The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 10, 1988, Image 13
Thursday, November 10,1988 The Battalion Page 13 weeney DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Sweeney has to produce against the Minnesota Vi kings on Sunday as starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, or Steve Pelluer could have his job back. ■‘Tm getting my shot, and that’s all I’ve ever asked for,” Sweeney said. “I’m not going to say I’m out there to Jrrorize the NFL. I just hope the players ral ly with me and we can win the next six Mmes. ’ ’ ■He added, “I have to face the test be fore I can give the answers. ’ ’ ■ Pelluer said he wasn’t surprised at Tom Landry’s decision to replace him. “I will be as supportive of Kevin as I n. But I have the confidence I can do ; job if I get it back. This is just one step back in my career,” Pelluer said. ■ Landry announced on Tuesday that Sweeney, whom he once cut after train- Hg camp, is his starter for the time be- ¥ ■“Kevin earned the start, but the worse 'thing that can happen is for people to ex pect him to be a miracle worker against the Vikings,” Landry said. ■With the Cowboys trailing 26-0, Sweeney — a seventh-round pick in Photo by Jay/: game of the Lad;l| in. season and 4-4 in :nce play. The L >-12 and 5-3. •am set records fa s -('439). Lori with 33 digsofhei c Julie Gates also ose tackle luspended or 30 days HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Oil- krs nose tackle Doug Smith has been [uspended 30 days for violating the klFL’s substance abuse policy, the league told the Oilers in a statement /ednesday. Smith was placed on the Oilers’ hon-football injury list and will not be flowed at the club’s practice facility the 30-day period which started Tuesday, the NFL statement said. Smith was having the best season [>f his four-year career and will miss a linimum of four games. Oilers officials said today they vould have no comment on Smith’s Suspension. Smith; who was tested under the Jeasonable-cause portion of the league policy, becomes the 22nd player disciplined by the NFL this Season. Hal Gamer of Buffalo also re ceived a 30-day suspension today. The Oilers will be able to replace Smith on the roster. He will be placed pn the reserve non-football illness list. record was even msidcring she wasp ore shoulder and as ggies/Page 13 Because the tradipg deadline assed last month, the team probably will have to sign a nqse tackle to play reserve role until Smith returns. Smith was embroiled in contro- d team" record off ® ,ers Y in early September when he had consecutive unexcused absences, bach Jerry Glanville sent him home when he showed up for practice. After meeting with General Man- iger Ladd Herzeg, Smith returned to practice the next day and said he had jassed the league-administered drug :est. Glanville and Herzeg refused to omment. Smith was in the lineup for the sea- son-opening victory at Indianapolis and has played near peak form during 17-3 season. Under terms of the league’s policy, f: a 30-day suspension means the player has tested positive before. ^ f If Smith tests positive a third time, te will be banned from the NFL for ife but could seek reinstatement after < a year. must make most of his shot 1987 — came off the bench to replace Pelluer for the second half of Sunday’s game with the New York Giants. Swee ney threw three touchdown passes, and Dallas lost only 29-21. Dallas has lost its last six games in a row and is 2-8 for the season under Pel luer as a starter. Landry said starting is a lot more diffi cult than being the relief quarterback. “It’s a little different when you tee it up from the first tee,” Landry said. “Kevin is confident and I believe he will get the job done, but we can’t expect miracles. It will be interesting to see what he can do.” Sweeney started and won two games last year as a member of the “Rhinestone Cowboys” replacement team. “The players have a lot of respect for him,” Landry said. “He is exciting and he has the ability to throw deep. Some say he isn’t mobile enough but when you run for your life you can get pretty fast. ’’ Landry said Pelluer took his demotion in stride. “He was fine,” Landry said. “He is a team player.” Asked if he was influenced by club president Tex Schramm, a longtime Sweeney backer, Landry quipped “No, Tex lets me dig my own graves.” But Schramm was clearly pleased with the choice. ‘ ‘The fans are anxious to see some ex citement. I’ve said all along, it’s up to us to create the excitement,” Schramm said. “There was just something special about Sweeney in the replacement games. Of course, once he starts, he has to perform like anybody else. ’ ’ Asked how long he thought a fan hon eymoon with Sweeney would last, Schramm said, “Oh, probably about two interceptions.” The player reaction was immediately positive. “Why not give the guy a shot?” asked linebacker Steve DeOssie. “He’s played great and deserves it. It will get the team pumped up, that’s for sure. It will be ex citing.” Injured quarterback Danny White said: “I just hope there isn’t too much pres sure on Kevin. I hope he can handle it.” Landry said Sweeney must earn the starter’s job from week to week. “Pelluer is tough enough to handle this,” Landry said. “If Sweeney keeps playing well, then he has a chance to stay as the starter. He’s the starter now, but that doesn’t mean anything in the perma nence of the position. I’m not disap pointed in Steve at all.” Landry’s announcement at his weekly press conference immediately lit up the Cowboys’ ticket switchboard for Sunday night’s nationally televised game with the Vikings. “We’re getting a lot of calls, that’s for sure,” ticket manager Steve Orsini said. “We still have plenty of tickets left.” Dallas had 18,500 tickets for sale when Landry made the announcement. Officials said about 100 tickets were sold Tuesday morning, before the news of Sweeney’s scheduled start, and about six times that many were sold Tuesday af ternoon. Sweeny found out about his promotion while shopping for his wife’s birthday present. “I’m excited,” he said. “All I ever asked for was a chance.’ ’ Sweeney said he felt for Pelluer. “I hope we can still be good friends,” Sweeney said. “I believe we can still work together. ’ ’ Highsmith over fumble fear HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Oiler fullback Alonzo Highsmith hopes he never loses his fear of losing, but he’s overcome his fear of fumbling. “The first half of the season, I found myself, if I took a toss sweep, the first thing I was worried about was fumbling the football,” Highsmith said. “When you’re a running back you can’t think like that.” Highsmith, the Oilers’ No. 1 pick last season, came with a reputation as a pow erful blocker but he was tagged early as being fumble prone. But the past two weeks, the Oilers have gone to Highsmith in key situations and he’s responded with strong running performances. “I’ve said to myself the second half of the season, ‘Alonzo, do yourself a favor and just run, regardless if you fumble or make a mistake,”’ Highsmith said. Highsmith gained 75 yards on eight carries in a 41-17 victory over Washing ton and in Monday night’s 24-17 victory over Cleveland, he got eight carries for 40 yards. The Oilers went to Highsmith on a key third down play in the first quarter Mon day when Highsmith took a direct snap and gained 8 yards for a first down. Highsmith scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter for his first touch down of the season. “I’m going to be the back that I can be,” Highsmith said. “I’m just a step away from taking one 50 or 60 yards. I’m one game away from where I left off last year.” The 7-3 Oilers are back on the road this week, where all three of their losses have come this year. Lady Aggies (Continued from page 12) The records weren’t limited to the Lady Cougars. A&M’s Yvonne Van Brandt, who came in to the game leading the SWC in digs average, set a school re cord with 38 digs. Senior Vivian Viera set a school record with 75 kill attempts. A&M Coach A1 Givens said, “The in dividual efforts are nice for the girls, but they (the records) lose a little bit of their luster because of the loss.” A&M started off slow but was able to come back in the first two games. The Lady Ags fell behind 5-0 in the first game before going on a 15-5 run. The Ags found themselves down 11-5 in the second game before they rattled off 10 of the next 11 points to go up 2-0. A&M fell behind again in the third game, but this time they were unable to overcome Johnson and Gates as the Cou gars won 15-6. Houston Coach Bill Walton said, “I felt we could win the third game since A&M was up 2-0 and might relax. I thought the crowd would get back in the match for Game 4.” The Lady Cougars didn’t give the crowd that chance. They raced to an early 7-3 lead, and thwarted a Lady Ag gie charge to win the game on six con secutive points. Givens said, “The loss was very dis- sappointing in that we stopped serving aggressively in the third game and that let them back in the game. If we had con tinued to serve like we did in the first two games, we would have won in three.” In the deciding fifth game A&M jumped to an early 3-0 lead. But Houston came back to dominate the game for a 15-8 win and the match. A&M’s next game is Friday night in G. Rollie White Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. against Louisiana State. Espinosa (Continued from page 12) shrugs off any praise and credits his suc cess at tennis and in the classroom to the tough public education system in Mex ico. “In Mexico it’s very different from the United States,” Espinosa said. “There sports aren’t stressed at all. Studies are the most important thing, and they don’t care if you are doing well at sports if you aren’t doing well in your classes.” Espinosa said he noticed the differ ence in education when he started his collegiate career at Alvin two years ago. “High school in Mexico is like college in the United States,” Espinosa said. “You have to decide what you are going to do earlier in life. When I got to Alvin I realized how far I was ahead academi cally. But here at A&M it is much hard er.” Espinosa has his sights set on playing professional tennis some day. However, if that doesn’t work out, he wants to go back to Mexico and work in the stock market. “I like the stock market,” Espinosa said. “I like all facets of it and I like to be where things are happening.” Gus has made a lot happen this fall for the Aggies and hopes he can help the team compete for the SWC title this year. “I think that we have a chance to win it if we keep improving,” Gus said. “We play Arkansas here this year and we’ve done pretty well against the other teams so far in the early tournaments.” A&M has competed in several tourna ments this fall in which other SWC teams have appeared. The Aggies have had some success against the conference teams, including Texas, Rice and TCU. Arkansas is the one SWC team which has stopped the Aggies in those tourna ments. When talking about the Aggies’ chances in the SWC and against the Ra- zorbacks, Gus was typically confident and upbeat. “We have a chance if we play to our potential,” Gus said. “We play (Arkan sas) here this year, and we’re really ex cited about our chances.” ■v ids) until 9s Now there’s a Parkside in Bryan- College Station. Parkside Medical Services Corporation, a not-for-profit corporation, owns or operates more than eighty facilities for the treatment of alcoholism, drug dependencies, eating disorders and psychiatric illnesses throughout the United States and Sweden. Parkside’s facilities are affiliates of the Lutheran General Health Care System, a network including the Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago, and a number of other health care related organizations. And now, in Bryan/College Station, Parkside Outpatient Services has an alcohol and drug abuse treatment center with specialized programs for adults. 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