Paae 10 The Battalion Thursday, October 20,1988 ENTRY FEE p-, PER COUPLE PICK UP REGISTRATION FORM AT YOUR NEAREST SPONSOR! THE BEST TIME ALLOWED BY LAW! .JA* 21016 S. Sam Houston, Huntsville 291-2538 One of these teams is not like the others CTWP "Best Prices in Town!†Super Fall Special XTTURBO Now! $750 00 Complete System 1 yr warranty parts & labor This Saturday the Texas Aggies face one of the toughest challenges they will have all year when the Rice Owls visit Kyle Field. No. 1 haven’t gone insane! The big challenge isn’t beating the winless Owls. Instead, the test for A&M is to avoid overlooking the Owls because of their won- loss record. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Aggie players watching the Arkansas-Houston game on the sidelines Saturday while their own game is going on. What is Jackie Sherrill going to do to get his team Fired up to play? Maybe he’ll throw chairs around the locker room and break a blackboard in half. Anything to keep the players awake. If you look at the Owls’ won-loss record over the past few years, not to mention their record of the past 25 years, it’s almost impossible to imagine Rice beat ing any team in the Southwest Conference. Since 1982, Rice has won only four SWC games and lost 46. That’s a dazzling winning percentage of .080! The last time Rice had a team with a winning record was when the Owls went 6-4. In all games, beginning with the 1982 season. Rice has a record of 1 1-60. The Owls simply don’t belong in the SWC! Rice doesn't spend huge amounts of money on re cruiting, and they actually make their players meet the academic standards all the other students at Rice have to meet. Can you believe that? What Rice needs to do is become a part of a new league made up of teams from schools with either equally high academic reputations or football teams that win about as often as the Owls do. This league would include ten teams from around the country that have earned membership in the league by virtue of their poor performance in football in the last two decades. The ten teams I have selected for our fictional con ference are: Northwestern, Duke, Kansas State. Kan sas, New Mexico, Georgia Tech, Army, Navy, Van derbilt and, of course, Rice. The schools would benefit from grouping these teams together because their teams would actually have the chance to have a winning season. While continuing to field teams without buying players and Doug Walker Assistant Sports Editor relaxing academic standards for athletes. Most all of these schools haven’t been competitive in the past twenty years. However, there are excep tions. Army and Navy have remained competitive with the major powers by utilizing the wishbone offense. They don’t usually beat any of the top teams on their sched ules, but they arc competitive. By using the wishbone formation, they are able to neutralize the size advantage teams from larger schools have by executing their offense exceptionally well. The wishbone relies on quickness, speed and execution to be successful. Size is not a factor. Army is out to a 5-1 start this year while Navy is 3-3. Duke is another team that has gotten out to a good start this season after years of hard times. I he Blue Devils have used a strong passsing attack to propel them to 5-1 record. Howcvr, the gap between Duke and the real powers of college football was made pain fully evident last Saturday by the Clcmson Tigers. Clemson pounded Duke, 49-21. Georgia Tech is another school with a rich football tradition that has fallen on hard times. For many years the Yellow Jackets were competitive members of the Southeastern Conference. Tech was always an impor tant factor in national rankings and developed great ri valries with Alabama and Georgia. Tech’s withdrawal from the SEC in the late ’50s pre cipitated its fall from football prowess. After years as an independent, Tech joined the At lantic Coast Conference in 1983. Even with coaches like Bill Curry and Bobby Ross, the Yellow Jackets have not won a league title. Curry finally left his alum mater,andloohl bama job while Ross, ins replacementaadn* several ACC titles at Maryland, just pickedfl| first win over a Division I opponent streak of 15 losses) last week against eiifej South Carolina. Vanderbilt is another great academicscbtvial cannot compete week after w eek with tope The last time Vandy strung together consecc-J ning seasons was in the early 1970s. Evctjsj while the Commodores spring an upset likellssl week against an injury-riddled Honda tear I most part, this is a team that, like Rice,catsi| most teams for three quarters before gettingli in the fourth period. Northwestern tuids itself in a situatwivefl to what Rice faces. As a member of the Biti| Afj/Jca/.s are fortunate to win an\ leaguet simply can’t expect to win many moreinliiei ture. Northwestern is an excellent university, the ftxitball team can’t compote with otksj members. It’s not unusual for the Wildcats to go imwti cnee game as 40-point underdogs. What eta they have going against Michigan or OhioSsl about 100.000 screaming fanatics yellingatfel a joke! 1 include Kansas, Kansas State and Neufej the league simply because they are teniHl programs. 1 find it hard to see why thesesdws| field competitive teams. Maybe the top players don't like the surnffidj Kansas or New Mexico. Kansas and K-Statc need to leave theirbsj Big Eight Conference) more than any olheittsj tioned previously. It must be a sick feeling to walk ontoi against a team like Nebraska or Oklahomaui| that you're going to allow at least 70pointu be lucky if you don’t lose by that much. Maybe if these teams could gel together league of their own football would non# more rewarding and fun for the players,Kj their supporters would be more supportive. At keyboard Monochrome Monitor Monochrome Graphics Parrallel Port 8088-2(4.77/8 Mnz.) 512k Ram 360k Floppy 2 hours Free Training 693-8080 2553 Texas Ave. S. College Station McWilliam (Continued from page 9) there and shattered that mark. Q: How did your play compare that of your teammates? A: I think it was above. 1 led in all but one offensive stat —home runs. Defensi vely, I think I’m a pretty good outfielder. We had a couple of good outfielders and a couple of terrible ones. I was in there every day, unless I needed a day off. Q: Was it a dissapointment not to get drafted? A: Yes, definitely. Throughout my last season here I thought I had a good chance to be drafted. I didn’t know exac tly what a scout was looking for. But the way 1 was hitting, 1 thought 1 was good enough. 1 have average speed, and that might be one of the reasons I wasn’t drafted. But I saw a lot of guys in Ari zona slower than me that did get drafted. Another reason was probably a lack of publicity while I played here, which is also probably a reason I didn't make the All-Southwest Conference team. If the word s out on you tiie scouis will iierc about you. Q: It has to be exciting to go back next year after leading the team. How far do you expect to climb? A: Honestly, I expect to at least go to the highest level of A ball in Riverside, Calif., or possibly an outside shot at A A ball in Wichita, Kansas. But being a non-drafted player, it’s extremely hard to tell what the organization has in store for you. Q: Anything about A&M you missed when you were away? A: As far as baseball goes, I miss the atmosphere we had at Olsen Field. Espe cially the announcing of “D.D.†Grubbs —my roommate, I told him I would mention him. I missed getting to get on with my degree. I also missed going to see horror movies with “Roach†Medina and Kerry Freudenberg. Q: With baseball, are your expecta tions of finishing school realistic. A: Definitely, but it’s hard to put a timetable on that. After this semester, HAIR & TANNING SALON it’s hard to tell when I’ll have the time to come back and finish. Q: What are your plans if baseball doesn’t work out? A: If it doesn’t work out, l plan to fin ish my degree and get an honest job laughing. Q: Is baseball not an honest job? A: According to some people, no. According to me, yes. People look at athletes and they don’t like to see them earning tremendous amounts of money. When in effect, being a pro athlete takes a lot of hard work to make it to the top. Q: What do you want to get out of baseball? A: The reason I’m playing is that I would like to make it to the top and make some good money out of it. I have a goal to make the majors if possible. I’m at such a developmental stage, though, it’s hard to tell. 1 might play one more year or 15 more. Q: Did anything out of the ordinary happen to you in Scottsdale? A: There was a midnight fight be tween some players on thctesni one guy kicked off. It goes to ^ easily it all can end. We weref® being fined by the coaches.M (to Tucson) on my day off®' 1 got back I got shocked with a-'-j for missing curfew, which I'® 1 of. But for the time I had inf® $25 was worth it. Q: What is the most impcV] in your life right now? A: School is important-eva] my grades have a funny wayoo it. As soon as the semesteredv becomes a top priority. Batsh 1 " ball and school is my girlfn:/- in Tucson. With her, event: falls in place. Q: Any last words? A: Never give up onyo was the only 11-year-old on i team full of 12-year-olds,Fwt on. 1 knew 1 had somthinslo®! I’m still shooting higherawitM will continue until I reaclti leagues. 700 University Drive East 846-7995 846-8663 $35 Perms $10 Haircuts Mon-Fri 9-9 Sat 9-6 NOW Open Located Between University Book Store & 24 Hr. Gyms ThfU 10/3 1 • We Deliver • 846-5273 • We Deliver • 8465J?S ifi&M Steakhouii g 108 College Main J Announces A Breakfast Special! ( Monday thru Sunday 7am - 10:30am) ► 2 Eggs qa ► 2 Bacon or Sausage ^ | ► 2 Pancakes • We Deliver • 846-5273 • with this coupon We Deliver • 84641'’