The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 22, 2005, Page 11, Image 11
GAME SCHEDULE
p BASEBALL at Alabama, 7:30 p.m.
rage 11 SOFTBALL at Mississippi, 5 p.m. Saturday
Friday, April 22, 2005 WOMEN’S TRACK at Georgia Invitational, all day Saturday
*
Armstrong gave
masterful skill,
tireless dedication
to cycling world
■ Road warrior will bid adieu
to Tour de France after six
titles, battling cancer
While much of the world was busy
watching a chimney in Rome and
debating the differences between black
and white smoke, the man who is
arguably America’s greatest athlete in a
generation quietly announced that as of
July 24 he will give up the sport to spend
more time with his family. Lance
Armstrong is a man
known as much for
his efforts to
support cancer
research and dating
pop icon Sheryl
Crow as much as
.his unprecedented
six consecutive
Tour de France
victories, a footnote
PATRICK in the sports culture
AUGUSTINE of'h' c°untry in
which he was
FOURTH-YEAR raised. Every July
ELECTRONIC since 1999, though,
POLITICAL SCIENCE , , j
STUDENT he has managed to
score a minor coup
d’etat for his chosen
profession of international-level road
cycling as far as American media interest is
concerned, as his lean figure is splashed
across newspaper pages from Austin to
Anchorage.
oaying Lance 15 a uik.c riucr 15 ukc
saying Jordan could play hoops or Ali
won a fight or two. Understanding the
man means understanding the sport,
because in many ways he is the epitome of
the craft he worked so tirelessly to perfect.
Armstrong trains literally year-round for
those 21 days in July comprising Le Tour,
taking off at the most four or so
consecutive days a year. A regimen of
weight-lifting, eight-hour days on the
bike and a diet that would make an
anorexic blanch comprises Lance’s year,
with dozens of supporting staff
monitoring his every heartbeat and
calorie with the intent of delivering him
healthy and hungry for victory to the
starting line in France with the
frightening consistency of a metronome.
His rivals have called him a machine;
even at the top of their form, there always
seems to be a sizable difference between
them and Lance, the so-called “patron” of
the Tour. Clearly, this monk-like
attention to detail during the year pays
off when the race finishes on Paris’
Champs-Elysees.
More intangible than the religious-like
fervor with which he avoids ice cream
and sleeping less than nine hours a night
is his aura on the bike; watching him
stand and seemingly dance on the pedals
to climb a French col or take the wind
out ui opponents attaches oy Dringing
them back effortlessly is art in motion.
Critics are fond of dismissing cycling as a
fringe or an Olympic sport, but this
ignores the cruel realities of Europe’s
third-favorite pastime (trailing only
soccer and Formula One). A single stage
of the Tour’s daily 21 requires up to
10,000 calories, the output equivalent of
running 2 1-2 back-to-back marathons.
Riders deal with heat and cold, rain and
snow, mangled equipment and violent
crashes that break bones and bloody
bodies. Lance’s teammate Fabio
Casartelli died in 1995 during that year’s
Tour after plummeting to his death off a
cliff on narrow Alpine roads. Danger is
ever present, even from the fans that line
the roadsides so close they can touch
their heroes.
It is said that to ride a single Tour takes
♦ AUGUSTINE, page 12
CARO LINA-CLEM SON SERIES 2-2
i
NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK
Clemson sophomore Tyler Colvin connects with a pitch in the final game of the USC series. Colvin hit 2-of-5 with two RBIs and one run scored.
■ Harveys late blast
evens in-state series
for yet another season
By ALEX RILEY
STAFF WRITER
All Clemson wanted in the top of
ninth was to tie the game. Clemson
coach Jack Leggett set his team to move
the runners and sent the game into the
bottom of the ninth. Instead, Carolina
allowed the Tigers to sneak out of
Columbia on Wednesday with a 7-5
win,' ending the season in a 2-2
deadlock.
USC fell behind early, as the Tigers
posted one run in each of the first three
frames. Clemson scored its first run on a
two-out RBI double by sophomore
Tyler Colvin and added another run on
a RBI single in the second inning,
resulting in the removal of Carolina
senior starting pitcher Cliff Dbnald.
The third inning brought Colvin
back to the plate to face newly inserted
Gamecock hurler senior Zac McCamie,
and the trip turned into one of the most
exciting plays in series history.
Colvin cranked a ball to right held
close to the foul line. Senior right
fielder Brendan Winn went into full
sprint to catch the ball, and it is
unclear whether the ball hit his glove
or the wall before bouncing to the
ground. Winn hit the ground, and
after getting up slipped once more,
allowing Colvin to score on an inside
the-park home run and increase the
Tiger lead to 3-0.
Clemson squandered a scoring
opportunity in the fourth, as a triple off
the wall by freshman shortstop Stan
Widmann went by the wayside.
The Gamecocks remained scoreless
the first five innings, but it was the
pitching of new reliever sophomore Jeff
Jeffords that sparked a Carolina rally.
Jeffords recorded Carolina’s only 3-up
3-down inning, as he struck out the first
two Clemson batters and forced the
third to pop out.
That was the start of a USC
comeback, as senior Steve Pearce led
the inning with a double. Junior
outfielder Michael Campbell was
walked, and the ball was lost by
Clemson redshirt junior catcher Adrian
Casanova, allowing Pearce to advance
to third. Sophomore catcher Ryan
Mahoney hit a hard single to score
Pearce, and junior infielder Chris
Brown advanced runners to second and
third on a sacrifice bunt.
Junior outfielder Mark Stanley then
got his turn. Stanley came into the
game for Winn after his collision with
the wall in the third. Stanley ripped a
two-run double down the third
baseline, knotting the game at 3-3, and
advanced to third on the relay throw.
After an Ian Paxton pop-up, junior
infielder Joey Friddle brought Stanley
in on a double, giving USC a 4-3
advantage.
Clemson attempted a small rally the
next inning, putting runners on with a
single and a walk, but a Carolina double
play voided the effort. The Tigers’ next
scoring chance came in the eighth, as
back-to-back singles put two on and
only one out for Clemson. Jeffords
recorded another pop-up and junior
pitcher Brent Marsh came on to
strikeout the final out.
Sophomore infielder Tommy King,
who replaced Brown at second, nailed a
first pitch for a double and was moved to
third on a Stanley sacrifice bunt. But
another strikeout by Paxton and a pop
up by Friddle ended the threat and sent
USC into the ninth with a 4-3
advantage.
Marsh came in looking for the final
three outs and almost had the first on
junior batter Ben Flail, as an infield ball
was fielded by King, who made a
spectacular mid-air throw only to miss
♦ RECAP, page 12
By MICHAEL FINNEGAN
FOR THE GAMECOCK
The No. 8 Carolina baseball team
travels west to Tuscaloosa, Ala., today for a
SEC showdown with the No. 15 team in
the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide.
USC will look to regain its winning ways,
as the Gamecocks have lost four of their
last five.
This is a key series for both teams as
they both try to get position momentum
for the last month of conference play.
Carolina is second in the SEC East, one
game behind Florida, while the Crimson
Tide sit atop the SEC West with a 9-6
conference record. Carolina’s record in
conference play is also 9-6.
Today’s matchup will be a pitchers’
duel, as both teams send their aces to the
hill. Carolina will send senior leader Aaron
Rawl to the mound. Rawl has compiled a
7-2 record on the year with a 2.90 ERA.
Alabama will send junior T.J. Large to the
mound. He has a 5-3 record on the year
and 2.16 ERA.
The Gamecocks’ other prospects are two
more senior starters, Jason Fletcher and Zac
McCamie. The final two games’ starters are
undetermined. Bama counters with two
♦ BASEBALL, page 12
NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK
Junior pitcher Cliff Donald fires a pitch in Wednesday’s loss to Clemson. The
Gamecocks will look to rebound during this weekend’s series against Alabama.
Baseball eyes end
to recent slump
Speedy receiver Williamson ys draft stock on the rise
By PETE IACOBELLI
THEASSOCIATED press
Right before NFL scouts and coaches
broke for the day at USC’s indoor practice
facility last month, they cleared the field
and called for one more speed drill from
T roy Williamson.
The one-time track prospect smiled and
obliged.
Williamson hadn’t even thought much
about football until his junior year at Silver
Bluff High School. But in five seasons, he
has turned himself to one of the best
receiving prospects in Saturday’s NFL
draft.
It s Williamson’s speed — he was
clocked at 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash
and work ethic that moved him up to a
likely high selection and the first player
'w‘^1)'*°uth Carolina tjes expected to go.
I ve got to be ready to play and do my
part,” said Williamson, the Gamecocks
receiver who is giving up his final season
and the chance to catch passes for new
USC coach Steve Spurrier,
The decision looks better every day.
Some mock drafts have Williamson going
as high as No. 12 to San Diego. Most have
him locked into the first round as the next
receiver after Michigan’s Braylon Edwards
and Southern Cal’s Mike Williams.
One NFL general manager, St. Louis’
Charley Armey, called Williamson the best
player in the draft. “Nobody can cover
him,” he said this week.
All this for someone who caught only
91 passes and 13 touchdowns in college.
Still, Williamson has shown enough to
interest NFL teams, several who have
flown him in for pre-draft visits.
“The thing right here, you’ve got to
i pace yourself and then prepare for draft
day to come,” Williamson said. “Because
when draft day comes, it’s time to get back
to work.”
Williamson has never been afraid of
hard work to achieve his goals.
He was a speedy star at Silver Bluff
High near Aiken where he won two state
track championships apiece in the 100 and
200 meters. Once convinced to try
football, Williamson became an all-state
player at running back and receiver. He
chose to stay in the Palmetto State — and
turn down offers from Clemson and
Tennessee — despite the more
conservative attack of coach Lou Holtz.
Williamson led the Gamecocks in
receptions and touchdown catches his final
two years. Although those totals of 71
receptions for 1,263 yards and nine
touchdowns might not have matched what
he could’ve gotten this coming season with
Spurrier in control.
“Of course, that’s something you
consider,” Williamson said. “But you’ve
got to look at yourself and your goals and
the stuff you want to accomplish.”
There were moments where
Williamson’s talent and smarts shone
through. Jwo seasons ago, Williamson cut
past two Virginia defenders after catching
a quick slant and took it 99 yards for a
touchdown, the longest pass reception in
USC history.
This year, Williamson caught late,
game-winning touchdowns at Kentucky
and against Arkansas to help the
Gamecocks qualify for the postseason,
although the bowl chance disappeared
because of a massive fight in the season
ender at Clemson last November.
That was it for Williamson. He had
thought about the NFL since his first
college season and was ready to move,
j Williamson’s former high school coaclf,
A1 Lown, said along with the receiver’s
speed comes a toughness to succeed. “I
think the NFL recognizes that,” he said.
Williamson’s agent, Florida-based
David Canter, compares the wideout to
Baltimore Ravens’ Travis Taylor, whosfe
stock rose leading up to the 2000 draft
where he was selected 10th overall.
Williamson already has gotten a dose or
the NFL life. Fie has trained in Miami
with fellow USC players Rod Wilson,
Andrea Gause and Jason Capers. “Those
people are there pushing me,” Williamson
says, “making me the kind of person I am
now.”
Miami, with its flashy nightlife and
throngs of people, was vastly different for
Williamson than Jackson, the small town
of fewer than 1,700 where he’s from.
“More traffic, a lot of different stuff,”
Williamson said. But since he’s likely to
wind up in a larger city once he’s drafted,
“you got to get used to it,” he said.