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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1996)
The Battalion Monday January 29, 1996 Sports sports GLANCE Jordan, Bulls beat Suns for 15th straight CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Jor dan scored 31 points as the Chicago Bulls set a franchise record with their 15th consecutive victory by beating the Phoenix Suns 93-82 Sunday. Dennis Rodman had 20 re bounds and Scottie Pippen 21 points for the Bulls, who are 38-3 at the season's midway point. Only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who went on to win an NBA-record 69 games, ever won 38 games by the midseason. The Bulls resume pursuit of the 70-victory mark Tuesday, when they begin a seven-game road trip at Houston. In 1991-92, they were 36- 5 at midseason before a losing trip ruined their bid to break the Lakers' record. Earlier this season, Chicago went 6-1 on a similar Texas and West Coast swing. Chicago also stretched its team- record home winning streak to 29. Charles Barkley had 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns. Red Raiders hang on, defeat UT, 79-78 LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — With half a second to go, Brandy Perry man lobbed a long 3-pointer that brought Texas to within 79-78 of upsetting No. 22 Texas Tech. But the Red Raiders held on Sun day and took a two-game lead in the Southwest Conference. "We are a long way from being where we want to be, but we have done a good job of winning at home,'' said Tech coach James Dickey, whose team won its 26th straight at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. It was the first meeting between the teams since Texas won in dou ble overtime 107-104 in the SWC tournament finals last spring. The Red Raiders (16-1, 6-0) are off to their best start in school history. Cory Carr scored 18 points for Tech, including a key free throw with6.5 seconds remaining. 1 Carr missed the front half of a 1- and-1, but his second shot gave the / Red Raiders a 79-75 lead, so that Perryman's 3-pointer just cut the fi nal margin. "I was pleased with our defense and Texas has a lot of good one-on- one players,'' Dickey said. "If we have to face them again, any time Perryman touches the ball we are just going to have to foul him." NBC reports Magic will return Tuesday INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Magic Johnson reportedly has signed a contract with the Los Ange les Lakers and will return to the NBA Tuesday night in a home game against the Golden State Warriors. NBC-TV reported Sunday that Johnson's comeback would be offi cially announced Monday at a news conference in Los Angeles. The network cited unidenti fied sources in the league and close to Johnson. The Lakers have worked out a way for Johnson to sell his 5 percent ownership of the team to make his comeback, the network said. Lakers spokesman John Black de clined to comment on the report. Johnson's agent, Lon Rosen, did not immediately return calls made to his home and office. The Los Angeles Times, citing unidentified sources, reported Sat urday that Johnson had agreed in principle to a contract that would pay him $2.5 million for the rest of the season. SCORES ROUNDUP NBA Bulls 93, Suns 82 UPCOMING EVENTS Men's Basketball On Wednesday, the A&M Men's Basketball Team travels to Fort Worth to take on the Texas Christian Horned Frogs at 7:30 p.m. in South west Conference action. Women's Basketball The Women's Basketball Team will travel to Fort Worth Tuesday to take on the Lady Frogs at 7:00 p.m. in Southwest Conference action. Men's Swimming The Aggies will take on the Uni versity of Texas in Austin on Friday. Team Swimming The A&M Swimming and Diving Teams will take on Rice University at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Stu dent Recreational Center. Local fans celebrate return to the top □ Cowboy fans gathered in local bars and restaurants to cheer their team on. By Kristina Buffin The Battalion Many Aggies could not af ford the extraordinary price of a Super Bowl ticket, not to mention the plane fare. However, Aggies all over town tuned into the contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers through a little known techno logical device, the television. Typical of most Texas towns, Bryan-College Station was rooting for ‘America’s Team,’ the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, it was as hard to find a Pittsburgh Steeler fan in Col lege Station as it would be to see Deion Sanders in a Coke commercial. There is something about the Cowboy mystique that creates a type of fanaticism. People either love or hate the Cowboys. This fanaticism was demon strated by Chad Spears, a for mer student, in his reaction to the Steeler drive before the end of the first half when Steeler fans pulled out their Terrible Towels. “Put those things up be cause you won’t see the end zone unless you take a picture of it,” he said. Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, and Spears, who were looking for a shutout, running back and Texas Tech graduate Bam Morris scored the Steel ers’ first touchdown. Unlike most of the last four Super Bowls, this one was a close contest, although Cowboys’ fans got a little nervous. “It was an alright game,” Jim Skeleton, a resident of Bryan- said. “We were a little nervous but truth, justice and the American way prevailed.” For many of the local restaurants and bars, the Su per Bowl provided the oppor tunity for them to draw in ex tra business. “(The Super Bowl) means more money in tips tonight,” Leo Angele, a bartender at Fitzwilly’s and a junior busi ness analysis and manage ment information systems major, said. “There will be more tips be cause everyone will be cele brating the Cowboys’ victory. They are nothing but winners, that’s why they are America’s team.” For most Aggies, the Super Bowl provided the chance to gather with friends and bond over men hitting other men for a chance to hold a pigskin ball. Freshmen members of A Company in the Aggie Band gathered together at Fitzwilly’s to watch the game and play some shuffleboard. “You can’t have a better time with your buddies than watching the Super Bowl,” John Burrescia, a freshman bioengineering major, said. “We’re having a good time, having fun. It’s not like just watching a regular game, it’s the Super Bowl. We’re getting unified and chilling out.” Even though many Aggies could not make the trip to the game to support the Cowboys or Steelers, College Station was represented by referee Red Cashion who tossed the coin at the beginning of the game. “It was good bull for Aggies,” Chris Caldwell, a freshman chemical engineering major, said. “We’re everywhere, you can’t escape us. We were sup posed to be there (Tempe) in the Fiesta Bowl, but at least we had an Aggie in the Super Bowl.” No matter who people were rooting for Sunday, and despite the American Football Confer ence has now lost 11 of the last 13 Super Bowls, a good time was had by all. Sunday gave students and residents of Bryan-College Sta tion an opportunity to forget about school and work and en joy one of America’s favorite pastimes, the gridiron. Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion From left to right, Clark Nortch, Barney Harrell, Christian Pope, Shelby jackson, jakie Shenkir and justin Smith root for the Dallas Cowboys Sunday at Bullwinkle's. The Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 to claim their record-tying fifth Super Bowl championship. Cowboys: Da ‘Boys climb the mountain for the fifth time Continued from Page 1 who turned away quickly as he accept ed the trophy. “But this for me was the sweetest.” Switzer, however, was clearly elated. He joined the Cowboys in a no-win situ ation — only a Super Bowl victory could guarantee success — and he got it. “Are you having a good time, Jerry?” he asked Jones. “We did it our way, baby! We did it! We did it! We did it! We did it!” ■ But it was not the way the Cowboys had hoped. Aikman, who at one point in the first half completed 10 straight passes, tying Phil Simms for second place in Super Bowl history behind Joe Mon tana’s 13, was good early but finished 15 of 23 for 209 yards. And Smith, whose fourth and fifth rushing touchdowns passed Franco Harris and Thurman Thomas for the most in Super Bowl history, was held to just 49 yards in 18 carries, far short of the 115 he needed to become the leading rusher in Super Bowl history. Twenty-three of his yards came on the third play of the game. But it was the defense that did it, led by Brown. It registered four sacks, one by Charles Haley, who was playing his first game since undergoing back surgery seven weeks ago. Haley, who was on two champions in San Francis co, became the first player ever to win five Super Bowl rings. That rush, plus some slippery foot ing may have been responsible for O’ Donnell’s problems. He finished 28 of 49 for 239 yards and three intercep tions, the last on the game’s final play. But the two to Brown were the ones that hurt. Pittsburgh reached the Dallas 33 on the first pos session of the second half. But on fourth and 8, coach Bill Cowher elected to punt and Rohn Stark’s kick car ried into the end zone, giv ing Dallas the ball on the 20. Dallas didn’t move on of fense, but then the defense turned the game. On a third and 9 from the Pittsburgh 48, Dallas’ Bill Bates blitzed, both Steelers receivers turned inside, and O’Donnell threw outside, right to Brown. He returned it 44 yards to the Pittsburgh 18. On the first play, Troy Aikman hit Michael Irvin at the 1, and Smith went over on the next play, although replays indicated he had not reached the end zone until he was already down. Norm Johnson’s 46-yard field goal 3:40 into the fourth quarter cut it to 20-10 after Tony Tolbert’s sack of O’ Donnell on third and eight at the 19 stopped Pittsburgh’s next drive. But then came a surprise onside kick by Johnson, recovered by Deon Figures at his own 48. Nine plays later, Bam Morris went over from a yard out and suddenly it was 20-17 with 6:36 left. The Steelers got the ball back with 4:15 left at their own 32. After an in completion, O’Donnell threw the pass that Brown intercepted, setting up the clinching touchdown. The Cowboys dominated the first half, scoring on their first three possessions. But they led only 13-7 at halftime when O’Donnell, shaky for most of the first two periods, hit Yancey Thigpen from 6 yards out with 13 seconds left before intermission. It was the 10th time in the last 12 games the Steelers had scored in the last two minutes of the first half. AP Photo Dallas Cowboys Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith celebrate in Tempe, AZ on Christmas Day during a win over the Cardinals. The pair celebrated again Sunday in the Super Bowl. "Are you having a good time, Jerry? We did it our way, baby! We did it! We did it! We did it!" — Barry Switzer Cowboys Head Coach Cowboys prove winning comes from the heart “Ws ten you lose a football game in Dallas, it’s like the end of the world.” Thus were the words of Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman last week heading into Sim day’s Super Bowl. Expectations in Dallas, he said, are so high that no one expects any less than a world championship. Well, the Cowboys gift-wrapped and delivered Championship No. 5 to their fans on Sunday, disappoint ing the upstart Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in a game that was far more competitive than fans and oddsmak- ers expected. But as the masses of Cowboy fans from around the globe celebrat ed and felt the ecstasy of victory once again, one can’t help but recall the situation just a few weeks ago. It’s hard to forget the moaning and grumbling that could be heard loud and clearly from coast to coast by many of the same fans when their beloved Cowboys were struggling. They weren’t cheering and say ing, T told you so.’ They were whining and bellyaching about losses to the also-ran Washington Redskins and a lackluster effort against the Elvis Grbac-led San Francisco 49ers. Head coach Barry Switzer was criticized and berated for his now infamous 4th-and-l decision that paved the way to another Cowboy loss against Philadelphia. Every Cowboy defeat was way over ana lyzed as experts broke down games to single plays in an attempt to ex plain what went wrong. Dallas fans and all the people from around the country that jump on the bandwagon during the cham pionship years and proclaim the Cowboys as America’s Team were keeping a pessimistic front. But, I think deep, down inside they still realized no one could light a candle to their team. I won’t question most Cowboy fans’ loyalty because it’s true that they will support and defend their ‘Boys to the death. But, it seemed like at times this season that fans were getting a little bored with win ning all the time. When Dallas lost an occasional game, people were sounding alarms and questioning "Only in Dallas can a team go 12-4 and have the best record in the NFC and the fans still not be satisfied with the regular season." the Cowboys’ mettle. Let’s face it. Only in Dallas can a team go 12-4 and have the best record in the NFC and the fans still not be satisfied with the regu lar season. To a longtime fan that’s suf fered years of mental anguish and heartache supporting the communist Bud Adams’'Houston Oilers, the Cowboys’ regular sea son speed bumps were blown way out of proportion. Come on, people. Like there was ever any doubt the Cowboys would win the whole enchilada once again. Real problems consist of going 1-15 in a season like the Cowboys did in 1989. Although Cowboy fans may have been sweating out the final outcome of Sunday’s game, the cream rose to the top in the end. Larry Brown be came the unlikeliest of heroes f or the Cowboys with two clutch intercep tions that twice saved the game for Dallas and earned him the game’s Most Valuable Player honors. Quarterback Troy Aikman fin ished the game 15-of-23 for 209 yards while running back Emmitt Smith had just 49 yards on 18 car ries, but his two touchdowns ran his career total to five, a Super Bowl record. For those regular season doubters, the Cowboys are now the second Texas professional sports team to show that winners are made in the post-season. In 1995, the NBA’s Houston Rockets were so mediocre in the regular season, they could only muster a no. 6 seed head ing into the playoffs. Fans and experts said there was no way the Rockets could defend the title they claimed the year before. However, just like it did for the Cowboys Sunday, the Rockets’ talent, heart and desire to be the best propelled them on a thrilling run to a repeat title. Like the Rockets, the Cow boys were focused and unstop pable in joining the 49ers as the only two teams to win five Vince Lombardi trophies. So for all the needless regu lar season worrying and whin ing about the Dallas Cowboys, you could almost dub the sea son ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’ Fear not loyal Cowboy fans, it’s not the end of the world. Your team is back on top...again.