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.
;
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■
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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.
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