Battalion O PINION Page 13 • Tuesday, April 27, 1999 as AM highestsrf this wee-4; iked the fel 2 tea : 1993 te; iked No.: NI.C. (AP|-' seball tean| the stai , ;| tagaziae >% 1125,3003:1 nes a f e t > Rec:' &M 39-111 'ton ■tate St. ia dine .ate oodbye Great Wayne Gretzky redefined hockey, nought sport into mainstream D as 29i orest 311 n April 16, the sporting world lost a player who did more for his game than lyone else in history. 32', That day, Wayne Gretzky skat- 36-:: | off the ice in Madison Square 3: arden for the last time. He left 2a;; 118-year career behind him that 342 Si be defined in one word — ireal. Many people talk about how Mark PASSWATERS t. 32-1 ame 32-1 ichfeel Jordan made the NBA what it now is with his nitless talent. This may be true, but Jordan was able follow the road that had been paved by people with e names of Bird and Johnson but Dr. J. Wayne Gret- ;y not only brought hockey to prominence but was lite possibly the sole reason the sport continues to- iy- Gfetzky’s numbers surpass everyone’s who has iate Bf'tf played hockey to the point that it is amusing. letzk\ has more assists than the second closest scor- 7 has points. Nobody, save Gretzky, has ever scored ore than 200 points in a single season. The “Great :ords tr neidid it four times. js rankini This would be comparable to Barry Sanders rush- ortswrte g for 2,000 yards four times or Mark McGwire hit- directors: ig 70 home runs four times. Gretzky’s highest point Readaljtor a season was 218, which equates to 2.66 31-2 lints per game. an 37-8 ff someone were to drive in that many runs in a 434 tajor-league season, they would drive in 430 runs. 3g.g he major-league record, 190, was set by Hack Wilson k decades ago and has never been seriously chal- M 39-18 ,n S e< *- The NHL should have just given Gretzky the . o a q -eds to all the teams in the league because he owned a,:e ' em 3910 P- In 1988, Gretzky went from being the dominant ayer in the league to the man that made hockey in )lina 37-SI be >' merica. The Edmonton Oilers traded him to the Los ntic 44-z ngeles Kings, and the Kings went from averaging i 34-12 000 fans per game to selling out for the entire sea- est 31-13 f 35-10 The Kings also went to the top of NHL in terms of 28- 20 ierchandise sold (second only to the Chicago Bulls ate 33-H 'tall sports). People across the nation could be found s 2917 earing Los Angeles Kings jerseys — with the num- C h 3911 479 °n the back, ite 32-7 32-17 34-10 29- 17 1 27-17 a 3M ite 32-11 Gretzky was able to generate interest in hockey in places where the sport had been unable to gain a fol lowing. In a good portion of the United States, people immediately thought of Rodney Dangerfield’s famous line, “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out” when the NHL was mentioned. Gretzky, being a magician on skates, was able to show that was not always true. People who were for tunate enough to see Gretzky operate saw a picture of true grace. People were captivated. When Gretzky was traded to the Kings, there were four NHL teams below the Mason-Dixon line. By next year, there will be a dozen, all of which will have strong fan bases. The NHL’s television contract is 200 percent more lucrative now than it was before Gretzky’s arrival in Los Angeles. This is not a coincidence. The interest in hockey generated by Gretzky’s dom inance of the NHL not only saved a struggling league but allowed it to flourish in places it was never consid ered possible. Hockey in Phoenix? Old timers like Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe must be astound ed. At the twilight of his career, Gretzky was still able to make an impact. Reunited with his old friend from Edmonton, Mark Messier, Gretzky was able to make the New York Rangers a power once again. For a couple of years, old East Coast rivalries were rekindled. Gretzky and Messier made the Rangers strong, while Eric Lindros (the supposed “Next One”) and his “Legion of Doom” brought the Philadelphia Flyers back to the forefront. With Mario Lemeiux and Jaromir Jagr making the Pittsburgh Penguins an exciting bunch and Peter Bon- dra taking the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup finals last year, hockey fever gripped the Eastern Seaboard. But all of that is done now. The NHL has decided nobody will ever wear the number 99 again, and Gret zky’s nickname — “The Great One” — will always be known. Considering his domination of the game and his impact on its fiscal well being, he should be known as “The Greatest One.” Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major Bad taste in local commercials offers comic relief between shows jday/fl i/ca MlLt Aaron MEIER n a recent interview, [jSA WBme direc- i| Coaches )r of the film ies of Apr- orces of Na- parenttie-frel Bronwen Recotfiigpes, 43-8 liked about 31-9 ow she got I 3940 ;.er start in 37-8 ie film in- (1) 38-9 justry directing car commer- 2942 ials. While comparisons can be ite 39-9 iade about the performances of 3949 Honda Accord and Ben Af- 35-1- eck, both being too well pol- l6 34-8 shed for their own good, at tic 44-2 >ast Hughes didn’t have to di- ,te 33-h set one of the hordes of locally 344" reduced commercials. : |i 36-H Everyone with a eight-inch 37-9 creen and a tin-foil-wrapped 344- ntenna can see these things. 324' (’hey are nke automobile acci- e 32-< tents, no matter how gruesome t bone-chilling, you still have ;St32'j: p watch them. 0 354 jf They range from borderline 29';' tomography to the downright t. 3-;. :orny. From statements such as, t';: You know you want it” to the 3°' miles so forced they make the junior pre-teen, post-diaper |zos County winner look nat- hile College Station televi- ion may not be the spawning . found for the next Steven Spiel- |<9erg, it looks as though a few fu ture porn directors may claim te B-CS metroplex as their ?me before too long. Here’s a through of the best of the ■rst. • If they gave a Cleo for worst 'Se of sexually suggestive mater ial, the tanning commercials would win by a landslide. It opens with a bunch of bikini- clad, “Baywatch” rejects looking suggestively at the camera coo ing, “You know you want it ... You know you want the perfect tan.” Then giggles erupt from the camera and a swirl of lotions, ul traviolet bulbs and people who will spend the rest of their lives in a dermatologist’s chair having melanomas removed and trying to figure out why their faces bear a strong resemblance to Iggy Pop’s leather pants appear. The idea was apparently so bad, they decided to use it twice. One spot using the bikini brigade and another one with a group of guys oiled up worse than Wayne Newton’s hair. (Grade: D, at least it’s in focus — most of the time) • From sexually suggestive to the sexually deviant, the ideas for a local nutrition supplement company and the tanning salons are as different as day and later that day. The commercial gives honest, hard-working Peeping Toms a bad name. It stars a boy so skinny. Ally McBeal would be jealous work ing out with a contraption that looks like it was intended to shoot arrows at Gulliver. This Larry Flynt wannabe has a unhealthy obsession with his voluptuous neighbor, who ap parently changes into spandex at the exact same time everyday. So he watches as the object of his ill-directed lust descends the stairs with a guy that would make Fabio look like a candidate for the Charles Atlas program. (Grade: F, always give credit where credit is due) • I always thought child labor had been outlawed, but appar ently a local mattress company has found some loophole and the owner has turned to his son, or nephew, or some familial re lation and exploited the kid. Let’s hope his name isn’t Marshall Dylan or else the kids at school will be making fun of him for years to come. It’s almost as bad as those kids for the Tomball dealership who beg viewers to “come see Paw Paw. ” (Grade: D + , if the kid was forced to do it; F, if he wasn’t) • Finally, Lucas and his coven of special-effects wizards at ILM don’t need to worry about the competition from the commer cials being made by a local beeper store. Using the same technology that made Superman fly and lets Bob French know where the rain in Waco is, a man is blue screened onto a photo of the beeper store. As if recording the commer cial at the store itself wasn’t sim ple enough, adding the technol ogy makes it seem that much more pathetic. (Grade: C + , at least they don’t try and throw perverts into the commercial, al though that guy does seem a lit tle too excited about his vibrat ing pager.) Aaron Meier is a senior political science major. ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion Letter about Corps contradicts itself In response to Eric Ferguson’s April 26 mail call: Eric Ferguson’s letter is a mas terpiece in literary contradiction. As a former member, I am saddened by his misunderstanding of the Corps. I am confused by his lack of organization and obvious double standards. Ferguson states, “while you were in detention in high school and chasing girls through the halls, I was serving this country, uphold ing the freedom that has allowed ig norant, narrow-minded individuals such as yourself to even have the right to call yourself an Aggie.” in the next breath he says, “and now I am proud .to say that I am a member of this institution that al lows me the same right as anyone else. And that is to call myself an Aggie.” What are you saying, Eric? Am I an Aggie because you allow me the freedom to be one, or am I an Ag gie because I also am a member of this institution? Would I be an Ag gie if you hadn’t served in the mili tary? Ferguson later states, “join the military, grow up and come back and look at this University through the eyes of a mature adult like I have.” Oh, I see, look not at the world through your “ignorant, nar row mind,’’ look at it through mine! Is this your response for all dif ferences of opinion? It’s funny that Ferguson begins his article with a futile attempt to somehow tie us to gether by a “common freedom” but ends up with a slap in freedom’s face by offering a guarantee that we will “not see things the same” when seen through his eyes. Steve Walkup Class of ‘98 MAIL CALL Blame gunmen for Colorado shootings In response to Caleb McDaniel’s April 22 opinion column: Two young men killed several classmates and one heroic teacher last week in Littleton, Colo. Realize that these gunmen shot those weapons because the guns definitely didn’t aim themselves at the victims. Gun control is an ex tremely important issue, which I do believe is beneficial to society, but only to an extent. Gun control could not have saved the lives of those children; the Tec-9 semiautomatic handgun used in the killings was illegally ac quired. Littleton has a restrictive lo cal statute that makes it illegal to sell or furnish any firearm to a mi nor. Some of the bombs that day were made from household items, and this could not have been pre vented by gun control. Also, you cannot simply place blame of this incident on “poor parenting.” Nearly a year ago, Randy Brown, father of one of the killers, reported the content of his son’s Web page, which included detailed bomb descriptions, to the sheriff’s department. I doubt the parents influenced their children to kill; those teenagers fundamentally had the choice not to commit this atrocity. I guarantee that the gunmen knew that what they were doing was terri bly wrong, even evil. They had the right to dress, believe and idolize whom they choose. A good parent will first control then, with an older child, attempt to influence such as pects positively, but ultimately the choice is one of free will. The gunmen who did this are to be held to blame. They alone are to be held accountable for their evil. The passage I had in mind when I wrote this was Deuterono my 24:16. Erica Milburn Class of ‘OO Former student thanks Aggies I want to thank all of the Universi ty staff, volunteers, and students for organizing the wonderful 50th An niversary 1949 Class Reunion this week. The Muster ceremony was very moving and perfect in every re spect and the recognition given my class was appreciated by all of us. It is very gratifying to see the high cal iber of students at A&M and the outstanding leadership demonstrat ed by your student leaders. The honesty and character of your student body was demonstrat ed to me when I returned home from Muster. A credit card service called to tell me that a student at A&M called them to say they had found one of my credit cards on the campus -1 had not even missed the card. The student did not give a name so I want to express my thanks through your newspaper. I am very proud of being an Ag gie and even more so after my ex perienced the last few days. Phillip McDaniel Class of ‘49 The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in clude the author's name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mai!: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu