2? ^Sllhe Battalion
PORTS
ednesday, August 29,1990
Tennis’ bad boy
all grown up for
U.S. Open play
H e used to be the number
one tennis player in the world. He was
famous for throwing temper tantrums
and making a line judges’ life a living
hell over a close call.
In his prime he was practically
unbeatable and unbearable.
Looking like a cross between Axl
Rose and Krusty the Klown, a 31-year-
old John McEnroe is struggling to keep
that once shining tennis career afloat at
the U.S. Open.
McEnroe, a four-time winner of the
Open, received a confidence boost by
defeating Javier Sanchez in straight sets
in Tuesday’s first round Open action.
Wearing a bandana and sun block on
his face to protect from the intense heat,
McEnroe survived tie breakers in both of
the first two sets, advancing to a second-
round match with Swede David Engel.
McEnroe’s last tournament victory
came in 1989 when he was ranked fourth
in the world —his highest ranking since
1985.
Last year he departed the Open in the
second round and in January, he was
expelled from the Australian Open for
abusive behavior.
However, it’s been six years since
McEnroe’s last victory at the U.S. Open,
and this summer he’s suffered through
some quite humiliating defeats.
In June, McEnroe was ousted from
Wimbledon — the tournament that
earned him the most notoriety — in
straight sets. “McBrat,” as he was called
by the English press for his tirades of
See Pils/Page 11
Sports Editor
Aggies face
tough Hawaii trip
Battalion file photo by Mike C. Mulvey
A&M football coach R.C. Slocum said the team may be sluggish after today’s
eight-hour flight to Honolulu to prepare for Saturday’s game against Hawaii.
By RICHARD TIJERINA
Of The Battalion Staff
Somewhere in a Baytown office, Jackie
Sherrill may be sitting in his chair, smiling.
In College Station, R.C. Slocum sits in his,
worrying about a weekend trip to Hono
lulu.
Slocum’s Aggies open their season this
weekend by traveling to Hawaii, where the
Rainbows were 9-0-1 last year at Aloha Sta
dium.
Slocum said Tuesday that he was less
than enthused about taking his team all the
way to Hawaii just to play a football game.
It wasn’t his idea.
Sherrill pushed for the game two years
ago when he was still the Aggies’ head
coach and athletic director.
A&M was 1-6 in season openers under
Sherrill. Although A&M beat Louisiana
State in the opener last year in Slocum’s
first as coach, it did so at home.
The team will take a two-hour bus ride to
Houston early Wednesday morning, then
catch an eight-hour plane ride to Hawaii. A
five-hour time difference exists between
Honolulu and College Station.
“Jackie must have known something I
don’t,” Slocum said. “If we were playing a
mullet team, I wouldn’t worry so much
about those things.
“But we’re banged up, and we’re playing
a very good team in their home stadium.
We’re having to work like devils to get the
re.”
The Aggies were all smiles before mak
ing their first road trip last year. After beat
ing LSU 28-16, A&M headed to Seattle to
take on Washington.
Slocum promised to show the team the
“bright lights and the big city” in the days
before the game.
He took the team sightseeing to Puget
Sound. A&M lost the game on national tele
vision, 19-6.
The team is planning to visit Pearl Har
bor and the National Military Cemetary,
but defensive lineman John Miller said the
Aggies aren’t expecting much of a Ha
waiian tour this year.
“Coach Slocum has told us that whenever
he takes us somewhere, he wants to take us
to some local places for the culture,” Miller
said. “We did that last year in Seattle, and I
think we lost focus of the game. But this
year, I think it’s going to help more than
anything.
“With this being our first game, we’ll be
so up for going out and playing. It’ll be no
problem.”
It might be up to the upperclassmen to
show the team how to take care of business
this weekend, safety Larry Horton said.
“We’ve got a lot of mature guys and we
know why we’re going down there,” Horton
said. “We won’t be tense or anything. We’re
focused, and we’re not going to take the
same attitude we did when we went to
Washington. This game is very important
for us to win.”
It could be crucial for the 13th-ranked
Aggies as the season progresses, although
Slocum dismisses any talk of national cham
pionships. A&M’s home schedule is soft,
and must play Southwest Conference pow
ers Arkansas, Texas and Houston on the
road.
But the Aggies have won their last two
games against the Cougars in the Astro
dome and their last three games at the
Longhorns’ Memorial Stadium. A&M
hasn’t beaten Arkansas in Fayetteville since
1967.
“This could set the tone for the whole
season,” Miller said. “Hawaii is a great team
in Hawaii. They take advantage of teams
that go out there just wanting to see Hawaii
and take their minds off the game.”
Slocum’s not taking any chances of that.
With an open date next weekend before
hosting Southwestern Louisiana, he said
the last thing he wants is his team mulling
over a loss to Hawaii for two weeks before
playing again.
“I spent the whole summer with people
going, ‘Oh, boy, y’all are going to Hawaii!,’
and all that stuff,” Slocum said. “I promise
you if we win the game Saturday night then
I might relax for a moment.
“This will be a tough trip for the coaches
— we’ve got 80 guys that we’re going to be
trying to maneuver through Honolulu for
three or four days before you play a ball-
game.”
Offensive lineman Mike Arthur said al
though the team will enjoy the trip to the
beach, they won’t forget their trip to the
field Saturday.
“We’re not going to worry so much about
having fun,” Arthur said. “We’re not there
for a vacation, we’re there for a game.”
And that’s exactly what the team didn’t
See Trip/Page 11
Ebenhad
side his
. x<y oiu.v
$$$$$ AGGIE BUCKS
Nadja Sabawala 845-2688
UT defense
ready for ’90
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas middle line
backer Brian Jones sat on a golf cart, recu
perating from 2‘/2 hours of practice in 100-
plus degree heat, and recalled the slogan
Longhorns’ Coach David McWilHams came
up with in spring training: Whatever It
Takes.
Jones knows the rest of the sentence is: to
finish better than the 1989 record of 5-6.
And to win a bowl game — something the
once-proud Longhorns have done only
twice in 10 years.
With that in mind, Jones, a 6-3, 238-
pound senior from Lubbock Dunbar, has
taken McWilliams’ motto and added to it.
“Some of the guys and I have expanded
it to ‘By Any Means Necessary,’ which is
taken from Malcom X,” Jones said. “They
both pretty much mean the same thing. If it
takes practicing in
106-degree heat,
then that’s what it
takes.”
The current
Longhorn defense
has shown signs
that it may have the heart of the old Texas
teams, which dominated opponents in the
1960sand 1970s.
The contemporary Texas defense blitzed
often and successfully during an intrasquad
scrimmage on Saturday, coming up with 12
sacks and dominating the offense.
After that performance, defensive end
Oscar Giles reflected the mood in the Texas
defensive camp.
“I was proud of our defensive lineman,
linebackers and secondary,” said Giles, a 6-
3, 246-pound senior from Palacios. “Every
series seemed like three-and-out.”
Giles also believes in the “Whatever It
Takes” philosophy.
“We were saying that all last spring,” he
said. “I can’t really say where it came from,
but it’s within us and it is going to stay
within us. It’s a team deal and a personal
deal.”
Jones and Giles tied for the team lead in
sacks last year, seven apiece.
This year, Jones said, “I want to be in
double figures in sacks, have 150 tackles, at
least three interceptions and cause at least
five fumbles. If I do that, we will win every
game.”
“I really shouldn’t even consider those
goals,” said Jones, who led the team with
108 tackles last season and recovered one
fumble. “That’s just my job.”
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Siccepted at Commons andSlisa Efining Centers and these other [ocations:
Food Court Cafeterias
Snack Bars
Markets
AgCaFe
Bernie’s Place
The Common Market
Memorial Student Center
Bus Stop Snack Bar
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(MSC Cafeteria)
Common Denominator
Pie Are Square
Golf Course Snack Bar
Underground Food Court
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Humours
Vet Snack Bar
Zachry
7 t aggie bucks
at the TEXAS A&M BOOKSTORE
and “Billy Mac's at the dtirport
It’s ‘Easy! Eurchase an originalSIQQIE account at four locations:
Aggie Bucks Food Services Office in the basement ofsbisa Efining Center
Memorial Student Center (MSC) Cafeteria
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and through Registration Process
(For additional information contact:
r Te?(as SL&lM food Services
845-S421