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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1995)
"'ng the Uni n d end wk • r I'he spi •"ing break: dents’ ; children r the liy think in 1971 V teacher i blossomi i-a-year ' 42,000 ed only ft n, it is 'ol studenlii tudents spend hours over addictive games of forty-two e measure ore immi' sh and late more iociety. Ticial Enf !2 states to l)|an Higginbotham [he Battalion w rant-bask Je might be surprised to hear a larticular answer — playing dominoes. Domino playing has become mother one of those long- anding Aggie traditions, but idents inL one knows exactly when it ation. V. Bush, pport off ion, i. unng ;ar were ily limit ', accord- i Agency es ■d States mlation. i percent its were )0 listed effort to status, million zh m to the , would hen asking A&M stu dents about their fa vorite sport, many peo- pt started. Don Ganter, owner of the Dix- Chicken, said domino playing iecame popular at his Northgate larwhen it opened in 1974. We decided to kind of copy daces like Luckenbach, Texas old country stores where le sit around and play domi- aoes and drink beer,” Ganter . “We just said we had the dominoes and then stepped aside (or the people who were coming to play.” Swarms of A&M students how how to play games involv ing dominoes before they leave taught me how to play,” Nichols said. “Now, anytime I go to the Chicken, I play.” Others have learned the game by right of passage in their families. Ian Hastings, a senior animal science major, learned to play dominoes from his grandfather when he was six, although he didn’t learn how to play 42 until high school. "It's a good clean game that's competitive and fun to play. Some people just eat the game alive, or it eats them alive." — Don Ganter owner, Dixie Chicken Karen Nichols, a senior busi- sss analysis major, said she t start playing dominoes she came to A&M as a Miman. “1 knew upperclassmen who Forty-two is a popular domi no game similar to the card game Spades. Hastings said he has become more serious about domino play ing since he came to A&M. “There have been times when my buddies and I would get in at 8:00 at night and play until 6:00 in the morning,” he said. Hastings said by continuously playing, people can become bet ter domino players. “It takes a lot of time and a lot of playing, but you can al ways get better as a player,” he said. “When I play 42 with my buddies, after two or three domi noes have been played, you know what everybody’s holding.” But spending the time to be come a good player may not be voluntary. Suzi Manning, a junior math education major, said the game has become addictive. “I’m always playing dominoes,” Manning said. “Even Sunday night when I was camping out with friends fdr tickets to the A&M-Colorado football game, we were playing.” Ganter said people enjoy playing dominoes because it is a challenging game. “It’s a good, clean game that’s competitive and fun to play,” Ganter said. “Some people just eat the game alive, or it eats them alive.” The Dixie Chicken has 30 sets of dominoes for patrons to use when they come in, but Ganter said there are never enough. “There are people who are as rabid about dominoes as they are about the Aggie football team,” he said. “I’ve seen people i The Graig engineering career A f a several student loans 8:00am classes hundreds oF scantrons thousands oF No-Doze one black gown tone oF olaosiFicd ads You need a job. Crystal Semiconductor has jobs. Coincidence? We don't think so. Crystal, based in Austin, designs mixed-signal integrated circuits, specializing in SMARTAnalog™ technology. Crystal recruiters will be at A&M to meet top (GPA 3.5+) EE and computer science grads-to-be at the Engineering Career Fair, Wednesday and Thursday, 9:00-4:OOpm, in the Memorial Student Center. We'll be back to conduct interviews, preferably by appointment, on October 17 & 18. We'll also take resumes by fax, e-mail and snail niail. Put Crystal on your to-do list. several dozen ifitop/iows ^ - A- CewVe* Crystal College Recruiting P.O. Box 17847 Austin, TX 78760 fax (512) 445-4379 crystlhr@crystal.cirrus.com A Cirrus Logic Company your Future is clear Robyn Calloway, The Battalion Kelly Black, a senior kinesiology major, Kelly Baker, a senior agricultural development major. Shelly Huntley, a senior kinesiology major, and Mike Landin, a former business student, play a friendly game of 42 at the Dixie Chicken Tuesday afternoon. here playing dominoes from the minute we open in the morning until the minute we close.” Hastings said he enjoys domi noes because of the competitive ness of the game. “I can’t stand to lose, and I in still that into my partners,” Hastings said. “Dominoes is a very competitive sport because it is mental, and you can always get better. You can think of ways to harass other people and make them lose.” Nichols said the competitive nature of dominoes makes it hard for players to quit. “I can play for hours and not realize the time, because it is so competitive, and you always want to win,” she said. “If you lose a game, you want to keep playing so you can win. If you win a game, you want to keep playing and continue winning. You just keep playing and keep getting better.” Afraid that you may have missed Freudian Slip's first improv show of the year? Well, calm down. You haven't missed it yet. It's this Friday, Sept. 8, at the Rudder Forum at 9 p.m. Tickets go on sale at 8, and doors open at 8:30. Get there early or this could be you. FRfiMpN Come One Come fill Join the Fein MSC Variety Show is now accepting committee applications Due Monday, September 11 Applications available in the Student Programs Office Lauri Waid 845-1515 Place Your Ad In The Battalion Call 845-2696