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Briefs Carolina moves ticket office to Colonial Center After using the Roundhouse on Rosewood Drive as the ticket office for USC sports for many years, the university announced that it has moved the ticket office to the Colonial Center Box Office. Along with the new location, USC also changed the hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning Tuesday. Football team ' to be honored at Georgia game Coach Steve Spurrier and the 2005 installment of the Gamecock football team will be honored at halftime during the Georgia-USC basketball game. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. Spurrier and the team will make their appearance at halftime, where Spurrier will speak to the crowd and the 2005 captains will be Politics still interfering with sports world today Baseball-rich country suffers because Fidel still holds Cuba’s power The crowd went wild as Jesse Owens annihilated the competition in the 100 meter dash during the 1936 Olympics. It _ did again after he captured gold in the 200, and then again after his gold medal performance T ,, in the broad- °dd jump (long- ®reen jump). a /-v student in As Owens , . r sports and ran the first mtertamrnent leg of the 400- management meter relay, opening up a two-meter lead against the field, helping his team capture yet another gold and shatter the world record; all in attendance knew they had just witnessed one of the greatest athletes the world had ever seen. By the time Owens, a 23 year-old black man bom in Alabama, went to collect his final gold medal, Adolph Hitler had long since scurried • out of Olympic Stadium. The 1936 Olympic Games were meant to be a shining example of Aryan athletic supremacy to the world. The Nazi government had spent millions of dollars on facilities and training in the hopes that the German athlete would dominate the . games. Owens’ four-gold medal performance, having completely won over the German crowd in the process, put an end to those dreams. Sport and politics have long been connected. With the Dec. 15 announcement by the U.S. Treasury Department that Cuba would not be allowed to compete in the World Baseball Classic, the sport-and-politics fusion is once again front and center. The World Baseball Classic is a 16-nation round robin tournament scheduled for March 3-20. Major League Baseball created the concept in an attempt to further internationalize the popularity of the sport. Baseball has been a part of Cuban culture for more than a hundred years, having been brought to the island nation, 90 miles south of the Florida Keys, by American sailors and Cubans that had visited the States. Many of the game’s greatest American stars have played in Cuba such as Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson, Ty Cobb and Satchel Paige. But when ridel Castro led a guerilla army into Havana to seize power in 1959, the United States and Cuba immediately became fierce adversaries. The relationship has been strained ever since. As the Cold War intensified, Castro even brought the world close to a nuclear holocaust after agreeing to place Soviet missiles in Cuba. The sports world was one of the epic batdegrounds of the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The U.S. National Basketball team refuses, even to this day, to accept their silver-medals earned after losing to the Soviets in the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The referees had mysteriously added time to the clock after an apparent U.S. victory, just enough time for the Soviets to throw the ball the length of the court for a last second tip-in. The 1980 Winter Olympics’ “miracle on ice,” where the U.S. hockey team composed of college students, defeated a professional squad of Soviets, goes down as one of the greatest upsets in sport history. It came during a time when U.S. hostages were being held in Iran, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, and Americans everywhere were looking for a reason to be hopeful. The Cold War might be long over in the minds of many Americans today, but some old wounds never seem to heal. The economic sanctions put in place against Cuba when Castro took power remain in effect today, as does the aging dictator himself. 1 housands or Cubans immigrate to the United States every year; many braving the perilous journey ' over the dangerous waters between Cuba and Key West, knowing they may never again return to their homeland, unless there is change. Time catches up to everybody, and so it goes, that Castro can’t hold onto power too much longer. This could be the dawn of a new age in Cuba, one that involves democracy, freedom, and all it would take is for one old man to finally fade away. And when that happens, maybe old wounds will finally begin the healing process. Families that have been separated for decades can finally be reunited, and baseball can go back to being about baseball. As long as Castro remains in power, that game will not be possible. Texans breathe easier as Bush preps for pros After holdout, Heisman winner to forego senior year for chance at NFL glory. Ken Peters THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Reggie Bush is skipping his senior season at . Southern California to enter the NFL draft. The Heisman Trophy winner made the expected announcement Thursday, a day after running mate LenDale White made his decision to leave early and < turn pro. Bush is expected to be one of the first players taken in the draft — with many projecting him going to the Houston Texans with the No. 1 pick. The electrifying running back had 1,740 yards . rushing and 2,890 all purpose yards this season for the Trojans, who fell short of an unprecedented third . national title when they lost 41-38 to Texas in the Rose Bowl last week. “It’s a happy day, I don’t think it’s a sad time,” Bush said at a campus news conference. “It was tough. ... You want to please everybody. You want to return for your senior season.” Trojans coach Pete Carroll said Bush made the right decision. “He’s such a special player, a once-in-a-lifetime talent. He’s a game-changer, with his speed, instincts, vision and competitiveness. He’s just so much fun to watch,” Carroll said in a statement. “He’ll take that talent to the NFL and wow them there as a runner, receiver and as a returner. Now the Reggie Bush Show goes to Sundays, and I can’t wait to watch him.” Carroll couldn’t be at the news conference because he was in Northern California to attend the funeral of the father of USC linebacker Rey Maualuga. Talatonu Maualuga died after a long illness. Wherever Bush winds up in the draft, he’ll become a rich man. Asked about the probability of becoming a multimillionaire, Bush laughed and said, “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t think it will until I get that first check/’ Bush, who turns 21 in March, has flashed such blinding speed, great moves and an uncanny ability to change direction that he’s been compared to such greats as Gale Sayers, Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett and Marshall Faulk. Bush, a 6-foot, 200 pounder from Spring Valley, Calif., averaged an amazing 8.7 yards per carry. He also caught 37 passes for 478 yards and led the nation in all-purpose yards with 222.3 per game. All funded organizations must attend a Treasurer’s Workshop. Any organizations receiving or planning to receive student activity fee funding IS | •' must be represented by their Treasurer at one of the Workshops listed below. " * ’• • I CTf<#*:& . r^SswSN** • .mEm ■*. Jam®,'' "W^ . a Tues., Jan. 17, Tues., Jan. 17 Wed., Jan. 18 Wed., Jan. 18 - Thurs., Jan. 19 Thurs.jJan. 19 V 3:30-4:30 p.m. 5:00-6:00 p.m. 12:30-1:30 p.m. 3:00-4:00 p.m. 3:00-4:00 p.m. 5:00-6:00 p.m. RH 322/326 i i ' RH 322/326 Law School 1 RH 322/326 I RH 322/326 RH 322/326 Budgets for the 2006-2007 academic year are due Friday, January 27, 2006 by 4:00 pm to the Office of Student Government &? Student Organizations, 227 Russell House. Budget submission forms are available online at: www. sg. sc. edu/forms .htm av W 3 information please call Tommy Preston, Student Body Treasurer, at 777-3857