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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1971)
THE BASEMENT COFFEE HOUSE presents San Antonio’s NANCY & LARRY in the MSC Fri. & Sat. Only 8 - 12 p. m. Admission — 50£ [LeWD’S KNITS ® Beautifully styled and tailored Levi's double knit slacks, never bind, move when and where you do, spring back without a wrinkle. Comfort like this must be worn to be believed. You owe yourself a pair or two of the best — Levi’s knit slacks. TOM’S LEVI’S Pant Shop 800 Villa Maria 823-8213 Page 6 College Station, Texas Wednesday, December 1, 1971 THE BATTAll John Curylo Stallings’ firing mishandled by administration The aftermath of the firing of Gene Stallings makes one won der if it will prove to be worth it to get a new man at the helm. This question arises because whatever good may be gained by the change, so much bad has re sulted that the purpose is de feated. Poor public relations, bad rep utation and much ill will come about by the timing, the state ment and the followup of the ac tion taken by the Board of Di rectors, the Athletic Council and President Jack K. Williams. The lack of tact and taste used by the chopping committee makes Texas A&M look awful. Whether people wanted Stallings fired or not doesn’t matter. The feeling is the same about the way it was done. Gene held his usual meeting with the press after the game, but when the 15 men involved with his dismissal finalized their decision, they wouldn’t talk about it. All they did was send a 90-word statement to the Ra- mada Inn. None of them would answer questions or make a com ment. This brings up the subject of the statement itself. The cold, abrupt declaration gave the hard facts and that was all. The time to praise a man is not when he’s being fired, but the announce ment could have been more gracious. Baylor fired Bill Beall Satur day after the coach’s teams had won three games of the 31 they played in his three years at the Waco university. Yet, in the statement announcing his re lease, Athletic Director Jack Pat terson was most complimentary of Beall. “We in the athletic department feel a debt of gratitude for the work of Coach Bill Beall and his staff,” he said. “He is a very dedicated football coach who knows no limits to personal work and sacrifice. We are proud to have been associated with him and his fine young staff and wish for all of them the very best for the future.” All that A&M officials said was that Stallings was. out of a job Dec. 1. They could have mentioned that the Aggies won the South west Conference championship in 1967, that they had enjoyed hav ing Gene as their coach, that numerous improvements and in novations had been made under his direction, that A&M’s image had been enhanced by his ac tions, that he had produced many fine young men who represented the university well, that they wished him good luck in the fu ture, or any one of many nice things that can be said about the man. But they didn’t. Since 1929, Texas A&M has had eight head football coaches. Seven of them were fired, includ ing the great Homer Norton, whose 1939 Aggies were national champs. The only one of these eight to resign his position was Paul “Bear” Bryant, who left Aggieland for the University of Alabama. Of these eight grid mentors, only two had winning seasons their first year here. In 1929, Madison Bell’s team was 5-4, and in 1951, Raymond George was 5-3-2. Even Bryant failed to set the world on fire in his initial campaign, with his squad going 1-9 in 1954. These facts make one wonder if greener pastures are in A&M’s athletic future. Stallings went out acting like the man he is. All that has been heard from him is praise for the players, love for his alma mater and best wishes for the future. The board, the Athletic Coun cil and the president let him go with harshness and an unwilling ness to even talk about the situ ation. When the minutes of their deliberations become public, we will see that their decision was unanimous. But then, everything they do they make unanimous, whether it was in the first place or not. Speedway to have racing weekend By JOHN CURYLO Battalion Sports Editor Sixty-two drivers from 16 states and two foreign countries have entered the Texas 500 sched uled for Sunday at the Texas World Speedway. Sponsored by the National As sociation for Stock Car Auto Rac ing (NASCAR), the Grand Na tional Super Stock race will be preceded by the Permatex 200 Saturday afternoon and the Ala mo 200 Saturday night. An entire weekend of activities is scheduled at the track, origin ally named the Texas Interna tional Speedway. Practice and qualifying will take place Thurs day and Friday, with night prac tice for the Alamo 200 being Fri day night. Practice and qualifying laps for the Texas 500 will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The First Texas Permatex 200 for NASCAR late- model sportsman drivers begins at 2. Following the completion of 'WHEN YOU CALL ON US FOR MEMBER 846-3773 VISIT OUR NEW OFFICE MSC, BEVERLEY BRALEY UNIVERSITY TRAVEL A&M UNIVERSITY BRYAN Its €k$Jb INI/ tie/ Texas A&M Un/vers/tyl 1971-72 Directory * Student Listings •Student Senate •Civilian Student Council •University Calendar • Faculty-Staff Listings • Board of Directors •Corps of Cadets Commanders • Athletic Schedule •Campus Map AVAILABLE- Student Publications Office Exchange Store MSC Gift Shop University Book Store All Banks $1.50 mm 7: . . . that event, drivers in Sunday’s race will practice again. At 7:30 that night, pre-race cer emonies and entertainment will start. The First Alamo 200 road race for International Motor Sports Association GT and NAS CAR Grand American drivers will begin. Grandstand gates open at 8 Sunday morning, with a concert and other pre-race ceremonies be ginning at 11:30. The start of the second Texas 500 NASCAR Wins ton Cup Grand National Stock Car Race is slated for 1 p.m. Admission for Thursday and Friday’s practices and qualifica tions is $2. For all three races, infield tickets cost $15. After 5 p.m. Saturday, the price is low ered to $10, and Sunday’s charge is $6. The infield can accommodate 25,000 spectators and their ve hicles. Among the celebrities partici pating in pre-race ceremonies are William H. G. France, president of NASCAR, Dan Holloway, Jr., vice president of the speedway, John Bishop, president of IMSA, Robert Andrews, a vice president of the speedway, Dan Holloway, Sr., president of the speedway and Apollo and Gemini astronaut Pete Conrad, Grand Marshal for the Texas 500. The favorite in the race is Richard Petty of Randleman, N.C. The 34-year-old veteran has won over one million dollars in prize money and 139 races in his ca reer. This year alone, he has col lected over $270,000 in prize mon ey. He will be driving a 1971 Ply mouth in Sunday’s race. Grandstand seats are $5 for each of Saturday’s races, while reserved seats Sunday range from $10-25. The 30-row grandstand, 1,600 feet long, provides 26,000 permanent seats. Sunday, children under 12 will be admitted free to the infield if accompanied by adults. Volleyball next The foreign drivers in the race are Les Covey of Paris, Ontario, Canada, and Jackie Oliver of Lon don, England. Covey will be driv ing a 1970 Chevelle, while Oliver is scheduled to be at the wheel of a 1969 Mercury Cyclone. North Carolina ranks as the top home state of Texas 500 drivers. Twenty-two of the entrants are from that state. Ford leads the entries, with 20 cars of that make in the race. There will be 18 Dodges and 10 Chevrolets. in intramural A faculty-staff volleyball tour nament for men will take place next semester, the intramural of fice announced Monday. Any office or organization wishing to field a team should contact the intramural office be fore Jan. 24, 1972. Play begins Jan. 31 and will take place every Monday night in DeWare Field- house at 7, 8 and 9 o’clock. Dec. 20 is the new deadline for entries in volleyball for Class A, B, C and X. T U I V/ E - X W TONITE AT 6:30 P. M. ‘PRIVATE DUTY NURSES” At 8:15 p. m. BOLL HOUSE” Through the ordeal Stall has looked good and the istration bad. It sort of you stop and think. 1:30 STARTS TODAY 3:30 - 5:30 - 7:30 - 9:3|) Just a person who protects children and other living things ■ SB BILLY JACK EMM NOW SHOWING 1 :30 - 3:30 - 5:30 - 7:30 - 9:3(1 O'TOOLE'^' ‘murphy’s WAR PANAVISION* IN COL GO A r>ar.TTX*/lt FYM« ] QUEEN LAST NITE — ADULT ART “PRIVATE DICK” WEST SCREEN AT 6:30 P.M. Dean Martin In ‘SOMETHING BIG” At 8:30 p. m. John Wayne In “RIO LORO” EAST SCREEN AT 6:35 P- Faye Dunaway In “DOE” At 8:25 p. m. 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