The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 13, 2006, Page 9, Image 9
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
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3 information please call Tommy Preston, Student Body Treasurer, at 777-3857