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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1990)
oe Battalion SPORTS 9 Thursday, September 27,1990 Sports Editor Nadja Sabawala 845-2688 QB controversies are a way of NFL life these days G ood leaders are hard to find these days. Whether it is at the collegiate or SCOtt professional level, a OOUIl good quarterback is the Wudel key element needed to maintain a consistent team concept and win games. Let’s start with the best. Joe Montana was a moderate quar terback in college at Notre Dame 12 years ago, who was lucky enough to to be picked by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round. Montana floundered around the side lines of Candlestick Park waiting to prove himself among the big boys of professional football. King of the comeback, Montana turned out to be one of the most exciting and efficient quarterbacks in NFL history — while wearing four Super Bowl rings on his right hand. Many professipnal teams fill the pock ets of 21 year-olds with million dollar checks and have great expectations of those young men turning out to be the next Montana and leading their teams to the promised land. Some succeed, but some don’t. Vinny Testaverde followed a long string of great quarterbacks coming out of the University of Miami. Jim Kelly has proved he can win ball games for the Buffalo Bills but hasn’t led his team to the echelon of the game. Side-armed Bernie Kosar has had the same success with the Cleveland Browns. Now Testa verde, who has a million dollar arm is pressured to follow the same success again in Tampa Bay. That transition leads us to Steve Walsh, another million dollar QB from Miami. But his situation was a bit more complicated. Walsh was stuck with a team that already had a franchise quar terback, in Troy Aikman. When Walsh came to the Dallas Cowboys last year a controversy immediatly started. Which leads us to our next transition. Quarterback controversies. In the first three weeks of this season over half the teams in the league have used more than one quarterback at some point in See Wudel/Page 12 Miami hoping for Big East, ACC CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) —The Uni versity of Miami hopes to join the Big East or Atlantic Coast Conference, and has elim inated the Southeastern and Metro confer ences from consider ation, school officials said Wednesday. Remaining an in dependent in all sports is “not very appealing at all” and “very, very low on the priority list,” Athletic Director Sam Jankovich said at a news confer ence. Some sort of affil- Sam Jankovich iation with the Big East appears most likely. Officials from that league plan to visit the Miami campus soon, while it’s uncertain whether ACC offi- Former Rocket boss hoping for Houston hockey HOUSTON (AP) — Hockey is now the game for former Houston Rockets presi dent and general manager Ray Patterson and he says it can be successful in muggy Houston. Patterson remembers competing with the former World Hockey Association Houston Aeros for the entertainment dollar and coming out in second place. “When the Aeros were here, the WHA outdrew us,” Patterson said. “I think hockey did well here before. It was just a victim of circumstance.” The NHL tested the ice in the Houston Summit Monday night with an exhibition game between the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins, the fourth straight year in the exhibition series. “The big job in the next two years is to convince the NHL owners that we are a vi able market,” Patterson said. “We’ve got to create the interest here in the city.” An NHL franchise would be competing with the NFL Houston Oilers, the NBA Rockets and the NL Houston Astros at the pro level. “I really don’t see any objections to hockey here,” Patterson said. “It will just re quire a lot of work. I’m pleasantly surprised by the interest so far.” cials will pay a visit, Jankovich said. “Both bring an awful lot to the table,” Jankovich said. “(The ACC) is a lot more traditional and has been in existence longer than the other. The Big East has been there for 11 years and is getting better all the time.” Miami has yet to receive an invitation to join a conference, and Jankovich and uni versity president Edward Foote have yet to make a recommendation to Miami’s exec utive board of trustees, Jankovich Said. The board will make a final decision by Oct. 16, barring unforeseen developments, Foote said. Jankovich met with Big East officials Tuesday in Boston. He and other Miami of ficials met Wednesday and agreed to elimi nate the SEC and Metro. The primary reason for the decision, Foote said, was the university’s large num ber of alumni, students and potential stu dents with ties to the Northeast, Foote said. “In the Big East, we have the highest con- LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The last time Earle Bruce coached against Arkansas, the Razorbacks were tinkering with the full house backfield and the I formation with a slotback. On that afternoon in Fayetteville in 1973, the Razorbacks lined up in both, at the same time. With the score tied at 13 and Ar kansas on the Iowa State 5, quarterback Mike Kirkland threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jack Ettinger. The Razorbacks won 21-19. Bruce, now the head coach at Colorado State, was asked if he had forgiven Arkan sas? “Never,” he said Wednesday. “I think everybody on Arkansas’ team knew they had 12 men on the field when it happened,” he said. “I don’t think they wanted it that way.” But he was steamed at.the official. “The official told me he didn’t care if there were 60 on the field,” Bruce said. On Saturday night, his Rams face 23rd- ranked Arkansas in Little Rock. Bruce is in his second year at Colorado State and has the Rams headed in the right direction. They were 5-5-1 last year — after 1-10 in 1988 — and are off to a 3-1 start. Their only loss was tb nationally ranked Arizona State, 31-20. centration of our alumni from that region, outside the state of Florida,” Foote said. “To be able to play quality intercollegiate athletics in an area where we have lots of students and lots of alumni is certainly an advantage. “On the other hand, the ACC ... has a sig nificant impact on the Washington-Balti- more market, where we also get a lot of stu dents.” Larger television markets on the East Coast also figured in Miami’s decision to discontinue discussions with the SEC and Metro, Foote said. In response to Miami’s announcement, SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer said no in vitation had been issued to the school. He said the league is happy with its present 12- school alignment. The ACC expanded to nine teams with the addition of Florida State last month, and Assistant Commissioner Tom Mickle didn’t rule out the possibility of further ex pansion. After nine years at Ohio State and one at Northern Iowa, Bruce arrived in Fort Col lins, Colo. He said he likes the location, the weather, the atmosphere and the academ ics. “Colorado State hasn’t been a winner, but is fertile ground for winning right now,” he said. The first thing he had to overcome was the attitude of the alumni, students and players, he said. And the only way to reju venate them was to win, he said. “You have to restore confidence and self esteem in the player,” he said. “We’ve been pleased with the progress of the football team in that sense.” He said the Rams will be outmanned Sat urday night. “The only thing we’ve got going, we’re going to play like 11,” he said. “We’re still developing, but our players are playing with a lot more confidence.” The Razorbacks are coming off a 21-17 loss to Mississippi. Arkansas outgained the Rebels 427-111 and had the ball more than 40 minutes. On the final play, Chris Mitch ell knocked down Ron Dickerson inside the Mississippi 1. “They had Mississippi backed up all day,” Bruce said. “They got three field goals when they could have had three touchdowns.” “We’ve very flattered Miami is consid ering the ACC,” Mickle said. “ I he ACC certainly is not aggressively seeking expan sion, but in this day and time we’re ob viously willing to keep our options open.” Jankovich said an expanded Big East could take several forms. Three of the league’s nine members —Pittsburgh, Bos ton College and Syracuse — play major-col-’ lege football, all as independents. The foot-; ball-playing schools might affiliate with the Soutnwest Conference to fill out their schedules, Jankovich said. Remaining an independent in football and joining the Big East in other sports would also be a possibility, Jankovich said. Big East officials investigating expansion have limited their discussions to Miami, said Chris Plonsky, assistant commissioner of the Big East. “If Miami’s interest in us continues and we can work out something and they could become part of our picture, it would be a great addition to our league,” she said. Spurs acquire McNamara from Lakers for picks SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs have added Mark McNa mara to back the team’s high-profile cen ters. The team acquired McNamara on Tuesday from the Los Angeles Lakers for a swap of future second-round draft positions. “He’s a veteran player,” said Spurs vice president Bob Bass. “I know he knows how to play. He passes the ball well. We just hope he can defend and re bound well enough to help us.” McNamara, a seven-year NBA vet eran, will join the Spurs in time for train ing camp, which starts Oct. 5. The 6- foot-l 1 center also played for the Spurs in 1983 and 1984. With Caldwell Jones and Uwe Blab now gone from the Spurs roster, San Antonio had been looking for a center to go along with David Robinson and rookie Dwayne Schimzius. “Dwayne hasn’t signed and he hasn’t made a heck of a lot of progress yet,” Spurs coach Larry Brown said. “Mark Wilt help make our camp more compet itive. We still need to bring in a few more guys.” Bruce, Razorbacks to meet once more N-BLAUPUNKT HOME & CAR AUDIO ■ SALE!! 3 DAYS ONLY! THURSDAY thru SATURDAY • Sept. 27-29 Soundwaves in Bryan is having a blowout sale in order to make room for incoming fall merchandise. So prices are reduced...up to 60% OFF. 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