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|the sports || ;
THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1979
Page 11
lumni, athletes and autos do not mix
ense psjt do you get when you mix
sta ^ talumni, athletes and automobiles?
thamelj Ffouble.
at 8pa; j y ou don’t believe me? Just ask
rmancei .j^] Godine or Jarvis Williams or
will be b ^Dan-ell Shepard.
ae playpC Qr you might try asking Mack
Moore, a defensive tackle who
n n 'gbtl), transferred to Texas A&M from San
urday,tij ^Bcisco City College this spring.
[Forum,; |xhe Fort Worth Star-Telegram has
lemorialS sported that Moore purchased a
andwiij car from Huffines Chevrolet-
eginninti Pontiac-Buick in Commerce using a
cost$2!s loan from the Bank of Dallas,
udentsaii B So where’s the trouble, you ask?
Well for starters, the loan that
lirectorlj Moore received is the type normally
iroductia reserved for preferred commercial
not fory customers.
the plij \ And then there is the fact that
y’s realiD
mittedtln
|uent psvt
viewpoint
By DAVID BOGGAN
Battalion Sports Editor
^ouble-iwader today
Ags, Chiefs split twin bill
ien. Wed
udentsut
Me
backgromi
major. 8i
ilayers an:
ral Arts,
t, hispd
Koto bv
)scai
J.L. Huffines Jr., owner of the car
dealership, and J.L. Huffines Jr.,
chairman of the bank, and J.L. Huf
fines Jr., member of the board of
directors of the Aggie Club, are all
the same J.L. Huffines Jr.
This all adds up to a possible
no-no in the NCAA’s book of dos
and don’ts.
Starting to sense a slight problem
here?
So did the folks at the Texas A&M
athletic department. Monday head
football coach Tom Wilson and
interim athletic director Marvin
Tate prepared a statement that they
have presented to the Southwest
Conference office.
Wilson and Tate have said that
they knew nothing of the loan ar
rangements prior to reading the
story in the newspaper.
“We have submitted our side of
the story to the conference offi
cials,” Wilson said. “Hopefully they
will make an investigation and pos
sibly turn it over to the NCAA for
investigation.”
Tom Turbiville, assistant informa
tion director for the SWC, would
not say that the conference had
planned a special investigation, but
only that “the conference continu
ally investigates its schools.”
OK, how about the NCAA?
I By MARK PATTERSON
Battalion Sports Staff
No matter how hard they try, the
Texas Aggies just can’t sweep a
baseball series this season. The
e held true Monday as the Ag
gies split the first two games of a
four-game series with Oklahoma
ibaugtiK University. The Aggies drop-
"ped the first game, 4-3 in eight in
nings. before winning the nightcap,
5-0.
The first game, scheduled to go
seven innings, was the first extra
inning loss for the Aggies this sea
son, having won their first two ex
tended games this year. Randy
McDonald, in relief, took the loss
■the Aggies. McDonald’s record
is,now 1-3.
Oklahoma City scored in the first
inning on three singles and a walk
the yean ioff starter Alan Buonasera. The
e Mondavi Aggies tied the game in the home
Angeles;( half of the second on a walk to
demoni Simon Glenn, a stolen base and a
inationsd balk by starting pitcher Bill Ray.
sallegel Glenn scored on a drag bunt single
;d shortkl iby Bryan Little, his 15th RBI of the
i. TheOso jMason.
FomM pAl'ter the Chiefs scored a run in
“Klute.l their half of the third, the Aggies
) for “Mil iagain tied the game. Shelton
le hisfintb McMath, who entered the series
lotheris the leading hitter on the A&M club
ingbesta with a .347 average, worked Ray for
i. a walk and stole second. Gary
on as bet ^Bryant advanced McMath to third
laying an i with a single and Glenn singled to
r in “Ci fifrive in McMath.
ner Chrisi tes The Aggies took the lead in the
ardforbdi'fourth after OCU scored a run in the
selfdec l to P of the inning. Little led off for
im Warw the Aggies, hitting a single and ad-
tures sKffrancing to second on a wild pitch,
uawasprifBandy Woodruff advanced Little
Hollywoolf with a single and after Rodney
tandingow 1 Hodde worked a walk, Kyle Hawth-
audience, orne plated two runs with a
1 Sir La! ground-rule double.
• Oscarvvi ^ The Chiefs tied the game on three
hes oftlsl !COnsecu tive singles in the fifth,
eirfellowi Buonasera was lifted for McDonald
cedtom an( l the sophomore from Fort
Worth quelled the Chief uprising.
■kicktti Vhe two clubs remained tied until
the top of the eighth when OCU
a run on a single by Keith
3C [Grant, a wild pitch and an RBI
lEi [single by Don Murphy. McMath
. singled in the bottom of the inning
^WYlforthe Aggies and, after stealing
i Bsecoud, was left on the bag. In the
. / ' * • #
^gtgi
Mike Hurdle slides safe as OCU third baseman Bob
contest, the Aggies left 15 men
stranded.
“We just couldn’t hit with men on
base,” Aggie coach Tom Chandler
said. “You have to leave the dugout
ripping with ducks on the pond. It’s
ridiculous. We just can’t get the big
hit.”
Ray, in going the distance for the
Chiefs, evened his record at 3-3 for
the year. Ray was tagged for four
earned runs on 10 hits while walking
nine.
After a 20-minute break between
games, the Aggies took to the field
to avenge their first-game loss. Be
hind the five-hit pitching of
freshman Steve Davis, A&M de
feated the Chiefs 5-0.
Prior to Monday’s outing, Davis
had pitched 16 innings this season
for the Aggies, posting a 5.06 ERA.
But for the seven innings he pitched
Monday he was untouchable, earn
ing the win and elevating his record
to 3-0 on the year.
“I had my troubles the first few
innings,” Davis said. “My curve ball
orce
it of
KEN
IISC,
DUR
u
,
tckM
United Press International
iOUSTON — Hot-hitting Bill
Russell slammed a solo home run
■ Jerry Reuss, acquired by Los
Angeles just two days ago, allowed
only one hit over four innings of re-
liejMonday night to save the Dod-
2-1 victory over Houston and
'and the Astros their first defeat of
season.
Reuss, obtained from Pittsburgh
•odgers defeat Astros
Sunday in a trade for Rick Rhoden,
entered the game in the sixth and
yielded only one hit and one walk to
j>ost a save in relief of Bob Welch,
1-0. Welch allowed just three hits
but left the game after Houston tied
the score in the fifth inning when
Enos Cabell led off with a bunt
single, moved to third on Art
Howe’s hit-and-run single and
scored on Alan Ashby’s groundout.
wasn't working at all and I had to
throw about 90 percent fastballs.”
Davis was in danger of losing his
shutout only once, in the third when
John Guthrie lead off with a single,
advanced to second on an infield
error and moved to third on a fiel
der’s choice. But Guthrie was left
stranded when John Hansen
grounded out to end the inning.
The Aggies scored in the second
on a single by Mike Hurdle, who
advanced to second on a wild pitch
by OCU pitcher Scott Tiemann, to
third on an infield out and scored on
a ground out by Glenn. The Aggies
added three more runs in the third
on five hits, the big blow a two-run
home run by Hawthorne, his sixth
of the year. Texas A&M added a run
in the fourth on back-to-back dou
bles by Woodruff and Hodde.
In the sixth, Aggie shortstop
Bryan Little led off with a single,
extending his consecutive game hit
ting streak to 11 games. Little col
lected three hits in the first game of
the day.
“I was kind of neryous going up
there in the sixth,” Little said. “I
didn’t think about the streak until
my last time up but the guys in the
dugout were talking about it. I
probably wouldn’t have been think
ing about it but we were five runs
ahead at the time.”
In the two games Monday, Aggie
second baseman Randy Woodruff
collected four hits in eight at-bats.
The offensive outburst elevated his
batting average to .311 on the year,
a level to which he isn’t too accus
tomed.
“I started getting a lot of cheap
hits at the beginning of the year,”
said Woodruff, a career .226 hitter.
“Last week (Assistant) Coach
Sampson worked with me in the
batting cage. He changed the grip
on my right hand. I’m hitting the
ball harder now, hitting more line
drives. And that’s what I have to do
to be effective.”
In his third year on the team.
Woodruff is feeling the effects of this
year’s record on the Aggies. With
the split Monday, A&M’s record
stands at 18-12.
“There’s no sense in losing to
teams like this,” Woodruff said.
“We’re just not putting out 100 per
cent. We re making little mistakes
this year that are costing us games.
“All season we’ve lacked fire. We
need one person to come to the
front, somebody that will get on
somebody’s back when they do
something wrong. We’ve just let
things slide this year, thinking that
we ll get them next game. But we
don’t have too many next games
left.”
The Aggies and Chiefs are
scheduled to play another double-
header today, starting at 1 p.m. at
Olsen Field. Monday, Coach Chan
dler had not decided on the starting
pitchers for today’s games.
“Mark Ross will probably pitch
the first game and (Mark) Thurmond
may pitch the second one,” Chan
dler said. “Thurmond threw 105
pitches Saturday (against TCU) and
he may not be ready to go. Or he
might pitch the first game if we’re in
it and Ross needs some relief. But
after that, who knows who will
pitch.”
GRAND
OPENING
SNOOK OPEN RODEO!
APRIL 13th & 14th
Rough. . . Tough. . . Action
Packed Excitement. Tickets
available at Court’s Western
Wear & Saddlery or at gate.
2 l /2 miles west of Snook on FM 60.
(Intersection FM 60 and FM 3058)
STARLIGHT BALLROOM
2 nights - April 13th & 14th
RED STEAGALL
and the Coleman County Cowboys
BAXJLROOM
The NCAA is not allowed to con
firm or deny an investigation. But
NCAA executive assistant Steve
Morgan wasted no time thumbing
through the rulebook when asked
over the phone Monday to explain
how certain rules would apply in
“hypothetical situations.”
According to Morgan’s paraphras
ing of the rules, it is illegal for a rep-
resentitive of a school to offer a pre-
fered bank loan to a student athlete.
“A representitive of an institu
tion, in NCAA legislation, is anyone
who is involved in the recruiting on
behalf of that institution or anyone
who at one time was involved in re
cruiting,” Morgan said. “A former
president of a booster club is cer
tainly likely to be considered a rep
resentitive.
‘Any special arrangements
provided to student athletes that
another student at Texas A&M
could not receive would be illegal,”
Morgan continued. “Technically,
that amounts to pay, as the term is
used under the NCAA’s amateur
rules.” It has been reported that
other students have received the
same type of loan from the Bank of
Dallas that Moore received.
The athletic department has
taken the proper step by putting to
gether a report and inviting quick
investigation of the matter.
“When a story like this breaks,”
Tate said, “we’re guilty until we
prove ourselves innocent. We are
put in the situation now where we
must prove that we weren’t wrong.”
Moore, although he may be hav
ing second thoughts concerning
where he does his banking, has
taken a smart step. He refuses to
answer his phone.
It seems to me that the persons
who are in the wrong in this matter
are Huffines and Riley Couch III, a
Bank of Dallas vice president and
former Dallas Aggie Club president,
who made the loan to Moore.
It does not matter whether or not
they made the loan in good faith. It
does not matter what is determined
by any investigations.
The fact is — as Wilson or Tate
will tell you — that the Texas A&M
athletic department has once again
been scarred in the eyes of the pub
lic.
Huffines and Couch should have
had the foresight to realize that this
situation could create trouble. They
should have realized that alumni,
athletes and automobiles don’t mix.
SPORTS CLUB