Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

^ A Gamecock Sports Schedule V ■ Volleyball ieorgia, Fri., 7 p.m. ^ Mfl A ■ Women’s soccer at Vanderbilt, Fri., 7 p.m. L ^P ^P ■ ■ ■ Men’s golf in Dalton, Ga., Fri.-Sun. ^ ■ Football at Kentucky, Sat., 7 p.m. 11 1,1 . . . 1 . . . .. 1 hi. Page 10 TEIlE 03lllCCOCk Wednesday, October 4, 2000 USC golfer ranked No. 6 by Chris McCrary The Gamecock After finishing up his final hole in The Ridges Intercollegiate Golf Tournament, Gamecock golfer Johan Kok probably walked off the course with pride reflected in his green eyes and a sense of ac complishment that few could probably comprehend. Kok, currently the No. 6 player in the nation, is one of the ma jor reasons the USC golf team is ranked second in the country. He destroyed his competition at the tournament with a score of 208 over three rounds. Kok, a native of South Africa, had won more than a mere golf match. He had a more personal goal to achieve. He had something to drive him. A good friend of Kok’s, Gordon Leask, who lived with him for a time in Scotland, was recently diagnosed with cancer and is ex pected to live only six months. Having said goodbye to his family, Leask now spends his re maining time following Kok’s golf career. For the rest of the season, Kok is not only driven tQ win, but to give his friend something great tp follow in his final days. Great might be something you could say about Kok’s golf game. With a 300-yard plus drive, Kok loves to dominate with his most deadly clubs, the woods. In his career, he has beaten his Ridges score of 208 only once, with a 204 at a non-collegiate club championship. It is easy to say that Kok has skill, but combined with the moti vation of playing for a dying friend, the South African gets some thing much more out of his golf game, something to push him past his abilities. What he gets is a true purpose to play golf and win. Kok has more to handle than just golf. When he is not crushing a golf ball with his driver in his Tommy Hilfiger shirts and his Foot Joy golf shoes, Kok spends his time studying accounting and eco nomics, as well as working on his 3.2 GPA. Strangely enough to Kok, his favorite class at USC was English, not accounting, even though English is his second language. Nev ertheless, with plans to master in accounting, Kok is well on his way to a successful future. When he is not working at school or on the golf course, Kok likes to relax with his friends. They often watch Gamecock football games together, cheering with fervor for another South Carolina victory. After watching a game, Kok and his friends like to go to Jungle Jim’s to have fun, release stress, and enjoy their time off. The next day, it’s back to the course for another round. Inspiration can be found when looking at a man like Kok. Any one V'ho has the pleasure to talk with him can tell how important his friends are, and when you look at the case of his dying friend, you cannot help but respect his character and conviction. It is hard enough to have a friend who is dying, but knowing that a friend is spend ing his last moments watching and cheering for him must put a lot of pressure on Kok’s game. Still, he takes that pressure and turns it into a driving force, and it is this that makes him more than a win ner. It makes him a true champion and an exemplary student-ath lete. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmaiI.com. r . I __ _ ti_2l__m? r___ mill -r¥r—mr-i Special To The Gamecock Gamecock golfer Johan Kok, ranked No. 6 in the nation, leads the USC golf team in 2000. USC students show lapses of intelligence Kyle Almond Sports Commentary First of all, let me say that I’m proud to be a Gamecock. I feel we have some of the most loyal fans in the country, and I think our students can match up with almost any oth er university in terms of dedication and over all team support. But lately I have noticed a few things about my fellow USC students that really get under my skin. If you go to class sporting Tennessee gear, an Alabama hat, or anything from a SEC school other than South Carolina, you should be ashamed of yourself. Where’s your school spirit? This is a big problem here. I don’t care if your best friend goes to Kentucky or if your father is a graduated Gator, you should be taking pride in your Gamecock gear. Form your own identity. And for you tools that have the gall to wear Clemson gear — you are the /AIlllCHI ldl. IUU M1UU1U UC 1UICCU IU MdUU 1U feet away from Kip Bouknight while he throws fastballs at your face. I’m not saying you can’t wear any other school’s colors other than USC’s. Right now, as I’m typing this column, I have on a James Madison shirt. But when is the last time we faced JMU in anything? I just have a prob lem with students wearing the shirts of our rivals — and that includes SEC teams and the dreaded “Tiguhs”. Also, whilel admire the fact that many Gamecock students are optimistic about USC sports, that doesn’t mean I always have to be. Last football season, in the midst of our 0-11 misery, I was chastised by a fellow student in the crowd for my negative criti cism of a Phil Petty fumble. I was upset with Petty’s second straight botched snap, and I let my disappointment be heard by almost everyone in section 23. “I’d like to see you do better,” this stu dent said. I was enraged by this ignorant com ment. Do I have a scholarship to play foot ball? No, I don’t. If I criticized a sports arti cle or a column, then maybe the student would have a point. But they don’t pay my way through school to play football. Sure, I realize athletes make mistakes. I played three sports in high school. But, as a fan, I have every right to voice my opinion, regardless of the fact that I’d probably fum ble too. The fan has a right to negatively crit icize his or her team. Do you think Petty was n’t angry at himself for fumbling the ball? Of course he was. He knows he made a mis take he shouldn’t have, and I’m sure he did n’t blame the crowd (me included) for be ing upset. However, the worst thing I have seen in my short time here is a USC student yelling at another USC student during our home base ball game last year against Clemson. If anyone was sitting even remotely near where I was sitting along the third-base line, you would remember there was one re ally loud and obnoxious Clemson fan. My roommate made it his mission to mock this Clemson fan all night and get into his head everytime USC did something well. He was loud and obnoxious back, and I thought it was pretty funny. Then I witnessed something that, to this day, disgusts me. A USC student wearing a Red Sox hat yelled at my roommate to shut up. This same student had been sitting down quietly the entire game. We should have been yelling at him for being a total deadbeat! The USC/Clemson rivalry is intense, and it’s us against them. How bad does it look when students from the same school are ar guing in the crowd? That’s uncalled for. We must stand united and support each other. Luckily, the baseball team didn’t follow this student’s example or we might have lost the game. If you’re this student and you’re reading this column, you know who you are. You are what’s wrong with USC. If I ever see you repeat your previous ac tions, I’m calling Kip. Kyle Almond can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Croatian tracK star adjusts to life at USC by Andrew Festa The Gamecock Tamara Budija is the Croatian National Champion in the 1500-meter run and has par ticipated in European and World Cross Coun - try Championships, yet she still wants to accomplish more. This extraordinary 18-year old international business and marketing major has shown tremendous courage by com ing to America on August 16, _ the same time other freshman DUDhJA arrive at the University of South Carolina for the first time. She not only had to adjust to college life, but she had to get used to life in a different coun try. Her family is an ocean and a continent away in Krizvci, Croatia. Budija was destined to be a talented ath lete because both of her parents, Pero and Ana, were runners, plus her father was her coach in Croatia. She has been running for six years now, running cross country in the fall and track in the spring. In the first two cross country meets, she has turned in the best times on the team and has placed fourth and second overall. Budija has set high goals for herself. For her freshman year, she wants to improve her results and run the national norm so she can compete in the European Junior Championship this sum mer. She also plans to be a part of and make con tributions to the USC track and field team. “I want to help them be as successful as they were in past years,” Budija said. Budija has a heavy daily schedule. She be gins her day with classes, has practice from three to six, attends study hall after practice, and then usually has more homework to do afterward. Daily cross country practice consists of running seven or eight miles a day. She says it’s not easy balancing sports and schoolwork. Even though she has been learning English for ten years, her homework takes twice as long to do as other freshmen’s. In order to complete her assignments, she must first do them in Croa tian and then translate them into English. She has many homework and essay as signments in her classes, which are English, math, University 101, history and biology. She is very happy with USC’s track and cross country coaches. Her coach, Andrew Allden, and the rest of the staff are “very professional,” she said. Despite her successes in the first few meets, she remains down to earth. She says she is not ready to be a team leader yet. Since she is only a freshman, she just wants to learn from the rest of the team. She said she likes everyone on the team because “they are really great and sup portive.” According to Budija, the adjustment of com ing to America and beginning college life has been great. She has made lots of friends so far, especially her three track-team roommates in South Quad. “I like my roommates. They’re cool, espe cially India,” Budija said. One thing that has taken some adjustment, however, is the food at USC. She isn’t used to all the fast food on campus. Her mother always makes homemade food, but she says, “[The food] is okay. I’m getting used to it.” She has attended the first two Gamecock football games this year. “It’s kind of cool, because there is no foot ball in Croatia.” Budija said. The sight of an insane mob of students at tacking the goal posts must have been an un usual sight as well. Budija has been to almost every European country to take part in track and cross country competitions, and she plans on traveling across America for the same reason. She is going to New York, Miami, and to the Auburn Invita tional in Alabama on Oct. 7. Budija will not see her parents and her 19 year-old sister, Barbara, until summer, but she e-mails them everyday and talks to them on the phone often. She is a little homesick, but she is working hard, having fun, and is determined to succeed. USC is fortunate to have such a strong, committed individual who is also a ded icated student and gifted athlete. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Baseball brings m another top class ■ Newcomers give coaches and fans high expectations by Andrew Festa The Gamecock Last week, Collegiate Baseball gave the 2000 South Carolina base ball recruiting class the No. 8 rank ing in the nation. The Gamecocks went 56-10 last year and were ranked No: 1 in America for five weeks. With these recent additions, one could say the future is definitely looking up for USC. This new class has 17 accom plished high school and junior col lege players. Included are three right-handed pitchers, two left handed pitchers, four outfielders, five infielders and three catchers There are two Division I transfers, two Junior College Players of the Year and one of the top outfielders from South Carolina last year. The newcomers hail from as far away as Cuesta Junior College in Cali fornia and as close as Sumter High School. The recruiting classes under Carolina head coach Ray Turner have almost always been out standing, but this year is the first time one has been ranked in the top ten since Tanner’s inception. The past two years’ classes were both 11th in the country, according to Collegiate Baseball, and the class of 1997 was 17th overall. “This is a sensational class,” the editor of Collegiate Baseball, Lou Pavlovich Jr., said. “The players that Coach Tinner and liis staff have brought in will certainly help them down the road. There is not one particular player that stands out, but this class is solid all the way down the line.” Kip Bouknight, the ace pitch er in South Carolina’s rotation and last year’s National Player of the Year, has a positive outlook on the coming season. “We should be a very good team again,” Bouknight said. “Maybe not recordwise, but hope fully we’ll end up holding the big trophy from Omaha.” Bouknight also said that it’s hard to tell this early if the new re cruits will be able to step into the roles of departed players such as 4» , starting pitchers Scott Baiber and Peter Bauer and big contributors Brandon Pack, Nate Janowicz and John McHenry. He said the suc cess of last year’s squad is partly responsible for bringing in highly touted recruits. The team has been practicing skill work in preseason workouts and the new players are fitting in fine so far, Bouknight said. He feels the rank of the recruiting class is impressive, and he gives credit to Coach Tanner for the positive de .* velopment of all the recruits. For now, the new players have time to adjust and, come February, they will have the chance to con tribute to what will hopefully be another great season — one that will bring the trophy from Omaha home to Columbia. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotniail.com. t I-S2SS-i-1-j-:—;:I._ml Sean Rayford The Gamecock The South Carolina baseball team celebrates after a win last season. After losing numer ous players to the pros, USC is bringing in the No. 8 recruiting class in the nation.