Baseball Hall of Famer receives liver transplant DALLAS (AP) — Mickey Mantle early this morning underwent a liver transplant that doctors said was need ed to save his life, hospital officials said. A liver donor was found late Wednesday and once tests showed it was compatible with the 63-year-old Hall of Famer, surgery began around 4 a.m., said Jennifer Jones, a spokes woman at Baylor University Medical Center. Mantle's liver has been deteriorat ing because of a small malignant tu mor, years of alcohol abuse and a long dormant hepatitis C infection, doctors said. Marlins record first-ever series win against Astros HOUSTON (AP) — Greg Colbrunn hit a three-run homer in the first inning and John Burkett ended a four-game losing streak with six strong innings, leading Florida to a 8-3 victory Wednesday and the Marlins' first series win ever over the Astros. Burkett (4-5) didn't allow a base runner until he walked Craig Biggio to start the fourth inning and after Dave Magadan hit into a double play, Jeff Bagwell got the first hit, a solo homer over the left field fence. UT fans upset at lack of tickets for Notre Dame AUSTIN (AP) — A limited number of tickets provided to Texas for the Long horns' game at Notre Dame this Septem ber has some school faithful upset about who will get to go to the game. Notre Dame is providing 5,000 tickets to UT, and there is at least three times as many Longhorns' sup porters trying to get tickets. The game is Sept. 23 at South Bend, Ind., and most of the seats provided to UT are in the end zone. A policy developed by the athletic department and approved by school ad ministrators gives priority to those alum ni who have contributed the most mon ey to the Longhorn Foundation over the past year. A number of people have called into radio shows complaining that the policy caters to the wealthiest alums and ig nores longtime supporters who have given smaller amounts. RTS Eight players join 12th Man File Photo The 1995 12th Man Kickoff Team is comprised of eight walk-ons. The Aggies' kickoff squad has not given up a touchdown since 1990. □ The squad was cho sen from a field of 160 this spring. By Lee Wright The Battalion On the final day of Texas A&M’s spring football practice, eight players learned they would be returning to the team for the fall. They were not high school blue-chippers courted by several schools across the country. In fact, the players were not even guaranteed the chance of playing more than once or twice a year. So, why were these eight men so thrilled to make the cut? They had just become mem bers of the 1995 A&M 12th Man Kickoff Team. The 1995 Texas A&M 12th Man players are: Kip Amedo, Garret Carrey, Spencer Earl, Thomas Little, James Muniz, Ben Puig, Shawn Reynolds and Jeff Rogers. The Kickoff Team was start ed in 1993 by former A&M head coach Jackie Sherrill, who used an group of walk-ons as the kickoff coverage team. That year they allowed opponents only 13.1 yards per return. tradition In 1990, head coach R.C. Slocum changed the team so that one walk-on player repre sented the entire squad. In the five seasons since the change, the Aggies are yet to give up a kickoff return for a touchdown. Amedo said part of the thrill is not knowing when a Kickoff Team player will go into a game. “I don’t know which game or which actual kickoff I will have the opportunity to play in,” Amedo said. “As far as I know, the process is totally random, unless the coaches have a spe cial list of our kickoff duties. But we don’t know which game or games we will have the op portunity to play in.” The eight 12th Man players be gan early in the semester as walk- on prospects for the football team. In a walk-on class of approximate ly 160 men, the athletes were test ed in such categories as the 40- yard dash time, the vertical leap and the 20-yard shuttle. After the initial cut before spring break, approximately 20 walk-ons were left. Fifteen tried out for the 12th Man team. The coaches began to test these athletes on their overall ability to play football. On the last day of spring training prac tice, eight players learned they were chosen. Rockets shock Magic in OT thriller □ Olajuwon's tip-in puts the Rockets up 1 -0 in the NBA Finals. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Once the Houston Rockets got to overtime, their experience and Hakeem Olajuwon were all they needed. Olajuwon’s tip-in of Clyde Drexler’s miss with three- tenths of a second remaining in overtime Wednesday night lifted Houston to a 120-118 vic tory over the Orlando, Magic in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Olajuwon had four of Hous ton’s 10 points in overtime and finished with 31, winning the first round against Shaquille O’Neal, who had 26 points and 16 rebounds and nearly won the game for his young team. But the Magic’s Nick Ander son missed four free throws in the last 10 seconds of regula tion, allowing the Rockets to send the game into overtime. The Rockets won for the sixth straight time on the road in the playoffs, tying a playoff record. That mark tied the 1991 Chicago Bulls. The Rockets also tied a record for total playoff road wins with eight, the same number won by the 1981 Houston team. Robert Horry, who blocked Dennis Scott’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer in regulation, hit two 3-pointers to start the overtime and a hook shot by Olajuwon gave the Rockets a 118-115 lead. After a timeout, Scott in- bounded to O’Neal, who got the ball back to Scott, and his 3- pointer from the left side tied it with 5.5 seconds to play. Following another timeout, Drexler took the inbounds from Horry, drove hard to the bas ket and put up an off-balance layup that Olajuwon tipped in off the glass with three-tenths of a second remaining. Brian Shaw inbounded from mid-court and threw the ball off the backboard as time expired. With its high score and fre netic pace, the game was noth ing like last year’s grind-it-out Game 1, in which the Rockets grappled their way to an 85-78 win over the Knicks. In that series, neither team ever hit 100 points, the first time in NBA history that has hap pened. The Battalion • P Thursday • June 8 Violence bit sports, life I*! Shelly Hall Guest Columnist u s ticks and stool may break bones, but wor| will never hurt me.” Apparently, someone to all the nursery schr children who learned::-) ife simple rhyme. Words definitely hfiCHT some players on the k-j jp ball scene a couple of we; ago. F / By now, most of sports world has her about the skirmish betwe minor league baseballtesi the Durham (North Car *• na) Bulls and Wilminfgjrc (Virginia) War Hawks. , As usual, words were qL changed, a batter char; ck i the mound, everyone tb punches and a mass oiif y( jured bodies was lefir , upFI-T grace the “field of dreair The plea, “Stop the rnac lence!” has been hearb over the news, oftem sports figures preaching message. The publicized them:: the ballpark that nighu “Stop domestic violence.’ Stopping domestic 3k( ‘ lence could be quitea::j lenge when athletic: models assume that 5 Knc ety s rules don’t apply;j them. 'lyq Sure, these players di jy j completely get away" 1 their offenses. They rece) the appropriate finest' (D : sports executives like r* place on offenders. I bl But a ballpark, where smell of fresh popcorn the air and the sight\plq Jile HO See HALL, The Best Pizza In Town, ^Honest! Summer Time Special Mr. Gatti’s FastFeast Buffet Specially Priced Just For You! All You Care To Eat! Pizza (lots of different kinds!) SpaGatti (with Mr. Gatti’s rich 'n meaty sauce!) Fresh ‘n Healthy Salad! Desserts (including Mr. Gatti’s Dutch Apple Treat and Very Cherry Dessert Pizzas!) Weekday Lunch Dinner & Weekend Buffet $099 $099 Plus Tax Plus Tax served M - F 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. served M - F 4 - 9:30 p.m. Sat. - Sun. 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. 107 South College • 268-8888 The Battalion The Battalion (USPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday througFi Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except university holidays and exam periods), at Texas A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald Building, Tet*as A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111. PITS UPDATES 4 RTTS UPDATES 4 PITS UPDATES 4 RTFS UPDATES 3 ^ ■T' CO