The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 21, 2002, Page 10, Image 10
What the puck? Hockey season’s back
MATT ROTHENBERG
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
There are many reasons
why you should give
hockey a look this year.
OK, how many of you reading
this column are excited that hock
ey season is back in full swing?
Don’t all of you raise your
hands at once, now.
I don’t know about the rest of
you, but I, for one, am thrilled to
hear the swoosh of the skates on
the ice, the clatter of sticks at a
faceoff, and the reverberating
sound of a siren when it signals a
goal.
A lot of people think that hock
ey is a brute’s game, one that calls
for little skill but the ability to
pull off a half-dozen punches into
someone’s face.
This couldn’t be much further
from the reality of the situation.
Playing ice hockey requires en
durance and agility. After all, it’s
a sport where you’re not relying
on your feet to carry your body
around, but rather a thin piece of
sharpened steel.
Hand-eye coordination is a
must, as it is with most sports.
Sharp reflexes and an uncanny
sense of ESP are also valuable.
But there are always the vari
ables one cannot control — the
status of the ice surface, the per
formance of one’s equipment and
just plain fate.
Nevertheless, hockey is tbe
sport of Kings... Blue Jackets and
Mighty Ducks, too. Like basket
ball, many different people from
all corners of the globe come to
North America to achieve great
ness — which only comes when
your name is inscribed on the
Stanley Cup, the oldest trophy in
all of professional sports.
Ice hockey is about the people
that play it. When has having less
than a dozen real teeth in your
mouth ever more revered, other
than at NASCAR races?
Seriously, though, guys are
coming from big and small towns
in the United States, Canada, cen
tral Europe; Russia and who
knows where else across the globe.
Are you going to find many
guys from places named
Kamloops, Shawinigan, Flin Flon
and Grand Bank playing in the
NFL? How about guys from
Voskresensk, Ornskoldsvik and
Brno? I doubt it. This variety,
which might only be rivaled in
the NBA, makes the NHL a quilt
created from all sorts of fabrics.
The NHL is a place where people
from numerous backgrounds and
walks of life can come together
for a sole purpose.
Hockey is also a sport that is
proud of its own history.
Nowhere is this more evident
than in the annual awards pre
sented to the NHL’s best players.
The great minds that shaped the
game — Conn Smythe, Lester
Patrick and Art Ross — as well as
the game’s prolific athletes —
Maurice Richard, Georges Vezina
and King Clancy — are repre
sented in trophies. What other
major professional league in
North America honors its great
est players and coaches by nam
ing awards after them? Not many,
if any, I can think of.
Only baseball’s New York
Yankees can match the tradition
and honors that the Montreal
Canadiens display. With 23 Stanley
Cup championship banners hang
ing from the rafters at the Bell
Centre, the Canadiens are also
known for their symbolic torch,
passed from captain to captain.
The torch relays historic
words from John Macrae’s “In
Flanders Field,” words that are
emblazoned in the team’s locker
room. It reads: “To you from fail
ing hands we throw the torch. Be
yours to hold it high.” Or, if you
prefer it in French: “Nos bras
meurtris vous tendent le flam
beau. A vous toujours de le porter
bien haul”
Either way you look at it, those
are some pretty heavy pieces of
verse, and they are indicative of
the overall sense of pride that the
NHL has.
Playing in the NHL is what
young hockey-playing children
dream of, especially drinking out
of the Stanley Cup at the end of
the season.
But even minor league hockey
is great to watch.
The games are always a lot of
fun, and, just like in minor league
baseball, you know each of those
guys is working his tail off just to
one day get his big break. For
some, it’s a never-ending quest.
Even guys who never made it big
in the NHL — and who still want
to play the game — will try then
luck in the minor leagues. That’s
something you don’t see too often
in baseball.
I urge you to check out your lo
cal hockey club, wherever you re
side. Look past the fighting and
rough play to see the game’s in
ner beauty. You won’t be disap
pointed.
Rothenberg is a fourth-year
sports management student. His
column normally appears every
Friday in Gamecock Sports.
Football
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
yards in the first half (212) than
they were allowing per game (208);
That changed quickly in the
third quarter.
USC’s first five offensive plays
of the second half included two in
terceptions by Demetrius Hookfin,
one of which he returned for a
touchdown. The Gamecocks fin
ished the third quarter with nine
offensive plays for 1 yard, and LSU
outscored them 25-0 in that span
for a 31-14 lead.
Saban credited his coaches for
making some adjustments at half
• time. He also credited his team for
taking charge of the game.
“I’d say that was a nice third
quarter,” Saban said. “One of the
nicest I’ve ever been around.”
The turnaround was complete.
USC quarterback Corey
Jenkins, who hurt LSU with both
his throwing and running in the
first half, was contained in the sec
ond. After completing 4-of-4 passes
for 64 yards in the first half,
Jenkins finished 5-of-12 for 65
yards. He rushed for 33 yards in
the first half, 41 for the game.
With the victory, LSU is alone
in first place in the SEC West go
ing into next week’s game with
Auburn. LSU extended its win
ning streak to six games.
“We lost to a football team that
played one heck of a football
game,” USC head coach Lou Holtz
said. “They didn’t have a
turnover. They didn’t make many
mistakes.”
Third
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
play extremely well in the first
half," he said.
“We made some big plays on
defense. ... The drive of the
game was to take the ball in the
second half and go right down
the field and score, and I think
that was a real key.”
USC head coach Lou Holtz
was worried before the game
about LSU’s ability to go on a
big run.
“Once we got behind the
“I knew the game was
lost. All you could do
was keep fighting and
try to hold the score
down.”
LANGSTON MOORE
use NOSE TACKLE
eight ball and they could bring
it, that’s the thing that you
can’t do,” Holtz said. “We
couldn’t play catch-up against
them, and we knew that.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
www.dailygamecock.com
I
BRIEFLY
Rosenberg scores
winner for Carolina
Junior defender Robert
Rosenberg scored the lone goal of
the match in the 94th minute to
give the USC men’s soccer team a
1-0 victory over Rutgers on
Saturday night in Piscataway, N. J.
Three minutes and 55 seconds
into the first overtime,
Rosenberg scored the game-win
ner, unassisted. USC goalkeeper
Michael Bachmeyer posted four
saves en route to his fifth shutout
of the season.
Rutgers (5-5-3) outshot the
13th-ranked Gamecocks 12-9,
while USC (9-3-1) held the advan
tage in corner kicks, 4-3.
USC earns sweep,
ties school record
The 24th-ranked USC volley
ball team swept the Auburn
Tigers for the second time this
season, winning 30-19, 30-22, 30
21 on Sunday.
Now 9-0 in SEC play, the
Gamecocks (16-3, 9-0 SEC) have
tied the school record for the best
SEC start, which was originally
set in 1997. Carolina is also on a
10-match winning streak, its
longest since 2000.
Freshman Sarah Morgan led
Carolina against Auburn with 16
kills, a career-high, while senior
Nadia Sefferovich recorded a
season-high 15 digs.
Swimming teams
win season opener
Opening their seasons, USC’s
swimming and diving teams de
feated the College of Charleston
on Friday in the Carolina
Natatorium.
The men’s team defeated the
Cougars 143-125, and the Lady
Gamecocks came away with a
153-127 victory.
The diving team made an im
pressive first showing of the
year, as all of the divers qualified
for Zones. The team also set three
new school records.
Andy Bradley placed first on
the 3-meter and 1-meter spring
boards, setting a new school
record for total score on the 3
meter.
Lauren King was the winner of
both springboard events for the
women, and she also set new
school records for total score.
Cassidy, Sherazi
take doubles title
The USC men’s tennis team
wrapped up play at the USC Fall
Invitational on Sunday, and Rob
Cassidy and Nasir Sherazi
teamed to earn a first-place fin
ish in the A-B doubles bracket.
Cassidy and Sherazi went 4-0
over the weekend to claim the
championship. The Gamecock
duo clinched the title with an 8-5
victory over Lander’s Carl
Hesser and Sean Voorhies.
In singles play, three
Gamecocks advanced into semifi
nal or final rounds. Ben Atkinson
advanced to the A2 bracket’s
semifinal round before falling to
Valter Paiva of Hampton 6-1,1-6,
6-3. Jason McAlhaney also ad
vanced to semifinal play before
being defeated by Rice’s Take
Morita 6-2,6-0. Cassidy advanced
to the B1 consolation finals be
fore falling to Jason Pieters of
Georgia Tech 6-1,6-0.
Lake’s win streak
comes to an end
USC’s cross country team re
ceived third and 14th place finishes
from co-captains Jenny Lake and
Kinsey Eschenburg this weekend
at the Winthrop University Fall
Classic in Rock Hill.
The Gamecocks finished
fourth out of eight teams in the
competition. Davidson won the
team championship with 44
points, edging out Furman,
which had 49.
Stephanie Vangsnes of
Winthrop took top honors with
a time of 14 minutes, 23 seconds.
Her time was 22 seconds faster
then the second-place finisher.
This was the last regular sea
son meet for Carolina. The
Gamecocks will have next week
end off before they travel to
Gainesville, Fla., on Nov. 4 to com
pete at the SEC Championships.
Aerobics instructor training
Starts Friday, 1:30-245pm @
October 25,2002 BlattPl Center Studio
To register or for information please
call 777-1827
■ - Campus Recreation
Btaggg -"-University of South Carolina
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