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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1988)
Tuesday, January 19, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9 Sports 987: The year’s top 10 sports headliners By Hal. L. Hammons Assistant Sports Editor londay’s Battalion sports section contained my choices for Texas AScM’s top 10 sports newsmakers of 19}-7. However, ive as most of you ^ . I Biize, there Analysis does exist a spoils universe ouiside the hallowed Aggie sphere of existence. 'eigliVrherefore I present for your con- sileration my choices for the top 10 sports newsmakers, taking the whole country into consideration, prop 10. Dennis Connor lau HAmerica, for the most part, once was limited in its knowledge of 12- meter yachts to their length. No more, thanks to Dennis Connor and ESPN. H'fhe United States gave unprece dented attention to the battle for the America’s Cup in 1987. Part of it was HC be* :ause of the air play that was given it on cable television. More of the cfredit should go to the New Zealand squad that in 1983 made the world realize someone could beat the United States in 12-meter yachting. ||y||^|Connnr did the country proud. He left Fremantle, Australia having reclaimed the cup he had lost four years earlier. 9. Andre Dawson Frustrated and unhappy in Mon treal, the star outfielder left the Ex pos, went to Chicago and handed the Cubs a blank contract. “Fill in the amount,” he said. The joys of day games, natural grass and appreciative fans were enough to convince him to take a tremendous pay cut. The Cubs signed him, he hit 49 home runs to lead the majors, and he was named the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player. The award was even more significant since Dawson played for a team that spent practically the entire year in the cellar. 8. Mike Tyson After years of the post-Larry Holmes era in the heavyweight divi sion, one boxer finally stood out as the best of the lot. Tyson reunited the WBA, WBC and IBF heavy weight crowns — the first time since Leon Spinks’ short reign that one man held all three. Except for Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes — the latter of whom he fights Jan. 21 — he easily de feated every major pretender to the throne. Perhaps for the first time since Muhammad Ali’s day, practi cally everyone agreed on who the best heavyweight in the world was. 7. Sugar Ray Leonard Few thought he could do it. He was fighting for the second time in over five years, he had suffered a de tached retina that worried his fans constantly, and the fight was against Marvelous Marvin Hagler. He insisted he would win. Few fans or bookmakers agreed. With size and practically every big intan gible against him, Leonard not only lived through the Mack truck that is Hagler, he won a split decision. 6. Brian Bosworth The colorful/obnoxious (depend ing on your point of view) linebacker opened the season at the Orange Bowl — on the sidelines. Sidelined by the NCAA for a drug infraction (Bosworth insisted he took the substance before the season began for medical reasons), he ex pressed his contempt in typical fash ion — on a t-shirt. It read “National Communists Against Athletes,” with “Welcome to Russia” thrown on the back for good measure. After much bantering in the press, Bosworth decided to forego his optional year at the University of Oklahoma and enter the NFL sup plemental draft. He insisted he would not play for any team except a select few. The list did not include Seattle, the team that chose him. He insisted he would not sign to play for the Seahawks, but he re canted after they offered him a multi-million dollar contract. He went on to an average rookie season in which he overshadowed team mate Fredd Young, one of the best linebackers in the league. 5. Bo Jackson It’s not enough that he has the tal ent to play professional baseball and hit 450-foot home runs. He’s got to be able to play pro football, too. Jackson showed he could do both, at least for one year. But in doing so, he alienated some great baseball fans in Kansas City. 4. Julius Erving OK, maybe personal prejudice is entering in here, placing Dr. J this high. But Erving’s retirement was a landmark occasion in pro basketball. He revolutionalized the game; he saved the American Basketball Asso ciation long enough for a merger to occur; he perhaps even helped break down a few racial barriers along the way. And the entire time, he was the consummate professional. In an era of sad excuses for role models in pro sports, Erving stood apart. He will be sorely missed. 3. Gene Upshaw He as the voice of the National Football League Players Union did more than anyone else to create the NFL players’ strike. Standing on issues that did not concern the vast majority of his con stituency, his refusal to compromise on the issue of free agency (or any thing else) robbed the American public of its Constitutionally-guar anteed Sunday football. 2. Cinderella 1987 was truly the Year of the Un derdog. From Penn State and its na tional championship to “Who Dat” mania in New Orleans, success and accolades followed the “little guy.” Who can forget the Minnesota Twins and their fans? If you can de serve a world championship for any other cause than talent, no more de serving team has ever won a World Series. How about the Indianapolis Colts, who won their division? The Buffalo Bills, who almost did? And, of course, let’s not forget all the bounc- ers-turned-linemen that played fairly good football for three weeks — and reminded the NFLPA that they need the fans and not vice- versa. 1. A1 Campanis On the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s historic breakthrough with Los Angeles, the Dodgers’ now- ex-general manager forever etched his name in the annals of dishonor, and he did it by falling flat on his face at the feet of Ted Koppel. Campanis’ statements about blacks not having the “necessities” to properly man a managerial post in baseball did more than cost him his job. The comments, made on ABC’s “Nightline” news program, brought to a head the dissatisfaction among blacks about the apparent race dis crimination in sports concerning coaching and front-office jobs. There are still no blacks in place as managers of major-league base ball teams or as head coaches in the NFL. But the furor raised over the issue has surely brought about a quicker solution. Wezzano COLLEGE STATION (AP) — e Avezzano has been promoted rom line coach to offensive coor- inator, and Ron Turner is ieav- .g Southern California to coach te quarterbacks at Texas A&M, thletk Director Jackie Sherrill lid Monday. Offensive coordinator Lynn medee left A&M to become of- insive coordinator at Florida fob offensive coordinator lowing the Aggies’ 35-10 victory over Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. Sherrill said Avezzano will con tinue to coach the offensive line, ‘Thi* allows u» to kwp the same continuity offensively that we have enjoyed the past three seasons,” Sherrill said. Turner, 35, was a receivers’ coach for they set a school record with 208 pass receptions. "With Ron’s experience in col lege coaching and the type of of fenses he’s handled, we feel he will fit right in at A&M,” Sherrill said. “We’re fortunate to have him.” Sherrill has yet to replace sec ondary coach Curley Hallman, who became head coach at South ern McDonald shares player-of-week honors ■ DALLAS (AP) — Texas A&M gjbard Darryl McDonald shared nun’s player of the week honors with Arkansas forward Mario Credit, while Rice’s Amelia Cooper was named women’s player of the week in the Southwest Conference. Bf McDonald scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds, handed out 14 assists and had seven steals in Texas A&M’s victories over Baylor and Arkansas. McDonald also hit a last-second shot that beat Baylor 58- 57 in Waco last Wednesday. Credit accounted for 43 points and 17 rebounds in Arkansas’ vic tory over Southern Methodist and loss to Texas A&M last week. Against the Aggies, Credit scored a career-high 27 points. In the SMU 85-83 overtime win, Credit scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. In two games Cooper scored 36 points, grabbed 34 rebounds, handed out four assists and had one steal as Rice defeated Texas Chris tian 86-79 and SMU 82-77. Cooper set career-highs against TCU with her 16 points and 14 rebounds and followed that with 20 points and 20 rebounds against SMU. Brown’s towel antics overshadow Ags’ performance in Cotton Bowl Viewpoint By Anthony Wilson Sports Writer Forget the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Terrible Towels. The Minnesota Twins’ Homer Hankees are old news. Even our beloved 12th Man Towels must be put aside. For in this new year of 1988, the most famous piece of cloth belongs to Timothy Donell Brown. And don’t you dare try to take it! As far as all Aggies are concerned, the 52nd Cotton Bowl Classic was a great game. With the offense hitting on all cylinders and the defense playing a typical A&M game, the Ag gies showed what a potent force it is in college football. Maybe even the beginning of a dynasty. Maybe even . . . ooohnh, do we dare say it — fu ture national championship material. But to the rest of the nation, the 1988 Cotton Bowl will be forever re membered for an altercation be tween the best collegiate player in the land and someone most would not consider to be a true football player. What a shame. As the game ended, CBS cut to shots of Brown leaving the field, head hanging, helmet in one hand and that piece of terrycloth dangling from his belt. The announcers com mented on what a terrible end it was to a great career and wondered if The Incident would tarnish his good image. I say no, it doesn’t. Sure, what Brown did was wrong. After a long afternoon of frustration and embar rassment in front of his family, friends and hometown, Brown got caught up in the heat of the mo ment, lost his cool and made a fool ish mistake. But let’s also remember how he handled the constant pressure and stress of being the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He was barraged by interview requests and constantly under a microscope. Tim Brown couldn’t even burp without making headlines. Through it all, he carried himself with dignity, style and grace, which is more than the national champion Miami Hurricanes, who took potshots at Brown in the newspa pers, can say. Instead of associating the 1988 Cotton Bowl with The Incident, let’s remember Bucky Richardson’s run ning, Lance Pavlas’ passing, Darren Lewis’ touchdown option pass to Tony Thompson, the swinging gate conversion and the superb effort by Adam Bob and the rest of the de fense. 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