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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1998)
The Battalion PORTS Football and family [Rings applies winning attitude in football to raising son with Down’s Syndrome *-'iy * J mm ■ ir W ■ Photo By Brandon Bollom / The Batialion ■me:' Texas A&M football coach Gene Stallings signs a copy of Another Season Bobby Brewster at Barnes and Noble. By Jeff Webb Sports Editor ff Harvey Road near the Woodstone Shopping Center in College IStation, Stallings Drive winds its way among shade trees and res idences for a short distance before ending at a stop sign that |rces a traveler to take another road. Bsrhaps the person who planned that road had the Texas A&M coach- g t reer of Gene Stallings in mind when he designed it. Curves at each ■with a smooth spot in the middle sums up the tenure of Stallings as lefhead of the Aggie football program. ji&L'spite six losing seasons in his seven-year reign, Stallings is most re- “lefribered for his emotional 20-16 defeat of eighth-ranked University of Bama in the 1968 Cotton Bowl that pitted him against his former coach aul "Bear" Bryant. However, Stallings' most meaningful accomplish- tem in life isn't based on football; it has to do with his 36-year-old son, alui Mark, who suffers from Down's Syndrome. ■The worst thing that could have happened turned out to be the best," itallings said. "If I could go back 36 years and God asked me if I wanted a ( Bthy John Mark, I'd take my Johnny every time." ■tailings signed copies of his book. Another Season, for over an hour and a half on Friday evening at Barnes and Noble bookstore on Texas Avenue. He began writing the book when he was the coach of Alabama. The book deals with his son's bout with the disease and the way the family has dealt with the situation. The writing process took Stallings four years and sales of hardback copies have reached 90,000. "This book is about raising a handicapped child," he said. "The bot tom line is, when you have finished the book, I want you to have a bet ter understanding of the child." Stallings was a three-year letter winner at A&M as a player from 1954- 56 and began his coaching career in 1965. Stallings suffered through a 3-7 initial campaign and improved to 4-5-1 in his second year. However, in 1967, Stallings coached A&M to its most memorable campaign of the decade with a 7-4 record and a Cotton Bowl victory over the Crimson Tide. The victory ended a 25-year Cotton Bowl slide and a decade-long If I could go back and God asked me if I wanted a healthy John Mark, Fd take my Johnny every time.” — Gene Stallings Retired Texas A&M football coach post-season drought. Stallings fell back to 3-7 the next season and post ed losing campaigns until 1971 when he joined the coaching staff of the Dallas Cowboys as an assistant. In 1986, he was hired as head coach of the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardi nals, a job he left in 1989 to coach the University of Alabama. Patience for losing seasons is harder to come by in the win-now sports world of today, a fact that seems apparent to Stallings. "Now we want instant tea, instant coffee and instant pudding," he said. "You see a coach that lias three or four great years and then has one bad year and the school lets the coach go. That's not what college athletics is all about." Current A&M football coach R.C. Slocum said new kinds of media may be responsible for the skewed perception of collegiate athletics today. "On the Internet and in radio talk shows, you get a perception that everything is all bad," Slocum said. "Some of those people have no quali fications at all to be saying things like that." "Society needs to get a bigger picture of college athletics that goes be yond the wins and losses. My worth as a coach will not be based on wins and losses, it will be based on the influence that I had on these young men." Today, Gene Stallings occasionally finds time for fishing and relaxing, although he said it seems he is on the road now more than when he was in coaching. Requests for speaking engagements arrive a dozen at a time. Perhaps the worth of Gene Stallings' coaching career can be judged by the same standards. Throw out the wins and losses. He affected the lives of numerous young men in college football in a positive way and affected the life of one young man in ways that only a father and son will ever know. * *•- - ■-Tern * *'■: ^ * . Photo Courtesy of Sports Information Gene Stallings (right) faced Texas’ Darrell Royal seven times, winning 10-7 in 1967 on the way to a Cotton Bowl. Stallings went 1-6 against the University of Texas at A&M. MSC L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness : room Inauti Fellowship Presentations: norsi id. lot jCommunitw Household & Environmental Policies in of Hacienda Tabi. Bolivia Yucatan. Mexico Id ? By Allan Meyers Graduate Student, Anthropology By Jimmy Viola Senior, Wildlife and Fisheries Wednesday. June 10th. 1998 Rudder 510 7:00 pm For more information, or to inform us of your needs, call 845-8770 PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES BEGINNING JUNE 8!l! BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY I Tuesdays • June 9, 16, 23, 30 • 7-9 p.m. BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY II L Tuesdays • July 7, 14, 21, 28 • 7-9 p.m. ADVANCED BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Thursdays • July 9, 16, 23, 30 • 7-9 p.m. $50 for students/$55 for non students for all B&W classes 35 MM PHOTOGRAPHY I Mondays • June 8, 15, 22, 29 • 6:30-8:30 p.m. $35 for students/$40 for nonstudents 35 MM PHOTOGRAPHY H Mondays • July 6, 13, 20, 27 • 6:30-8:30 p.m. $35 for students/$40 for non students Oo you know about the photo darkrooms in the MSC? Call 845-1631 TODAY! The classes have limited space!! The Texas A&M University College of Liberal Arts in cooperation with the University of Houston Moores School of Music presents a concert of chamber music on Motftclay, & 2:36 p.m. ♦ Rudder Theatre Sontina for Trumpet and Plano JDavid. Ashley White Suite in G Major 'Jhmasi. Albinoni Centone XI William Boy~ce. Seven Proverbs for Brass Quintet, Op. 79 Derek Bourgeois Quintet in Eb Major for Piano, Oboe Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon,Op. 16 JLuchmg ixtn Beethoven <2oo» IBS) lilt 1998 Taas Music fesiivai Chamber MMSIt Concerts Tickets available at the MSC Sox Office or call 845-1234 Adults $10.00 Season $40.00 Sr. Citizens $8.00 Season $32.00 Students $5.00 Season $20.00 The Arts Council of the Brazos Valley * Texas Commission on the Arts University » Honors Program * Texas A&M University Bookstore Morwest Bank ♦ First American Bank* University Me Co. • Insite Magazine * A. G. Edwards & Sons. Inc. • Dr. & Mrs. Frank Albert Cotton The Eagle AGGIE RING ORDERS THE ASSOCIATION OF FORMER STUDENTS CLAYTON W. WILLIAMS, JR. ALUMNI CENTER DEADLINE: June 9, 1998 Undergraduate Student Requirements: You must be a degree seeking student and have a total of 95 undergraduate credit hours reflected on the Texas A&M University Student Information Management System. (A passed course, which is repeated and passed, cannot count as additional credit hours.) 60 undergraduate credit hours must have been completed in residence at Texas A&M University if your first semester at Texas A&M University was January 1994 or thereafter, or if you do not qualify under the successful semester requirement described in the following paragraph. Should your degree be conferred with less than 60 undergraduate resident credits, this requirement will be waived after you graduate and your degree is posted on the Student Information Management System. 30 undergraduate credit hours must have been completed in residence at Texas A&M University, providing that prior to January 1, 1994, you were registered at Texas A&M University and successfully completed a tall/spring semester or summer term (I and II or 10 weeks) as a full-time student in good standing (as defined in the University catalog). You must have a Z0 cumulative GPR at Texas A&M University. You must be in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc. Graduate Student Requirements If you are a August 1998 degree candidate and you do not have an Aggie ring from a prior degree, you may place an order after you meet the following requirements: Your degree is conferred and posted on the Texas A&M University Student Information Management System; and You are in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc. However, If you completed all of your course work prior to this semester and have been cleared by the thesis clerk, you may request a “letter of completion” from the Office of Graduate Studies. The original letter of completion, with the seal, may be presented to the Ring Office in lieu of your degree being posted. Procedure To Order A Rina: If you meet all of the above requirements and you wish to receive your ring on September 17, 1998 , you must visit the Ring Office nQ later than Tuesday June 9. 1998 between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. to complete the application tor eligibility verification. If your application is approved, you must return and pay in full by cash, check, money order, or your personal Discover, Visa or MasterCard (with your name imprinted) na later than Friday, June 12, 1998 between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Men’s 10K-$335.00 14K-$442.00 Women s 10K - $204.00 14K - $228.00 Add $8.00 for Class of ‘97 or before. The ring delivery date is September 17, 1998. reasons why you should take our GMAT. course Dynamic Instructors Our instructors have not only achieved high scores on the GMAX but they have also excelled in our rigorous training process. They know what it takes to bring out the best in their students. 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