 2-over 74 from Lars Cederqvist in post ing a 303 tally. The Gamecocks’ top per former through two rounds is Cederqvist, who has a 6-over 150 and is tied for 19th place. Gamecock scores from the opening round are as follows: Scores T19. Lars Cederqvist 76,74 150 T30. Kyle Thompson 80,72 152 T54. Eric Ecker 79,78 157 T67. John Bloomfield 81,79 160 T67. Brent Roof 75,85 160 Leading Teams (15 total) 1. Brigham Young 304,282 686 2. Oklahoma State 290,304 594 3. Fresno State 294,302 596 4. New Mexico 298,298 596 5. Houston 302,296 599 12. South Carolina 310,303 613 Men’s Tennis The Gamecocks men's tennis team finished their weekend road trip to Mis sissippi State with a.4-1 loss. Tire match began with the doubles teams playing out doors, but after a few games the compe tion was forced inside due to rain. The Gamecocks pulled out two vic tories in the doubles division. Marc Pichler and Robert Steckley defeated MSUs Jerome LeBelicard and Charles Sevigny 8-6, while Juan Gamboa and David Nel son took control of their match against Chris McDonald and Mathieu Soto and won 8-4. MSU went on to win the first four sin gles matches to secure tire victoty, The last two matches were suspended for time tea sons. South Carolina will be at hone to play host to Tennesse on Friday at 2 p.m. A the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. j I | Fully Furnished Apartment Homes • Unique Design with Lotts ^ ^ • Individual Leases Available \17TT 41 FY*Q • Lots of Free Parking VV 1 wt FF 1 ^ •AwesomeLocation at use • Walk to Campus « Call Today! (803) 254-7801 211 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201 (across from College of Engineering) I Save 25 - 50 ^ selected merchandise* and novelty items Sweatshirts • t-shirts • cups While we're cleaning, check out our daily specials and in store sale table. Z r\ 'tteCfficialBookstorw^SC] 1400 Greene SI. » Russell House » (803) 777-4160 | Where your purchases benefit both you and the scholarship programs of USC.