oey keeps getting better
MARK PATTERSON
, Battalion Staff
Starting at guard, six-foot-five-
I 1 inch junior from Tulsa, Okla., Joey
.Ifflobinson.”
This has become a familiar sound
leard before every A&M basketball
. In his third year at A&M,
ison has established himself as
a mainstay on the Aggie basektball
team. And he feels confident of his
position.
“I feel as if I’m one of the leaders
,, on this team,” said Robinson about
jhis role as a team member. “In prac-
16 011 ice I try to set an example for the
pther players on the team, espe-
j'. 1 " sially the younger guys. And when
,’■someone makes a mistake, I try to
back them up and help them correct
the problem.”
After becoming a high school
all-American at Tulsa’s Memorial
High School, Robinson was highly
recruited by colleges across the
country, including seven of the nine
Southwest Conference Schools.
“Kansas, Kansas St. and Min
nesota were just a few of the schools
that wanted me to come and play for
them,’’ said Robinson. “And every
body in the conference except Texas
and Houston offered me a schol
arship. But I chose A&M because of
the people down here.
But it was a hard choice for me.
My high school coach, Terry West,
really pushed me toward Tulsa Uni
versity. But I later found out why.
“It was rumored that if he could
5et me to go to Tulsa, he would be
offered an assistant coaching posi
tion there.
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“But I didn’t want to stay at home
11 left Tulsa and chose A&M. And
he didn’t get the job.”
But coach Shelby Metcalf was put
into an uneasy position with recruit
ing Robinson. Metcalf went to
school with Robinson’s mother so he
sent his two assistants, Norman
Reuther and Bob Gobin, up to Tulsa
to scout Robinson.
“I guess the coach (Metcalf) didn’t
want his personal views to get in the
way of his recruiting me,” said
Robinson. “But I guess Gobin and
Reuther liked what they saw.”
And as the season progresses
they’re seeing a more productive
Robinson. After putting in 14 points
against Tech, Robinson added a sea
son high 23 points against Texas.
His scoring success is due to the ad
justments he’s made as the season
has progressed.
“I’ve become more confident with
my shooting the last few games,”
said Robinson. “At the first of the
year I was passing the ball off in
stead of taking my shots. But now, if
I’m open, I’ll put the ball up.
“Even if I don’t shoot I’ve begun
driving to the basket more. That
way, when the defense collapses on
me, I can pass the ball off inside and
create new situations on offense.”
The Aggie offense has sputtered
on a few occasions this season but
Robinson feels the team is now on
track.
“Earlier we were forcing a lot of
our shots. We felt as if each one of
us had to shoot if the team was to
score. Due to that, we had a lot of
individual play. We weren’t playing
as a unit until now.
“Coach Metcalf has found a start
ing five that he can put his confi
dence into. The pressure that we
felt as the beginning of the season to
prove ourselves is off of us. Now we
can relax and play our game.”
Some athletes have nusual super
stitions that they follow to insure
good fortune and Robinson is no ex
ception. Not only does he carry a
silver dollar in his wallet at all times,
he carries a superstition with him
into each basketball game.
“Ever since high school I’ve al
ways had to be the last man out of
the locker room onto the court, both
at the beginning of the game and
after the halftime. And I have been
without fail. It’s just something I
have to do to feel confident.”
Robinson, a junior two year let-
terman, hopes to continue his bas
ketball career beyond college ball.
“Even if I don’t get drafted by a
team, I think I owe it to myself to
try out for a professional team. I’ve
been playing basketball since the
second grade and I think I ought to
try to keep on playing.
“I’d really like to play for Phoenix
if I had my choice, but I’d play any
where a team would have me.”
THE BATTALION Page 7
MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 1978
yn tra en m y y'*w*wwH*y'*H*kr*w*wvw*v*w*v*v* ww;
PACK’S PLASTER AND CERAMICS
One of the largest selections of plaster in Texas.
Art supplies, ornamental concrete and candles.
Tues., Wed., Thurs. 2 p.m.-9 p.m.
Saturday 10a.m.-5p.m.
Sunday 2 p.m.-5 p.m.
FM 2223, Old Wheelock Road (off Tabor Road)
823-3965
Private Pilot Ground School
Offered by the TAMU Flying Club
Starts: Jan. 30
Meets: Monday and Wednes
day 7-9 p.m.
Cost: $35 includes books
and materials
Where: Civil Engineering Build
ing Room 121
For additional information call
Steve Mark
693-6725 Qr 845-2282
Battalion Classified Call 845-2611
Don’t Toy Around With Your Car —
Bring It To The Experts!
Watch for our weekly auto service special.
THIS WEEK’S SPECIAL
Balance
Lube & Oil
4 Wheels
Change
&
with filter
Rotate Tires
$Q95
$Q95
Special Good thru Sat., Feb. 4
University Tire & Service Center
509 University Dr. 846-5613
(Next to Wyatt's Sporting Goods)
n 1111111J1111111 n Y1T111111 III I T ri'rp^
Tupfnamba
m
FREE
oz
(Monday, Jan. 30 Only)
Coke
K4
Order any 16” pizza
(except cheese) and receive
a FREE Quart of Coca-Cola.
846-7785
Quart of Coke with
| any 16” pizza (except
cheese)
| Name
! Address
Phone
Monday, Jan. 30 Only
iiiii.iiziTiiiiiiiiiiiiMtrniiiirTT
M
M
M
H
The Search of an Engineer
On July 5, 1951,1 was born
into a small, middle-class Ital
ian family in South Orange,
New Jersey. I was the oldest of
the children with two brothers
and a sister and naturally 1 was
called upon to lead the exem
plary life of the eldest son. My
dad was a fireman and. my
grandfather was a contractor
and altogether there were
twenty grandchildren in our
family—quite an army.
1 was really a nobody in
liigli school—very introverted
Iriding the shame of zero social
esteem under hours of study.
My parents had given me one
goal then to get good grades.
So, 1 was able to graduate Co
lumbia High in the top 10% of
my class. The South Orange
Businessmen's Association, the
Village Club, and the Columbia
Home and School Association
awarded me scholarships;
which, for the first time in my
life, boosted my self-confi
dence.
1 enjoyed math and sciences
so I decided to go to Newark
College of Bngineering in Sept,
of '69. “At last.” 1 thought
“I’ll discover what life is all a-
bout.” “These are the best
years of your life” all my rela
tives told me as they longed for
their pasts. Being hungry for
friends 1 pledged Sigma Pi fra
ternity and inherited 80
“brothers”. I quickly learned
to suspend my anxieties witli
marijuana and drown my lone
liness in mugs of beer.
1 won second prize in tire
school art contest for an ab
stract woodburning which only
portrayed my inward confu
sion. I found some comfort
and acceptance as a disc-jockey
for WNCE and prided myself in
the underground music 1
played. I ran bus rides, dances,
ski trips, and trips to the Baha
mas; and my social esteem was
growing stronger every day—
but 1 was still the same empty
person. I launched a successful
campaign for Student Senate
President my junior year and
discovered, much to my disillu
sionment, that I was the first
president who didn’t embezzle
student money. I showed no
partiality toward any of the
student groups and the school
newspaper showed no partiali
ty toward me.
During that year, Dick Gre
gory spoke something on our
campus that shook me up. He
said “School can teach you
how to earn a living, but it
can’t teach you how to LIVE!”
1 was outraged. THEY NEVER
TAUGHT ME HOW TO LIVE!
What should 1 do? How should
1 live? Sure, school and work
kept me sufficiently numb to
my real need—how to really
live. 1 went bananas. I went to
heads of various departments,
to the students demanding
courses on how to live—courses
on marriage relations, speed
reading, and ail kinds of things.
I was angry to discover that af
ter four years of education no
one could teach me how to
'live. I began to see all the plas
tic relationships, all the masks
people hid behind, and all the
hardened shells they defended
themselves with. Even the true
measure of my own condition
always surfaced when I was a-
lone. 1 was alone!
By mid-semester of my jun
ior year 1 had ten job offers
and, not knowing what 1 want
ed to do for the rest of my life,
1 accepted a position with
Borg-Warner in the York Air
Conditioning Division as a sales
engineer. Still clutching at the
future, 1 had only one goal—to
bank 550,000 by age thirty.
Witlrin two years 1 was a pros
pering territory sales manager
in sunny Florida. 1 purchased a
pearly white XKE Jaquar and
just delighted in stepping out
of it in front of people.
1 purchased a duplex in
Tampa, Florida where 1 lived
virtually rent free on a acre
lot in a ritzy area looking to
some future date when I might
build a nice home and retire. I
also bought $900.00 worth of
stereo equipment and for kicks
I would spend 5100 on records
during a weekend just to see
how many of them 1 could
play! I haunted bars looking
for real people—real friends—
only to find myself disgusted
with the phoney flattery peo
ple used in hopes of gratifying
themselves.
I dabbled in Buddhism at
the suggestion of a friend and
read an interesting book by
Suzuki Roshi. I found the goals
of this religion very admirable
but the effort required on my
part was beyond my strength.
How could 1 purge myself from
all my selfish desires? I didn't
even want to. The right body
position was too painful, and
to maintain the proper state of
mind and attitude was too
tiring.
1 joined the Rosicrucian
mystic society and spent hours
. alternately staring at lighted
handles in my bedroom and
reading “ancient secrets’’ only
jo find myself being plunged
iinto deeper degradation. One
night .I stayed up Until 1 ;00
; o'clock so that 1 could pray
at the same time as thousands
of others. (At least they had
me believing in God again.) i
prayed to receive the spirit of
Jesus. Nothing happened—that
night.
That week, however, plenty
happened to me. One of my
customers gave me a Bible af
ter two hours of speaking to
me concerning Jesus. I couldn’t
believe that someone would
give me a 55 item for free. The
next day my neighbor’s child
sat in my lap and began singing
a song. He had a speech imped
iment so 1 didn’t understand
what he was singing. His sister
told me—he was singing “I’m
in the Lord's army”. 1 was
shocked! 1 couldn’t help think
ing, “Little kid, what are you
doing in my lap singing this
song this week”?
1 flew home to see the
President of my College retire
at the Founders’ Day banquet.
I arrived at the Founders' Day
banquet not knowing what to
expect next. President Hazel
was School President when I
was student president and we
had a lot of good times togeth
er. He had poured himself out,
for the school, starting as a
student, then as a professor,
then as a department head and
ultimately as President of the
College. He had taken the
school from being a rink-dink
technical school to being a na
tionally respected college of
engineering. I shuddered as the
teachers retiring that night
were hustled off amid mock
ingly happy claps, after each
received a silver bowl as his on
ly reward for years of labor!
And what of my friend the
President-the one whom 1
loved and cared for? Surely he
deserved more than the others.
He received an oil painting of
himself and a golden bowl. He
wept. As he wept, my insides
wrenched. Was this what the
world had to offer him after he
poured out his whole life? —
an empty bowl? EMPTY!
1 saw my past. 1 flashed for
ward to my future. Emptiness!
On November 11, 1975, 1
was visiting a Christian friend.
She showed me that Christ was
a real person whom I could re
ceive into me. He had poured
out His life to set me free. The
room was charged with His pre
sence. I wanted to believe, but
what would my friends think. 1
wanted to be born again—have
a new start—but what would 1
have to give up? I decided to
jump in. 1 prayed “Lord, for
give me for my past. Lord
Jesus come into me.” He Hood
ed me with joy and with peace.
Tears came to my eyes as He
spoke to me of how He loved
me and died for me. My eyes
were opened! Everything was
new! The grass, the trees, the
birds—all the creation testified
of God’s glory! That night I
cleared out all my past and rea
lized all my future in the very
present, living Person of Jesus
Christ!
In the two years that have
followed, this Person Jesus has
become my very Person. He
has filled all my loneliness, all
my emptiness, all my anxiety,
and all my search for happiness
with Himself. This very God is
living in me. All my goals are
fully realized in Christ who is
my Life. My Jaguar got rusty.
My political victories were for
gotten. My records got old.
The beer and the grass got bor
ing! But tliis living Person Jesus
Christ has never ceased to satis
fy me because 1 was made, like
every man, incomplete—until
He made me whole. Now God
is living in me, teaching me
how to live.
Thomas C. Mercadante
Paid for by Christian students
on campus. (846-9708)
vrxiwnnn — KOSS ... KENWOOD — SANSUI