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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1985)
ti ‘ Sa r ge ’ not quite your typical Ag Chapman A&M's fan for 28 years By AMY BOWMAN Reporter ■ From the looks of him, George B. Chapman is just another old man. He ijjxiks like he could be anybody’s grandfather, until you look at him closely. ■ He wears a white shirt with a ma roon bow tie, maroon pants with a western belt that has “SARGE” sjamped on the back, A&M track shoes with A&M shoestrings. His hair is white as snow with a few touches of gray around the sideburns that give .ram a distinguished air. Tiny smile lines and his sparkling eyes reveal that he has truly enjoyed life. ■ George B. Chapman is known as Singe to many students and coaches aj A&M. ■ Sarge has been enshrined in the hearts of many Aggie athletes be cause of his consistent devotion to lexas A&M athletics. I For the past 29 years, Sarge has been to every athletic practice and game he could attend, unless he was silk or had a business appointment. ■ “I’m just a gung-ho Aggie,” Sarge said. “Aggies have a great, oh man, they have the greatest athletic prog ram in the world.” ■ Sarge makes a special point of going to all the practices and home games of the women’s softball team. He has particular fondness for the Bayers on the team and knows them all by name. ■ “Girls have a special place in my heart and my life,” Sarge said. “Whenever I miss a practice, the girls sav, ‘Where the hell have you been, Sarge?’ ■ “I congratulate the softball girls by giving them a hug every time they come up to the softball field when they win. You talk about friends. Boy I [ell you, I’d do anything in the world for those girls. I’d fight for ’em, I’d steal for ’em, I’d do anything, I guess, because they’re just wonderful.” ||Sarge said he likes to sit around the barbershop and gossip. K “I try to get the guys to come watch the gals play softball and promote the team,” he said. “I’ve been trying for seven years to help give the team the recognition they deserve.” ■ Sarge speaks as if every player on the team is his own daughter. He could dress up to be the perfect Santa Claus, bounding children on his knee and telling them tall tales. ■ Every year, Sarge takes a senior member of the softball team as his date to the annual softball banquet. yt; Sarge came to A&M from Snyder in the 1920’s, but stayed for only two years. He then went to Sul Ross State University for a year, and was later commissioned to serve in World War II l| t Sarge got his nickname while serv ing in the Air Force. An old friend, 1 former A&M baseball Head Goach Tom Chandler, called him Sarge 1 when he met him at a baseball game i and the name has stuck ever since. IP “I know at least 950 people person- ally,” Sarge said. “They’re friends of 1 mine on the campus at A&M and if , you’d ask nine out of 10 of ’em, I ! doubt one out of 10 would know what my real name is.” Sarge is a people-person. He is full B aCl 1 of stories and could sit and entertain fhy a g e audience for hours on end. His mind is like a mousetrap and he has an ear for facts. Sometimes, he’ll jusi sit with a glimmer in his eye as he his by LEE BOOM ilems square final match /this weektni like to finish of!I ur success earki match togeth«i We’ve got to (tl latch andplau . April 18 i t>&9:45 , Rudder TOO thinks about past. FF icild ■“My mother told me two things when I was a little boy, about three years old,” he said. “She said, ‘Son, remember two things going through life. Number one, Jesus loves you. And two, friends are greater than riches.’ That’s one of the main rlasons why I take part in athletics.” ; In his bedroom at home, Sarge has what he calls his “sports gallery” cov ering one wall. Pictures of every Southwest Conference champion ship team, Aggie team pictures and Jgnt-by-10 color action shots line his wall. “A&M is proud to honor loyalty lo athletes,” are the words on a certifi cate signed by the assistant athletic director. Another plaque is for the 12th Man Hall of Fame. Nametags, ticket stubs and other Aggie paraphe- tfalia are stuck behind the pictures. fl Pictures of his grandchildren line the other walls, along with sets of old coins, family pictures and promotion ; «rtificates from the Air Force. H Sarge lives off social security and retirement pay, which is how he pays for admission to the athletic events. He is a widower and promises to nev er reveal his age to anyone. I The chance is pretty good that on tiny afternoon at A&M Field, Sarge | will be out rooting his Fightin’ Texas Aggie softball team and showing his pride for Texas A&M. Cantilena Chamber Soloists Monday April 22 8:00 pm Rudder Theater Presented by ^Concert Series JJU in Italy Fall Semester 85 • • • ?|c 5§c ?|c r^EETiixiCB nroD/xv' Architecture Bldg. Room 12A, April 18, 5:00 pm ITALART STUDY CENTER-LA POGGERINA Meeting Sponsor: AIAS Scholarship Committee © 1985 Beer Brewed by Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wl GREAT ICE CREAM AND FOOD TAXPAYER’S SPECIAL SWensen’s MORE THAN YOU CAN EAT FOR ONLY 3 (reg. $6.15 value) GET A 1/3 LB. BURGER PLATE WITH THICK CUT WEDGE FRIES, A SUPER SUNDAE WITH YOUR CHOICE OF TOPPINGS AND A TALL FROSTED MUG OF COKE.* ALL FOR ONLY $3" PLUS TAX. CHEESE AND/OR BACON EXTRA. *Cok« Is a rsglstsrsd trademark. Not good with any othar offer or discount Limit 5 per coupon Good thru April 30, IMS ^-XCulpepper Plaza College Station, Texas OVER 100 YEARS AGO