' ports Friday, November 30, 1984/The Battalion/Page 7 Gridiron rivals to end ’84 college season See page 8 luffy sage Sherrilj says Ags iri stage iwo A&M gains winning knowledge )5 Iding By TONY CORNETT Sports Writer I The Aggies have entered stage two. That’s the stage when a team Inows how to win. According to Aggie Football toach Jackie Sherrill, there are tree stages to winning. The first is a earn learning how to win. The sec- |nd is a team knowing how to win. The third is a team lighting lot the |ational championship. ‘ The University of Texas, 7-2-1 Ind the Aggies’ final opponent in this long season, has a fair amount of Experience in stage three. “They (Texas) have had two great botball teams the past two years,” |herrill said. “They were not aver- |ge football teams in ’82 and ’88 and they’re not average now. I think they have a team now that knows it can win. There are definite distinctions in levels of winning.” Sherrill has respect for the Texas football team. He also knows that Texas will be more than ready to take out the frustration of a loss to Baylor last weekend on the Aggies. “Going into the Texas game, let me say this right off,” Sherrill said. “We will not be playing the same team that played Baylor. Texas has the ability to play extremely well. Texas has the ability to play any body. It’s a - game where the emo tions will be there. The determin ation will be there.” T he emergence of the Aggies as a team that knows how to win from a team that’s just learning has been ag onizingly slow and painful to watch. But Sherrill is happy to see that his team has learned. The 35-21 upset of TCU saw the Aggies move into the second stage and a record of 5-5- 0. “I was extremely happy for our players,” Sherrill said, “because of the adversity they had gone through and the things that they had to suffer. They had all the reasons not to play well. We talk about emotions. We talk about peaks and valleys. The game last Saturday really had abso lutely nothing to do with X’s and O’s. It was very satisfying to see them reach the point, where I think that they realized for the first time, that they know what it takes to win.” It’s taken this long to get some thing going for the Aggies and Sher rill isn’t about to make changes now just because Texas will be an emo tional game. And he’s certainly not about to change anything just to im press a national television audience. (The game will be televised on ESPN). “You really can’t change,” he said. “You always take risks and we’ll take risks Saturday in certain things. But as far as completely changing your offense? No. As far as changing your defense? No. You’ve got to do well what you can do. I don’t play on emotions like being on national tele vision. It’s wrong to play on the emo tions of your players. (National tele vision) has nothing to do with what happens out on the field.” Sherrill says that the Aggies do have a big plus going into Saturday’s clash with the Horns. “The plus, I think, is the way (the team) performed last week,” he said. The Ags go into the game pretty healthy. Tight ends Rich Siler and Duncan Webb are still limping. FYic Franklin will do the placekicking chores for the Ags as he did in the TCU game. Defensive end Ray Childress gets Sherrill’s highest praise. “He has become as good as any player that I’ve bt;en around in his position,” he said.“Ray’s future is really ahead of him.” Don’t look for any big changes for the Aggies. It’s a big game for them and they’ll go with what’s brought them this far. Still, there’s that big emotional factor and running back Thomas Sanders is one of the few members of the team who can say he’s played on an Aggie team that beat Texas. He even scored a touch down in that game back in 1980 at Memorial Stadium —- the Aggies squashed the Horns 24-14. “It’s exciting for me to be able to play them,” Sanders said. “It’s an ex citing game. Everybody thinks that they can’t be beaten. I feel different about that. As far as I’m concerned they’re not any different than any body else. They have a good team, but if we play up to our potential we can play with them.” Incidentally, that 1980 Aggie win came after a Texas loss to Baylor and an A&M win over T CU — deja jst Oadfa! 764M Saints negotiate to stay in Superdome S , United Press International I NEW ORLEANS — A firm owned by the A.N. Pritzker family of Chi- I ago is negotiating seriously with John Mecom Jr. to buy the New Orleans liaints and keep them in the Superdome. A Denzil Skinner, president of Facility Management Group, a subsidiary |>f the Pritzker family trust holding company, said Wednesday he has been jneeting for several months with president Doyle Mize of the John Mecom ompanies. The wealth of the family was estimated last year at $ 1.5 billion. “I believe it is a reasonable shot for us being able for us to pull this thing ogether and develop a long-term commitment to ensure this franchise stay- nghere for 25 or 30 years,” he said. The Pritzkers, Skinner said, would not buy the Saints. Instead, he said he team would be purchased by a Pritzker-owned company, possibly Fa- ility Management Group. The family’s vast holdings include the Hyatt Corp., which operates the -lyatt Hotel chain, and Braniff Airlines. Facility Management operates five onvention centers and sports arenas, including the Superdome. “Our people have the wherewithal! to handle it,” Skinner said. “We vould like nothing more than to do, the deal.” IE , Battalion Scientific Football Picks Peter Rocha Sports Photographer Ed Cassavoy Sports Editor Reveille /%. ^ dp. —-A / Tony Comett Sports Writer s Travis Tingle Assistant Sports Editor Texas AAM at Texas Texas by 14 Texas by 7S Ags by a dream of 3 ASM by 3 Texas by 25 Texas by 4 Rice at Houston Houston by 21 Houston by whatever Coogsby 3 Rice by 1 Houston by 21 Houston by 20 SMU at Nevadalas Veaaj SMU by 10 SMU by 14 SMU by 102 SMU by 7 SMU by 10 SMU by 1 Auburn at Alabama Auburn by 7 Auburn by 12 Tigers by 7 Auburn by 7 Auburn by 3 Alabama by 7 Army at Navy Army by 14 Army by 31 'O! Army by 72 Army by 1 Army by 7 Navy by 5 Georgia Tech at Georgia Georgia by 10 Georgia by 7 'Dawgs by a tail Georgia by 7 Georgia by 10 Georgia by 8 Florida at Florida State Florida by 3 Florida by 6 'Holes by 6 Florida by 7 Florida by 10 Florida State by 2 Tennessee at Vanderbilt Tennessee by 7 Tennesse by 10 Vanderbilt by a pair of leans Tennesee by 7 Tennessee by 10 Tennessee by 13 Dallas at Philadelphia Dallas by "11" Dallas by default Pokes by a "Bum" Dallas by 7 Philadelphia by 1 Dallas by 6 Pittsburgh at Houston Pittsburgh by 14 Pittsburgh by a whole bunch Oilers by 16 Pittsburgh by 14 Pittsburgh by 10 Houston by 3 Bryan at Highland Park Bryan by 17 Bryan High by a Matt Vikings by 18 Bryan by 7 Bryan by 100 Highland Park by 2 . Eleventh Week Totals Overall; 86-46; Pet. — .652 Overall: 80-40; Pet. — .666 Overall: 85-47, Pet. — .644 Overall: 82-50; Pet. — .621 Overall: 82-50; Pet. — .621 Overall: 81-51; Pet. — .614 [Ef! 5-9 m 4 •K ijr; ip^". What’s The Holdup? Are You Waiting for Christmas? THIS IS THE LAST WEEK Junior Senior & Grad Class Pictures for The Yearbook ARE NOW Being Taken At The PAVILION LAST TWO DAYS-THURSDAY & FRIDAY •V • ^-Tv-; CA.';V.-, /• .T T .!•