The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 23, 2001, Image 25
When it comes to USC sports, are you an ‘eternal optimist’?
I 4 HIM _I
KYLE ALMOND
JBLAZINI24@HOTMAIL.COM
It’s the start of a brand new
year in Gamecock sports, and al
though there’s probably tons of
other things to write about, I just
can’t fight the urge to share my
preseason predictions with you.
Yeah, I know what you’re
probably thinking. Something
along the lines of, “Hey, you skin
ny little white boy (check that, re
ally white boy)... what makes
your predictions so special from
the rest? Why should I even both
er to read your crap?”
Well, it’s simple, folks. I
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Football
Carolina won’t
take anyone by
surprise this year
CONTINUED FROM PAGE B5
can, but we better have tl
mentality that we have to fig]
a$d work for everything we get
Gamecocks sell out
For the first time ever, no sit
gle game tickets for any of Carol
na’s seven home games will t
available to the general publii
The athleties department has sol
a school-record 56,500 season ticl
ets, eclipsing the previous mar
of 52,500 set in 1999, Holtz’s fin
season as coach.
“I’ve been here 16 years an
never seen anything like it,” s£
nior associate athletics "directo
for ticket operations Chris Mas
saro said of the ticket sales. “I’n
continually amazed at the level o
support from our fans.”
Tickets for home games stil
remain for USC students and stai
and will be distributed through
out the season.
Tickets, for the Sept. 1 seasoi
opener against Boise State can b(
picked up starting today in roon
205 of the Russell House. They wil
be distributed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m
until Aug. 29.
Any student who doesn’t gel
a ticket at the Russell House car
get a ticket at the Athletic Ticket
Office on Rosewood Drive.
—
for most of last season — junior
Chuck Eidson. The 6-7 guard/for
ward is back after tearing his
ACL last season.
“Our team is doing very, very
well,” OdBm said. “On a daily ba
sis we are trying to interact with
them and to get to know them on
more of an individual basis.
“We have very good basket
ball ability on our team. Are they
as good as they can be? No.”
cius and Tony Kitchings. In addi
tion, the Gamecocks have talent
ed sophomore forward Rolando
Howell from Columbia’s Lower
Richland High School.
Along with the those three big
men, several others are almost
certain to see the bulk of the play
ing time. The backcourt will in
clude seniors Jamel Bradley and
the team’s on-the-court leader,
Aaron Lucas.
This year’s team already has
one advantage they didn’t have
team,” Odom remarked. “I
thought John did that (in high
school) and his team went on to
win the championship.”
The final signee of the class is
Chris Warren, a 6-5 junior college
transfer out of Colin County
Community College in Texas.
Warren is also a good athlete who
averaged 19.5 points as a fresh
man and 14.5 as a junior.
The signees beef up an al
ready solid USC frontcourt that
includes juniors Marius Petravi
Prep in Virginia, is the son of leg
endary Wake Forest player Len
Chappell. The Gamecocks
snagged the 6-10 Chappell away
from Wake Forest. Odom had
originally planned to have him
when he was coach of the Demon
Deacons. The newly hired coach
of the Deacons, Skip Prosser,
passed on Chappell, opening the
door for Odom to sign him.
“I’ve always had one or two
guys who have, shall we say, got
ten the attention of the other
Recruits
Chappell follows
Odom to Columbia
CONTINUED FROM PAGE B5
he ever got in the right system
for a long period of time he has a
chance to be an outstanding
player,” Odom said. “He needs
to improve on his outside shot
though.”
Chappell, out of Fork Union
from a scientific standpoint, and
here are my practical expecta
tions for the big three teams at
USC:
FOOTBALL
The optimist says: “USC will
go 10-1, and despite a one-point
loss at Tennessee, they will ad
vance to the National Champi
onship game. Coach Holtz whn it
all at Notre Dame in his third
year, and he’ll do the same for us.
GO COCKS!”
The pessimist says: “Last
season was a fluke. We were one
Kimrey fade away from making
the Independence Bowl. We’ve
won two bowl games in our entire
school history, and we aren’t due
for another one until 2008. Cocks
go 5-6 after yet another loss tt>
Clemson.”
The reality: The Gamecocks
♦ ALMOND, SEE PAGE B9
memory, and it’s hard for them to
keep their hopes up. They’ve seen
them crumble time and time
again.
If you realize you fall into one
of these categories, don’t worry,
you aren’t alone. But be sure not
to criticize your friend who is on
the opposite side of the fence. Nei
ther side is better than the other,
and neither cares about USC
sports anymore than the other.
The “eternal optimist” and the
“cynical pessimist” are often
equal in their love for the garnet
and black; they just express it in
different ways.
With that said, you must not
trust the predictions of either.
The optimist sets lofty expecta
tions that are rarely met. The pes
simist reaches for paltry goals.
Luckily for you, I’m right in
the middle. That may all change
when the season finishes, but for
now, I am the voice of reason. I’ve
looked at the upcoming season
lates into disloyalty.
You can find “eternal opti
mists” anywhere, but they are
most popular among the follow
ing: alumni over age 30, users of
the Web site “Gamecock Central,”
girls who don’t know much about
sports and frat boys who skip the
game to tailgate.
On the flip side of the coin is
the “cynical pessimist”. While the
optimist always thinks the Game
cocks are one play away from
turning the game around, the pes
simist thinks they’re just one play
away from screwing everything
up. Fed up with every last-second
defeat, the “cynical pessimist”
protects himself from further
heartbreak by expecting the
worst. They’re the first person to
say “I told you so” after a USC
loss.
Most upperclassmen are
“cynical pessimists.” Same with
grad students. They’ve endured
some of the worst years in recent
haven’t fallen into the traps that
so many other die-hard USC fans
have.
Allow me to explain. I’ve
crunched some numbers, and af
ter hours and hours of research,
I’ve discovered that about 90 per
cent of all USC supporters can be
categorized into one of two
species. They are either the “eter
nal optimist” or the “cynical pes
simist.”
The “eternal optimist” be
lieves that no matter how dark
things look for our Gamecocks,
they’re eventually going to come
out on top. He takes every heart
breaking loss and comes back
stronger. The word “suck” isn’t
in his vocabulary — losses are
due to injuries, corrupt referees
or a combination of the two.
The best way to spot an “eter
nal optimist” is to talk bad about
the Gamecocks. The optimist just
won’t stand for it. To them, the
mere thought of negativity trans