Friday, January 30, 1987/The Battalion/Page 11
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Sports
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Home basketball games
exhibit lack of Aggie spirit
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By Homer Jacobs
Sports Editor
Throwing newspapers and ice.
Sitting down. Sparse crowds. Fris-
bees and beach balls.
Where does the Aggie spirit
incite disappear ■ - —
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It seems that the Twelfth Man
ubvem doesn’t really turn into a decent
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ixth man during basketball sea
son.
I realize football is king in
Texas and the Twelfth Man origi
nated from E. King Gill; but Ag-
ie spirit is supposed to carry
heconi; throughout the whole year, not
ust the fall term.
Nowadays, going to an Aggie
men’s basketball game is just
bout comparable to attending a
ame in Austin or Waco — the
nly difference being the Aggie
and and five yell leaders.
Let’s start with the newspaper
ag.
Besides the fact that A&M As-
istant Athletic Director John Da-
id Crow earlier announced that
hrowing newspapers in G. Rollie
hite Coliseum is against Uni-
ersity and NCAA rules, Aggie
fans continue to shower the stands
and court with papers.
What’s so great about this pre
game ceremony, anyway? Heck,
Arkansas fans even do it. Maybe
Feb. 8 when the Aggies take on
TCU at home, we can all wear those
lovely Hog hats to the game.
Okay, newspapers have been suc
cessfully tossed on the court, so let’s
go to this sitting-down business.
So E. King didn’t play basketball.
Aggies should be able to stand at
basketball games, anyway.
It’s only two hours, compared to
over three for football games. And
anything can be better than sitting
hunched over on a solid wood
bench for a two-hour game.
It’s halftime now, and you
guessed it — the A&M crowd’s half
time show featuring frisbees and
beach balls. It’s the can-you-peg-a-
tuba-player time. Hold on to your
Hog hats.
In regard to the 5,000 or so fans
that usually attend an Aggie basket
ball game, I can only wonder why
the turnout is so low.
Granted Aggies are born and
bred on football, but Aggie spirit
should not be limited to Kyle Field.
The Aggie basketball team may
not be nearly as good as a North
Carolina or an Indiana, but the
fan support should be, if Aggie
spirit is true in meaning.
Supposedly it takes a winner to
bring in the fans. And with the
Aggies currently at 4-4 in the
Southwest Conference, I can see
how that might be a problem.
But even last year when the
Aggies were on pace to a SWC
championship, the stands of G.
Rollie were rarely completely
filled. Maybe plans for the new
A&M special events center should
be put on hold.
And probably the most serious
problem at basketball games this
year is fans throwing ice on the
court. A bad call by a referee is
discouraging to a home crowd,
but to throw ice on the court is
foolish.
Obviously, a player can be in
jured, and secondly, a technical
on the crowd can be assessed.
The newspaper thing may not be
enforced very well, but ice-throw
ing can be.
Aggies pride themselves on be
ing different from everyone else.
And Aggie spirit is the key to that
difference.
After all, I can’t stand those
Hog hats.
Lady Aggies to host No. 7 La. Tech
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By Doug Hall
Sports Writer
■ Fresh off their 84-74 win over
Baylor Tuesday night, their first vic
tory in the last six games, Texas
A&M’s Lady Aggies might prefer to
be playing a team other than sev
enth-ranked Louisiana Tech tonight
at 7:30 in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
■ The Lady Techsters, who are cur
rently making a tour of the South
west, raised their season record to
ll-2 Wednesday by easily defeating
Texas Tech 71-43 in Lubbock. Ear
lier this season, Louisiana Tech de
feated SMU 95-54 and UH 85-50.
H'fhe Lady Aggies raised their sea
son record to 7-10 with Tuesday’s
win, but are only 3-5 in the SWC,
trailing 8-0 Texas, 6-2 Houston, Ar
kansas and Rice which both have 5-3
records and 4-4 Texas Tech.
Texas A&M Head Coach Lynn
Hickey, who said the Baylor game
was a “must-win” if the Aggies were
to stay in the race for the six-team
SWC tourney in March, was pleased
with her team’s performance on
Tuesday.
Leading the way for the Aggies
was senior forward Paula Crutcher
who poured in 20 points.
Defeating Louisiana Tech, how
ever, will require a heroic effort
from the whole team, not just
Crutcher.
The Lady Techsters are led by 6-3
center Tori Harrison who is averag
ing 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a
game. In last year’s meeting between
the two teams (Tech leads the series
5-0), Harrison scored 17 points in
the first half — which equaled the
entire Aggie first-half effort.
Aggie notes. . .A&M starting
guard Beth Young, who was carried
off the floor in the second half of the
Baylor game, is expected to be out
two to three weeks with sprained li
gaments in her left knee.
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TCU off to best start
in the school’s history
FORT WORTH (AP) — Texas
Christian’s basketball program has
never produced such heavenly hap
penings in the Horned Frogs’ 62-
year Southwest Conference history.
TCU has posted a perfect 8-0
mark at the halfway point of the
league season and a 17-3 overall re
cord, its fastest start ever. The Frogs
are also ranked No. 16 in the Asso
ciated Press poll, again their highest
mark.
With Wednesday night’s 64-38
whipping of Rice, TCU established
three other school records, chalking
up 13 straight victories (third-best in
the nation) and 21 consecutive home
victories and allowing only nine
points in the first half.
TCU Coach Jim Killingsworth is
concerned about all the hoopla sur
rounding his Frogs, who have a two-
game lead over Baylor in the SWC.
“We can’t be overwhelmed, be
cause it isn’t over yet,” Killingsworth
said. “If we think we have it made
now, we don’t have very big IQs.”
TCU shot to a 30-9 halftime lead
against Rice, and by early in the sec
ond half Killingsworth already was
thinking about Arkansas, which
travels to Fort Worth Saturday
night.
“I really couldn’t enjoy it thinking
about those Razorbacks coming in
here,” Killingsworth said. “I know
they’ll be all pumped up. I hope
we’re ready.”
The Frogs were definitely ready
for Rice.
“It’s the easiest game we’ve had,”
Killingsworth said. “Usually we have
to fight for our lives against those
guys. We got lucky and played really
well, and Rice couldn’t buy a buck
et.”
Rice shot only 28 percent from
the field for the game and 19 per
cent in the first half.
Larry Richard and Carven Hol
combe each scored 17 points for the
winners.
TCU outrebounded the Owls 49-
19, with Richard hauling in 13.
“We’re one big happy family right
now,” Richard said.“We’re happy.
Our fans are happy. It’s a good feel
ing.”
“Our defense just stopped Rice
cold,” guard Jamie Dixon said. “It
feels great to win games like this.
Killer (Killingsworth) was worried
we wouldn’t be up for this game. We
knew they had upset Texas A&M.
We were ready, and we’ll be ready
for Arkansas Saturday.”
Lucas' layup
leads Bucks
over Rockets
■jfl
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HOUSTON (AP) — Milwaukee’s;
Jack Sikma scored 20 of his season- ,
high 22 points in the second half and“
John Lucas hit a crucial layup with.
25 seconds left to lead the Bucks to a^
99-93 NBA victory over Houston
Thursday night.
Milwaukee blew a 10-point’
fourth-quarter lead, allowing the;
Rockets to tie the score at 93-93 with*
1:09 to go on a basket by AkeemJ
Olajuwon, who scored 29 points. 1
But Sikma added his 11th andj
12th points of the quarter to give the
Bucks the lead for good. Lucas fol-<
lowed with a steal against his former'
teammates and turned it into a layup)
for a 97-93 lead.
Lucas added a pair of free throws*
with 13 seconds to go and finished*
with 17 points. Terry Cummings hit)
20 first-half points for Milwaukee*
and finished with 25.
Trailing 81-71 early in the fourth
quarter, the Rockets pulled back into)
the game in the closing minutes and;
tied it at 91-91 with 2:34 to play on*
Cedric Maxwell’s jumper.
Sikma’s basket made it 93-91 and-
Olajuwon tied it at 93-93.
Cup final leg to begin Saturday
FREMANTLE, Australia (AP) —
Stars & Stripes sets sail Saturday on
the final leg of a mission never asked
of a U.S. boat: bring back the Ameri
ca's Cup.
The San Diego yacht, skippered
by Dennis Conner, will meet Kooka
burra III, defender of the trophy
the Australians brought home in
1983.
The forecast for the opening race
calls for winds out of the southwest
at 17 to 19 knots, in the moderate to
heavy range.
As the best-of-seven series pro
gresses, the winds are expected to
moderate, as they usually do in Feb
ruary.
Stars & Stripes, known as a heavy-
weather boat, could be just as dan
gerous in those lighter winds.
The U.S. challenger’s planners
thoroughly researched weather pat
terns in this Indian Ocean port and
how they change from October
through February, the period for
the Cup competition.
“We spent lots of time on statisti
cal analysis of about 15 years of Fre
mantle weather,” Stars & Stripes de
sign coordinator John Marshall said.
“You have to have a good handle on
conditions you race in.”
Modification work to adapt the
boat to conditions specific to a par
ticular time period has gone on dur
ing the Cup races, which began Oct.
5.
The boat was excellent in strong
winds through the three round-ro
bin series. In the challenger semifi
nals in late December and early Jan
uary, Stars & Stripes swept USA 4-0
in primarily moderate conditions.
In the challenger finals, Stars &•
Stripes eliminated New Zealand 4-1.
All the races took place in strong
breezes.
In Thursday’s practice, with light
winds, Conner’s crew sailed on Stars
& Stripes ’85, a heavy-weather yacht,
while Stars & Stripes ’87, which will
meet Kookaburra III, stayed on land
for some finishing touches.
Kookaburra III and Kookaburra!
II worked on racing tactics against
each other.
“We don’t know as much about
them as we’d like to,” Conner said.
John Bertrand said Stars
Stripes may have a technical edge in
terms of straight-line speed.
IMMEDIATE NOTICE OF
IMPORTANT ORIENTAL
AUCTION
NO MINIMUM
NO RESERVE
On request of the City Government of Beijing, China, we are commissioned to liquidate the entire inventory of
China Trade Corp., Houston, Tx. All merchandise of top quality taken directly from the Houston warehouse site.
Time: Sunday, Feb. 1, 1:30 pm
Preview: One hour prior to Auction
Location: Aggieland Inn, 1502 S. Texas Ave., College Station
Included in this special auction sale are: Hundreds of highly valuable and unique works of art from China; all kinds
of ORIENTAL FURISHINGS rosewood, lacquer and stone-inlaid type; all kinds of PORCELAIN, old and new, palace
vase, fish bowls, and many one-of-a-kind items; ORIENTAL RUGS; JEWELRY of all kinds, gemstones and 14K
Gold, semi-precious stone necklaces.
Cash, Check, Visa, MC
Tele. (512) 458-2353
Auctioneer: Charles Gregg TXE 027-019
3339 Hancock, Austin Tx. 78731
CENTER FOR RETAILING STUDIES
PRESENTSTHE
RETAILING CAREER
FAIR SYMPOSIUM
ON
FEBUARY1, 1987
COLLEGE STATION HILTON
BRAZOS AMPHITHEATER
4:00-7:30 p.m.
RECEPTION FOLLOWING
TICKETS $3.00
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