Disappointments and Joys of 1942 Aggie Sports Year; Rogers Outstanding
★ ★
By Mike Haikin
Battalion Sports Editor
The final strains of the 1942
year are slowly but surely coming
to a close and Aggies looking back
on one of the most hectic years
in the annals of sports can both
feel proud and heartbroken on the
accomplishments of the four major
A&M athletic teams — football,
baseball, basketball and track.
Endured Disappointments, Joy
Starting with a dismal Cotton
Bowl performance in which they
were trounced to the tune of 29-21
by Alabama to the final day of the
football season, December 5, 1942,
in which they ended the year with
a thrilling 21-0 victory over Rose
Bowl-bound Washington State, the
Texas Aggies have enjoyed every
thing from a dire disappointment to
the supreme heights of achieve
ment.
Probably outstanding of all of
the Aggie athletic teams of 1942
was the 1942 baseball squad which
won the Southwest Conference
championship for the first time in
five years. With the ever-popular
Lil Dimmitt at the helm, the dia-
mondeers suffered only two losses
in a 15-game conference schedule,
ending the season in a blaze of
glory by trouncing the hitherto in
vincible Texas Longhorns in a two-
game series right in the Steers’
back yard.
Most Thrilling Athletic Event
Their victory over Bibb Faulk’s
colorful Texas nine climaxed a
great baseball year for the Ags
and brought them a crown for the
first time since 1937. That last
game with the Longhorns rates as
the most thrilling athletic event of
the season. The Aggies won the
game, 5-4, and no one will ever
forget the dramatic eighth and
ninth innings in which John Scog-
gin, one of the athletic greats of
the year, took part.
There were two men on base,
one down and Pitcher Smokey Car
den was getting tired. Dimmitt
promptly switched Scoggin from
his catcher’s post to the mound
and what the big diamondeer ac
complished in the next 1 and 2/3
innings will probably go down in
A&M history. The 'first man he
faced lined to Thirdbaseman Les
Peden who made a miraculous
catch and he stepped on the sack
for a double play. The following
inning, Scoggin, who had pitched
one inning during the whole year,
struck out the next three men to
face him to give the Aggies the
championship.
Cagers Score Top Upset
Undoubtedly, the name of John
Scoggin will live in the Aggie Hall
of Fame for a long time. His hit
ting and generalship played an in
strumental part in giving the Ag
gies their fourth baseball crown.
Charlie Stevenson, pitching ace
who made such a remarkable come
back after a dismal season his jun
ior year; Cullen Rogers, leading
home-run hitter; Sam Porter, Les
Peden, Ira Glass, Leo Daniels and
Cecil Ballow were some of the oth
er players contributing greatly to
the championship drive of the Ca
det team.
However, the achievements of
‘he baseball team didn’t take any
thing away from the basketball and
track teams who were responsible
for some of the biggest upsets of
the current year. The cagers, un
der the crafty Marty Karow, found
the going tough throughout most
of the year but, even with the many
Cullen Rogers
defeats suffered by the Cadets, a
few bright moments were garnered
by the Karow men. The biggest up
set of the year in all sports was
the one turned in by the basketeers
January 13 when they jolted a hith
erto unbeaten Rice five to the tune
of 36-34.
Thinly-Clads Contribute
The track team, although not
garnering any conference crowns,
did turn in a couple of splendid
performances when they upset
Rice and Texas, respectively, in
dual meets. The victory over Texas
University by the track team was
the first one in ten years.
Another outstanding Aggie per
formance was the one turned in by
Coach Art Adamson’s swimming
team who trounced the Texas
Longhorns in a dual meet for the
first time in some ten years. How
ever, the Aggie partisans were sort
of disappointed when Texas came
back to the P. L. Downs, Jr., Nata-
Battalion Sports
Tuesday morning, December 29, 1942 Page 3
torium to defeat the Aggies for
the conference crown.
Baylor Defeat Biggest
Disappointment
Probably the biggest disappoint
ment and heartbreak of the year
came when Baylor University de
feated Coach Homer Norton’s Ma
roon and White gridsters, 6-0, in
an early-season upset. The Aggies
were touted to be 1942 conference
champs but the brilliant successes
of 1939-40-41 and primarily the
lack of tackles and a good line-
plunger finally told on the Cadets.
Nine times the powerful Aggies
drove within the Bear 20-yard line
but on each occasion they were
turned back. Baylor received one
big break and capitalized on it for
a score.
The football season, as a whole,
was disappointing to the distant
Aggie follower, but to the real
close gridiron fan, one can class
the 1942 year as not too disap
pointing. After all, the Aggies had
enjoyed supremacy for three con
secutive years and even if they
did lose the bigger part of their
games in 1942, they did give their
foe a terrific battle most of the
way. Biggest margin of defeat in
conference play was six points,
concurred by Baylor and Texas re
spectively.
Ranking almost par with the
thrilling finale of the 1942 base
ball race was the splendid 71-yard
touchdown jaunt turned in by Soph
omore Barney Welch against Tex
as University Thanksgiving Day.
That not only was the firs* time
an Aggie had ever actually crossed
the Longhorn goal line, but it also
proved to be the standout one play
of the football season. Welch’s
three consecutive touchdown passes
in the SMU game also rate quite 1
a mention.
Rogers, No. 1 Athlete
Now that we have covered the
events of the 1942 Aggie sports
year,' it would be a fine idea to
choose the No. 1 Cadet athlete of
the 1942 season. There are three
men, who, in my opinion were the
standouts. They were Cullen Rog
ers, all-conference both in base
ball and football; John Scoggin,
the phenomenal baseball ace; and
Bill Henderson, who tied the rec
ord for the number of athletic let
ters and who also was all-confer
ence in football and basketball.
Surely, all of the three Ag ath
letes accomplished much, but after
(See 1942 SPORTS YEAR, Page 4)
Cagers Have First Successful Xmas Tour
In Years; Team Continues to Work as a Unit
Well, after a layoff of a week
or so, the corner is ready to go
back to this lair and deal the
sports fans out more misery.
Football is all but a forgotten
sport even down at Aggieland with
the round ball game, basketball
to you, taking things over from
the king of American sports.
Incidentally, speaking of basket
ball, it did my heart good to see
Coach Manning Smith’s cagers so
successful in their annual Christ
mas tour. They won three out of
five from fair-to-middling com
petition but the fact that they did
win many makes one feel pretty
good especially since it was the
first time in goodness-knows how
many years that the Ags have
carried such a record following a
holiday excursion.
Of course, in the B. G. (Before
Gas-rationing) Xmases, the Ma
roon and White cagers toured the
East and Middle-West, playing
such teams as Purdue, Ohio State,
etc. Each day found the Cadets
smarting under a defeat but the
experience derived from these tilts
proved to be invaluable.
This Christmas, with transpor-
tational facilities uncertain, Coach
Manning Smith’s basketeers en
gaged a group of service teams in
stead and probably benefited just
as much as they would have tour
ing the East.
It’s not the fact that they won
or lost games that really counted
but it’s the fac* that the team
worked as a unit. That particular
characteristic was very noticeable
in their initial start some three
weeks ago and continued to be a
main factor of the team through
out its recent games. It was heart
warming, indeed, for an ardent
Aggie basketball fan, to see a dif
ferent scoring leader each day
by the Aggies played a game. On
one occasion, Pete Watkins led the
field, on another it was Les Peden
and the following day, Jamie Daw
son. And then Mike Cokinos added
his bit and so forth down the line.
When the conference season does
open, Aggie opponents are going
to find it very hard to concentrate
on one man. Last year, if Bill
Henderson was stopped, the whole
Aggie team was stopped. But no*
so this year. This team is re
mindful of last year’s fine TCU
aggregation which wound up a
good third in the league race. They
boasted of no star with each of
the five men sharing equally in
the team’s accomplishments.
So it is with Coach Smith’s team.
Reserves are still a decided ques
tion mark in the Cadet camp and
unless that kink is worked out the
Smithmen will find it tough sled
ding. Five men cannot play con
tinually through a full game. They
must have rest and capable men
to replace them. That is probably
the outstanding weakness of the
Aggie five and Coach Smith is
sure to work overtime to overcome
that disadvantage.
However, despite everything, and
if the recent Xmas tour is of any
indication, Aggie basketball fans
are in for another thrilling and
spine-tingling year. Losses are
to be expected but no* after the
hardest battle the foe has ex
perienced in many a moon. The
boys have shown plenty of promise
and are slated to give the custom
ers many exciting moments!
Sports Squibs From Here and There; Ed
Dusek Slated to be Called to Army Jan 7
A report from Temple says that
Ed Dusek, promising sophomore
fullback, and Harold Attaway,
sophomore tackle, have both passed
their draft physical examinations
and are scheduled to leave in the
January 7 call .... Also in that
same call is Tom Puckett, former
all-state Temple high school ace
and a prospective football star here
until injuries laid him low . . . .
Loss of Dusek and Attaway marks
the seventh varsity player that has
left school to join a branch of
the armed forces .... Others in
clude Don Luethy, letterman tack
le; Ben Stout, tackle; Johnny Da
vis, who alternated both at guard
and tackle; Fred Page, guard; and
George Wilde, tailback .... More
are expected to leave school but at
present nothing definite is known
. . . . Coach Homer Norton, who
was one of the coaches of the
South team, which triumphed over
the North, 24-0 last Saturday, will
stay over in Dallas until after the
Cotton Bowl game between Texas
University and Georgia Tech . . .
Felix Bucek, who, incidentally,
played a wonderful game for the
South, was seen strutting around
the campus showing off his good-
looking gray jacket he received
for his services.... “You know,”
(See KYLE FIELD, Page 4)
Ags Schedule Tilt With Duncan Saturday
Cagers Enjoy
Successful Xmas
Tour With 3 Wins
The Texas Aggie cagers, some
what gladdened by their impres
sive showing during their Christ
mas tour, have scheduled a return
match with Duncan Field Saturday
night in the DeWare Field House
at 8 o’clock.
Coach Manning Smith’s baske
teers took to the hardwood floor
at the DeWare Field House for
the first time yesterday since de
parting from their basketball wars
following an exceedingly success
ful Xmas trip in which the Maroon
and White shirted cagers account
ed for three wins out of the five
games played. One of the two loss
es was suffered to the powerful
Corpus Christi basketballers which
boasts of such stars as Bob Kin
ney, Billy Dewell and other South
west Conference as well as na
tional greats.
The Aggies spend four of their
five days playing San Antonio ser
vice teams. They opened Friday,
December 18 against Duncan
Field. Sparked by Jamie Dawson
and Les Peden who accounted for
14 points apiece, Manning Smith’s
crew slaughtered the flyers to the
tune of 60-21.
Following this game, the Ags
engaged Randolph Field, a team
they had already beaten here. Af
ter a tough tussle in which the
lead changed back and forth, the
Cadets finaly won out, 45-31. How
ever, their luck changed the fol
lowing day for they were upset
by another edition of a Randolph
Field team, 31-29.
From San Antonio, the Aggies
traveled to Fort Sam Houston to
engage the 93rd Division Infan
try. The Maroon team easily
triumphed.
Swinging from Fort Sam Hous
ton to Corpus Christi, the Cadets
challenged the strong and power
ful cagers of Coach Lt. Jack Gray.
It was no match for the collegiates
as they went down to the Sailors,
62-31. Corpus had defeated Texas
and TCU just before trouncing
the Aggies.
Coach Manning Smith indicated
that much work is ahead for his
charges and that they would do
everything to iron out their major
kinks before the season opens Jan
uary 9. Coach Smith plans to
schedule at least a couple of more
non-conference games before the
season starts.
The Student Co-op
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One Block East of Post Office
Intramural
Playoffs To
Be Resumed
Class A Handball
Bracket Close To
Finish; 8th CHQ Leads
With a lull in the intramural ses
sion due to the Christmas holidays,
play is expected to be in full swing
once again. A number of the sports
are now in the playoff stages and
the champions will be decided soon.
The Class A handball bracket is
found to be the nearest to the fin
ish line. Three quarter-final games
are yet to be played before the
series enters the final rounds. The
8th Corps Headquarters team is in
the semi-final bracket and will
play the winner of a match be
tween H Field Artillery and E
Field Artillery. Other quarter
final matches to be played are B
Coast Artillery vs A Chemical
Warfare and E Engineers vs. C
Infantry.
Class A tennis has not gone as
far as the handball playoffs and
most of the teams are in the
eighth-final round. The matches to
be played in that group are: F
Coast Artillery vs. 3rd Headquar
ters Field Artillery, E Infantry vs.
A Infantry, 1st Headquarters Field
Artillery vs. American Legion, L
Infantry vs. D Engineers, and E
Coast Artillery vs. A Quartermas
ters. A quarter-final match will
find C Infantry meeting G Coast
Williamson Picks Georgia, Tulsa, Georgia
Tech and Hardin-Simmons in Bowls Jan 1
By Paul B. Williamson
After more than a year of war-
torn conditions and civilian ration
ing the football public of America
goes into a holiday week of great
post-season games. All the sched
uled regular classics are back home
again. This is all part of the same
sort of spirit as that displayed by
four score thousands of Britishers
attending one of their big associa
tion football matches almost as
German bombers of destruction
were flying overhead.
So many reams already have
been written this year on Frankie
Sinkwich and Company of the
Georgia Bulldogs, that there is left
little here to add. The Bruins of
the University of California at
Los Angeles, U. C. L. A. or the
Uclans, after a poor early season
start flitted forth like Cinderella
in the fairy tale and finished their
season in an almost fairy-like blaze
of glory. This is the first time U.
C. L. A. has sent a championship
Artillery. C Engineers are in a
quarter-final bracket and will play
the winner of the E Coast Artil-
lery-A Quartermasters match.
The Class B volleyball playoffs
have barely started and at this date
the teams involved in this group
are: B Field Artillery, K Infantry,
B Infantry, I Coast Artillery, I
Field Artillery, D Field Artillery,
E Replacement Center, F Field Ar
tillery, C Replacement Center, 3rd
Headquarters Field Artillery, and
two league champions who have not
been decided as yet.
INTRAMBRALS
By
Mike Mann
Art Adamson in Need
Of Swimmers; Report
To Pool at 5 to 6:45
Art Adamson, Aggie swimming
coach, has announced that the
Cadet swimming squad is in urgent
need of swimmers and divers for
the current season. Many of the
old members have been lost through
graduation, draft, and other rea
sons. Adamson points out the need
of new men on the squad and re
quests that any Aggie interested
in swimming report to him at the
pool between 5 and 6:45 p.m. to
day. If anyone is unable to be
there at that time, Adamson asks
that they contact him at their ear
liest convenience.
After an off-period while the
Corps took a much-needed holiday
for Christmas, Intramural officials
expect to have the sports activity
back in full-swing by this after
noon if the weather permits. A
number of regular games were
played just before the beginning
of the holiday
jiseason but no
i playoff matches
took place.
A Quartemast-
ers moved into
the playoff
rounds of Class
A tennis as they
defeated the In
fantry Band by a
Mik. Mann score of 2-1 in a
league final. The Quartemaser
team will meet E Coast Artillery
in an eighth-final match soon.
Nicky Ponthieux announces that
the drawings for the Class A bas
ketball eliminations will take place
sometime this week and urges all
recreational officers concerned to
be on the lookout for a notice to
that effect.
A number of Class A football
games were played last week. F
Infantry took A Chemical War
fare by a score of 6-0 and the
American Legion eleven beat A
Engineers and B Replacement Cen
ter defeated B Egineenrs by sim
ilar scores. Two other matches saw
I Field Artillery wallop A Engi
neers to the tune of 83-0 and A
Field Artillery outplayed I Coast
Artillery to win 13-0.
A lone Class B football match
between B Field Artillery and L
Infantry found the Artillerymen
winning with a score of 19-0.
Other Class B scores were:
Ping Pong
A CAC 2, E RC 1
F FA 2, E RC 1
D SC 2, Amer Leg 1
H FA 3, B CWS 0.
K Inf 2, 2 CHQ 1
G FA 2, C CWS 1
E Inf 3, E Eng 0
A CWS 3, B RC 0
D FA 3, C SC 0
football team to the Rose Bowl.
It’s a shame to dampen such a
zealous debut and a glamorous
story, but the System goes all out
for Georgia.
In the Sugar Bowl game the
System, however, rides its ratings
and selects Tulsa’s Golden Hurri
canes—with a robust inference that
Probable winnef and oppon
ent:
Georgia, 98.6; U.C.L.A., 90.4.
Tulsa, 97.8; Tennessee, 95.2.
Georgia Tech, 96.5; Texas,
94.6.
Alabama, 95.7; Boston Col
lege, 93.8.
Hardin-Simmons, 91.2; 2nd
Air Force, 89.8.
East, 91.7; West, 88.2.
that superb All-American back,
Glenn Dobbs, and his fellow Hurri
canes will score two touchdowns to
every one achieved by the Tennes
see Volunteers. It hardly seems
possible that the latters’ powerful
gridiron aggregation can fail to
score perhaps several touchdowns.
In fact, on a wet field the Volun
teers may mock at rating figures.
Somewhat the same analysis ap
plies to the Rambling Wrecks of
Georgia Tech and the Longhorns
of Texas at Dallas. Just the same
the System takes Tech by at least
a touchdown.
In the blithesome set-to at Mi
ami, the power team, Alabama’s
Red Elephants, have the advantage
in rating over the fast and doughty
Boston College Eagles. So we pick
the Elephants, with befitting re
gard for our syndicate stablemate,
Bill Cunningham.
In the Sun Bowl the System fa
vors the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys
over the 2nd Air Force service
tea mfrom Camp George Wright
of Spokane, Washington. The
Bombers rated the best service
team west of Iowa in the regular
1942 football season. They are stud
ded with ex-collegiate and profes
sional stars. The Cowboys played
a more experienced schedule and
that should win for them.
W. S. D. Clothiers
has been officially des
ignated as an ARMY
EXCHANGE SERVICE
STORE No. 8864 by the
War Department Serv
ices of Supply and an
authorized retailer o f
Regulation Army Offi
cers’ Uniforms to be sold
at maximum prices es
tablished by the Army
Exchange Service.
We have just received a complete stock
of these Army Officers’ Uniforms and
equipment and cordially invite you to
visit our Uniform Departments and let
us show you this new line of uniform
supplies.
CLOCKl£*tS
College and Bryan
WELCOME MEN