Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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L£~>t a Gamecock Sports Schedule ^^^d ■ Volleyball at Tennessee, Fri., 7 p.m. W H ■ Men’s golf at Hilton Head Invitational, Fri.-Sun. I ■ H H H ■ ■ ■ Swimming vs. California, Sat., 2 p.m. ^ ^ ■ Basketball exhibitions at Carolina Coliseum, Sat., 4:30 p.m. (women’s) and 7 p.m. (men’s) •w vy, November 1,2000 'Che (BaillCCOCk Page 11 Skip Holtz not content with 7-4 record by Kyle Almond The Gamecock After going 0-11 in football last season, most Gamecocks would be satisfied with a 7-4 record. But not offensive coordinator Skip Holtz. “We’re not practicing to finish this season 7-4,” Holtz said. “We want to win more. Going 7-2 now does nothing for us today. Having this kind of a season sets a standard for our players and for future players.” USC has a much-needed bye this weekend before heading to the Swamp Nov. 11 to play the Florida Gators for the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division championship. Holtz emphasized the importance of the bye week. “We need the off week badly as a team, es pecially when you’re playing this kind of caliber of teams weekly,” Holtz said. “It’s a positive that we only have two games left, but the wear and tear to this point has taken something from us.” “The off week is huge for our players men tally,” he added. “It’s also huge for us physical ly, so our players can feel good about themselves and get on the field and compete without reser vations.” The Gamecocks practiced Monday and Tues day and will also practice today and Thursday. Holtz hinted his father, head coach Lou Holtz, might take it easier on the players in practice. “We have talked about taking upperclassmen out of pads and putting more of the underclass men in pads to give them some work this week,” Holtz said. “They’re not as tired as the upper classmen. We would like to scrimmage some backups and give the starters a little bit of a blow with the open date. It’s hard to know how much we will go into pads. It all depends on how Coach (Lou Holtz) feels.” Skip Holtz is looking forward to the Florida game, and despite last week’s loss to Ten nessee, he is encouraged by his team’s progress. “It will be a great experience for our players to go down to Florida and play for an SEC East title.” Holtz said. “We’re in this position because a lot of players on our team have played well enough to get us there. It’s exciting to have this challenge.” ‘This is the toughest conference in the coun try and the toughest division, and playing for the title is huge,” Holtz said. “It says a lot for our pro gram and how our players are competing. It shows great signs for the future of where we are going.” If the Gamecocks win in the Swamp next Sat urday, the only place they will be going is Atlanta to play in the SEC Championship game. Deciding game to be televised The much-anticipated USC/Florida game will be nationally televised on CBS Nov. 11. To accommodate television coverage, the game time has been changed from I p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sean Rayford The Gamecock Two Gamecocks try to stop Tennessee wide receiver Donte Stallworth from getting a first down. USC has a bye this week before traveling to Florida Nov. 11. I his will be the third nationally televised game the Gamecocks have played this season. Earlier in the year, USC defeated Georgia and Kentucky on ESPN2. It is the sixth television network ap pearance for USC, as three other games this sea son were shown regionally on Jefferson-Pilot Sports. Watson considered for award Carolina running back Derek Watson was named a semifinalist by Football News on Mon day for its 2000 National Offensive Player of the Year award. Watson, who has been an all-purpose threat for the Gamecocks this season, was chosen along with 14 other players from around the country to be a semifinalist for the award. On Nov. 20, the group of 15 will be cut down to five finalists, and the winner will be announced Dec. 6 along with the National Defensive Play er of the Year. Watson, a sophomore, leads the Gamecocks with 881 yards rushing and 1444 all-purpose yards this season. He also has a team-high 10 touch downs. Injury report Four of Carolina’s offensive linemen are banged up but are expected to be ready to play in the Florida game. Tackles Travelle Wharton and Cedric Williams are nursing ankle injuries from the Tennessee game, and C.J. Frye and Shane Hall have ankle and low back injuries, respec tively. Nose guard Cleveland Pinkney (ankle), de fensive tackle Langston Moore (hand) and full back Travis Lewis (ankle) should also be healthy. “We have a lot of nicks, but we came out of the (Tennessee) game yesterday relatively healthy,” Holtz said. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Plummer leads - « Carolina volleyball by Charles Tomlinson The Gamecock The 2000 season has been a suc cessful one so far for the Gamecock volleyball team, and a big part of the team’s success can be attributed to the strong performance of Cally Plum mer. For Plummer, who plays right side, this season has not been just about team victory. It also marks her comeback. Last season, Plummer was *redshirted after suffering a shoulder injury. This was particularly dis couraging after her successful fresh man season, when she led the Game cocks in kills with 353 and was No. 2 in the NCAA with 86 aces. She was also honored as the only freshman on the SEC first team in 1998, and was . USC’s first female freshman to be named to a first team. “I think that it’s probably the hard est thing that I’ve had to go through so far as a person and as a competi tor, to sit on the sidelines and watch the game,” Plummer said. “Yet, it’s probably made me a,stronger play er, because I’ve learned so much from sitting on the sidelines and just watch ing the game.” “It just made me have an even stronger desire to go out and practice everyday, because you never know when it can be taken from you,” Plummer said. After spending the remainder of the season and the next summer re covering, Plummer returned this sea son. She showed she had truly re turned during USC’s shutout of Clemson on Sept. 13. Plummer dom inated the game with 10 kills, two aces, seven digs and six block assists. Since then, Plummer has been a major factor for the Gamecocks, who now have an 18-4 record. She leads the team in service aces with 34. Hitting .307 this season, she is second on the team in kills with 209. She also has 63 block assists and 43 aces on the season. Describing how it feels to be a part of this winning Gamecock team, . Plummer said, “It’s an awesome feel ing. There’s no other team in the coun try I’d like to play for right now. The coaches and the players, we have great chemistry that we work on.” With such an impressive col lege volleyball record, it seems that Plummer has a bright future in sports. “I’ve considered possibly going overseas and playing volleyball,” Plummer said. “But that’s something I’ll just have to look at when I’m done playing, physically, to see where my body is.” “I’d really like to go into college coaching,” she added. However, through her injury experience, Plum mer has learned not just to look to the future, but.to appreciate the pre sent. “Right now, our main saying is ‘Day by day, pursuing the ring,”’ Plummer said. “I’d like to live that in all aspects, day by day. You can’t really look to the future to a certain point, because you never know what can happen. You never know when you may get injured, so you have to live life for the moment and take things as they happen.” Her injury has also given her a new respect for those who are strug gling. “When you’re little, you always look to your parents as your inspira tion and your heroes,” Plummer said. “Now, it’s still my parents and my grandpa, and really just anybody in the news and the media who has bat tled back from an injury and works hard and has a great work ethic. You can’t help but have respect for that person.” “Cally’s shown a lot of heart and a lot of inspiration coming back from shoulder surgery," USC defensive specialist Sara Heri said. “I know it’s hard for her. Her de termination to be the best in her po sition is just really encouraging to see. She’s a great leader out on the court, she always has a lot of energy and excitement to bring to the team, and she loves to celebrate every single point,” Heri said. “Cally has dedicated all of her time and effort into getting healthy, and that is why she is doing as well as she is doing now,” USC head coach Kim Christopher said. “Her com mitment has been inspirational for all of us to watch, as she’s worked diligently in the weight room to get stronger and overcome her injury.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksportsOhotmailcom. Winning football team has spoiled fans m W —-1 Kyle Almond Sports Commentary A few statements overheard after the football team’s loss to Tennessee on Saturday: “There goes our national championship.” “Damn, now we have to go to the Peach Bowl?” “It’s so sad. We should be undefeated.” Now I won’t name any names in regards to who said these things (probably because I am guilty of one of them), but I’ve come to this con clusion: we are so spoiled. This winning thing has got all of our priori ties out of whack. If you step back and take a good look at what this Gamecock team has accom plished, you would realize just how remarkable this season is. Do you all remember last year when we were 0-11? I know, you don’t completely forget misery like that. But in the midst of all these victories, admit it — the big losing streak and the terrible times of last season are the last things you think about. Have we come a long way, or what? Coach Lou Holtz came here with a lot of hype and expectations, and he’s lived up to it all. I admit even I had doubts about whether this team could be turned around so quickly. But now the man is officially the closest thing next to a god for me. Holtz and the coaching staff have done an un believable job, and their flexibility has been the key. Who would haVe thought that Holtz, “Mr. Notre Dame power run,” would go to a spread offense? The offense averages 24.9 points a game in 2000. Last year they could only manage 7.9, the worst number in the nation. Quarterback Phil Petty deserves a lot of cred it. He has went from being a scapegoat to a leader. He knows his role, to limit mistakes and keep his team in the game, and he’s played it almost to perfection. The key to success has been getting the ball in the hands of the game-breakers and letting them make big plays. Tailback Derek Watson has been the num ber one game-breaker. Fumbles aside, Watson has been the team’s offensive MVP. Given time to run, he is as dangerous as any player in the coun try. Holtz knows this, and that’s why even after Watson’s fumbled punt against Tennessee, he can’t stay mad at him for long. Watson has the ability to change a game at any time, and he’s al ways a threat to take one the distance. The receivers have been awesome. Jermale Kelly’s game-winning catch against Mississippi State is all the proof you need. Brian Scott and James Adkisson have also made crucial catches at crucial times this season. And how about that offensive line? It’s no co incidence Petty has stayed healthy for most of the season. The line has been relatively injury-free, and that’s played a big part in the offense’s re vival. You can’t ignore the tremendous job the de fense has done this season either. Seniors Cleveland Pinkney and Cecil Cald well have anchored the defensive line, stuffing the run and being the true “Pillars of Defense” that the preseason media guide called them. Pinkney is the heart and soul of this team, a true fighter who’s been playing on a bum ankle the last few games. Senior Andre Offing has stepped in admirably for departed linebackers John Abraham and Corey Atkins. Shannon Wadley has made some bone crushing hits. Marco Hutchinson and Kalimba Edwards have also been instrumental in shutting down the opposition. But no matter how good the front seven (or six in the Gamecocks’ case) has been in 2000, a case can be made that the secondary has been USC’s strength. Last year, USC recorded only eight total in terceptions. With two games remaining this season, they already have 17. Sheldon Brown has been an AI1-SEC caliber cornerback this season, shutting down the op ponent’s top receiver game after game. At safe ty, Rashad Faison has been plastering anyone that comes his way. As a unit, this secondary is single-handedly responsible for ending Quincy Carter’s Heisman hopes, picking him off five times. On both sides of the ball, this team has shown remarkable improvement from last year, and we should be proud. Most of us would have been happy to see the team win a couple games, much less become bowl-eligible and have a chance to win the SEC with two games remaining. If we lose out, it’s still been a successful season. Now we have national respect and a foundation for bet ter things to come. I don’t want to hear any whin ing. That said, we should not be settling for 7-4. Playing in the Swamp will make us big un derdogs, and all the odds will be'stacked against us But hasn’t it been that way all year? Exact ly You heard it here first: Gamecocks 24, Gators 21. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksportsts'iotmail.com. Clemson sports publicist dies by Pete Iacobelli Associated Press CLEMSON, S.C. — Bob Bradley, Clemson’s longtime publi . cist who spread word of Tiger sports for almost half a century, died Monday following a three-year bat tle with bone cancer. He was 75. Bradley was the sports informa tion director at Clemson from 1955 to 1989. Despite retirement, he kept up a remarkable streak of working 502 consecutive Tigers’ football games from Oct. 20,1955, to this past Oct. 14 against Maryland. Chemotherapy treatments and pneumonia prevented Bradley from going to North Carolina the next week. He was in Oconee Memorial Hospital for pneumonia and an ir regular heartbeat this past Saturday when he was presented the Order of the Palmetto by Gov. Jim Hodges. Bradley had an active streak of working 313 Atlantic Coast Con ference basketball tournament games that dated to 1956. “It’s the passing of a legend,” Clemson athletic director Bobby Robinson said. “There aren’t many who come along like that.” Bradley was one of the most re spected sports information direc- • tors in the profession. He served as president of College Sports Infor mation Directors of America and was inducted into its Hall of Fame. “For me personally, it will be dif ficult to imagine a Clemson sporting event without Bob,” Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swof ford said. “We have all lost a very good friend.” The pressbox at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium was named for Bradley in 1988. But it was Bradley’s passion for Clemson and quick wit that will be remembered most by Tom Price, South Carolina’s sports information director most of the time Bradley was with the Tigers. “He was a dear, dear friend of mine,” Price said. “Things could get pretty hot, but he was always gra cious in defeat and never had a bad word to say about anyone.” Bradley was hired 45 years ago by Clemson football coach Frank Howard, who passed away in 1996. Howard’s down-home style and Southern humor were a perfect match for Bradley’s sense of publicity. It was Bradley, who’ll be buried near Howard at Clemson’s cemetery next to Memorial Stadium, who told the tale of Howard’s rock and helped make it one of college football’s most exciting entrances.