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.
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