The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, January 19, 1993, Image 4

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    Sports
Tuesday, January 19,1993
The Battalion
Pa
(g Tuesday, J
The Cowboys are
back where they
belong, on top
By K. LEE DAVIS
The Battalion
A s a lifelong Cowboy fan who
considers a trip to the Super
Bowl to be a birthright, Sundays
epic win over the dreaded 49ers was
greeted with the affection that a father
has for his newborn child.
But of course football is much more
important than children, so it was prob
ably even better than that.
I was 12 years old the last time that
the Cowboy's swaggered onto a Super
Bowl field, and that loss to the Pitts
burgh Steelers left me crestfallen for
months.
For most young boys growing up in
north Texas, Texas Stadium was the
place were God watched His team play.
His son coach and His grandson quar
terback.
And as long as the 'boys won, my
universe was perfect.
As excruciating as the loss to the
Steelers was back in 1979, a single mo
ment three years later is crystallized in
my memory.
Sports writers called it, "The Catch".
They said it was the end of one era and
the dawn of a new one.
I thought it was the end of the world.
A Paradise lost.
The year 1982 turned out to be a real
ly lousy one in north Texas, and it all
started when the 49ers beat the Cow
boys in The NFC Championship game.
Pretty soon the oil industry had gone
to hell in a hand basket with the real es
tate and banking industries soon to fol
low.
The Cowboys had been a rallying
point for a city and an area that was still
suffering from the hushed and hateful
whispers that said we had stood idly by
as a President was cut down.
We were seen as loud, brash, boast
ful hayseeds that just happened to live
on top of a whole bunch of valuable
natural resources.
A friend of mine went to Harvard
one summer and encountered another
young man from Boston who refused to
believe that the streets we grew up on
See Davis/Page 6
7
Maxwell, Rockets hammer Lakers at Forum, 110-90
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Vernon Maxwell made 6 of 7 shots
from 3-point range in the first half, and
Hakeem Olajuwon had a strong second
half as the Houston Rockets won their
fifth straight game, 110-90 over the Los
Angeles Lakers on Monday.
Maxwell scored 22 of his 24 points in
the first half, missing his only 3-pointer
attempt in the second half. He was 9 of
14 from the floor overall.
Maxwell's six 3-pointers in the first
half left him one short of the NBA record
for a half, held by John Roche and
Michael Adams.
Houston's 11 3-point goals for the
game was the most ever against the Lak
ers, with the previous high of 10 by San
Antonio last year.
Olajuwon scored 15 of his 21 points in
the second half as the Rockets fought off
a threat by the Lakers.
The Lakers closed a 15-point deficit to
67-64 with the help of Byron Scott's
three-point play. But the Rockets scored
the next five points, on Scott Brooks' 3-
pointer and Olajuwon's turnaround
jumper.
Houston then pulled away by
outscoring the Lakers 14-6 in the first six
minutes of the final quarter.
The Lakers were led by James Worthy
with 18 points, A.C. Green with 14 and
Campbell with 13.
The Rockets had six players in double
figures. Matt Bullard had 15 points.
Brooks 14, Winston Garland 11 and Otis
Thorpe 10.
Coaching great Iba leaves a proud legacy behind him
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hank Iba began playing basketball on
dirt courts in rural Missouri, wearing
uniforms sewn by his mother. He be
came one of the great coaches in history,
a man whose influence is still felt amid
the glitz of today's multi-million dollar
game.
Iba died of heart failure early Friday.
He was 88. He had been hospitalized
since Wednesday.
"Of all the shadows that cast over the
game of basketball, his was the biggest,"
Indiana coach Bob Knight said in a state
ment.
Knight was one of the many coaches
Iba influenced with his preachings of
sound defense and a patient, ball-control
offense. Iba won 767 games in 41 years,
second most in history, and led Okla
homa State — then called Oklahoma
A&M — to national championships in
1945 and '46.
Iba coached the U.S. Olympic team
three times. His teams won gold medals
in 1964 and '68, then lost to the Soviet
Union in 1972 in one of the most contro
versial games ever.
It was ironic that Iba, one of the
game's great winners, came to be so
closely tied to a loss. The United States
appeared to have won the game in regu
lation. But the clock was reset twice, giv
ing the Soviets three chances to score the
game-winning basket.
"We won the game, no question about
it," Iba said in an interview with The As
sociated Press in February 1990. "That
thing was over."
No members of the U.S. team ever ac
cepted their silver medals.
Knight was especially close to Iba. In
1984, when he coached the Olympic
team, Knight asked Iba to serve as a spe
cial assistant coach and speak to the team
each day at practice. After winning the
gold medal, the players honored Iba by
carrying him on their shoulders around
the court.
"There weren't many of us who knew
what was going on that didn't have tears
in our eyes," said Bill Wall, former exec
utive director of USA Basketball, the
sport's national governing body. "Maybe
some of those kids didn't know who he
was, but each of them had just spent a
month with him."
The coaching ranks are filled with Iba
disciples, including current Oklahoma
State coach Eddie Sutton.
"He began his career with coaches
like Phog Allen and Adolph Rupp and
finished with Dean Smith and Bobby
Knight and all the people recognized
what he had given to the game," Sutton
said. "They all admired the class that he
brought to the game."
Iba was born Aug. 6, 1904, in Easton,
Mo. He began his coaching career in 1927
at Classen High School in Oklahoma
City. After two seasons there, he went to
Maryville Teachers College in Missouri.
He spent four seasons at Maryville
and one year at the University of Col
orado before taking over at Oklahoma
A&M, where he coached 36 years and
won 655 games.
"When you compare him to a modern
coach today who finds talent that already
exists, the difference is Mr. Iba was a true
coach, a teacher, a mentor, who taught
the fundamentals of the game," said Bob
Kurland, who helped lead Oklahoma
A&M to its consecutive NCAA titles.
"Mr. Iba was not a great recruiter,"
Kurland said. "He felt he was a teacher.
If people wanted to play the game of bas
ketball, they would come to him. And
they did."
Those sentiments were shared by Jack
Hartman, who played for Iba and went
on to win 436 games at Kansas State.
"I realize it takes talent to coach
skilled kids," he said. "But Mr. Iba could
take a lot of Oklahoma country boys and
take them as far as they could possibly
go, and make them compete with the
very best."
Hank Iba's son, Moe, coaches at Texas
Christian, and his nephew. Gene,
coached at Baylor until last season.
Iba's opinions were cherished by pre
sent coaches. Many of his proteges invit
ed him each year to watch a few days of
practice and give a critique.
Rob Evans, in his first year as coach at
Mississippi, said Iba was at practice near
ly every day during the two years Evans
was an assistant at Oklahoma State.
"He had a cane and he would tap it
on the table and then he'd tell me,
'You're doing it right. You will be a
tremendous coach,' " Evans said. "That
gives you a lot of confidence."
Iba was revered in Stillwater and
around the state, where he was known
simply as "Mr. Iba." He could have had
any seat in Gallagher-Iba Arena, but pre
ferred a spot several rows up in the cor
ner because it allowed him to see the
whole court.
He insisted on relentless man-to-man
defense and a controlled offense, and his
reasons were simple.
"If I've got the ball enough. I've got a
chance to win," he said in 1990. "If they
get the ball more than I do. I'm liable to
get beat. I've got to have that rock."
"In my own mind. I'm convinced that
if I can't stop 'em, I ought to get beat.
That's the name of the game. I don't care
if you and I are having a bicycle race. If
you can't win, you're no good."
Aggies to test
mettle against
Runnin' Rebels
FROM STAFF ANDWIRE REPORTS
The Texas A&M basketball team migl
be hoping for a bit of relief from its thre
game losing streak, but it might have
wait until after tonight's road contest,
10:05 p.m. Central against the Nevada-L
Vegas Runnin' Rebels.
The Rebels have shown no signs <
slowing down in their first season withoi
former head coach Jerry Tarkanian. Fo
mer Villanova boss Rollie Massimino h
led UNLV to a 9-1 record without the be:
efit of a true center, and with only oi
concrete NBA prospect in the form of fo_
ward J.R. Rider.
Rider has been the centerpiece fl
UNLV's running game, leading the tea|
with 26 points and 8.7 rebounds per gam
As a contrast, A&M's leading scorer ar
rebounder, forward Damon Johnson,
averaging 15.5 points and 7.6 points p
game.
Tarkanian's legacy lives on at UNLV
Thomas & Mack Center, where the Rebe
have extended their homecourt winnir
streak to 55 games, the longest currei
streak in the nation. Their latest victoi
came Jan. 16, when they sweated out a \Yith 1
84-77 Big West Conference win over Sa eura ^j
Jose State. P.
The University of Houston extende n '.o 1
A&M's losing streak in G. Rollie Whii jromise
Coliseum Saturday, defeating the Aggi(Wign.
81-69. Head coach Tony Barone's squa Unfor
previously lost two heartbreakers, fallinhich pr
to Alabama 64-58 and Rice 66-65. electora
The Aggies played shorthanded again ;an „ er 0
Houston, as reserve forward Lai§c^ or - (
Broderson sat out with a sprained ankU
They were still able to outrebound tH e
Cougars 35 to 26, but Houston shot 51 pe ; ec ^ on:
cent from the field as opposed to A&Mlent-eh
45.8 percent. achieve j
Johnson once again led the Aggies wilieficit b)
23 points and 13 boards, and emergin E ven '
guard Chuck Henderson added 15 pointQj n ^ on
Cc
Point guard David Edwards logged a sei >
son-high 12 assists in the game, but scored
only nine points, 5.2 below his season av 1
erage.
A&M owns a 3-2 advantage in the al
time series between the two schools, bi
UNLV has won the last two matchups.
The Rebels crushed A&M by 43 point
110-67 in 1989.
to b
me
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So you don’t have candlelight. Or
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Just these coupons.
But that’s all you need to have two
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these coupons to your local supermarket.
If the date goes well, try it a second time.
Campbell’s Ramen Noodle Soup is
your solution for a hot date on a cold night.
IN-AD COUPON
m
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indicated ANY OTHER USE CONSTITUTES FRAUD Good for the maximum value 69e
towards the purchase of the product indicated For reimbursement of retail value plus
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DEL M0. TX 7M4I. Failure to produce
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all coupons submitted Void if taxed,
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other than retailers of our products
Cash value 1/100< c
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5
IN-AD COUPON
Buy l,Getl Free
Campbell’s Ramen Noodle Soup Cup
Coesmw. Maximum value 69* Good only on product indicated Consumer pays any
sales tax. (kecer Redeem on terms slated for consumer upon purchase of product
indicated ANY OTHER USE CONSTITUTES FRAUD Good lor the maximum value 69c
towards the purchase of the product indicated For reimbursement of retail value plus
8c mail to CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY. CMS DEPT MIMfi. ONE FAWCETT DRIVE,
(Maximum Vafcta 69c) 0El wo TX 7n4 ° Fa,iu,e 10 p roducc
on request invoices proving purchase
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