usc intel

[smazza]

 Q.

Joe, Recent articles beg this be addressed. Lou has been a coaching "Rock Star" at least since 1987, signing autographs on a regular basis. He is not getting any younger. I am half his age and I could not keep it up. How can anyone knock him if he wants to cut back on those?

Rob, Walkersville, MD 6/02/04  

A.

Rob, No doubt that there are a lot of time commitments placed on all Division I coaches, particularly those of the status of Holtz or Saban. I thought Skip Bertman's comments in the article you're referring to were interesting.  

Joe Person 6/02/04  

 Q.

Are there questions about Yolanda Jones qualifying? What does she still need to do? Is there a realistic chance she will not be on the team next year? Any further word on Ilona Burgrova? Are we still expecting her in August?

william, columbia 6/01/04  

A.

William, She needs to pass 14 hours of summer school at her junior college to be eligible for the coming season. I'm told that she's done fine in school, but the new NCAA academic rules require athletes to have completed 40 percent of their coursework heading into their third year. That's a challenge for JUCO transfers, whose credits might not always transfer, etc.  

Joe Person 6/02/04  

 Q.

Joe, Do you think that the baseball team winning the SEC and having such a great National ranking could be a selling point for recruiting in the Football program? I know I'm begging, but just thought I would ask.  

Ricky, Georgetown, S.C.  6/01/04  

A.

Ricky, Any national exposure like that is good for a school, although I think it will help the baseball team's recruiting moreso than the other sports.  

Joe Person 6/02/04  

 Q.

hi joe what do think of the rumor that I am hearing about Steve Spurrier buying a house on Lake Murray

Loyalcock, w.columbia 5/30/04  

A.

Loyal, Might have been started by the same person who said Lou Holtz was buying property on Lake Murray ... about 20 years ago.  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

 Q.

With the signings official, what do you think of the possibilities for the Women's Basketball team? It would seem the probable starts are Olga Gritsaeva, Iva Sliskovic, Sarah Burgess, Lauren Simms, and newcomer Yolanda Jones. I believe next year will be a return to national prominence with experience now and great players on the bench like Kulscar, Harris, and Booker. Are you as optimistic to what could be another sweet sixteen run?

Miquel Jacobs, Columbia, SC 5/30/04  

A.

Miquel, If Jones qualifies and is as good as advertised, I think she immediately makes that team more athletic and better overall. Don't know about the starting five, and not sure that Walvius knows yet, either. With all of those freshmen a year older, I don't think there's any doubt USC will be a better basketball team. Sweet 16? Probably not.  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

 Q.

Joe, Why doesn't holtz try out newton and mitchell for qb instead of pinkins. I mean pinkins got us nowhere and before him jenkins didn't get us anywhere. We need to throw more and quick wasting time on looking for strickly "running" qb's.

dizzy, myrtle beach,sc 5/30/04  

A.

Dizzy, I think Newton -- and possibly Mitchell, too -- will be given a shot to win the job during the preseason. I'd be shocked if Newton doesn't play a significant role this year.  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

 Q.

What is your opinion about what Spurs&Feathers wrote about how TheState looks for the one person at a GC event that has something bad to say&turns it into some twisted story about how Lou got fired from Arkansas because he lost the fan base? Do you agree with me that Arkansas's AD,who was under investigation,had to come up with some excuse as to why they would fire a coach with such a great winning record. It is not professional at all to put together one upset fan's story about how Lou would not sign his hat&merge a comment from a former AD under who is under the gun, to imply that Carolina is losing its fan base. I don't even see how the reporter could even think to twist this all together. If WB is not sold out for every game this year then my foot is in my mouth. But I know one thing, win or lose, I will not miss a game. I am way to addicted. It’s about a lot more than one losing season.  

GPA, Columbia, SC 5/29/04  

A.

GPA, I saw the article you're referring to. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But this notion that The State has some sort of anti-USC bias is untrue. I think if you were to go back and look at everything that is written over about the Gamecocks over the course of the year in our sports section, I think you'd find two things. One, there is no other media outlet that even comes close to the volume of our USC coverage. Secondly, I think you'd see that coverage is balanced.  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

 Q.

Joe, saw the article in Lindys on the SEC..GC rated out very good on defensive line, pretty good on running back and linebacker, but, failed miserably at QB, DB and Special teams.... are we doomed for another 5-7 or 6-6 season?, or can coach Minter make enough of a diff to offset our weak points.

L.R., Aiken 5/28/04  

A.

L.R., I think the defense will be improved. Overall, I think USC should be good enough to beat the Kentucky's and Vandy's of the world. As always, the key will be picking up wins against the likes of Arkansas, Clemson, Tennessee, etc.  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

 Q.

Where do I find info about tickets for the upcoming season? I'm just looking at single game tickets  

Terry, Aiken, SC 5/27/04  

A.

Terry, Call the ticket office at 777-4274 or toll free at 800-4SC-FANS.  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

 Q.

Joe: enjoy you insights and comments on the cocks. How many first round picks have the gamecocks had? i get robinson, g. rogers. have there been any others. thanks.

bill clarke, atlanta ga 5/27/04  

A.

Bill, There have been seven. In addition to the two you mentioned, the others are John Abraham (2000), Ernest Dye ('93), Sterling Sharpe ('88), Willie Scott ('81) and Rick Sanford ('79).  

Joe Person 5/31/04  

[smazza]

It seems Lou Holtz is not the only SEC coach cutting back on autographs.

In the wake of LSU’s co-national championship and a couple of coach of the year honors, LSU’s Nick Saban placed some limitations on when and how he would sign autographs this spring.

According to LSU athletics director Skip Bertman, school officials discouraged fans from approaching Saban for autographs at booster club meetings and told Saban to stop signing for people dropping by his office.

Holtz signed autographs when asked at Gamecock Club meetings, but did not to set aside time specifically for that purpose at every meeting.

Like Holtz, Saban will sign items that fans send to his office.

“It’s impossible,†Bertman said of Saban’s time constraints. “You’d have to be Lou Holtz to understand. You have to have been there. It’s rock star status.â€Â

Bertman, the Tigers’ former baseball coach, said he used to sign autographs for an hour a day for several months after a good season.

“I don’t know how Holtz does it, because he’s my age,†Bertman said.

• Hitting the lottery. Auburn, Mississippi State and Alabama want a more level playing field when it comes to SEC schools supplementing partial athletic scholarships with state lottery-supported academic grants. The three schools proposed a measure Tuesday that would require schools to count academic grants against their scholarship allotment in non-revenue sports that split scholarships.

There is a big gap between the amount of state-provided money received by SEC schools from states that have a lottery and those that do not.

According to a Birmingham Post-Herald report last weekend, Georgia athletes in 2002-03 received a total of $417,429 in HOPE scholarship money, by far the most in the conference.

Similar programs brought in $267,429 for Florida, $230,066 for LSU and $233,250 for USC. By comparison, Mississippi State athletes received $21,250 in state funds that same year.

USC athletics director Mike McGee said he believes the proposal should be introduced at the national level and not be restricted to the SEC.

[smazza]

Eight times this year, USC will throw a party for more than 80,000 people. You already know how much each game is a part of our city’s fabric. What you probably don’t know is how the host pulls it off. Until now.

[smazza]

they get the city to build their facilities

Tournament shows why new stadium is needed

THE NCAA REGIONAL baseball tournament this weekend at Sarge Frye Field is Exhibit A for why the Columbia City Council should approve revenue bonds for a proposed $14 million baseball stadium.