Flag issue 'has never come up' for SoCon tournaments held in state
By Jeff Hartsell
After the ACC decided Monday to move its baseball tournament from Myrtle Beach because of the continuing dispute over the Confederate flag in South Carolina, the question was raised:
How is the Southern Conference able to hold baseball, basketball and other tournaments in the state?
"The issue has simply not come up," SoCon commissioner John Iamarino said Monday. "It has not even been a topic of discussion at league meetings, at least since I've been here."
Iamarino took over as SoCon commissioner in January 2006. The 12-member league includes state schools The Citadel, College of Charleston, Furman and Wofford. Its profile in the world of college athletics is not as high as that of leagues such as the ACC and SEC.
The SoCon has held its baseball
tournament in South Carolina every year since 1990 - 19 straight years in Charleston and last season in Greenville. The baseball tournament is due to return to Charleston in 2010.
The league has held its basketball tournament in Greenville and Charleston, and has held all manner of minor-sports championships in the state.
The SoCon has done so, apparently, without drawing the attention of the NAACP, which has boycotted the state since 2000.
The NAACP's boycott stems from the dispute over the Confederate flag, which used to fly atop the Statehouse in Columbia before it was moved to the Confederate solider's monument in front of the Statehouse.
The NCAA has had a moratorium on awarding predetermined championships to South Carolina since 2001. That would prevent, for example, The Citadel from hosting the Football Championship Subdivision title game at the renovated Johnson Hagood Stadium.
But the NCAA policy does allow state teams to host NCAA baseball regionals, which are not "pre-determined."
Leagues such as the ACC and the SoCon are not bound by the NCAA's Confederate flag stance.
"We've not had issues of protest or concerns expressed by any of our institutions, spectators or the general population," Iamarino said. He said there were some "scattered p;rotests" when the SoCon was co-host of an NCAA basketball regional tournament in Greenville in 2002. The state has not hosted a regional since then.
If the issue were to come up, Iamarino said the SoCon would have to consider its options.
"We would have to have discussions among league presidents and athletic directors to determine what the next point of action would be," he said.
"But our position is that league championships should be allowed in the state, for the same reason the NCAA allows its baseball tournament to be played at Clemson or at South Carolina. The institutions themselves have no say in where the Confederate flag flies in Columbia."
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Comments
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
How could Dot Scott have missed this obvious slap in the face to black South Carolinians? Could it be that she is too busy trying to make herself seem important while lining her pockets at the expense of her own people? The NAACP is a joke and a disgrace to people of color...they need to get busy on some real problems!
July 7, 2009 at 7:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
vmirat90 (anonymous) says...
always follow the money. They committed to Myrtle Beach before the ACC tournament was held this year in Durham. Durham had a HUGE turnout- UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, NC State- all very close to Durham, which makes for a good turnout at the turnstiles.
I am sure that the ACC commissioner used this as an out to move it back to NC. No question in my mind about this- he used the NAACP to make money- it had nothing to do with the flag issue whatsoever- that was just the excuse.
July 7, 2009 at 8:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
desspec (anonymous) says...
You can't truly better yourself by hurting others. I thought Lincoln said something about that ....
July 7, 2009 at 9:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ysillyme (anonymous) says...
The SoCon Tournament is to the ACC Tournament what Michelle Obama is to beauty; none whichsoever!
July 7, 2009 at 9:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
High_Gravity (anonymous) says...
Thanks Jeff for your hard knock investigative reporting. You have sucessfully brought to light how uttterly irrevelent the SoCon is.
Now please get back to tending the Faux Military sports blog.
You're a regular Fletch
July 7, 2009 at 9:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stanish (anonymous) says...
Posted by ysillyme on July 7, 2009 at 9:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The SoCon Tournament is to the ACC Tournament what Michelle Obama is to beauty; none whichsoever!
As always you continue to show your ignorance! What does First Lady Michelle Obama has to do with this? NOTHING! She is a beautiful, highly educated, graceful and charming First Lady who represents the U.S. with PRIDE, CLASS, and DIGNITY! Your username describes you at best! It's people like you that stereotypes S.C. as a backwards, uneducated, red neck, hillbilly state that is and continues to be a JOKE in the nation and to the world. I APPLAUD the ACC and other groups or organizations that REFUSES to have any dealings with S.C. until IDIOTS like you and so many others of your kind show some INTELLIGENCE and class about yourselves. You can resume flying YOUR Red-Necked DEFEATED flag and continue living in the nineteenth century. BIGOTS!
July 7, 2009 at 11:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
surfer (anonymous) says...
pretty narrowminded comment there mr/ms high and mighty
July 7, 2009 at 7:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lowcountrydawg (anonymous) says...
Don't hate on the SOCON...they play some pretty good baseball in that conference.
You uppety ACC folks act like you're the Ivy League of the south...good academics, sorry @-$ sports teams!
July 7, 2009 at 9:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nickl (anonymous) says...
desspec be careful when trying to use vauge Lincoln references. Lincoln stated several times before being elected that he did not beleive in slavery, he beleived that all blacks should be sent back to Africa and we could have an all white country. Be wary of who you reference as a moevemnt leader. Most people don't know that because they have never really paid attention to history. They use him as an ican and hero when in reality he was worse than most people realize. Him ending slavery is as ral as Obama ending the War in Iraq. Just like Obama will get the credit when the truth is that everything that is happening to withdraw troops was put into place by the Bush administration before he left office, NOT Obama. Lincoln gets the credit for ending slavery which he did not actually do. The emancipation proclimation did not actually free slaves. It was never intended to. History is told by those who are politically correct. Not always actually correct. This site explains the proclamation:
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creati...
"President Lincoln read the first draft of this document to his Cabinet members on July 22, 1862. After some changes, he issued the preliminary version on September 22, which specified that the final document would take effect January 1, 1863. Slaves in Confederate states which were not back in the Union by then would be free, but slaves in the Border States were not affected."
July 8, 2009 at 1:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
elcidee87 (anonymous) says...
naacp = klan with a tan
July 8, 2009 at 7:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
elcidee87 (anonymous) says...
Oh yeah; Lincoln was a racist.
He opposed slavery because slaves, and free blacks, competed with whites for jobs.
If he would have survived the war, he would have removed black people from America.
July 8, 2009 at 8:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
vmirat90 (anonymous) says...
oh god, here come the Lincoln racist threads...and the war was not about slavery.
For god's sake...get past that damn war. The last time I checked, it ended in 1865.
July 8, 2009 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
vmirat90 (anonymous) says...
nickl, Bush will not get credit for anything good, nor should he. He has been a disgrace to the office, and Cheney is an outright criminal, and should be tried as such.
July 8, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
culbreath (anonymous) says...
The SOCON is irrevelant? What a sad little person you must be. Some of us chose smaller schools and are still happy with that decision. The only thing we lack are the major recruiting, academic and other scandals some of our larger state schools experience from time to time. Oh well, we'll keep ours like it is.
July 8, 2009 at 9:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nickl (anonymous) says...
vmirat90,
Occasionally, very rarely, I agree with things you say, this is not one of those times. Who should get credit for the withdrawl of troops from Iraq? Obama? No sir, he is implemeting a withdrawal strategy agreed to by The Iraqi government and the BUSH administration. Obama's plan actually puts US troops in Iraq 9 months longer than Bush's plan....you can't fight me on that because I was DIRECTLY affected by this. He was not a disgrace to the office. Only the uneducated who base their opinions off of what they are told by CNN, MSNBC, and Even FOX news make elaborate claims like that. Perhaps you should open your mind and do a little more historical and political research. Our technology and defense abilities are thanks to the Bush administration. And if the way Bush handled the war was so wrong, why did Obama keep Bush's Secretary of Defense? Politicially speaking that would have been the first person an intelligent leader would replace if faced with a poor war strategy.
The article however is not about bush and I don't want to be the one that turns the comments thread into an argument about him. There will always be supporters and disenters for EVERY President. They all have done something well and something poor. I blame the war on terro and the Sept 11th attacks on President Clinton not President Bush. Clinton had the opportunity to take out Bin Laden after previous terroist actions that happend on his watch such as the bombing of the USS Cole (perhaps you forgot about that?)
The point of my previous comment, was simply that people should be careful who they reference at visionaries in certain agendas without taking the time to learn all of the details about that persons true agenda. Do not beleive what the history books in school and the news media tell you. There is a wealth of knowledge and information out there to prove that these two outlets are the most washed down politically correct, forms of information available.
July 8, 2009 at 9:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gringolandia (anonymous) says...
I think this country should set aside a portion of SC, preferably the Upstate, and let all the backwards South Carolinians secede from the US and form their own little backwards state.
That way we can be done with them and they won't have to worry about the big bad Federal Government anymore. It's a "win-win" situation.
July 8, 2009 at 10:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DeathDealer (anonymous) says...
Quote from High Gravity: Thanks Jeff for your hard knock investigative reporting. You have sucessfully brought to light how uttterly irrevelent the SoCon is.
Now please get back to tending the Faux Military sports blog.
You're a regular Fletch
Couldn't get into a descent SOCON school, eh HG? Don't worry, thousands of people just like you weren't smart enough either.
July 14, 2009 at 2 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DeathDealer (anonymous) says...
Stanish,
Stereotyping is a nasty human habit that has led to tons of suffering and injustice,including, the oppression of various races and cultures throughout history. So, why do you seem to take such relish in indulging in that same nasty habit? Understand, I'm not defending in any way the comments which you attacked with your post. I am simply calling you out for some obvious character issues which lead you to believe that your response was somehow less offensive than the first.
July 14, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DeathDealer (anonymous) says...
Gringolandia: "I think this country should set aside a portion of SC, preferably the Upstate, and let all the backwards South Carolinians secede from the US and form their own little backwards state."
WTH??? Don't even think about it! You want to set aside something, take a chunk of your end of the state, thank you very much!! Use the PeeDee, nobody will miss it.
July 14, 2009 at 5:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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