Wednesday, January 20, 1988A'he Battalion/Page 11
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DENVER (AP) — When the
Denver Broncos resume practice
this week in preparation for the
Super Bowl, they’ll find a mes
sage on the blackboard in the
meeting room.
9 Arranged vertically are the fig
ures $10,000, $18,000 and
$36,000, with the sum of $64,000.
I Presumably none of the play
ers will be asking the $64,000
question: What does it mean? It’s
the amount of money each
Bronco player gets in playoff cash
if Denver beats Washington Jan.
31.
9 The Bronco organization is
hoping the simple math problem
computes better than a previous
monetary demonstration. In
1984, officials arranged a stack of
$1 bills totalling the amount the
players could earn throughout
■ie playoffs. But the message
didn’t take; Denver promptly lost
to Pittsburgh 24-17 in the first
round.
Denver Coach Dan Reeves had
a different kind of visual aid for
his players the day before the
AFC championship game against
Cleveland on Sunday.
Reeves arranged his six
championship rings on the lec
tern in the meeting room — five
of which he won as a player and
coach with the Dallas Cowboys —
and told his players that when
their careers are over, the senti
ment of a championship ring will
mean more than anything else a
player might attain.
“What I told them was I had
played or coached in 10
championship games before Sun
day,” Reeves said. “I made
$80,000 (in playoff money), but
all of it is gone. When you have a
family, it goes pretty fast. But the
fact that you played in one — no
body can ever take that away
from you. I wanted to impress
that on them.”
Wide receiver Steve Watson
said Reeves told the players that
“this is what can happen to you if
you work hard. You can have a
lot of these.”
This time it worked, as the
Broncos defeated Cleveland 38-
33 to make their second straight
trip to the Super Bowl.
Reeves is the first to admit that
it has been an improbable jour
ney.
The retirements of four de
fensive starters, major injuries to
seven other key players and the
disruption of the strike did not
bode well for a return Super
Bowl engagement.
“Somehow, this team overcame
those things. Whenever we got an
injury, somebody came in and did
the job for us. We got solid per
formances from people we never
even counted on,” Reeves said.
“Mike Freeman is our starting
center, and he wasn’t even on the
team at the start of the season.
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I HERNDON, Va. (AP) — Take
16 veterans with Super Bowl ex
perience, add about 30 young,
spirited players who are itching to
get there, and you’ve got the
Washington Redskins’ formula
For a successful season.
9 “We’ve got a lot of youthful
guys who have really contributed
to this team, and we have a good
blend of veterans,” center Jeff
Bostic said. “When you’ve got
that combination, you’re going to
go places.”
9 Like San Diego, to play the
Denver Broncos in the Super
Bowl.
9 Veterans such as Bostic, Dave
Butz and Dexter Manley were
with the Redskins when the team
went to consecutive Super Bowls
in 1982 and 1983. While their
peiformances this season helped
Washington make a return trip,
they were no less valuable than
sjbme of the team’s younger play
ers.
On offense, rookie running
back Timmy Smith had a team-
high 138 rushing yards in the
Redskins’ two playoff victories,
and second-year receiver Ricky
Sanders proved to be a more than
adequate substitute for the in
jured Art Monk.
On defense, eighth-round
draft pick Clarence Vaughn had
four tackles and a sack in the
NFC title game against Minne
sota, first-year linebackers Kurt
Gouveia and Ravin Caldwell com
bined for three tackles and two
sacks against the Vikings, and
rookie Brian Davis recovered a
fumble.
“Our defensive coaches did a
great job on the game plan,”
Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs said.
“We incorporated a lot of young
guys who weren’t playing that
much, and they showed up and
did a great job.
“Really, the advantage we have
here is that we have 16 guys who
have been to the Super Bowl and
knew what it took to get there,”
Gibbs continued. “And yet we
had a majority of young guys who
had never been there, were hun
gry, and decided they were going
to do whatever it takes. And they
fed off the older players’ experi
ence.”
While youth was a factor, it is
impossible to overlook the per
formance of some of the veterans
who were anxious to return to the
Super Bowl and wipe away the
taste of their last trip, a humiliat
ing 38-9 loss to the Los Angeles
Raiders.
Meanwhile, Gibbs said he plans
to make a few changes in the
team’s training schedule. In 1983
the players and had no curfew to
adhere to, but this time will be de
cidedly different, with a curfew
around midnight.
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(Continued from page 10)
produced the winning points against
Arkansas, but Richardson couldn’t
pass well enough to get any points
on the board (though he did have a
sure TD pass dropped by Gurley),
j Stump returned to action and led
A&M to a clinching touchdown, for
which he got carried off the field by
Sherrill, as well as getting the start
ing berth versus TCU.
Hpn what Sherrill called a good per
formance, Stump completed 9 of 27
passes against the Frogs for less than
200 yards with one TD pass and
three interceptions (which should
have been four; a official mistakenly
called pass interference on TCU to
negate another one),
ilfrhe bumbling, stumbling, fum
bling Aggies managed to defeat
TCI 42-24 because they got every
bounce of the ball in the contest.
When all the marbles for the SWC
title were on the line, the senior QB
produced a fumble and interception
that each led to a Texas field goal.
Richardson, except for a few plays in
the first half, remained on the bench
until the fourth quarter, when the
score was tied at 13.
Only when Stump got hurt did
Bucky return. In eight plays he led
them to the promised land. All of
the plays were running ones, though
the coaches had said all year that
running alone would not win games.
It came as no surprise that Stump
was expected to start the Cotton
Bowl and had been the only QB
quoted in the A&M media release
sent out following the Texas win.
What a shock it was to all of us in
the media when Richardson was an
nounced as the starting quarterback
the week of the game — and then
did start!
Notre Dame supposedly was
to stifle any kind of running
that the Aggies could offer, so
why start Bucky?
Likely because the coaches wanted
to win. And Richardson went out
and notched two touchdowns on the
ground, was the game’s leading
rusher, and was the overwhelming
choice for Offensive MVP.
Pavlas played his best game, too,
and deservedly got some mention
for MVP. But Richardson’s poise un
der fire, great quickness of foot and
overall leadership led the SWC
champs to their largest margin of
victory in a bowl game (previous best
was a 37-14 beating of Florida in the
January 2, 1977 in the Sun Bowl).
The kid simply makes things hap
pen on the field and deserves every
opportunity to take charge of an of
fense that has the capability of tak
ing the Aggies to a National
Championship.
Aggies
(Continued from page 10)
as high school seniors. With running
backs like these and a talented line,
the offense should be able to grind
out yard after yard on the ground,
gSince only two receivers are grad
uating, the passing game should be
just as potent. The loss of tight end
Sylvester Morgan is lessened by the
emergence of Brian Ross and two-
point specialist Wally Hartley. Both
starting wide receivers, Rod Harris
and Gary Oliver, return, as do their
backups, Percy Waddle and Tony
Thompson. Hopefully, fans will see
more of Harris and Thompson’s
“Cotton Bowl Bump.”
What else can you say about the
“Wrecking Crew,” the defense that
led the SWC and shut out the Notre
Dame offense after the five-minute
mark of the second quarter? The
“Crew” is only going to get better.
gA&M’s brash, young defense is
led by first-team All-America John
Roper and the rest of the lineback
ers. This part of the defense was an
unknown quantity before the season
began, since the previous set grad
uated straight into the professional
ranks. Roper and Dana Batiste had
starting experience, but Aaron Wal
lace was an untested sophomore and
Adam Bob’s only claim to fame was a
couple of touchdowns scored as a
sophomore short-yardage running
back.
Now, after a successful season and
36 combined tackles in the Cotton
Bowl, the linebackers have proven
they are among the elite.
Defensive coordinator R.C Slo
cum must be happy to have all three
starters return, but he must be
ecstatic not to lose any linebackers
from both the first and second team.
The defensive line, however, is
not as fortunate. The Aggies lose
two starters in two-time All-SWC
performer Sammy O’Brient and
Guy Broom. The Aggies do return
Terry Price and Leon Cole, both of
whom have extensive playing expe
rience, and Sherrill has recruited
well in this area.
The defensive secondary loses
All-America Kip Corrington and
All-SWC player Chet Brooks. Even
so, the secondary appears set for sea
sons after their stifling of Heisman
Trophy winner Tim Brown in the
second half of the Cotton Bowl, and
four of them even have more tackles
than Tim Brown.
But before the Aggies start talking
about national championships and
dynasties, they should think about
LSU in Baton Rouge, Arkansas in
Fayetteville and the win-depraved
Longhorns in Austin. In fact, before
they even talk of a fourth Cotton
Bowl appearance, they should think
about getting a season-opening vic
tory for Sherrill against someone be
sides Texas-El Paso.
Brad Marquardt is a senior journa
lism major.
ATTENTION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
ORDERING A SENIOR RING
The last day a senior ring can be ordered with 92 hours is January
29, 1988, 5:00 p.m., providing the following criteria is met:
1. The hours were completed by December 31, 1987.
2. 30 of the 92 are in residence at A&M.
3. Your cumulative grade point average at A&M is a 2.0.
4. You are in good standing with the University.
If you have any transfer courses that were completed by the end of the Fall 1987 semester or before, which will en-
' able you to meet the 92 hour requirement, it is your responsibility to see that Transfer Admissions, Heaton Hall, re
ceives an official transcript from the school attended. These transfer credits must be entered onto your A&M tran
script before January 29, 1988. After that date, it will require 95 hours to qualify for a ring.
If you will complete 95 hours and all the other requirements at the end of the current spring semester, please come
by the Ring Office, Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center after February 5 to sign up for a preliminary eligibility
check. Further details will be available at that time about placing your application for a ring order during the se
mester.
Any student that has already met the requirements and wishes to order a ring in January, must come to the Ring
Office and fill out the form for eligibility to be verified. This must be done at least 2-3 days in advance of ordering.
January 29 is the deadline for ordering a ring for receipt prior to May graduation. February 26 is the deadline for the
receipt prior to August graduation. Office hours are 8:00-5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday.
Applications are now available for
the following RHA Executive Board
Positions in 215 Pavilion:
Chaplain
(Dir.) Fish Programs
(Assoc. Dir.) Freshman Leadership
Program
Secretary
It started with a mere “hello”
Around this time a year ago
We’d met at camp as most fish do
But departed with a sweet adieu
At the “C” our paths did cross
I couldn’t risk a second loss
Lunch I said “a friendly date”
twelve o’clock and don’t be late
He was early I knew he w'ould
Because the Band had taught him good
And at Sbisa lunch was delightful
though the food was a bit frightful
And from a simple lunch date grew ——
a bond of love between us two.
How about lunch Stephen
Love, Michelle
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