Friday, January 30, 1987/The Battalion/Page 11 2$ Sports warm rs pecifie; Home basketball games exhibit lack of Aggie spirit led k deni pj 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 ■ - — ^■during Viewpoint prmg — Ol (j f fulpii inester? ■meni!. drica, It seems that the Twelfth Man ubvem doesn’t really turn into a decent ;ed io e Coiir 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 Jghtii' 1 a yeai ! from! ird, N. vas lii nits ■ bb 28,19'j autiesa us pid d and J i would: ive ski ird Canj .shim :o pui:} e conil.l langej 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. ng Wrap: al. ran i Roti uare IIK PI KAPPA PHI presents SPRING RUSH ’87 IF ■T I J b =1 SEAFOOD, DRINKS, ETC... FRIDAY, JAN. 30 8:27PM ARBOR SQUARE PARTY ROOM MAP > < (/) UJ H (/) “as O < GO ^