Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 9, 2003 CONTACT US ifenATima FIGURE OF THE WEEK UJAIAL1 L 6 1 U| I LJ'I 1 ^ $4.1 MILLION: Amount Miami Heat’s Anthony Carter E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com y / \ | won’t make on his contract because of a clerical error. Track continues to shine PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Demetria Washington is competing in Europe. BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The summer has meant one thing to USC track athletes: competition. Over the last week, a former track team member and as sistant coaches have performed well at track and field events all over the world. Former USC track star Demetria Washington, as well as volunteer assistant coaches Allen Johnson, Terrence Trammell and Dawn Ellerbe, will compete in August at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. Not only are they gearing up for next month’s championship, Washington and Johnson, along with volunteer assistant coach Melissa Morrison, are competing right now in Europe at the IAAF Golden League. ESPN and ESPN2 are televising the events for much of the summer. USC track head coach Curtis Frye urges fans to watch the USC track stars perform on television. “The University of South Carolina and the state of South Carolina has produced some of the best athletes in the world,” said Frye. “It helps the television ratings when Gamecock fans can tune in and see past and present Carolina athletes. The more expo sure track gets, the bigger base for track we continue to build in South Carolina.” Johnson, who is ranked second in the world in the 110-meter hurdles, won the U.S. Championship last month at Palo Alto, Calif. Johnson broke his own world-leading time of 13.06 with a 12.97 finish on Friday at the Gaz • de France Golden League meet in Paris. It was good enough to earn the 1996 gold medalist the USA Track and Field Athlete of the Week honor. Johnson is pleased where his career is right now and where it is going. “These days are the prime of my career,” said Johnson. “A lot of athletes can have a longer prime to their careers by working hard, eating right and staying healthy.” Terrence Trammell, a USC alumnus, fin ished runner-up to Johnson in the 110-meter at the U.S. Championships. Washington is ranked 30th in the world in the 400-meter dash and is the reigning NCAA Champion. She finished runner-up at the U.S. Championships and is running beside top athletes from all over the world in the Golden League. Ellerbe qualified for the World Championships with a third-place finish in the hammer throw, while Morrison, who is ranked sixth in the world in the 100-meter hurdles^is competing at the IAAF Golden League. Even better for the Gamecocks, women’s track signee Ronetta Alexander, a New York native, took the young women’s 100-meter title at the USA Track and Field Championships. Alexander finished with a time of 13.60 last weekend in Amherst, N.Y. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Bryant will have uphill battle after recent arrest BRAD SENKTW GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Kobe Bryant’s trouble will tarnish his image. Could it get any worse for the NBA this week? Damon Stoudamire was arrested on drug charges, again. Darrell Armstrong, one of the “good guys” in basket ball, was arrested for fighting a fe male cop. And, to make matters even worse for everyone, Kobe Bryant was arrested for sexual as sault in Colorado. I guess it could go more down hill. Dennis Rodman could come back to the game or the Nuggets could win a champi onship. Since those things aren’t likely to happen, where A^rsry « VTD A Bryant from the Kobe inci dent? Better yet, where does Kobe go from here? I understand that it’s still early in the investigation and he hasn’t been convicted, but this is going to hurt his image. It’s kind of ironic that a man who does Sprite com mercials about “image is nothing” and “thirst is everything” turned himself into the police after a war rant issued for his arrest was re leased. I guess we have to realize no one is immune to trouble. We tend to place these high-profile ath letes on pedestals that we can’t live up to, only to be in awe when they ♦ BRYANT, SEE PAGE 11 Neuheisel maintains fight to keep coaching job SEATTLE (AP) — Rick Neuheisel has again appealed his firing as football coach at Washington. On Monday, Neuheisel ap pealed his gambling-related fir ing to university Vice President Norm Arkans. The vice president for external affairs is out of the office until July 15, and could not be reached to comment on Neuheisel’s ap peal. Neuheisel’s lawyer, Bob Sulkin, filed the notice with the division of the state attorney gen eral’s office that represents the University of Washington. Assistant Attorney General Karen Nyrop confirmed it had been received. “It’s just a short letter put ting us on notice that he is seek Neuheisel ing an appeal,” she said. What happens next is up to Arkans, Sulkin said. Neuheisel plans to sue should the appeal fail. Last week, athletic director Barbara Hedges turned down a request from Neuheisel and his lawyers to reconsider his termi nation. She first announced June 12 that she was terminat ing him. Neuheisel is being terminat ed for taking part in neighbor hood gambling pools on the past two NCAA basketball tourna ments, in violation of NCAA rules. Hedges also said he was n’t forthcoming when first ques tioned by NCAA investigators. Neuheisel maintains he was forthcoming. He also has offered an e-mail from the school’s com pliance officer, which said tak ing part in off-campus gambling pools would not break NCAA rules, even though the NCAA has aggressively campaigned to rid college sports of all gam bling. Neuheisel invested $6,400 dur ing his two years of participating in the pools. He reportedly won about $12,000 and gave some of the money to charity. Offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson was put in charge of the program by Hedges. The Huskies open the season Aug. 30 at defending national champion Ohio State.