The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 11, 1997, Image 3
liednesday - June 11, 1997 The Battalion &M track faces ew challenge Iggies head to USA Championships 4lM Staff and Wire Report After winning national champi- ships, setting personal and school sts, last weekend at the NCAA Out- orChampionships in Bloomington, , the Texas A&M Track and Field {Mini is off and running again. The team travels to Indianapolis, ktocompete in the USA Track and ildChampionships this weekend. Competing for the Aggies will be (dor hurdler Anjanette Kirkland, jplaced second in the 100-meter idles last weekend and junior hur- ilarry Wade, who placed third in 110-meter hurdles. {Senior Danny McCray, sophomore Tthael Price, junior Billy Fobbs, all members of the national champion 4x100-meter relay team, senior Russell Nuti and junior Adrien Sawyer will also compete. At the Outdoor Championships, the men finished 16th overall and the women finished 22nd overall. “Tm extremely happy with top 25 finishes for both the men and women’s teams,” A&M Head Coach Ted Nelson said. “It was a team effort, and some thing we stated as a goal when the sea son started.” Eight Aggies earned Outdoor All- American honors last weekend as well. The eight include, Fobbs, Jones, Kirkland, McCray, Nuti in the discus, Sawyer in the long and triple jump and Wade. vJl ■11 m Jazz have brought back rowdiness to Salt Lake Photograph: Tim Moog Senior hurdler Anjanette Kirkland practices earlier this semester. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The NBA Finals have allowed Utah to reveal a boisterous soul that be lies its image. Outside the Delta Center, row dy crowds were cheering the Jazz and jeering the Bulls. Cars, pickups and freight trucks pa raded past for hours, blaring their horns. And on a Sunday, for heaven’s sake. “For Mormons, if they are Mormons, they were acting very un-Christ- ian out there,” Chicago coach Phil Jackson said. The meek, these fans know, do not inherit the NBA title. On Wednesday night, just a few blocks from the Mormon Tabernacle, the Utah Jazz play Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls. A victory would put the Jazz up 3-2 and send the best-of-7 series back to Chicago for Game 6 Friday night and, maybe, Game 7 on Sunday. Utah fans certainly expect a victory. The Jazz have won 23 in a row at the noisy Delta Center, boosting their home record this season to 48-3. They are 10-0 at home in the playoffs. “It’s a time now for the whole state,” Utah’s Karl Malone said. “We’ve taken our knocks over the years. I’m from Louisiana, but I consider Utah my home now. We’ve taken a lot of bad raps. Now for the spotlight to be on us here, I think, it’s great to get rid of some of those myths you guys think about Salt Lake.” Much of the giddy enthusi asm comes from years of frustra tion. The Jazz were always good, but not good enough to make it to the finals. Just pulling even with the mighty Bulls 2-2 was cause for jubilation. “It’s been a long time coming,” Malone said. “These guys have waited 12 or 13 years for some thing to celebrate.” When Malone rode his Harley home after Sunday night’s come- from-behind 78-73 thriller, he found a crowd around his house. “Most of them were neigh bors,” he said. “I’ve been here for 10 years and I didn’t even know half of them live up there.” las IjPORTS Briefs iomen’s basketball diedule released lie tentative 1997-98 Texas A&M 's Basketball schedule was re- Tuesday and includes a possi- m I matchup with the defending back- tacknational champion Tennessee, highlighting the list of op- gjlnentsforthe Lady Aggies is Van- J ibilt University. The Com- ' tires will visit G. Rollie White n J)iiseuin in the Lady Ags opening nlmeNov. 18. Vanderbilt finished c ),17this past season and had a *111 record. Thesecond season of the Big 12 jpavethe Lady Ags hosting Okla- Texas, Missouri, Iowa State, sasState, Texas Tech, Oklahoma I Baylor. ;r softball player selected for USA team •" i Wfer McFalls, former assistant #>all coach and All-American tetopat Texas A&M, has been Uiedtothe USA Women’s Nation- that will Kent the S. July 7-13 at '91 in irtibus, Ga. McFalls was named to Pam that will psent the at the Amer- Challenge les, a touring ^petition consisting of the three Malist teams from the 1996 Games. McFalls, who was one of five al- iiates on the USA Olympic gold fdalsoftball team, was the start- isliortstopfor A&M from 1991-94 the team in batting average, ^total bases and slugging per- lage every season. Over time, change is almost imminent, expected Expansion of Kyle Field is necessary Travis Dabney fTjj Sportswriter, senior history major * • JL K yle Field will be renovated over the next two years and those renovations will include 9,000 new seats that will increase the seating capacity to over 80,000. The north endzone seating will be moved up a total of 51 feet to just 30 feet of the back line of the endzone. This expansion will in clude the addition of twenty prestige boxes as well as 1,700 club seats. Many have ques tioned the need for such a major undertak ing and whether the cost of $33 million is re ally worth it. The loss of the main tunnel in the stadi um as well as the moving of the Reveilles’ graves and eternal flame, have caused many to lash out against this expansion. Some ask why should the most beloved structure in many Aggie’s hearts be altered? The reasons for the renovation are many, and they are good ones at that. The 12,000 seats being ripped out are less than ade quate. After the completion of this project in 1999, Kyle Field will become one of the best Plans announced for Hall of Fame in the country. The effects of this expansion will include better recruiting, year in and year out, and a top notch facility that will allow all the fans to view the game in complete comfort. The improvements go all the way from improved seat ing to more restrooms. This is the best thing to happen to Kyle Field since the days of Kevin Murray, Rod Bernstine and John Roper. Kyle Field lias fallen off in terms of other college football stadiums as many universities begin renova tion of their facilities. The schools that have already begun this process include the University of Texas, the University of Tennessee, and Notre Dame. It is not a surprise that all of those schools will all likely begin the 1997 football season in the Top 10. As the 1997 sea son begins, Kyle Field will be the 23rd-largest on-campus stadium in the country, behind the likes of Iowa University and the Universi ty of California-Berkeley. To keep up with the cc Kyle Field has fallen off in terms of other college football stadiums as many universities begin renovation of their facilities.” fast expansion of college football, the A&M Athletic Department must meet the expecta tions of top-notch recruits, and to do this we must have top quality facilities. As this project moves forward, one has to wonder how this project will be paid for? The an swer to this question is the 12th Man Founda tion. This association will finance the entire project over the next 30 years. This means that all the funds used to build this facility will come from the sale of bonds as well as private donations. As to how much this expansion will mean to the A&M football team in overall success can only be de termined over the next several years on the field, but one has to feel the effects can only be positive. The Aggies have fallen on some hard times in the last two years starting with the loss to Colorado in 1995, the expansion along with apparent positive spring training could be the first of many positive steps back towards the Top 10 in college football. Change is necessary in all aspects of life and this is certainly no exception. What if Kyle Field had never experienced expansion in 1954, 1968 and 1978-1980? What if the Netum A. Steed facility had never been built? What if the Aggies had never gone back to a grass playing surface? The bottom line is that change is necessary to compete in this day and age and the Athletic Depart ment and 12th Man Foundation are meet ing the challenge head on. For those who are upset by the planned changes, it is necessary to understand there are answers to all of these questions. The Reveilles’ grave sites will be moved to Cain Park along with the Eternal Flame and the 12th Man statue. As soon as the project is completed the all of these items are should to be moved back to the north side of Kyle Field. These decisions were not made by the faculty and staff but by a student committee formed by Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice president of student affairs. There seems to be nothing but a strong desire on everyone’s part to maintain the tradition of Kyle Field right down to the arches that will be included in the new design of the north endzone facade. With change comes improvement, and hopefully Big 12 championships for years to come. McFalls DALLAS (AP) — Southwest ern Bell and the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association announced plans Tuesday to create a Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame, honoring players, coaches and others as sociated with the postseason bowl game. “We believe the Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame will provide future generations with a greater appreciation for the rich history of college football on New Year’s Day here in Texas,” said W. Mike Baggett, chair of the Cotton Bowl Classic. Tentative plans call for se lecting and inducting the inau gural class by June 1998. The se lection process and criteria will be announced later this year, but Baggett said media repre sentatives, former coaches and athletic administrators are like ly to be involved. Southwestern Bell became the title sponsor of the annual Jan. 1 football matchup last September. Its sponsorship runs through the 2000 game. Jake ‘the Snake’ charged with sexual abuse PHOENIX (AP) — Former Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer pleaded innocent today to felony sex abuse charges alleging that he groped four women at a nightclub. Plummer, now a rookie with the Arizona Cardinals, was released on his own recognizance by Judge Gregory Martin of Maricopa County Superior Court. The judge will decide at a pre liminary hearing June 27 whether there is enough evidence for trial. Plummer, 22, faces four felony counts of sexual abuse and one of mis demeanor assault. He could receive up to eight years in prison if convicted. Plummer hopes to leave for his first NFL training camp on July 18, and the judge granted a defense mo tion that he be allowed to travel. Four women claim Plummer fon dled them on the dance floor of a Tempe nightclub where Plummer and friends had gone for a bachelor party on March 22. One also complained that Plum mer kicked her in the leg after she ar gued with him in the parking lot, leading to the assault charge. Mike Langridge, a defensive end at Arizona State when Plummer was an underclassman, told police there was no kick but that he had to re strain Plummer to keep him from punching the woman after she jabbed her finger into his cheek. Plummer has reached a civil set tlement with his first three accusers, who later said they did not want to press charges. County Attorney Rick Romley filed criminal charges May 28, say ing he would subpoena them as wit nesses regardless of any out-of- court developments. The Cardinals and officials at Ari zona State, where Plummer capped his record-breaking career by lead ing the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl, have declined to discuss the case. Relatives and people who knew him in his native Idaho also are cautious about discussing it. “I would rather not get into any spec ulation about what may or may not happen,” Cardinals coach Vince Tobin said of his second-round draft pick. 313 S. COLLEGE 846-*3f “ * Ladies compete for nsoo. 0 ^ * Prelims every Wednesday in June FINALS JULY 2 nd * 50C bar drinks * 75C Longnecks 8-10 p.m. $2.25 24 oz. Budlight Chuggers all night (Ladies sign up at Harry’s Wednesday nights) For more info call 846-1724 THINK WHEN YOG DRINK...DESIGNATE a DRIVER! That’s 34c* a day & indudes all the benefits of Cable TV TCA CABLE TV VIEWERS ENJOY: • Top cable channels; local news, weather and sports • Additional outlets at no extra monthly charge • One monthly bill; no long-term contracts to sign • No expensive equipment to purchase • Local installation; guaranteed on-time service calls • Upgrade to optional channel packages at any time The Best Entertainment Value In Town! 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