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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1984)
Sports Wednesday, October 3, 1984/The Battalion/Page 9 Cubs 13, Padres 0 Tigers 8, Royals 1 NL, AL pennant series results Sanders’ pain is just a bad dream Photo by JOHN MAKELY Texas A&M’s Thomas Sanders (45), who recovered from an the Ags’ No. 1 halfback spot for the Texas Tech game. Above, injury that sidelined him for all of ’83, has staked a claim to Sanders slices through a host of Arkansas State defenders. By JEFF GRAUNKE Sports Writer After a year of stormy weather, the sun is finally shining for running back Thomas Sanders. After a long year of injuries and pain, Sanders is finally back in an Aggie uniform. For the fifth year se nior from Giddings, the injuries have taken their toll in the last two years. “First my ankle was sprained real bad the spring after the ’82 season,” Sanders said. “Then I hurt my neck. I had a herniated disk, and it was pinching a nerve that runs down my right arm. It caused damage and at rophy on my right side. I had sur gery in July. “The doctor mid to me give it time to let it heal. I waited a whole year until this past summer, and I started working out again, lifting weights.” As far as the Ags’ were concerned, Sanders wasn’t expected to return. His picture and statistics were even left out of the 1984 football media guide. It wasn’t until two days before the 1984 fall practices started that Sand ers decided he wanted to play. “I went to another doctor two days before two-a-days (practices) started, and he examined me and said I’d be fine,” Sanders said. “He told me he knew other players that had the same type or similar type of injury I had and they were playing. He also told me there was no chance of any permanent injury. That was basically the main thing that changed my mind. It was a big deci sion, and it was a last minute thing.” It appears Sanders made the right decision. After just three games, Sanders is the second leading rusher for the Ags. He’s totaled 110 yards with an average of 4.9 yards per carry, the highest of any A&M running back. Sanders’ progress hasn’t gone un noticed by Head Coach Jackie Sher rill. “Sanders is showing that he’s back and he’s getting into form,” Sherrill said. Sherrill said the Aggies are strug gling offensively because of youth and inexperience. A&M’s Thomas Sanders Experience is what Sanders con tributes most to the team. Sanders has made the transition from former A&M head coach Tom Wilson’s system to Sherrill’s and he has played with some past Aggie football greats. He played in the same backfield with current NFL players Johnny Hector (New York Jets), Gary Ku- biak (Denver Broncos) and Earnest Jackson (San Diego Chargers). “I liked being back there with them (Hector, Kubiak and Jack- son),” Sanders said. “We were real close on and off the field. We helped each other as much as we could. They would help me and I would help them. We were just like a fam ily, I’d say. We had a lot of fun toge ther.” Sanders doesn’t have his heart set on the NFL. “If it happens, sure, but if it doesn’t, it’s not that I don’t have any thing else to do,” he said. It’s taken Sanders time to get ad justed to working with the younger A&M rushers. “The backs I’m working with now, I don’t really know them as well as I did the other guys that I played with,” Sanders said. “This is the first time I’ve been on the field with them. I’ve seen them around, but I’ve never really spent a whole lot of time with them as far as practicing.” Sanders is confident the team will carry on without quarterback Kevin Murray, who is lost for the year with a broken ankle. “I’m sure it’s (the loss of Murray) going to have some ef fect on some people, but hopefully everybody will be able to pull together and realize what we have to do, regardless whether he got hurt or not. It hap pens all the time, anybody can get hurt,” Sanders said. Craig Stump will fill Murray’s shoes in the Texas Tech game Satur day, and Sanders said the Ags know he’s capable of handling the pres sure. “You have to have confidence in him (Stump),” he said. “I think he’ll do fine. I’m sure he has a lot of pres sure on him, but I think he can han dle it.” Looking back on his career at A&M, Sanders has mixed emotions. “Basically, there hasn’t been a whole lot of highlights,” he said.“The most exciting part was my first year. I played quite a bit, for a freshman. I was part of the teahi that beat Texas in ’80 (24-14 in Aus tin), and I scored a touchdown in that game. It was real exciting for me. “Other than that, most of it’s been agony as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been injured a lot.” CASH for gold, silver, old coins, diamonds Full Jewelery Repair Large Stock of Diamonds Gold Chains TEXAS COIN EXCHANGE 404 University Dr. 846-8916 3202-A Texas Ave. (across from El Chico, Bryan) 779-7662 igitso kinko's TYPING SERVICE 201 College Main 846-8721 ! THE I mr** EPISCOPAL I i CHURCH & STUDENT CENTER Announce CLASSES FOR 1 THOSE INTERESTED in I PREPARING FOR CONFIRMATION | and or learning more about the Episcopal Church I CLASSES MEET ! IN THE CHURCH Beginning 8:00 P.M., Sunday, Oct. 7 906 Jersey College Station (So. Side of Campus) S Ph. 696-1726 THE 1984 HONEYWELL FUTURIST AWARDS COMPETITION TRAVEL AGENDA: ’four mission, should you decide to accept, is to trans port yourself 25 years into the future, take a look around and write three essays of up to 500 words each. For the first two essays, you are to write about signif icant developments in any two of the following subject areas: 1) Electronic Communications, 2) Energy, 3) Aerospace, 4) Marine Systems, 5) Biomedical Technology or 6) Computers. In a third essay, you are to write about the societal impact of the changes you’ve predicted. Your entries will be judged according to creativity (30%), feasibility (30%), clarity of expression (30%) and legibility (10%). PASSENGER QUALIFICATIONS: Any person enrolled as a regular full-time student at an accredited U.S. college or university may enter, with the exception of full-time faculty mem bers, previous winners and Honeywell employees. PACKING LIST: To enter the contest, type (or clearly print) your name, address, college and declared major on an 8fi x 11" sheet of paper. We also need your T-shirt size so we can send you a Honeywell Futurist T-shirt designed by French illustrator Jean Michel Folon. Each of the three essays should be typed, double-spaced, on separate 8)4 x 11" sheets without your name at the top. All sheets should be stapled together and sent, unfolded, to: The Honeywell Futurist Awards Competition, P.O. Box 2009F, 600 South County Road 18, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426. All entries must be postmarked no later than December 31,1984. Winners will be notified by mail by February 1,1985. All prizes will be awarded. PAYLOAD: A total of 30 winners will be selected and awarded the following prizes: 10 First Place Winners will receive $2,000 and an all-expense paid trip for two to the Honeywell Futurist Awards Banquet in Minneapolis. They will also be offered a paid 1985 Honeywell Summer Internship. 10 Second Place Winners will receive $250. 10 Honorable Mention Winners will receive $100. All entries are subject to official rules and regulations for participation and entry. If you are interested in receiving a copy of more detailed regu lations, write: Futurist Rules, PO. Box 2009, 600 South County Road 18, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426. Together, we can find the answers. Honeywell FANTASY IS THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE* THE 1984 HONEYWELL FUTURIST AWARDS COMPETITION Beyond scientific speculation and extrapolation, perhaps the richest inspiration for imagining the future comes from exploring our daydreams and realizing that today’s fantasy may become tomorrow’s reality If you have imagined what our world will be like in 25 years, now is your chance to release those thoughts — tempered with your knowledge of technology — by entering the 1984 Honeywell Futurist Awards Competition. If your ideas are among the most imaginative and feasible, you will be awarded $2,000, a trip to a futurist awards banquet and Together, we can find the answers, a Honeywell internship. Read the accompanying travel plans to find out how to enter. And fuel up for a trip to the year 2009. HOilOyWOll