Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1994)
Sports ■ Thursday, April 7, 1994 The Battalion Page 7 open::- A Iasi i: Man, Macmanus/ The Battalion Texas A&M Head Baseball Coach Mark Johnson (left) walks on to Olsen Field with Trey Moore during the first game of the season against the University of Texas-Pan American on Feb. 11. Father Boys of Summer A&M head coach leads team in times of success, trouble By Drew Diener The Battalion aseball practice is over at Olsen Field. It’s time roll out the tarp and cover the dia- *mond. Leading the charge of players and coaches working to complete this daily ritual is Flead Coach Mark Johnson. Instead of retreating to his office as soon as practice is over, Johnson takes the extra five or so minutes to make sure the field is returned to the way it was at the beginning of the day. After the last stake is driven into the ground, securing the tarp from the threat of strong winds, Johnson heads into the dugout and down the corridor that leads into the locker room. From the locker room, he opens a door and enters the baseball lounge. At the opposite end of the lounge, behind another closed door, is Johnson’s office. As he reaches the door, Johnson bends down - to pick up his mail. “Monday’s usually a big mail day,” Johnson sighs. Lately the mail has not been full of accolades and letters of encouragement. The Aggies are 22-16 overall and 2-7 in the Southwest confer ence, far off the pace of last year’s ballclub that went 53-11, earning a berth as the top seed in the College World Series. “When the fans start yelling at you and you get nasty letters, your ego bursts,” Johnson said. “We’re not used to losing and I’m not used to people yelling at me.” In his nine previous seasons as the head coach at A&M, Johnson compiled a record of 419-154-1, including three SWC regular sea son championships, two SWC tournament championships and seven trips to the NCAA re- gionals. Four times the Aggies, were regional finalists before finally breaking through and advancing to the College World Series last year. Johnson has held his head up this season' de spite the trying times. Better yet, he has done his best to keep his players’ heads up as well. “He’s always staying positive,” senior pitcher Matt Sherwood said. “It’s easy to stay with us when we’re doing good but when we’re strug gling and having some tough times, he’s right there with us.” Even if the struggle does not involve base ball, Johnson is always there to lend encourage ment and support to his players, as Sherwood can attest. “Last year when my uncle was killed I was able to go to him,” Sherwood said. “He was there to console me and be that father figure for me.” Although Johnson does not like the label of father-figure, he agrees that being there for his players is something that he feels obligated to do. “I’m with them in their ups and downs,” Johnson said. “It’s not like your normal profes sor who sees them in the classroom and then leaves. “You have a lot of emotional highs and lows (being on the baseball team) where a guy is re ally susceptible to problems.” Johnson knows about emotional highs and lows. Last season, on the day that his number one ranked team was scheduled to host arch rival Texas, Johnson’s father passed away. “I got the call about 6:30 that morning,” Johnson said. “My mother did not want me to See Johnson/ Page 8 A&M prepares for first open ‘94 scrimmage By Nick Georgandis The Battalion Almost two full weeks into spring practice, the Texas A&M football team wifi strut its stuff in the public for the first time in 1994 on Saturday morning at 10 at Kyle Field in the Maroon and White Game. Head Football Coach R.C. Slocum said more than 200 former Aggie players are expected to attend the game and its ac companying festivities. Slocum also said that fans attending Saturday’s affair will see a good game, but not the full picture for next fall's team. “We are a little thin right now because we have 2 5 freshmen coming in in the fall,” Slocum said. “We’ll divide the team as evenly as possible, and the game should be a lot of fun for everyone.” One not-so-new player who made waves in practice Wednesday, and who will be seeing playing time in Saturday’s game is wide receiver Chris Sanders. Sanders, a 6-foot-4~inch junior from Austin, made several good catches includ ing one spectacular grab where he collid ed with a defensive back while the ball deflected straight up in the air between the two players. Sanders then spun around in an at tempt to maintain his balance, and ended up catching the ball on its way back down. Saturday will also introduce the 12th Man to A&M’s mostly new coaching staff, including new offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger from Georgia University and new defensive coordinator Tommy Tu- berville from the University of Miami. Ensminger said he feels the offensive unit is on par with its performance at this point of the practice session. “I think the offense has picked up on the system well, they’ve adjusted and learned,” Ensminger said. “They’ve ad justed and learned when we’ve thrown new stuff at them. “I’m especially pleased with the effort, they’re all giving great effort.” o THE S o co n EVENT APRIL 9, 1994 "Aggies helping others" ■ Oocn fk£ I2fk /V\Aa La HvC HHv Anni/Al Kk fVf/vJT Wv£ aAKoa’* COAWiMlf X&CviCJt projecf Mtlplng OBvert" Klcb.-off: lUt Cyfowt Af 9:00 out*. ■**■** T"-sV\tcF< caa bt purc.kA.xed- a.F SfodLenF CU>veov>nc.AF ofltce. or aF kidt-off for $>UD.OO *■* HeAd<b*wfer* U locAfcd aF Uenxel fWfc. arroU from ALberFioA o»v College. /WnLn % What is The Big Event? For the past eleven years, Texas A&M students have volunteered their time and effort for the better ment of the community in which they live. On April 9, 1994 several thousand Aggie students will provide labor to the residents of Bryan and College Station, performing tasks from painting to pulling weeds. The Big Event gives Aggies the opportunity to show appre ciation for all the support the Bryan and College Station communities have offered Texas A&M Uni versity. Essentially, The Big Event is Aggies helping others.
