The Battalion
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MONDAY
lune 10, 1996
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GLANCE
Diamond Vision newest
addition to Kyle Field
A Diamond Vision Display Sys
tem will be installed at Kyle Field be
fore the start of the 1996 Aggie Foot
ball season. The system, which will
be installed by Gameday Sports Pro
gramming Network, will allow fans
to see both instant replays and close-
up views of activities on the field.
'This advanced video system will
keep Kyle
Field in the
forefront of
major sports
complexes,"
Dr. Ray M.
Bowen said. "It
is particularly
appropriate as
we prepare to
receive guests
from the new
Big 12 Confer
ence."
To allow
the existing
20- by-27 foot scoreboard to be
used for the system, four additional
scoreboards will be installed at Kyle
Field, two each on the face of the
third deck.
Stewart named Lady
Aggie assistant coach
Tracy Stewart has been named
women's assistant basketball coach,
Texas A&M head coach Candi Har
vey announced June 4, 1996.
Stewart, 31, comes from West-
wark Community College in Fort
Smith, Ark., where she was an assis
tant coach. Stewart also had assis
tant coaching stints at Mississippi
State University, the University of
Missouri-Kansas City, and the Uni
versity of Arkansas-Little Rock-.
"Tracy is a great hire for Lady
Aggie basketball," Harvey said.
"She brings to us a variety of recruit
ing and coaching experiences at the
highest levels of Division I and ju
nior college basketball."
A native of Batesville, Ark.,
Stewart was an all-conference guard
at Arkansas College in Batesville in
1985 and 1986.
LSD wins CWS in
dramatic fashion
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A dreary
season had a dream ending for
LSD's Warren Morris.
Down to its last out in the bottom
of the ninth inning, LSU got a two-
tun homer from Morris to beat Miami
9-8 Saturday for the
championship of
the College World
Series.
It was the most
dramatic finish in
the 50-year history
of the CWS.
"It still seems like it happened to
someone else and not me," said
Morris. "Coach has talked about
seeing yourself winning a game,
dreaming about it, and if you do it
enough, it will become real."
Morris missed 40 games after
breaking his hand in April, then
came back to play in the NCAA re-
ionals. The Tigers were 22-0 with
im starting at second base.
Kalashnikov' wins
first French Open
PARIS (AP) — Yevgeny Kafel
nikov is no longer just a can't-miss
prospect with a catchy nickname.
He's a Grand Slam champion.
Kafelnikov made his break-
Ihrough Sunday by beating Michael
Stich in straight sets to win the
French Open and become the first
Russian to capture a Grand Slam
singles title.
He came from behind in the last
Iwo sets to win 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 7-6
17-4) in 2 1/2 hours.
"It is just a dream," the sixth-
seeded Kafelnikov said. "I never felt
Icould do it, winning a Grand Slam
stage 22 ... I never felt I could
make it."
Nicknamed "Kalashnikov," after
tbe Russian-made assault rifle, he
broke into the top 10 but failed to
go all the way at the Grand Slams,
earning a reputation as the best
player never to win a major.
SCORES ROUNDUP
AL
Milwaukee 11, Boston 8 (10)
California 8, Cleveland 6 (1 3)
New York 3, Detroit 2
Chicago 12, Baltimore 9
Seattle 3, Kansas City 2
Texas 8, Toronto 6
NL
New York 3, Florida 0
Chicago 4, Montreal 2
Houston 2, Philadelphia 1
Atlanta 8, Colorado 3
San Francisco 9, St. Louis 0
Los Angeles 3, Cincinnati 2
Pittsburgh 6, San Diego 0
Help Wanted
A&M program helps former athletes find jobs
By Brandon Marler
The Battalion
Most students do not envision
themselves in a management
training position at Wal-Mart
fresh out of college — especially
a collegiate basketball player.
But that prospect was a reality
for former A&M basketball play
er Damon Johnson.
A four-year starter at center
for the Aggies from 1991 to 1995,
Johnson realized that attaining
a career in professional basket
ball would be a long shot.
In a May 1995 interview with
The Chronicle of Higher Educa
tion, Johnson said he was realis
tic when considering his future.
“I always knew basketball
wasn’t going to last forever,”
Johnson said.
With that in mind, Johnson
spent many of his off-season
months working with A&M’s Ca
reer Center for Student Athletes.
After learning to write resumes,
polishing his interviewing skills
and scheduling numerous job in
terviews, Johnson landed a posi
tion at Wal-Mart in June 1995.
This kind of story is repeated
at colleges and universities across
the nation each semester, as
many athletes walk across the
stage to receive their diplomas.
But this ideal scenario is not
the case with many athletes.
Some, deeply involved in their
practice and game schedules,
don’t have the time their class
mates do to develop and explore
possible career options.
At the same time, some col
lege athletes refuse to acknowl
edge the fact that their athletic
careers are coming to an end.
Johnson had reason to believe
his might not.
After his freshman and
sophomore years, he was
considered one of
the top players in the Southwest
Conference. The center finished
his career as the 10th highest
scorer in school history.
“During my first two years, I
was really successful and
thought, yeah. I’m going to go
pro,” Johnson said. “But when
the phone wasn’t ringing off the
hook [my senior year] like I
hoped it would, I realized, realis
tically, it probably wasn’t going
to happen.”
According to a study by the
NCAA, fewer than 2 percent of
college seniors playing men’s
basketball at NCAA institu
tions make it to the pros, and
just 3 percent of football play
ers make it.
Prompted by findings such as
these, the A&M Athletic Career
Services department created a
program in May called Athletic
Career Employment
Services
(ACES). The service was created
as an opportunity for businesses,
both locally and nationally, to
assist student athletes while giv
ing back to Texas A&M.
Headed by A&M graduate
Jennifer Bohac, the program’s
goal is to maximize job opportu
nities for student athletes and to
assist them in securing mean
ingful career-related employ
ment, both part- and full-time.
Sports management intern
Kellie Conner was put in charge
of getting ACES off the
ground this summer.
“I had to come up
with the name and
present the pro
gram to a board to
be approved,” Con
ner said. “It’s great
experience for me
to be in the middle
of the program.”
The program’s
mission is to “sup
port Texas A&M
Athletics by assist
ing in procuring
employment for stu
dent athletes upon
graduation and
during permissible
vacation periods,
thus aiding in the
student’s career de
velopment process.”
If Damon John
son’s story is typi
cal, ACES will be
come a very valu
able asset, not only
to the athletes, but also to the
Athletic Department.
Helping to build a standard of
excellence for athletes, ACES not
only aids athletes on the field of
dreams, but also on the field of life.
Aggie golfers save best for last in ’96
The men qualified for Nationals while the women finished 2nd in the SWC
By Ross Hecox
The Battalion
It took the Texas A&M Men’s
Golf Team close to three-and-a-
half months to capture its first
tournament victory in ‘96.
Disappointing? Not if that
team triumph comes at the NCAA
Central Regional Tournament
and qualifies them for nationals.
With a score of 871 in three
rounds, the Aggies took the re
gional title, beating powerhouse
teams from the University of Ok
lahoma, Oklahoma State and the
University of Texas.
With the win A&M advanced
to the NCAA Championships
held in Chattanooga, Tenn., May
29 through June 1.
Head Coach Bob Ellis said,
like every year, it was the goal of
the men’s team to advance to na
tionals.
“You’re always under a lot of
pressure,” Ellis said. “A lot of it
you put on yourself by setting
goals, and when you do make
those goals it’s very gratifying.
We not only qualified (for na
tionals at the Regional Tourna
ment), but won it. That was the
icing on the cake.”
Unfortunately, the Aggies
played only two rounds at the
NCAA Tournament before miss
ing the cut and returning to Ag-
gieland. After a steady first
round, they missed advancing to
the finals by eight strokes after
the second day, hitting a team
total of 614.
Junior Jeff Brown said he and
his teammates were disappoint
ed with their showing at nation
als after winning the talent-
packed Central Region.
“I think our region was the
strongest,” Brown said. “Going
into the tournament, we had
every belief that we could win. It
just didn’t work out for us at na
tionals. It was a very difficult golf
course and difficult [to play in].”
The men’s team finished
third in the final Southwest
Conference Tournament behind
Texas Tech and Southern
Methodist, not the type of fin
ish Brown had expected.
“It was very disappointing,”
Brown said of their SWC finish.
“I think if we would have played
a good round, not even a great
round, we would have won.”
Overall the Aggie men’s team
competed strongly throughout
the spring. In eight of nine tour
naments, the Aggies finished in
the top 10, finishing in the top
five on six of those 10 occasions.
The women’s team advanced
to the NCAA West Regional
Tournament in Omaha, Neb., for
the third time in four years.
After a strong performance in
the SWC Tournament, they fin
ished 17th in Regionals (318-
333-334=985), failing to place in
the top 10 for the NCAA Cham
pionships by 25 strokes.
“We played so well at the con
ference championships that we
felt confident going into Region
als,” Head Coach Jeanne Suther
land said. “But we simply didn’t
play very well in the regionals.”
Ranked 23rd in the nation at
the time, A&M finished second
to sixth-ranked Texas in the con
ference championships.
“We would have liked to have
won, but it didn’t happen,”
Sutherland said. “We can’t feel
too bad about losing to a team of
that caliber.”
In the farewell season of the
SWC, a record of four women’s
teams advanced to regionals, in
cluding A&M, Texas, Texas Tech
and Texas Christian.
Although the Lady Aggies re
mained at the same level of play
as last year, Coach Sutherland
said the team did improve.
“As a team, we continued to
improve, although we didn’t on
paper,” Sutherland said. “The
See GOLF, Page 4
Photo Courtesy of Texas A&M Sports Information Department
Junior jeff Brown swings away during a practice session at Pebble
Creek Country Club.
Should fans really
“Love this Game?”
M ark my words —
the NBA is los
ing its appeal.
You don’t believe
me? Ask yourself this:
Did I know the NBA
Finals are taking
place this month? Sec
ondly, do I care?
Rising ticket
prices, ridiculous
salaries and players
who fail to live up to
their role-model sta
tus are turning fans off.
Don’t get me wrong — I still tune into
the game. I still make little bets with
friends and subscribe to Sports Illustrat
ed. I still dream of being a sportswriter,
having realized long ago that I am not
the professional athlete type.
But I am not blind to the cresting of
a sport’s popularity. If the NBA contin
ues on its current track, it will suffer
the same fate as baseball.
By now, you have seen the implica
tions of the baseball player strike. Sta
diums remain empty while fans search
for the excitement that existed before
greed brought the game to a screeching
halt two years ago.
On the basketball front, more and
more NBA teams are losing money and
threatening to move to other cities.
Remember when you could name all
the players on a particular NBA team?
Today, that’s a tougher task.
Chances are, if someone tells you 10
players’ names on a particular team,
four or more of those players will not be
on the same team next year. This is be
cause trades have become as common
place as jockstraps, making team recog
nition impossible.
Free agency has also played a key
role in the takeoff of salaries, while fa
cilitating team-to-team movement of
players. Now, players market their tal
ent like a farmer pushing cattle at a
livestock auction.
However, the highest bidder doesn’t
always bring home the bacon. Soon-to-
be free agents Alonzo Mourning and
Shaquille O’Neal should each command
more than $13 million next season, but
neither have proven to be champi
onship worthy.
Obviously, team loyalty is becoming
a forgotten concept.
In general, players seem to care
more about themselves than their fa
natic followers or any particular city.
In the end, players log enough mileage
to keep Ryder in business.
On a different note, the NBA’s cur
rent show of athleticism and competi
tion for overall entertainment leaves
me wondering: Do I really “love this
game?” Having been to a handful of
games this past season, I can say that
Barnum and Bailey have nothing on
the NBA.
During timeouts, advertising
sideshows and promotions take place.
Meanwhile, players such as Dennis
Rodman prove that an unusual lifestyle
and painted flesh create more intrigue
than basketball talent.
Prima donnas, showboats and play
ers that just don’t care what fans think
are tarnishing the once-respectable im
age of professional basketball. Perhaps
that is why many people now look to
college and high school sports to satisfy
their competitive craving.
I realize the NBA is about making
money. However, the league’s concen
tration on marketing, merchandising
and business, paired with player atti
tude and greed, will be its downfall.
Eventually, rising ticket prices will
cause demand to plummet and salaries
to level off.
Stadiums built on tax dollars will
become more of a burden than a de
light when ticket prices become unat
tainable for the common man footing
the bill.
And fans who haven’t been turned off
will become fed up with player egos and
find better investments for their time.
All professional sports are heading
in the same direction at a different
pace. With baseball as a historical indi
cator, maybe NBA owners can foresee
the future.
Perhaps when all is said and done, bas
ketball can return to what it is...a game.
Colby
Gaines
Sportswriter
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