Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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" 11 • GAME SCHEDULE MEN’S SOCCER vs. Boston University, 7 p.m. Friday WOMEN'S SOCCER at Clemson, 7 p.m. Friday CONTACT US VOLLEYBALL vs. Ball State at Southern California Tournament, Story ideas? Questions? Comments? CROSS COUNTRY at Charlotte, 9 a.m. Saturday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com ■ FOOTBALL vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 7 p.m. Saturday ---■-s---r-* use FOOTBALL Holtz unsure about 2003 season BY BRAD SENKIW THE CAMECOCK With football season begin ning just days from now and the Gamecock football team search ing for final answers to who will step up on both sides of the ball, it appears that coaches, as well as fans, will be forced to take a wait-and-see approach to the 2003 season. “You are always upset about the defense, worried about the of fense, kickoff returns or cover age,” head coach Lou Holtz said. “I have no idea what to expect when we go out there.” While it remains unseen how strong this year’s football team will be, Holtz is searching for faith in changes to the'USC sys tern. Not only is new defensive "r coordinator Chris Cosh imple meriting the new 4-3 defense, but offensive coordinator Skip Holtz has been handed the reins on the most inexperienced side of the ball. “I told Skip that he will run the offense and that I understand the plan. Play it wide open, and do not feel like someone is going to be looking over your shoul der,” Holtz said. Dondrial Pinkins continues to receive praise from the coaching staff, who thinks he is set for a big season. On the other hand, the running back position is still an issue that won’t be solved un til plays are called on the football field, not just in practice. “We have some young backs who are going to play — Kenny Irons and Daccus Turman are sophomores, and Demetris Summers and Cory Boyd are freshmen — and you do not know how they are going to react in a football game,” Holtz said. By handing his son Skip the responsibility on offense, the head coach hopes he can turn his attention to defense, allowing Skip to open the play calling and use the offensive talent the team has accumulated. “Offensively, I think we have more talent than before,” Skip Holtz said. “Now, as coaches, what we have to do is give this young and inexperienced offense the confidence to play aggres sively and efficiently.” Lou Holtz thinks that the of fense and defense must go hand in hand this season. If not, suc cess in the win column could be difficult. “In the past when the offense got the ball back, you did not want to do anything crazy and in stead be conservative and get first downs. I do not think we can win that way. We have to step up on defense and become a defen sively dominating team, and I am not sure that we can be,” Holtz said. He also said that if the two sides can come together with the offense being wide open and the defense dominating with big plays, then talk of a champi onship could occur. But he cites player-position concerns on de fense before that can happen. “On defense, I worry about our defensive line, our nose tack le, our defensive tackle,” Holtz said. “I am not sure if we will be strong enough inside.” With injuries to several linebackers including Lance Laury, who is battling a knee in jury, and Ricardo Hurley, who has a high-ankle sprain that has kept him out of several prac tices, the Gamecocks are unsure who will be a contributor Saturday. Two unknown linebackers have emerged in se nior walk-on Kevin Caldwell and freshman Ryan Brown. Although injuries have plagued many defensive players, there is optimism at cornerback. “I am not concerned about the position opposite Dunta Robinson because it is not like they are playing poorly,” Holtz said. “Deandre’ Eiland is trying as hard as he ever has, and Teddy Crawford is'as well. ” With little known about the quality of play this team will present on the field, it might take patience from the coaches and fans when watching this young team. , “We have some people that are going to be good football players. As good as they are going to be right now, their best football is ahead of them. After they get a couple games under their belt, then you know what to expect,” Holtz said. Although it seems Carolina might have more questions than Holtz can answer, he is excited for another chance to coach a new team and showcase its tal ent against Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. “I think our players are look ing forward to the game, and I know that I am,” Holtz said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Pinkins’ poise holds off Rathe at quarterback Transfer QB will see playing time, although not as starter BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK Junior college transfer quar terback Mike Rathe was expect Ped to compete for the starting po sition this fall, but returning ju nior Dondrial Pinkins has se cured the job. Both quarterbacks played well in the spring scrim mage, when Pinkins went 16-24 for 212 yards and one rushing touchdown. Rathe also did well, going 18-30 for 229 yards and one touchdown along with one rush ing touchdown. Through the beginning of fall practice until now, it was decided that Pinkins would be the No. 1 choice, eliminating any thought of even a limited two-quarter back system. Rathe will still re ceive playing time. According to Rathe, the team “doesn’t want to go into the season and . have Dondrial a get hurt and have me come in and have no experience.” However, it is still up in the air when or where Rathe will receive playing time. Last season, Pinkins started the Florida and Clemson games completing 32 of his 65 passing attempts for 431 yards. He also had two touchdowns and four in terceptions. One of the con tributing factors to Pinkins’ choice as the No. 1 quarterback • is that he did not throw an in terception through the entire PHOTO BY MARK SCHILUNG/THE GAMECOCK Dondrfal Pinkins takes off for a run during last year’s spring game. Pinkins was named the starting quarterback over junior college transfer Mike Rathe. Rathe is expected to see playing time, despite backing Pinkins up. spring practice season. USC head coach Lou Holtz has been very pleased with how com fortable Pinkins has looked be hind center this season. “I think Dondrial Pinkins is going to have a good year,” Holtz said. “It appears that way. He is confident and knows what to expect when you call a play. He knows what he is going to do with the ball and where the re ceivers are going to go.” At the beginning of fall prac tice, Pinkins reflected on be coming the starting quarter back. “It’s a little different heading into practice as the No. 1 guy. You have to lead the guys and I know people are depending on me. I’ve been here all summer so I- am ready for the job,” he said. Pinkins’ backup, Rathe, transferred from Mesa Community College where he passed for over 2,500 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also was named to the second team of the All-Western States Football League Team and was an Academic All-American while at Mesa. Bennett Swygert, a redshirt freshman from Summerville, is' coming off his second knee in jury but is expected to be the third-string quarterback this year. Swygert’s injuries have forced him into having limited practice time since he enrolled at Carolina in January 2002. In last year’s spring scrimmage, Swygert went 5-12 for 46 yards and one rushing touchdown. Swygert did have an impres sive resume com ing out of high school, however. He was consid ered the best quarterback prospect in South Carolina and was selected to the Shrine Bowl team. During his . senior year at Summerville High School, Swygert complet ed 54 percent of his passes for 1,232 yards and 17 touchdowns. Additionally, he had 646 yards rushing and scored five rushing touchdowns. The USC quarterback corps should have some assistance this season with an improved squad of wide receivers. “At wide receiver, we have Troy Williamson, Taqiy Muhammad and Chavez Donnings as our starters. I have been Impressed with what Aryhel Freeman has been. We are anxious to get Mikal Goodman back out there and see what he can do,” Holtz said. Williamson is looking to im prove on last season’s SEC All Freshman team performance, while Muhammad is adjusting to the transition from cornerback to wide receiver. Donnings is also working hard, coming off a hand injury last year. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail. com Former athletes can make great politicians TYLERJONES GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM Simpson and Strawberry % should team up in Florida. It’s toss up time again. Should we talk about Kobe? How about the newest addition to the Dream Team with a protesting Tim Duncan refusing to play the Virgin Islands? Or maybe that thing called a pennant race? Nah, I want to talk big-time politics, but this time with sports as the cen tral theme. Yes, it seems that the troglodytes in the media have once again missed the mark in their un relenting desire to capture the lat est chapter in the American freak show. All I hear is the jibber-jab ber of mannequin news anchors talking about the race for California governor by the Hollywood great Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sure, Big Arnie was and, to some, still is a big hit ter in the nefarious nightmare that is Tinseltown, but has every one forgotten about Arnold the world-class athlete? The Austrian-born Schwarzenegger was a seven-time Mr. Olympia, not to mention a three-time Mr. Universe. I can as sure you that wh:le ole’ Arnie might not admit it, those trophies are just as important to him as the Oscars he won for his perfor mances in “Kindergarten Cop” and “Eraser.” (My editor will try to cut that last sentence, but Arnie was robbed by the Academy on numerous occasions; these are just two of them). While political pundits throw around this idea that Hollywood to Washington is an easier transi tion than say, Green Bay to Washington, history shows that former sportsmen have had a plethora of success in the business of politics. Remember whom the Viagra addled presidential candidate, Bobby Dole, picked as his run ning mate? Jack Kemp, a two time NFL MVP. And how about the state of Oklahoma where J.C. Watts and Steve Largent have had successful careers as mem bers of Congress? Head north to Nebraska and you’ll find the stoic stare of for mer Huskers football coach, Tom Osborne, shaking hands for his latest re-election campaign. How about Jesse “The Body” Ventura? And let’s not forget the luckiest man to ever land in the Oval Office, Gerald Ford. Old Gerry was one hell of a center for the University of Michigan before he fell in line with the hatchet-weild ing kooks of Team Nixon. But despite all of the success of lesser-known athletes, big-name players have not made the natu ral leap from the bright lights of the playing field to the big-time world of politics. That, my friends, is about to change be cause if Mr. Universe can do it, then why can’t Michael Jordan? So with that said, I Jiave my own prognostications for possible gu bernatorial candidates in the states with the highest number of electoral votes. First, let’s start with Florida. My money is with Alex Rodriguez, the shortstop of the Texas Rangers. This Sunshine State boy has the money, the looks and the cultural heritage to lock down the climbing Hispanic vote. My dark horses are two of my favorites, Darryl Strawberry and 0. J. Simpson. With Darryl in Tampa and Juice down in Miami, they might be better off running as a governor-lieutenant gover nor team in order to lock up the entire state. Now on to New York, where keeping with the theme of young, rich and shortstops, I would like Derek Jeter to oust Pataki or whatever goon is running New York. Let’s face it, Jeter is practi cally the mayor of New York City as it is, unless you happen to be a big Michael Bloomberg fan. The dark horse has got to be my close friend, Michael G. Tyson. Don’t laugh, Tyson would probably be an interesting foil to Hillary Clinton. Imagine those two in a heated debate. Jump over to Michigan. This one is a toss up between Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and the legendary run ning back Barry Sanders. Both are straight shooters with a big upside in terms of public support, although Izzo is probably the most qualified leader who won’t quit mid-term. As for the dark horse, you’ve got to go with Chris Webber. Let’s see here, he’s charged with lying in court (we in the biz call that perjury) and swindling hundreds of thousands from a University of Michigan booster and then re fusing to pay it back. Hell, I say screw the governorship of Michigan and head straight for the White House, C-Webb. How about G-Dubya’s backyard down in Texas? Two words: Troy Aikman. Keeping with the theme of lovable dark horses, I like the idea of Bobby Knight in office. I mean, if you have a capital pun ishment-happy state like Texas, you might as well have someone in there that would love to flip the switch. Which brings us back to California and the end of this week’s diatribe. I personally like Phil Jackson as a leader, guru and visionary for the 21st century. And you know whom I would like to run for governor, as a dark horse of course, from his cell in Colorado? Jones is a graduate student in the College of Mass Communication and Information Studies.