mber21
riday • November 21, 1997
The Battalion
PORTS
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Runnin , Ags’ set for season opener
By Chris Ferrell
Sports editor
Saturday will not just be
other eler 11 ther regular season open
ioactive in-|fo r Icmy Barone and the
id. the wa^ | as A&M Basketball Team,
nth cemet: |> it’s much bigger than that.
en the Stephen F. Austin
h-y Profes- toul’erjacks come to G. Rollie
|ld wiite Coliseum tomorrow it
mark the culmination of
|i s Bihrenslyears of work by Barone and
ich has procl staff to try and take the pro-
I are ineaaijm to another level.
Barone arrived in College
l>ared thisAtion in 1991 to take over a
aid. “OutAgram which had been rid-
jrials tocAd by NCAA sanctions, had
F the bes lor facilities and had not
n a winning season since
|? days of Shelby Metcalf. It
san unenviable task which
bst coaches would never
Ik into.
Now Barone and the Ag
gies take the floor with a win
dow of opportunity open for
the future. Scholarships are
no longer limited, talent is at
an all-time high in the Barone
era, and with Reed Arena set
to open next season the Ag
gies are able to recruit with
the Big 12’s top teams.
Indeed it could be the
dawn of a new era in A&M
basketball.
The most noticeable
change from Barone’s teams of
the past will be the style of play.
The Aggies will be playing an
up tempo, pressing style to try
and use their athleticism to
create easy baskets.
“We came here six years ago
wanting to play this way,”
Barone said. “And it’s tough to
play this way when you don’t
have numbers. Whether we
were playing ugly or playing
the way we had to play was a
point of conjecture.
“Our Creighton teams
played like this, but you have
to be realistic. If you have a
quarterback that throws down
“We came here six
years ago wanting to
play this way.”
TONY BARONE
A&M BASKETBALL COACH
and outs, you don’t throw
deep. You have to play to your
personnel sometimes.”
Barone is hoping that last
season’s experience will help
the Aggies compete this season.
Almost everyone is back from a
young team that played very
competitively a year ago.
A&M lost only one player
from last season, guard Tracy
Anderson. Senior center Dario
Quesada could also be lost for
the season with bulging disks
in his back.
Sophomore guard Jerald
Brown, last season’s Big 12
freshman of the year returns to
lead a talented back court
which will be key to the Aggies’
up tempo style.
“Anytime that your going to
play up tempo, the key to the
up tempo game is the guards,”
Barone said. “Playing up tem
po doesn’t necessarily mean
that your going to take a quick
shot every time up the court.”
So far the up tempo style
has been a success with the Ag
gies winning both of their ex
hibition games in easy fashion.
In those two games, the Ag
gies learned a valuable lesson
about the kind of shape they
will need to maintain in order
to keep up the style of play for
the entire season.
“I think we found out that if
we’re going to be an aggressive
team defensively with the press
and we’re going to run, we need
to maintain a conditioning lev
el that is at the highest level,”
Barone said. “If you’re going to
do that it’s easy for the fans and
for the media to say ‘you’re go
ing to run.’ That’s fine if you’re
going to run up the court and
maintain the pressure condi
tioning wise. Our guys, one of
the things they saw is that they
have to maintain that.”
But what’s a few more hours
of hard work compared to the
time and effort put in over the
past six years.
- H
m
COURTESY TEXAS A&M SPORTS INFORMATION
Coach Tony Barone and the Aggies open the season tomorrow.
olleyball battles
layhawks, Wildcats
By Travis V. Dabney
Staff writer
The 17th-ranked Texas A&M
illeyballTeam will take on Kansas
Kansas State this weekend in
hopes of con
tinuing their
three match
winning streak
and their stellar
play of late.
The games
will have a little
of everything
for the Aggies,
as they will face
Sykora the Kansas Jay-
hawks on Fri
day who along
ITowa State pulls up the rear of
; 12. On Saturday the Aggies
will face the Kansas State Wildcats
and will attempt to return the loss
that the Wildcats handed the Aggies
in back in October. The Aggies suf
fered one of their worst defeats in
recent memory as they were swept
inlhree straight game and only
mustered a total of 10 points for the
entire match.
The Aggies going into this
weekend’s play are holding down
third place in the Big 12 along with
the Nebraska Cornhuskers. De
spite being in third place the Ag
gies may be playing the best vol
leyball in the Big 12 as they have
won the their last three matches
and remain the only team to de
feat the Texas Longhorns in con
ference play this season.
Both matches this weekend will
played at 7 p.m.
The Baa®
Ifternooi
ams waive Phillips after
lack misses team meeting
legisi
ItCSSl'l''
^ ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lawrence
"d lillips was waived by the St. Louis
ims today, a day after the troubled
• fining back skipped a team meet-
g gand practice.
rtl i Phillips, the team’s leading rusher,
alked out of Rams Park onWednes-
j lyafter an early-morning conversa-
aree! ; in with coach Dick Vermeil, who
mmsi y | le was kgjHg replaced in the
hew® jrtinglineup with Jerald Moore,
ody. Phillips was back in camp for an-
ty As iS her conversation today, but left
llowl r»ood shortly after 1 p.m. CST fol-
a proi* wing the decision to cut him.
on, ^ Mips has run for 633 yards, one
lore yard than last season’s total,
ft only a 3.5-yard average.
Vermeil planned to address the
, | love at a news conference after
askw ractice.The Rams (2-9) play the Car
lin Di"’ lina Panthers on Sunday and will try
|decoi» i enc i a seven-game losing streak.
Team sources said Pliillips’ problem
rnidd as alcohol-related. On Wednesday,
"and irmeil refused to discuss the subject.
jits, 11 lust before the news broke, defen-
otn d VeendLeslie O’Neal said it wasritup
ihim to decide whether Phillips had
one the right tiling by walking out.
Colleg “We’re all independent contrac-
onl ei its,’’ O’Neal said. “When you feel
7 p,il lings aren’t going right you have the
0 f tl ption to take your work elsewhere.
“A lot of guys that started out on
lis journey in training camp aren’t
IheMatcMJps
SKansasState(-20 @lcwa State
OHahoma@TexasTech (-23)
Oklahoma St. (-11) @ Bayior
*4 Ohio St. @ #1 Michigan (-3.5)
Florida St (-4.5) @#10 Florida
*24 Wisconsin @ #6 Penn St (-15.5)
*7 UCLA (-9.5) @ USC
N VWsh St@#l /Washington (-7)
Alabama @#13 Auburn (-12)
Fowboys @ Packers (-7)
takings @ Jets (-2.5)
'olphins @ Patriots (-4.5)
Week
Emulative
here anymore and you can’t worry
about them, you have to just keep go
ing and keep playing.”
The Rams took the first step to
ward cutting their losses on Wednes
day by notifying the league Phillips
left the squad without permission.
Under the collective bargaining
agreement, Phillips had five days to
return, or the Rams could place him
on the reserve-left squad list.
That would have prohibited him
from playing for the Rams or any oth
er team the rest of the season.
The Rams took a chance in select
ing Phillips with the sixth pick of the
1996 draft, and his rookie season was
marred by legal woes, a knee injury
and a training-camp holdout. Earlier
this year, he spent 23 days in a Nebras
ka jail for violating probation stem
ming from the assault on a former girl
friend when he played at Nebraska.
He also walked out of several
team meetings last year, when Rich
Brooks was coach.
This year Phillips has been trying
to overcome turf toe and a sprained
ankle. He has 633 yards — one more
yard than his rookie year total—and
is tied for the NFC lead with eight
touchdowns, but is averaging only 3.5
yards per carry.
Vermeil was not sure whether
Phillips’ problems were reflected
in his play.
The Untamed Mustang
Doak Walker rebuilt SMUprogram, became a legend
Walker
By Jamie Burch
Staff writer
S outhern Methodist University’s South
west Conference co-championship in
1940 served as a solid beginning to the
new decade. But during World War II, the pro
gram fell on hard times. Head coach Madison
Bell left the Hilltop to serve three years (1942-
45) in the Navy reserves and the team posted
six consecutive losing seasons.
Bell returned to SMU in 1945 as both coach
and athletic director. But the 1947 season
brought new hope with the emergence of a
legend — Doak Walker.
Walker revitalized a pro
gram in shambles, playing
any and every position. Dur
ing his collegiate career
(1945-49), Walker served as
the Mustangs’ offensive and
special teams’ guru. He
played ample time at quar
terback, halfback, kicker and
punt and kick off returner.
Walker led SMU to back-
to-back SWC titles in 1947
and 1948. He became the only three-time All-
American and four-time All-SWC performer
in SMU history. Walker finished his spectacu
lar collegiate stint as the Ponies’ career leader
in points (288) and punt return yards (750).
But more important than cementing his
place in history is what Walker did to bolster
the SWC. Walker’s natural athletic abili
ty spurred a great number of fans
to return to the stands.
After playing the Mustangs final
game at Ownby Stadium on Oct. 2,
1948, SMU adopted the Cotton Bowl on the
Texas State Fairgrounds as its new home. At
the time, the structure held a mere 46,000 peo
ple. Due to the swelling crowds who came to
watch the Walker roam the gridiron, the Cot
ton Bowl was twice expanded to fit a capacity
crowd of 76,000 plus. It quickly became known
as “The House that Doak Built.”
A modest Walker attributed the expansion
of the stadium to the success of the program
saying a winner will always draw fan support.
“The Cotton Bowl was a terrific place to
play,” Walker said. “We enjoyed playing there.
And the fans filled it up for our games.
That’s been a little short the last few
years. But winning cures all. ^
When you win everyone
wants to get on the band
wagon.”
Walker’s exploits dur-
Part three in a three part series chronicling
Texas college football legends
ing the 1948 season earned him the Heisman
Trophy as the nations top player.
The versatile Walker rushed for 532 yards
and eight touchdowns, caught 15 passes for
278 yards and two touchdowns,
passed for 304 yards and five
touchdowns, returned 10
punts for a school record
169 yards, returned five
kicks for 161 yards, inter
cepted three passes for 75
yards, punted 35 times for
1,473 yards and converted 22-
of-29 extra point attempts.
But Walker’s feats on
the gridiron were not
constrained to the
collegiate level.
Walker was
drafted by the
Detroit Lions in
1950. And in his
short NFL career,
Walker did the
same thing for
the Lions’ fran
chise and
the NFL
■Hi
'
sion title for 17
years. But with the ad
dition of Walker and his
high school teammate, quar
terback Bobby Layne, the Lions
reestablished themselves as one of the
NFL elite.
Playing in Tiger Stadium, the Lions won
three division titles and two Championships
during Walker’s career. And just as he did at
SMU, Walker played every available position.
Walker said he did this because job securi
ty was scarce amongst NFL players.
“ft was added insurance,” Walker said.
“You had to so you get could a little more
money. You never knew from one day to
the next whether you were going to get cut
or not. Anything extra you could do, ei
ther as a receiver, kick off
returner, or a punt re
turner, you did.”
Walker went
on to score 534
points and
amass more
than 4,000
Jl| yards of to-
C tal offense
en route to
winning
two scoring
0: titles. He
played in
five Pro Bowls in
his six years and was named
All-NFL four years.
Walker said he would not
trade his years in Detroit for any
thing in the world.
“The people in center field were
factory workers,” Walker said. “They
were great fans. They were adopted
Lions’ alumnus. The came to win and
hammer with you all the way.”
Walker was enshrined in the NFL Hall
of Fame in 1986. And in 1990, Walker was
honored with an award in his name for the
nations top running back.
“It was a great honor,” Walker said. “When
Bill Filey came up to Steamboat Springs (Col
orado), set down and said he had an idea, my
wife and I sat down and talked about it. We
thought it would be a real nice award if it was
done right. It’s been a class thing ever since.
I’m very proud of it and what it stands for.”
Walker is arguably one of the best running
backs of all times. He sealed his place in SWC,
NCAA and NFL history. Walker revitalized
both his team and league at every level he
played. Walker will always be remembered as
the Untamed Mustang.
The Battalion's 1997 Staff Picks
Chris
Paul
Jeremy
Kristina
jamie
Matt
Stephen
Travis
Margaux
Len
Jeff
Jeff
Jason
Consensus
Ferrell
Mitchell
FurticK
Buffin
Burch
Mitchell
Boudreau
Dabney
Harris
Callaway Schmidt
Webb
Whfenmb
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Iowa State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas State
Kansas St. :KSU Cotton Bowl bound?
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Texas Tech:Unoffical Big 12 South champs.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahima St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma St.
OSU :Baylor can't wait for season to end.
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan Marching into Pasedena.
Florida State
Florida State
Florida
Florida
Florida State
Florida State
Florida State'
Florida State
Florida State
Florida State
Florida State
Florida State
Florida
Florida StSt Bobby loves to beat Spurrier
Penn State
Penn State
Penn State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Penn State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Penn State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Penn State
Wisconsin
Penn SLiions still looking for Alliance bid.
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
USC
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA
UCLA:Men of Troy get smacked around.
Wash. St.
Washington
Washington
Wash. St.
Washington
Washington
Washington
Washington
Washington
Washington
Wash. St.
Wash. St.
Wash. St.
WashingtonThe Apple of our eye.
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Alabama
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
AuburmRun Forrest, Run. It may get ugly.
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Packers
Packers
Packers
Packers
Packers
Cowboys
Packers
Cowboys
Packers
Cowboys
Packersfinally get Cowboys at Lambeau.
Jets
Jets
jets
Vikings
Jets
Vikings
Jets
Vikings
Jets
Jets
Jets
Vikings
Vikings
JetsiParcells has team's eyes on playoffs.
Patriots
Dolphins
Dolphins
Dolphins
Dolphins
Patriots
Patriots
Dolphins
Dolphins
Patriots
Patriots
Dolphins
Dolphins
Dolphins Stage dive anyone?
8-4
8-4
8-4
8-4
6-6
8-4
8-4
8-4
8-4
8-4
8-4
9-3
8-4
103-54:Ferrell and Furtick battling for first.
75-54-3
68-61-3
75-54-3
67-62-3
66-63-3
69-60-3
71-58-3
64-65-3
66-63-3
43-27-2
49-45-2
62-67-3
69-60-3
NOTE: The Battalion Staff will be picking against the betting line this semester. We in no way encourage any illegal wagering with the use of these betting lines, they are presented solely for entertainment purposes