P M
Page 18/The Battalion/Wednesday, November 23, 1983
f i : :■
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New Kyle Field suites
may be approved soon
by Tracey Taylor
Battalion Staff
In a land where football is king, it’s not
surprising to find the spectators treated as
dukes and duchesses.
And the kingdom of Aggieland is no
different. Kyle Field, A&M’s mulit-million
dollar football complex is one of only six
college stadiums in the nation that offers its
alumni enclosed suites for their viewing
pleasure.
And plans are underway to add 48 more
suites in the near future.
“They’re for the wealthy,’’ Wally Groff,
associate athletic director for finance, said.
“People who give a lot of money to the
University should get something nice in
return. ”
These donors “get” exactly what they pay
for: Plush carpeting, closed-circuit TV and
waiters. The suggested price on the new
suites is somewhere between $125,000 and
$175,000 apiece for a 15-year option.
The proposed plan for the new suites
places two levels of boxes on the north end
of the field. Each box will seat up to 16
people and would be connected to the pre
sent suites by a covered walkway. A parlor
area and a multi-purpose meeting room are
also included in the blueprints.
The plan is currently before the Board of
Regents.
“It’s kind of in a non-status,” Harry
Green, executive director of the Aggie
Club, a fund-raising organization for the
athletic department, said. “The regents ha
ven’t approved it so it’s kind of in limbo. ”
Green said the project was a pretty big
one for the Athletic Department to take on
and everyone wants to handle it carefully.
“It’s a question of weighting between
academics and athletics,” Green said. “You
have to keep things proportionate.”
Board Chairman Bum Bright seems to
feel that the perception people might have
could be a problem and was quoted as
saying A&M didn’t want to appear to be
taking away from academic funds for athle
tics.
The estimated cost for the north-end
structure is $7 million.
But the money to fund this project, like
the money that funded the suites built in
1979, would come from the owners of the
suites themselves — not the state.
“During the building of the third deck,”
Groff said, “I told Emory (Bellard), who was
athletic director at the time, that we had to
take care of our contributors. ”
Thus, the idea, derived from the Astro
dome skyboxes, was born.
The Athletic Department presented it to
the university administration and got the
go-ahead — if the money could be raised
through the Aggie Club.
The state coordinating board also gave
their permission, provided the money was
raised before construction.
The department commissioned an
architect to draw up plans and presented
them to the Aggie Club, along with a re
quest for a list of the top 100 contributors to
Texas A&M.
“We held what I like to call the ‘Aggie
Draft, ” Groff said, “The top 100 contribu
tors were gathered together in a room in the
MSG.”
In order to be eligible to buy a box, a
contributor either had to be there in per
son, send a representative, or be only a
phone call away.
“We put 46 of the 48 boxes on sale and
the number one contributor got the first
choice as to which box he wanted,” Groff
said. “Within 3‘A hours they were all gone. ”
The boxes ranged in cost from $10,000 to
$50,000 depending on the number seated.
That price bought only an 8-year option (up
in 1988) on the box — not the tickets to the
games.
The owners of the boxes must make a
decision at the beginning of each season as
to whether or not they wish to buy season
tickets and thus the box for each of the
home games.
The Athletic Department put only one
condition on the sale — that the owners of
the boxes keep contributing at or above the
same level they had previously maintained.
Cincinnati’s Brown
named to Rice helm
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Battalion Staff
CINCINNATI — Watson
Brown, who led the University of
Cincinnati to a 4-6-1 record in his
only season as head coach,
announced his resignation Tues
day to accept the head coaching
position at Rice University.
UC Athletic Director Mike
McGee announced Brown’s res
ignation at an afternoon press con
ference.
“We re sorry to see Coach
Brown leave,” McGee said in
making the announcement. “He’s
done a fine job here. I’ve been led
to believe that the financial advan
tages offered by Rice are very im
pressive.”
Brown was in only the first year
of a four-year contract with UC
and his first victory at the school
was a memorable one, an upset
14-3 victory over Penn State in the
opener.
The Bearcats were 3-2 on the
year when starting quarterback
Troy Bodine fractured his left arm
in the Florida State game and was
out the rest of the season. From
that point on, UC was 1-4-1.
At the time of his injury,
Bodine ranked eithth in country in
passing efficiency and Cincinnati
was sixth nationally in passing
offense.
McGee said Brown and his
wife, Brenda, visited Rice Sunday
afternoon and Monday and he was
informed of Brown’s decision
Tuesday morning.
0-8 in the Southwest
the past season
announced his resignatioul |
the season after six yean
school.
At 33, Brown was the!
youngest NCAA Divisis
head football coach tit
BALT
(weight
■ cured of
Jyear, sai
Ian exhil:
season. ■ Leona;
A former quarterbach I overed 1
derbilt, he began his c« I retina, s
career as a graduate assists (with am
alma mater under Steve Sis I
1973 and moved to EastCi I Dec. 10
to serve as quarterback a
ceivers coach under Pat I)
1974 and 1975
Brown then served aso! I at that (
coordinator at Jacksonvfe
I The t
(Ala.) before going to Test I Boxing
for one year as quarterhui
receivers coach
It was rumored that Rice
offered Brown a five-year contract
worth $1.2 million. His yearly in
come package at Cincinnati was
estimated at $100,000.
Rice officials had no comment
on the coaching change, but sche
duled a press conference for 10
a.m. Wednesday.
McGee also said Brown had a
buyout provision in his contract,
meaning either Brown or the
Houston, Tex., school will have to
..reimburse UC for the remaining
three unfulfilled years of the con
tract. That reportedly could run
ashigh as $150,000.
Brown will replace Ray Alborn
In 1979, Brown be«|
head coach at Austin
two years directed the Gov-1
to consecutive 7-4 seasons
He returned to VamW
1981 as offensive eoordini;
ceiving a large share of the
for the resurgence shown
at Rice, which was 1-10 overall and Commodore football pi
Met’s rely on ‘saviour
Strawberry ripenin.
He s«
? but won
lit signal
“I’m
pion ret
went su
tina.
John:
the dam
detecte<
Leon;
to the r
conferei
that wil
LS
ma
United Press International
NEW YORK — Darryl Straw
berry, once very green around the
edges, has ripened to the point
where he thinks he can become
the saviour for the seemingly
hopeless New York Mets.
The 21-year-old outfielder,
named the National League’s
Rookie of the Year Tuesday, said
Wednesday his first big league
season has built his confidence to
the point where he feels there is
nothing he can’t accomplish on the
baseball diamond.
“I think I will come out with
more confidence next year,”
Strawberry said. “I had to make
some adjustments last year, and I
look forward to being the team
leader. I feel it’s important for me
to lead the ballclub because the
Mets look at me as their saviour.
It’s hard for me to say what I’m
capable of doing. ”
start in which he batted just . 191
over his first seven weeks in the
majors.
“He really went from Double A
ball to the big leagues, ” said Mets’
general manager Frank Cashen.
“It was a quantum leap with a
short stopover in Tidewater (Tri
ple A). The big question everyone
asks is what would have happened
if he’d played longer at Tidewater?
would he have struggled so much
in the beginning?
“I said then, and I say it now, he
had so much talent that we felt by
the time we got to September he
would be putting the numbers on
the baord that shows the real Dar
ryl Strawberry and we would be
gin to see more of the real Darryl
Strawberry that we re going to see
in the years ahead in September
than we were going to see in May
or June.”
water and is enamored wit lan ksgiv
young outfielder’s skills. Hf ov ^
er, he has seen too many|i ‘IV. 011 l!
fail after good first-yearpd . L ’ r a
ances and so is reluctant! P feasor
Strawberry’s praises too lot | I °,' a .
Very tew players Ivt = . ,
have his all-round n1 ^ 1 1
Johnson. “But he’s a roob rl ie . as V*
there’s too much hype aboii| r
I’m going to try and doW b in]
I'm going to poke fun atli f gers ha
protect trim a little bit.
Unite
It’s ver
Defense is one areainwl
Mets feel Strawberry
vast improvement next
Despite being the posses
Overall rec
SEC.
That d
jU’s Bor
[iperviso:
plea fror
rifle arm and outstanding ypKeithe
Strawberry neverthelessf
cautiously in the outf
Strawbery hit 26 homers, drove
in 74 runs and batted . 257 last sea
son, even though he did not play
his first big league game until May
4. Moreover, he accomplished
those numbers despite a terrible
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Strawberry said he never lost
confidence despite his poor start,
thanks in large part to batting
coach Jim Frey, now the manager
of the Chicago Cubs.
“I really had confidence all the
time because Jimmy Frey kept my
confidence up. Even when I
struck out three or four times, he
just told me I had to keep my head
up, that tomorrow was another
day. Like Jimmy says, you have to
go out there and think you’re the
best player on the field. When I’ve
got that in my mind, no one can
stop me. I have a chance to go out
there and do something great ev
ery day.”
Dave Johnson, the Mets’ new
manager, had Strawberry at Tide-
“He was the best outf/
Double A two years ago,”
Gorman, the Mets’ vice
dent, player personnel,
dropped a ball early in tlie
and was tentative out
that. With more experientf
start to show the kindofo'lni offere
he can play. He can be sfftached f
one.” Kelp attra
r of St
led to t
1984 sease
The bo<
com mei
ind Whar
H’s futu
Even tl
id win Ec
e act.
Edwan
One thing Strawbetf
guaranteed for next seas® 1 |
nice fat raise in salary. He ! F
the major league miniit-f
$40,000 last season andlM
jump into triple figures*
Ark
for
“We certainly do not me/)
cheap with Mr. Strawberv
Cashen. “We ll pay him ^
have to pay him.”
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