:tober 9,
Thursday • October 9, 1997
S The Battalion
PORTS
Dicky V. invades Aggieland, baby
Bogey With Barone weekend gives University, basketball program national spotlight
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RONY ANGKRIWAN/The Battalion
By Chris Ferrell
Sports editor
ESPN college basketball analyst
Dick Vitale will be the guest speaker
at G. Rollie White Coliseum Friday
night to help kick off the 1997 Texas
A&M Basketball Team’s season as
part of this weekend’s “Bogey With
Barone” festivities.
Vitale’s speech will be the highlight
of an entire day of activities.
“We think its an honor to have
Dick Vitale here first of all,” coach
Tony Barone said. “He’s recognized
as the premiere basketball analyst in
the country. I think any time you can
expose your fans and your support
ers to a guy like this, its nothing but
a plus for our basketball program
and Texas A&M in general.”
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m.
outside of the Coliseum, with free
food provided by On The Border.
There will also be games and a Dick
Vitale sound alike contest.
“It’s something that we’re hoping the
students are going to get behind 150
percent,” Barone said. “It’s a simple
night. You come over, you do On The
Border, you get yourself some free food,
get some soda, you go in and hear Dick
Vitale speak and when that’s over, you
walk over and get ready for yell practice.
The next day we play Iowa State in foot
ball, it’s a great, great weekend.”
Vitale will arrive at G. Rollie White
at approximately 7:15 to take part in
the party, at 8:30, the program will be
moved inside for Vitale’s speech.
Barone said the night will be a
great chance for A&M to gain nation
al exposure.
“This is a guy who has a major af
fect (on college basketball). It gives
us an opportunity to show that there
is a spirit here at Texas A&M that is
second to none,” he said.
“A lot of times you hear about the
spirit at Texas A&M, but if you’ve never
been here, or you’ve never really seen it,
you don’t know
what it is. So I think
the students have
an opportunity here
to promote Texas
A&M’s spirit, not
just part of athletics,
but as part of the
university. Dick Vi
tale will talk about
this trip all year long
and he will be an
ambassador for
Texas A&M based
on what he sees at this particular event.”
Friday night’s event will mark the
conclusion of an entire day of activities.
The day will begin with a golf tour
nament at Pebble Creek Countiy Club
and will also include a dinner at G. Rol
lie White. Barone said that there are
Vitale
currently about 220 people signed up
to play golf and 550 planning to attend
the dinner.
Barone said the day will help shine
the national spotlight on a basketball
program which is about to take off.
“We have spent six years trying to get
this thing organized so that once we
were moving forward, there weren’t go
ing to be anymore road blocks, so I hope
that’s where we’re at right now,” Barone
said. “We have guys who have worked
harder in the preseason than I’ve ever
had. I think they recognized what they
had to do and did it.
“We're going to be on ESPN. We want
Dick Vitale to come back for the Texas
game and this is a way to do it. There’s
something to be said about guys who
stay and fight. There’s something to be
said about guys who don’t run. Eventu
ally your going to look back and see how
important you are to the program. We’ve
got a bunch of guys like that right now.”
\Tongan Terror’-izes Texas A&M opponents
By Jamie Burch
Staff writer
our-hundred miles south-
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QMiVorld o’ sport from Friday Night
U Idlllghts to the institution known as
Monday Night Football. Texas
offensive lineman Seimisi
JXlu heimuli, of Tongan descent, is
well aware of this fact.
jgoslavia(Af|;|Heimuli, a native of California,
residentialtsaid he grew up around rugby, but
to clear wiHgan playing the pigskin classic
rfficials Wed®cause of its popularity.
)ther vote. 'I “i watched my dad, when I was
ationalist playing rugby,” Heimuli said.
>dan Milose «j ts 1T | a i n Tongan sport. All the
candidate ir jdilgwQgdgj go to our own field and
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be held, fine
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rding to at
not as big in the U.S. as back in the
(Tongan) islands, New Zealand, or
Australia. So, I started playing con
tact football in the ninth grade.”
Heimuli grew up in California
and moved to Euless, Texas after
his freshman year in high school.
The 6-foot 3-inch, 300 lbs. line
man only visited the Tongan is
lands as an infant. He knows
about his heritage because of his
parents, but has never lived in the
south Pacific.
Heimuli said he came to A&M
in 1995 because of his pleasant re
cruiting experience.
“I wanted to go somewhere
back in California like Berkeley,
UCLA, or USC,” Heimuli said.
“(Defensive line) Coach Johnson
was the best of the guys recruiting
me. He was straightforward. All
those other guys told a lot of lies.
“He talked about A&M and no
one else. Other coaches would put
down A&M and other programs.
They’d say Took at A&M. They’re
on probation. They’re a bunch of
cheaters.’ Coach Johnson never
did that. He just talked about what
it was like to play for A&M. I re
spect him for that.”
The Tongan has never looked
back since. After his redshirt sea
son, Heimuli got his chance to
prove his worth as a player.
Heimuli was battling then junior
center Koby Hackradt for a starting
position on the offensive line. Pri
or to the season opener at BYU,
Hackradt went down with an in
jury. Guard Calvin Collins was
shifted to center and Heimuli was
penciled in at right guard.
Heimuli said the emotions were
running high minutes to the start
of the game in Provo, Utah.
“The team always walks out on
the field, before the game, to check
out the stadium,” Heimuli said.
“Afterwards everyone just went to
the locker room, but Cameron
Spikes and I just sat in the stands.
Fans were coming to the game and
we were still sitting there.
“People kept asking us what we
were doing. It was incredible. We
were about to start our first college
game ever.”
But once the game got under
way, Heimuli said his nerves set
tled down.
“Once we started it was noth
ing, because the guys I went
against in practice were better
than those I was going against in
the game. Brandon Mitchell, Pat
Williams and Troup (Eddie Jasper)
were all ten times better.”
Heimuli went on to start all 12
games, helping the offense post an
average of 404.5 yards per game,
including 230.3 yards via the run.
But Heimuli was not sure he
would start for the remainder of
the season.
“I had the start for that game,”
Heimuli said. “It doesn’t mean I’m
gonna have it for the next. When
Koby came back it put a lot of pres
sure on me. He hurt his knee but
came back as if it never happened.
It made me nervous.
“The old offensive line coach,
Mike Sherman, said ‘Koby’s coming
back. He’s looking good. You need
to pick up your performance.’”
During his red shirt season
against the University of Texas at
Kyle Field. The Aggies were stunned
by a 16-6 loss. Following the game,
Longhorn players and fans
stormed the field. Heimuli tried to
his part to control the chaos.
“Some Texas football players
were jumping on a corps mem
ber,” Heimuli said. “I was being
stupid, I wasn’t thinking. I grabbed
one of the players and hit him.
Please see Heimuli on Page 13
t
rn^mrm
DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion
Seimesi Heimuli led A&M with a
425-pound bench press.
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