The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 07, 2005, Page 10, Image 10
LI I I LI' I ' GAME SCHEDULE
■n in I I I I I L SOFTBALL vs. Charlotte, 3 and 5 p.m. Tuesday
rage 1U ■ \ / I I | L I MEN’S TENNIS at North Carolina, 2:30 p.m. Thursday
Monday, February 7,2005 V-X -L V. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at Georgia, 7 p.m. Thursday
Patriots take third title in four years
■ PATS
Continued from page 1
Cowboys’ run of the 1990s and certify
the Patriots of Bill Belichick and Tom
Brady as the NFL’s latest dynasty.
With MVP Deion Branch tying a
Super Bowl record for receptions with
11, Brady efficiently running the offense
and Rodney Harrison sparking a
smothering defense, the Patriots won
their ninth successive postseason game.
That ties the record of Vince Lombardi’s
Packers of the 1960s, and there’s hardly
any better company a team can keep.
The difference once again was an
Adam Vinatieri field goal, this one a 22
yarder with 8:40 to go. New England
won its other two Super Bowls by the
margin of Vinatieri’s kicks.
Philadelphia (15-4) got the ball back
at its 4 with 46 seconds remaining. It
was hardly enough time and far too
much territory to cover against such a
formidable foe.
Harrison got his second interception
with 9 seconds remaining to end it.
Corey Dillon, a newcomer to the
championship game, scored the go-ahead
points on a 2-yard run early in the fourth
period. And when Branch wasn’t running
free and catching passes, the Patriots
flaunted their versatility by again using
linebacker Mike Vrabel to find the end
zone. Vrabel has caught TD passes in two
straight Super Bowls and has five TDs in
as many career catches, not bad for a
linebacker — or anyone else.
And while Terrell Owens’ return
from a seven-week injury layoff was an
individual success — he had nine
catches for 122 yards — it was not
nearly the star turn that Branch made.
Branch’s 11 catches covered 133
yards as he victimized one of the league’s
best secondaries. He was most
instrumental on the opening drive of the
second half, which set the tone for New
England’s 57th victory in its last 74
games.
The Eagles showed resilience by
responding with a 74-yard drive on
which Brian Westbrook accounted for
39 yards, including the 10-yard score.
McNabb whipped a pass over the
middle between two defenders for the
TD.
Still, as winners always do, the Patriots
reasserted themselves, effectively using
screen passes against a tiring defense.
Even when Eagles defenders shouted to
each other to watch for the screen, New
England made it work, particularly on
Kevin Faulk’s 14-yarder that preceded
Dillon's 2-yard run to make it 21-14.
Vinatieri, who made last-second kicks
to win the previous two Super Bowls, hit
his chip shot to make it 24-14. When the
Eagles came back on Greg Lewis’ 30-yard
TD reception with 1:48 remaining,
things got tight.
Their victory gave New England its
second team championship since the fall.
This was hardly as dramatic as the long
suffering Red Sox winning the World
Series. Still, Boston is the hub of
champions.
ANN HEISENFELT/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
New England Patriots strong safety Rodney Harrison, center, celebrates his interception with teammates Asante Samuel, left, and Mike Vrabel late in the fourth quarter to seal
the Patriots 24-21 victory over the Eagles. Harrison had two interceptions to account for half of the four turnovers the Patriots forced the Eagles to commit.
Big game brings big plans at USC
By MIQUELJACOBS
STAFF WRITER
It ic the most-watched sporting
event in America, and college students
treat it with respect. The 90-minute
waiting time at popular eatery Wing
Zone and the numerous calls needed to
get through to an open line showed the
dedication and seriousness taken for
the game. Class work at USC took a
backseat as students used a variety of
methods to celebrate Super Bowl
XXXIX.
Preston College surprised its
residents with a Super Bowl party,
providing big-screen coverage and free
food. This year’s leadership staff
decided to fund the event as a way to
bring together the residents and have
fun at the same time. Resident hall
director Edward Young saw to the
comfort of his residents and used his
free time to bestow biased wisdom
upon those listening.
“For the game, I’m going for
Philly,” Young said. “I’ve been an
Eagles fan since Cunningham was the
quarterback. I can’t wait for them to
win the Super Bowl."
Philadelphia held the slight majority
of fans at Preston with the others split
between being New England fans and
those who classified themselves as
“others.”
“The Patriots are going to win
because they have the better defense,
and defense wins championships,”
Franklin Jones, a sophomore computer
science student, said.
For those on campus that did not
live in Preston, a party was put
together by Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc., on the second level of
the Russell House. With a large
offering of pizza, wings and drinks, the
event was funded by McBryde and the
Resident’s Hall Association. Like
Preston College, this was the first time
that Alpha Phi Alpha provided game
coverage. There also was another
slight favor for the Philadelphia
Eagles.
While the Russell House and
Preston provided free food and big
screen coverage, a majority of students
decided to catch the event in their
rooms. Using catering from Domino’s
pizza and the grocery store, second-year
music composition student Thomas
Gilbert landed a small group of people
to catch the game together.
“We ordered six pizzas and rounded
up some chips,” Gilbert said. “I’m also
going to make some veggie burgers and
watch it with some friends in my room.
I know how to do it.”
The game itself wasn’t the main
draw as more than a few fans watched
only for commercials and the halftime
show. After last season’s wardrobe
malfunction, Paul McCartney
performed this year’s halftime show.
“I’m looking forward to halftime,"
Lindsay Sherrill, a first-year
journalism student, said. “Paul
McCartney is an idol. It won’t be as
good as last year’s show, but it will still
be good."
Second-year biology student
Melissa Kimbrell expressed that her
reasons for watching the game had
♦ Please see CAMPUS, page 11
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
Students cheer on their team as they watch the Super Bowl at an
organized party thrown by Preston Residence Hall on Sunday.
Carolina wins
first road game
By CHARLES ODUM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Ga. — Carlos Powell
didn’t need to see clearly with both eyes
to identify a basketball game turning
into something more physical.
Asked if he felt he had just gone 15
rounds after he left South Carolina’s
60-53 win over Georgia with a swollen
eye Saturday, the senior managed a
pained laugh.
“Oh man, 15? No, 30,” Powell said.
“I got hit twice. Two times! Same eye.”
Powell took the first hit from
Georgia’s Corey Gibbs in the first half
and then scored 12 of his team-leading
16 points in the second half.
Powell, teammate Rocky Trice and
South Carolina coach Dave Odom
were hit with technical fouls in the
second half as officials tried to control
the physical game.
There were a combined total of 38
fouls called, but no player fouled out.
Taking its first Southeastern
Conference road victory since Jan. 28,
2004, South Carolina improved to 13
7 overall and 5-4 in the SEC.
Georgia (7-11 overall, 1-7 SEC)
suffered its fourth straight loss.
Odom said he expected a physical
game and may have gone too far in
gearing his team up for that style of
play.
“It was a difficult game to get a
handle on,” Odom said. “There was a
lot of body contact from the outset.
“I’m probably as much at fault as
anybody. I had my team a little on
edge. I’m not sure we reacted as well as
we should when there was physical
contact.”
Powell said he began the first half
“kind of upset” about the hit that sent
him sprawling with 5:28 left in the first
half. He needed assistance leaving the
floor.
Powell returned to start the second
half, but with his left eye almost
swollen shut and still apparently
frustrated about the hit that knocked
him out of the game.
After scoring early in the second
half, Powell was hit with, a technical
foul, triggering a string of three
technicals against South Carolina in a
span of 2:10. Trice drew one technical
and, when a chair flew onto the floor
during a timeout, Odom also was called
for a technical foul.
Odom said he threw his chair to the
floor because he was upset with his
team, not the officials. Odom said
officials called the technicals on Powell
and Trice for taunting Georgia players.
The technicals helped Georgia take
a 31-30 lead with 15:46 left to play, but
South Carolina recovered to lead by as
many as 11 points.
Georgia, last in the SEC in scoring,
field goial percentage and 3-point
shooting, has been held to 55 or fewer
points in five conference jgames. But
R.C. RIQUE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
USC’s Josh Gonner, left, defends Georgia’s Channing Toney •
during the Gamecocks 60-52 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.
even by Georgia’s standards, this was an
offensive struggle.
The Bulldogs shot 30.6 percent
from the field and made only 4 of 22 3
point attempts.
“We fought hard, we fought really
hard,” Felton said. “And hallelujah! We
finally outrebDunded a team (31-30)
for the first time in over a month. I’m
very pleased with that.”
Channing Toney led Georgia with
15 points. Sundiata Gaines added 12
points.
Levi Stukes, Georgia’s leading scorer
with 15.7 points per game, started after
missing practice Thursday and Friday
with a sprained right ankle. Stukes
made only 2 of 10 shots froni|the field
and had 10 points. Steve Nevfrnan also
had 10 points for Georgia.
A guide to surviving
post-Super Bowl daze
■ What are football fans
everywhere supposed
to do until September?
“I really believe, while I like to go to a
football game live and feel the crowd and
the rest, I really believe that when you sit
at home and see a football game on
television, you can probably see it as well
or even better that you can see it by being
rtcause the camera will watch that
T-formation or
the quarterback
and will be sure
you’re watching
the ball rather
than the fake.”
— Former
President
Richard Nixon
For me, the
■ ODD most difficult
GREEN morning to drag
myself out of
GRADUATE bed is fa
STUDENT IN w , -
SPORTS AND Monday after
ENTERTAINMENT the Super Bowl.
MANAGEMENT Bcfore my
friends and
family members start getting together to
plan an intervention, let me just say that
I have never been a big fan of the
legendary Super Bowl party.
I try to avoid cramped apartments
where you are lucky to get a seat
anywhere close to the TV.
There is always some drunken fool
who shouts after every play how much
of an idiot the coach is and how, if he
had any brains at all, he would call this
play or that.
It makes me want to pull my hair out
every time someone says, “I just watch
the Super Bowl for the commercials,"
and there are usually quite a few of these
people at the parties.
I am usually the one that is
cramming an unbelievable amount of
chips and spinach dip down my throat,
shocking and amazing everyone in the
room.
These days I just like to watch the
game from the serenity of my home.
I’m like Howard Hughes in “The
Aviator," I lock myself away from
everyone in hopes of watching the game
in peace.
The reason for my post-Super Bowl
depression is that you wake up in the
morning with the realization that there
is no more football to be played,
college or NFL, for more than six
months. There is a great emptiness that
comes with that realization. I believe
there are others out there that feel the
same.
From the Douglas Adams book “The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”:
“Don’t panic!”
There are a few things out there that
can make the next few months
tolerable.
Arena football is in week two of its
season. You have to love some of the
nicknames these teams have — Las Vegas
Gladiators, [ Los Angeles Avenge*^,
♦ Please see GREEN, page 11