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10 game schedule MEN'S SOCCER vs. Davidson, 7 p.m. Wednesday CONTACT US VOLLEYBALL vs. Mississippi St., 7 p.m. Friday FOOTBALL vs. Alabama, 12:30p.m. Saturday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Florida, 12 p.m. Sunday Write us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com MEN’S TENNIS vs. National Tennis Team Championships, Friday-Sunday Stadium safety increases TERRORIST ATTACKS HAVE UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS PLAYING THINGS SAFE Gamecock fans, like these at Friday’s volleyball game, will see tighter security at the gates and around the grounds at Williams-Brice Stadium for Saturday’s football game, photo by aaron hark BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK Fans looking to enjoy the foot ball game Saturday will also en joy a safer stadium that will en tail adjustments to the game ex perience. Because of the recent terrorist acts, the University of South Car olina has increased security mea sures and personnel to ensure the safest atmosphere for the specta tors in attendance. South Carolina associate ath letic director Kerry Tharp said the restrictions are necessary pre cautions. “I think the main thing is we want a safe and enjoyable envi ronment for our fans,” Tharp said. “Our objective in the after math of what's happened in New York and Washington and the United States' war on terrorism is that we want to take every mea sure necessary that guarantees our stadium will be safe and our fans feel safe.” USC has worked with many law enforcement agencies in cluding SLED, the State Highway Patrol, the city of Columbia, Lex ington and Richland counties and USC campus police to strengthen security. There will be an in creased number of law enforce ment personnel in and around the stadium during the game. To avoid the threat of a bomb, a bomb detection squad will sweep the stadium Friday night. When they are finished, the stadium will be locked and kept secure. Bomb detection units also will be present in the stadium parking areas before and after kickoff. Typical parking procedures will also be altered because of new restrictions. No motor homes, trucks or RVs will be per mitted to park on stadium lots. Only EMS will be allowed on the grounds. All delivery trucks and panel vans will have to be moved from the stadium lots no later than one hour before kickoff. No vehicles will be allowed to park under neath the stadium, and all vehi cles allowed to park in the stadi um lots will be subject to search. As for the game itself, the gates will have more restrictions for en try Saturday. Fans won't be al “I think the main thing is we want a safe and enjoyable environment for our fans.” KERRY THARP SOUTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR lowed to bring in coolers, back packs or shoulder bags. At each entrance, there will be a gate for those with purses and necessary medical cases, which will be searched before they will be able to enter the stadium. All mem bers of the press will have their bags and cases searched at the press entrance. In addition to the precautions and restrictions, the athletic de partment has also planned a spe cial halftime tribute in recogni tion of firefighters, law enforce ment and emergency medical per sonnel. Country singer Larry Gatlin will perform the National Anthem. The athletic department urges all spectators to arrive 15-30 min utes earlier than usual to ensure everyone can make it in before kickoff. Kickoff is slated for 12:30. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com. MOORE OF A PLAYMAKER BY HAMPTON FULLER THE GAMECOCK Langston Moore has shown early on this season that he is one of the pivotal players on the South Carolina football team, as shown by his strong perfor mances against Boise State and Georgia. He has blocked two field goals, a 37-yard field goal in the win against Georgia and the memorable blocked punt against Boise State, which was taken in for a touchdown by Rashad Fai son. This past week against Mis sissippi State, Moore had two tackles as well as two assisted tackles. “The defense knew that we —-—1—r———tm . . ■ ■:" ■— had to come out and let Missis sippi State know that last year was no fluke. We wanted to prove to them and to ourselves that we can beat a team two years in a row,” Moore said. Moore feels the defense has enjoyed much of its success be cause of the influence of two of last year's star defenders, Cleve S - ■ : ^ ‘ T" ! — land Pickney and Cecil Caldwell. “They really helped me out a lot and encouraged me to always stand up for what you believe in and never give up. They were the leaders of the defense last year, and now they have passed the leadership along to me,” Moore said. Moore believes his field-goal blocks against Boise State and Georgia enabled the rest of the defense to have confidence in themselves. “Those two plays have helped to set the pace for the defense this year,” Moore said. Of course, Moore feels the team has emerged following what he calls his most memo rable win at the Outback Bowl in January. The game wasn't special to Moore just because it was a high-profile win on New Years Day, but because he played after a major tragedy in his life. “The Outback Bowl game would most definitely be the best game of my career because my father had died a couple of weeks before the game and I wanted to dedicate the game to him,” Moore said. Moore's father would have been proud of his son, who had a strong performance against Ohio State and helped the Gamecocks win 24-7.' “I was so glad to be a part of the 2000 Carolina football team because we worked so hard to have a winning season and it paid off for all of us. We were able to practice and work hard and believe in ourselves,” Moore ♦ LANGSTON, SEE PAGE 11 ' KYLE ALMOND JBLAZ INI24@HOTMAIL.COM Michael Jordan, the greatest professional athlete the world has ever seen, announced Tues day that he is coming out of re tirement yet again to play in the NBA. Please, Mike, say it ain’t so. Don’t get me wrong — I prac tically worship MJ and always will — but it’s hard to see any thing positive coming out of this return. When Jordan left the game three years ago, he left on top. After hitting the title-clinching jump shot in the final seconds of his final season, Jordan’s legend was complete and virtually un flappable. Sure, the guy couldn’t swing the bat too well on the di amond, but on the court, he was without a doubt the best ever. Even those who hated him had to admit Jordan was the most dominant player in modern sports. Now, Jordan can do nothing but tarnish that reputation. Re alistically, there’s nothing His Airness can do to top what he’s already done. He won’t win another title with the Washington Wizards, that’s for sure. He might not even make the playoffs; the Wiz ards are that bad. He also won’t score 30 points a game, with opponents double and triple-teaming him for 40 minutes. In Chicago, he could al ways kick the ball out to Scottie Pippen or Steve Kerr to make the other team pay. Now, he’ll be *■ ** O -J Jahidi White and David Vanter pool — players who make me question the meaning of the term “supporting cast.” Then there’s the injury factor. MJ is 38 years old. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s still got the skills, the smarts and the talent to be one of the league’s best players. But when you’re 38, those lit tle bumps and bruises you used to recover from by the next game start putting you on the shelf for a couple weeks. The NBA season is a grueling 82 games long. I’d say it’s about 99.9 percent certain Jordan won’t play every game, and nagging injuries could hin der his production when he does play. If the Wizards lose more games than they win, and Jor dan has his worst season of his career, it won’t erase what he’s done in the past, especially to me. He could average 10 points a game and still be my favorite player and the greatest ever in my eyes. But there are still those haters out there who have been waiting and waiting for his demise. Bit ter of his yearly domination, they’re looking for any reason to criticize him and will whenever they find it. iyiu uucau i ucbcrvc mai crap. The man’s already had the most storybook career in sports his tory. I’m not even going to get into all he’s accomplished; the list is too long, and you already know it anyway. He deserves nothing less than our ultimate respect and admiration. What he might deserve and what he might get, however, are two totally different things. It sucks, but it’s true. 1 ♦ ALMOND, SEE PAGE 11 Jordan didn’t need to return Inside the numbers I | ♦Three of Moore’s six tackles this season came in the first Georgia drive in Athens Sept. 8 ♦ A blocked field goal in each of his first two games this season ♦ He has changed positions three times in his football career at USC ♦ Zero career tackles, sacks and blocks coming into the 1999 sepson I r