The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 25, 2003, Page 9, Image 9
9 THE GAMECOCK * Monday, August 25, 2003 (\ M E SCHFDE^LE
■ "V / \ I ^ w U / NJ MEN’S SOCCER vs. Boston University, 7 p.m. Friday
nA^m.AmTTP, I ■/ I I if I L 1 WOMEN'S SOCCER at Clemson, 7 p.m. Friday
CONTACT l S u fl fl M—S B VOLLEYBALL vs. Bali State at Southern California Tournament,
| B B I fl i 8 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? ■ \ /|| fl k V CROSS COUNTRY at Charlotte, 9 a.m. Saturday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com 1 rVy FOOTBALL vs^Lousiana-Lafayette, 7 p.m. Saturday
SEC PREVIEW
SEC set for national spotlight
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
While it’s greatly argued which
conference takes top billing every
year in college football, the SEC is
making a strong case to lead the
way in 2003. With four teams
ranked in the AP Poll’s top-15, the
league will showcase top talent
and tough coaching in both the
Western and Eastern divisions.
And no matter whether
changes come from scandals,
coaching moves or new practice
rules, one of the country’s oldest
conferences continues to chal
lenge on a national scene.
The 2003 season means rejuve
nation for the Western division.
Auburn, who begins the season
with a non-conference game
against Southern cal, has been se
lected sixth in the preseason poll
and LSU 14th, with teams
Arkansas and Ole Miss hoping for
a chance at the SEC
Championship game.
With Auburn receiving so
much hype, head coach Tommy
Tuberville said it takes more than
being talked about to be good.
“To win championships you
have to find ways to win games
when you don’t play v'ell,”
Tuberville said. “It has a lot to do
with r.hemistrv ”
The Tigers have been selected
by many publications as not only
the SEC favorite but as the na
tional favorite as well. Many
coaches think this only makes the
conference stronger.
Arkansas head coach Houston
Nutt said the SEC West showcases
“so many good teams.
“I don’t think any coach can
take a schedule and say that’s a
W, that’s a W. Look at LSU,
Alabama and Auburn. It’s good
football and you’ve got to be ready
to go,” Nutt said.
On the sidelines, Mike Shula
took over at Alabama following
several scandals and coaching va
cancies. Shula now looks to get the
Crimson Tide back on track in 2003.
“Bottom line is we’re still play
ing football,” Shula said. “We can’t
go win a national championship,
but we can win football games.”
Several players on this side of
the SEC can make several impacts
for their teams. There are 12 fi
nalists in the SEC up for the
Butkus Award, given to the na
tions top linebacker. Two of these,
Karlos Dansby and Dontarrious
Thomas, play at the same time at
Auburn. Heisman candidate Eli
Manning, the senior quarterback
from Ole Miss, is the third install
ment of the Manning quest for the
nation’s top player award.
The Georgia Bulldogs rolled
through the SEC East last season
and are picked by many to repeat
in the division but have fought
several injuries and off-the-field
issues early this season.
“Some of the things that hap
pened off the field helped us get
our focus on what’s important,”
Georgia head coach Mark Richt
said. “In hindsight, I didn’t like
what happened.”
Tennessee is a team that strug
gled last season with tons of in
juries but looks to getting back on
track and contending for not only
the East title but a shot at Atlanta,
while the Florida Gators hope sec
ond-year head coach Ron Zook
will give them a chance to return
to national prominence.
The only head coaching space
filled in the East came at
Kentucky where Guy Morris left
anu iNUrtrt. rule violations mourn
ed. Rich Brooks takes over in
Lexington, as UK looks to get its
program on track.
“I told the team not to expect
them to automatically embrace
and respect me,” Brooks said. “I
felt I had to earn that.”
On the field, quarterbacks hope
to reign in the East. Georgia’s
David Greene, Tennessee’s Casey
Clausen and Kentucky’s Jared
Lorenzen are expected to lead
their respective teams.
Defensively, David Pollack re
turns for UGA.
No matter what happens with
in the conference, Brooks thinks
someone in the SEC will challenge
the outcome nationally in January.
“Whoever plays well in this
league will be in the top-10 teams
in the nation and usually in the
BCS field for the national cham
pionship. If the favored team
doesn’t win the championship
game, sometimes they fall out of
the 1-2 position for the champi
onship game,” Brooks said.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
■ Georgia head coach Mark Rlcht
I hopes to lead the Bulldogs to
H another SEC Championship.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK | ' |
Plenty to do besides USC sports
BEN SINCLAIR
6AMEC0CKSP0RTS@H0TMAIL.C0M
Being a sports fan in
Columbia isn’t that bad.
If you are a sports nut like me,
you look for sports everywhere you
go. Whether you are a lifelong res
ident of Columbia or a freshman
who has never lived here, there are
misconceptions that Columbia is a
bad place for sports enthusiasts.
This is simply not the case. Even
taking USC athletics completely
out of the equation, if you open
your eyes or are willing to take a
short drive, you will find plenty of
sports to get you through the year.
If you can’t get enough base
ball, act quickly, and you can still
catch the Capital City Bombers in
action this season. The Bombers
are under new ownership now,
and locals that have attended
games in the past will notice a
friendlier atmosphere than before.
Act fast though because the
Bombers final home stand starts
today and ends Wednesday. I take
pride in the fact I have seen cur
rent major leaguers like Chipper
Jones, Andrew Jones, Jose Reyes,
Kevin Millwood, Marcus Giles,
Terrance Long and Preston
Wilson play in Columbia as minor
leaguers.
If the minor leagues are not for
you, the Atlanta Braves are just
three hours away. The Braves have
made the postseasop every year
' since 1990. When you'consider how
long it has been since baseball fans
in cities such as Detroit, Montreal
and Milwaukee have seen a playoff
baseball game, the three-hour drive
does not seem so long.
Come October, hockey season
heats up in Columbia. The
Columbia Inferno advanced to the
Kelly Cup Finals last season. The
Inferno has played just two sea
sons, but has made the playoffs
each season and has developed in
tense rivalries with teams in
Florence, Augusta, Charlotte and
Greenville, so there are plenty of
opportunities to hit the road as
well. Inferno head coach Scott
White is one of the most talented
coaches in the minors and has done
a great job in selling the sport to the
people of Columbia. The Atlanta
Thrashers and the Carolina
Hurricanes, who were Stanley Cup
Finalists two seasons ago, are just a
short road trip away as well.
While I expect to see every one
of you at Williams-Brice on
Saturdays this fall, there are op
portunities to see your favorite
professional football team. The
Carolina Panthers are only a short
drive up Interstate-77, and while
they might look more like an XFL
team than an NFL team, there will
be good football in Charlotte.
Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Tennessee
and Philadelphia are playoff
teams from last season that play
Carolina this fall. The Atlanta
Falcons will be much more enter
taining to watch this season, es
pecially in six weeks when
Michael Vick returns. However,
you might have to work connec
tions or pay a scalper to see them.
Tickets for all Falcon home games
are sold out this season.
If you follow NASCAR, then be
ing in Columbia is a great oppor
tunity to see racing live. Races re
main this season in Darlington,
Atlanta, Rockingham and
Charlotte. This year’s fall
Darlington race will be the last
time it is held on Labor Day
Weekend. Even if you think
NASCAR is not a sport and that it
is only followed by wife beaters in
the local trailer park, you should
at least make it a point to see one
race live. Many pre-race activities
are similar to tailgates I have wit
nessed before a USC game, such as
beverage consumption and a
Lynyrd Skynyrd Greatest Hits CD.
A car passing by you at over 190
mph can provide a nice breeze on a
humid September day.
Do not be afraid to check out a
high school game or two. You
might be surprised how much tal
ent comes out of the local high
schools. You could catch a glimpse
of future Gamecocks, NBA or NFL
stars. Duce Staley, Jermaine O’
Neal, Richard Seymour, Woodrow
Dantzler and David Patton are just
a few of the athletes to compete in
the Midlands in high school.
Finally, I would like to use the
last paragraph of my column to
recognize the couple of hundred
people I saw lined up on the first
day of ticket distribution for the
first USC home game. You are the
best fans of the greatest universi
ty, and your enthusiasm for sports
is exciting. I firmly believe there
should be golden bleachers at mid
field reserved just for you. Keep
up the support. With eight home
games and a young football team,
you can make the difference this
season. Well, now that you are
armed with the knowledge of how
much is really going on around
you, don’t just stand there read
ing this column. Get out there and
watch some games!
Sinclair is a graduate student in
the educhtion college.
atural
■w . —*
orn leader
Niece Curry leads the USC
volleyball squad into 2003
BY HOLLI
ARMSTRONG
THE GAMECOCK
As Niece Curry
heads out the door, she
pauses. Her gaze set
tles on a poem, a gift
from her roommate. Its
message seems particular
ly poignant as the season
dawns. Entitled “One
Day at a Time,” the
words ground the All
SEC volleyball player,
who is relying on pa
tience and timing to
lead the 2003
Gamecocks.
Things have
changed.
Last
year’s
squad,
dominated
by seniors,
allowed
Curry to sit
back and focus
on her responsibilities. Now, as
the most experienced of two re
turning starters, it is her turn to
talk. This makes Curry a bit
nervous.
“Whether she has wanted it or
not, her role has changed dra
matically,” head coach Kim
Christopher said. “The newcom
ers look to her for guidance be
cause she has been here for three
years. She has to be more
conscious of those
around her.”
Curry certainly has
the makings of a great
leader: confidence,
competitive
ness, pas
sion, in
timida
tion
and
per
sever
ance. Hopefully, her support
ing cast has taken note.
After all, the Kalamazoo,
Mich., native has been playing
volleyball since her freshman
year of high school. She wanted to
play basketball, but when she
transferred to a rival school that
fielded poor teams, she made the
switch. Her mother also played
the game and encouraged her
daughter to do the same. Even
knee surgery this past April has
not quelled the middle blocker’s
desire to see this young team de
velop and achieve. She will settle
for nothing less than a win over
Florida, a team that has dominat
ed the SEC for more than a
decade, and topping the Tigers.
Hopefully different will be good.
“Last year, we had a lot of seri
ousness in the gym, but now ev
eryone is so willing and eager to
learn and put things together,” (
said Curry, who admits that at i
times the transition has been frus
trating. “It should be an exciting
season.”
Picked to finish third in the
SEC east, the Gamecocks will need
Curry to lead early as the team
will be tested on the road against
top-ranked Southern California,
among other strong squads.
“I think it will be difficult in
the beginning because our sched
ule is so difficult, but I certainly
think that the more this team
works together, the better we are
going to be,” Christopher said.
“We have some great athletes in
the gym. Sure, we are young, but
that has actually been a strength
for us during the preseason be
cause of the enthusiasm.”
It is the happy and upbeat at
mosphere that has kept Curry
motivated and hopeful. With a
year of eligibility left,
Christopher is looking forward
to watching this young team con
nect and grow. Her example
could easily be the difference.
“I see Niece as full of life and
has a great deal of potential to in
fluence someone else’s life. She is
a natural leader; people just look
to her,” Christopher said. “I told
her the very first day on her re
cruiting trip here that I saw some
thing special in her. I hope she has
learned to trust that.”
Comments on this story?E-mctil
amecockudesk@hotmail.com