TheState.com: GoGamecocks: Bob Spear

Morris: Dyson is the thinking man's ace

Sun, 24 May 2009 00:38 EDT

WHEN THE SUBJECT of ace pitcher Sam Dyson comes up, Ray Tanner goes into his Roden sculpture pose. Tanner cocks his elbow and his fist moves to his chin. Dyson is “The Thinker” on Tanner’s South Carolina baseball team.

Tanner is not alone. Mark Calvi, USC’s pitching coach, says Dyson is a smart kid. Bright kid. Very smart kid. Sometimes he out-thinks himself, Calvi says of Dyson. Sid Dyson says his son’s intellect earns him a different line of conversation with coaches, catchers and scouts who know they are dealing with a mind as much as a body beneath his SC cap.

Dyson is in the third year of the thinking phase of pitching at USC. Over the course of a redshirt season, an injury recovery season and a season of SEC play, Dyson has experienced the growing pains that go with a transformation from thrower to pitcher.

He is projected by Baseball America to be a late first-round pick in the upcoming draft. There have been times this season when Dyson has looked every bit like a first-rounder, his fastball reaching the mid-90s late in games. There also have been times when Dyson has looked every bit like an inexperienced thrower learning to deal with the adversity that comes with being a staff ace.

“He’s had some ups and downs. It’s kind of been manic pitching,” Calvi says. “When he’s good, you’ve seen it. ... When he’s good, he’s really, really good. When he’s bad, it hasn’t been so great.”

Outback Bowl

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:03 EST

Spear: Memories will endure at Sarge Frye

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:41 EDT

IF THIS REALLY is the time to play Auld Lang Syne and the final curtain at last falls on Sarge Frye Field today, the University of South Carolina’s longtime baseball home marches into history with so many memories worth keeping.

Remember the old times, the poet wrote, and we should — especially here at this jewel of a park carved out of gullies and wasteland more than a half-century ago.

This is where the college game began to prosper in this state, thanks to the Gamecocks’ rivalry with Clemson. This is where Carolina clinched each of its eight College World Series berths. This is where ... oh, the list of stars and their achievements could go on forever.

Players and coaches might change, but the moments to treasure keep coming.

One inning on this diamond will be etched forever in Ray Tanner’s mind. Bill Reitmeier will never forget pitching 15Ð innings in one game. Trey Dyson remembers a ninth-inning home run, Bobby Richardson the overflow crowd with the Yankees and Mets in town, John Hinkel a power-filled tournament and June Raines his band of sluggers that averaged — averaged! — more than two home runs per game for the 1985 season.

Spear: Yes, Holtz should be in the hall of fame

Thu, 22 May 2008 11:28 EDT

Yes, yes, yes, Lou Holtz saw his South Carolina teams struggle — and sometimes drift aimlessly out of control — in the final two seasons before his retirement from coaching. His micro-managing and undercutting his assistants almost guaranteed that scenario.

But we are talking about a career, not just a couple of stumbles close to the finish line, and he without question belongs in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Consider the entire body of work: success at every stop on his college head-coaching journey, ranging from William and Mary to North Carolina State to Arkansas to Minnesota to Notre Dame to, yes, even South Carolina.

The finish, especially the 63-17 loss to Clemson in 2003 and the fight during another one-sided loss to the Tigers a year later in his final game, casts a pall on his achievements.

Lest we forget, he guided the Gamecocks to a pair of bowl victories over Ohio State, accomplishments the Carolina faithful had only seen in their dreams.

Spear | Another lesson for Garcia

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:16 EDT

THE DECISION TO suspend University of South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia from all football activities until August is best for all concerned, including the talented athlete with a knack for courting trouble.

If Garcia is going to grow up and understand that with acclaim comes responsibility, he should do it now.

Maybe his ability to throw a football provided an escape route in the past, but surely he will realize he no longer can thumb his nose at authority without suffering consequences.

On the larger scale, the university served noticed that athletes, no matter how important to a program, cannot continually skate away from trouble without facing meaningful disciplinary action.

In a football sense, the team might suffer in terms of talent, but the Gamecocks will finish spring practice and go through the so-called voluntary summer workouts knowing which player will start the season at the most important position. They also will know which teammates can be counted on.

Price leaves behind long legacy, wealth of influence

Thu, 22 May 2008 17:02 EDT

RAY TANNER, THE newly hired baseball coach, met Tom Price, the veteran of South Carolina’s department of athletics, for the first time, and he started the conversation by exchanging the usual get-acquainted small talk.

“I have heard a lot of good things about you,” Tanner said, turning the calendar back to the summer of 1996.

Price quickly replied, “I know a lot about you, too, including what you hit your senior season in college.”

Tanner recounted the story Monday at the celebration of Tom Price’s life, and mourners filled the chapel with laughter.

The story is so Tom, the Gamecocks’ sports information director and historian for almost a half-century who died Friday at age 81.

A museum of memories now lost

Thu, 22 May 2008 17:03 EDT

WE WALKED OUT of the Colonial Center together the other night after the South Carolina-Florida game, and the conversation drifted from the just-completed contest to thoughts on the Gamecocks’ basketball future.

“That game reminds me of one probably 25 or 30 years ago,” Tom Price said as he embarked on a journey down memory lane that included names and specifics.

He often did that, holding court by weaving stories from yesterday that connect with today, and I suspect I will not be alone in missing those sessions.

Price, the Gamecocks’ long-time sports information chief and, since retirement, the school’s athletic historian, died Friday and his passing at age 81 leaves a void that can not be filled.

He ranks among the pioneers in the sports information field, and his service to Carolina dated to the days that one person — not an army — took care of all teams. In a world of egotistical coaches, juggling their demands presented a daunting challenge before changing ways provided more staffing.

The original USC 'gym rat'

Thu, 22 May 2008 17:10 EDT

THE REPLICA OF a giant bass that serves as his mailbox tells so much about Henry Martin in his retirement years.

“He spends all his time on the pond,” daughter Carmella Roche says and laughs.

That is Henry Martin now, at age 83. Once upon a time, however, a basketball goal would have been his calling card — a fact that will be remembered tonight.

In celebrating its 100 basketball seasons, the University of South Carolina will honor a too-small-for-football athlete who belonged on the roster of “gym rats,” those youngsters who spend their spare time honing their skills on any available court.

Martin had three at his disposal. He grew up within shouting distance of the USC campus and played at the old Field House or University High or the campus gym “in the middle of Sumter Street.”