The Battalion
SPORTS
Thursday, August 2,1990
Sports Editor
Clay Rasmussen
DA
Arkansas secedes from Southwest Conference union
erenc
See related story/Page 7
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) —The Uni
versity of Arkansas, a member of the South
west Conference since it was formed in
1914, on Wednesday accepted an invitation
to join the Southeastern Conference.
.The UA Board of Trustees unanimously
approved the move. Chancellor Dan Ferri-
tor formally recommended the switch and
called it a bittersweet task.
The Razorbacks will begin competing in
the SEC in all sports but football in 1991.
They will compete in the SWC in football
this year, then fulfill the second year of
their two-year contracts as an independent
in 1991 before moving into the SEC in
1992.
Arkansas becomes the eleventh member
of the SEC and league commissioner Roy
Kramer said there was no timetable for
adding another team. However, when the
SEC presidents voted to expand in late May
they endorsed expansion in pairs.
Kramer acknowledged that Florida State,
Miami and South Carolina are still potential
candidates. The SEC will be divided into
two divisions and that geography would
play a part in the divisional breakdown,
Kramer said.
Arkansas Athletic Director Frank
Broyles said he expects the Razorbacks to
play Mississippi and Mississippi State each
year and end each football season against
UA Board unanimously approves ‘bittersweet task;’
teams begin official Southeast competition in 199J
Louisiana State University.
The other schools in the SEC are Ala
bama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Ferritor said Arkansas did not seek the
SEC invitation. “We’re not really leaving,
not tearing down. What we are doing is
building, we’re building for the future of
the University of Arkansas.” ‘
He said his recommendation to accept
the invitation is “based solely on our view of
what college athletics is and should be on a
college campus.”
The idea that the Razorbacks will receive
more money was decidedly secondary in
the decision-making process, he said.
Material distributed to the UA board
showed that each SEC school received an
average of $1.6 million from football and
basketball, bowl games and post season bas
ketball appearances.
The SWC breakdown pointed out that
Arkansas received $760,000, even though
the Razorbacks went to the Cotton Bowl in
football and reached the Final Four in the
NCAA basketball tournament.
“The fans told us, in every way possible,
that we ought to go,” Ferritor said.
Broyles said Arkansas will always trea
sure its association with SWC members.
But, he said, the national scene is changing
in college athletics.
“The ’90s will not be anywhere resem
bling the ’80s,” he said.
Broyles said that some people believe the
formation of so-called super conferences is
aimed at regional television, but that he be
lieves such conferences will be organized
for national TV packages.
“A conference that has 14 members that
are outstanding teams, that start playing
their games on the First Saturday of Sep
tember, all the way through the 13 Satur
days of television in the football season,
they have crossover games with the Big
Eight, with the Southwest, with the Big
Ten, with the Pac Ten, then they have a na
tional package arrangement available to sell
and bargain with one of the national net
works,” Broyles said.
He also said a large conference could
have an impact on rules and compliance.
Broyles said the SWC was at its strongest
when it had seven teams —Arkansas and six
in Texas.
“There was no professional sports in the
state of Texas,” he said. “In the last two de
cades we have added two teams (Texas
Tech and Houston). At the same time, in
the last 28 years, they have developed 7
professional teams — three in Dallas, three
in Houston and one in San Antonio.
“So the pie in Texas has been shrunk as
far as the Southwest Conference is con
cerned,” he said.
“They don’t get the paper coverage as far
as the sports page, they don’t get the TV
coverage and it has developed a lack of in
terest and some indifference among fans,
which is evidenced by the fact that we have
in the Southwest Conference 50 percent
empty seats in our football games.”
Broyles said that if he thought the SWC
could move in a viable way and be as com
petitive as other major conferences “our de
cision today would most likely be different
make the move, it would have been I
to Find a new source of revenue. P ,n<: ^
He said the competition in theSEC|i^ e
be stronger than the competition inP 11 * 6
SWC and said that such competition
tensified fan support. B ^
According to material given thvith a
board, the SEC had four schools rafO 5 ^ 1
among the top 10 in football attendanctW^ '
1989, the conference had seven s:fi om
among the top 20. B ue
“Their fan support is better thanuM^-
part of the country because of the coir;H :tlv
tion,” Broyles said. “They have moreil® nec
tion. They have more interest.” png
RP e
Kramer, who donned a hog baht|Jr . '
after the UA board made it officialB e ,
asked about the factors leading toe fr'
lid th
Jiis
J 1
ence expansion.
5th 1<
He cited three:
— A marketing standpoint. “Thet:L ,
cial basis for continued support ofintnK. ^'
legiate athletics is very important toe*
He called such a move improbable. “We
are moving in a different direction,” he
said.
Broyles said that if Arkansas did not
institution across this country. WchaiBV p
look at Fiscal responsibility, andpartofB 0
is providing a program that can comP^j*
for the dollar that is out there inthee®!.^
tainment world. I’m not talking abomp
vision; I’m talking about filling upseife , ,
Saturday afternoon and Wednesday-11?^
in the gymnasium.” @ »
fen
Eight A&M recruits reveal stellar performance
in Whataburger All-Star game at Astrodome
By DOUGLAS PILS
Of The Battalion Staff
HOUSTON — The future of Texas
A&M football lit up the Astrodome Tues
day night as eight Aggie recruits partici
pated in the Sixth annual Whataburger All-
Star Football Game.
A&M recruits turned in some of the
game’s top performances as the North and
South All-Stars battled to a 13-13 tie.
It didn’t take long for the young Aggies
to flex their muscles.
On the first play from scrimmage North
quarterback Steve Clements was inter
cepted by the South’s Marcus Batts, a de
fensive back from Houston Lamar headed
for Aggieland.
Batts, a hard-hitting, big play safety,
hauled in the game’s Defensive Most Valu
able Player award. Along with the intercep
tion Batts made seven solo tackles and as
sisted on two others.
“I think I played a tough game,” Batts
said. “I missed a couple of tackles but over
all I’m happy with the way I played.”
On the play after the interception, South
? [uarterback Jeff Granger, from Orange-
ield, hit Daniel Adams, from Schulenburg,
for a 42-yard touchdown.
pleted 6 of 17 passes for 106 yards and the
one touchdown.
“I was pleased with my performance,”
Granger said, “but there is always room for
improvement.”
In a preview of what could be future
A&M-Texas matchups. Granger’s coun
terpart, struggled to keep North in the
game.
Steve Clements, a Texas recruit, didn’t
play in the second half because of a bruised
elbow and completed only 3 of 14 passes for
32 yards.
Granger shared quarterbacking duties
with MacArthur product Steve Emerson,
another Aggie signee. While Granger has
received most of the attention, Emerson let
it be known he’s not about to take a back
seat to anyone.
Emerson completed 4 of 9 passes for 55
yards including a 30 yard touchdown toss to
Lee Fedora of A&M Consolidated. Emer
son also showed determination by staying in
the pocket and taking some hard hits after
releasing the ball.
Although Emerson didn’t match Grang
er’s stats of 1,404 yards and 14 touchdowns
this year, he is confident about his ability to
compete with Granger at A&M.
“I believe my abilities are equal with JefFs
(Granger), if not better” he said. “I’ll do
what it takes and I’m looking forward to the
competition.”
Granger and Emerson were expected to
do well but the offensive surprise of the
evening was Fedora, who signed to play
shortstop for the Texas Aggie baseball
team.
Fedora caught four passes for 70 yards,
earning a measure of respect from Gran
ger.
Fedora said playing in the game was a lot
of fun and it reaffirmed his interest in try
ing to walk on the A&M football team.
“Right now I’m committed to playing
baseball,” he said. “Initially I want to take a
year to get settled into college, but I’d like
to try football my sophomore year.”
Willowridge defensive end Eric England
completes the list of Aggies on the South
squad. England had a game-high nine solo
tackles and two assists.
England, who also caused a fumble late
in the fourth quarter, was the Touchdown
Club of Houston’s Defensive Player of the
See Recruits/Page 7
. . -
, * > ,v. : ‘ lillfo v;?* :*«
^ IJS
jjijl
s> U
Granger, a lefthander, is one of the high
lights of A&M’s 1990 recruiting class, which
which
is considered to be one the top five classes
in the nation.
Last season, he threw for 1,923 yards and
20 touchdowns for Orangefield. However,
football is not his only talent. Granger was
drafted in June by the Minnesota Twins
and pitched Orangefield to the Class 3A
state playoffs with a 16-1 record and 205
strikeouts.
Granger turned down a $100,000 offer
last month but the Twins have until Aug. 6
to change his mind.
“It would take an ungodly amount of
money to keep me from going to A&M^
Granger said. “I’m already enrolled in
classes this (summer) session and I plan on
being at A&M this fall.”
Granger showed good mobility as he was
repeatedly run out of the pocket. He com-
iij . :v;
... .■ .. :
HSIli
buy
x
.
■. i|p|
.
- --
■ ■■ "
Photos by Thomas J. Lav in
A&M quarterback signees Steve Emerson (above center) and Jeff Granger (right) led the South to a 13-13 tie with the
North in Tuesday’s Whataburger All-Star game. The game features high school stars from throughout Texas.
General manag
sees Steinbrenn*' -
legacy continui
1 L(
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Petersoni:
to the future of the New York Yankeeslf
this is what he sees: like father, like son ]
The Yankees general manager!
Wednesday he expects Hank SteinbrtM
to take an active role in the team’s ba: (Conti
affairs, just like his desposed fatherGrm
“If I want to make a move, a tra k-
player acquisition, or bring a playerBy^j.
from Triple A, I’ll talk to Hank ant ^
we’ll make a decision on the directio:
Todd
want to go,” said Peterson, who niri>fc r f or
team’s front office along with George6«L in
ofi’
ley, the vice president of player persomw^.^j,
George Steinbrenner, who agreed !® wn
day to resign as general partner by Auj® es
said Tuesday that he would proposefi» eec j (
to take over. The other Yankees par.Bj )an
and the other major league clubs mosiB,| e j
prove. . I e 01
Hank Steinbrenner was still unavaitB ua( j
for comment Wednesday. He did noiRj j n
turn messages left at the family thort ILjpjj
bred farm in Ocala, Fla. ■ ar ; n .
George Steinbrenner’s ouster came® ^j ax
11 hours of negotiations in which Cor® ^t 0
sioner Fay Vincent first proposed re
owner be suspended for two years. Vi® f 0l]
said Wednesday he wanted to make# (; rai
that although he came up with thealtflB an( j
tive penalty after listening to argum®,, n j
from Steinbrenner’s lawyer’s, the pc ture J
was proposed by the commissioner,w
the Yankees owner.
“I think that’s a distinction thatshoi
made,” Vincent said.
Meanwhile, the general managerod
Yankees flagship radio station, WABt
plauded Steinbrenner’s departure.
“Just his leaving simply creates a
climate,” Fred Weinhaus said. “1 think
pie already already have a better feeling
WABG, a AM station in New York.
rt p
arm i
the fourth season of a 10-year contra # ^||
broadcast Yankees games. Steve Appel
ses g<
station’s director of sports sales, said
cials from Ford Motor Co., Marine Mid
Bank, Getty Oil and Nissan had called
said they were happy Steinbrenner w
the way out.
“It’s made people feel terrific that
Yankees might once again be the p
franchise they once were,” Appel
SUPERCUTS
The Nation’s #1 Hair Styling Salon
Now open in Culpepper Plaza!
Supercut - $8 • Students & Professors with I.D.-$7 • Children 13 and under-$6
Introductory Offer for Texas A&M Students & Faculty
Bennigan’s
Texas
Ave.
Supercuts
$2.00
off
Safeway
Harvey Rd.
A Regular $8.00 Supercut
with this coupon
Expires Aug. 25,1990
Mon.-Fri. 9-9
Sat. 9-8
Sun. 10-6
CALL 696-1155
1519 S. Texas (Between Bennigans and Cowhop Junction) - Culpepper Plaza
hi
693-1
MERIDIAN
You deserve the best... And we’ve got it!
Apartment Features include:
• New carpeting
• Ceiling Fans
• Miniblinds
• All new appliances
• Frost-free refrigerators
• 1 and 2 bdrm. floorplans
Completely fenced complex
with controlled access
Swimming pool
On-site laundry facilities
Exercise facilities
1 block from campus
George Bush Dr.
Prices Start at $295
CALL 409/696-3177
Redmond Dr.
309 Redmond, College Station, TX 77840
Professionally Managed by The Elliot System
Texas A&M’s video yearbook is 60+ minutes
the sights and sounds of 89-90.
Get your copy while they last for only $32.33
English Annex or room 230 Reed McDonald
• Effi
• No<
• Shu
• Veil
• Ligl
• Hot
2 Pc
• Basl
“r
Lea;
Now i
m
1501
Acros:
/
Ai
N
Cc
En
1
Af
ye
ren