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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 14, 2004 9 rvAnmn FIGURE OF THE WEEK CONTACT US ^f|j Q X31 YD ' I ' W 15: Number of home runs from Baltimore shortstop E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu * JL \ / I \_ JL kJ Miguel Tejada in the second round of Monday’s derby. USC athletes aim for 2004 Olympic Games BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK With the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, just a month away, several athletes with Gamecock connections have been and are continuing to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. USC track stars Lashinda Demus and Tony Allmond, both natives of California, made the U.S. Track and Field team, while four former Gamecocks advanced at the Olympic Team Trials in Sacramento, Calif. Demus qualified for Athens in the 400-meter hurdles by placing third with a time of 53.43 seconds Monday. Demus’ hopes looked bleak after she crashed into the ninth of 10 hurdles coming down the stretch.'She found a way to keep her balance to hold off for mer Olympic silver medalist Sandra Glover. “Getting over the ninth hurdle I kind of busted it up pretty good,” Demus said. “But I maintained and I am satisfied with making the team ...You can’t do worse than that.” UCLA’s Sheena Johnson, who defeated Demus in the NCAA Championships last month, won the overall event. Demus is now an automatic for competition in Athens after gaining the Olympic “A" standard and finishing third. Allmond made his way to the U.S. Track and Field team in the long jump by landing a jump of 26’ 7 3/4” Monday, but he will begin competing Thursday to gain the “A” standard in international competition to be eligible for the Olympic team. Allmond must hit 26’ 10 3/4” to qualify. Allmond has finished runner-up the past two seasons in the NCAA Championships to LSU’s John Moffitt, who finished third in the U.S. trial event. “It was a long competition, it didn’t seem any greater to me — just go out and jump,” Allmond said. “It was a good day for me, I just wish I had jumped further.” “Someone told me after the long jump that it was better to be sec ond and need the ‘A’ standard than to have finished fourth and have hit it a number of times al ready. I know what I have to do and I need to get it done now,” he said. The four former USC stars that advanced Monday include Otis Harris, Demetrius Washington, Lisa Barber and Dawn Ellerbe. Harris, in his first U.S. Championship, advanced to the fi nals of the 400-meter after placing fourth with a time of 45.13 sec onds. He is running professionally for Nike now, after finishing run ♦ TRIALS, SEEPAGE 10 t PHOTO COURTESY OF USC SPORTS INFORMATION USC’s Tony Allmond finished second at the U.S*.Olympic Team Trials on Monday. He'll compete Thursday for a spot In Athens. Lakers ’ dynasty destined to fall Well, I’m at it again. I just had to write another column about the latest in the L.A. Laker soap opera. Because of the word that Shaquule O’Neal is re portedly being traded (possi bly as you read this) to the Miami Heat this week, I just had to an alyze what this will do to the Lakers and the NBA. With Kobe’s future still up in the air and Shaq Daddy de manding a trade, the Laker fran chise is on a mission to ruin its dynasty. In their attempt to ac commodate their superstars in every way, they are quickly los ing a grip on reality. If the Lakers lose Shaq to the Eastern Conference and Kobe either signs with the Clippers or ends up in jail, this team gambled and lost to no end. Could you imagine the lineup next year without the two stars? The once Hall of Fame starting team would include three play ers from Miami, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant, along with Gary Payton and Kareem Rush. And if Kobe does re-sign with the Lakers, he’ll re place. Rush in that lineup, which is still not intimidating. Grant as substitute for Shaq means more points for opposing players like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Odom and Butler are solid play ers but don’t equal the importance of Shaq on that team. But don’t blame Kobe for all the mess there. Shaq’s the one re fusing to play in L. A. He’s also the one that wouldn’t have surgery in 2002 until just before the season started, costing the Lakers a bad start and almost ending their playoff chances. Nowhere in this saga is Shaq the superhero that would like for all of us to feel sorry for having to put up with a whiny, spoiled Kobe Bryant. If Shaq’s ego weren’t big ger than his ever-growing waist line, the two would fmd a way to coexist I’m not saying Kobe has n’t done anything wrong and it should be a one-way street, but selfishness runs both ways here. I guess Shaq’s happy with the fact he’ll beat up on virtually no centers in the East with his side kick being a second-year player not named LeBron or Carmelo. It may have been hard sharing points and glory with Kobe, but winning wasn’t the obstacle af ter the team won three titles and almost won another this year. Let’s see how the Diesel does with Dwayne Wade and lesser known players around him than what he had in L. A. a year ago. As for Lakers owner Jerry Buss, if Kobe doesn’t re-sign, get vnnr nink slin roadvfor ppnoral manager Mitch Kupchak. It wouldn’t be fun replacing two su perstars, a legendary coach and a GM within a month, but Kupchak will be the laughing stock of sports if this dynasty comes away with Lamar Odom and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich to show off next year. Maybe Buss should give the Bulls owner a call this sum mer and see how he replaced a couple legends. All in all, trading Shaq be cause he refuses to play or be cause Kobe wants him gone is a lose-lose situation. Buss, keep your fingers crossed that your savior doesn’t go to jail or move down the hall. And for Kobe thinking about those ever-los ing Clippers, that would be a much more fun team to play with than the scrubs that will be in L.A. BRAD SENKIW Fourth-year print journalism student