Thursday, December 10,1987/The Battalion/Page 9
Sports
Winning, publicity answer for women’s sports
By Tom Mulos
Reporter
In 1982, the Texas A&M softball
team brought the national
championship home to Aggieland,
but the UCLA Bruins claimed they
were no. 1.
The conflict was caused by the na
tion’s university presidents decision
to switch from the Association of In
tercollegiate Athletics for Women to
the National Collegiate Athletic As
sociation as the governing body of
Women’s athletics at A&M
Part two of a two-part series
women’s athletics to gain exposure
for women’s sports.
Schools were given a five-year
grace period to make the change
over. The Lady Aggies won the
A1AW national title that year, while
the Bruins became the NCAA’s first
national softball champions.
The Southwest Conference
started holding women’s champion
ships in 1982-1983.
Softball is the one women’s team
at A&M that has been a consistent
winner. Since 1982, the Lady Aggies
finished second twice nationally un
der Coach Bob Brock and won the
national championship last season.
“Even with a national
championship-caliber team, they still
can’t get many people to come watch
them,” said Lynn Hickey, assistant
athletic director for women’s athlet
ics and head women’s basketball
coach. “But, we wouldn’t have had a
NCAA regional down here if we
didn’t get at least some fans.”
Nan Elrod, A&M women’s sports
information director, was a student
assistant at Tennessee at the time of
the change over.
“When our basketball team (the
Volunteers) played in the national
championship at Oregon on live na
tional television we didn’t get any
recognition,” Elrod said. “Sports Il
lustrated mentioned the score in the
scorecard section in the back. In
1982, when the game was picked up
by CBS, Sports Illustrated actually
had a picture and a story. The expo
sure between now and then is incom
parable. There is so much more
now.”
The University of Texas was one
of the schools that didn’t change
over the first year, Elrod said.
“Donna Lopiano (Texas’ women’s
athletic director) was president of
AIAW in 1981 and ... is opposed to
changing to the NCAA,” she said. “I
still think it’s better because since
we’re with the men and we can learn
more things quicker.
“The quality of the athletes has
changed so much in the past ten
years. Coaches say that women that
played back then could not even
make their teams today because the
talent has gotten so much better.
What Cheryl Miller did for women’s
basketball is amazing. Even Nancy
Lieberman didn’t do much.”
Both Miller and Lieberman were
All-American basketball players.
Lieberman played at Old Dominion
and tried to play with the Dallas Di
amonds in a women’s professional
league.
Miller, who played at USC, did
not play after college and is now with
ABC Sports.
Hickey explained what is being
done to increase interest in women’s
sports.
“We have tried to convey to the
students and the public that ‘Hey,
we’re here!’ ” Hickey said. “We’re
also trying to tell as many people as
we can that we are playing a game,
that we are good, and that it doesn’t
cost much to watch us play.”
For the first time, the women
were combined with the men on the
all-sports pass without a price in
crease of the ticket book.
A&M also has followed Texas’
lead in establishing a club for the
boosters.
Texas established the Longhorn
Associates, a booster club that is
funded strictly on donations and
dues. Its purpose is to get people in
volved in the program. They would
meet after volleyball and basketball
games and the players and coaches
would field questions about the
game.
Patti Spring, UT’s women’s sports
SID, said: “It’s a great way to make
people feel involved. If they feel in
volved, then they will come back and
watch games again and again.”
The Aggie Club gets money for
scholarships for men and women
athletes. The Maroon Club, for
women’s sports, gets a very minimal
amount of money compared to the
Aggie Club. The Maroon Club’s
money goes to special needs that the
athletic budget doesn’t provide.
Hickey said, “In less than six
months, we have raised $45,000.
That surpassed all expectations that
we had. The Longhorn Associates
have 1,200 members and raise
$100,000 a year. Most of that money
is from corporate involvement which
will come for us in two or three
years.”
When Hickey came in four years
ago, A&M’s women’s athletics was a
good athletic program with good
overall funding, but a plan of action
was lacking, Hickey said.
“This program can produce reve
nues. The first thing is to establish a
rapport with the community,”
Hickey said.
Kelly Krauskopf, assistant for
women’s athletics and three-year
basketball letterman at A&M, said,
“Back when I played, we just existed
because of Title IX. Now, the play
ers are beginning to feel like they’re
accepted because of the Maroon
Club. The players are feeling pride
and when you feel pride, you feel
like you can win.”
The Sports Information Office
has also tried to increase media cov
erage, Hickey said.
To do so, the athletic department
hired Elrod, who is in her second
full year at A&M, as the women’s in
formation director.
Assitant Athletic Director John
David Crow is pleased with the SID’s
work.
“I am impressed with the work
that the SID office and publicity has
done,” Crow said. “They have really
made people notice that there is a
women’s program.”
Krauskopf, who used to be work
for KBTX-TV, said: “You really
have to establish a base with the me
dia and winning will help that a lot.
They’re just doing their job by cov
ering the winning teams because
See Athletics, page 10
Holtz says inexperience of Irish
makes Cotton preparation vital
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Lou
Holtz believes he understands why
Notre Dame lost to Miami, but says
all that matters now is winning the
Cotton Bowl.
No one on the 12th-ranked Irish
squad has played in a major bowl
game, so preparing for the New
Year’s Day contest against No. 13
Texas A&M, 9-2, biecomes even
more important, he said.
“They must realize that winning,
and not just getting there, is the im
portant thing,” he said.
The Irish, 8-3, still had held hopes
of a national championship appear
ance at the Orange Bowl before
their 21-20 loss to Penn State. A
first-half end zone interception and
a failed two-point conversion in that
game may actually have been the be
ginnings of the 24-0 loss to Miami
the following week, Holtz said.
“After looking back on that game,
I’ve come up with four reasons why I
think it happened like it did,” he
said.
“No. 1 is the way we lost to Penn
State. That was a tough one to take,”
he said. “No. 2 was the decision to go
to Miami early. I thought it would be
better to bring the team together
than to have the players spread all
over the campus during the Thanks
giving holiday.”
So the team traveled to Miami that
Wednesday, three days before the
game. “I think that staying around
here would have been the better way
to go than to take them down so
early.
“Three: We worked very hard in
practice on our passing game with
out much degree of success. I fault
myself for not going back to doing
what we do best (running), because
we never did develop a rhythm on
offense against Miami.”
The fourth reason for the loss was
the Miami team.
“Miami was exceptionally well-
prepared and emotionally ready to
play,” he said.
Looking to the Cotton Bowl,
Holtz had no definitive answer
about quarterback Terry Andry-
siak’s chances of playing against
A&M. Andrysiak was the starter un
til he suffered a broken collarbone
and missed the last seven games.
“Terry may not make any kind of
a substantial contribution, and then
again, he could start,” Holtz said.
Former UNC coach is interested
in rebuilding SMU football team
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — For
mer North Carolina football
coach Dick Crum will not rule out
reports that he could be consid
ered for the Southern Methodist
University job.
“The SMU job is something
that I might would want to get
more information on, but I cer
tainly haven’t given it a great deal
of thought,” said Crum, UNC’s
winningest coach, who compiled
a 72-41-3 record in 10 seasons.
His 1987 team finished 5-6.
Crum resigned from UNC
Nov. 30 after agreeing to an
$800,000 buyout on the remain
ing four seasons of a 10-year con
tract he signed in 1982.
He told the News and Observer
of Raleigh Tuesday night that he
would not discuss the past at
UNC but said it had been a “dis
ruptive period.”
The Dallas Times Herald
newspaper Tuesday listed Crum
among possible candidates to reb
uild the SMU program.
In one of its toughest penalties,
the NCAA barred the SMU pro
gram from competing this year
under its “death penalty” provi
sion because of a pay-for-players
scandal.
The school was permitted to
play a schedule of seven road
games in 1988 but later voted to
cancel the season.
Meanwhile, the New York Jets
have given defensive coordinator
Bud Carson permission to discuss
a head coaching position with
UNC officials, the New York Da
ily News reported Wednesday.
Carson joins former Kansas
City Chiefs and Wake Forest Uni
versity coach John Mackovic, Tu-
lane’s Mack Brown, Air Force’s
Fisher DeBerry and former
UCLA and Philadelphia Eagles
coach Dick Vermeil as those be
ing considered for the Tar Heels’
post.
The 57-year-old Carson is a
former Tar Heel player.
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