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struggling HBIJ
By Jerry Boiz
Assistant Sports Editor
The Texas A&M Aggies and the
Houston Baptist Huskies stumbled
over each other for 40 minutes
Wednesday in front of 1,739, with
the Aggies coming out on top 79-67.
Senior forward Donald Thompson,
who led the Aggies in scoring with 16
points, thought the team took the
Huskies too lightly.
“It's a good thing they counted the
win because we came out and played
sluggish,” he said. “1 guess we took
HBU as a joke. Coach never told us
their record. If he had told us, they
probably would have beat us.”
A total of four players fouled out of
the sloppily-played game, with four
others finishing one foul short of the
limit. Darren Rhea, who had three in
the first half, was the only casualty
for A&M.
Guard David Williams said the Ag
gies need to get more serious about
playing.
“1 think we need to work,” he said.
“1 think we've been playing around.
We’ve been winning big, but we need
to work.”
“I didn’t feel like anybody had an
outstanding game,” he said. “We’re
gonna have to have about nine play
ers to compete.”
All sloppiness aside, the Aggies
still had no problem with HBU (1-5).
They never trailed and the game was
tied only once at 5-5.
Senior forward Doug Dennis
started an eight-point run for the Ag
gies with an outside jumper at about
the eight minute point of the first
half. The next six points were scored
on free throws, including two by
Thompson after a technical foul on
HBU Coach Tommy Jones, to put
A&M up 27-15.
The referees played the biggest
role in the game, calling 19 fouls in
the first half and 30 in the second.
Both teams were in the seven-foul
shooting bonus for the game’s final
14 minutes.
The Huskies got within five with
two minutes left in the half. A
Thompson slam off a missed shot and
a layup by guard Tony Milton pushed
the lead hack to eight at 33-25 to fin
ish the half.
“A lot of guys think if we just get
by, we’re doing all right,” Thompson
said. “Coach kind of chewed on us at
halftime.”
Metcalf’s motivational talk wasn’t
enough to change things. A&M’s
reckless second half performance was
only outdone by the Huskies’.
Thompson came out hot and scored
on two jumpers to add to a fast break
layup by Williams, to give the Aggies
a 39-25 edge. A&M continued to
pour on the points, extending the lead
to 19 with under two minutes to go.
The Huskies hit seven three-point
field goals, HBU reserve guard Car
los Sanders hit four. He finished with
22 points to lead both teams.
Metcalf wondered if his team was
going to try to stop Sanders.
“We looked like we didn't believe
they could hit them (three-pointers),”
he said. “You would think we would
get suspicious after a little while.”
The Aggies, 5-1, take on South
west Texas State at 7:30 p.m. Satur- ?
day at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Rangers nab Ryan Express
Ryan signs 1 -year contract
ATLANTA (AP) — All-time
strikeout leader Nolan Ryan decided
to stay home on the range Wednes
day and agreed to a one-year con
tract with Texas.
The free agent’s total package is
in excess of $3 million and includes
an option for 1990 and incentives.
Ryan, who got a $200,000 signing
bonus, will earn $1.6 million in 1989
and $1.4 million in 1990. If the
Rangers do not pick up his option,
they have to pay Ryan $200,000.
In terms of bonus money, Ryan
will earn $150,000 for winning the
Cy Young Award, $50,000 for being
named to the All-Star team and
$75,000 for being selected the play
off or World Series MVP.
Ryan, 41, had higher offers from
California and San Francisco, but
money wasn’t the only factor.
“I’m a diehard Texan,” said Ryan,
who has 4,775 strikeouts in 21 sea
sons, and spent the last nine years
with Houston.
“I wanted to remain in Texas.
The overriding factor was what I felt
was best for me and my family,” he
said.
The Astros offered $1.3 million to
keep him; Ryan made $1 million last
season.
The California Angels had of
fered Ryan $1.8 million plus incen
tives and San Francisco made a bid
of $1.7 million.
“Ruth and the children helped
make this decision,” Ryan said. “I
did what was in the best interest of
my family.”
Ryan lives in Alvin, Texas, just a
short ride from Houston.
“I’m disappointed the Houston
situation didn’t work out,” Ryan
said. “I wanted to finish my career in
a Houston uniform.”
Ryan has set or tied 38 major
league records. He has fanned 200
or more batters in 12 different sea
sons with five years of 300 or more
strikeouts.
The right-hander has pitched a
record five no-hitters.
“We didn’t come here and expect
to get a pitcher of a Nolan Ryan (cal
iber),” Texas general manager Tom
Grieve said.
Ryan’s signing kept up the Rang
ers’ wheeling and dealing at the win
ter meetings. They have made three
deals involing 15 players and have
added second baseman Julio Franco
and outfielder-first baseman Rafael
Palmeiro.
“Our goal was to come here and
make some changes to make an ef
fort to be a contender,” Grieve said.
The Rangers’ total active player
payroll last season was $6,025 mil
lion, one of the lowest in the major
leagues.
Ryan had a two-hour meeting
with Angels owner Gene Autry
Tuesday night and met with the
Rangers Wednesday morning.
“It was a very tough situation,”
Ryan said. “Mr. Autry was very good
to me and I have known A1 Rosen
for a long time.”
Ryan was 12-11 for the Astros last
season with 228 strikeouts to lead
the National League for the second
straight season.
He has struck out 10 or more bat
ters in a game 181 times in his ca
reer.
H be lo
4-2 tc
nless
Astro players ‘heartbroken’
over loss of strikeout king
HOUSTON (AP) — News that
veteran pitcher Nolan Ryan
signed a one-year contract
Wednesday with the Texas Rang
ers didn’t set well with Houston
Astros players who termed Ryan’s
departure “a heartbreak.”
“The whole thing makes me
sick from a professional as well as
personal standpoint,” second
baseman Bill Doran said. “He
means so much to the club and
the town.”
Ryan, 41, agreed to terms with
the Rangers in a deal that gives
Texas the option to sign the all-
time strikeout leader in 1990. If
he pitches both years, he would
be paid about $3 million.
Ryan was the center of a bid
ding war between Texas, Califor
nia and San Francisco. Ryan, who
went to Houston as a free agent
in 1979, signed for free agency in
September after he failed to
reach agreement with the Astros.
Texas general manager Tom
Grieve said Ryan’s agreement
made Wednesday “probably one
of the greatest days in the history
of the franchise.”
For Houston, however, it was
one of doom.
“It’s a tragedy. The front office
is hurt. I’m hurt. We’re all dis
traught,” Astro outfielder Kevin
Bass said from the Astrodome
where several players were wort
ingout Wednesday.
“It’s a heartbreak,” outfielder
Billy Hatcher said. “The besi
thing that ever happened to the
Astros was Nolan Ryan and let
ting him get away will hurt the
ballclub. Not only the attendance,
hut the players and the city as
well.”
Fellow pitcher Jim Deshaies
said he was “sorry to see him go
not only as a ballplayer but as a
person. If there was a leader on
our ballclub it was Nolan. Were
all going to miss him. ”
Doran said the Astros made a
mistake by not signing Ryan in
September.
“When he announced he was
filing, 1 nearly fell out of mi
chair. You can’t blame Nolan
He’s got to take care of hisfam
ily,” said Doran, who’s a dose
friend of Ryan and even named
his son for him.
“You don’t get a chance often
to play with a Hall of Fame gm
He’s still a good pitcher. It’s not
like they were keeping him for
sentimental reasons. A lot of
teams in our division are improv
ing themselves and we have trou
ble signing our own players. ,\1
we’ve done is lose Nolan. Ilie
public will he unhappy and leant
blame them.”
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Today’s tennis not as memorable as glory days of Borg
My first tennis experience wasn’t pretty.
When I was 9 my dad, a high school
tennis jock, took me out to the local park
for my first tennis lesson. I thought he was
the best I had ever seen. Like most fathers,
he was patient and understanding toward
my awkwardness in handling the racket and
making eye contact with the ball.
After three hours, however, he realized
that a serious genetic mistake had occurred:
I had no grasp of the game. It’s not that I
couldn’t get the ball over the net, I just had
the irrestible urge to swing for the fences.
Today I can run circles around the man in
almost anything, except tennis.
Whatever happened to the tennis heroes
of old?
On Tuesday Boris Becker pulled out
another of those hard-to-find victories
against Ivan Lendl in a match that lasted
over five hours. Granted, these men are on
the top of their profession right now, but
Steven
Merritt
Assistant Sports Editor
been faced with humiliating first-round
losses from relative unknowns.
But how these men and others like them
dominated the ’70s and early ’80s!
when they retire will they be mentioned in
the same breath as Biorn Borg or Stan
Smith?
Maybe so, but it seems that the game of
tennis doesn’t have the dominant
personalities and larger-than-life figures
that it once did.
Even though Jimmy Connors and John
McEnroe are still playing, they deserve to
be placed in the golden age of tennis past.
Connors proved in the U.S. Open that he
still has what it takes to make a run for the
finals, but his consistency is lacking and it’s
about time for Jimbo to hang it up. The
resurgence of the kinder, gentler McEnroe
never materialized, and he has recently
It’s hard to forget the 1982 Wimbledon
final between John McEnroe and Bjorn
Borg, a tennis match that has to be one of
the greatest of all time. It was a classic
matchup between two very different
personalities with similar playing styles. It
didn't matter who won the match but who
would come out ahead in the psychological
warfare. This was the chance for the young
upstart McEnroe to prove himself against
the seemingly untouchable champion.
was, as always, under total control. His
intense stare said it all.
Men like Borg, McEnroe and Connors
are remembered not only for their
exceptional athletic ability and
championships, but also for their intense
personalities.
years. T he past dominance of Martina
Navratilova and Chris Evert has recently
been upstaged by the outstanding playof
Steffi Graf, who has been ranked No. 1
since August of 1987.
McEnroe was in rare form. Questioning
every line call, questioning the intelligence
of anyone present who wasn’t American,
just being the man that everyone loves to
hate. Sort of a J.R. in tennis shorts. Borg
Other players such as Arthur Ashe,
Australian Rod Laver and Ilie Nastase
brought their own flair to the game.
Nastase might not have been the most
consistent player, but going into the stands
between games definitely made an
impression. American Andre Agassi is
rapidly developing into the “hot dog” of
U.S. tennis. His aggressive style has
conjured up memories of a young Jimmy
Connors.
One reason why today’s players may not
hold the larger-than-life image in the
future may be because of the differencein
cultures.
ll<
Women’s tennis has not suffered quite as
severely from the identity crisis in recent
The majority of top players in both men
and women’s tennis are foreign. Players
such as Lendl and Graff are f rom countries
in which athletes aren’t encouraged to
express their feelings while in competition
While there is no doubt that playerssuchas
Lendl, Graff and Becker have already
made their mark on tennis history, they
may not fit the mold of some of the intense,
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