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photo by Dean Saito
A car-top picnic
Picnic tables aren't needed by these and friends for a pre-game picnic
Aggie fans as they gather family — on the car's hood.
Do seconds count?
by Connie Hutterer
Battalion reporter
The average student in the
stands probably didn't notice
that the kickoff at the University
of Houston game was several
seconds late.
And if anyone in the stands
did notice, he probably didn't
think it was important.
But those few seconds were
important to Alan Jones, Texas
A&M's assistant athletic direc
tor for operations. His job is to
coordinate pre-game and half
time activities for Aggie home
games, and for him the 30 mi
nutes before kickoff are filled
with tension.
"It may look smooth from up
in the stands," Jones says, "but
it's not smooth down on the
field when you're sweating
trying to fit it all in."
For Jones, football is a year-
round activity: even in the
spring, he says he is "very aware
it's coming." He starts thinking
about game activities in April,
when he sells advertisements
for the program and when orga
nizations first make requests for
pre-game and halftime appear
ances. So far, he has had no
problem fitting in all the re
quests, he says.
Final planning begins about
two weeks before each game, he
says.
The game against the Univer
sity of Houston was typically
hectic. First came the traditional
Corps of Cadets march-in, then
40 minutes of pre-game practice
for the teams, the invocation,
the national and state anthems,
the Houston Cougar alma ma
ter, a plaque presentation by the
Aggie Club, the teams' run onto
the field, the coin toss, the "Spir
it of Aggieland" and, finally, the
kickoff.
Jones organized all this into a
strict schedule which was given
to the Corps commander, the
coaches, the band directors and
the public address announcer
the week before the game.
Saturday, the schedule be
came action.
It is 12:20 p.m.. The football
team, pre-game tension making
them the quietest group of
young men you will ever see
outside of a final exam, walks
over to the stadium as planned.
The players are motivated by the
welcoming yells of a group of
cadets and by the Aggie band, as
planned.
Meanwhile, danger
threatens: ominous clouds cover
the skies. From the sidelines,
Jones phones Easterwood Air
port for a weather update, then
relays the good news to the
press box and the locker room:
the rain will blow past, tempera
tures will be in the low 80s.
While the players dress, the
Corps marches in, on schedule.
Jones makes sure that the
cameraman doing this year's re
cruiting film gets a good shot of
the Parson's Mounted Cavalry
and the cannon.
But then — SURPRISE'. — the
Houston Cougar marching band
is marching in, too, all the way
around the field. The tractor re
moving the reviewing stand
makes a quick U-turn and cuts
across part of the field to avoid
the musical onslaught. When
the crowd has passed, managers
and trainers continue setting up
equipment, and the team runs
on for their warm-up.
During the warm-up, Jones
hustles around the sidelines,
greeting guests, organizing the
Aggie Club for their plaque pre
sentation, wishing good luck to
stone-faced coaches who prob
ably never hear him or feel his
pat on the back. Jones calls the
coaches' expressions — eyes
dead ahead, stiff smile, clen
ched jaw — "game faces."
Jones, too, is part of the action,
and he feels that same tension.
While the teams practice, a
KAMU camera crew sets up and
Home Sports Entertainment, a
cable network, films a "half
time" interview with a player's
father. Jones is the one who has
arranged the filming. He also is
responsible for the after-game
coaches radio show and the
radio play-by-play.
Jones' assistant, graduate stu
dent Milt Pruitt, will ask players
to appear for after-game inter
views. Pruitt has an advantage
with the players because he is a
resident assistant at Cain Hall,
and his friendship may win over
players reluctant to talk about a
bad game.
The teams are scheduled to
clear the field at 1:40 p.m. to be
gin the 20 minutes of pre-game
activities. Jones has the score-
board dock set for a 30-minute
countdown, so the teams will
have a 10-minute warning that it
is time to vacate the field.
At 1:41, the Aggies leave the
See PREGAME, page 6
Ticket takers
go unnoticed
by Cathy Smith
Battalion reporter
Aggie moms and dads clad in
maroon and white, students
wearing mums and walking
with their dates, children wear
ing miniature Aggie t-shirts,
fans sporting the opposing
team's colors....
All are reveling in the pre
game atmosphere. A road trip to
College Station, a tailgate party,
and a quick check for tickets and
stadium seats before that walk
to the stadium for the big game.
> In the midst of the pre-game
preparation and anticipation
stand 65 workers. They usually
will get no more than a second
glance from the Aggie and visit
ing team fans, but they wait with
a ready smile and a friendly wel
come for all. These are the gate-
men for Kyle Field. These are the
ticket-takers and ticket-tearers,
the greeters and direction-
givers, the "enjoy-the-game"
-ers and the "hope-it-doesn't-
rain" -ers for everyone who en
ters Kyle Field.
"I always tell my gatemen to
be friendly and cordial to the
fans," head gateman James
Fickey says. "This may be a visi
tor's first impression of Texas
A&M."
Fickey sees the gatemen's
main responsibility as getting
the spectators into the game as
quickly and with as little hassle
as possible.
Characterizing himself as a
"rabid football fan with maroon
blood," Fickey has been a gate-
man for 15 years and has been
head gateman for the last five.
As head gateman, he is in
charge of the assistant head
gateman, 11 supervisors and 52
gate workers. Fickey says that
most of .the gatemen work be
cause they enjoy football.
Two hours before the game,
as the fans are picnicking, park
ing and preparing, Fickey briefs
the gatemen on the orders of the
day. He points out the first-aid
stations, makes sure wheelchair
ramps are not blocked arid
shows the workers any unusual
tickets that might be used for the
upcoming game.
The workers take tickets and
check student's l.D. cards. The
supervisors stand at the gates to
smooth problems that may arise
and give explanations to those
who question the ticket-taking
procedure. No one is allowed in
without a ticket and students are
not allowed in without their stu
dent l.D. cards. Few exceptions
will be made, Fickey says.
The gatemen stay at the gates
until five or ten minutes after
kickoff, he says. Then they are
free to watch the game. The gate
supervisors stay at the gates un
til after the third quarter to help
the latecomers and watch for
gatecrashers, he says.
Fickey says that most fans are
cooperative and agreeable. They
won't argue when a gateman
tells them why they can't bring
in an ice chest or why they must
have a student l.D. card to get
in. There are, however, some
people who aren't so agreeable.
He says about 2 percent of the
crowd got up on the wrong side
of the bed.
"For some reason we tore
their ticket wrong," he says.
Fickey says that University of
Houston fans are the noisiest
and most vocal overall. He attri
butes this distinction to Hous
ton's proximity to College Sta
tion, the rivalry between Texas
A&M and University of Hous
ton and the feelings the Aggies
have toward them (as "Cougar
High").
Frank Kocman, a gateman for
32 years, agrees that Houston
fans are the most uncoopera
tive. His reasons for the fan's
attitudes are similar to Fickey's,
but Kocman includes the availa
bility of liquor between here and
Houston as a factor contributing
to the outspokenness of the
Houston fans.
One red-shirted fan at the
See GATEMEN, page 13
Editor's note
These articles were written
after the University of Hous
ton vs. Texas A&M football
game by some enterprising
journalism students. But peo
ple and events in the articles
are a regular part of football
weekends at Texas A&M.
Every home game, gate-
men and ticket takers diligent
ly take up about 50,000 tickets.
Alan Jones coordinates pre
game and halftime activities.
Air traffic controllers help Col
lege Station-bound Aggie fans
land safely at Easterwood Air
port. Emergency medical
technicians ensure the safety
of fans at the stadium.
It's easy to be rude to a tick
et taker who asks for your ID,
or to overlook the people who
help make the game enjoyable
and safe. This week we've
taken time out to recognize
some of these behind-the-
scenes folks at Texas A&M.