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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1998)
6 The Battalion ORTS Monday • April Blazing Difficult Trails I Sophomore outfielder William Gray overcame a serious injury along with campus racial tension to break into AggielL & ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion Sophomore Will Gray worked hard to rehab from a se rious injury in order to contribute to the baseball team. By Colby Martin Staff writer dversity is something Will Gray is acquaint ed with quite well. Gray is the only black .player on the Texas A&M Baseball Team, and, thanks to a knee injury, he came close to not being a player on the team at all. Gray, a sophomore outfielder, was bitten with a torn anterior cruciate ligament last season that end ed his year on the team. One night when the team was in the waning moments of taking batting prac tice, Gray went back on a fly ball like he had done thousands of times before. “I just remember being on the warning track and trying to find the wall,” Gray said. “I remember jump ing up, and the ball ricocheted off the wall and into my knee causing me to land funny.” Before Gray knew it, he was out for the season and in the middle of a grueling rehabilitation process. “I was out there every day busting my butt, and for some reason it was not getting any easier,” Gray said. “The rehab was supposed to be for four months, but I am just now starting to feel like I am back to normal.” Most athletes stricken with the same type of knee injuries are only out of action for three to four months. For whatever reason, Gray is just now returning to top game-playing shape. “I think that Will is finally back to normal, and that is big for us because we need him to be at 100 percent,” Coach Mark Johnson said. “He is going to be an im portant part of this team.” Coach Johnson explained that Gray had come from a small high school where baseball is not a year- round thing like it is for some players that play on the elite summer teams. “I am going to go play ball this summer in the Ar Class of 1997: Playoff Payoff? Last season’s rookie draft produced high-class talent that is leading NBA teams into the playoffs — and the next age N BA teams that find them selves lucky enough to have lottery picks in the draft usually don’t see a return on their invest ment until their con tract expires of they are traded to another team. Then the team that so faithfully invested a first-round pick can watch their player carry another team to the promised land. During the Houston Rockets- Utah Jazz radio broadcast on Sat urday night, Jim Foley and Gene Peterson, notoriously-biased Rockets announcers who regular ly call officiating that doesn’t go the Rockets way “crap,” suggested that this is a disappointing season for the rookie class of 1997. “There are only, what, 16 rookies on playoff rosters, and there are 16 teams,” Foley said. This is the first season in a long time when that statement rings through as moronic. Taking a look at what has be come the best draft class in a long time, we see four potential super- stars that have led their teams to the playoffs. This is a tale of three teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the San Anto nio Spurs and the New Jersey Nets. The Spurs were no surprise to anyone. They locked up the first pick in a lucky draw of the ping- pong balls and selected can’t-miss prospect Tim Duncan. San Antonio soon found itself in the hunt for a division title and now are sitting in a pretty position in the first round with the Phoenix Suns as they head home with a 1 -1 tie in the series. Some feel that David Robinson should turn over his “Top-50 Play ers of all-time” jacket over to the young Duncan, who will almost certainly be considered for the hon or in a few years. The younger of the towers sim ply willed the Spurs to victory with his clutch fourth quarter perfor mance, looking more like a battle- tested war-horse than a nervous rookie on the firing line. Duncan scored six consecutive baskets over an assortment of de fenders and was the reason the Spurs now have the home court ad vantage in the series. Cleveland benefits from the presence of two outstanding rook ies. Brevin Knight has run the show quite admirably as a Mike Fratello disciple and center Zy- drunas Illgauskas gave Indiana’s Rik Smits all he could handle in the two Cleveland losses. Knight wasn’t highly-touted coming out of Stanford and many maligned him because of his diminutive size, however he has proved worthy of leading a team to the playoffs and Illgauskas is the perfect complement. The Cavaliers also have rookies Cedric Henderson and Derek An derson (who was drafted ahead of Knight) coming off the bench to add defensive pressure and a fast-break threat to the game’s landscape. New Jersey would not be in the playoffs if Keith Van Horn had not played. It’s that simple. Van Horn was a scoring machine in the regu lar season and played in the first half of The Nets’ overtime loss to JL ■ the defending champion Bulls. Y Van Horn had to sit out the second half fl | because of a virus, ^ and only after »| « Coach John Cali- Jl\ w pari urged him to -Aky do so. Give Van Horn the nod for the Runner-Up-to-Tim-Duncan Award for Rookie of the Year. In a season with so much young talent, that honor has more meaning. Without the contributions of these outstanding rookies, it is like ly the playoffs would look a bit dif ferent this season. It also might be noted that the rookies who have done so well in leading their teams to the playoffs this season all stayed in school for four years. Experience is some thing that cannot be taught, it can only be learned. So, Gene and Jim, before you applaud the Rockets one more time, before you criticize the offici ating for not seeing phantom fouls on opposing players and before you call one more game with that flavor of the home team that Rock ets fans adore and the rest of the public laments, please reconsider your thoughts. If the Rockets make it to the sec ond round of the playoffs, it might be a rookie, Duncan, that sends your team home, and into retire ment, for the season. lington area, and I think it will only help me next year,” said Gray. Gray has tried to use this year as a learning expe rience, taking advantage of watching fellow outfield er Jason Tyner on the offensive side of the game. “I feel like I could have started on this team if I would not of sustained this injury, but I will still be ready when a I feel like I could have started on this team if I would not have sustained this injury Will Gray Texas A&M outfielder the time comes for me to step up,” said Gray. What seperates him from the pack is his blazing speed, and now that it has returned, nothing can stop him. Aside from his blistering speed, there is another at tribute that Gray has that sets him apart. He is the only black player on the team. “It has never been an issue with us, and I do not think it has been an issue with his teammates as well,” Johnson said. Gray acknowledges that many black baseball play ers do not attend college because of high-dollar con tracts tendered to them by professional teams. How ever, he said that families that stress education will encourage their children to snare the opportunity of a first-rate education when the chance arrives. “I think a lot of the time it has to do with being poor rather than being black,” Gray said, enough to come from an educatedfamik; stressed academics. "Even though I got offered plentyi really important to both my parentsa an education.” > i l iiav siU'ssril ih.K hr h.ul ih-uthadffl;^K es J with team males, .mil hr docs not feehveiir Mj] u J ing on a team that is predominantly^lite, ■L't'j "Almost all ol im li lends could n p| a '■! air'. I;.-' ^ ! jfthe ba cause i at tiles larly < ,V J Iris! all I id they iportm Isses fo| ester jmthe I niseiie But. a ewers leevnl les/anJ neve it when I told them that allofthesiot not true,” he said. “Even other black atilt asked me what it is like playing baseballbi tell them that it is fine." Gray said he was recently on abusridiii when another student sat down nexttohii troduced himself. The first question he asked Gray was he played. “The thing is, the guy assumed that bee; black, I must be an athlete,” Gray said.‘W have not been just another student oncant pie just make assumptions some times,bo: not mean that they are racist.” Gray also plans on staying for the fullfoi school unless the money is impossibletoi “Will’s parents feel like his education the list, and he has really worked hardatdi Johnson said. “He has a lot of respect for er and father, and what is important toth important to him." Gray has faced the challenge of overc injury in an environment that is devoir black baseball players. However, Gray said he does not pay alter differences that seem so apparent tooutsid “I really haven’t noticed it.” Aggie Sports Briefs ! Id, de; jllsl ton i —Jeff Webb is a junior journalism major. Wade takes gold at Penn Relays Texas A&M senior All-American hurdler Larry Wade has earned the reputation as one of the best col lege hurdlers in the nation over his four-year career. This past weekend at the Penn Relays he showed why. Wade brought home the championship in the 110-meter hurdles for the sec ond straight year and he also lead the men’s shuttle relay team to a second-place finish. Wade crossed the finish line in 13.49 seconds to beat freshman phenomenon Terrance Trammell of South Carolina. r Wade’s time is | an NCAA auto- | matic qualifier I and is a season best for him. In 1 the shuttle hur dle relay, Wade teamed with ju- ^ nior Desmond 8 Powell and Wade freshman Kris Allen and Bashir Ramzy and fin ished second behind Clemson in 55.84 seconds. Senior Rosa Jolivet finished sec ond in the women’s 400-meter in termediate hurdles with a season- best time of 57.62. Jolivet’s time is an NCAA provisional qualifier. Se nior Adrien Sawyer and Jolivet along with sophomore Chimika Carter and freshman Christina Ohaeri teamed up to finish fourth in the women’s shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 54.60. The men’s 4x400-meter relay ran their best time of the season in 3:08.99. The Aggies will be competing next weekend at the New Orleans FourWay meet in New 0rleans,_La. _ ! ■** > Scheschuk from staff and wire reports Baseball sweeps Kansas Jayhawks The Texas A&M Baseball Team (37-15, 19-8) swept a three-game series from the Kansas Jay- hawks in Lawrence, Kan., this weekend. The Aggies destroyed the Jayhawks 12-1 Friday on Ryan Rupe’s strong pitching perfor mance. Rupe had eight strike outs and no walks in his complete game victory. John Scheschuk and Steven Truitt clubbed their 13th and sixth home runs respectively. On Saturday, the Aggies hit a school- record seven home runs en route to first place in the Big 12 Con ference with a 17-12 victory over Kansas. Homering for the Aggies were Scott Sandusky (his first), Craig Kuzmic (15), Scheschuk (14), Daylan Holt (5), Truitt (7), Erik Sobek (8) and Scarborough (4). The Aggies outlasted the Jay hawks 10-9 in the final game on Sunday. Matt Ward threw seven and two-thirds innings and struck out seven batters. Homering for the Ag gies were Kuzmic (16), Scheschuk (15), Holt (6) and Sobek (9). Sean Heaney hit two home runs to give him a total of seven for the year. Men’s team wins Big 12 over Texas The 1998 Texas A&M Men’s Ten nis Team has accomplished what no other team before them could ever do. The Aggies have won the Big 12 Tennis Championships with a 4-0 win over No. 5-rankedIe: In the finals ofthecoifc! nament for only the thin! school history, the Aggiesli won the title and hadonlyi lar-season title to theircredtl For the second straiglfi the Aggies were out to mail' ly statement as they wonfi first six sets. The Aggies now await Wi gional team selection, will be hosted by Texas onte>! Golf wins its! crown since II Led by medalist Isabel berg, Texas A&M captf 1998 Big 12 Women's Golf Championship in Norman, Okla., Sunday. The Aggies, who led by seven strokes over host Oklahoma enter- _ ing the day, shot M a final-round 308 ® and finished four strokes better than runner-up and 1997ctf Texas. It was the Aggies’si conference title (they wonthe|i west Conference crown inl^l A&M's title came after fif runner-up in conference ment action each of the last! years (Big 12 Conference and Southwest Conferendj previous two years). A&M’s final scores 1 299+312+308=919. Toni champion Isabelle Rosbert nine-over-par 225. Jamie finished second with aneq over-par 227. Additionally, Rosbergwas' ! | Big 12 Player of the Year coaches. MARIACHI’S mexican restaurant Daily Luncheon Specials starting at $ 3.95 Shrimp Cozumel - $ 9.99 • Tuesdays • Fajitas for Two $ 9.99 (beef or chicken) Open 7 Days a Week Sun - Thurs 7am-9pm Fri - Sal Tam - 10pm 1315 S. College, Bryan 779-9052 • 822-0195 PROFITABLE NUMBER! 845-0569 The Battalion Classified Advertising Spring ‘99 INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS in 154 Bizzell Flail West -Monday, April 27 1:30-2:00 PM -Wednesday, April 29 7 7:00- 7 7:30 AM Pick up an application at the meeting or drop by the Study Abroad Program Office. Study Abroad Program Office, 161 Bizzell Hall West, 845-0544 urn 1 C I a s s o f 1 9 9 9 Boot Danci Who: Everyone in the Class of 1! Date: May 16, 1998 Time: 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Where: Rudder Exhibit Hall Attire: Formal Tickets: $ 10 Each, available at the MSf Box Office starting April 27th Also Available: Boot Dance T-shirt ($10) Picture Package ($13.50 & $18)' 2 oz Boot shaped collector glass ($ v Questions: Contact Dana Devlin (Social Serf at 845-1515 or Devlin@tamu.ed» A