The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 25, 2003, Page 10, Image 10
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