The Battalion
SPORTS
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Wednesday, August 6,1989
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&M freshmen,
alk-ons see action
s workouts begin
By Jeff Osborne
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The Texas A&M football team
took another step forward in pre
paration for the upcoming season
as 26 freshmen and walk-ons
practiced for the first time Tues
day.
The practice lasted about an
hour and a half, and served as an
introduction for the players to
the Aggie coaches as well as of
fensive and defensive formations.
“The practice was to introduce
these players to the drills, teach
ing the basic plays on offense and
defense,” said A&M head coach
R.C. Slocum. “The intensity is not
anything like what we’ll see next
Monday (when the veteran play
ers return.)”
The practices will continue this
week with starting times sched
uled for 5 p.m., except for Fri
day, when practice will start at
4:30.
Twelve of the players who re
ported for the practice were walk-
ons, which was short of the 20 or
more walk-ons that Slocum had
anticipated earlier. Fourteen of
the players were scholarship ath
letes.
Marcus Buckley, a linebacker
from Fort Worth Eastern Hills,
and one of the Aggies most
touted recruits, is eligible to prac
tice for two weeks. The Aggies
have lost Buckley’s services for
this season because of Proposition
48. Buckley will still enroll at
A&M this fall and wait for next
year.
Although the Aggies did not
recruit anyone this year at quar
terback, scholarship ahtlete and
1988 recruit Paul Johnson of
Cameron and four walk-on quar
terbacks participated in the drills.
Johnson was the top-rated
quarterback in the state among
1988 high school graduates by
Dave Campbell, editor of “Texas
Football” magazine and sports
editor for the Waco Tribune-
Herald.
Johnson was described by the
1989 Texas A&M Football Media
Guide as an “exciting signal caller
who could help the Aggies in the
future ... is cool under pressure .
. . has a powerful arm and a deft
passing touch . .
The only member of this year’s
recruiting class likely to play in
the offensive backfield in the fu
ture is David Drapela, rated as
one of the top fullback prospects
in the state, and was a third-team
all-state selection last year.
Slocum said he was pleased
with what he saw in Tuesday’s
drills, but it was too soon to tell if
any of the players will have an im
pact on the team. “We don’t ex
pect them to make the team to
day,” he said.
“There’s so few players out
here it’s hard to tell anything yet.”
He added that it won’t be until
he team practices in pads that
there is an indication of possible
starters or backups who will re
ceive playing time this season.
“I have a wait and see attitude
right now,” Slocum said.
Five Aggie freshmen players
who should beef-up the line and
add much needed depth are
Tyler Harrison, Lowell Hutchins,
Lance Teichelman, Brad Cooper
and Dexter Wesley.
Harrison, Hutchins and Tei
chelman saw action in last week’s
Texas All-Star High School Foot
ball game.
Assistant Head Coach Tom
Hayes said one of the expecta
tions of the players will be to help
Fill in some holes in the defensive
line.
Hatfield sees defense, kicking game
as key to Razor backs’ success in ’89
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) —A
year ago, Arkansas Coach Ken Hat-
Field was right on the money.
The Razorbacks, he said, needed
to make 90 percent of their field
goal attempts, keep the offensive
fine intact and get solid inside line
backing. Three check marks later,
Arkansas was in the Cotton Bowl for
the first time in 13 years.
Come December, you can check
Hatfield’s latest prognostication.
“The key areas for us are safety,
inside linebacker and the whole field
goal group,” he said.
Gone is safety Steve Atwater, who
signed a $2 million contract as the
first-round draft choice of the
Denver Broncos.
Gone are linebackers Reggie Hall
and LaSalle Harper, who played bet
ter as seniors than they ever had be
fore. Also gone is Kendall Trainor,
who made 24 field goals in a row.
His snapper and holder also are
gone.
“When we got close, we always got
points,” Hatfield said. “That was the
personality of the team.”
Trainor was so effective, Hatfield
said, that he influenced the Razor-
backs’ play calling.
“We’d like to kick fewer field goals
and be more productive getting the
ball into the end zone,” Hatfield
said. “But we knew our defense was
playing great. And we know how
empty it can leave you, working so
hard against a great opponent like
Texas A&M, and not getting any
points.”
Ironically, Trainor missed an ex
tra-point attempt and a field goal at
tempt in the third game of the year
against Mississippi. If he had missed
again, Todd Wright would have re
placed him.
Trainer’s streak enabled Hatfield
to save a year of Wright’s eligibility.
He is dedicated and has a strong leg.
Hatfield said of Wright. “He just
needs to do it in a game,” Hatfield
said.
Atwater, Harper and Hall are
only three of the eight starters miss
ing from the defense. Five of the
eight were picked in the NFL draft.
“We can’t be as good on defense,”
Hatfield said.
The lack of experience on defense
is one reason the No. 1 offense faced
the No. 1 defense so often during
spring practice. “We probably had
more scrimmages than ever before,”
Hatfield said. “We were trying to
gain them enough confidence that
they would not be shellshocked with
the speed of the game.”
Linebackers Ted Shinier and Ty
Mason have some experience, but
may be a half-step slow. Redshirt
freshman John Williamson and Mick
Thomas, a junior college player
from California, have the speed and
size to be a factor at linebacker.
“The difference in the lineback
ing corps is that all of them are
young,” he said. “There is no value
for experience and you don’t get it
without a price.”
Last year, Wayne Martin was so
good up front that he allowed Ar
kansas to drop eight people into pass
coverage. He was drafted by New
Orleans late in the first round.
“We need for (Michael) Shepherd
to be that kind of player,” Hatfield
said.
Shepherd and backs Patrick Wil
liams and Anthony Cooney are the
only returning starters on defense.
Hatfield said the coaches had
even considered moving Aaron
Jackson, a starter at wingback last
year, to safety to replace Atwater.
“Every coach kind of dreams and
figures out what it would take to win
the championship,” Hatfield said.
“The whole key, more than ever, is
the newness we have. A new offen
sive coordinator, a defensive coordi
nator, a new style of offense. Five
new coaches, four new graduate as
sistants. The newness doesn’t make
you bad, but you may not be pol
ished early.”
Rose’s lawyers appeal judge’s decision
keeping Giamiatti lawsuit in federal court
CINCINNATI (AP) — Pete
Rose’s lawyers on Tuesday appealed
a judge’s decision to keep his suit
against baseball in federal court, a
move that could block a disciplinary
hearing next week on baseball-bet
ting charges.
The appeal asks that Rose’s suit
against baseball commissioner A.
Bartlett Giamatti be sent back to
state court, where the Cincinnati
Reds manager has already won a fa
vorable ruling.
Giamatti has scheduled a hearing
next Thursday on charges that Rose
bet on baseball, including the Reds.
But if the 6th U.S. Circuit Court
upholds Rose’s appeal on the juris
dictional dispute before then, the
hearing would be postponed.
In Columbus last week, U.S. Dis
trict Judge John Holschuh decided
that he would hear Rose’s suit. Rose
wants a court in his hometown of
Cincinnati to hear his case.
Robert Stachler, one of Rose’s
lawyers, said in the appeal that his
client “has been deprived of his cho
sen forum in Ohio state court
through judicial gymnastics that
turn established principles of sports,
employment and unincorporated as
sociation law on their heads.”
Asked about the appeal, baseball
attorney John Elam said, “We ob
viously feel Judge Holschuh ren
dered a correct and very thoughtful
opinion, and we hope the matter will
not be further reviewed.”
Rose’s appeal was filed one day af
ter his lawyers asked Holschuh to
stay any disciplinary proceedings
against Rose while the dispute over
jurisdiction is being resolved.
Holschuh has not ruled on the
motion.
Rose could be permanently
banned from baseball if Giamatti
concludes that he bet on Reds’
games. Rose could be suspended for
a year if the commissioner finds that
he bet on baseball, but not the Reds.
In Tuesday’s appeal, Rose’s law
yers said it would be a “tragedy” if
Rose, the all-time hits leader, was
suspended or banned from baseball
and “it was later determined that the
federal court lacked subject matter
jurisdiction.”
A court order that currently pro
tects Rose from any disciplinary ac
tion expires on Aug. 14, three days
before Giamatti’s scheduled hearing.
TANK MCNAMARA®
by Jeff Miliar & bhi Hinds Dodgers’ Gibson faces knee surgery
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 1989
season has been as disastrous for
Kirk Gibson and the Los Angeles
Dodgers as the 1988 season was
wonderful.
Gibson, who hit one of the most
dramatic home runs in World Series
history last October to climax a year
in which he won National League
Most Valuable Player honors, will
undergo surgery next Tuesday and
be lost for the remainder of the sea
son.
Thus, the 32-year-old outfielder
completes 1989 with a .213 batting
average, nine home runs and 28 RBI
while playing in only 71 games.
The Dodgers said that Dr. Frank
Jobe, the club physician, will per
form exploratory surgery on Gib
son’s left medial hamstring tendon.
Jobe said he believes he has iso
lated an irregular part of the liga
ment where it joins the knee joint,
something which didn’t show up in a
magnetic resonance imaging test.
Jobe said because the localized
area is outside the knee joint, it will
require traditional surgery and not
the arthroscopic variety, which is
why Gibson will be out for the rest of
the season.
“There’s no guarantee he will find
anything, or that he can fix what he
finds, or that it’ll heal and won’t scar
again,” Gibson said. “But the only
thing left is to go in and look.
“To be honest, it worries me about
my career. I wonder if this will
bother me. It’s an athletic injury and
if I wasn’t an athlete and didn’t rely
on speed, I probably wouldn’t go
through this. But that’s not the
case.”
Pro basketball off-season starting to resemble a soap opera
Heard any of the latest NBA gossip?
There’s so much gossip, we might have to
change the name of the league to “As the
Basketball Turns.” Yes, it resembles a soap
opera.
Danny Ferry said, “Thanks, but no
thanks” to the Clippers and chose to play
pasta-ball in Italy.
“It will be an educational experience,”
Ferry said.
Educational could be the right word
because it appears Ferry has done his
homework.
Ferry is no dummy. He knows that he
can return to the NBA next year and join
any team he wants as a free agent.
In a way, I think it’s unfair, but then
again, if I were Ferry, I wouldn’t want to
play for the Clippers either. Throw in
another million and I’ll think about it.
Now rumor has it that the same team that
nabbed Ferry is wooing the Minnesota
Timberwolves’ first round pick Pooh
Richardson. Richardson says he’s
Robbie
Scichili
Sports Writer
considered it, but is leaning toward the
NBA.
Italy must have a lot of money invested in
their league. They’re offering close to a
million for Richardson’s services; twice as
much as Minnesota is offering. Maybe pasta
sales are up.
I guess it’s only fair that Italy is signing
our players. The NBA already has three
Eastern Bloc players signed from overseas.
The only problem is they don’t speak
English very well. Maybe teams will throw
in a speak-n-spell with each foreign
contract.
Larry Bird is hurt again. After months of
rehabilitation from heel surgery, Bird now
has to deal with a back problem.
Considering the fact that Bird has
carried the Celtics on his back for most of
this decade, it’s not a surprising injury.
Speaking of injuries, James Donaldson of
the Mavericks is healing nicely. After
sustaining a possible career-threatening
injury in his knee, Donaldson is expected to
play this season. Qualified help and
rehabilitation seems to have done the trick.
NBA teams are used to having a tough
time when coming to Texas to play the
state’s three teams.
Houston seems to have lost a step,
however, as Dallas and San Antonio have
made changes to their lineups that could
spell doom for the Rockets.
Houston had no first round picks in this
year’s draft. They did sign Larry Smith
from the free agent market but this may not
help the Rockets. Signing Smith is about as
effective as putting a tree in center court
and asking it to play defense.
The fact is, Houston only has Akeem
Olajuwon to look forward to night after
night. Without Akeem, the Rockets would
sink faster than a block of cement.
They don’t seem to have a chemistry
about them. If management would learn to
stop making trades, maybe the team would
gel.
Don Chaney has the right attitude, just
the wrong players.
Dallas, on the other hand, has the right
players and the right coach.
Last year was full of turmoil. Mark
Aguirre was shoved off to Detroit and
Adrian Dantley came in.
But Dallas had a great draft. Randy
White is perfect for the club. If Roy
Tarpley can stay off the drugs and
Donaldson can return from his injury, the
Mavs could be back on the winning trail.
San Antonio management should be
commended on all they’ve done to bring
the new players that will don the Spurs’
uniform this season.
David Robinson is no doubt a great
player. He was well worth the wait. Terry
Cummings came in from Milwaukee and
should provide leadership and scoring.
And with first round draft pick Sean Elliott
in the backcourt, the Spurs will make an
impact right away.
As for last year’s champions, the Detroit
Pistons, well, they’ve got a big challenge
ahead of them to repeat.
With all of the new talent in the league
and a more balanced collection of teams, it
will be harder than ever to repeat as
champions.
Sure, the NBA is looking more like a
soap opera than a professional sports
league. I’m surprised there aren’t any
affairs or bizarre love triangles involved.
Actually, there probably are. Maybe we
should ask Wade Boggs. He’d probably
know.
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TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY MSC FORSYTH CENTER GALLERIES
Selections From the College of Medicine Art Collection
Featuring works by Artists
JUHREE BASSETT
DICK DAVISON
JOSEPH DONALDSON
VIRGINIA GRONEMAN
JOE HUTCHINSON
MARGIT I LIKA
LUCINDA JOHNSON
LEA M. LYMAN
MARY CIANI SASLOW
ROBERT SCHIFFHAUER
RUTH SHILLING
JOSEPH SMITH
ALAN STACELL
MARY STONE
PAUL SUTTMAN
WANETA SWANK
RUDY VAVRA
JOHN WALKER
Artists' Reception: Thursday, August 10,1989 from 6:30-8:30pm. Public invited.
Exhibition continues through August 20. Admission is free.
APARTMENTS
Free Microwave with a 9 month lease
• 2 Pools • 2 Exercise Rooms
• Tennis Courts • Basketball Court
• Hot Tub ® 2 Shuttle Bus Stops
• Volleyball Court • Covered Parking
1,2 and 3 bedrooms available
Briarwood Apartments
1201 Harvey Rd.
(‘across from Post Oak Mall)
(409) 693-3014
Welcome Aggies!
Call Battalion
Classified 845-2611