Wednesday, May 13, 1987/The Battalion/Page 9 &M teams enjoy success in ’86-’S? ost Aggie squads are familiar with post-seaon action By Doug Hall Assistant Sports Editor I From fall to spring, football to Hiaseball, the Texas A&M Athletic H)epartrnent knew the 1986-87 ■chool yeai was not going to be an Basy one. I After all, it had been quite Home time since a Southwest Con ference school had gone to the Cotton Bowl in football, been nt of a three-way tie for the bas- etball crown and tied with na tional powerhouse Texas for the tseball title. If that wasn’t enough, the Ag- H;ies had gone on to top the Au- ffiurn Tigers and Bo Jackson in Balias on New Year’s Day 1986 lor a Top-10 national ranking, .finish second in the SWC baske- Hall tourney in Dallas before Joing to the National Invitational burnamenl, and win the base- all tourney here in College Sta- tion before losing in the first round of the NCAA tourney. For the most part, the old Hports adage, “It’s harder to stay top than it is to get there,” ^Broved all too true for the Aggies a fact that was not lost on Hackie Sherrill, Texas A&M’s ath letic director and head football (oach. Sherrill quoted the proverb limsell in this year’s Cotton Bowl ledia guide. Texas A&M did, however, make it back to Dallas for the sec ond consecutive season. I In fact, their only two regular- season losses were very similar to those of the 1985 season. In the season opener, the Aggies suf- SatlH fered a tough loss to LSU in Ba ton Rouge (much like the Ala bama loss in Birmingham in ’85), and then dropped a 14-10 clif- fhanger to Arkansas in Fayette ville (like the Baylor loss in Waco in 1985). The Cotton Bowl, unfortu nately for Aggie fans, did not AM turn out like the Auburn game. Ohio State, led by quarterback Jim Karsatos and All-Americas Cris Carter and Chris Spielman, thumped the Aggies. As the year rolled into the spring semester, the ball was handed over to the A&M basket ball team and Head Coach Shelby Metcalf. After a so-so preseason perfor mance, the Aggies won four of their first five SWC games with the only loss being to nationally- ranked Texas Christian. But the Aggies subsequently lost five straight and finished at 6-10 and the bottom seed in the SWC tour ney. In Dallas, however, the Aggies turned the tables on the confer- beat TCU. Texas Tech ence and and Baylor to earn an automatic NCAA bid. They lost to Duke in the first round. Mark Johnson’s A&M baseball team opened conference play with three consecutive losses to Arkansas — not the ideal way for a defending champion to get the conference season started. But the Aggies, led by the hit ting of Scott Livingstone, the all- around play of shortstop Ever Magallanes and the input of four key freshmen, bounced back to finish third in conference. The team will play second-place Ar kansas this weekend at the SWC tourney in Austin. The softball team, which was ranked second nationally prior to the season, wrapped up its 1987 season last week by finishing 49-7 and will host Louisiana Tech in a best-of-three series at Bee Creek Park this weekend in regional play. Since 1983, the Aggies have one first-place national finish and two second-place finishes. The volleyball team, under first-year Coach A1 Givens, placed second to Texas and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, losing to Georgia in the first round. The men’s golf team won the SWC goll title last month, a feat they last accomplished in 1982. That year, 1982, is one that’s important to the A&M athletic department. Many have called it the beginning of an era because that’s when Sherrill was lured away from Pittsburgh to run the athletic programs at A&M. But Sherrill’s leadership doesn’t necessarily keep the nu merous Aggie athletic programs running; money does. And in that area, the Texas A&M’s ath letic budget reflects its success on the playing fields. The 1986-87 athletic budget is approximately $7.8 million, plac ing A&M behind Texas’ $8.9 mil lion and comparable to Arkansas’ $8 million budget, according to the figures made public to The Battalion. (Private institutions such as TCU, Rice and Southern Methodist do not divulge their re cords.) But according to John David Crow, Texas A&M’s associate ath letic director, the Aggies rank sec ond to no one in student partici pation — at least when it comes to football. Crow said between 60 and 70 percent of A&M’s 36,000 stu dents buy tickets to A&M football games. “That’s a great deal of stu dents,” Crow said. “I’d say that is unique from most other universi ties. Other schools limit the num ber of tickets sold to the student body because they don’t get near the turn out we do.” Crow went on to say that if there’s one area the Athletic De partment would like to improve upon, it’s attendance at basketball games. “When we can only draw 1,500 to 2,000 fans to games on cam pus, and we’re playing 12 to 13 home games a season, then that’s a concern. istslo It’s time for all athletes to stop complaining and submit to drug testing before more die Viewpoint By Anthony Wilson Sports Writer On May 2, Hernell “Jeep” Jack- ion, a basketball player at the Uni- /ersity of Texas-El Paso, collapsed inti died during a benefit basketball jalie. When he — lied, he be- :attie one of a rrotip of illus- rious athletes, including Len Bias ind Don Rogers, who have recently lied of drug-related causes. Cocaine killed them. Yet even the tragic deaths of these nen hasn’t curtailed the flow of Irugs in the sports world. Dwight Jolden, Tim Raines, Keith Hernan- lez, William Bedford, Gary McLain, olii Drew, Chris Washburn, Chuck dtincie — the list is actually much onger and reads like a Who’s W’ho n Sports. All have used drugs. Why would these athletes, who eem to have the world at their fin- ;ertips, risk everything for a few noments of instant gratification? Because the agencies representing thletes allow them to. Every time the NBA, NFL, NCAA •r Iprofessional baseball devises a IrJg testing program, the players’ issldation and its lawyers cry foul LMal! ind complain about violations of the I ‘ civil rights? Ding testing not only serves as a ilayers’civil rights. I Violations of theii method of detecting drug users, but it also is a deterrent from using drugs in the first place. Athletes have a responsibility to their employ ers or schools, to their teammates and to their fans. A deterrent such as drug testing may be the only way to stop athletes from ever experimenting with and getting hooked on drugs. Drug test ing may be the only way to save some of their lives and force them to live up to their responsibilities. Pi ofessional and college athletics are t esses with multi-million dolL ts. Owners and univer sities invest huge amounts of money in athletes in the form of salaries or scholarships, and they expect a re turn. Athletes on drugs don’t perform well, just as lawyers, doctors and tea chers on drugs don’t work at full ca pacity. Yet no law firm in the nation would allow one of its attorneys to get involved with drugs three times before firing him. An NBA team would for a star guard. An athlete also has a responsibility to his teammates to perform up to his capability and stay away from drugs. One has to wonder if the Houston Rockets would have beaten the Bos ton Celtics in last year’s NBA championship finals if they had the services of point guard John Lucas, who was kicked off the team for us ing drugs. The Rockets were dealt another blow this year when two of their top three guards, Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins, tested positive for cocaine. Because Lloyd and Wiggins did not come forward and ask for help, they vvere banned from the league for one year. When Lloyd returned from drug rehabilitation, he appeared on tele vision and said he really didn’t feel drugs were a problem with him and he couldn’t understand why he had been singled out. , , What an embarrassment to him self, his family and his teammates. Has this man no shame? Lastly, athletes are indebted to the fans. Hey guys, remember the fans? The ones who buy the tickets and posters, creating a demand for your talents which now warrants millions of dollars per year. Athletes owe these people. The least athletes can do is respect the fans enough to be good role models for their children. The fans, along with everyone else, are tired of hearing the cop- outs players give for using drugs and