More Than One Hall Of An Accomplishment

An interesting phenomenon has occurred this month.

Sylvia Hatchell, the North Carolina women’s basketball coach who’s made her program a power similar to her male counterparts at the school, was inducted into state halls of fame in each of the Carolinas.

Last week she was enshrined in North Carolina for her work in making the Tar Heel women a national title contender virtually every season since she arrived in the mid-‘80s.

Earlier this week, it was induction into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.  In 1986 she guided her Francis Marion squad to the NAIA national title.

Few people ever make a Hall of Fame.  Those who do rarely get into more than one.  She made two in the span of a week.

I’m anxious to see how Greenville does supporting this week’s Southern Conference baseball tournament, an event that had been held in Charleston for the past 19 years.

Because Furman and Wofford draw very few for their home baseball games (and Wofford didn’t even make the eight-team field) you would think the event begins with an uphill battle.

I’m told that title contenders The Citadel and College of Charleston were expectedly miffed by the moving of the tournament from their home town and had to be nudged by the league office to give the tourney some publicity on their websites recently as each school had essentially ignored it.

During a recent telecast of a Drive game on a local TV station there was a poorly produced spot in which those putting on the tourney sounded almost as if they were begging fans to come to the games.

The stadium speaks for itself.  However, while organizers may blame the economy if there’s a paltry turnout, a general lack of interest locally in good times or bad will be the reason why the event will probably head back to the low country next year.

At this point in the spring I yearn for football season.  Soon, we’ll get the pre-season publications.  Before you know it coaches and players will gather at conference media days to answer pretty much the same questions repeatedly.  Expectations will build.  Preseason camps will finally open.  We’ll find out who wins the starting quarterback job at Clemson.  We’ll see if Stephen Garcia holds his spot on USC’s depth chart.  Some true freshman will earn “playing status” at the two rivals.  The season will finally kick-off and things will play out as they may.

With that in mind a year ago would you have even considered that Tommy Bowden, fresh off a contract extension the previous December, would no longer be Clemson’s head coach and that Steve Spurrier, who was entering his fourth season in Columbia with a defense as well-tooled as maybe any in Gamecocks history, would now be entering his fifth season with two-thirds of his staff having been turned over and various media murmurs that he may well be on the hot seat?

The pressure cooker will begin in just a few weeks.  Enjoy the anticipation leading up to it.