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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1997)
The Battalion ba. uesday • December 2, 1997 PORTS IL' ^ vt' / v^# C/# C/^ former Texas coach John Mackovic la not get a fair chance in Austin Jeff Webb staff writer ear John, I heard that you got fired, and I just wanted to say can n sorry. You didn’t get a fair thio iale, John. But I guess that’s just Wirhai have-you-done-for-me- hertelv college wall hlbtics for dait ju. One bad 'Cis ii iaspn and iIh ou’re out. miisk R.C. and s’ll tell you. rent e canceled vog hunting mal; ip after last |in 3ar’s show- Hn in tisi m be- ause he , ou .anted to void being around Aggies with etuis. But let us take a look at why ou were fired. ^Bdaybe it was the win over Ne braska last year. That was some- lipg. A gutsy fourth and one call in your own territory and jpu end up beating the sacred ow in college football by a mere 0 points. I still remember being uldled around the television rith other Aggies rooting for the .olighorns to win some respect oftthe Big 12 South. It was one of hose days I won’t soon forget. r eah, you lost to Penn State in the v, ; iesta Bowl, but many lost to the 'Jiftany Lions last year. B^erhaps it was the three con- lai lecutive conference champi- mships you won or shared. Beat- oo ng Nebraska was something, but foi: Dealing us two years ago Mas special. You ended Dur lengthy home win- aiiig streak. You knocked cini Off y our most hated rival erf Onltheir playground art when they were a nation ally ranked contender. I won’t forget. I’m sure Leeland McElroy still remem- |Hrs as well. The year be- fore you shared the ,[] four way ''*f‘ e f, tie for the dtoguth- Best Confer ence Champi- “ - Jiship when we * were on pro bation. I guess three in a row wasn’t (good enough for "Bose in Austin. I Why did your team play so poor- Hthis season is the question many want an swered. Since honor dictates you cannot make excuses, I’ll help you a little bit. Defense is apparently the prob lem. It may be the departure of cor- nerback Bryant Westbrook and safeties Chris Carter and Taje Allen to the NFL. Replacing a secondary is no easy task. Once again, you can ask R.C. about that one. Chris Akins was a defensive tackle designed by God to stop die nan. When Akins and Casey Hampton, the other start ing defensive tackle, both went down with knee injuries in the UCLA game, that signified the demise of the Longhorn run defense for die season. Skip Hicks is an ani mal and Cade McNown isn’t leading the nation in passing efficiency for nothing. Where was the blame on defensive coordinator Bobby Jack Wright for the Bruin debacle? Receivers were thin this year also. Sure-handed dght end Pat Fitzgerald and wide-out Mike Adams were also gone, and the last threat, receiver Wane McGarity was injured for the season leaving James Brown no tar gets to keep people from pilling on Ricky Williams. That brings up another point. UT faithful can wave goodbye to Williams. He guaranteed that if John left, he would go too. The players rallied around you, John. Perhaps it might be due to the success in the classroom. When you arrived in 1991, only 11 of 22 seniors graduat ed. In 1996,18 of 21 got their de grees thanks to your concentration on academics. Isn’t that the reason we’re all here? What is the real measure of success in college athletics? Your players gradu- , ated. You won conference < championships. One 4-7 sea son, and you’re not afforded a grace period? Texas has sold its soul to college football, John. I’m sorry you had to be a casualty. However, there is one rea son I’m glad you’re gone. The juniors on this campus got our first taste of victo ry over our i hated rivals Friday. I was || starting to get worried. For the last two years, you certainly earned our respect in College t, Station. 1 Jeff Webb is a junior journalism major. I" ' ' ' Congratulations OBX .Tall 1997.(Associate Class Dianna Ashcraft Julie Light Jenny Bergman Jenny McLaughlin Courtney Fogle Erica Milburn Amanda Gangawer Anne Morrow Shauna Gimpel Jamie Prukop Jennifer Gregory Carie Raesener Liz Hey Kristin Rogers Candy Hughes Sarah Ruder Jill Jefferies Mandy Smith Courtney Kensing Jennifer Stecklein Lorie Vail Aggies outduel Southern By Travis V. Dabney Staff writer The Southern Jaguars came into G. Rollie White on Monday night fresh off a victory over Texas College and looking for to a sec ond victory over a Texas team to take with them back to Louisiana. The Aggies on the other hand seemed poised to take their record to a perfect 4-0 and after the way the team had been playing all sea son there was no reason to believe they would not. Both teams got off to a poor shooting starts as the defenses seemed to frustrated both teams. Then a light seemed to go on with Southern as they reined down three pointers and fast break points all over the Aggies to take a 31-18 lead at the 7:16 mark of the first half. The Aggies struggled to get back on “Last year we may have lost that game, but that’s where our maturity comes in.” JERALD BROWN A&M GUARD Southern’s fast breaks as well as the efficient breaking of the Aggie press by Southern took them to that lead.. The Aggies began their come back behind the strong inside pay of Juniors Calvin Davis and Shanne Jones. With score 31-18 Davis put back a rebound for two followed by a Jones drive to the bucket to bring the score to 31-24. The Aggies improved defensive play also helped to close the gap as freshman Michael Schmidt and sophomore Brian Barone gave the Aggies some much needed help off the bench.The Aggies then came back all the way to tie the game on a crowd electrifying Schmidt three pointer to bring the score to 36-36. Just when the Aggies thought that they had gotten back into the game the Jags ran off seven points to take a lead of 43-37 at half time. “We gave them confidence early in the game,” Barone said, “We were hesitant at first and and then became frustrated when are shots were not falling.” The real story of the first half was the incredible shooting of Southern as they shot 50 percent from the field as compared to the 32 percent the Aggies shot in the first half. The beginning of the second half proved to be much of the same for both clubs as the Jags contin ued their hot shooting and their impressive press break while the Aggies continued to struggle with their shooting and just getting a decent look at the basket. With fourteen minutes left in the game and Southern leading by a score of 57-48, Schmidt put up a three pointer that missed but was re bounded and dunked back home by sophomore Jerald Brown. After that play the Aggies would begin a furious come back that would see them come all back to win the game by a score of 80-67. “Coach told us at halftime that if we did not come out with some intensity in the second half that we were going to be in some trou ble,” Jones said. “We stepped up our rebound ing tonight,” Brown said, “Last year we may have lost that game , but that is where our maturity comes in” The key to the Aggies victory came after the first five minutes of the second half whenthey did not allow any transition points. That was opposed to giving up twenty points on the break in the first twenty five minutes of the game to Southern. The Aggies comeback was keyed by strong play from Brown, Jones and Barone as they all added to var ious aspects of the game. Brown added a career high of 15 rebounds while throwing in 13 • /I RONY ANGKRIWAN/The Battalion Junior forward Shanne Jones goes up for a dunk during the Texas A&M Basketball Team’s 80-67 win over the Southern Jaguars at G. Rollie White. points. Barone dished out a career high nine assists and Jones lead the team with 25 points to go with his seven rebounds. “I was pleased with the way our kids found a way to win tonight,” coach Tony Barone said, “This was a great learning experience for us tonight because we know what we did not do well.” A&M lands home game for NCAA first round By Travis V. Dabney Staff writer The news that Texas A&M Volleyball Team had waited for all season finally came on Sunday night. The mews was not unexpected or a sur prise but rather one more step in this team’s ul timate goal to prove that they rank among the best volleyball teams in the country. The Texas A&M Volleyball Team will join 53 other of the best volleyball teams in the coun try in the NCAA tournament to determine the 1997 national champion. The Aggies finished up the 1997 regular season campaign with a 24-7 overall record as well as post ing a 15-5 record in the Big 12 which has proven it self as one of the best conferences in the country. There is little doubt that this team is proud of its accomplishments. “I feel really great about our 24-7 record,” coach Laurie Corbelli said, “We play in one of the best conferences in the nation and the victory over Colorado in the last match of the season has really got this team excited.” “We were competitive in every match we played this year,” Senior outside hitter Kristie Smedsrud said. “We feel great about the year that we had and now we start of brand new the NCAA tournament.” The Aggies finished up the season this past weekend with a victory over the Colorado Buf faloes in what turned out to be a wild weekend of Big 12 play. The first place Texas Longhorns lost both of their weekend games and fell to a number 14 ranking in the Volleyball Magazine poll behind the number 13th ranked Texas A&M Aggies. Even with the poor play by Texas, they hung onto the first place in the Big 12 . Only a two game difference separates Texas, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M in the final Big 12 standings. The Aggies will meet Hofstra University on Thursday night following the match between Temple and Michigan scheduled for 6 p.m. Oth ers in the east region include No.l seed Penn State and No.2 seed BYU. The Big 12 made a very strong showing by plac ing six teams in the tournament. Besides the Aggies, Nebraska, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas and Col orado all received bids to the NCAA tournament. j Juniors & Seniors! LAND 340-500 Landscape Architecture in America (3 crs.) W 6:30-9:30 PM, ARCH C105 Instructor: Nancy Volkman Phone: 845-5041, email: nvolkman@archone.tamu.edu PREREQUISITES: None PLAN 370-500 Intro, to Health Systems Planning (3 crs.) MWF 3-3:50 PM, PSCY 338 Instructor: Don Sweeney Phone: 845-7888, email: dsweeney@archone.tamu.edu PREREQUISITES: Junior classification BROADLY EDUCATED INDIVIDUALS EXCEL IN LIFE Call or email for more information • Register today J-ADIESg^T ORf)S JL~/ ex) BRIDAL OUTLETS DESIGNER BRIDAL & BRIDESMAIDS FACTORY DIRECT TO YOU! 15% TO 70% OFF At the Texas Ave. Entrance of A&M Open Weeknights until 7 p.m., Saturday until 5 p.m. 764-8289 P London Cultural Trip March 13-20, 1998 Sign up by December 5, 1997 In Room 227M MSC Trip costs include: • airfare • airport transfer • hotel accommodations • continental breakfast two (2) theatre productions • trip to York • attend rugby match Tours of: • London & York • Kensington Palace • Parliament • Lloyd’s of London • Westminster Abbey The British Museum • Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace If you have any questions, please contact Charlotte Jamieson or Paul Henry at 845-6790. 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