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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1949)
' 1 r 4 : «|T I 'ak d- ClyiUIaM Hard Lue y Qg^ Again Aggie John Injuries, But Fig By Kokfir Coalett j j The great John L. Sullivan waa j. a massive man, full of fight, and spirit. Here at A&M we have another John L. He may not be as mas sive, but he is full of fight and . -spirit. He is just .as respected in his own way and by his, own men as was John L. Sullivan by the multitudes in the early nineties. Both of these men, are athletes, but our John L. does not clinch his long fingers in boxing gloves as did Sullivtm—instead he uses them to snare impossible passes and pull down evasive backs from his safety position on the gridiron. The John L. I refer to is John L. Christensen, Aggie halfback and safety man| His story is a story of fight, spirit and determin ation. It is also a story of heart break and hard luck. / . , ;\ . '■ I Hard Luck Constantly Hard luck seems to sit on Chris tensen's shoulder. John L., a sen ior industrial education major from Galveston, hasn’t (had all his heart break on the gridiron. He lost his only brother in the Texas City disaster back in 1947. John L. attended Kirwin High School in Galveston, the seaport where his father, who Is secretary for the Moore Lumber Compamy, his mother, and three sisters ref side. While at Kirwih he lettered in football, basketball and track. Seven letters and‘the captaincy of the football and basketball teams -graced his schoolboy record, j' What the record may not show , are the injuries he received in, his ( sdphomore and senior years. The Jasrt two games of his high school career he was forced-, to wafch ' from the bench because of a tqrit ligament. , ,: i > John L. Become* Ag The fall of 1946 found Christenr sen on the campus of Texas AAM, but without, a, football scholarship. riruilipk „ Because of the wartime shortages {ibuston, of uniforms he was dropped from etinter fi the freshman squad drier only one week of practice. J r Hls spirit was dampened but not broken.-* 11 Spring of 1948 found A&M with a new coach and Johjn L. with un iform. For a week and a half all was smooth sailing. | Then hard luck Jumped down from John t.’a shoulder And stuck his foot in John’s mouth—jarririg out three teeth. Christensen was ou6 for the rest of spring practice. The first three weeks of-the ’48 season found John ij. on the “B” team. It was h§re that his hard work p&id off, and his- ability came to light. Coach Stiteler up-, ped him to the main squad and played him ip the TCU game on) defense. , I *3 Jinx Shows lip Yes, d.ohn had won a regular number.: Hard luck seemed to I* —4__- • 1 ottei» Speak at Quarter!, MSI' ‘ aflfr gk ii Saif III m i L|.Chrtetei Longhorns Open ? Cage Workoul Auutin, Odt. 18, OPHWith 1 of .tte World Series still j in air aid football season less th|an half jjone, Coach Jack Ofay opi e^l basketball 1 prorkout at the Uhi- versity of Texfts yesterday. Tom Hamilton, 3-year letter mian from Dallas, is( the only! returning starter from |ase year's fourth- place i team. Hamilton, a G’3” fpr- wardi was thb fifth biggest scofer in iSodthwest; Conferenct plaiji l|i«t yikv (with 151 points. v . f phjy twi| !l bl|her 1< 11 Frank Womaikiji’lO^’’ l|buston,’and Wilson T ciintei* from A^tin, are returji. i -|[ u -< Pat!t Babb, i;former al Amatillo High School, man of PaeiKienn. and Gk of | Houston Aik' the squadmen. I [: j ji.. : || Texas will gel; added height froni two transfer,; Bill Mgyee, 8’8”, fromNotre Dame, and ifed* Price, 6’7", |from Kentucky. I fPromising | aopShomords include Jde ftd Falk, all-s|tater fborn MUjiy of Houston j Luther Scai^—'—^ ~ e -stater at Bill Huff- orge Cobb returning ite Back tave gotten off his shoulder. Hard uck may have gotten off but the inx took its place. John L.’a mm )«r was, “13” and he wore it iroudly if unsuspectingly as he darted against Baylor. In the second quarter of that gam! Jbhn L. ran afoul of Mr. Jinx And whs carried off the field Withj two cracked vertebrae. Need less tb say he was out for the rest of tie season. i Now this might have been enough to discourage the average pnan from the game of football; but not | John L. Christensen. He ame Tight back in spring prac tice and wore jersey number “22” without mishap. At last it seemed that his shoulders were free from Mr. Jinx and* Mr. Hard Luck. ( I Dame Fortum- Smiles J' Fortune really began to smile on jJohn L. as he was chosen vice .president of the Senior Class, was made Ci O. of ”B” Troop in the : Cavalry, was named to the Senior Court, and was elected to the Stu dent Senate. Fortune continued to smile when in thb season opener (A&M-Vil- lanova) Christensen performed well on defense. The Texas Tech game found John L. starting at defensive safety. He played the whole defensive game that Satur day. ; Again the next weekend John L ll was a starter, this time against the mighty Oklahoma 'SoottynJ i \ Things were still looking up for Christensen until the game with L S V- John L. i^as returning a punt In the second quarter when Mr. Jinfl popped up to take a hand in his future once again. The hard luck guy from Galveston suf fered a j knocked-down shoulder— no he wasn’t wearing nurtiber ”13” just twice that, number “26”. It Is expected that Christensen will be but for at least three weeks wlthj this.latest injury. The Ag gies Will sorely miss his services. But John L. Is still fighting. He is ths epitome of the spirit of the Aggie team. Though they are dowhi they are not out, and at any [tlmb they may rise from ob scurity to topple the best. Battalion PORT Sherman. Texas will! Mss the mighty mites, i; SI ater Al Madsen, one of fql guard Comj mi the SouthWebt ter men Vilbry George will also inations! evfcr jorough bf! Klein bf famous hrtin and ost coldr- BY HARO Associated V. ItATLIFF SporlK Kditor Jim CaMhinn, senior quarterback from College Station, engineered the Aggies to their only touchdown against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs In Fort Worth Saturday. With Fashion calling the signals, the Cadets moved from their owh 20 to the Frog goal In 16 plays. Glenn Llppman carried It over for the six ' points from the two. j; | : | ^ ' What Makes the T Tick TFbrifiation Is Crehtion Of Shaughnessy, Ha las, Jones Conf< ^Vhite be RADIOS - • ■ I ^ i j 'I • ! j GUARANTEED REPAIRS — - . T TTl ! ’ . — HALICRAFTERS lb STOCK fence. Let- \hd Philip BY JIM BECKER (Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of three articles on the formation and its variations, the split T, and the winged T.)i - NeW York, Oct. 18 </P)—More than, 75 per cent of the college and pro football teams use the T for mation as the b£»sis of their of fense. Many iof these teams have added variations to the Basic T. Two of CLARK SHAUGHNESSY the most widely used of these var- igtijons Are the “Split T” and the “Winged T.” ! ■ I Ydur enjoyment of football games, broadcasts and roports will be Increased if you understand the rudimen^ of the winged, split and plain T. This series will attempt to explain them. The modern T formation is the creation of Clark Shaughnes- sy, famed coach; George Halas, owner and mentor of the Chica go Bears, and Ralph Jones, coa^h of obscure Lake Forest College. Actually, it is only an improvement on the formation uXed around the turn of the cen tury. In those days, three line men were posted on either side of the center, a quarterbablF i right behind the center and other three backs in a row about five yards back of the line. It was almost impossible to run to the outside from this setup, however, so coaches began experi menting with flankers. That is, they posted one of the backs out side the end so he could block and dear the way for a play around end. This led to the single and double wing formations, the invjert-f tions of Glenn (Pop) Warner. Four men were stationed to one side of the center, two on the other, iii whai is known as an, unbalanced line, creating a “strong” and a “weak” side. The T formation came l| ac k when the three coaches devised the man in motion and perfected the counter-attack or reverse. The line was balanced again and the backs resumed their original align* ment. • Coaches who teach the T main tain that the man in motion—one. back, leaves his position and runs Diagrammed here is a basic line plunge from the man-in-motion T. Left halfback runs out to right side before ball is snapped to spread defense. Quarterback takes ball, spins, hands to right half who drives through hole ov er tackle, then quarter drifts hack and fakes to fullback who run* off end. On succeeding plays, quarter can fake to half and give to full bark, or pitch out to man in motion. A for the M Big Game... : !l : CORSAGES J b for the Dances ORDER NOW out to the side before the ball is snapped—is more valuably that his predecessor, the flanker, because he can do m ore things.; He can charge down the field to catch pass es, ejan take a flat passj, or can block the opposing end in on an end (run. .j Because of this, the defense must send at least one man to CoVer him as he runs, which splits defense and makes running the middle that much easier, a also creates a strong side whith helps on power plays. But because he runs out just before ball is snapped, the defense have no fixed line up against this power. The man in motion also serriM as u decoy on counter plays to the weak aide, i Deception is the best weapon of (See "T", Page 4)) Best of All Time !£ i ' \ROLD } ted Frees Dallas, Oct. 18 (AP)—The grade of football hr the Southwest Conference is pret ty high this season. It may be the best of all time when you look at the ehtire field. Outside of Texas A&M, the circuit can hold its own with any football in the country except perhaps Notre Dame—and who can hold its own with that outfit? )• ! T Anyway, there’s a reason for so much strength over the league. Check the rosters and you’ll find 30 or 40 players | who have been on varsity squads four years. It was brought about by the war, when freshmen were allowed to play on the varsity. . •' Rice, for instance, has seven fel lows who are seeking their fourth varsity, letters. Texas has six who have been on the varsity four seasons. So has Southern Metho dist. Baylor and Texas Christian havi five each and so on. Checking through the conference we find these men will be after their fourth varsity letters this year: Texas A&M—Wray Whit taker: Arkansas—John Lunnqy, Alvin Duke and Leon Campbel); Texas Christian—Lindy Berry, George Boal, Morris Bailey, Char-, lie Jackson and MoreUe Hicks; Baylor—Clark Heironimus, Rupert W’right, Jerry Mangum, Dudley) Parker, Frank McKinney; South ern Methodist—Doak Walker, D|ck; McKissack, Frank Payne, Fifed! Goodwin, Bobby Folsom and Ra leigh Blakely; Rice—Tobin Rqte,! Joe Watson, Gerald Weatherly, Jack Price, Ralph Murphy, James) WUliaiiis and Bill Taylor. ★ The j| question of : equal com )e-j tition in Texas schoolboy footlall has befcn discussed for years. Ti me wa|< that all the schools were ih the same class and you’d find a) school like Waco playing one l|kd Gringer. Of course, [the big school always won. Thus -came about tthe various divisions of the Intel-scholastic (See 8WC PLAY, Page 4) S WCCage Practice Opens By The Asswiated ; Press I if { ' I i' » Basketball edged into the picture in the Southwest Con ference yesterday but didn’t receive much more than a cur sory glance. The start of the season is a month hnd a half awal." practice begins today at' all the seven schools. Bajylor comes up with the top prospects as usual with six senior lettermen although minus a star it had been expecting—James Owehs, who passed upi his final seasjn to play professional bas ketball. j • Lettermen returning are Bill De- Witt), Odell Preston, Bill Brack, Bill Hickman, Don Heatbington and Gerqld Cobb, jj • ] I Texas A&M also has six letter- men but only one is a real vete ran. He is Bill Turnbow who’s been at it three seasons. Other letter- irien are Wally Moon] Jewell Mc Dowell, John DeWitt, Jack Miller and j Sydon HrachoVy. Arkansas, Southern Methodist and Rice each comes up with five lettermen. A^ Arkansas they are Bob Alm- bler, Pim Cathcart, Bob Williams, Norpian Price and Gerald Huds* pdthL „ Southern Methodist has Harold Salmon, three-letter guard; George Owens, Charley Lutz, Percy Penn and Jack Brown as the veteran nu cleus. I '.; Rice lists WarrenjSwitzler.M 06 McDermott, Charlie Tighe and'Jim Gerhard, lettermen of last season, and Tommy Hudgens, who letter ed In 1947.'~ Texas has only three lettermen —Toto Hamilton, Frank Womack and. Wilson Taylor—with only HamUton u starter. ' Texas Christian has two—Gene Schmidt and Rruce Craig. ) game that night. Along with the featured La Motte, will be the at prizes ip last week’s Qua! Club contest and an outatapdi football movie for the audience | to view. i j La Motte, who was promoted [to his position this fall, has b^enj a member of The Post ne^s [staff since 1941. At the time of his ptb- fit will! fivinf Day ie of last Satun- ittown but dub to motion,he was assistant city edithr.) ^ available. The proa langed because jrday’e game La Motte was sports editor iof The Dqily Texan in 1939-40: shd was a member of the sports and news staff of the Austin Tribune fbr more than a year before going to Houston. / i Pr. HAVE YOU GOT A NICKEL? ) ! L ' ' Fi} :: ' ' - Fine .. i that will buy two sheets of sandpaper. After you have; used that on old painted wood- atrip, then for only $1.85 you can buy 1 quart of Dulamel to refinish! : | ■' ■ 1 ’ | Phone 2-1318 Clyde I-a Motte, sports edit of The Houston Post, will) spriU at the Quarterback Club row Ing tomorrow! night at 7i8p. fThe bq that) game lat Texas. ’ ’ :NormkM> the pidturejs A&M-T^lf game dqy would be sf schedule! changes, in htjVing those. pictures; (irecessed, they will notf ssing sch-j ’ie movies ivere Uk^n tin^e is re in full qtiired The Texas rOw nis _ kr’s.A&M* ne to be shown tomor- are in full Color. 1 sons who werji the win- pt week’s c(intest will 1 their prizes tomorrow rs bf awarle night J ,1 ' i|i [ L- ' Winnejrs are required to be pre sent at tomorrow nighf a mieeting ; in ordei |to be Eligible for their pH*e. If a!ny of the winders areipb- spnt prizes will be awarded' to the persons who turned in the next ses. ■ : i I The Winners! dek’s winners ate: J. Otte, Box 5368, Col- tiion; C.j R. Pannill,' Box 1 ege Stktioh; Warren 0- ' Box ! 2727, College Sta- | This i I Mrs, . lyge St 1;152, C Albrechti, tion; Mr College Apt. C- Grady lege Stai 4358, Cdl Adkins, 1 V. S. Vijn Heddfr, Bokj 2686, Col ege $t4M on ; James i lox H6h, College Sta Iorace J pass, History Oollegf. ( The JjueRsinjg eontek again tl)(is wuelt wit! tioi's again offering ill <fM LAMOTTK, xP or F. K- Allison, Box 286T," tionj; Curtis Hayes, Jr., j A, College View; Mrs. 1ms, 218 Lubbock, Col on; Dorothy Keeling, Box • ege Station; William (I. no addrcKB given); Mrs,j H- Carrell, ion; and J. Dept. A&M, r gods ^>n the spon- rreo prizes ’eg 4> r (Jet That Winter Uniform Reudy I 1 £ (si'• if' j . ; I i n: CAMPUS:CLEANERS EXPERT WORKMANSHIP | \ TlilUjU. FAJ{ ST RESUttS Exchange ^tore 1M is a ivatvr hoy. Dors thirst things f rst. Gets (mil ichrn lynch hollers. Has his at n morfiy hnt sportg+s off the team, jins sfHriaf cheers ? for his handsome "janhattati" SportshirU ■ [j y rimhaW Tailored-to, In fl wide Sportshirt. the most of ths range • of colors.