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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1988)
Tuesday, August 2, 1988/The Battalion/Page 5 Sports Thousand Oaks never boring Old-timer Rafferty surviving 13th camp New Bronco Dorsett bitter over Cowboys’ raw deal THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Tom Raf ferty can barely hold his head up after another grueling training camp practice. “This is what 13 years as a cen ter in the NFL will do to you,” Rafferty says. “You can barely look up.” Rafferty is one of the oldtimers in the 1988 Dallas Cowboys’ train ing camp. He has played in every regular season game since 1976, a string of 177 consecutive games. Of course, the strike replacement games of 1987 are excluded. Rafferty is only 19 games short of Bob Lilly’s club record streak of 195, which includes post-sea son games. Every year he comes to camp, he hears about somebody beating him out. Rafferty is 34 years old. “The pro scouts always said I was too small at Penn State and that’s probably why I wasn’t drafted until the fourth round,” he said. Now Rafferty is 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds. George Lilja, a 290-pounder, was giving Rafferty a heated run for the starting position until Lilja fractured a finger which will keep him out of the lineup for two months. Second-year center Bob White also was making a strong run un- DAL1 .AS (AP) — Tony Dorsett told a television station that he be came a bitter sitter, watching from the bench as newcomer Hersehcl Walker, without warn ing, took over his starting Dallas Cowboys tailback spot. “The only thirty I didn’t like about all this stuff is the way 1 was treated,” Dorsett said in an inter view Sunday with television sta tion WFAA. “I was never told they were going to start Berschel. 1 learned through the media.” Dorsett, who was traded to the Denver Broncos, thought he de served more consideration in Dal las. “I played 11 years, gave a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” said Dor sett, who was traded to the Bron cos before NFL training camps opened. But Dorsett said lie was told til he suffered a severe thigh bruise. “1 just keep hanging in there,” Rafferty said. “I could still im prove my run blocking but I the Cowboys wanted to establish a “youth movement.” “That’s another reason why I said this isn’t for me,” he said, “You don’t treat me like that.” Walker, who has been settling into his role as sole backfield su perstar, said he can understand why Dorsett feels a bitter, “The guy gave his heart,” Walker sard. “He gave everything to Dallas. He’s piled up so many yards in Texas Stadium. “And this year, he may be the second all-time rusher in the NFL, and he’s got to finish his ca reer somewhere else, ft’s like be ing pulled out of your home.” Dorsett said his being traded shocked several other NFL veter ans and has become a lesson. “ft enlightens all the players here about what all this business is all about,” he said. think I do a good overall job. “Fm not the quickest person in the world but I’m not the slowest, either.” Offensive line Coach Jim F.r- kenbeck called Rafferty “a 100 percent guy.” “He just doesn’t cruise around,” Erkenbeck said. “When he plays, he goes all out. He’s the kind of guy you like on your team. He’ll get down in the ditch and battle for you.” Rafferty is the answer to one of the NFL’s best trivia questions: Who sprang the pivotal block on running back Tony Dorsett’s re cord 99-yard touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings in 1983? “Centers don’t normally get a lot of publicity but maybe I’ll be remembered for that one,” he said. Rafferty was also the butt of one of the biggest practical jokes in Cowboys’ training camp his tory. An avid chip eater, Rafferty was set up by Roger Staubach, who mixed dry dog food in a bowl with the other legitimate hu man snacks. Rafferty ate the whole bowl. He wondered why teammates would bark at him every time he tried to talk to them. Finally, it dawned on him what Staubach had done. To this day, Rafferty’s nick name is “RUFF.” Francis to miss THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — With right cornerback Ron Francis out with an injury, Rob ert Williams and Manny Hendrix will split the playing time in the Dallas Cowboys’ exhibition game Saturday night against the Chargers in San Diego, Cowboys coach Tom Landry said. Francis, who started 11 games for the Cowboys in 1987 in his rookie season, dislocated his left shoulder while tackling fullback Timmy News ome in Saturday’s annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage. Francis will remain in camp while wearing a shoulder harness for three weeks. “It’s a big blow to lose him,” Landry said of Francis, Dallas’ second round draft choice last year. “He needed this camp to really progress further.” Williams is a second-year veteran and Hendrix a third-year veteran. Neither has played much at the position. weekend game “Williams will probably move up, since he’s been working over there all the time,” Landry said. “Manny’s been working on the other side. “I’m hoping I’m going to be very comfortable with whoever winds up as the starter. . . . They have to produce now that they are in that posi tion. They’ll probably split the game. I don’t know who will start.” Williams, 5-10, 190, played running back at Baylor, and was in the Washington Redskins camp in 1986 as a receiver. He was moved to de fensive back when signed by the Cowboys in 1987. After being released in training camp, Wil liams was re-signed for the replacement games during the strike, and started all three games at cornerback. After the strike, Williams remained with the team, and was used primarily as an extra defensive hack in the team’s pass-prevent de- with Chargers tense and on special teams. “He has great speed,” Landry said. “He moved from offensive back to defensive hack last year and handled himself fairly well for his first year. In Hendrix, the Cowboys have a player who made his mark as a basketball star at Utah. The Cowboys cut Hendrix during his first training camp, but re-signed him a month later. He has been used primarily as an extra defender in the pass-prevent defense and on special teams. Hen drix’s lone pro start was in the Cowboys’ season finale last year, when he played well in Dallas’ 21- 16 win over the Cardinals. “He’s still overcoming some of the basketball background,” said Landry. “He’s got great speed, too. He’s probably one of the fastest cornerbacks that we’ve ever had here.” IE s Giants pass Astros with 4-1 victory SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alice Hanimaker pitched a five-hitter and Will Clark had three extra base hits, including his 23rd homer, as the San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros 4-1 Monday night for their sixth straight victory and ninth in 11 games. The Giants started the day tied for second with Houston in the Na tional League West, 4 1 /z games be hind Los Angeles. Hammaker, 5-3, struck out three and walked one for his first victory as a starter this season and first com plete game since Aug. 8, 1987. The only run off the left-hander was unearned. Clark drove in the first two runs off Nolan Ryan, 8-8, with a double in the first inning and his homer in the third. He had another double in the fifth. Ryan had 11 strikeouts in seven innings, the 179th time in his career he’s struck out 10 or more men in a has htf aro» opes uti' e ral in? I Tl Students! Work Smart. Work Simply... With Hewlett-Packard! 17B $90.00 19B $140.00 22S $50.00 32S $57.00 27S $90.00 28S $190.00 41 VC $140.00 41-CV $200.00 71 B $500.00 HEWLETT PACKARD AUTHORIZED HEWLETT-PACKARD DEALER 505 Church Street • College Station, Texas (409) 846-5332 game. Ryan raised his major league- record career strikeout total to 4,703. The two runs batted in raised Clark’s league-leading RBI total to 81. In the first. Giants’ outfielder Brett Butler walked, went to second on a balk, to third on Robby Thomp son’s sacrifice and scored when Clark blooped a double to short right field. Shortstop Jose Uribe had an RBI single in the fourth to make the score 3-0. Houston scored in the seventh on an RBI single by Ken Caminiti, who was recently called up from Hous ton’s triple-A club. Right fielder Ke vin Bass led off with a single, his sec ond of the game and only the second hit for the Astros, advanced to sec ond base on a passed ball and to third on a groundnut by fellow out fielder Billy Hatcher. Thompson hit his fourth homer of the year in the seventh. SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW! THE LION IN WINTER By James Goldman Few since Shakespeare have had Goldman's marvelous gift for truly comic repartee. "... a work of intelligence!" - The New York Times A special preview for TAMU students only! Presented by MSC Summer Dinner Theatre and The Aggie Players. August 3 Performance at 7:45 Rm 201 MSC $2.00 at the door For more information, call the MSC Box Office 845-1234 A&M to present case to NCAA in mid-August Texas A&M officials will present their findings of an investigation into the alleged 38 rule and proce dural violations by the A&M football program to the NCAA Committee on Infractions at an Aug. 13 meeting in Syracuse, N.Y. A&M was notified by letter Friday that its case will be heard at the Na tional Collegiate Athletic Association meeting. If the allegations are substan tiated, A&M could receive any com bination of penalties including loss of scholarships, and bans on tele vision and bowl game appearances, and conference championships. If A&M fails to disprove the charges, the penalties would affect future seasons, not the 1988 campaign. A&M President William Mobley released this statement Monday con- rerrnnP' the hearin< T ! “I plan to be an active participant in the session and will be joined by several other institutional represen tatives, including President Emeritus Frank E. Vandiver; Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Jackie Sherrill; Dr. Tom Adair, chairman of the University’s Athletic Council, and Ted Hajovsky, general counsel. “Obviously, we look forward to re solving this matter as quickly as pos sible and to the satisfaction of every one involved. We are naturally concerned about the allegations; even one allegation would be a source of concern. One point I want to emphasize particularly is that throughout this process the aca demic integrity and Fiscal integrity of the University overall and the ath letic program have remained above reproach.” Oilers’ receiving duo dubbed ‘untouchable 5 SAN MARCOS (AP) — It wasn’t enough for the Houston Oilers’ wide receiver duo of Ernest Givins and Drew Hill to be virtually untouch able last season. Givins and Hill were sinister enough, piling up more receiving yardage as a pair than any other NFL tandem over the past two sea sons. Now they plan to call themselves “The Untouchables” as a group, pat terning themselves after the A1 Ca pone gang. “I saw the movie and A1 Capone was a bad man so we feel our coach (Jerry Glanville) will be A1 Capone and we’ll be the bad guys,” Givins said. “We won’t have any guns. We’ll do our damage on the football field.” Givins and Hill did quite well with out a nickname last season when they caught passes for a combined 1,922 yards. Givins caught 53 passes for 933 yards and narrowly missed becom ing the fourth receiver in NFL his tory to have 1,000 yards in each of his first two years. The idea of “The Untouchables” came from teammate wide receiver Willie Drewrey, who thought it would help the group get recogni tion. “By being ‘The Untouchables,’ I feel like it will give us more recogni tion, not for a showboat-type deal,” Givins said. “It’s just to build confi dence in the receiving corps.” When the Oilers decide on the five or six receivers who make the team, the group plans to don their gangster suits and pose for a poster. For games, they’ll be recognized by “The Untouchables” printed across the backs of their shoes. The nickname could bring more notriety than the receivers want but Givins doesn’t care. “I don’t care what kind of attitude it brings from other teams,” Givins said. “Cleveland has the ‘Dogs’ out there, Denver has the ‘Three Ami-! gos.’ “In Houston we have ‘The Un touchables.’ It’s all in fun, mainly for the kids and the entertainment part of the game.” Givins wants the entire receiving corps included. “The idea is we don’t just have one or two receivers that can hurt you, we’ve got five or six,” he said. “It’s not one person doing some thing, it’s all five or six.” Givins was colorful enough last' season, doing his “Cabbage Patch” dance in the end zone after each of his six touchdowns. Now that the Oilers have reached the playoffs and will again receive national television exposure this sea son, Givins is taking the fun se-, riously. “We’ve got a chance to go to the playoffs again and to the Super Bowl,” he said. “We have to realize when we get in the playoffs, that it’s business.” Givins would like to get hack on the 1,000-yard track this season and earn a spot in the Pro Bowl. “My only personal goal this year is to make the Pro Bowl because that’s the only thing I haven’t done,” Gi vins said. The new nickname will give the Oiler receivers exposure just as reaching the playoffs did last year, Givins says. ] DEFENSIVE DRIVING CLASS TICKET DISMISSAL - INSURANCE DISCOUNT Aug. 5, (6-10 p.m.), Aug. 6, (8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) Aug. 10, 11 (6-10 p.m.) 845-1631