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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1977)
THE BATTALION Pag© 9 TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1977 PAUL ARNETT Red Raiders ready for Ags SPORTS EDITOR he Spirit of Aggieland has been ist that this young basketball sea- f'\ on a spirit. That spirit '/hich has set A&M apart from Jvery other university in the coun- ry has certainly not been sitting on he bleachers of G. Rollie White Joliseum. Billy 9,500 people witnessed the iggies in their first two conference iome games. That figure is em- Wassing to any Aggie who believes V n A&M spirit. It is also heart break- ng to all basketball players who |we given their spirit and soul to nake their team one Aggies can be iroud of. here certainly is pride in Austin Waco among the students who Bend those universities. Texas ilayed before the second largest rhwd of Gregory Gym history vlen A&M came to town. 7,200 icnple cheered wildly as Texas tonned past the Ags 87-73. There sjho doubt that support by the local ■wd helped the Longhorns to that ^ :asy victory. ■his was in sharp contrast to the Bib-like atmosphere of G. Rollie L-Jiite when Texas came to Aggie- 1 fllHd. Texas new head basketball ,Bch, Abe Lemmons, strolled into ’" he coliseum and gazed at all of the jinpty seats. eviiffSo this is the place,” Lemmons B, obviously unimpressed. “Hol- ■ house on the Brazos. ■he real hollar house on the ■zos this year has been in Waco. He Bai lor, basketball team brought 1/yith them 9,000 screaming fans. Al- /(hough the Aggies won the game, it Hs still very impressive to see so ew empty seats. '■he Aggies have seen more unpty seats at home than on the ^ Dtul Even after the Baylor victory. m!v 5,500 people witnessed the | ‘■ i Aggies defeat the Mustangs. 8,500 were in Dallas when SMU defeated Texas by one point. It was said the SMU band played for an hour after this resounding victory. The fightin’ Texas Aggie band hasn’t played a note during the bas ketball games this year. Both Baylor and Texas had a stage band present when A&M played these teams. The atmosphere of school spirit was certainly more prevalent in those colleges, than in the town where spirit was supposedly born. It does not take a 300 piece band to achieve this atmosphere. If the Maroon band could alternate games with the White band, then a balance could he achieved. This way not everyone is required to go to all.of the games, yet every game would still have some members of the band present. The band members are not the only people who should be in atten dance at the games. Anyone who believes in the intangible force of Aggie spirit should also be present in G. Rollie White when the bas ketball team takes to the court. The Aggie team travels to Lub bock tonight where a sellout is ex pected. The Red Raider fans have always made their presence known to the enemy. Every basketball game for the past five years has been sold out. One can count on his hands the number of sellouts in G. Rollie White those same five years. As the years go by, it seems the interest in Aggie basketball is on the decline. Despite the fact of two SWC championships, A&M has had only five sellouts during that two year reign. Because of this pathetic showing, the famous hollar house on the Brazos may need a new name. . . .whimper house on Highway 6. ive fail in school n football squad eel ! bt : By PAUL McGRATH tool I Battalion Staff Writer relffivc Texas A&M football letter- JyjKn flunked out at midterm an- i In need A&M Athletic Director JfnHiory Bellard last week. leijjHrhe five are junior split end Ran- |, e all Teate and four sophomores— Hirterback Keith Baker, fullback Young, defensive end Eugene "afiders and linebacker Roderick n n let'll. -c Although all five will miss spring J Hning, they will have the oppor- inity to hrii ig up th rrade ■rages and hour requirements at Ber schools in order to return to &M next fall. All except Young are expected to |back for the 1977 season. Baker was the backup to starting quarterback David Walker through out most of last season after recover ing from appendicitis. As a reserve he gained 135 yards rushing in 23 carries, scoring once; and was 4-6 passing for 66 yards. Teate alternated with senior Mike Floyd at split end last year. The Henderson Junior College transfer caught 12 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns. Young saw limited action, gaining 38 yards in 13 carries. Sanders started at defensive end after transferring from the Univer sity of Washington. Reed was a re serve middle linebacker and re placed the injured Robert Jackson in the TGU and Texas games. By PAUL ARNETT BATTALION SPORTS EDITOR If Shelby Metcalf is not the best basketball coach in the Southwest Conference(SWC), then they’re no cows in Texas. The Aggie mentor has taken a group of freshman and junior college transfers, and has them play ing like a senior ball club. Most individuals of the news media picked the Aggies to finish no higher than sixth in the SWC chase. Yet behind the splendid coaching of Metcalf the Ags are currently tied for third with the Baylor Bears. Baylor was the starting point for the Ags’ current climb to stardom. After a two game split with the Texas Longhorns, A&M travelled to Waco and became the first team in basket ball history to defeat the Bears at home three years in a row. This feat was accomplished by senior Steve Jones’ “Hail Mary’’ shot with two seconds remaining in the game. The thirty-foot jump shot hit nothing but cord, and the Ags won the contest by a score of 60-59. The Mustangs came to town last Saturday night, but the Aggie bub ble remained unburst. Coach Sonny Allen brought his undefeated Mus tangs to G. Rollie White expecting Baylor is for SMU United Press International The Baylor Bears have had some time off since their last second, one-point loss to Texas A&M last Wednesday, and Baylor coach Car- roll Dawson was delighted to have the rest. “It’s done us good,” said Dawson, who will take his Bears to SMU Tuesday night for the key game in an evening round of Southwest Con ference activity. “We have had some good practice since then. That was a tough loss coming when the Aggies’ Steve Jones hit a 30-foot jump shot at the buzzer, but the guys have come back with a good attitude.” Baylor, SMU, Texas A&M and Houston each have one loss in the conference race and all of them will be fighting to stay close to the league leading Arkansas Razor backs — un defeated in the SWC and only once beaten overall. Arkansas is expected to have an easy time at home Tuesday night against TCU —- winless in five con ference outings. The other league games include Texas 2-3 traveling to Houston and Texas A&M visiting Texas Tech 2-3. The Rice Owls, 0-5 in conference play and a victim of Arkansas last Saturday, has the night off. The Bears have played alternately hot and frigid during the first half of th e season, but seemed to have an easy game before his “tough ones’ began. An easy victory for SMU was soon converted into a tough loss by Texas A&M. Neither team played well, but the Aggies combined a good team effort with a poor Ponie per formance, and won the contest 57-53. “Defense and rebounding won it Wally Swanson for us, ” said Metcalf after the game. “Wally Swanson is one helluva re bounder. “This wasn’t as good a perform ance as at Baylor. We were mistake free at Waco, but you can’t expect to play that way every night.” The Mustang coach also had a few comments about the game. “A&M outplayed us and outhus- tled us.” Allen said. “They had a good pressure defense all night and just had one fine effort which made that defense even more effective. The Mustangs committed 13 turnovers as a result of Aggie pres sure. Combine that with Swanson’s outstanding rebounding and SMU found itself on the short end of the score board. It was the 19th straight game an opponent has lost to the Aggies in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Swanson had 18 rebounds and 15 points in leading the Aggies to their 19th straight home game victory.The Aggies’ leading scorer was Dave Goff, who had 16 points for the evening. The “prince”, as he is called by his teammates, was in strumental in leading the Aggies to a 33-29 halftime lead. Goffs two jump-shots off the fastbreak, led A&M to a lead they never relinguished with five minutes remaining in the game. In a six min ute span the Aggies went from a four point deficit to an eight point advan tage as a result of Goff’s efforts. This effort will be in great demand when the Ags play Texas Tech in Lubbock tonight. The Red Raiders have already dropped three con tests, and cannot afford another loss if they entertain thoughts of a con ference championship. Mike Russel is the Red Raider’s best player. Russel is the man who made the shot which sunk the Ag gies’ hopes in last year’s conference play-offs. Russel is averaging 18 points a game, and must be con tained if the Aggies are to win. If the Aggies fare well in their next three games, then chances are the Aggies are for real. Winning a third SWC championship is hoping too much, yet a high finish in the confer ence race will help when the play offs roll around. Right now the Aggie bubble is in a holding pattern in Lubbock. Don’t burst just yet, Lawerence Welk is on the way. BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT 8:00 p.m. TONIGHT ZACHAR1AS GREENHOUSE club & game paHor HAPPY HOUR 4-7 1201 HWY. 30 (THE BRIARWOOD APTS.) prepared Mustangs things rolling until they ran afoul of Texas A&M last week in Waco. SMU was also undefeated in con ference play until it ran into the Ag gies last Saturday night in College Station. “The thing you wony about with SMU is its shooting capabilities,” said Dawson. “When you play against a team like that you never look forward to it. “Last year up there they were re- aly hot and they ran really well and they bombed us pretty good. But I think our team has improved from the early part of the season and we know we have a chance to contend for the title if we play well. This is a critical week for the Bears in their bid to stay close to the Razorbacks. Not only does Baylor face SMU Tuesday night but the Bears must host the aroused Texas Tech Red Raiders. 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