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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1988)
Friday, March 11, IQSSAThe Battalion/Page 5 Sports Brooks doesn’t deserve slam On the opinion page of Monday’s attalion, a reference was made in a letter to the editor suggesting that jformer A&M football players Kevin Murray, (iuy Broom and Chet Brooks were typical of the type of loung men Jackie Sher- Jill’s pro- |ram pro- luces. The prob- lems that |h a v e 1 a g u e d lurray and jlroom are vell-publi- ized. I’m in io position |o comment m what type f people Anthony Wilson Sports viewpoint hey are since I’ve never met them. However, I did meet and inter- iew Brooks numerous times last season, and I can sincerely say that he is by far the most pleasant and helpful athlete I’ve encountered at A&M in the year I’ve worked for The Battalion. I was angered that someone who has probably never met Brooks would pass judgement on him based on what he’s seen No. 27 do on a football field. It’s true that Brooks’ behavior on a football field will never be mis taken for proper civilian etiquette. A 5-foot-lI, 191-pound defensive back, Brooks may have been pound- for-pound the toughest football player in the nation last year. When he puts on his game face, he’s aggressive, intimidating and in tense. For instance, after breaking his leg in the Texas game, he got up and hobbled to the sideline. Know ing Chet, it was probably a living hell for the trainers and coaches to keep him from going back in. Coaches and opposing players may label Brooks a cheap-shot artist and his style of play as dirty. But ask those same players and coaches if they would want him on their team and every one of them snatch him up in a second. Brooks readily admits he plays rough. At a press conference before the Washington game this past sea son, Brooks described his bump- and-run style as “push them, hit them, intimidate them and a little word of mouth never hurt either. Of course it’s nothing you guys could print.” That may sound barbaric, but football is a rough game. Football players expect that kind of behavior from their opponents on the field. It’s just that Brooks has raised the art of aggravation to new heights. And really, what’s wrong with that? Brooks is simply an enthusias tic individual who truly loves to play ball. I never noticed anyone com plaining about his attitude during the fall semester. I wonder why? Be cause he was a major cog in a finely- tuned defense that propelled A&M into the Cotton Bowl perhaps? Off the field, Brooks is an upbeat guy who doesn’t mind speaking his mind. Personally, I wish his eligibil ity wasn’t completed. Because when I asked Brooks a question, I knew I was going to hear what he had to say — not what some pablum he thought the coaching staff wanted to hear. Sure, Brooks was always more than willing to compliment himself after a good game, tackle or inter ception. He often boasted that he hadn’t been beaten for a touchdown since he was at Dallas Carter High School (where besides being a blue- chip athlete he was also an honor student). I have no problem what soever with someone taking credit for his accomplishments as long as he also shoulders the blame for his failures. Brooks rarely failed on the foot ball field or in the classroom in his four years at A&M. (He will be two hours away from a sociology degree at the end of tfiis semester.) How ever, when he did fail on the field, he took the heat like a man, refusing to shy away from the burden. Basically, the person who wrote the letter shares an attitude about athletes that many people have: We expect the best of them on the field and the worst of them off the field. Frankly that attitude stinks like moldy tuna fish. After meeting and talking with dozens of A&M athletes, I can assure you that they are basically like every one else. On the whole, they’re no dumber, smarter, richer, poorer, nicer or meaner than anyone else. In fact, on the whole, they’re fairly av erage. But because of the actions of a few “bad apples,” the whole lot has been graded as spoiled. However, every group, including the Corps, frats, sororities, Fish Camp, student gov ernment and even The Battalion, has its bad apples. So lighten up out there. If you took the.fime to get to know some of these guys instead of judging them immediately, you might find some nice guys. Like Chet Brooks. Aggie men’s tennis team easily takes care of Miners The Texas A&M men’s tennis team continued to play well, de- [feating Texas-El Paso 7-2 Thurs- lay at the Omar Smith Tennis ’-enter. The Aggies are now 9-4 on the /ear after a 2-2 performance in the HEB Collegiate Tournament Kn Corpus Christi. In singles play, A&M’s No.l seed Dean Johnson continued to [have a tough year, losing to UTEP’s Patrick Ekstrand 7-6, 6-2. In other action, A&M’s Shaun O’Donovan defeated Richard Dopson 6-2, 6-3; Steve Kennedy beat the Miners’ Anders Skold 6- 2, 6-3, and Craig Whitteker of A&M defeated Faisel Rahman 6- 3,6-4. Also in singles play, the Aggies’ Mike Chambers defeated Oyster LUleberg 6-3, 6-4, and A&M’s Mike Campbell beat Rick Avey 6- 2, 6-3. Henderson powers Yanks to 8-6 win over Rangers PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — Rickey Henderson hit two home runs, singled and scored another run to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-6 victory against Texas Rang ers. Henderson led off the game with a home run off Edwin Correa, and broke a 4-4 tie with a bases-empty home run against Jose Guzman with two outs in the fifth. He also singled after Joel Skinner had walked in the third, both of them scoring on a sin gle by Willie Randolph. Pete O’Brien hit his second home run of the season leading off the sec ond inning for Texas, and Pete Inca- viglia followed a lead-off walk to O’Brien in the fourth with his first home run of the spring, tying the game at 4-4. Richard Dotson, who gave up four runs in four innings including both home - runs, was credited with the victory. Steive Sheilds got the fi nal two outs to earn the save. Deadline nears for state’s biggest meet Ironmen who want to test their endurance and strength in the grueling March 26 Texas Triath lon Seven hosted by the A&M triathlon club have until Sunday to enter the competition. Bob Talamini, co-founder of the Triathlon Club, said it is the biggest event of its kind in the state. Last year about 800 people participated, and this year the club expects as many 900 to com pete. The race starts at Wofford Cain Pool with a one-kilometer swim. Immediately after the swimming race, competitors will run 10 kilometers on campus and Triathlon then mount their bicycles for a 30-kilorqeter bike race along FM 2818. The Triathlon Club was orga nized almost a year and a half ago to help athletes prepare for races. Talamini said the club is open to anyone. However, most of the members are students. The club members travel around the state to compete and members help each other im prove their techniques. The entry fee for the triathlon is $32.50 for individuals and $55 for teams. Aggies breeze into championships The Texas A&M sailing team blew away the competition at the district qualifier regatta last week end at White Rock Lake in Dallas. A&M nosed out ninth-ranked archrival Texas, which placed second. SMU finished third in the nine-team field. The Aggies will advance to the district championship on March 26-27 against 13 teams. The district championship determines who gets a berth to the national cham pionships in May. “Realistically, we have a shot at the top two in district ling championship and that will get us there,” freshman team member David Hiebert said. “We’re right up there on the top level and our team has a lot of depth.” Sailing club president Jeff Wheless agreed that the team has depth and said the team’s success has been suprising. “We did a lot better than peo ple expected us to do,” Wheless said. All 18 team members have good sailing skills, he said. Aggies bowling for championships Ten Aggies will be hoping to “strike” it rich today and Satur day at the collegiate sectional bowling competition in Amarillo. The Texas A&M bowling team hopes to burn up the alleys against teams from Kansas, Okla homa, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The event’s top two teams advance to the National Colle giate Bowling Championship April 16-17 in Denver. Six men were chosen from the 12 players on the team, and the women’s team will send all five of its players, club president Paul Slater said. A bowling team con sists of five players and one alter nate. The men’s team consists of Slater, David Dover, Paul Janish, Bill Gibson, Richard Duncan, Bowling and Mike Shoemaker. The team is a few places out of the top 20. Shoemaker is ranked in the top five nationally in the individual standings. Shoemaker, who has bowled a perfect 300 game this year, is one of nine players in the nation nominated for Bowler of the Year. The A&M women’s team is ranked No. 20. Alix Brown, Traci Johannes, Patti Kellerman, Susan Evans and Renee Smith comprise the team. “We are going to have to have a really good tournament by every one,” Slater said. “With a little luck and good bowling, I think we have a pretty good chance to make it to nationals.” Bad luck stymies volleyballers again The Texas A&M volleyball team ran into a major kink and got dinked for a fourth place fin ish in a tournament at San Anto nio College last weekend. A&M finished fourth by win ning two games, each by a score of 15-12. The Aggies did manage a win against the second-place team. Club president Eddie Whitter Men's Volleyball said the club experienced the- same bad luck it has faced in other tournaments. A&M planned on taking two teams to the tournament but lacked enough players to do so. Players from both teams, who were not used to playing with each other, were combined to form one team. i LUXURY APARTMENTS re After graduation, this will be your first smart move. 55’ At Lincoln Property Company, all you need is this ad and a copy of your diploma and we’ll forget about the credit check and the security deposit when you move into your LPC apartment home.* Now that’s a smart move. You’ve finally made it, and we at LPC believe you deserve this great graduation present! Call the Lincoln Lifestyle Center today at (214) 373-9300 for a complete list ing of the 20,000 apartment homes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, including The Village. Let us introduce you to The Lincoln Lifestyle! *Plus we’ll give you a $300 rebate on your 1st f u ll month’s rent. Offer expires July 1, 1988. Offer good only at participating LPC communities. We've got the best apartments in Dallas! Lincoln Property Company 214/373-9300 Attention Seniors! Interested in representing the Class of ’88 as Co-Class Agent? Responsibilities for Class Agents include writing Class letters, attending Association of Former Students Council meetings twice yearly and planning your five-year Class reunion. Class Agent elections will be held at the Senior Induction Banquets April 4 & 5. ** Pick up descriptions of Class Agent responsibilities and an ap plication at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center. You must fill out an application to be eligible to run. A MANDATORY informational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 at the Clayton Williams Center. **For more information, call Frances Jones, 845-7514. ** ** Battalion (Classified 845-2611