Sports
Wednesday, July 21,1993
The Battalion
Page 3
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Dog shows
not the most
exciting sport
MARK
SMITH
Sportswriter
You know,
sometimes 1 get
bored down
here at the Batt,
waiting on
prospective in
terviewees to
call, or my edi
tor to give me
another story to
do. Today 1 just
started looking
through an old
sports almanac
to see some of
the names from
the past. I saw
some big ones:
Pistol Pete
Marovich, Reggie Jackson, and Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar were there, reminding
me of the greats that once had been.
As I looked through this collection
of facts and trivia galore I was im
pressed by the number of events that it
included. Darts, professional billiards,
and even croquet. Granted, 1 thought a
few of these categories were slightly
out of place. I mean, how strenuous of
asport is croquet, anyway?
But one category far outweighed the
rest in the "what the heck is that doing
inhere" department. Dog shows. Ex
squeeze me? Baking powder? Dog
shows? What moron put this almanac
together? Oh . . .he, he . . .the Associat-
edPress. "Well," I thought, "if they're
the Associated Press, they must know
what they're doing."
That solution didn't quite hold wa
ter for me. It gave me a queasy feeling
deep down in my gut. It was either
that or the Pancho s I had for lunch.
Dog shows! Dog shows! It just kept
haunting me. What do dog shows have
to do with sports? Absolutely nothing.
It takes no athletic skill whatsoever to
show a dog. There could be that nasty
shoulder strain when you have to bathe
the dog. Or there could be that chance
for possible maiming when you have to
cut the dog's coat in all those designer,
hedge-shaped pieces. But the most tax-
ag activity has to be when you run
four pompous pooch by the judges,
jeez, the training to get the form just
tight must take years.
How do you play with a dog like
that? I would hate to get the thing
dirty. It would be like playing football
with the pigskin you got Joe Montana
to sign.
The same thing is true for dogs.
You need a scruffy dog to play with.
Io quote a line from a classic piece of
American cinematography, "Nothing
ismore trustworthy or more lovable
than the mutt." Besides, they said that
the prize dogs at those shows cost
around $20,000, and that was in 1974.
You can get a mutt down at the pound
for a lot less than that.
The American Kennel Club should
open up a new category for their
snows- the Mutt category. That way
dogs that are the "cutest" or the most
"adorable" have a chance to win a blue
ribbon without having the blue blood.
A&M triathlon club organizes conference
By KYLE BURNETT
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Triathlon Club is looking to become
a serious competitor in its field, said Richard Scecsy,
team captain and club president.
"The sport has been around for only about 10 years,"
he said. "So when you consider how new the sport is
and how new we are, we are making leaps and bounds."
On July 12, the team had its best finish to date taking
second place at The Tri-Fed South Midwest Regional
Club Championship in Framers Branch. The competi
tion consisted of a 1000-meter swim, 18-mile bicycle ride
and 4.8-mile run.
"This was great for us as a club," Scecsy said. "We
were up against some more professional teams with
larger budgets so it was real tough for us."
Beth Dresser, a graduate student in kinesiology, re
cently joined the team and was pleased with her finish at
the championship.
"I felt good about it," she said. "Especially since it
was only the second one I had competed in."
Dresser finished ninth and in her age group and 28th
overall.
Jamie Plunk, the team's coach and trainer, said the
team did very well, especially for a summer competi
tion. *
"It went great for this time of the year," he said. "As
a club we did pretty well even though we only had four
competitors, compared to 18 to 20 from other clubs."
Plunk, a health promotion Ph.D. candidate, placed
fifth in his age group and 19th overall.
The club, in a move to establish competition bound
aries for the sport, decided to organize a collegiate con
ference.
Scecsy said the conference, consisting of the Universi
ty of Texas, University of Houston, Arkansas, Sam
Houston State University and Southwest Texas State,
will be the first of its kind in the nation.
"Some of the top athletes will be competing there," he
said. "The competition will in no way be light.
"We are really turning things around. This will put
us at the forefront of collegiate triathlon competition."
The conference will be under the United States
Triathlon Federation's jurisdiction.
Scecsy proposed the idea to the federation at a board
meeting held in Farmers Branch during the champi
onships.
"They were real impressed with the idea and accept
ed it immediately," Scecsy said.
Competition inside the newly formed conference is
scheduled to begin in the fall.
The federation has chosen to give several of their an
nual events collegiate status.
Scecsy said the conference will allow the sport not to
focus solely on the individual athlete.
"It is an individual sport but is finally becoming a
team event," he said. "You still compete as an individual
but you get points for the team. It adds to the collegiate
spirit."
Plunk said the new conference could widen the
sport's appeal.
"This collegiate deal will bring a lot of other people
out to compete," he said. "In the past, they didn't have a
lot of support since it takes a lot of time, but now more
support will follow."
Landry accepts place in Ring of Honor
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRVING, Texas — Hall of Earner Tom Landry finally accept
ed a spot in the Dallas Cowboys' Ring of Honor on Tuesday, an
honor the former coach had vehemently shunned since he was
fired in 1989.
Landry, who guided the Cowboys to two Super Bowl cham
pionships in his 29 years, left the franchise on bitter terms when
Jerry Jones bought the team then dismissed him within hours.
He previously refused enshrinement in the ring, which en
compasses the facade between the decks of Texas Stadium. He
also has distanced himself from the team, spending more time
with personal business and charities.
"I'm really thankful to be here," Landry said adding that
Jones had asked him to join the ring during a charity golf tour
nament.
On Tuesday, Jones announced that Landry had agreed to be
enshrined in the ring of honor. The ceremony will take place Nov.
7 at the game between the Cowboys and the New York Giants.
Jimmy Johnson, who replaced Landry and became only the
second coach in Cowboys' history, said "I think it's good that
coach Landry will be in the Ring of Honor. He's a big part of the
great tradition of the Dallas Cowboys."
Johnson's sentiments were echoed by the club's former gen
eral manager, Tex Schramm.
"I think it's tremendous that Tom has decided to go into the
Ring of Honor," Schramm, said. "I'll be there that day for sure."
Landry becomes the eighth person honored, joining seven
players he coached: Bob Lilly, Don Meredith, Don Perkins,
Chuck Howley, Mel Renfro, Roger Staubach and Lee Roy Jordan.
The hat-wearing Landry became a stoic figure on Cowboys'
sidelines as he turned a floundering expansion franchise of the
early 1960s into America's Team by the 1970s.
The team was weakened in the early 1980s as his players
aged and weren't sufficiently replaced. He still guided them to
the playoffs in 1983 and his streak of 20 consecutive winning
seasons lasted until 1985.
But by 1988, his final year, the team had dropped to 3-13.
Under Landry, the Cowboys went 270-178-6, reaching Super
Bowls V, VI, X, XII and XIII. They beat Miami 24-3 in Super
Bowl VI and defeated Denver 27-10 in Super Bowl XII. He re
mains the NFL's third-winningest coach.
He became the third Cowboy in the NFL's Hall of Fame in
1990, joining Lilly and Staubach. Team president and general
manager Tex Schramm followed in 1991.
Lawsuit settlement to cause cuts in UT men's sports
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ,,
AUSTIN — Most coaches and adminis
trators for men's sports at the University
of Texas don't believe their teams will be
hurt by reductions in walk-ons, but they
say reducing the talent pool is unsettling.
The reduction is part of last week's set
tlement in a federal gender equity lawsuit
against the university.
"I don't think this will make competi
tive changes in our programs," DeLoss
Dodds, UT men's athletic director, told
the Austin American-Statesman.
"It just limits opportunities, and
you're never comfortable limiting oppor
tunities. That was the genesis of the law
suit on the other side," he said.
The out-of-court settlement in the law
suit that accused Texas of sex discrimina
tion calls for the proportion of all UT ath
letes — whether on scholarship or walk-
ons — to be approximately 56 percent
men and 44 percent women. Student en
rollment at Texas is 53 percent men and
47 percent women.
Under the settlement, men's coaches
find themselves faced with trimming the
number of athletes while maintaining
their scholarship numbers.
Those to be trimmed will be walk-ons.
Dodds estimates the number of male ath
letes in the program will drop from 325
to 265.
"In a program like Texas, where we
fully fund every sport, the impact of
walk-ons is not that great," Dodds said.
"Obviously, there have been some
who have made big contributions over
the years, but in terms of the competitive
success of programs, walk-ons have not
made that big an impact," he said.
The sport that might feel the most im
pact is track and field. Last season, coach
Stan Huntsman had a 62-man roster but
only 12 scholarships, which he divided
among 40 athletes who received aid. The
most prominent recent track walk-on is
Harry Green, who in 1989 set the school
record in the 10,000-meter run.
Huntsman's administrative aide, Mike
Hughes, said he didn't believe reducing
the number of walk-ons would hurt the
quality of the two-time defending South
west Conference indoor and outdoor
champions. But Hughes said he feels bad
ly about limiting the chances of walk-ons.
"Most coaches don't like to deal with
walk-ons. They're a lot of work. But those
are the kids who give back to the pro
gram because they feel the program gave
them something," he said.
Dodds said walk-ons will continue to
have a chance to try out, but the competi
tion will be tougher because of fewer
available spots. "You just draw the line in
a different place now," he said.
Stadium fire in
Atlanta causes
evacuation, delay
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Fire broke out in a
luxury suite behind home plate
Tuesday at Atlanta-Fulton County
Stadium, 90 minutes before the At
lanta Braves were to play the St.
Louis Cardinals.
The fire was extinguished 45 min
utes after it started. As many as 10
firefighters were treated on the scene
for heat related problems and one
was taken to a hospital for heat ex
haustion. No other injuries were re
ported.
Fans who had arrived early for
the 7:40 p.m. EDT start were evacu
ated, and Braves management in
tended to play the game.
"We think it was some sort of
electrical fire," said Larry Tanner,
Atlanta's assistant fire chief. He said
five box suites were destroyed and a
sixth was heavily damaged.
The fire burped 25 minutes before
firefighters could get close enough to
pour water on it. Twenty minutes
later, the fire appeared out.
Braves president Stan Kasten said
he does not believe the stadium sus
tained structural damage.
The fire apparently started in a
luxury suite rented by radio station
WGST on the third-base side of the
press level. Matt Stewart of WGST
said no one was in the suite when
the fire started at 5:55 p.m.
A loud explosion was heard sev
eral minutes after the fire began.
Burning debris fell onto the field-lev
el seats, flames shot through the mid
dle level and black smoke billowed
above the 52,013-seat stadium.
Players from both teams stood on
the field and watched.
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