Tom Price passes

[Cocklover]

I'm sure most of you know who Tom Price is. Most probably know him assisting with play by play of the baseball games with Mike Morgan and Tommy Moody. He had a stroke last night and is intensive care. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. What a man, i've met him before and he is one class act. God Bless you Tom and Get Well Soon!

[Lant]

You're in our Prayers Tom, Get Well Soon

[COCKDIESEL]

Wow I am stunned. I hope he is okay.

[doccock]

Godspeed Tom.
He'a a great man and wonderful ambassador for USC.
doc

[morgan n' 7]

Oh, man. Horrible news. I've always been a fan of Mr. Price. Prayers sent.

[SC Sandlapper]

So sorry to hear this. I used to work with him on the Gamecock baseball radio broadcasts many years ago. He was always friendly and a walking encyclopedia of Gamecock sports info.

[MEGA]

Godspeed Tom.
He'a a great man and wonderful ambassador for USC.
doc

You are right Doc , and I hope all goes well !!

[Forkcock]

Get well soon Mr. Price!

Prayers sent.

[superstar90]

I have one of his books at work that I flip through all the time. I have never met him, but he sounds like a good guy. Prayers sent.

[Section5Gamecock]

Prayers sent

[ChuckyCock]

prayers sent. Get well soon, Tom.

[Go Cocks]

Oh how sad! C'mon Tom, we're pulling and praying for you. Great man and huge Gamecock fan.

[Amaze]

Love me some Tom.

Get well soon

[RHHS8068]

Thoughts and prayers, Tom. You're a Gamecock through and through.

[cack]

goodness ... hope everything works out ok for him

[acejrock]

Good Luck Buddy.

[hardcock2]

Prayers!...get well soon Tom...the boys are ready to start playing, and we need you out there.
:swingcoc:

[usc89]

Dittos! May God bless Tom and his family to help all of them through this ordeal!

[willy]

I'm sure most of you know who Tom Price is. Most probably know him assisting with play by play of the baseball games with Mike Morgan and Tommy Moody. He had a stroke last night and is intensive care. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. What a man, i've met him before and he is one class act. God Bless you Tom and Get Well Soon!



Yes, Tom is a great guy. My prayers are certainly with him. Get well soon Tom.

[Wazir]

Prayers sent for Tom and his family. Get well soon!

[TheMule]

I love listening to Tom. The way he talks, it's like you're sitting next to him in your living room watching the game. Get well Tom...we want you back behind the mic!!! Our prayers are with you.

[Snake]

Prayers sent to Mr. Price!!

Hopefully we will here him on the radio soon

[The Yancey]

Any updates on his condition?

[Cocklover]

I actually asked my dad tonight on any updates, he knows him pretty well but he has not heard a thing.

[carolina80]

Prayers offered up for a speedy recovery. Tom price is is the embodiment of Gamecock sports history. If he doesn't know it, it didn't happen!

[TaterHater1984]

Prayers sent.

[ucan'tlickourcocks]

Wow! I put Tom up there with the likes of Bob Fulton..... you just get so used to hearing them for so many years, you forget they are actually human sometimes.

Get well soon Tom, we need you man!

[cccock]

Any word on Tom? He is a true Mr. Gamecock! Prayers to Tom and his family!

[cockybusiness2]

Get well soon

[Visormaniac]

wish him a speedy and complete recovery

[U-Dub Gamecock]

Tom Price knows more about The History of Carolina Baseball than all of us on here combined... I think the world of him, and wish him a speedy recovery... and cant wait to see him at The Sarge...

[Kendalls Daddy]

When I hear Tom Price's voice I automatically think of blue skies, beautiful weather, cold beer, and winning...Not even going to tell you what I think when I hear Todd Ellis' voice...

I sure hope he can make it through...That would be the biggest blow to USC since Frank McGuire died...

[U-Dub Gamecock]

When I hear Tom Price's voice I automatically think of blue skies, beautiful weather, cold beer, and winning...Not even going to tell you what I think when I hear Todd Ellis' voice...

I sure hope he can make it through...That would be the biggest blow to USC since Frank McGuire died...


I can tell you what I think when I hear Ellis' voice... Wait, the mods would erase that!! :swingcoc:

[gamecock3252]

Heard he just passed prayers sent!!!!!

[morgan n' 7]

Prayers.

1400am is reporting it.

[tptgamecock]

107.5 is reporting that tom Price has passed. Prayers to the family.

[d20636]

Prayers to his family - may he rest in peace. He will be missed!

[Slacker USC]

Thoughts and prayers with his family. Gamecock nation lost a great guy today.

[acejrock]

Condolences.

[acejrock]

Sad day Carolina baseball.

[Click]

I hate that. Prayers for his family.

[Garnet Spur]

Prayers Sent

[Cocklover]

Definitely in my prayers! This is a sad day. Gamecock baseball won't be the same without him behind the mic. Rest in peace Tom!

[Cocklover]

In my prayers!!

[cack]

sad day for Gamecockland ... he'll be missed this baseball season

[TheMule]

A terrible loss for the USC family. Go with God now and smile down on your Gamecocks. I'll always think of you when listening to the baseball games. We'll miss you, Tom. Prayers for you and your family.

[Freehawk]

RIP, a great Gamecock

[USC_DOGHUNTER]

My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

[MEGA]

I am so sorry to hear this , its almost baseball season and he was the man of knowledge when it came to any USC sport , and certainly baseball ! I won't say I am sorry for his loss, a loss is when you don't know where something is........ I think anybody who knew Tom Price knows where this man is today !! R.I.P Tom , you will be missed !

[smoovecock]

Gonna miss him and his stories....If you get a chance go buy his book...It is a great read...Tells alot of stories of the good ole days and the present time stuff....RIP my friend....BB games on the radio will never be the same....

[Cockadiddle]

RIP Tom. Prayers sent.

[brat]

A good man, that was, indeeed, a living institution has passed away and much knowledge and lore and history of USC has gone with him. We were blessed for the time he was with us and that he shared much of what he knew.

Some people can never be replaced and he fits that bill.

[Kendalls Daddy]

damn...He will be sorely missed and I hate that there will be many that will never appreciate the knowledge he had for this university...

Man this is sad...

[CaptainCrunch]

nooo, RIP Tom Price prayers sent to his family

[GamecockFan7689]

RIP Tom Price. He was always such a pleasure to listen to on the Gamecock Radio Network.

[Kendalls Daddy]

Wonder if USC will name anything in the new stadium after Price? I figure the field may go to Tanner, but I think it would be a nice jesture to keep Tom's name floating around the school, esp. the baseball team...

[The Yancey]

RIP Tom. You were a good 'un.

[diehardgamecock]

horrible news.

[tptgamecock]

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Tom Price, sports information director for 30 years at the University of South Carolina, passed away on Fri., Feb. 1, 2008, at the age of 81. Price was affiliated with the University of South Carolina since 1962 and served in an emeritus capacity from 1992 to 2008. He was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be released when details are finalized.
Price graduated from South Carolina in 1951 with a degree in journalism and joined the athletic department in 1962 after 11 years in wire service journalism. He served as sports information director from 1962 to 1985 and as assistant athletics director/media relations until 1992. He continued to serve the athletic department until his passing in an emeritus capacity and as athletic department historian. Price also was the official scorer for the South Carolina baseball home games and served as analyst on the Gamecock Radio Network for road games.
Price was inducted into College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame in 1981. He received the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992 and, in 1993, won the CoSIDA Arch Ward Award, presented annually to a CoSIDA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information and who by his or her activities, has brought dignity and prestige to the profession. Price was a former president of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and received the Wilbur Snypp Award from the NCBWA in 1982 for promotion and service to college baseball. Price was also the author of several books on Carolina football, basketball, baseball and other sports.
Posted by Bryce Mursch (bmursch@wistv.com)

WIStv.com Columbia, SC: Former sports information director Tom Price passes away at 81 (http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7809388)
__________________

[USCMusicMan]

Such sad news, prayers to the family!

Today has been a very depressing day for the Gamecocks. I hope we have a moment of silence the first home game.

[Forkcock]

He will be missed. Prayers to the Price family.

[SC Sandlapper]

Rest in peace old friend.

[ucan'tlickourcocks]

We will never forget you Tom! You were a Gamecock thru and thru!

I should think we should dedicate the upcomming baseball season in your memory, and win it all!

Rest in peace ole friend! You will be sorely missed, and never forgetten!

My most sincere condolences to the Price family.

Tom, you are irreplaceable, I miss you already!

:sad:

[greenvillespur]

He was a great man, condolences to his family. You will be missed Mr. Price.

[TaterHater1984]

Very sad. Prayers sent.

[COCKDIESEL]

My condolences to his family.

Gamecock Nation just lost it's foremost historian today.

[gAmkok]

I never met the man, but I will tell you that I have not been this saddened by the passing of someone I don't know since Payne Stewart. The World is a little worse off today than it was yesterday.

[gacock]

Someone on another site made me recall the first time I saw Tom Price at The Sarge. He was at a folding table keeping stats, with rocks holding everything in place. That was in 1975.

Even at 18 YOA, I realized this man must really love the sport if he was willing to work under those conditions. My brother told me later who that man was.

Tom Price loved all Gamecock sports, but he was an absolute baseball fanatic. We were fortunate that his path crossed ours as Carolina baseball grew in popularity.

I'll miss his voice over the internet. Mike Morgan has lost an excellent color analyist.

Go Gamecocks!!!

gacock

[Wazir]

Condolences to the price family. R.I.P. Tom. God bless.

[Carolina84]

Someone on another site made me recall the first time I saw Tom Price at The Sarge. He was at a folding table keeping stats, with rocks holding everything in place. That was in 1975.

Even at 18 YOA, I realized this man must really love the sport if he was willing to work under those conditions. My brother told me later who that man was.

Tom Price loved all Gamecock sports, but he was an absolute baseball fanatic. We were fortunate that his path crossed ours as Carolina baseball grew in popularity.

I'll miss his voice over the internet. Mike Morgan has lost an excellent color analyist.

Go Gamecocks!!!

gacock

Nice story - as I too will really miss Tom's commentaries and remarkable stories of SC Baseball over all these years - man he was so full of baseball history - including the Braves and all of the State of SC baseball teams - of which we have some great ones! He also has become a fixture on my internet streaming of games for many years and will be sorely missed....

[Snake]

We lost a very special Gamecock today

My condolences to his family.......we're going to miss him not being on Radio

Rest in Peace Tom Price

[snoopy]

Prayers to this family. He will be missed.

[Cockhornleghorn]

Tom had a Gamecock story for just about any event. He will be sorely missed.

[spartcock77]

He will be missed. He was truly a great.

[Luke Skycocker]

yea he'll be remembered well

[morgan n' 7]

Posted on Sat, Feb. 02, 2008
A museum of memories now lost





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.

Price handled those responsibilities well, and the posse of students he guided into the SID field speaks volumes. Some who worked with him hold lofty positions in stock-car racing, Major League Baseball, professional golf and collegiate athletics, and what a wonderful legacy they create.

Their work always will be a testament to the person affectionately called T.P., but what cannot be replaced is his knowledge. That will be lost forever.

One person department. T.P. came along before computers stored information and details, before Google or Yahoo became household words, before searches required no more than maybe a password and a few key strokes.

Lists with names, scores and statistics only begin to tell the story of teams and their accomplishments, and T.P. could complete the picture for Carolina.

A USC graduate, he worked 11 years for a wire service before signing on with the Gamecocks in 1962. Although he theoretically retired in 1993, he never really left.

On that night a few days ago, he looked forward to another season with the Carolina baseball team.

Starting with his wire-service days, his association with the Gamecocks included 11 head football coaches, 12 head basketball coaches and more than a dozen directors of athletics.

Games? He saw thousands, and the number of athletes could never be counted accurately.

Maybe he did not remember them all, but he could recall more than most — generally with unerring accuracy. Even if a name escaped him in his later years, the person did not. “The left-handed pitcher from Greenville ...” or “the quarterback from Florence ..., ” he might say in matching an athlete with a performance.

He loved all sports, and he would not pick a favorite. “Whatever is in season,” he often said.

Still, baseball topped his list. Official scorer at USC home games from the days before Sarge Frye Field had a name and the press area consisted of a table and folding chairs behind the backstop, he probably worked more than 2,000. I expect every meticulous scorebook has been saved for future reference.

He never needed a scorebook to remember what he has called his favorite moment in Carolina sports — Chuck McLean’s inside-the-park home run to win a College World Series game.

“I will never forget that,” T.P. said.

Neither should Carolina forget him.

Remembering the title. On this night not long ago, after Florida edged the Gamecocks 73-71, we left the arena together for what would be the last time.

We dodged mud puddles in the unpaved parking lot, and he talked about his perceived pluses and minuses of the current team. He pulled a game from the museum of his mind and supplied context in referring to another Carolina squad that struggled in close games.

He thought about the good, the bad and the ugly he had seen through the years at USC. He did not dodge the latter two categories, but he clearly preferred to remember the best moments.

In that vein, we stood beside his Cadillac and went back in time to 1971 and the Gamecocks’ winning the ACC tournament.

Any mention of Kevin Joyce winning a jump and tipping the ball to Tom Owens for the winning points against North Carolina earns a celebratory toast among Gamecocks, and T.P. relished the moment.

I told Price about a wide-ranging interview with Joyce earlier that day and shared some of the answers.

The player’s recollection from 37 year ago received T.P.’s nod of approval.
“Not the best-played game, but very competitive,” T.P. confirmed.

“(Carolina) did not shoot well and (the Tar Heels) missed a bunch of free throws.”

The jump?

“Unbelievable,” T.P. said.

The description fits — both Joyce’s jump and Tom Price’s contributions to Carolina athletics.


http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/304493.html

[morgan n' 7]

Posted on Sat, Feb. 02, 2008
A void in USC history

Former SID was a walking archive of Gamecocks athletics

By BOB GILLESPIE
bgillespie@thestate.com (bgillespie@thestate.com)

To generations of young sports writers, he could be intimidating: the crusty former wire-service reporter who controlled access to South Carolina athletics for 30 years and remained with the program for another 15.

But to those who knew him best — coaches and athletes, more seasoned reporters, and especially future sports publicists who passed through his office — he was an institution, a constant, a soft-hearted mentor and friend behind the gruff facade.

His proteges gauged their stature at USC by how they addressed him: early as “Mr. Price,” later as “Tom,” finally as “T.P.”

Tom Price, USC’s sports information director, assistant athletics director and sports historian for nearly a half-century, died Friday after suffering a stroke Monday night. He was 81.

“I can see how, when you first met him, he could seem distant,” said Jamie Kimbrough, associate sports information director from 1983-85. “But once he got to know you, he was your best buddy.”

Funeral services will be 11:30 a.m. Monday at Dunbar Funeral Home, 3926 Devine St. Visitations are 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. until services on Monday.

USC’s board of trustees observed a moment of silence for Price during its Friday meeting.

“I learned the craft from him,” said Brian Binette, who spent 19 years working with Price. “Sundays, Tom was always the first one in the office, doing statistics on a typewriter. That told me, ‘This is what SIDs do.’ ”

In Major League Baseball, NASCAR and SEC offices, Price’s death was observed by former assistants who credited him for helping launch their careers.

“He gave me the foundation that has allowed me to have success in Major League Baseball,” said Rob Matwick, vice president/communications for the Detroit Tigers and a USC graduate assistant in the early 1980s.

“Tom was as old-school as it gets. He taught me those fundamentals of preparation, accuracy, building relationships.”

SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom, who worked for Price from 1983-85, saw another element of his boss’s makeup.

“I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who loved Carolina more than Tom,” Bloom said.

“He had three loves, besides his family: the Gamecocks, baseball and writing. He did a lot, achieved a lot and was part of a lot of great things with those.”

Price’s love for USC was infectious. “He instilled in me a passion for the Gamecocks that I’ll carry the rest of my life,” said Kerry Tharp, part of USC’s sports information staff for 20 years and now NASCAR’s director of communications in Charlotte.

“He used to say, ‘My two favorite words in the English language are ... ‘Cocks win.’ ”

Born in Augusta and raised on Wadmalaw Island near Charleston, Price was a USC loyalist through and through. He enrolled in 1948 after a four-year hitch in the U.S. Navy (1943-47), then worked 11 years for United Press International before returning to his alma mater as sports information director in 1962.

Matwick called Price “an encyclopedia of Gamecock sports.” Kimbrough recalled a 1983 research project he undertook to fill in gaps in USC’s football records.

“For about three seasons in the 1960s, we couldn’t find any information,” he said. “Finally I said, ‘T.P., 1962 Carolina-Duke game, any recollection at all?’

“He tipped those half-moon eyeglasses up on his head and said, ‘Played in Durham, final score was so-and-so, so-and-so had so many yards rushing.’ The same with the rest; he knew every game, the scores, the stats. I was dumbfounded.”

Price was close to many USC coaches, including basketball coach and icon Frank McGuire, who arrived in Columbia in 1964. Price delighted in chronicling the successes of McGuire’s teams.

“One year, a guy who was doing a history of North Carolina basketball called to ask about McGuire,” said Chris Poore, SID at Belmont Abbey (N.C.) College, who worked at USC from 1999-2001. “Tom got on the phone and told the guy McGuire’s life story.”

Even after moving into a consultant/historian role in 1992 — he wrote several books about USC sports, the last, “Tales from the Gamecocks’ Roost,” in 2002 — and despite two heart bypasses, Price was a pressbox regular at football and basketball games.

He once said his favorite USC athlete was former Dallas Cowboys player and NFL coach Dan Reeves.

“Wow, that’s a compliment, because he saw about all of them,” Reeves said from Atlanta.

But while Price cared passionately for all USC sports, baseball was his true love. Even in “retirement,” he worked as official scorekeeper at Sarge Frye Field and radio analyst for road games.

“When I think of Tom, the first thing is ‘stats, stats, stats,’ ” said former USC baseball coach Bobby Richardson. “If you had a question, you went to Tom.”

When baseball coach Ray Tanner arrived at USC 12 years ago, “(Price’s) legend preceded our first meeting,” he said. “To me, Tom and (groundskeeper) Sarge Frye were the most important parts of the meeting. Tom had been by my side ever since.”

No plans are set, but Tanner said Price will be honored “as part of our season, on our uniform.”

The USC basketball team plans to wear a garnet ribbon on their warm-up suits while others in the athletics program will wear a ribbon on their lapel today in Oxford.

Price’s former assistants recalled road trips where he regaled everyone with stories, “and even if you’d heard them before, you enjoyed them again,” Binette said.

For Tanner, Price was a confidant and friend. “With Tom, (baseball) was always a ‘we’ thing,” Tanner said. “After a loss, he hurt as much as the players and coaches.

“We’d be in the parking lot at 3 a.m. after trips to Vandy or Mississippi State, and I’d say, ‘Tom, why do you put yourself through this?’ You’d know he was tired, but he’d say, ‘I love it.’

“There’ll be a real void in our travel party this season.”

Reach senior writer Bob Gillespie at (803) 771-8304.




http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/304490.html

[SC Sandlapper]

His proteges gauged their stature at USC by how they addressed him: early as “Mr. Price,” later as “Tom,” finally as “T.P.”


That line brings a smile to my face. I called him "Tommy" a couple of times when I was a fresh-out-of-J-school wise ass, and I quickly got the idea that was not the thing to do.

[McLovin]

hopefully something substantial will bear his name at the new stadium

[mickeyrivers]

very sad... this guy was an institution at usc.

i hope they find some way to honor him at the new stadium when it's built.

edit- wow, mclovin i totally bit your idea. i'm right there with you though.

[Go Cocks]

Tom's favorite two words in the English language - Gamecocks win!

Great man. I knew him from Tip Off. If there was a USC sporting event or activity he was there. He was a fine gentleman and will be missed. He and Mike Morgan used to crack me up during the baseball games. Like when Mike said something one time about knocking Tom's socks off and he stated that he didn't have any socks on. Losing Tom is tough.

:wink:

[Dietz]

listening to Gamecock baseball will never be the same, this is sorta how I felt when Bob Fulton retired, except worse...

...God Bless you Tom Price, thanks for the memories, prayers to you and your family

[USCya]

Maybe we can change the CockyTalk sign to show our appreciation for all he has done for Carolina Baseball.....?