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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1979)
the sports ;' e1 , 1 ei >ginetr ■° auction ^ ^ 0r Coiu tation, 3,O°0fo rsi (K) main-. ' ci Pients of elected t v viewpoint By Mark Patterson ‘Woo’ has returned but time’s almost up >r seriicj rse , There’s a strict rule one has to fol- T ‘ lll( * 0 «’ow when sitting in the press box at a 1° exas %)tball game. No cheering is al- eum en ?»tiHed on the working press level at Reived time. wards atMthen No. 33 for Texas A&M ran u t * le Sociek n t 0 the field last Saturday, early in ' he first quarter against Houston, I 'hng were(5 most broke that rule. I wanted to Jhon andt{t am l U p an{ J join the other 59,000 society andMpl e a t Kyle Field in welcoming • n g profess;;c eor ge Woodard back to football at e P r esiden|lexas A&M. I couldn’t. I just smiled, iter of SP[| It wasn’t his first appearence of the lent in ISflgar at fullback for the Aggies, hav- fector of Mg carried the ball six times against im Beseii^lor in the second game of the sea- now servtijm. But this was his first game in Oil CompBnt of the home folks, in his was also Mjdium. it was his chance to show 11 engineer^ non-believers that he had made xas A&M:he trip back. ^ On his second carry in the Hous- fn game, Woodard broke up the Mdle into the open field and ram- lled 18 yards before Cougar safety .Elvis Bradley tackled him by cutting lUGIlr s ^ e 8 s out f rom under him. Woodard bounced up, tender leg in tact, and went back to the huddle. The non-believers had their proof; “Woo” was back. But it was a long wait for the fans and a longer road back for Woodard. Since Woodard broke his leg in the summer of 1978 he had been away from football. During the span of in activity he ballooned to 303 pounds. In his three years under Emory Bellard, Woodard’s weight steadily increased. As a freshman he weighed 240 pounds. After his junior year he weighed 280 pounds. During his junior year, Washing ton Bedskins’ head coach Jack Par dee told Woodard that if professional football was in his plans, he would have to slim down to 240 pounds. “Woo” didn’t and then broke his leg on in a summer softball game. Before Woodard returned, Texas A&M coach Tom Wilson gave George an ultimatum; either get his weight down to 250 or forget about playing football at Texas A&M. Woodard accepted the challenge and, living on a diet of boiled shrimp and diet soda, shed his pounds. When he reported for practice at the end of the summer he had met Wil son’s challenge; he weighed an un recognizable 248. He was given his old No. 33. But expected problems set in. After the long period of inactivity, Woodard’s knee swelled and became sore after each practice. On Monday he would be fine but by Friday he would be too sore too run. Last week Woodard made it through a week of practice sessions without pain. Wilson felt Woodard was ready, both physically and men tally, to play against Houston. “There’s no one who’s more tick led to see him back than I am,” Wil son said Wednesday. “It’s been amazing to see how far he’s come back since his injury. “Against Houston last week, it was obvious that he isn’t what he was before his injury. His timing and quickness isn’t what it used to be. But it’s been a long time since he’s been in a football game and he’s a little rusty.” It remains to be seen if Woodard can capture the attention and com mand the respect he drew in his first three seasons as an Aggie. His chances to prove himself are num bered. In 12 rushing attempts this season he’s gained 43 yards. Five games remain in his college career. “Right now, there are people that are more deserving to play the posi tion,” Wilson said. “David Hill (a sophomore) has performed well for us this season. And we re very ex cited about Ronnie James. He’s only a freshman and he hasn’t gotten in a game at fullback for us. “That’s the problem that we’re fac ing. We have a lot of people to play the position and we haven’t been able to give everyone enough play ing time.” During his college career Woodard has gained 2,907 yards, second on A&M’s all-time rushing list. But the clock is running. The big fullback is running out of time. “There’s a place in my heart for someone who’s done what George has done, to sacrifice like he’s sac rificed,” Wilson said. “But half of our season is over. We re going to have to start seeing some results and start making some decisions.” Woodard made the decision to play college football after his injury. He made the sacrifice. Now it’s up to him to prove the decision he made was the right one and all the pain was worth it. 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It was a storybook finish for the Pirates as Stargell, the team’s elder statesman and leader, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Series after hitting three home runs in the Series and knocking in and scoring the winning run in the final game. Jim Bibby got the win for the Pirates and Kent Tekulve got the save. Hiniiiiiiiiniimiii COU PONiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiib 1 JUMBO 1 1 BURGER, 1 FRIES & > MED. COKE £ “O O 1 with coupon = Offer expires Sat., Oct. 20 ^ IhmimimmiiimiCOUPONiiiiiiiiiiiiimimM CALL IN YOUR ORDER 846-7466 University Drive at Welborn Overpass M.-Th. 10 to 10 f.-S. 10 to 11 Sun. 11 to 11 MSC Crafts and Arts Presents A Pumpkin Carving Contest October 31, 1979 1st Prize - $25 Gift Certificate at T.J.’s Sign up in the Student Programs Office, Room 216- MSC. Deadline to enter is October 30th. 50c Entrance Fee Pumpkins will be auctioned at end of contest. The original “Are You a Teasip?” poster — On Sale Friday & Saturday • at Rudder Fountain • in the Quad • in Sbisa Dining Hall also available from these local merchants: Lou pot’s Bookstore Rother’s Bookstore Texas Aggie Bookstore or in Room 216, Reed McDonald Bldg.