' 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 ’
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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.