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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1998)
The Battalion e 3|lHI Wednesday • June 3,1998 PORTS ‘Pick-up Ones ice the trademark of the playground, ish-talking is a dead art form at A&M Jeff Webb sports editor lalking trash on the basketball court is something of a lost art at the Student Recreation Center. Play ground bas ketball was founded on the idea that making your oppo nent looking foolish garnered as I DP im.my style points as a three-point- f er hit deep in the corner. ■ So what are the best lines on 'the court now? The pickings are ■ighty slim. ■ My favorite line is one bor- rawed from Steve Smith of the Atlanta Hawks. I "So, when is your mom going to have a kid who can play this game?" I Although personally, some- mnes a simple, "Meet the Press" \yill do just fine. I Texas A&M guard Chris Clay- Bn said that guys always are talk- jflg in his direction just because he plays on the varsity team. ■ "Every day some guy will call you out, especially if your on the 'basketball team," he said. "Usual ly they say something like, 'Just be- cluse you got a scholarship does n't mean you're better than me.'" However, games at the Rec Center are becoming increas- ihgly friendly at an alarming rate. This is bad for pick-up Itllt'Wsketball. I What is a game with out trash? Any BBA player fill tell you (it you get idia nee sk them, which is winning, that is. But no one remembers who had the backdoor layup to win the game. They're all still gawking at the guy who pulled off the be- hind-the-back, free-throw-take- off, 440-degree, one-handed jam and landed by saying, "In your eye, little-man!" Basketball is not a game for the weak of mind or body. There are no ticky-tack fouls on the play ground, but generally a, "Can 1 have my arm back now?" will get the guy off your back. If you really want to ruin a shooter's confidence after he bricked his first shot, just tell him how nice it was. "Good shot. You almost had that one." Just had a high-light block that would make Alonzo Mourning blush? Perhaps a, "Not in my house, dog!" will provide the proper mood. Or take a tip from Dikembe Mu- tombo and wave a finger or two. For those of you who can only muster a, "Go back to Read" from your basketball vocabulary, work on your words. Although sometimes words are not necessary. Ask Michael Jordan. Sometimes a shrug and a look is all that is necessary to \ bring the attitude back to the game. .rVj u. Jeff Webb is a junior journalism major. i v~ \\ to V only like ly if you frequent arraign ment hear ings), breaking your opponent c|own mentally is the best part of the game. E Except for V Air- T \ We got game Student Recreation Center basketball games score big with students By Jeff Webb Sports Editor If you go to the Student Recre ation Center on a lazy Tuesday after noon in the summertime, you might see Texas A&M forward Shanne Jones sprinting down a basketball court and throwing down a one- handed dunk. On that same court, there might also be a student like se nior finance major Jeremy Young blood playing just for exercise. Per haps this diversity is what makes pick-up basketball games at the Rec Center such a popular pastime. "I come up here about six times a week," Youngblood said. "If there's more than two games backed up, though, it's not worth it. I've seen 60 guys here before, but that's a busy day." The basketball courts at the Rec Center were refinished just before students arrived for summer school this year, a process that is complet ed about twice a year due to heavy use. The yearly cost of refinishing the floors is about $15,000 a year, ac cording to Student Recreation Cen ter Director Dennis Corrington. Texas A&M Men's Basketball Team players such as Jones and guard Chris Clayton use the Rec Center to work on their game during the summertime. "I play here everyday," Clayton said. "It's good to get exercise and work on my game. We (varsity play ers) all try to come up here as much as we can." Clayton, a transfer from Ventu ra Community College in Califor nia, said the quality and availabil ity of pick-up games is superior on the West Coast. "In California, you can play a pick-up game almost anywhere, but here you have to sit out a lot," Clay ton said. "There's nowhere else in College Station to play." That lack of competition may be what drives players like guard Jerald Brown and former A&M forward Larry Thompson to Houston for pick up games with some NBA players. Some of the play can get physical, which leads to occasional physical confrontations. However, Corrington said that supervisors roam the Rec Center to oversee the play of students. "We don't have much of it (fight ing), but it does happen," Corrington said. "Contact constitutes assault and battery. People can file charges and we will advise them of the rights they have. Just like in sports, if you com mit a foul, you suffer a penalty. We have to make people responsible." A&M student Ben Jacobs said he has seen fights on the basketball courts at the Rec Center, but most of the time, they get diffused before anything serious erupts. "I've never been in one, but I've seen them here," Jacobs said. "Someone gave a hard foul and the guy threw the ball at him. It got stopped before it got serious." However, most games at the Rec Center are devoid of confrontations and simply serve as a fun means of exercise for students. ; ml ■ iW V* V- k m Sis .w-*- Photo By Ryan Rogers/The Bait align He Got Game Senior elementary education major Randy Creager attempts a shot against the defense of Randy Biddlecome, a junior BANA major. Agent says Ambres desires deal with Florida Marlins MIAMI (AP) — An hour after being drafted by the Florida Marlins, Chip Ambres still wasn't in their starting lineup. And Ambres won't be in the big leagues any time soon. The Marlins may be desperate for pitching, but they resisted the temptation to seek immediate help through the draft and in stead took Ambres, an 18-year-old prep out fielder from Beaumont, Texas, in Tuesday's first round. "This isn't like the NFL or NBA," scouting di rector Orrin Freeman said. "We want the best guy. If this guy takes four or five years to get to the big leagues and then plays in five All-Star games, that would be outstanding. "I wouldn't want somebody to get there in a year and just be an average player. We're look ing for guys who will be All-Star-type players to bring us another championship." The Marlins project the 6-foot-l-inch, 190- pound Ambres as an All-Star type. One publica tion projected him as the third-best position play er in the draft, but he was still available when Florida picked 27th — perhaps because of fears he would be difficult to sign. Ambres, an outstanding option quarterback in high school, signed a national letter-of-intent in February to play football at Texas A&M. He prefers baseball, but his agent said football is an option if contract negotiations with the Mar lins stall. "I'd like to think we can certainly get some thing worked out," said agent Brian Peters, who declined to disclose a starting price in ne gotiations. Ambres said he patterns himself after Ken Griffey Jr., which must sound good to the Mar lins. Minor injuries limited him to 66 at-bats as a senior at West Brook High School, and he hit .500 with 10 home runs. "He's a five-tool player," Freeman said. "He can hit, he can hit with power, he can run, he can throw and he can play center field. We're elat ed to have him." Ambres monitored the draft with more than 30 friends and relatives at his parents' home in Beaumont. He was delighted to be selected by the Marlins, despite their recent decline. "You have a lot of young players. I figure that's a big plus for me," he said. "My inten tion is to get signed and play for the Florida Marlins. I've been playing baseball since I was 5 years old. It has been my love, and I'm ready to continue my career." Four of the Marlins' six previous first-round picks have made it to the majors, including their current right fielder, rookie Mark Kotsay. i a? A Central Texas Managed Health Care Program Makes More Sense Than Traditional Health Insurance hat’s why we’re bringing FTRSTCARE to Bryan-College Station. No annual deductible No claim forms to complete Low co-payments Brazos Valley Physicians Organization Quality health care and controlled costs * llryan-College Station |t( employers now have an affordable solution to their group health care needs, ntroducing FIRSTCARE, i health care program reated to help control your rising medical costs. FIRSTCARE is a service of Hillcrest. 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