Page 12 THE BATTALION
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 12, 1979
| the sports
Disappointed Aggies host Longhorns
From si
■rmer Tex.
By MARK PATTERSON
Battalion Staff
Saturday night’s loss to the Texas
Tech Red Raiders was possibly the
most disappointing defeat of the
season for the Texas Aggies.
Disappointing because the loss
virtually ended this season’s South
west Conference title hopes for the
Aggies. Texas A&M’s conference
record stands at 9-4, good for a
third-place tie with Tech and two
games behind league-leading Texas
with three games remaining.
At the beginning of last week’s ac
tion Coach Shelby Metcalf said that
the Aggies, if they hoped to win the
SWC, had to win two out of their
next three games, against Arkansas,
Texas Tech and Texas, with one of
those victories over the Longhorns
tonight. At best, the Aggies can only
win one of the three, having drop
ped the first two ‘must’’ games.
“As a team, we haven’t been
ready to play these last two ball
games,” Metcalf said after the 67-63
JX'S
NO SUP£NMUM
iS’S
TEXAS IS
THE ONLY TEAK
THAT HAS WO N
E.VERY HOWE GAME
TH/S YEAR /
MAKE
3=3
TIME
Pay Off
Help Supply Critically
Needed Plasma While
You Earn Extra CASH
At:
Plasma Products, Inc
313 College Main in College Station
Relax or Study in Our
Comfortable Beds While You
Donate — Great Atmosphere -
$ 10 00
Per Donation
— Earn Extra —
Call for more information
loss to Tech Saturday night. “We
brought 11 players out here and
only nine were ready to play.
“We just couldn’t get ourselves
ready. If there are one or two
players not ready they distract you.
We have to have everybody going to
win. We have some problems, but
we ll take care of those.”
For the second game in a row the
Aggies came out ice cold in the first
half, connecting on 8-of-26 shots
from the field for a 30.8 percent
shooting mark at the break. The
second stanza was somewhat
brighter with the visitors hitting on
42.1 percent from the field, hitting
16-of-38 shots for a 37.5 percent
mark for the game.
“I have to admire the guys for the
way they came back in the second
half,” Metcalf said of his players
making up the 12-point deficit they
faced at the half. “I was really disap
pointed in our defense in the first
half. But everybody looked good de
fensively in the second half. Rynn
(Wright) and Vernon (Smith) really
worked their rears off.”
As did Steve Sylestine, the junior
two-year letterman who came off
the Aggie bench to hit five-of-six
shots and four-of-four free throws
for 14 points, trailing only Wright’s
22 for the Aggies.
“Tonight was one of those games
where you found out who had it
under their shirts,” Metcalf said.
“I’m really proud of Sly’s play to
night. He came in and played re
laxed, good basketball. We got
another basketball player back to
night.”
Sylestine discounted his perform
ance when approached after the
loss.
“I’m disappointed with the
team,” Sylestine said. “It’s been a
frustrating year.
“This was probably my best game
of the year because I was so relaxed.
I’ve been too nervous, but tonight I
played comfortable. But what good
it is; we lost. I thought we were
ready to play tonight, but appar
ently we weren’t. We were in the
locker room before the game yelling
and seemed to be fired up, but I
guess it was just a front. Apparently
we weren’t ready.”
Rudy Woods was one of the Ag
gies who appeared to be not ready
to play Saturday night. Against the
Red Raiders, Woods was held to six
points and collected five rebounds
in the game. It was the third straight
game that Woods was ineffective on
the boards, collecting only four in
each of the last two games before
the Lubbock trip.
“I’m in a slump and can’t get out
of it,” Woods said after the Tech
loss. “The team was ready to play
tonight and I wasn’t. Tech didn’t
shut me down, I shut myself down.
“This is the worse game I’ve
played. I haven’t been dedicated
enough. I need more work to break
this streak. I have a day in between
now and the Texas game and I’m
going to work, starting tonight.”
Vernon Smith is disturbed about
the Aggies’ play of late as well.
“We didn’t come out ready to
play and I don’t know why,” Smith
said. “Things aren’t going the way
they ve been going, not like earlier
in the year. And something’s got to
happen to snap us out of it.
“We have the best people and it’s
up to those individuals. If want to
win, we ll win.”
The Aggies will try to salvage
some pride when the Longhorns in
vade G. Rollie White Coliseum to
night at 7:30. It will give Texas
A&M a chance to climb to within a
game of the league-leading Long-
Putting
bread in
someone’s
mouth can
be more
rewarding
than all
the bread
in your
pocket.
In VISTA. That’s the beginning of the end of a
lot of the problems in America. And we need you to
help. We don’t care about your age. Where there’s
a problem, there’s a solution. And it could be you,
in your community or someone else’s as a VISTA
volunteer. VISTA is coming alive again. Come alive
with us.
Call VISTA toll free: 800-424-8580. Or write
VISTA, Box A, Washington, m mm MV A
D. C. 20525. W IW I #%
H!
A Public Service of This Newspaper & The Advertising Council
ACTION CAMPAIGN
NEWSPAPER AD NO. ACT-77-815 (2 Col.)
horns and improve their chances for
a third-place finish in the SWC race.
“We’re going to have a lot of pride
riding on that Texas game,” Metcalf
said of tonight’s contest. “The school
record for wins in a season at A&M
is 21, so if we can win our last three
games we’ll finish with 23. We still
have a pretty good shot at finishing
third this year.
“A victory over Texas would give
us some momentum goingi
post-season tournament, \\||
afford another loss. We
throw this (race) intoatieaiiJ|
many as we can before thej
ment.
“We’ll be tired Monday
but when those people start
in G. Rollie we won’t feelth*
We can’t afford to.”
viewpoint
U has b
[all coach a
»rsity soui
jssissippi
a news >
in Starkv
Hon of Be
lunced.
>llard vis
Thursday
[dered the
host vacati
jr fire of I
[llard, wh(
mid-sea
mined he
By MARK PATTERSON
Battalion Staff
| He said
come f
als.
he peoph
very gra
this wee
nents she
Enough of that
big band sound
exai
Basketball fans attending tonight’s game are going tobecha
out of real entertainment during the halftime break. Instead of:
Longhorn Loves (Texas’ answer to the Jollie Rollie Dollies) perfa
ing for those in attendance, the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band
some more songs that all sound the same.
The Loves contacted officials of the University in an attend
dance during the half, but somewhere along the line the offen
refused.
“I haven’t ever heard of the Longhorn Loves,’ Band Directoi
Col. Joe T. Haney said of the offer. “But even if I had, 1 still w
object to them coming here. The halftime is our chance toped#
Perform? I question the expression. During the halftime of
SMU game two weeks ago the band played five songs. Befort
game the band played seven songs, including the War Hymn,
Spirit of Aggieland and The Star Spangled Banner. That s a
songs lor the nigVit and 1 would bave sworn that 1 heard tlie same
two or three times.
What is amazing is that the band is allowed into every basket
game that they decide to attend free plus it has an entire section
seats) reserved for members and their dates in a choice section of
stands. Why?
“It’s been like that ever since I came here in 1973, Haney
soned. “It’s a tradition
Tradition is fine to a point, but when it becomes unrealistic
time to abandon tradition for more sound reasoning. Onesugges
would be to put the band at one end of the court.
The practice of placing the band at end-court is followed by
conference schools. At SMU, the 96-member band sits at one
and plays music throughout a game, good music that thefanseij
And those of you who went to the Baylor game in Waco weretre
I
ard run: To
colt, third,
irst, 7-1 (me
second, 1
first, 6.2
9
PE
7i
to one of the best sounding hands heard all year. There wereonk
musicians composing the group. Why can’t Texas A&M
lead of the other conference schools? „
“I don’t care what the other schools do, Haney exclaimed, 'sMlrv
what we want to do here at A&M. We do what our men want and
continue to do so.
“Texas has 150 members at their games. And 150 migtil
adequate for what they want to do. But at A&M we (the bandit
always done everything in a group. That’s the way it’s alwaysk
done.”
Traditionally, the band’s job at any sporting event has bees
entertain the fans and help the team. Though the Aggie band mi
be successful at one of its functions, it is lacking at the other.
“Back when Col. Adams was hand director (preceding Haney
band was worth one to five points a ball game for us,” Coach Sk
Metcalf remembered. “He just had a knack of knowing when top
when not to, when to speed up the tempo and when to slowitdff
He was an asset.”
Haney holds a different attitude on what the band shoulddodm
a game.
“I was told that we weren’t suppose to play during the game,)
at time-outs, before the game and during the half, ’ Haney said. 1
I don’t want to get into the reasons why we quit playing during
games.
When questioned if the band helps, members of the Aggie b
ball team, who wished not to be identified, were vehementlyag
the band.
“Let us listen to our own music,” one starter said. “Wewanttoj
before a game. That’s why we made our own tape to play in
ups. But when the band comes they start playing their stuff aid'
can’t hear the tape.
“Why don’t they just play the school song? All we need is
support, not their music.”
Every player who voiced an opinion, either pro or con, didaf
on one thing: 252 band members plus their dates are too many
to supply music in a 7,500-seat coliseum.
“The band gets me fired up, but they have way too many peop<
voiced one.
One player seemed to sum up the attitude of the team when 1
spoke his thoughts on the subject.
“We (the basketball team) have been talking about this for al
time,” he said. “The main gripe is that some of our fans who
been following the team four years, hack when we weren’t thisl
aren’t able to see a game anymore. The band takes up an $
section, a lot of seats that fans could be better utilizing.”
Which is the basis for this column. This isn’t a put-down of)
Texas Aggie band. True, there is no finer band on or beside a f
field than ours.
But beside a basketball court the 252-piece Fightin’ Texas
Band is grossly out of place.
r
COME LEARN TO DANCE
SQUARE DANCING!
AGGIE ALLEMANDERS FUN NIGHT
FEB. 12 7-9 P.M. MSC 201
LAST NIGHT!
FOR MORE INFO CALL JULIE DEITCH
845-6373
MELANIE HARRIS 846-9267
JU:
Hug
Of Si
and
boo
St
1.
2.
3.
4.
i