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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1983)
* Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, December 5.1983 Traditions to blame for loss of UT game Unfortunately, this year’s loss to the University of Texas was nothing new. Texas A&M has lost 63 of the 90 games they have played against UT. By now Aggies ought to be used to losing to, or being outscored by if you prefer, the Longhorns. By now Aggie fans should be through Two traditions down, one to go. The entire football season revolves around a single game, heck the fall semester revolves around a single foot ball game, heck an entire University re volves a single football game. Bonfire, that mass of burning lumber, involves countless hours of man-time (ex cuse me, person-time), sweat and skir mishes with University officials. And I love it as much as the next Ag. It sure beats what UT and OU fans do in the streets of Dallas the night before their big game. But I disagree with the meaning of bonfire. It has the sole purpose of symbo lizing “our burning desire to beat tu.” Why? How about our burning desire to have a winning season? Or a burning de sire to have a true “world class univer sity. with their moping and pouting and talk of suicide. So that a week later, it should be safe to attempt to analyze the game, honestly. But wait, you may not like the analysis. Especially if you are a hardcore, red neck, ever livin’, ever lovin’, Rock the Good Ag, Aggie fan. And if you are, I wish you would stop leading right here and now. If you don’t, it may be hazardous to my health. This column is about to strike at the very of heart of Aggieland — its tradi tions. And not just any traditions. The traditions — The Twerlth Man, its kick off team and bonfire in all its blazing glory, so to speak. Those traditions cost A&M the ball game, no matter how you look at it. At least no matter how I look at it. If you’re the kind who likes to point to a specific play, it was Jackie’s brainchild, the Twelfth Man kickoff team who blew it. They had managed to pin the ’Horns deep in their own territory only to lift Texas out of the only hole they would be in the entire second half. Head coach Jackie Sherrill: “The big gest play of the game came when we tack led them (UT) at the 9 and then got called for piling on.” Now to the next tradition, The Twelfth Man itself. Let’s let the Longhorns explain it themselves. UT head football coach Fred Akers: “A&M had a lot of momentum to start, I was thrilled when we got the field a little quieter.” UT Linebacker Jeff Lieding: “I think that last score of ours (at the end of the half) really took the breath out of them. The Twelfth Man stopped doing the only thing it is capable of to help the team, make noise and sustain momentum. What would happen if A&M went 1-10 with a win against UT? Ags would consid er the season a success. “Yeah Fred, the Rice Owls killed us, but did you see what we did to Texas?” What would happen if we went 10-1? “Yeah Fred, we lost to Texas, but we’re going to the Cotton Bowl.” Therein lies the problem. A long time ago somebody here came up with the idea that we could minimize the effects of having a losing season. If we could win just one game then we could live with ourselves. It’s a cop out. But now even that scheme has worked against us, we can’t handle the pressure. The new problem which makes the situation worse has something to do with the old cliche “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” The bigger the expectations,(hopes, dreams, whatever) the harder they fall. The football team lives with the hype and propaganda of the Texas game all year long. Every time they hear the Aggie War Hymm they are commanded to “saw var sity’s horns off.” Every time they drive by the south end of campus they see “the stack.” And every week they hear about UT moving higher and higher in the rank ings. The pressure must be enough to make grown men weep. Or football players fold in the third quarter. The A&M-UT game is a balloon. And we inflate it bigger and bigger with bon fire activites. Stretching the balloon until it seems it can’t hold any more. Then the game begins. And an early 13-0 Aggie lead pumps that balloon up even tighter until — POP. With two quick touchdowns before the half, Texas has burst our bubble pnce again. Why don’t we move bonfire to the be ginning of the football season or the start of conference games. Let’s get excited about a whole football season and not act like the first ten games are simply a war mup to the Thanksgiving Day game. Socialist ban of plate-smashiij leads to questions about the H wanted Id set up ■rking loi Bing to m Columbia s| ler the Bi by Dick West United Press International WASHINGTON — Like many another E roduct of the free enterprise system, I have mg been vaguely discomforted by socialism, without exactly knowing why. Now, at last, I may have found the reason for my unease. Reports from Athens tell us the socialist government of Greece has moved to ban plate-smashing in nightclubs. The socialists are said to regard this time- honored form of critical acclaim as wasteful. And they may be right. But if, after a particu larly enjoyable floor show, a patron of the arts can’t show his appreciation by breaking a bit of pottery, what’s the point of going out in the first place? One might as well stay home and watch the late show on television. Although in socialist countries, smashing television screens prob ably is frowned upon, too. A good nightclub act in Greece, I under stand, can inspire as many as 4,000 or 5,000 broken plates in a single evening. In the Un ited States, that would be the equivalent of a standing ovation. With Dolly Parton on stage, the audience might even shatter a few cups and saucers. “If people feel like spending their money on breaking plates, why should the govern ment want to stop them?” one Greek night club owner was quoted as carping. Why ? indeed! Gertainly that type of ap plause seems more genuine than clapping, stomping and whistling, which don’t cost any thing. Imagine a demand for an encore being transmitted by the sound of ceramic shatter ing. If that doesn’t bring a few curtain calls, nothing will. Be advised, however, the plate-smashing in Greece apparently is not the same as dropping silverware on the floor, as some of my dinner guests are wont to do. Nor should this manner of expression be used to express displeasure over the food being served in the plates. I f restaurant customers got into the habit of hurling tasteless entrees across the table, it might result in some improvement in the cuisine. However, punching out the waiter or cook will get your point across quite nicely, thank you. Plate-smashing and socialism being incom- patable, a political scientist is entitled to won der where that system of government might strike next. Should Greek leaders be unable to break the crockery-breaking tradition, will they then decree that all restaurant only Tupperware? ■re a. in the coue® ■ Bill Hob of the local And what of the custom of throwin|l sollie mem! into the fireplace after drinkingato£l r:insm i ss i, Ibwen Garr Plastic glasses undoubtedly woulds»« II I H)tt w better chance of surviving thatsortofrcP 1 ' 111 ’ But wouldn’t sipping champagne friB‘1 think t breakable goblets detract from the spHji area the occasion? K eventu “He’s been Purely from a governmental stand®actual socialism perhaps has something top mend it. But when any regimebeginsto cafe society of its color, and other® some of the fun out of life, it may bet bring back the lories. Letter: Volleyball over-played by Recorded voices can be whenever they put their persuasive minds to it by Art Buchwald One of my last columns dealt with subliminal voices. This one deals with liminal ones. We are now entering the age of recorded messages. I didn’t realize how pervasive it was until I had to fly to Atlanta the other day. After I deplaned, I took a long walk and then a long escalator ride into the bowels of the earth, and waited for a two-car train to take me sev eral stops to another long escalator which would bring me back up to the crust to claim my baggage. Slouch by Jim Earle “Want a money-saving hint? Wait’ll after Christmas; they’re much cheaper then.” The train pulled in and a voice said. “This is the B Station. Please enter and go to the rear of the train.” This was a reasonable request, but as I followed the mob trying to board, my carry-on bag got caught and I held the door so I wouldn’t be dragged along the train. The voice said, and I swear I am not making this up, “Someone is holding the door and preventing the rest of you from moving.” “I can’t help it,” I shouted. “My strap is caught.” The voice sounded angrier. “Someone is holding the door. Thr train cannot start.” I finally broke the strap and squeezed on the train. Everyone was staring at me. I tried to smile. “It wasn’t my fault,” I said defensively. A dozen hostile eyes were on my. The voice said, “Please do not stand near the door as we approach Station A.” “I’m not standing near the door,” I shouted at the loudspeaker. “Does any one see me standing near the door?” The other passengers looked away in disgust. By the time I got to Station A I was in a cold sweat trying to figure out how to get off the train by not standing near the door. I made it to the platform just as the doors closed behind me. Then I went to rent a car. It was a new sedan and when I started it up a voice came out of the dashboard and said, “Your safety belt is not fastened.” I could have sworn it was the same voice who bawled me out on the train. I quickly fastened the safety belt. The voice repe ated itself, “Your safety belt is not fas tened.” I undid it and fastened it again. The voice repeated, “Your safety belt is not fastened.” After being told two more times I cal led over the rental attendant. “This car keeps telling me my safety belt isn’t fas tened.” “Don’t pay any attention to it,” he said. “It’s been telling our customers that for three days.” I drove to my hotel. By the time I got there I was smashing my fist against the dashboard. I checked into one of those huge glass greenhouses with the elevators on the outside of the building. As soon as I got in the voic^said, “There is no smoking on the elevator. Press the button just once. This elevator does not go to the roof gar den. If you wish to go to the roof garden take the elevators on the other side of the lobby.” “I don’t want to go to the roof garden, and I’m not smoking,” I yelled. A couple took one look at me and got off. I finally got to my room and locked the door. The first thing I did was search it for loudspeakers. If they were there they were carefully hidden. Then I called down for room service. A recorded voice answered, “All lines for room service are busy now. Please hold on until someone is available to take your order.” I slammed the phone down. Then I turned on the TV set. It was the same voice. “In case of fire follow these instructions carefully.” I turned off the set. There was nothing left but to go to sleep. I left a wakeup call for 7 a.m. “Thank you,” I said. “What’s the weather like outside?” The voice said, “It is 7 a.m.” “Look, is it cold or raining or snowing or what?” Editor: Now that the 1983 women’s varsity volleyball season is over, there are some comments I would like to make about this season. The publicity that the 1983 team re ceived is very ironic. The volleyball team finished just above 50 percent and re ceived a good amount of publicity that has been lacking in past years. After almost every game this year, a person had no problem in finding out how the team fared. The local radio and television sta tions, the Bryan Eagle and The Battalion had something to say about how they played, its opponent and if it won or lost. It seems from the publicity that the team had a chance to tie Texas for first place in the Southwest Conference be fore playing them in its final home game. But Texas was too much for the team and they finished second. Coach Terry Condon said that the fans made the team a little nervous at the be ginning of the match, and that might Batta plore tha Bed up fo |g preregis ite registrar ■ts at least ■before cl; jay, Jan. 16 have affected the way the team Well coach, if the team would havEiujentg’ j 0 100 percent mentally prepareiileek would not have noticed if there wei fans or 2,400. Also the publicity seemed tomail point that second place in the SiC pretty good, but this makes the#! in a row that A&M has finishedstB Also, if a person was to ratethete* the SWC on their ability to play( volleyball on a scale from Itol being the best), Texas, wouldrateistitute will f ximately as a 9, Texas A&M asaljjanuary at" ton as a 6, and the rest of the con: Mi act agr playing volleyball that might get lx !0V(r l he co the Texas 5A high school state(l!) 1 , 0 ^ ^ pionship volleyball team. Thiste®^^ how competitive the SWC is. » nuarv Last year’s team was more higlil) , i i| as p art " 0 then this year’s team but received)! cation proy amount of publicity than thisyearst ami present They deserved it more. Rudder Ce: ®This is t Charles Pietsch The Battalion USPS 045 360 Memtvr ot Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conferetu < “It is 7 a.m.” “Hello. This is a guest in room 1209. Is anybody there? This is a guest in room 1209. Is anybody there?” The voice said once more, “It is 7 a.m.,” and then there was a click and dead silence. There was nobody there. Editor Hope E. Paasch City Editor Kelley Smith Assistant City Editor Karen Schrimsher Entertainment Editor .... Rebeca Zimmermann Assistant Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra News Editors Brian Boyer, Kathy Breard, Kevin Inda, Tracey Taylor, Chris Thayer, Kathy Wiesepape Photo Editor Eric Evan Lee Staff Writers Robin Black, Brigid Brockman, Bob Caster, Ronnie Crocker, Elaine Engstrom, Kari Fluegel, Tracie Holub, Bonnie Langford, John Lopez, Kay Denise Mallett, Christine Mallon, Michelle Powe, Stephanie Ross, Angel Stokes, Steve Thomas, John Wagner, Karen Wallace, Wanda Winkler Copy Editors Kathleen Hart, Susan Talbot Cartoonists Paul Dirmeyer, Scott McCullar Photographers Michael Davis, John Makely, Dave Scott, Dean Saito, Cindi Tackitt /Vie lion also serves as a fa/wiaion » (l for students in reporting, editing ;tn<lphotojpf ses w ithin the l)epnrtmcnt of Commun/caw* Questions or comments concerning Mi 11 nuitlct should he diteeted to the editor. 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