The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 08, 1994, Image 9

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Nothin’ like
watching the
game in style
Nguyen stands out in the crowd
Red-shirt freshman receives rave reviews
DREW DIENER
Sportswriter
T he chance to sit in the press-
box this weekend when A&M
plays O.U. seems ideal. No
worries about standing in the 145
degree heat and paying S6 for a
Lemon Chill every 15 minutes.
Comfortably, I will sit in the cli
mate controlled confines of the
pressbox, high above the action
taking place on Kyle Field. Reared
back in my swivel chair, taking
notes and drinking free iced cold
sodas, I hob nob with colleagues
about the complementary barbecue
lunch that we all periodically are
burping up.
Game stats, pages and pages of
em’ at my disposal to peruse if I
like. This is the situation that
yours truly will encounter in ap
proximately 48 hours. Seems
great, right? Wondering how you
can get a job with The Battalion?
Well let me stop you right there.
Consider the following: While it is
true that the Pressbox might be the
most cushy place to be Saturday at
Kyle Field, it does have its draw
backs, especially if you have been
bred to love Aggie football.
Now don’t get me wrong, I con
sider it a privilege to write for The
Batt and have opportunity to cover
the football team, but the fan in me
cannot show its face when I’m do
ing my job.
When head yell leader Scott
Torn signals the 12th Man to cry
“Beat The Hell Outta O.U.,” I can
not participate. If I did, I’d get
booted out of the pressbox faster
than my last date jerked her head
away when I tried to kiss her.
Bias is a no-no in the world of
sports reporting.
Please see Diener, Page 11
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
When looking down the Texas A&M
recruiting chart at the linebacker posi
tion, one name definitely stands out. It is
not the player’s size (6 feet, 1 inch, 232
pounds) nor his speed (he runs a 4.6 sec
ond 40-yard dash) that make him truly
unique. It’s his name, and Dat Nguyen is
determined to make it a most recogniz
able by the time he’s through at A&M.
Nguyen, who is a Vietnamese-Ameri-
can bom in Rockport, has a very simple
explanation for his unusual size.
“(Growing up), I ate more than the
average person, especially the average
Asian-American.” Nguyen said.
As a senior last year at Rockport’s
Fulton High School, Nguyen was named
District 30-3A Defensive Player of the
Year after recording an astonishing 188
total tackles(98 solo and 90 unassisted)
as his team compiled an 8-3 record. He
was also named to the Class 3A all-state
team as a second-team punter.
While he was piling up the big num
bers in his senior year, the college re
cruiters came knocking on the Nguyens’
door. But when it came do to continuing
his improvement as a linebacker, there
was only one school on Nguyen’s list.
“I liked the tradition here (at A&M),
and I like the coaching staff, “ Nguyen
said. “Everything here is really top of the
line; this is ‘Linebacker University.’”
The A&M coaching staff has red-
shirted Nguyen for this season, but he
is already drawing rave reviews from
his coaches.
“Dat’s got tremendous potential for
an inside linebacker, “ linebackers
coach Shawn Slocum said. “In high
school, if he wasn’t making
the tackle, he was right
around it.”
Growing up in Rockport,
Nguyen had no interest in
sports until he reached a
time in his life where he
needed an outlet for his over
abundant energy.
“WTien I was little, about
in 7th grade, I was in trouble
a lot, and I had to find a way
to stay out of it, “ Nguyen. “1
started playing football, and
starting liking it. I kept on
playing (in high school) and
grew to love it.”
Nguyen loved it so much
he became a consensus
Texas Top 100 recruit at
the linebacker position,
and was ranked as the
37th best prospect from the
state of Texas by the
Austin American-States-
man. Despite the fact that
he will not see a single
down of action this season,
Nguyen was also featured
in the College Preview is
sue of Sports Illustrated.
As for goals on the play
ing field, Nguyen would do
well to follow the career
path of his playing idol, for
mer Baylor Bear and Chica
go Bear standout Mike Sin
gletary. Nguyen has been mentioned as
having the same “desire for playing” that
was so evident during Singletary’s long
career.
Slocum said despite Nguyen’s ab
sence from the line-up this season, the
Nick Rodnicki/THK Battalion
A&M freshman Dat Nguyen runs through drills
Wednesday
linebacker has shown flashes of some
thing special during practice.
“He’s a high intensity player, “ Slocum
said. “He does have that kind of look in
his eyes(like Singletary). He hasn’t got
ten on the field here yet, but when his
time comes, he’ll be more than ready."
Tori can make impact in Texas A&M tennis
Staff and Wire Reports
Texas A&M freshman Carlos Tori
lost his second-round match in the
U.S. Open Boys’ Division Tuesday to
the No. 7 seed Andrew Hie at the
USTA National Tennis Center in
Flushing Meadow, New York.
Tori defeated John Hui Tuesday by
a score of 6-3, 6-1 Tuesday. Tori and
doubles partner Federico Browne lost
their opening doubles match Tuesday
7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3.
“He comes in as a highly-qualified indi
vidual and I think he will be able to make
an immediate impact,” Texas A&M coach
David Kent said. “College tennis is a step
up from junior tennis, but Carlos has the
drive and ability to take that step up.”
“We lost Mark Weaver, who played
No. 1 singles and doubles, but Carlos
might be able to step in for him. Carlos
has had success throughout his junior
career and his record speaks for itself.”
The Texas A&M men’s tennis team
will begin their season at the Texas A&M
4-Way September 16-18 at the Omar
Smith Tennis Center.
The Battalion • Page 9
' i : ■ 1 ' '
100 years of
Aggie Football
By David Winder
The Battalion
In honor of Texas A&M football’s
centennial year, the A&M Athletic De
partment will hold a celebration before
Saturday’s game against the University
of Oklahoma.
The program will begin at 3:40 with
the presentation of bowl, Southwest
Conference and national championship
banners.
“We have done things like this in the
past but many students arrived too late
to see it,” Assistant Athletic Director
for Promotions and Operations Mike
Caruso said. “Right now, we’ve sold
close to 71,000 tickets so they’re not go
ing to be able to walk right in. It’s go
ing to be pretty crowded.”
The department is in the process of
setting up chairs in the back of both
endzones for the first non-conference
sellout in A&M history.
“We usually sell-out against teams
like Texas, Baylor and (Texas) Tech,”
Caruso said. “But the Oklahoma game
will be the first non-conference sellout.”
After the banners are presented, sky
divers will deliver the game balls to
three people dressed in Aggie uniforms
from the 1900s, 30s and 60s. They will
then present them to A&M Athletic Di
rector Wally Groff, A&M President Dr.
Ray Bowen and 1957 Heisman Trophy
winner John David Crow.
The program will conclude with the
releasing of a centennial helium bal
loon and the playing of the Aggie War
Hymn.
This day in Aggie
football ...
September 8 1979: Marc
Wilson leads Brigham Young
to the winning touchdown
with :52 left to give BYU a 18-
17 win over No. 14-ranked
A&M at Rice Stadium in
Houston.
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