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10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, June 25, 2003 contact its i&rnAnmn this week in use sports history UHNIAM Lo Ll| I U/f I 'V 1987: The Los Angeles Dodgers sign USC pitchers Brian E-mailusatgamecochsports@hotmail.com \ / | |_|_ Currie and Lee Whatley to major league contracts. Rice gives long-time coach NCAA title The Owls take two of three against Stanford to claim the NCAA Championship in Omaha BY ERIC OLSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OMAHA, NEB. (AP) -Wayne Graham told his players before the College World Series champi onship game that this Rice team was the best ever. The Owls then went out and proved it—in emphatic fashion. Rice scored three runs in the first inning, then added a record tying seven in the sixth as the Owls won the school’s first NCAA title Ih any sport with a 14-2 victo ry over Stamford on Monday night in the CWS’ most-lopsided cham pionship game. “He’ll always remember this team, just like all of us will,” catch er Justin Ruchti said of Graham. “But this one will stand out for him. This was his first national championship team. It’s been an amazing run.” Philip Humber pitched a five hitter, Enrique Cruz drove in four runs and Paul Janish knocked in three as Rice (58-12) battered Stanford (51-18) pitching for 14 hits. “Everyone played his best game, and Phil did a good job,” said Graham, who won five junior college national championships and completed his 12th season at Rice. “We were fortunate to have better-rested pitching.” The performance capped a sea son during which the Owls put to gether a school-record 30-game winning streak and had one of the nation’s top pitching staffs and de fenses. Rice finished the CWS with a 2.83 ERA in six games, and it was the Owls’ pitching that carried them to the national title. “We got some good breaks and some bad breaks here, but you have to overcome the bad breaks,” Graham said. “We have a lot of pitching depth and a lot of those guys will be back next year.” , And that includes all three of Rice’s top starters: Jeff Niemann, Wade Townsend and Humber. That prospect has the 67-year-old Graham thinking about a repeat, not retirement. “I feel like I could go 20 more,” Graham said. “I’m not going out." We’re starting to think tomorrow morning about winning another one. We want to come back and do it again.” Stanford’s Ryan Garko, who batted .402 and became the first Cardinal to hit over .400 since 1991, was 3-for-ll against Rice. “I think the thing that really impressed me was they are three real big guys, but they’re finesse pitchers,” Garko said. “They mixed up their pitches well. They have three good arms.” ♦ BASEBALL, SEE PAGE 10 PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Kice s David Aardsma celebrates a win with ms teammates during tne College World Series. Aardsma recorded two wins and a save to help get the Owls past Stanford in the school’s first-ever national championship. Draft lacks entertainment J&mSSsSaim; II— Mill |i|fig& BRAD SENKIW GAMECOCKVIEWPOtNTS@HOTMAIL.COM High school athletes water down NBA draft Now that the NBA season is ove.’iand the annual draft is tak ing place tomorrow night, I began thinking about how much fun it used to be to watch. Back when I was in middle school, I cared about the selection process. On one occasion, I actually taped the draft and watched it several times. I guess then pro basketball wasn’t about poten tial and expectations; it was based more on a team actually getting better right then and not five»rears down the road. It was much more entertaining to watch the highlights of young men showcasing their skills over the past three or four years of col lege. Now, watching Lebron James James dunk on pimple faced 16-year olds isn’t my idea of entertain ment. If these guys at least went to col lege for a year, I would probably know their name and where they’re from. And with all the for eign players entering the draft, I need an atlas and a translator to keep up with David Stem. Teams no longer look at the draft as a way of improving. Bad teams now draft guys for what they might be like three to five years from now, and it seems to be the same bad teams year after year making selections. These teams aren’t trying to get better; they are trying to draw fans. Teams like Cleveland and Denver could care less about how many games they win. They are willing to spend money on kids instead of veterans or experienced college players, hoping to fill a few extra seats. Unfortunately, this idea wears off and these franchises are forced to keep trying the latest gimmick. That’s all the NBA has become. No longer are talent and winning im portant, but hype and expecta tions rule the league. The only real answer is to not allow high school players into the draft. I think this is much fur ther down the road than we real ize, and it will take more teenagers entering and less be ing successful. I don’t blame any 17-year-old for taking the money and playing in the most competi tive league in the world, but the NBA has to accept this as a mis ♦ DRAFT, SEE PAGE 11 BRIEFLY Three USC track members shine Several members of the USC track team are continu ing excellence in the off sea son. Aleen Bailey, who cap tured the 100-meter and 200 meter national titles last week, won the 100-meter champi onship in her native country of Jamaica. Bailey will go on to compete in the World Track and Field Championships this August in Paris, France. Kenneth Ferguson and Tawana Watkins both per formed well at the USA Junior Championships Sunday. Ferguson, a freshman, won gold medals in both the men’s 100-meter and 400-meter hur dles, while Watkins, also a freshman, took the women’s 400-meter hurdle champi onship. The pair qualified to represent the U.S. at the Junior Pan American games in July in Barbados. Jackson beaten in finals of tourney USC’s Jonathan Jackson made it to but was beaten in the final round of the Championship Flight at the 52nd Annual Herald-Sun Golf Classic on Sunday but finished as the overall medalist. After cruising through the first four rounds of the match play tournament, Jackson, a sophomore, lost to tenth-seed ed James Hockman 3 and 2 at the Hillandale Golf Club in Durham, N.C. Jackson won the most medals, which qualified him for the top seed in the event. Jackson began the tourna ment with an opening-round 64 that bettered the 195 golfers in the competition. I