Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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%hz ©amecock Sports Commentary USC fans should give Fogler another year Kyle Almond is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached via e-mail at gamecocksports® hotmail.com. As the USC men’s bas ketball team has struggled to qualify for a postseason berth this season, some fans have begun to call for head coach Eddie Fogler’s removal. They point out that he’s only taken the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament twice in eight years, and both times the team crashed and burned in the first round. They say that with Fogler as head coach, the team has barely won more than half its games. They say that one SEC championship, in 199s, isn t enough. Ihey say the team is going nowhere fast under Fogler’s leadership, and the future is bleak. I say, give the guy a break. For the time being, anyway. Though it’s true the team has yet to sniff a post season win under Fogler, this is a team on the up swing. After B. J. McKie and the rest of the SEC champs graduated, Fogler has been rebuilding his program piece by piece, and the finished product should be ready by next season. Give Fogler at least one more year to prove himself and ride out the squad he’s spent the past couple of years assembling. You can’t.blame Fogler for this season. There was a lot of potential at its start, and maybe there still is if the Gamecocks can rise to the occasion in the SEC Tournament. But the loss of Chuck Eidson hurts USC on both ends of the floor, and it’s tough for a coach to fill the void Eidson left. It’s not like the team has underachieved; in fact, without Eidson, one could'say they have overachieved. Regardless, it’s always difficult finding a replacement for your best defender, your second-best passer (behind Lucas), and one of your top three scorers. Next season should be bright for Carolina, bar ring more unfortunate injuries. Eidson will be healthy, as will Travis Kraft. The young post players who are getting plenty of minutes this season, Rolando Howell, Tony Kitchings and Marius Petravicius, will have valuable game experience under their belts. The team will lose some leadership in seniors David Ross and Antonio Grant, but there’s enough depth (with Greg Taylor, Calvin Clemmons and Ivan Howell) to compensate. It will be a clean slate for the Gamecocks, and an SEC title is not out of the question. I can’t blame everyone who is impatient. After all, Lou Holtz has set the bar pretty high for USC coaches. Fans saw how quickly Holtz turned around the football team, so they naturally want the same thing for other sports. But it’s unfair to compare anyone to Holtz, who is a Hall of Fame coach for a reason. Fogler is no Holtz, needless to say. But he has been a National Coach of the Year, and his players respect him. He also doesn’t throw chairs on the floor (though sometimes I think he really wants to) or choke his players. So give him a chance to finish what he started. Let him continue to coach. Then if the team falls short of expectations next season, look into other options. Earnhardt’s death for nothing? Like many sports fans, I was saddened to hear of the death of one of racing’s greatest, Dale Earnhardt. “The Intimidator” was a true sports icon, one of racing’s most recognizable figures and one hell of a stock car driver. But unless NASCAR starts to do something se rious to protect its drivers, he will have died for nothing. This should be a wake-up call to the racing world. How many people have to die before some thing is done? The list of dead race car drivers in the past few years has grown. Kenny Irwin, J.D. McDuffie, Cliiford Allison, Neil Bonnett and Adam Petty are just a few of the drivers who have per ished behind the wheel in the past few years. I’m not a big NASCAR fan. I’m not an expert on auto racing. However, I see that there are too many people out there dying for a sport, and though some might tell you otherwise, sports aren’t a mat ter of life and death. Because I’m not big into racing, I can’t provide any great suggestions on what do. Slow down the cars if you have to. Just do something. , SEC [from page 10 ^Elsewhere around the SEC: Tennessee: You’ve seen her do it on SportsCentera. couple of times this sea son. But Michelle Snow wants to prove that she can do more than just dunk. “It’s something that drives me right now,” Snow said Friday. “That’s all people say I can do is dunk. I work hard on all areas of my game.” Snow proved her point Sunday, when she sunk a 12-foot jump shot gNOW with time running out to beat No. 13 LSU. “I took the pass and tried to elevate over their defenders,” Snow said. “It 's a great feeling to make a shot like that.” With the win, No. 2 Tennessee is still unscathed in conference play and could move into the top spot after No. 1 Notre Dame was upset by Rutgers last week. Geoigia; Mark Richt has had his hands full in his first few weeks as the new head football coach of the Geoigia Bulldogs. Defensive lineman Charles Grant, defensive back Terreal Bierria and running back Jasper Sanks have already been arrested this semester for various offenses, and last week, fullback Verron Haynes was charged with simple battery and stalking the mother of his child. “Coach Richt has imposed a mea sure of internal discipline on Verron Haynes,” Geoigia Associate Athletics Director Claude Felton said. “There is also the possibility of future discipline, depending on the outcome of the court hearing, at that point or sometime between now and then.” Haynes’ court hearing is set for April. Last season, Haynes played in all 12 games for the Bulldogs and started twice. He rushed 10 times for 46 yards and scored one touchdown. Arkansas: After three years in Atlanta, the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament moves to Nashville’s Gaylord Entertainment Center this season. Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson thinks moving the tournament is a good idea. “I’m for moving [the tournament],” Richardson said. “I think the reason you move it is because you’vegot 12teams, and it gives other fans and other people opportunities to drive and have an opportunity to see their teams play. “I think it’s important that you put your tournament in places where other people in your conference can feel closer to home.” This year’s tournament will be held March 8-11. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Swim from page 10 Joining these two athletes as Gamecock favorites are Gaspar’s fellow Olympians, Istvan Bathazi and Tamas Szucs. All three Hungarians expect to go on to win for the Game cocks in the NCAA Championships lat er this semester and then head to Tokyo, Japan for the Swimming and Diving World Championships in July. For the Gamecock divers, Brandon Hulko, a member of the U.S. National Team, is expected to dive well and secure himself and his team another Sf;C title. Hulko has had a successful season so far, winning all the competitions he has participated in. The meet begins today and will fin ish Saturday. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com i Listen to us online! www.wusc.sc.edu Sports Briefs ■ USC-Clemson baseball tickets to go on sale this Friday Tickets to the South Carolina Clemson baseball game, March 4 in Columbia, will go on sale Feb. 23 at Saige Frye Field during the USC Geoige Mason game. Because of increased season ticket sales, there will be a limited amount of assigned bleacher seating available for the USC-Clemson game. Standing-room-only tickets, which are also good for the home team * bullpen, will be sold when assigned seating runs out. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children and may be , purchased with cash only. There will be a limit of four tickets per person. Distribution for USC faculty, staff and . students will also occur this Friday at the ballpark. Distribution will begin at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Saige Frye Field. The USC Geoige Mason game will start at 3 p.m. ■ Men’s golf finishes fifth at Mercedes The University of South Carolina men’s golf team, led by freshman Brent DelaHoussaye, placed fifth at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate on Tuesday at the Sawgrass Country Club. The Gamecocks posted a tltree rqund score of 863, one under par. Southeastern Conference foe Florida won the collegiate title with a score of 849 (-9), followed by Augusta State at ' 850. DelaHoussaye fired a collegiate ca reer low 212 (69-74-69) to place eighth overall. Senior John Bloomfield shot 213 to finish 11th. Returning champion David Ben nett from the University of North Florida won the individual title with a three-round score of 206. Gamecocks Kyle Thompson and Johan Kok both recorded 219 to tie for 33rd. USC Men’s Golf will compete on March 9-11 in Las Vegas, Nev" for the Las Vegas Intercollegiate. vip, sc, edu Elections February 21-22 2001 View candidate information at www.sg.sc.edu Run-off Elections (If Necessary) Feb. 28 & Mar. 1 , WKMXE I'-; ; • - . :■ MB"