Grand Strand Sports Scene Heating Up
By Terry Massey
This is my 15th year of covering the Grand Strand sports scene, and during that time I have learned there are a handful of truths you can count on:
1. The Coastal Carolina men's basketball team will have a losing season;
2. Local sports are like most animals and tourists – they hibernate in the winter; and
3. Aside from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, things don't get much better in the summer.
Less than one month into 2010, all three of those are false.
- For only the second time since 1994, Coastal Carolina has already assured itself a winning record. The Chanticleers are off to an 18-3 start and are in first place in the Big South Conference, but they also made a splash on the national scene earlier this week by receiving a vote in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
And the best may be yet to come. If the Chants can hang on to win the Big South tournament, which they will host if they stay atop the standings, they will make their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1993, the year before NCAA sanctions made the program the shambles it was before this year.
Coach Cliff Ellis has finally brought in enough talent in his third season to play with the big boys, seniors Mario Edwards and Joseph Harris are putting on a show and Kimbel Arena is back to the good old days of fans packing the place. It's an exciting time at CCU, and it has been a long time coming …
- You can usually hear crickets chirping at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center this time of year, but last Saturday night you couldn't hear yourself think.
The Bash at the Beach, the inaugural professional mixed martial arts event in South Carolina since its ban was lifted, saw 3,500 fans fill the arena and hundreds more turned away at the door. It was standing room only, not just because of the size of the crowd but also from the jaw-jacking excitement.
Three pro bouts and 10 amateur fights were on the card, including local female fighter Jordan McDonald, who scored a first-round technical knockout over her foe. Local pros Nissen Osterneck, Jon Owens and Tomar “T-Bo” Washington also scored impressive victories, but it also was a win for the offseason sports scene.
Carolina Fight Promotions, which put on the event, was so blown away by the response it received that it plans to go forward with two more fight nights in June and August. The Convention Center may need to expand to hold a summertime crowd that is sure to respond to the increasingly popular sport ...
- Local sports fans will have more to do than catch a Pelicans game this spring and summer. The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has been hard at work attracting new events to grow the sports tourism industry, and two new tourneys promise to bring more visitors and action to the Strand.
The Team USA Handball Collegiate National Championships will be held April 23-25 in Myrtle Beach, bringing in dozens of teams, hundreds of athletes and even more fans. The event will be held at makeshift courts at Broadway at the Beach so onlookers can catch the action while shopping and dining.
Handball is an Olympic sport that's a bit like basketball, soccer and lacrosse put in a blender. The 7-on-7 sport is fast-paced and high scoring, which may be why Time Magazine called it “ripe for an American invasion.” The sport is played across the world and future Team USA players will be in action.
In August, the World Cup 3-v-3 youth soccer tournament will come to Myrtle Beach, featuring teams that won qualifiers all across the country coming to settle the final score on the Strand. Boys and girls ages 6-18 will compete in a 3-on-3 format, a more wide-open version of the usually low-scoring sport ...
So don't let the winter blahs get you down. The sports scene is already heating up locally and should be red hot by the time the summer rolls around.
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