Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SPORTS BRIEFS Men’s soccer to face Charlotte The No. 19-ranked South Carolina men's soccer team (2 1) will be in Charlotte to-night to take on the Charlotte 49ers. This will be the first game for the Gamecocks since the tragedies that occurred last week. USC had a game against Elon cancelled Sunday. The 49ers have only won one game this season and have posted a 1-1-2 record. Women’s tennis’ rankings improve Four of South Carolina’s women tennis players earned preseason rankings by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Senior Jennifer Radman is the only Carolina player to earn an individual singles ranking. She is currently No. 51 in the Top 100 after finishing last season at No. 76. In doubles, the Lady Gamecocks have two teams ranked. The pair of Radman and junior Kathy Boyanovich are at the lofty No. 8 spot. The mark is the highest ever for a Gamecock doubles team. The team of Lynn-Yin Tan and junior transfer Jodi Kenoyer landed the No. 45 spot. USC will open fall play Sept. 28-30 at the Furman Fall Classic in Greenville, S.C. Octathlon sign-up concludes today This Saturday, the Body building and Fitness Club will be sponsoring the third annual USC Octathlon. The eight events in the competition include a one mile run, a 400-yard swim, an obstacle course, flexibility events and four strength/ endurance events. Trophies will be given to the highest scoring male and female. Registration for the event ends today. Men’s golf places fourth in match At the Ridges Intercollegiate in Jonesborough two weekends ago, the No. 14 ranked South Carolina team finished fourth. Led by redshirt sophomore Nash Elliot, the Gamecocks finished with a score of 858. Elliot finished the tournament with a three round score of 210 and a sixth-place overall finish. Johan Kok, who finished first in the same tournament last year, tied for 20th overall, with a score of 216. Martin Rominger finished with a 215, Brent Delahoussaye with 218 and Jason Huguet with 229. The Inverness intercollegiate, scheduled for Sept. 17-18, was cancelled due to last week’s tragedy. Equestrian athlete has strong showing Sophomore Sarah-Ki Tomasi of the USC equestrian team was one of only four Americans competing at the International University Equestrian Federation in Rome, Italy. She was the only American to reach the last round in jumping and placed third out of 50 riders. "It has been a wonderful experience and good for my riding," Tomasi said. Track and field player suspended Women’s track and field athlete Antoinette Wilks has been suspended for 10 months, effective last Mar. 3. The United States Anti Doping Agency announced that Wilks tested positive for ritalin. USC claims they were not aware that ritalin was a banned substance. NFL will still hold 16-game season The National Football League announced on Tuesday that they would stick with a 16- week season. The games that were originally slated for Week 2 will now be played on January 6. The league has not yet decided what kind of effect this will have on the playoffs. One option includes only eliminating the wild card games having eight playoff teams, leaving eight teams for the playoffs. —CHRIS FOY, THE GAMECOCK \ TURN YOUR DIAL TO THE USC VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE GAME AT 560 WVOC-AM, OR WATCH IT ON ESPN AT 7:35 THURSDAY NIGHT. Priority Human life shows relevance of sports CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 But a tragedy like this makes you wake up, recognize and put your priorities back in order. It's really sad that it takes something of this magnitude to change your thinking. However, it's important that you don't for get the lesson learned. The lesson? Sports are en tertainment. They're a hobby for most, a diversion from real-life matters. They pale in compari son to human lives. For some, it's a job, but they still get paid when they lose. I love sports, and I love root ing for the Gamecocks. But I'd rather lose every game for the next 100 years than witness what I saw this past week. In sports, you are always guaranteed a second chance. If Mississippi State beats us to morrow night, we can always come back next year. Unfortu nately, life isn't the same way. The next time you're ner vous about an upcoming game, or bitter about a referee making a poor call, snap out of it, and re member the lesson you learned. Winning isn't everything. Contrary to what some might say, it's not a matter of life or death. It’s just a game, and noth ing else. Shoutouts Alex Zanardi, my heart goes out to you and your family, but you should feel extremely blessed for even surviving that crash ... Somebody slip Carl Everett some Prozac ... Steve Spurrier, wave goodbye to the National Championship... MJ, decide already... Paul Tagliabue, just pay the refs and let's move on... Major Wingate, good choice ... Coach Strong, how about an eight-man front tomorrow night?... Phil "The Thrill," 300 more yards would be sweet... Eric Kimrey, you haven't been forgotten. Revenge Gamecock players prepare for a battle CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 more than 1,000 yards. Miller and Walker combined for more than 1,800 yards last season. However, unlike the Wat son/Pinnock tandem, which of fers speed and power, the Miller/ Walker combo is a duo of two slashing speedsters. The defensive front the Bull dogs will face will be tough to move. Langston Moore has been a rock at nose tackle, and John Stamper and Dennis Quinn are solid on the ends. However, if the backs can get to the linebackers, there might be problems for the Gamecocks. Although the linebackers are led by All-American candidate Kalimba Edwards on the outside, the inside linebackers are in question. Sophomore Jeremiah Garrison will start in place of se nior Kenneth Harney, vvho is hampered by an ankle injury. Ju nior Jermaine Lemon will also get his second start at the other inside linebacker, spot and will probably split time with fellow ju nior Rod Thomas. ADVANTAGE: EVEN Passings Senior quarterback Wayne Madkin has cemented his ~ position as possibly the greatest quarterback in MSU history. He is a double threat with his abili ties to run and pass the ball. However, Madkin’s receiving corps is young and untested. Starting flanker Justin Jenkins is only a sophomore, and starting split end Terell Grindle is a ju nior. Jenkins averaged a phe nomenal 23 yards per catch last season as a redshirt freshman. The passing game will be facing the strongest part of the Gamecock defense, the defensive backfield. , The veteran unit has four se niors in Andre Goodman, Willie Offord, Antione Nesmith and All American Sheldon Brown. Against Boise State and Geor gia, the USC defense gave up an average of 165.5 yards in the air. Don’t look for the MSU receivers to have a breakout game. ADVANTAGE:USC Special teams Kicking game: Neither team brings a lot to the table here. MSU has lost their two-time All-SEC placekicker Scott Westerfield. He lias been replaced by John Michael Marlin, who handled kickoff duties last year. Redshirt freshman Jared Cook will handle punting for the Bulldogs. Dan Weaver is still the Game ' cocks’ place kicker, and Tyeler Dean is still the punter. Dean nailed some solid punts against Georgia, helping the Gamecocks win the battle of field position. ADVANTAGE: EVEN Returning: MSU will put Prather and Walker in for kick off return, and Banks will handle punt return duties. All have great speed and can break off for a long return. USC will use Ryan Brewer, Corey Alexander and Watson for kickoff return. Watson broke off for a long run in the opening kick off against Georgia. Brewer will handle punt return duties. ADVANTAGE: EVEN Overall Outlook You will be hard-pressed to find a game between two more evenly matched teams this sea son. Both teams run an attacking defense bent on confusing quar terbacks and blitzing out of nowhere. USC’s defense has had prob lems dealing with screen passes over the first two games. Look for Woods to use a lot of screens and crossing patterns to put some heat on the Gamecocks’ inexperi enced linebackers. On USC’s end, look for a lot of vertical passing to put pressure on the inexperienced MSU cor nerbacks. Also, look for the Gamecocks to use a lot of screens and draw plays to counteract MSU’s defense. Look for this game to be just as thrilling a§ last year’s affair. Al though it is neither team’s strong point, look for the kicking game to be key in this one. FINAL PREDICTED SCORE: USC 21, MSU 20 t’s Not Too Late To Attend College This Fall Register now for MTC s Fall II mini-semester. In just eight weeks, you can earn a full semester s college credit. Mini-semester classes can help you qualify for the Life Scholarship, too. Many courses are still available. To learn more, visit www.midlandstech.com or call 738-8324. Learn differently. Work differently. m'W Midlands * # Technical College