Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 31, 2002 9 M rp O THIS WEEKIN USG SP0RTS history CONTACT US I “ I I I 1988: Fred Jackson, former receivers coach at Navy, is E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com -L _L I—L k_/ named Assitant football coach at USC. Derek Watson could return Derek Watson was removed from the team from the team in January after his arrest for marijuana possesion, photo by sean RAYFORD/THE GAMECOCK J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK According to USC football coach Lou Holtz, Derek Watson’s Gamecock career may not be over after all. Holtz spoke to Sports Radio 1400 AM Friday about the troubled run ning back’s possible return to USC for the 2003 season. Watson was kicked off the team in January af ter an arrest for marijuana posses sion but still has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining and could red shirt for another season. He was not enrolled in school last spring fol lowing his arrest and is also not en rolled at USC this fall. After Watson’s dismissal, rumors circulated regarding a possible transfer to South Carolina State and a reunion with former Carolina as sistant and current Head Coach Buddy Pough. Holtz recently intimated that Watson had recently expressed to him a desire to return to USC. Holtz, however, squashed rumors of Watson’s return: “We’ve talked about that subject enough. He’s not going to be a part of our program this year.” But Holtz, who clearly has a soft spot in his heart for Watson, would not comment beyond this season. “A team has a life span of one year and that’s all I’m going to say about that,” Holtz said. USC athletics director Mike McGee and USC Assistant-Athletics Director Kerry Tharp were not available for comment, but McGee stressed earlier Watson would not return to South Carolina. Watson would face an uphill bat tle beyond the gridiron in a possi ble return to Carolina. He was found guilty after his January arrest and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and given a 30 day suspended sentence. His marijuana arrest also ex pelled him from a Pretrial Intervention program he was par ticipating in after an earlier run-in with the law during which Watson was arrested on simple assault charges last fall after a fight with a female student in May 2001. Watson could petition for rein statement at USC and his re-admit tance would be subject to review by the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. Watson scored 19 touchdowns and ran for 2,078 yards in three sea sons at USC. He appeared in last year’s Outback Bowl but was sus pended for Carolina’s 2001 bowl ap pearance. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmai l.com Lance wins it again BY MICHAEL MCDONOUGH ASSOCIATED PRESS Voila! Just like that, Lance Armstrong is Tour de France cham pion for a fourth straight time. The Texan with the iron legs to match his will already is thinking about winning again. And again. Looking ahead to 2004 and the possibility of becoming the only six time winner of the Tour, Armstrong said his U.S. Postal Service team is “one of the strongest in the history of cycling. I hope to ride with them for two more years.” “It’s always complicated, difficult to reach the maximum level,” he said. “I love the race, my job, cy cling.” Armstrong was right where he seems to belong Sunday, cruising to ward the tree-lined Champs-Elysees with a bright yellow jersey on his back. He never relinquished the overall leader’s shirt after putting it on 10 days ago when he took con trol with his trademark surges through the mountains. The 30-year-old cyclist, who over came cancer, has turned the gruel ing three-week event into his per sonal showcase. As he cycled in the main pack in Sunday’s 20th stage, he held a glass of champagne - enjoying a little sip early on - and he took a congratu latory call from President Bush af ter the victory ceremony. “I’m really happy to finish,” Armstrong said. “It’s a difficult race, three weeks. It’s difficult men tally.” Not Sunday, though. The final stage of 891/4 miles into Paris is tra ditionally a mostly ceremonial ride, and Armstrong took time to pose for photographs with an arm draped over the shoulders of another rid er. He could afford to dally. Armstrong’s tranquil ride to the fin ish mirrored the rest of the Tour. Neither rivals nor the demanding course of 2,032 miles seemed to test him during a race with fewer of the unfounded accusations that Armstrong takes banned drugs (he’s never failed a test). He covered all that ground with an overall time of 82 hours, 5 min utes, 12 seconds. The winning mar gin over runner-up Joseba Beloki of Sp^in was 7:17, making it Armstrong’s second-biggest victo ry. He beat Alex Zuelle by 7:37 in 1999 for his first Tour de France championship. Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania was third overall, 8:17 back. No oth er rider finished within 13 minutes of Armstrong. Thousands of fans watched Sunday, many waving the Stars and Stripes, as Armstrong moved clos er to the Tour record of five titles, shared by four riders. Only Miguel Indurain won five in a row, from 1991-95. Armstrong is the first American with four Tour trophies. Greg Lemond, the only other U.S. cham pion of cycling’s most prestigious event, won three. Asked about the 2003 Tour, Armstrong said: “Of course, I will try to win.” ♦ LANCE, SEE PAGE 10 LSU baseball player passes away at 21 J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK Louisiana State University stu dent-athlete Wally Pontiff, 21, was found dead at his parents’ home in Metairie, La., last Wednesday morn ing. Pontiff was the starting third baseman for the LSU baseball team the past two seasons and was draft ed in the 21st round by the Oakland Athletics in June. Pontiff batted .339 with six home rims and 46 RBIs for LSU last year. Prior to his death, Pontiff was de ciding whether to return to LSU for his senior year, or to play in the A’s minor league system. The cause of death is unknown. An autopsy was performed last Thursday, but the family has re quested that results not be pub j lished pending further tests. Additional tissue and toxicology tests have been ordered, and results ♦PONTIFF, SEE RAGE 10 Wednesday In his home. PHOTO BY PAUL KAUK/LSU REVEILLE^