The Battalion
"'•ti '
Thursday
November 16, 1995
At a
Glance
Sports Briefs
Aggieland Handball
Tournament to be held
this weekend
The largest handball tournament
in Texas will be held this weekend
at the Student Recreation Center
and the Read Building.
The 19th Annual Aggieland Clas
sic Handball Tournament will fea
ture more than 300 entrants, includ
ing ranked professionals Sal Santa
Ana from El Paso and Beth Rowley
from Dallas.
Play will begin at 8 a.m. on Fri
day and the finals will be held at 6
p.m. on Sunday.
A&M Softball signs
California shortstop
Jamie Smith, a shortstop from
Ceres, Ca., signed a national letter
of intent to play for the Lady Aggie
Softball team on Tuesday.
"We are excited about signing
Jamie," A&M Head Coach Bob
Brock said. "We anticipate that she
will be an impact player for us and
a great replacement for senior
Kendall Richards."
At Johanson High School, in
Modesto, Smith post a .455 career
batting average and a .985 fielding
percentage.
Smith is a three-time unani
mous all-conference first team se
lection from 1993-1995 and she re
ceived the conference's Outstanding
Defensive Player award in 1994 and
1995
Sports Roundup
NBA
Spurs 105, Timberwolves 96
Rockets 96, Raptors 93
Mavericks 97, Lakers 114
Nuggets 137, Suns 127
Bulls 113, Cavillers 94
Nets 90, Hornets 79
Pacers 103, Heat 97
Jazz 102, Celtics 90
Pistons 94, Supersonics 87
Bullets 1 27, 76ers 95
NHL
Sabres 2, Stars 1
Whalers 3, Senators 2
Upcoming Events
A&M Volleyball
The Lady Aggies are seeded sec
ond in the SWC Tournament which
will begin on Saturday in Houston.
A&M has a bye in the first round
and will face the winner of Texas
Tech, Baylor match in the second
round.
Aggie Soccer
The Lady Aggies will travel to
Dallas Saturday to face Southern
Methodist University in the second
round of the NCAA Tournament.
Aggie Swimming
The A&M swimming team will
host Louisiana State University at
the Natatorium in the Student
Recreation Center on Friday at 2
p.m.
Lady Aggie Basketball
The Lady Aggies will face Duke
University in the second round of
the Women's NIT on Friday at G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
Aggie Basketball
The A&M men's basketball team
will face the Conoco Oilers in their
second exhibition game of the sea
son, Monday at 7 p.m., at G. Rollie
White Coliseum.
Lady Ags start preseason off with a win
□ A&M sets a scoring
record with their 111-
83 win over Lamar.
By Tom Day
The Battalion
If there were any questions as
to why the Lady Aggie Basket
ball Team is the defending Wom
en’s National Invitation Tourna
ment champion, there aren’t any
now.
Based on their record-setting
effort in the first round of the
preseason WNIT Wednesday
night, the Lady Aggies are in no
hurry to relinquish their crown.
In front of a raucous crowd of
2,534 in G. Rollie White Colise
um, A&M opened the 1995-96
season in style, destroying
Lamar University 111-83.
A&M’s point total not only
broke the old school record of
110 points scored in a game, but
the Aggies also established a
new record for the two-year-old
tournament.
But following the game, A&M
Head Coach Candi Harvey said
she was most impressed by her
team’s defense.
“The intensity level on the de
fensive end probably went up as
high as I’ve ever seen this bas
ketball team play for me,” Har
vey said.
One of the keys to A&M’s sol
id team defensive effort was the
play of junior guard Lana Tuck
er. Assigned to guard Lamar’s
top offensive player, Lisa McMa
hon, Tucker came up big for the
Aggies.
Tucker limited McMahon to
just 11 points on 4-for-l3 shoot
ing.
“She went out and did what
she was asked to do,” Harvey
said. “McMahon is left-handed
and Lana made her use her
right. When you take a strength
away from a great player like
that, that’s usually the result.
“We had a great scouting re
port and we knew that she liked
to (drive) to the left, so we influ
enced her to the right and it
seemed to work,” Tucker said.
“We had good help from our post
players and everyone else and
we shut her down.”
A&M had its problems in the
first half adjusting to Lamar’s
physical style of play. Despite
turning the ball over to the Ag
gies 16 times in the half, the
Lady Cardinals used 15 offen
sive rebounds to setup several
second-chance scoring opportu
nities.
“They are a very physical
team and we remembered that
from last year,” senior guard
Lisa Branch said. “But we’re just
as big as any other team, so
we’re going to bump and push
and do whatever it takes to win.”
After two straight baskets cut
an 11 point A&M lead down to
seven with 6:19 remaining in the
half, the Lady Aggies sprung on
Lamar with an 11-0 spurt that
brought the crowd to a frenzy.
The scoring run was capped-
off when a pumped-up Bambi
Ferguson scored on a gutsy drive
to the hoop and was fouled hard.
Her free-throw gave A&M a 42-
24 lead with 4:07 left.
However, the Cardinals
wouldn’t lay down as they used a
17-7 run to close the half and
See Lady Aggies, Page 16
Lady Ags 111, Cardinals 83
Texas A&M...
49
62 -111
Lamar
41
42-
83
3pt
Lamar
fg-fga fg-fga
»P
Scally, D.
3-8
0-1
13
McMahon, L.
4-13
1-4
11
Jamnicky, V.
7-13
0-0
16
Habermaier, P.
0-4
0-0
0
Webb, L.
13-27
4-10
37
Greenwood, T.
0-0
0-0
0
Jones, M.
0-1
0-0
0
Cooper, D.
1-3
0-0
2
Finnie, D.
0-1
0-1
0
Totals
30-75
5-18
83
3pt
Texas A&M
fg-fga fg-fga
*P
Rollerson, M.
5-8
0-0
10
Sevln, M,
4-B
0-0
14
Spinks, A.
11-17
1-1
29
Tucker, L.
6-11
0-1
16
Branch, L.
5-9
1-1
16
Patterson, K.
0-1
0-0
1
Linder, K.
1-2
0-0
8
Ferguson, B.’
4-6
1-2
10
Cerny, K.
3-7
0-0
8
Totals
31-63
14-33
111
FG percentage:
A&M - .520 Lamar- .400
SPTpercentage:
A&M - .429 Lamar -
278
Attendance: 2,534
Senior center Angel Spinks goes up for a rebound against Lamar's Denise
Scally in the first round of the WNIT at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
>-
A&M to face off Blue Raiders hoping for
against I-AA MTSU strong play against the Aggies
□ Injured Aggies, McEl-
roy, Holdman and Greer
are expected to play.
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
Usually a college football
game between the No. 18 and
No. 24 teams in the nation would
be a pretty good matchup.
Such is unlikely to be the case
Saturday when the Texas A&M
Football Team hosts the Division
I-AA Middle Tennessee Blue
Raiders at Kyle Field at 1 p.m.
The Blue Raiders got on
A&M’s 1995 schedule during the
off-season after the Aggies’
three-year series with Louisville
University ended. Forced to find
a team with an off-week during
the ninth week of the season,
A&M’s choices were narrow.
“It came down to between
Central Florida and Middle Ten
nessee State,” A&M Head Coach
R.C. Slocum said. “Boots Donnel
ly (MTSU’s head coach) is a class
guy, very well-respected.”
There is no betting line in this
first-ever meeting between the
two schools, and Slocum said he
is more concerned with the per
formance of his team than the
threat of MTSU’s attack.
“We’ve got to get better,”
Slocum said. “We’ve got some
dates with destiny down the road
— playing teams like TCU and
Texas. We have to play better
than we have in the past few
weeks.”
The best news out of the A&M
camp this week is the continuing
improvement of several injured
players. Tailback Leeland McEl-
roy, bothered by an ankle injury
since the Texas Tech game Oct.
7, has practiced every day this
week, as has linebacker Warrick
Holdman.
Slocum listed tight end Daniel
Campbell, injured for nearly the
entire season, as fit to play and
expects corner Donovan Greer —
injured in the Baylor game — to
return to starting this weekend.
The Aggies’ offensive woes
have been the sharpest area of
criticism for much of this season.
Slocum said personnel changes
have never been an issue, but
performance on the field has
been.
“I think we’ve got the best
personnel out there — Corey
Pullig is the best quarterback we
have by and Leeland McElroy is
the best tailback,” Slocum said.
“We just have to get it function
ing more effectively.”
Most of A&M’s players
seemed to know little about Mid
dle Tennessee State University
(located in Murfreesboro), but
are not underestimating any
team on their schedule.
"No, we don’t know much
about them,” junior offensive
guard Calvin Collins said. “But
they are a football team just like
us, same number of players on
the field, and we have to take
them seriously.”
□ The Blue Raiders are
1-6 against Division l-A
opponents.
By Lisa Nance
The Battalion
When the Middle Tennessee
State University Blue Raiders
take the field Saturday against
the I8th-ranked Texas A&M
football team, they will be out to
show Texans what “boot-scootin’”
is all about. Well, Boots anyway.
MTSU Blue Raiders Head
Coach Boots Donnelly said in a
press release earlier this week,
that they are looking forward to
this game so they can see how
they will measure up against a
Division I-A program.
“That’s where we have said we
want to be playing by 1998,” Don
nelly said. “We’re going to find
out early how we stack up. I
think it’s a tremendous opportu
nity for our kids to play against
the kind of program, tradition
and athletes that A&M will put
on the field.
“Our kids will have to react
one of two ways: they can be in
timidated, or they’ll step up and
try to compete, just to find out for
themselves what they’re made of.
The players who compete,
whether they get beat or not, are
the ones we’ll start trying to
build around for next year and
for seasons on down the road.”
Donnelly, in his 17th season
with the Blue Raiders, has com
piled a 125-70-1 record. He is cur
rently ranked sixth in winning
percentage among all active Divi
sion I-AA coaches. This will be
the first time the Blue Raiders
and the Aggies have faced each
other. Donnelly said that his
team’s game plan for the Aggies
will go this way:
“We’ve told our kids that if we
receive, they should concentrate
on trying to recover the fumble,”
Donnelly said. “If we kick off, try
to block the extra point.”
The Aggie’s defense seems to
also be a source of concern for
Donnelly. He said that MTSU
will give the”Wrecking Crew”
someone to concentrate on.
“They really come after people
well,” Donnelly said. “I don’t
know what (quarterback
Jonathan) Quinn can do back
there. At 6-feet, 6-inches and 230
pounds, he’s an awfully big tar
get. Maybe it would be better if
he were just a little smaller.”
Not only did the defense seem
to be a source of concern for Don
nelly, but Leeland McElroy is on
his mind as well.
“He’s playing with something
of a bad ankle, and he still out
ran everybody on Rice’s defense
last week,” Donnelly said. “Now,
Rice has a pretty good academic
reputation, and their players
ought to know about proper an
gles and things like that. But
they still couldn’t catch him. Our
kids are just ordinary, academ
ically. They won’t know anything
about angles, and I don’t think
they’ll catch him if he gets loose.
He’s one of the very best running
backs anywhere.”
The Blue Raiders come to Ag
gieland on a three-game winning
streak after defeating arch-rival
Tennessee Tech 31-6. In the.
game, the Blue Raiders racked
up a season high 536 yards in to
tal offense against the Eagles.
MTSU’s defense had shutout the
Eagles until Tech blocked a punt
and recovered it in the end zone
for its only score with just one
minute to play.
“I was really disappointed be- *
cause I really didn’t want those
folks to score.” Donnelly said.
“Our defense had done a heckuva
job. But A&M might not let us
keep the ball long enough to
punt. In fact, we might not have
to worry much about the punting
game at all. Judging from the;
way they look on the tapes we
have, if we stop them, it’ll proba
bly be because they have a little .
trouble kicking field goals.”
MTSU moved their traditional;;
season finale against Tennessee ;
Tech up a week in order to'-
schedule the Aggies who needed
to fill a gap in their schedule cre-^!
ated when the Aggies contract
with Louisville ended last sea
son.
Saturday’s game against the
Aggies is the first Division I-A
opponent for the Blue Raiders
since they lost to Hawaii, 14-35,
in the opening game of their
1993 season. A&M will be the
eighth Division I-A school that
Donnelly has faced during his
coaching tenure at MTSU. The
Blue Raiders have a 1-6 record in
those seven previous games,
most of which found the Raiders
competitive in the first half, out
distanced in the second.
The good old days: when baseball cards were collected not sold
L ast weekend, I went
back to my hometown
for the first time in
months. My parents thought it
was because I wanted to see
them, but I had ulterior motives
in mind. ,
When I first got out of the
truck I played it cool, obliging
them in the regulatory hugs and
small talk. “Let’s not talk about
my grades. Let’s talk about you
guys.” Then I excused myself
and made my way to the back of
my old closet.
There they were sitting on a
filing cabinet.
No, not my older brother’s
stack of Playboy magazines, my
baseball card albums. They are
filled with such immortals as
Shooty Babbit, Razor Shines and
George Bjorkman. My card col
lection is a part of me. And if I
don’t check ever so often, I’m
afraid my mother will throw that
part of me in the trash.
My friend’s mother threw
away his baseball card collection
when he went off to college. In
her words, they were “just kid’s
toys” and were “taking up a lot
of space.” When questioned dur
ing the trial he would only re
spond with one answer:
“She made me eat my vegeta
bles and threw away eight Rick
ey Henderson cards. You tell me
who the monster is. You tell me,
sir!”
Growing up, baseball cards
were my life. I would study the
backs of cards
until my par
ents would
make me watch
television.
“David, I don’t
care if Bert
Campaneris did
have eight
triples in 1979,
go watch ‘Welcome Back Kot-
ter.’”
But eventually I would find
my way back to the stacks of
cards I loved so much. I could
learn a player’s lifetime batting
average and how many errors he
made as a rookie. But my fa
vorite part of the cards was at
the bottom where you could
learn a bit about each player.
“Jerry missed
most of last season
because of bullet
wounds suffered at
the hands of a jeal
ous husband. Con
siders his best game
to be three years ago
against Detroit
when he played a
whole doubleheader full of
whiskey. Once played a game
with his jockstrap on the outside
of his pants.”
The cards were also great be
cause you could learn what the
players were like and what made
them tick.
Favorite Movie: The one
where the guy says he ain’t lyin’,
but the man knows he lyin’, so
he shoots him.
Favorite Song: I Can’t Get
Over You, Until You Get Out
From Underneath Him.
Favorite Food: Anything my
old lady cooks.
Wish: To end all the killing in
the world.
Hobbies: Hunting and Fish
ing.
Remembering those glory
days, I was saddened because I
knew other generations of collec
tors were not experiencing the
same thing. The kids today are
only interested in the return on
their investment, not the card
board tasting gum. They aren’t
reading baseball cards for fun;
they aren’t even reading base
ball cards. It’s all about money
to those petty pre-teens.
But it was never about money
to me. Back then all I needed
was a Tito Landrum card, and 1
was happy. Throw in a Enrique
Romo, and I was ecstatic. Add a
Mike Cubbage and you couldn’t
knock the smile off my face with
a sledgehammer.
As I left my parents Sunday I
did the compulsory hugs and
goodbyes. “I love you guys and
remember I’ve never touched a
drop of beer in my life.” Then I
grabbed my baseball card al
bums for a little light reading
back at my apartment.
Of course, if the opportunity
ever did present itself, me and
the rookie Cal Ripken were nev
er friends. >
David
Winder