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Cf 1 Inside: ' Schedule use track & field travels to 2000 Raleigh ■ Track & fiald at Ralei9h Relays’ today . . , , . . through Sat. Relays, men’s tennis tries to break into win . Men.s tennis vs. Arkansas, 2 p.m. column with match against Arkansas ■ softball at Tennessee (DH), 7:30 p.m. ■ Baseball vs. Alabama, 7 p.m. Holtz proposes changing fight song Football Roundup Gamecock Sports USC head football coach Lou Holtz has proposed changing the South Carolina fight song, citing reasons of nobody understand ing the lyrics and the lyrics not making any sense. The issue came up when a fan wrote to Holtz’s web site, www.coachholtz.com, and complained about the fight song. Holtz responded to the complaint, saying, “I agree that our school song and fight song leave a lot to be desired... I have given up trying to learn them. This is the first time I have not insisted the players learn the school song be cause I think it is impossible to learn.” Holtz believes that the song needs a rewrite so’ the football team can have some thing to “sing after a victory.” The Game cock football team went 0-11 last season and is riding a 21 -game losing streak, the nation’s longest active streak among the 114 teams in Division I college football. Holtz, who has coached at nine differ ent schools (head coach at five of them) and served as an NFL head coach, has always in sisted that his teams leam the school’s fight song. “My children could sing the Ohio State fight song when they were 3 years old,” Holtz said (Holtz was a Buckeye assistant in 1968). “Tell me what song anybody can sing here other than the alma mater. The players don’t know it; I don’t know it. I’ve tried.” Holtz is mainly complaining because he says the song’s words don’t make sense. He even hired a friend last year to write a new song, but it was “just as bad as our present song,” according to Holtz. Holtz has been visiting dorms and other campus locations over the past week, encouraging support for the football team. Holtz said he asked several students at these locations and nobody knew it. “This is the first place I’ve ever been where nobody knows it,” Holtz said. Holtz has offered to write a new song, seeing that he wrote one for the New York Jets when he was coaching in 1976. The song later became the anthem for the N.C. State Wolfpack, where Holtz coached be fore New York. Holtz used the song during his one season with the Jets, making his players sing it. However, he later resigned as head coach following a 3-10 season. The Jets fight song was “something that was immature on my part,” Holtz said. “But on the college level, a school fight song should bind everybody together. This is the only place I’ve ever been where it’s not ob vious ... I’ve looked at the words and they just don’t make much sense to me.” The fight song was writter by former Gamecock coach Paul Dietzel and intro duced in 1968. Holtz, who held one of his first graduate assistant coach positions at South Carolina under Dietzel, left USC in 1967 after two seasons. The search for the new USC fight song is open to anybody. Interested fans can send in their versions to several locations, including Holtz’s web site and The State newspaper. Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports USC football coach Lou Holtz is unhappy with the school’s fight song, saying the lyrics don’t make sense. Holtz is advocating a different fight song for the university. Fightin Christians hold off Gamecocks, win 7-5 tit- *“®s**SP i i —Spu-t - . ----- --- •■ f ~ by Kyle Almond Staff Writer Mk The No. 5 South Carolina baseball team was shut down Wednesday by a capable, underrated Elon team 7-5 at Saige Frye Field. Elon’s Tim Schilling had his way ; with USC hitters all night, striking out * eight in 6 2/3 innings, and two insur ance runs in the eighth and ninth in 5j nings from the Fightin’Christians were £ enough to hold off a late Gamecock i rally. “As far as I’m concerned,” USC i head coach Ray Tanner said, “that game ; was predicated by Tim Schilling. He > was really good. “He has a knack for sometimes be ■ ing very dominant, and tonight was one I of those nights.” Schilling, who improved his record '■ to 4-0 this year, had a no-hitter until - the bottom of the fifth, when Marcus | McBeth singled to right-center. At the time, Elon held a slim 1-0 advantage. But as Schilling’s dominance be gan to diminish, Elon’s bats respond ed with an offensive barrage in the next ; inning. Elon erupted for four runs in the sixth, sparked by Jason Tuttle’s lead > off triple off Gamecock starter Steven ! Whetstone. Tuttle was brought home ^ by^ghtfielder Whit Bryant, and Elon’s ' )itii Swenson and Brian Kane con > tributed RBIs of their own to increase jr their lead to five. The Gamecocks finally got on the board in the seventh. Nate Janowicz brought home John McHenry to score USC’s first run, and rightfielder Bren nan Dees added two more runs off his fourth triple of the season, effective ly ending Schilling’s game. Schilling’s replacement, Nathan Holcomb, then struck out Trey Dyson to get the Fightin’ Christians out of the inning holding a two-run lead. Elon refused to slow down late in the game, adding a run in both the eighth and ninth innings to make the score 7-3, and the four-run deficit proved to be insurmountable for the Gamecocks. Janowicz walked to start the bot tom of the ninth, and shortstop Drew Meyer doubled down the left field line in the next at-bat, but Dees and Mar cos Rios could only muster sacrifice flies in the next two at-bats. With two outs, a full count, and the Gamecocks trailing 7-5, Tripp Kelly flied out to end the game. “We were just hoping that we could run [Schilling’s] pitch count up and take a shot at him late, which worked out,” Tanner said. “The problem is, we just spotted him too many runs.” Carolina also committed three er rors in the loss. Meyer let a double play ball roll through his legs, lead ing to a run, catcher Brandon Pack had a throwing error trying to throw out a runner at first and Whetstone uncorked one wild pitch, scoring Elon’s first run. The unexpected loss dropped the Gamecocks to 25-4 on the season, while Elon improved to 23-9. Carolina now has to learn from this setback and focus on its three-game home series this weekend against Al abama, picked in the preseason to win the Southeastern Conference. “I think we’re going to get up for this weekend,” Meyer said. “Now, we realize we can’t just walk on water and beat anybody by just throwing our gloves out there. We are going to try hard. “Hopefully, we can sweep them, and if not, at least get two out of three.” Notes: Senior outfielder Shane Nelson will undergo surgery today to repair tom cartilage in his right knee. He will be out for a minimum of three weeks ... senior righthander Lee Gronkiewicz underwent shoulder surgery on Monday and will not play the rest of the season. He is applying, however, for a medical redshirt and hopes to be back next season ... pro jected third starter Chris Spigner had a recurrence of his elbow injury and will be out another two weeks... fresh man catcher Bo Mobley has a pulled hamstring and is day-to-day ... Kip Bouknight will start tonight against Al abama, and Peter Bauer will start on Saturday..Sunday’s starter will be an nounced later, according to Tanner. Jacquelyn Poston Gamecock Sports Shortstop Drew Meyer receives instructions before standing in for the next pitch. The Gamecocks lost Wednesday to Elon, dropping the No. 5 squad to 25-4,6-3 SEC. Fantasy baseball not for the weak Mark P i r a s Senior Writer About a week befoje the season starts, the e-mails start pouring in. This time, it’s baseball. “REMINDER!” the e-mail screams at me pointlessly. “Fantasy Baseball Live Draft. Tuesday, March 28,2 p.m.” I realize that 2 p.m is Pacific Time and do some quick math - 5 p.m. I scream a curse back at the screaming e mail because I have class at 5:30.1 am stuck with a dilemma -1 paid for the team I’ll be drafting; I also paid for the class. I decide to do the draft; I know I can retake the class. “This message is to remind you of your Live Online Draft,” another e-mail informs me; this one is much more cour teous. i aon t scream at it, even tnougn I realize that this draft takes place at the same time as the other one. ESPN, Yahoo, Sandbox, Wall Street Sports, CNN/SI. I remember signing up for a few of them, but can’t figure out how I signed up for so many. I curse again, this time at myself. Why do I feel the need to hold all these drafts the week before the season starts? Do I really think that gives me a huge advantage? I stay up all hours of the night, jug gling my homework with reading up on spring training reports, devouring team previews and depth charts, searching out mock drafts. I calculate my odds of landing both Griffey and Sosa as slight ly worse than winning the South Car olina state lottery - the one that does n’t exist. Draft day comes too soon for each one of my drafts. I feel unprepared, over whelmed. I never get the first pick, and watch helplessly as Rodriguez, Jeter and Garciaparra go too quickly. As I struggle to find my shortstop, Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez and Kendall go. I start scrolling down the charts, look ing for a sleeper. Is this the year that Barry Larkin returns to elite status? Whs Lieberthal’s monster season last year an aberration? I know I’m grasping at straws. How am I ever going to get my closers before they’re gone? And of course, I make the inevitable pick of a player I can’t believe is still available. And also of course, there is always a reason. “Lofton!?” a polite league member types in the draft chat room, another roto-geex like me wno probably has page after page of cross-indexed print outs littering the desk his computer sits on. “Lofton’s injured! What the hell are you doing?” “Astacio’s gonna suck this year!” another one pipes in after another pick. “You know he’s in Colorado, right? His ERA will be larger than the skid marks in Rikishi’s thong!” Finally, I get through it and look at a team filled with players I never wanted - a team with more holes than Pinehurst. Immediately, I start getting trade offers, generous opportunities to add the services of Izzy Molina for the small sacrifice of Mark McGwire. Always a note attached, explaining that a backup catcher is more important than a home run-hitting first baseman. Catchers are rare, it informs me, while first basemen are a dime a dozen. Fourteen-year-old managers with a temporary lease on the computer from their parents start filling the message board with ignorant boasts like, “U ALL SUCK! I HAVE VLADIMIR GUER RERO AND HE WILL POUND 50 HOMERZ AND BEAT U ALL TO HELL.” The 40-year-old managers in the league all feel the need to respond and tell the ignorant people just how igno rant they are, which is about as effec tive as trying to fill the Grand Canyon using a shovel and a sand pail. Soon, the message board has spi raled out of control as the children go PlRAS SEE PAGE 10 Softball earns 8th split of year Softball Roundup Gamecock Sports The No. 17 Lady Gamecock soft ball team earned its eighth-straight split Tuesday against the top team in the Southeastern Conference Western Di vision, the Crimson Tide of Alabama. USC one-hit the Tide 1 -0 in game one and dropped game two 4-3. Game one was a pitchers’ duel un til the fourth inning. The Lady Game cocks had their first legitimate scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth. With two outs, senior Sondra Hall dou bled over centerfielder Kelly Kretschman's head. Junior Adrienne Genovese then walked to put runners on first and second with Megan Dono hoo at the plate when Hall was picked off second to end the inning. The Tide threatened in the bottom of the fourth when Megan Matthews walked Kretschman with one out. Christy Kyle reached on an error by shortstop Kendra McCutcheon, with . Kretschman advancing to third. But Matthews got Paula White to ground out to second to end the inning. Carolina broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth. McCutcheon slapped a single to left field to begin the inning. Joyce McMillin knocked in McCutcheon with a double to left field and a fielding error by White. Matthews had her no-hitter bro ken in the bottom of the sixth. Suzan na Olcott walked to lead off the inning and was sacrificed over. Power hitter Kretschman was intentionally walked, and Ginger Jones got Alabama’s first base hit to load the bases. Matthews put out the fire with a fly out and a lin er. Matthews dominated the Tide in the bottom of the seventh to pre serve the 1-0 lead for her third com plete game shutout of the season. With the one-hitter, Matthews moved to 13 9 on the season. In game two, USC took advantage of another Alabama miscue. With two outs on the opening inning, Adrianna Baggetta walked and Hall reached on a fielder’s choice. Genovese then lined a single to right field and advanced to second on an error by rightfielder Kyle, scoring both Baggetta and Hall. The Tide got a run back in the bot tom of the first with a pair of doubles by Kelley Askew and Jones to cut the USC lead to 2-1 after one inning. USC took a 3-1 lead in the sixth with a Jodi Fittro double and a Gen ovese single down the right field line. But Alabama would come roar ing back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Kim Rohret hit a three-run home run to give Alabama its first lead of the day. The Tide held on for the 4-3 win. Carolina now prepares for a three day four-game series against Eastern Division foe Tennessee. Tonight’s USC . UT game will be televised on Fox Sports South at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Gamecocks will play a doubleheader on Saturday anda single game on Sun day. ’ {