Sports
Page 5
Monday • March 24, 1997
First Down!
Former official Red Cashion
discusses his life in the NFL
By Jamie Burch
The Battalion
r HIS FALL, as football fans
ease back into their lazyboys
to spend yet another Sunday
afternoon in front of the television
playing armchair quarterback,
there will be something missing.
The pigskin fanatics will still
have a full slate of matinee action
on the gridiron, all 30 National
Football League teams will still play
in the same cities, and the team to
beat will still be the World Champi
on Green Bay Packers. But as the
chains are moved to mark a new set
of downs, the crowd will not have
the pleasure of hearing the distinc
tive and piercing “First Dowwwwn!’’
After 25 years as an NFL official,
Red Cashion decided to close that
chapter of his life.
He wanted to walk away
from the NFL on his own
terms.
"1 didn’t want to get to
the point where they (the
NFL) told me it was time to
quit,” Cashion said “I want
ed to quit while 1 was on the
top of my game. I don’t have any
question whether I could have of
ficiated another year or two. But at
some point, you lose it and 1 didn’t
want to get to that.”
Known for his signature first-
down call, Cashion said he is not
sure how the cry originated.
"1 don’t know,” Cashion said. “1
really don’t know. I just wanted to
tellpeople that it was exciting, so I
ended up being a little more en
thusiastic about it. It never oc
curred to me that it would become
that big. But, there are very few
days that go by that people don’t
ask me about it.
“I was in Lloyds of London one
day and I heard someone holler
first down all the way across the
store. The salesclerk asked me if I
knew what the gentleman was
talking about and I said I was afraid
I did. It happens all over the place.
It’s really funny.”
I Cashion began his long and il
lustrious officiating career in 1952
as a junior atTexas A&M University.
£ “I started at A&M in 1949 and I
N was supposed to play football,”
Cashion said. “It’s a good thing I
didn’t because I wasn’t that good.
I About my junior year, I began to
ll miss football, but by then it’s too
late to go out for the team.
“Somebody suggested I try offi-
ciati ng. It sounded like a good idea,
so I got involved in the College Sta
tion chapter of the Southwest
Football Officials Association and
went from there.”
After spending 21 years officiat
ing at the high school and college
level, Cashion was rewarded for his
efforts by being selected as an NFL
official. Although he never intend
ed to climb to the professional lev
el, Cashion said he was ecstatic
about the recognition.
“1 was flattered,” Cashion said.
“I never had any idea that I’d get
the opportunity to go to that level.
I was totally surprised.”
“I just wantefl to tell
# people it (calling fil&r"
down) was exciting, so
I ended up being a little
more enthusiastic
about it.”
As an athlete or official, making
the jump from the college level to
the professionals is a difficult tran
sition. Athletes say the speed of the
game at the professional level
makes it an arduous task.
Cashion said, for him, it was the
speed of the athletes and the speci
ficity of the rules.
“TWo feet in bounds instead of
one, to me, is much more difficult to
call,” Cashion said. “The other thing
is the speed of the players. You used
to see some fast players in college,
but all these guys are fast and quick.
And their quickness makes it more
difficult to follow them.”
Along with the rule changes, an
official must learn just when to make
a call. Cashion said this causes prob
lems for a lot of rookie officials.
“You have to remember profes
sional football is primarily enter
tainment,” Cashion said. “As a result,
whether you call a foul or don’t call a
foul has a whole lot more to do with
the effect that the play has. It’s diffi
cult for some people trying to make
the transition to not make eveiy call.
“For example, if a receiver on
the left goes out and the quarter
back does nothing but look and
throw right, then the hold on the
left is not a foul. But that’s the one
that the TV guys will focus on and
say, ‘Gee whiz, what’s the matter
with that guy. Is he blind?”’
During his 25 years in the NFL,
Cashion was witness to thousands
of great players and hundreds of
games. Two of the most notable
games are Super Bowl XX and Su
per Bowl XXX. Cashion was select
ed as the head official in both the
Chicago Bears 46-10 thrashing of
the New England Patriots in 1986
and the Dallas Cowboys 27-17 win
over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1996.
The veteran official said three
gardes in particular stand above
the rest.
“Certainly the two Super
Bowls because that’s a high
light for us just like it is for
the players,” Cashion said.
“If you work the Super
^ Bowl, it means you were
graded No. 1 at that posi
tion. That’s an honor.
“But there was a game a
lew years ago between Buffalo
and San Francisco in which there
were no punts in the game for the
first time in NFL history. San Fran
cisco won 38-35 and the two teams
gained over 1,200 yards of offense
between them. It was just an unbe
lievable game. (Jim) Kelly and (Joe)
Montana went at each other. Every
thing they put in the air was caught.”
The Montana-Kelly show
down was one game that mes
merized Cashion. Ironically, that
is the one thing Cashion said of
ficials cannot do.
“One of the toughest things you
have to do is not be a spectator,”
Cashion said. “If you get to watch
ing these guys, which is so easy to
do because they’re so great, you
forget what you’re out there for.”
Having spent a quarter century
in the NFL, Cashion had the op
portunity to see a metamorphosis
of the NFL prototype. Other than
an increase in size and quickness,
Cashion said he does not see any
major differences.
He said today’s athletes are not
anymore prone to cause trouble
than players in the ’70s.
“Part of it has to do with the sig
nificance of football,” Cashion said.
“These guys make so much money.
. 7 -
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V:
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Robert McKay, The Battalion
Red Cashion,^ former NFL referee, displays his ball from the final game he officiated. It was the 1997 playoff
game between Jacksonville and Denver.
Everything they do is now front-page
news. I don’t think there are any
more problems than there used to
be. In fact there’s probably less, but
each one is focused on a whole lot.
“Dallas used to have a running
back, Walt Ganison, who used to ride
in the rodeo all the time. Nobody
paid much attention to that. Could
you imagine the publicity if Emmitt
Smith rode in the rodeo? I think that’s
typical of the whole scenario.”
While some athletes, who have
retired after a long NFL career, can
not tolerate spending a Sunday af
ternoon watching football, Cash
ion said he now has a greater
appreciation for the sport.
“I like watching football now
more than I did when I started of
ficiating,” Cashion said. “I was hav
ing so much fun out there. That’s
the tough part about quitting. So
far it hasn’t bothered me because
I’ve been so busy. Come August,
I’m not sure how I’ll feel.”
And even though Cashion said
he enjoyed his time in the NFL
more than life, he’s not sure if he
would make the same sacrifice.
“That was tough.” Cashion said.
“I watched all four of my kids grow
up and missed a lot of time. It
made the weekends difficult. If I
had it to do all over again, I don’t
know that I would.”
Doggie tennis splits
with SMU, Nebraska
New manager helps Astros
By Dennis Ramirez
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Men’s Tennis
team had a tough weekend when
Southern Methodist University
md the University of Nebraska
1*1 oiled into town. The Aggies
I found themselves splitting
* Hatches and picking up their first
fig 12 conference win.
On Friday, the SMU Mustangs
i Itampeded into College Station and
bund themselves on top of the Ag-
** ;ie netters. After the Aggies pulled
, but the doubles point, they ended
A ip on the short end of the stick in
I' 1 ingles competition.
Head Coach Tim Cass said the
oss was disappointing for the team,
|[|i md because Nebraska was up next,
t would be hard to bounce back
md pick up the win.
|P| "I know that the loss was very
,v rustrating for the guys, but we
reed to just keep hanging in
ai| here,” Cass said. “The main thing
Id’ liter the SMU match is not to be
let down and not to underesti-
lw mate Nebraska, because they are
[tl a really good team. We had to be
Professional about it and ready to
play again.”
As the conference match against
Nebraska got underway Saturday,
he Aggies were eager to pick up the
-lusive doubles point, but were un-
hhe to, and gave the Cornhuskers
Sportswriter
*
Jeremy Furtick
Senior journalism
major
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
Freshman Juan Aramburo plays
against Nebraska Saturday.
an early lead.
The doubles loss was tough as
the A&M duo of Robbie Krause and
Carlos Tori picked up their match,
but were still unable to give the
Aggies the win. Then Nebraska
picked up the next two matches.
Carlos Tori said despite the loss
of the doubles point, the exper-
ince gave the team a boost into
singles competition.
See Tennis, Page 8
HOUSTON ASTROS
Larry Dierker is exactly what the
Astros need. This Houston team is
too good to fold late in the second
half every year and end up second.
With Terry Collins’ pressing manage
rial style gone, Houston should be
able to relax in August and pull it out.
The core of the team is the same
with Jeff Bagwell at first, Craig Biggio at
second, Sean Berry at third and Derek
Bell in left field. Those four should put
up the same numbers again this year
(80 home runs, 403 RBIs). Enter the
newcomers, shortstop Pat Listach, right fielder
Luis Gonzalez and catcher Brad Ausmus and you
have a nice compliment to the “Killer B’s.”
The pitching staff added veteran Sid Fernan
dez to their solid base of Darryl Kile, Shane
Reynolds and Mike Hampton. Donne Wall and
Chris Holt should battle for the fifth spot in the
rotation. Houston did overhaul their middle re
lief, bringing in Ramon Garcia, Jose Lima and CJ.
Nitkowski to carry the games into the ninth.
Closer may be the Astros’ best bet. Southpaw
Billy Wagner closed games for Houston last year,
but righty John Hudek is back throwing hard
again this spring. Dierker will have a nice one-
two punch with these guys.
Dierker is the difference this year. Look for the
Astros to fight it out to the end with the Cubs and
Cardinals and come out on top. Bagwell will be
healthy and challenge for the Triple Crown.
Projected Record: 85-77
Key Series: April 4-6 vs. St. Louis Cardinals:
Houston’s biggest problem in the past fewyears (be
sides JeffBagwell’s hand) has been their bad division
record. This early season series against the defend
ing Central champs is important for the confidence
of the team and rookie manager Larry Dierker.
CHICAGO CUBS
The Cubs are again going to field a
scrappy, never-say-die squad. The big
difference this year is the improved
pitching staff. Chicago signed Kevin
Tapani and Terry Mulholland to beef up
their starting rotation. Steve Trachsel and
Frank Castillo are returning with hopes
they will regain their 1995 form. If Amau-
ry Telemaco can step up and be a solid
starter, the talk at the end of 1997 may be
about Chicago’s pitching staff. Turk Wen
4.-
i i« & ? part
dell will move from the closer spot to sfet-up man,
and Terry Adams and Bob Patterson should be the
main middle-guys. Their jobs will be to get new fire
man Mel Rojas to the ninth inning with a lead.
The lineup will be good again this year. Former
No. 1 draft pick Brooks BCieschnick will take over in
left and Arizona Fall League co-MVP Kevin Orie
will start at third. The return of Shawon Dunston
to short is the biggest boost to the team. He makes
the infield of Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace more
experienced and more dangerous at the plate.
Former All-Stars Sammy Sosa and Brian McRae
complete the outfield and Scott Servais is at catch
er. The Cubs are a legitimate division threat if they
can put this team on the field every day.
Projected Record: 85-77
Key Series: April 1-3 @ Florida Marlins; April
4-6 @ Atlanta Braves; April 8-10 vs. Florida Mar
lins; April 11-13 vs. Atlanta Braves: The Cubs be
gin 1997 with 11 games in 13 days against two of
the National League’s best teams. Chicago has to
be careful or they could wake up April 14 with a
1-10 record to start the season.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
After spending 1996 rebuilding a team that
paid off with a division title, the Cardinals didn’t
do anything significant to improve on last year’s
88-74 record. This team is basically the same with
Gary Gaetti at third, Royce Clayton at short (with
no Ozzie Smith problems), and John Mabry at
first. Delino DeShields was added at second to
bring a true lead-off man to the lineup, but
DeShields has consistently gotten worse every
year since leaving Montreal. The solid Tom Pag-
nozzi rounds out the infield at catcher.
The Cardinals do have a sharp outfield with re
born Ron Gant in left, Ray Lankford in center and
Brian Jordan in right. Lankford may miss the start
of the season if his rotator cuff is not completely
healed from offseason surgery. This would put for
mer No. 1 pick Dmitri Young at first with Mabry
moving to right and Jordan to center.
The pitching staff is a carbon copy of last season.
The Benes brothers, Andy and Alan, joined by Todd
Stottelmyre, Donovan Osborne and Danny Jackson.
Tony LaRussa’s traditional committee will hand
games to veteran closer Dennis Eckersley.
See Furtick, Page 7