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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2000)
I ucMlay, Jam, King naJ 1 " '"'" 10 25 - 2(HI<l iman of wt SPORTS THE BATTALION Page Chiefs’ LB Thomas paralyzed after car accident s A&M's Bernai ^een named ( an of the WV )m after his perft Aggtes’ stirring IIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — NFL star Derrick f No. 12 Oklahof’iioi ias was paralyzed from the waist down fol ly on Saturday swing a car crash that broke his neck and killed a ield. scored 17 points.iMhonus liaMiscol Ills uppci ir of free throwsn3d) and it was not cleai 1 16ft, to lead the®her he will regain use ol victory affair-sis legs, the Kansas City Chiefs ». their first winajud earn in almost iditodax ■he an with nationalli a> nine-time Pro Bow ' .^ ies . nebacker will be transferred to ; hospital in his hometown of liami, said Dr. Jon Browne, ie team physician. • “It takes time to cheek th vs 13 S SIC ro\ ne said title gar‘P kl l,ursts -” «. i ^ i b ul Teammates and Iriends gathered at the hospital Chiefs president Carl Peterson and coach THOMAS things out,” vement can conic slowly or in i&M’ ESPN in ow lu f lier Cunningham were joined by Steve Paler- pg f gh. to, a former American League umpire who was lot in 1991 and left partially paralyzed, fry,. jDo not rule anything in,” said Palermo, a iansas City resident and friend ofThomas. “And o n* t rule anything out.” ‘[This type of injury, it’s impossible to know how it’s going to turn out, but Derrick is a fighter,” Palermo said. flic 33-year-old Thomas and two companions were heading to the Kansas City airport at the time of the accident. They were planning to fly to St. Louis for the NFC Championship game when their car flipped on an icy road Sunday afternoon. Thomas and the man who was killed were thrown from the car. The third man was treated at a hospital and released. The dead man was identified as Michael Tellis, 49, of Kansas City, Kan. He is a close friend of Thomas who helped the player set up such projects as a charity golf tournament that had beedme an an nual event in Kansas City. “Forget about the football aspect of it,” Cun ningham said. “He has given a lot to this city and this organization. It’s a tough thing to deal with.”. With one of the quickest first moves of any de fender in the league, Thomas became known for his “sack and strip” move. He would close fast on a quarterback’s blind side and hack at his arm to knock the ball out of his hand. Coaches designed the Chiefs’ entire defense around the quick-hitting, 6-foot-3,255-pounder. He was a mainstay in a consistently tough defense that helped Kansas City become one of just three NFL teams to win 100 games in the ’90s. “God willing, all the initial reports will be off, “Right now, I'm not concerned with Derrick Thomas the football player, I'm worried about Derrick Thomas the person ” — Tim Grunhard Chiefs center and he’ll be OK,” Chiefs center Tim Grunhard said. “Right now, I’m not concerned with Derrick Thomas the football player, I’m worried about Der rick Thomas the person.” An All-American at Alabama; Thomas became an immediate star as a pass-rushing specialist after being taken in the first round of the 1989 draft. He was an All-Pro in his first nine seasons. In 1990, he set the NFL single-game record with seven sacks against Seattle. That game was the same week as Veteran’s Day. Thomas dedicated his performance to his father, an Air Force pilot killed in Vietnam. Thomas made headlines in 1998 when he lost his temper during a Monday night game against Denver and committed three personal fouls during the Broncos’ final touchdown drive. I le was fined and suspended for one game and apologized to the Broncos and his fans. Cunningham, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator from 1995-98, has said Thomas was primarily re sponsible for the team leading the league with a plus-130 turnover ratio in the 1990s. “1 take my hat oft’to No. 58.1 le is the most un derrated football player right now on our football team,” Cunningham said in December. “For one reason or another, everybody looks at Derrick Thomas and says, ‘Well, he didn’t show up in the playoff game.’ “If Derrick is not out there at right end, the Chiefs would not have been as successful as they’ve been for the last 11 years. Derrick was the starting point to getting there.” Jets hire new head coach HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) —A1 Groh, a Bill Parcells pal for more than 30 years, replaced his former boss yes terday as coach of the New York Jets. Three weeks after Parcells resigned and Bill Belichick stunned the club by quitting a day after he took over, the Jets finally sorted out their coaching puzzle. Groh, who grew up a few miles from the Jets’ training camp at Hofs- tra, was reportedly given a five-year contract worth $6 million by new owner Richard Johnson IV, who bought the Jets this month from the estate of Leon Hess for $635 million. Parcells, who turned the Jets into winners in his three seasons as coach, will remain with the club as head of football operations. The 55-year-old Groh first worked with Parcells when the two were assis- tants at Army in 1968, and (iroh also was an assistant under Parcells at Air Force. '6 •‘•'A World: greatestod® nstory, the 12 third qua3 a double biak to srvieii h Sain; R (AP) — Dcnvrrrfi > h >rd i nator Gary fr&fo month turned dustl he New EqglandtriB talking to the it their vacant head I®? 38, met with Sanflj n in New OrleansosH dunned to talk tok® ic Denver Post repo® ng considered to rep® ittsburgh Steeles® Jim Haslett, Atlantifl ne coach Art Shell® > defensive coordin® s expected to inter® s are nothing new tf® oncos quarterback® er’s offensive c(«i on to rejecting! ire. Kubiak last ycr ■ umed downahead-w ■ University ofColodT med down assist*® vs in Baltimoreandv® ias said he wouldf® Denver or Houston® be attractive becati® nh a one-hour flid® ts fired Ditkaaftertw zlies sc : hicage onairc v - TEXTBOOKS ONLINE. SAVE UP TO 40%. after the sale tol -a Chicago billioK cp the NBA teams owner is Michaell 1 ire who has donee* s in Canada, said spoke on condf leisley made hisffl* building compand scheduled a news 1 rday. ked out of a deal tol : of the NBA’s ini 1 hise remain in rd to move the he owns the Blues* 1 I to pay $10 million ninate his $20001®’ irizzlics from Sealtl 1 McCaw. , Stan McCammon Bay Sports and Erl 1 IcCaw company tW NHL Canucks a* said discussionshaf r possible buyers. I »WWW«3 VJI1IL.IIUE;. £9#* VC Ut* I \J /O. FREE SHIPPING! FOR $10 OFF** ENTER CODE #650913 AT PURCHASE CHECKOUT January 18 - January 28 tfeaccw CULM Sinifing Cadet* Auditions * Since I SOI there has been a vocal music qroup a a social €iI with Texas AS.M In l O-IO, we l>ccamc known as the "Sinyinfj Cadets" and <jrew to receive national ntelaim. The rymn/i perform* 50 60 concerts each yair which include irerformances tlnomjhout the state as well as nianij special performances. These include things like opening day for the Astros, Miss Texas ixigcants, Shnnia Twain, dinners for former Presidents of the U.S., and many others. We are com prised of 60-70 male Aggies where membership in the corfis is NOT rcqwied. If you love to sing and are will ing to work hard, then come Join us. the "Voice of Ag- gielanrl. ” We are located In MSC 003 (that's downstairs next to Hullabaloo) Singing Cadets Texas A&M University P.O.Drawer K-l AggielandStation, Texas 77844 Phone: 409-845-5974 Fax: 847-9384 Email: scadets@tam2k.tamu.edu * ^ The Voice Of Aggieland Some-one, Spe-oual -Cor Pare-n-ts o-£ -fko Ye-ar A'lr't-e-nd one, o-C -fko -Collo/d/Vizj manda-horq /n-Corma'l'tonal me-e-'t’inzjS Monda/j; danaarq Z 4 Taesdaq, danaarq 26 lA)e-dne-sda/j; danaarq ZC Monda/j; Pe-braarq 3 a-t- 8:30 p.m.., in Pludde-r Z03 \£ upu Wave, ani^ que.& J rion$> J plz-z*S£. oall Laure-n uii-bW 5 Itie-eMe-nd Commi-W-We-e, a^c 8 / /6-306| * Free shipping for a limited time on orders over $35. ■* $10 otter expires February 15,2000. O 2000 BIGWORDS, Inc. AN AGGIE TRADITION FOR SIXTEEN YEARS SPRING SESSION 1 DANCE LESSONS CLASS DAY TIME LOCATION C&W I SUN 6:15-7:45 GRW 266 JITTERBUG I SUN 8:15-9:45 GRW 266 JITTERBUG 1 SUN 6-7:30 MSC 224 C&W 1 SUN 8-9:30 MSC 224 C&W II WED 7-8:30 GRW 262 ADV. JITTERBUG THUR 7-8:30 GRW 266 SIGN UPS WILL BE IN THE MSC FLAGROOM TODAY 8 a.in.-3 p.m. CLASSES WILL START THE WEEK OF FEB. 6 AND WILL RUN FOR 4 WEEKS COST: $35 PER COUPLE $40 FOR ADVANCED JITTERBUG Fivti: www.tainu.edu/aggie_wranglers