The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 12, 2001, Page 13, Image 13
PENDING GAME SCHEDULE
VOLLEYBALL in Carolina Classic, Friday-Saturday
FOOTBALL vs. Bowling Green, 7 p.m. Saturday
MEN'S SOCCER vs. Elon, 2 p.m. Sunday
WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. Tulane, 1 p.m. Sunday
MEN'S GOLF at the Inverness Intercollegiate, Monday
Terrorism puts college sports on hold
- •
BY CHRIS FOY
THE GAMECOCK
Because of the national tragedy
at hand, the collegiate sporting
world has come to a near halt.
Countless collegiate sporting
events from volleyball to football
have either been canceled or post
poned.
All three NCAA football games
scheduled for Thursday night
have been postponed. Penn State
at Virginia, Ohio at North
Carolina State and Texas Tech at
UTEP will be moved to a later
date. Saturday’s highly anticipat
ed game between Miami and
Washington has been postponed
as well.
More postponements could be
on the way.
The commissioners of the 10
Division I football conferences will
conduct a conference call today at
1 p.m. to determine the status of
this weekend’s games. Before they
do so, they will consult with their
respective member schools.
NCAA president Cedric
Dempsey feels the tragedy far out
weighs any sporting event.
“The games themselves are in
significant in the face of what has
happened today,” Dempsey said.
"Our focus is entirely on the safety
of student-athletes, athletics per
sonnel and fans. We urge schools
to make sound decisions about
proceeding with contests today
and in the coming days.”
The ACC has announced that
all intercollegiate athletic events
through Thursday involving mem
ber schools have been canceled.
As for South Carolina athletics,
tonight’s volleyball match-up at
Clemson has been postponed, as
well as the women’s soccer home
match versus Furman.
No make up dates have been de
termined at this point. USC ath
letics have no events planned for
Thursday.
Two other events, the Saturday
football game against Bowling
Green and the Carolina Classic
Volleyball Tournament, are still
planned to take place. Bowling
Green and Michigan State, which
is scheduled to participate in the
Carolina Classic, had planned on
flying into town.
Currently, flights are expected
to resume today at noon, but that
could change. Assuming flights
will resume and the NCAA doesn’t
cancel all of its Saturday games,
both teams are going to continue
to prepare for a game.
Bowling Green Sports
Information Director J.D.
Campbell said, “We’re moving for
ward as if the game is going to be
played as scheduled.”
Campbell said that if the game
were to be canceled, it would be
done closer to the time of their de
parture.
USC Assistant Athletic Director
Kerry Tharp shared similar con
cerns.
“We’re monitoring the situa
tion,” Tharp said. “Certainly, we’ll
be responsive to any change nec
essary in light of this tragedy.”
USC stadiums, which would have been full of Gamecock faithful if not for the recent
events, will be empty today and perhaps longer, photo special to the gamecock
SPORTS TAKE A BACK-SEAT TO TRAGEDY
Barry Bonds will have to wait to
resume home run record chase
Slugger’s chase
at 70postponed
indefinitely
HOUSTON (AP) - Enron Field
was silent Tuesday, its game post
poned and Barry Bonds’ home run
chase put on hold.
“A baseball game is not very
important at this time,” Houston
Astros general manager Gerry
Hunsicker said. “When we play
next or whatever is not important.
It’s an unfolding situation.”
Terrorist attacks at the World
Trade Center in New York and the
Pentagon in Washington caused
the postponement of all major
league baseball games Tuesday.
The decision came hours before
Bonds and the San Francisco
Giants were to play the Astros in
the start of a three-game series. No
players were at the stadium, and
the Astros closed the ballpark.
The Giants remained at their
hotel along with Bonds, who has
63 home runs, eight short of break
ing the record set three years ago
by St. Louis’ Mark McGwire.
Before Tuesday, San Francisco
was scheduled to play 18 games.
Katy Feeney, baseball’s vice
president of scheduling and club
relations, arrived in Houston ear
ly Tuesday just before all flights
were grounded by federal author
ities. She said it was too early to
say how commissioner Bud Selig
will move on the schedule.
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants is only eight home runs away from breaking
Mark McGwire’s record of 70. He was looking to add to his total today In Houston’s
Enron Field, photo special to the gamecock
Pro sports shut
down indefinitely
as nation mourns
BY CHARLES REX ARBOGAST
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sports came to a standstill
Tuesday in the wake of terrorist
attacks in New York and
Washington, with major league
baseball postponing a full sched
ule of regular-season games for the
first time since D-Day in 1944.
The daily grind of professional
and college practices halted, as
athletes and their coaches tried to
come to grips with the tragedy.
Ballparks were empty, race
tracks were dark and sports tele
vision networks dropped highlight
films and replayed scenes of the
day’s devastation.
"This is a sad, sad day in
America,” golfer Tiger Woods
said.
Aside from work stoppages, it
was the first time since the Allied
invasion of France that baseball
wiped out a whole day of regular
season play.
"In the interest of security and
out of a sense of deep mourning for
the national tragedy that has oc
curred today, all major league
baseball games for today have
been canceled,” baseball commis
sioner Bud Selig said.
The NFL, criticized for playing
after President Kennedy’s assas
sination in 1963, said it wasn’t sure
whether to play this weekend’s
schedule.
College football commissioners
“I will continue to
monitor the situation on
a daily basis and make
ongoing decisions
accordingly.”
BUD SELIG
COMMISSIONER
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
were considering the postpone
ment of the weekend’s entire
schedule of games, with a decision
expected as early as Wednesday.
The PGA Tour canceled
Thursday’s starts of the World
Golf Championship and two other
tournaments.
Stunned Olympic officials said
security for the 2002 Salt Lake City
Winter Olympics will be com
pletely reevaluated but vowed the
games will go on as planned in five
months.
A $200 million plan to protect
athletes and spectators is no
longer sufficient in the wake of
Tuesday’s attacks, said Mitt
Romney, president of the Salt
Lake Organizing Committee.
"I look for the federal govern
ment to revisit the public safety
plans for the games,” Romney told
The Associated Press. “We will be
fully engaged in that process and
♦ POSTPONED, SEE PAGE 14
Undefeated Lady Gamecocks to take on Clemson
Makeup date•
hasn't been
determined yet
BY RICK JOHNSTON
the gamecock
The USC volleyball team will be
squaring off against archrival
Clemson in a match that has been
postponed indefinitely.
The Lady Gamecocks (6-0) are
coming off their second straight
tournament championship, cap
turing the Miami/Best Western
Classic championship over the
weekend at Miami (Ohio)
University and the Sun Devil
Challenge championship in
Tempe, Ariz., one week earlier.
The Lady Tigers are currently
4-3, coming off of a 2-1 showing at
the Big Orange Bash at Clemson.
Wright State won the tournament
with a 3-0 record.
USC will be led by their quartet
of All-SEC juniors in Sam Alban,
Berna Dwyer, Megan Hosp and
Cally Plummer.
Hosp, the setter for the Lady
Gamecocks, was named to the All
Tournament team in Miami and
was named tournament MVP in
the Sun Devil Challenge. Plummer
was tournament MVP at the
Miami tournament.
"Megan and Cally stepped up
this weekend as great leaders. We
had to come from behind in the
third game and their leadership
was a large reason,” USC head
coach Kim Christopher said after
the Miami tournament.
Plummer, who plays right side,
will be complimented by Clemson
senior right side Jodi Steffes.
Plummer hit .531, while notch
ing 20 kills, three aces, six digs and
three block assists in the match
against Illinois State in Miami.
SteffeS hit .636 along with 15 kills
in the UNC-Wilmington match.
Hosp will be matched up
against Clemson junior setter
Jessi Betcher.
Against Illinois State, Hosp
dished out 39 assists. Betcher de
livered 26 assists against
Appalachian State.
Betcher is one of Clemson head
coach Jolene Jordan-Hoover’s fa
vorite players because of her en
thusiasm and leadership
“One of the first people you no
tice when watching our team is
Jessi. She is really enthusiastic
and has a smile on her face
whether we are five up or five
down. She is very much an emo
tional leader and has an extremely
strong work ethic, which encour
ages the team to play for her. She
is the glue between the passers
and the hitters and directs our of
fense,” she said.
However, a place where the
Lady Tigers may have problems
matching up against USC will be
in the middle. Redshirt freshman
Niece Curry, a 6-foot-4 middle
blocker, has quickly become a
force in the middle. Curry was
named to the Miami All
Tournament team.
Curry will be joined by the 6
foot Alban and the 6-foot-3 Dwyer
in the middle.
The Tigers will probably count
on sophomore Marija Zoric to
counter Curry, given their equal
height. Zoric hit .538 and tallied
eight kills in Clemson’s match
against UNC-Wilmington.
Another Tiger middle blocker,
junior Anne Berki had five blocks,
with one solo, against
Appalachian State in the Big
Orange Bash.
Fans will see the matchup be
tween USC’s defensive specialists
senior Liz Price and freshman
Bridget White and the Tigers’ four
defensive specialists, led by senior
■>
♦ VOLLEYBALL, SEE PAGE 15
The USC volleyball team Is 6-0 on the year and waits for
the chance to win Its seventh. The Lady Gamecocks were
supposed to play Clemson today, photo special to the gamecock