9
The Battalion
SPORTS
^ Monday, April 2,1990 Sports Editor Richard Tijerina 845-2688
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Assistant Sports Editor
March Monotony:
Last two minutes
put me to sleep
X aaawwnnn.
I finally figured out why UNLV head
coach Jerry Tarkanian chews his towel
during NCAA games. He’s trying to
keep from crying out in frustration about
the last two minutes of any collegiate
basketball game.
Those last 120 seconds provide proof
positive that time indeed can stand still
and last for an eternity. They call the
NCAA Tournament March Madness, but
I think it should be renamed March
Monotony. What has at times proved to
be a heart-stopping, gripping game for
34 minutes comes to a screeching halt
and an exercise in tedium for the last
couple of minutes.
In fact, I actually believe that the
reason we turned our clocks back this
weekend was to make up for all the time
wasted during those eternal two minutes.
Football’s two-minute warning is a
signal to clutch those pillows in
anticipation. Roger Staubach made two
minutes go by so quickly. Cowboy fans
often wondered what exactly had hit
them. Basketball fans just want to hit
anything in frustration.
Instead of a lightning-paced,
dramatic, fast break conclusion, we are
stuck in limbo while the best of games
sputter to a more than timely death.
Instead of sudden death, basketball
fans are forced to suffer a fate close to
that: death at the hands of coaches who
have hoarded timeoiitsTike a miser who
stashes his pennies .’Thcluding the
infamous (and inevitable) TV timeouts,
each coach has an opportunity to bring
the game to a screeching halt nine times.
And they usually do.
If you ever need to get classified
information from someone, bypass the
conventional methods of thumbscrews
and Chinese water torture. Head for the
big guns and force them to spend the last
two minutes of any NCAA basketball
game in front of the boob tube.
It’s not pretty. Announcer Dick Vitale
is as frustrated as the rest of us.
“During the tournament we get a lot of
people who aren’t normally rabid
basketball fans to watch, and I think we
turn some of them off with the way the
games seem to drag in the end,” Vitale
said.
This season we have heard about the
number of games that had been decided
with last second shots and heorics, but
try to keep the following thought in
mind:
Through the first 60 games of the
Tournament, the final two minutes have
averaged out to an exasperating 10
minutes and 19 seconds to play.
You know CBS has to be happy with
those numbers. It gives them an
opportunity to cram in a few more high-
priced commercials. So instead of being
bombarded with high-flying antics of
Todd Days and Stacey Augmons, we see
that damned bunny march across the
screen again and again.
Finally, a solution
Mike Krzyzewski, head coach at
Duke, said he subscribes to the theory of
too little basketball, too much time.
“Some of these games are just
dragging on too late into the evening,”
Krzyzewski said.
That means during the final two
minutes of any basketball game, we can
watch Johnny Carson’s monologue at the
two-minute mark, then switch to David
Letterman as the final buzzer sounds.
So what do you do?
Houston Chronicle sports writer Fran
Blinebury came up with three not so
novel, but effective, ideas. First, prevent
teams from carrying over timeouts from
the first half. Second,adopt the NBA
rule of stopping the clock after the basket
in the last two minutes. Thirdly, finally
award an automatic two-shot foul instead
of the one-and-one.
Maybe then we could go back to
enjoying college basketball at its finest,
instead of just trying to survive those
never-ending final two minutes that is
packed with a yawning stretch of dueling
timeouts, fouls and free-throws.
Newspaper: 25 UT players used steroids
AUSTIN (AP) — Twenty-five University
of Texas football players used anabolic ster
oids since the NCAA’s 1986 ban on the
drugs, eight Longhorns players told an
Austin newspaper.
Offensive lineman Shay Shafie said at
least three current members of the squad
have used steroids, but he would not iden
tify them.
Several other players also said they knew
of teammates who used steroids during the
1989 season, the Austin American-States-
man reported Sunday.
One player, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said: “I would say there were
about 20 to 25 (players on steroids during
1987) that I remember. Most of those were
offensive linemen, but some of the de
fensive backs and other guys tried them.
They (steroids) were everywhere. They
weren’t that tough to get.”
Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds
said he plans no investigation into the alle
gations of steroid use. He said the school
would not discipline any players it learns
had used steroids because, under the
school’s drug policy, a first positive test car
ries no punishment.
Using steroids became an NCAA viola
tion on Aug. 1, 1986, and the sale and pos
session of steroids was outlawed in Texas
last year.
The NCAA established a year-round
drug-testing program in January with
stiffer penalties for offenders. Athletes
caught using steroids will be suspended for
one calendar year after the first offense.
Second-time offenders will be banned for
life.
Although the Southwest Conference and
the University of Texas have regularly
tested players for steroids since 1986, some
players have been able to use the drugs and
avoid the tests, the teammates said.
The players say the steroids were sup
plied by other football players who occa
sionally sold the drugs to teammates. One
player, unidentified by the paper, said two
Texas offensive linemen sold a six-week
supply of the steroid Anavar for $35 to $50
in 1988.
The players said teammates generally
used steroids during spring training to
build up their muscles in the off-season, en
hance their weight-lifting prowess and
“look good on the beach” during spring
breaks.
The Longhorn players feared taking
steroids during football season because of
the risk of pulling muscles and failing drug
tests, the newspaper’s sources said.
However, several players said the steroid
users avoided the university’s tests.
Two players said teammates on steroids
avoided testing positive by bringing in
urine samples from teammates who did not
use steroids and taking masking agents like
probenicid to avoid detection. The NCAA
and SWC tests pick up probenicid, but
Texas’ testing does not, according to the
newspaper.
Dodds said the school conducts drug
tests on three randomly chosen male ath
letes each week. The tests are administered
by outside clinical pathologists and sent to
out-of-state laboratories.
“The numbers on any positive test have
gone down to almost zero — I’m talking ev
erything,” Dodds said, referring to steroids
and street drugs. “I think we had one posi
tive test from our testing last year — I’m not
saying steroids. The year before we had
five.”
The SWC began testing for steroids in
the fall of 1986, initially testing 36 football
players and 14 other athletes at each school
at different times during the year. In 1989-
90, the league tested 30 football players —
22 starters and eight others chosen at ran
dom.
Sports Focus: Texas A&M Basketball
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Thornton leaving A&M with fond memories
By CLAY RASMUSSEN
Of The Battalion Staff
Hanging on the bulletin board of
what once was John Thornton’s office at
G. Rollie White Coliseum was a sticker
that read, “Big John’s In Town.”
Sunday, after Thornton cleared his
office for incoming men’s basketball
coach Kermit Davis Jr., nothing but a
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
Battalion Hie photo
Outgoing coach John Thornton has seen both sides. He walked the sidelines confidently in A&M’s win over Texas
Tech March 4 (above, left). As an assistant to Shelby Metcalf, Thornton (above, right) patiently waited for his chance.
bleached mark remained — the rem
nants of a space that hadn’t seen the
light of day for nine years at Texas
A&M. Davis was named A&M’s coach
last Wednesday.
Thornton said he knew it was coming.
When Athletic Director John David
Crow came up to visit him Wednesday
morning, he saw the writing on the wall.
“The way things were going, I kind of
expected it to happen,” Thornton said.
“I knew what they were doing. It’s hard
to be discreet about something that big,
and it didn’t really surprise me.”
Throughout the Aggies’ turbulent
season, Crow had said that Thornton, al
though an interim coach, would be con
sidered an applicant for the permanent
spot. Thornton was optimistic, but knew
his only real shot at retaining the job
would be to guide A&M into the NCAA
Tournament.
“I think I was realistic from the very
beginning,” Thornton said. “First of all,
the situation of my good association with
(former A&M coach) Shelby Metcalf of
nine years was going to come into play.
The way his dismissal happened seemed
to suggest they were looking for a break,
a fresh start.
“I think that sort of sealed my fate.”
Thornton said he felt that he never
really recieved a chance to show either
Crow or A&M what he was capable of
doing to the basketball program.
His focal point this season was just to
weather the turmoil and try to keep the
Aggies united and in contention for a
spot in the Southwest Conference Post-
Season Classic. A recurring phrase came
out every time Thornton talked about
goals —just have fun.
And, for the most part, it seemed to
be working. A&M played an uptempo
game and always hung close, even
against SWC powers Arkansas, Texas
and Houston.
But inexperience would hinder them
all year.
“I’m not saying everything I did
worked out, but I know at least I tried,”
Thornton said. “I know in the short time
I’ve had to work with, I feel I could give
myself good marks in the area of pulling
out all the stops.”
Thornton brought new life to Aggie
basketball. He became A&M’s No. 1
public relations man, going from class to
class, trying to drum up some support
for the team.
He even went so far as to raffle off
one of his players to the public.
Even now, Thornton said he believes
he could turn the program into a re^
spected one around the SWC.
“I think I know enough about the situ
ation here as well as I would know about
any situation,” Thornton said. “I think
given the opportunity, sure, I’ve got
enough confidence to believe that I
could’ve done a heck of a job and make
this program into something very posi
tive. But that’s not a possibility right
now.”
In the press conference introducing
Davis, Crow said Thornton “definitely”
was considered for the job. That definite
consideration was reduced to a short
meeting between the two after A&M’s
Photo by Scott D. Weaver
First meeting. Thornton (right) meets with incoming head coach Kermit Davis
Jr. (left)for the first time Sunday outside G. Rollie White Coliseum. Davis’ as
sistant coaches James Green (left) and Fletcher Cockrell (right) stand back.
opening-round loss to Texas in the Post-
Season Classic.
However, Thornton said he under
stood Crow’s predicament.
“I think the Athletic Department had
to do with what they felt was best,”
Thornton said. “It doesn’t matter
whether I think I’ve been treated fairly
or not because they’re the ones calling
the shots, and I’ve understood that
framework from the very beginning.
“This is the way this business goes.
And the fact is that things like this hap
pen sometimes — one’s misfortunes end
up being somebody else’s break.”
The end of Thornton’s short era as
A&M head basketball coach came
quickly. He was contacted by members of
the media Tuesday night and informed
that Davis had flown to College Station
to meet with Crow.
Anticipating what was to come,
Thornton went to G. Rollie White the
next day to tie dp some loose ends and
take care of business before flying to
Denver for a coach’s conference at the
Final Four.
Crow walked into Thornton’s office at
9 a.m. to break the news to him.
“He just explained to me the situation
as best he could and thanked me for the
job I’d done, and that was it,” Thornton
said. “I think it was handled with as
much class as it could’ve been.”
Soon after the meeting with Crow,
Davis called Thornton and discussed the
team situation and recruiting status.
“Although it was a very professional
phone call, it was strained to a certain ex
tent,” Thornton said. “I was as honest
and as straightforward as I could have
been under those circumstances. He was
trying to get a background on the team
since it was all new to him.”
Ill feelings between Crow and Metcalf
came to a boiling point during an im
promptu news conference held by Met
calf after the Arkansas loss in January.
Metcalf accused Crow of publicly crit
icizing him around the A&M campus
and at the NCAA Annual Convention in
Dallas two weeks earlier.
Crow responded two days later by re
moving Metcalf of his coaching duties
and naming Thornton as the Aggies’ in
terim coach. Crow said that at the end of
the season, a nation-wide search would
be conducted for a new coach, and that
Thornton would be included in that
search.
Thornton took control of a situation
that was, at best, awkward. He led A&M
to a 5-6 record and the team earned a
berth as the sixth seed in the Post-Season
Classic in Dallas.
Thornton said he tries not to dwell on
what might have been, and that he has
strict priorities in life — wife, family, and
basketball.
But not necessarily in that same order.
After winning his first game as the
Aggies’ coach, Thornton’s eight-year-old
son Gabe asked him to have lunch with
him the next day at his school.
But the next morning, Crow con
tacted Thornton and asked if he could
meet with him for lunch and discuss the
game.
Thornton turned Crow down — he al
ready had a lunch date with his son.
Thornton said he would like to stay in
NCAA Division I coaching, and that his
nine-year tenure at A&M would make
him a valuable asset to many schools.
Thornton stands a good chance of re
turning to the University of Texas-San
Antonio to coach its basketball team.
Thornton briefly served as UTSA’s in
tramural coordinator in 1978.
Thornton joined Metcalfs staff in
1981 as an assistant coach. Metcalf said
at the Arkansas press conference that he
was grooming Thornton to become his
successor after the 58-year-old coach re
tired.
“I hope I can get the point across that
I’m ready,” Thornton said. “I’m prime
to do a job, and being 37 years old and
having the experience I have, I’m ready
to go.
am not ready to give coaching up.”