Page 14 THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1978
Miheska strives to he best
Russell Mikeska
By KURT ABRAHAM
With a fine season behind him
and a starting berth virtually as
sured, tight end Russell Mikeska
has his sights set on accomplishing
the goal he has had his entire foot
ball career at Texas A&M.
“I set goals in everything I do,”
said Mikeska. “For the past two
years I have strived to be the best
blocking tight end that I can be.”
For Russell that should not be
impossible. During his freshman
year the 6-3, 220-pound Temple
product saw little action playing be
hind the likes of Richard Osborne,
David Greeno and Gary Haack.
Then came a red-shirt year in 1975.
The next season Mikeska came back
strongly as the back-up to Haack.
Last fall as a junior he became the
starting tight end. Now, he hopes.
not only will his personal fortune
prosper, but so will the team s.
“We seem to be able to com
municate and agree on things as a
team a lot more now than in the
past,” Mikeska said. He sees indi
vidual team members helping each
other and listening to each other.
He said he feels comfortable in his
role as a senior leader.
“As a senior, 1 feel a strong com
mitment to help the younger
players and provide leadership. Any
great team has people who step for
ward and bring everyone together.
This year there are people doing
just that and it makes this a tightly
knit team.”
Mikeska said he is confident that
the Aggie offense is ready to go.
And, even with the I-formation
being used to supplement the pow-
erful wishbone, he said “basically,
my job is about the same. The only
change 1 personally make is to ad-
Ali can still do commercials
says unsympathetic Spinks
United Press International
NEW ORLEANS — Heavy
weight champion Leon Spinks, who
says he is an even-money shot to
retain his World Boxing Association
title against deposed champ Mu
hammad Ali, Monday said he
wouldn’t feel sorry for Ali if he beat
him a second time.
“1 don’t think it would be the end
of (Ali’s) career because he could
still do commercials,” Spinks said
following a one-hour workout in
which he did not spar, preferring in
stead to jump rope and hit the heavy
and speed bags.
“It won’t be the end of his
career,” Spinks said. “You know, it’s
come to the point where money
seems to keep a lot of me in the
ring, especially Ali."
Spinks said gamblers have made
him a 10-2 underdog against Ali, but
he said the odds woidd reflect a dif
ferent line if he were setting them.
“Fifty-fifty,” Spinks said. “The
people who do the voting are against
me. The odds are 10-2 in Ali’s favor.
And it was 10-1 at first, so they got
one point more confidence in me.
Ali, who skipped his Labor Day
workout to tour a battleship docked
in the Mississippi River, called
Spinks’ prediction accurate.
“He’s right,” Ali said. “It might
be even more than that. I’ll win but
it’ll be rough. It won’t be easy.
Spinks received an inauspicious
welcome Saturday when several
hundred fans roundly booed him
after he cut his sparring to just three
rounds, the only boxing he has done
since arriving in the city for the
Sept. 15 bout. But the 25-year-old
from St. Louis said the criticism
hasn’t affected him.
"As far as the fans, they don’t
understand what’s going on," Spinks
said. “They ain’t got to do the sparr
ing, they ain’t got to do the fighting.
So they’re going to boo naturally be
cause they paid to get in here. At an
average fight they would have had
to pay more.
"About the end of this week I ll be
at my peak. I’m adjusting myself to
the heat and working on the bag,
then I ll start my sparring. I’m get
ting slowly adjusted to the humid
ity. I’m breathing better. ”
Spinks, who admits he has had
trouble matching Ali’s electric aphal
among fight fans, said "all I got to do
is keep doing what I do best — fight
ing. "
Spinks said since he won the title
in an upset from Ali has whirlwind
reign has made him smarter,
smarter.
“I’m just a little wiser as far as my
business and the heavyweight title,
Spinks said. "But I’m going to live
life as an average human being. As
far as being the heavyweight champ,
1 have the opportunity to help a lot
of young kids to try to make it them
selves without trying to cut and steal
and shoot each other up.
“(Ali) is still my idol. It ain’t
changed as far as him as a person.”
just my release against the various
defenses used against the
I-formation. ”
The big tight end feels “very com
fortable ’ with quarterback Mike
Mosley throwing the football. “I like
the way we are able to communicate
after a play,” Mikeska said. “If Mike
makes a good throw, or I make a
good catch, we tell each other. It
makes for a good relationship on the
field. ”
Mikeska has had to adjust some
what to the different spin that
Mosley puts on the ball versus the
spin and speed that southpaw David
Walker used last year.
"Mike does a good job adjusting
the spin and speed to suit the indi
vidual pass,” the senior tight end
said. "On short ones, he’ll throw a
much softer ball to catch.”
Mikeska sees the SWC race as a
fight among Texas A&M, Arkansas
and Texas but still doesn’t see any
"softies on the schedule. “I started
preparing for Arkansas way back in
January watching them beat Okla
homa on TV.”
When he’s not facing off against
big defensive linemen, Mikeska
likes to be out on the golf course. "I
love golf, he said. “That’s how I
relax and release my tension.”
Mikeska, a business management
major, plans to interview soon with
several corporations. "I guess I’ll
just leave the future up to fate, he
said.”
But, for the present, the brown
eyed blonde has all his thoughts on
the Kansas Jayhawks. That’s where
the the action starts Saturday after
noon as the Aggies meet the
Jayhawks in their season opener.
You can be sure, Russell Mikeska
will be ready.
Horns halted
United Press International
AUS'IIN — Bolts of lightning
caused Texas coach Fred Akers to
close down the Longhorns’ practice
session early Monday, but he said
progress was made anyway.
No rain fell, but lightning began
to crackle after a little more than an
hour of a routine practice session.
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Taking a break
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