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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1971)
i battalion iotv in his 13th year Thursday, November 18, 1971 College Station, Texas Page 5 Ags equipment man is colorful fixture y JOHN CURYLO ■ttalion Sports Editor As the jet prepares to take off a Lubbock airport, the stew- fdesses are checking to make all the passengers have fold- i their trays up against the seat * front of them. Making her way to the back f the plane, one of the young ■Jjes encounters the A&M equip- en t manager, calmly eating a iicken dinner. His tray is still "Sir, please put your tray in He upright position,” she says jolitely. ‘‘We’re about to take "I can’t hear you,” S. M. Meeks itplies, pointing to his right ear. [turned off my hearing aid so [wouldn’t hear the jet engine.” Be continues eating his meal. “Put your tray up, sir,” she sjys again, getting impatient, federal aviation regulations re tire it.” “Yes, it is nice weather,” Meeks snaps, getting perturbed at the interruption. The plane takes off, and the stewardess rushes up to Meeks secldingly. "Sir, do you realize that you jut violated a regulation of the Federal Aviation Administra tion ?” Meeks looks up, less than awed it the admonition. "Take it out of my hide, baby.” Incidents like these have helped lighten the attitude of Aggie athletes for 13 years now, but the A&M karate meet nill be Saturday The A&M Karate Champion ships will be held Saturday, No- tember 20 in DeWare Gym the 14M Karate Club announced ;l!onday. The tournament will be open lo anyone wishing to enter. The meet will start at 11:00 a.m. with (liminations beginning then. All Hack belts should be there at 10:00 for a meeting. There will be two divisions, liimite, consisting of white belts, ■olored belts, brown belts and lack belts, and Kata with three tees: colored belts, brown i*lts and black belts are the divi- ■iws. The rules will be discussed immediately before the tourna- Mnt begins. Basically, there will 1* no head contact and the Hatches will be two minutes long. A five dollar entry fee is re ared. Trophies and certificates till be awarded for first, second ‘»il third places. There will be ® admission fee for spectators. Anyone wishing more informa- Jn should talk to David Jordan, Plainsman Lane No. 51 in n i or Mike Gregory at 822- |w45, Jctober ! ig this ] ;u dents i a. n "rids: OUR SPECIALTY 1/5 Carat Eye Clean Diamond For Senior Ring, $40 plus tax 0- W. Varner & Sons Jewelers Nort h Gate 846-5816 oh what a web insecurity weaves financial anxiety invest the answer insurance the way our program costs less now nreans security later call us today stop by soon we're here °n campus for you come 0 PROVIDENT MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA Gordon B. Richardson Campus Representative 07 University Drive, Suite 23 846-7027 humor of S. M. Meeks is in its last season at A&M. Now 65, Meeks is retiring at the end of next summer. Or so he says. Others contend that Kyle Field will crumble before the friendly, down-to-earth little man moves out. Originally hired by Paul “Bear” Bryant, Meeks worked here in the spring of 1958. When Bryant left for Alabama, Meeks stayed on under Jim Myers. Hank Fold- berg took over the coaching reins in 1962, but the equipment room was still the kingdom of the for mer sporting goods specialist. In 1964, Gene Stallings was named head football coach. This completed something of a cycle for Meeks, because Stallings was beginning his coaching career when Meeks first came to A&M. The office connected to the equipment room resembles a mu seum, and it takes a while to appreciate all the relics. An assortment of deer antlers decorates the walls of the office, and the inscriptions on the ply wood mounting boards are a chronological summary of Meeks’ life. “1920—killed by S. M. Meeks with a Bowie knife. “1938—strangled by S. M. Meeks using a shoelace. “1939—killed by S. M. Meeks with a bow and arrow. “1958 — S. M. Meeks getting older, deer was talked to death.” Between each set of antlers are some of Meeks’ favorite sayings. “I’d rather buy than lend, and the cost is almost the same.” “I’m a self-made man, but if I go through life again, I’m going to get some help.” “Some bring joy by coming, others by leaving.” “Lazy people have a lot to do tomorrow.” “We issue everything but guts.” Along with these and many others are “wanted” posters of Meeks and sevex-al momentos. The office is a combination of antique and rundown. If and when he moves out, the room will be bare without all the decorations. Meeks was born in Temple Nov. 1, 1906. He was graduated from Main Avenue High in San Antonio in 1924 and then attended Wesley College in Greenville two years. He coached at Wesley College for one year and at Celeste High for two seasons and then went to work for Humble Oil for 10 Computer predicts OU over Huskers TULSA, Okla. <AP)—Note to Ne braska and Oklahoma football fans: It’s all been decided and Oklahoma is the national cham pion. | Who says so? A computer, which picked Okla homa to win that big Thanksgiv ing Day showdown 39-33. A Tulsa television station, KTUL-TV, fed all the statistics it had available into a comput er which came up with the six- point Sooner victory. The game will be played at Oklahoma’s home field—and the computer decided that gave the Sooners a three-point advantage. years. He coached at San Antonio Edison for one year before going into the sporting goods business there for 15 years. While in high school, Meeks played semipro football with men of 22 and older. Although light as a halfback, Meeks was a fiery competitor. If you don’t believe it, just ask him. “If I was playing ball today, I’d be a tackle,” he proclaims to non-believers, believers and any one within hearing range. “I was a mean one.” Meeks and his wife Treysa have three sons. All the boys won ath letic letters at different univer sities. Charley Meeks was a track man at the University of Texas. He is now a consultant geophysi cist in New Orleans. S. M. Meeks, Jr. was a halfback at the University of Houston. After coaching 13 years at Schreiner Institute, he is a busi nessman in Houston. Tommy Meeks is a bank assis tant vice president in Conroe, having played halfback here from 1962 until 1964. The elder Meeks indicated he may work with Tom my after retiring. “He’s got a real estate venture in Conroe,” the equipment super visor said. “I might go there to have something to do. I like to play a lot of golf, and I hunt a little, but not as much as I used to. When you get older, you’re hesitant about killing things.” Meeks is in charge of all equip ment, clothing and fields under the direction of the athletic de partment. During the summer, he keeps the fields in condition, and when sports are in season, he takes care of all the equipment needed for whatever is going on. This week, Meeks received a letter from an old friend who saw his picture in the program for the SMU game. Enclosed in the letter were several pictures taken when Meeks was playing semipro football. The 1924 photographs showed a young, dark-haired ath lete with his hair parted down the middle. The features were the same, and Meeks contends that little else was different. “I guess you could say that now the part is a little wider,” said the balding man with the impish grin. No one is quite sure whether Meeks will retire or not, but tongue-in-cheek speculation has it that the athletic department has received applications from the equipment men at both Notre Dame and the University of Ne braska. Regardless of who the next equipment manager is, one thing is certain—he has a tough act to follow. Grimsley tries poetry By WILL GRIMSLEY AP Special Correspondent NEW YORK (A 5 ) — A female Penn State football fan suggests that picking football games is pretty dull and mundane stuff and why couldn’t the job be done in rhyme. If the lady insists we’ll give it a go—maybe worse but verse. Last week: 47-16, .746. Season: 428-163, .724. Southern California 25, UCLA 20: The Bruins have Pepper, the Trojans got salt. Believe you me, it’s USC. Penn State 42, Pittsburgh 13: Mitchell’s the boy who does the work; watch him close, or he’ll go berserk. Tennessee 20, Kentucky 14: Neither team has got much punch, you won’t miss much if you take your lunch. Michigan 21, Ohio State 7: “Three yards and a cloud of dust.” It’s a Hayes cliche that’s picked up rust. Arizona State 43, San Jose State 20: They caught Stanford napping, Did San Jose; but it’s the other team that’ll yell “Ole.” Arkansas 20, Texas Tech 15: In Arkansas, the cry is “Pig!” Not cops, but Porkers, don’t you dig? Stanford 33, California 20: Bunce for the Indians, Cruze for the Bears—a pair of backs on scoring tears. Yale 17, Harvard 14: No bowl or title on the line, just a piece of Ivy off an aging vine. Louisiana State 14, Notre Dame 10: Fighter not lover is the Tiger, Casanova. If you don’t believe it, wait, he’ll show ya. Colorado 27, Air Force 14: The air is light and it makes one wonder; why a Buffalo in the Wild Blue Yonder? Michigan State 25, Northwest ern 19: Eric Allen is the Spartans’ steed; makes the Wildcats seem slow, indeed. Dartmouth 22, Princeton 14: Green is for envy and Dartmouth, too; Orange is for Princeton, but mood is blue. EAST—Columbia 31, Brown 13; Boston College 28, Massachusetts 14; Villanova 19, Temple 16; West Virginia 30, Syracuse 25; Colgate 20, Rutgers 15; Cornell 28, Penn 7; Holy Cross 27, Connecticut 10. MIDWEST — Toledo 38, Kent State 7; Illinois 27, Iowa 13; Pur due 22, Indiana 18; Iowa State 20, Oklahoma State 13; Kansas 17, Missouri 15; Wisconsin 21, Min nesota 14; Northern Illinois 31, Xavier 19; Cincinnati 28, Miami O. 25; Dayton 24, Bowling Green 20. SOUTH—Duke 17, North Caro lina 14; Florida State 29, Tulsa 14; Maryland 15, Virginia y; Memphis State 32, Kansas State 14; South Carolina 28, Wake For est 24; Vanderbilt 23, Tampa 16; Chattanooga 17, VMI 10; William & Mary 38, Richmond 27; Ohio U. 21, Marshall 18; The Citadel 33, Davidson 22. SOUTHWEST—Southern Meth odist 22, Baylor 7; Texas Chris tian 19, Rice 14; Texas Arlington 20, Lamar 14; Texas-El Paso 32, Colorado State 18; Drake 17, West Texas State 13; North Texas State 26, Wichita State 17. FAR WEST—Oregon 30, Ore gon State 23; Washington 36, Washington State 19; New Mexi co 28, Wyoming 18; Pacific 20, Fresno State 14; Arizona 19, San Diego State 15; Brigham Young 26, Utah 19; Idaho 37, Utah State 21. Phillips doubtful for Turkey Day AUSTIN LA*) — Texas quarter back Eddie Phillips will not even suit up for practice this week, and coach Darrell Royal said it is doubtful that Phillips will play against Texas A&M Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25. Texas must beat the Aggies to go to the Cotton Bowl. Phillips suffered a shoulder separation against TCU last Sat urday, after missing four full games because of a pulled leg muscle. Royal also said he doubted that fullback Bobby Callison or de fensive tackle Greg Ploetz would start against the Aggies because of knee injuries. Sophomore halfback Don Bur- risk, however, has returned to practice for the first time since he hurt his shoulder in the Oct. 9 Oklahoma game, and Royal said he would play against A&M. 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