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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 2001)
Wednesdav, 1 "^Rday, July 25, 2001 Sports Page 3 THE BATTALION foAggies signed, sealed and delivered QfjfOl draft picks Ferguson, Glenn agree to contracts with Green Bay, Detroit €Mmm ' ' I Jfcl ^ 'I P Mark Passwaters “He stepped in at Texas A&M anc dor of strand .‘lectrical core cl of helping dence and d:!:I Arthur police] i possible cor: I lardy’s death: \ earlier this , of David Yeagel icted of mans!; ating death of. n over a stolen ns that James iv id Yeagenrd .1 Port .\rthi! n Chad th lived inPo *an around to? k that has pro: ■ to think the aliation. But e checked into a relationsk tuo events.’ t. tie or I and resp ditionsof^e^®^' 6 l' ne * :,ac: * <er Ja son Glenn, shown here exhibit acle ire of A&M FILE PHOTO/The Battalion tract with the Detroit Lions on Monday. intercepting a pass against Oklahoma, signed a multi-year con- The Battalion As NFL training camps open up, teams are scrambling to get their draft picks signed to contracts and into camp. Two members of the 2000 Aggie football team signed contracts on Monday and will be ready for their teams’ first practices. Wide receiver Robert Ferguson, the second round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers and linebacker Jason Glenn, tak en in the sixth round by the Detroit Li ons, have both agreed to multi-year con tracts. No terms were disclosed. Ferguson, who spent just one season at A&M, was the highest-drafted wide re ceiver by the Packers since 1988, when they selected Sterling Sharpe from Clemson with the eighth overall pick. Ferguson was a first team All-Big 12 se lection in 2000, setting A&M’s single season receiving record with 885 yards while fighting injuries that kept him out of the Texas game and parts of several other contests. He also set the record for longest play from scrimmage in Aggie history when he caught a 97-yard touch down pass from Mark Farris in the 51-3 defeat of Wyoming. “The big key (for Ferguson) is going to be how quickly he can learn the sys tem,” said Packers Offensive Coordina tor Tom Rossley in a press release. and learned the system in one year. That will be key here.” Ferguson arrives in Green Bay with the Packers’ high hopes for him to make an immediate impact. Frustrated with Bill Schroeder’s inconsistency and Antonio Freeman’s off-field troubles, the Packers would like to make Ferguson their second wide receiver to Corey Bradford. Glenn, another first-team, All-Big 12 selection in 2000, was the emotional leader of the “Wrecking Crew” defense. Before suffering a season-ending injury in the 35- 31 loss to Oklahoma, Glenn racked up 67 tackles — 16 of which were for a loss — 15 pass deflections and three interceptions. For his career, which included a move to linebacker from strong safety, Glenn amassed 167 tackles, 11 sacks and 33 tackles for loss. He returned a fumble for a touchdown in the 1997 Big 12 Cham pionship game against Nebraska and set up A&M’s first score in the team’s 26-10 victory against Kansas State this season with a sparkling interception and return to the Wildcat 3-yard line on the first pass of the game. Detroit also resigned exclusive rights to free agent Andy Vincent, who the Lions signed out of A&M as an undrafted free agent in April, 2000. Vincent spent most of last season on the team’s practice squad and did not receive playing time. America's forgotten role model? fallen football star Bob Kalsu’s life a perfect example of a true hero said she inted iany student lidates aspossi dent voice de the selectionp her members essive listofai olars andinad‘1 A s * ople,” she said.mein- 11 bemyrespon$P- -^-ber ot loudly and let" theOkla- le voice of tb lomaSoon- n this IhrVera'; v ps from >r thehiture.” |p64-'67, said she will iyobKalsu individualswhoawas one of deal with the bailie most dominating offensive 1 administiativetfinemen in college football. In faced byacadt 1968, he was named the Buffa- 1 Bills’ Rookie of the Year. ■e the obviousqlliis man with great athletic iasacommime::Rill, drive and intelligence elopmenyacad does not have his name on uality scholaftwe walls of the Pro Football t I’m alsoloofcwall of Fame in Canton, ao understands»hio. His name is on another t to today’sacadmq] — that of the Vietnam ivironment. Beterans Memorial in Wash- ia] isnolongerlgton, D.C. erful,gleaming: Q n j u l y 21, 1970, Kalsu said, fhe ii Ijs killed while defending alic is loolni. Rip Corc [ j n South tabilityandwjBj e t n;1 in from an enemy at- >oking for jq e was (-p^ on ly profes- ocations. Wes sional athlete killed in Viet- h a tea \ rig n , m yjj s s tory of courage tin. . onkor. anc j selflessness should be t e stmiyt ei oU g] T to n-^ke Kalsu a role itutionandisfW| ■ partnerships strengths.” blished I and sprini ay during tti: lolidays afii y. Periodica^ 7840. POSf he Battalia!' 5e Station,H managed e Division aartment oj id McDonal ; Fax: 84: T n; Web siY£ an g ers trade Galarraga + . „ |o San Francisco Giants >es not imp attalion Fc | ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — First ’ertising ca f> aseman Andres Galarraga was traded I 845-056? Tuesday from the Texas Rangers to the Donald at' ^ an F ranc ' sco Giants for three minor day throuf l ea 9 u ers. ... Galarraga played in the National , . -Meague for 15 seasons before signing services ■ R an g ers as a f ree a gent in De- , U P f sin : lember. tiona copi ■ F ven with the addition of Galarraga, h ear 'mf f lex Rodriguez and former NL MVP the sum (2 am j n ii ; j / th e R an gers were in last 2] as e .place again after the first month of the 3111 “eason. The team went into a rebuild- model, yet he was largely for gotten until a July 23 Sports Illustrated article brought his story back into America’s consciousness. In this case, our ignorance is our loss. Kalsu is an athlete to whom the label “hero” truly could be applied. In this day and age, we grant heroic status to people like Cal Ripken, David Robinson, Darrell Green and Derrick Brooks for “giv ing back.” It is easy to do so when their contemporaries are Latrell Spreewell, Patrick Ewing and John Rocker. Their vocabulary seems to be limited to “I,” “me” and “my,” with little or no thought to things beyond themselves. Kalsu, on the other hand, gave everything he had for an ideal that was larger than himself. Athletes like Ted Williams (military service in World War II and Korea), Bob Feller (four years in the Navy during World War II) and Christy Mathewson (gassed in World War I) were also willing to make the sacrifice, which should sep arate them from the athletes of this era. Kalsu was re cruited to play football for Okla homa, but went into the ROTC anyway. “He did every thing the way you’re supposed to. He didn’t cut classes. He didn’t complain,” said Joe Riley, one of his teammates. His coach, Chuck Fair banks said Kalsu was “the best blocking lineman I’ve ever seen ... (he was) near perfection.” In spite of all that he had going for him — a wife, a daughter and another child on the way — Kalsu did not try for a spot in the Army Re serve and went onto active duty in Vietnam without complaint. “I’m no better than anybody else. I gave ’em my word, and I’m gonna do it,” he said. Kalsu went to Vietnam and won several awards for valor, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. On July 21, 1970, Kalsu met his fate on a lonely hill in Viet nam. On July 23, his son, James Robert Kalsu Jr., was born, in Oklahoma City. His wife was informed of his death hours later. Fpr the selflessness and courqge that Kalsu showed by putting a promising and lu crative career on hold for something he believed in, he should be remembered as a role model. Instead, he mere ly is a statistic to many, one of 58,000 names on a black wall in Washington. Muhammad Ali, who re fused to go into the military when he was drafted, was say ing, “I ain’t got nothing against no Viet Cong” at the same time Kalsu was strug gling to survive in Vietnam. Ali was one of the first no table self-absorbed athletes, and he has been made into a national hero. Kalsu was one of the last people that seemed to think first in terms of “we,” and he is forgotten. This is not right, nor is it just. Like it or not, many children and some adults look to athletes as role mod els. Our children now are quick to adopt the hubris and arrogance of many of today’s athletes, while society won ders where things went wrong. Maybe it was when Kalsu went from being a player to a soldier to a statistic, instead of the hero he truly was. Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion Sports in Brief ing mode before the All-Star break. Galarraga, 40, hit .235 in 72 games for the Rangers with 10 homers and 34 RBIs. In recent weeks, he platooned with Ruben Sierra as the designated hit ter and occasionally gave Rafael Palmeiro a break at first. Armstrong finishes with main pack in Tour de France LAVAUR, France (AP) — Having all but secured a third straight title in the mountains, Lance Armstrong returned to flat land in the Tour de France to be gin the long ride to Paris. The Texan finished Tuesday's stage from Pau to Lavaur in southwest France with the main pack, about 1 5 minutes behind winner Rik Verbrug- ghe of Belgium. The race was the first of six stretch es that cover more than 600 miles be tween the foot of the Pyrenees and Paris, where the Tour ends July 29. The stages are unlikely to significant ly affect the overall standings. Armstrong finished in 40th place Tuesday. He maintained his overall lead, ahead of main rival Jan Ullrich of Ger many by 5 minutes, 5 seconds. Armstrong built his lead by out classing his rivals in the five tough mountain stages. Barring sickness or accidents, he is expected to maintain a big edge in the remaining flat stages. At 144 miles, this was the longest leg of the three-week event. Verbrug- ghe crossed the finish line under blaz ing sunshine in 5:1 6:21. This year he won the prologue of the Giro d'ltalia and the Walloon Ar row in his home country. Italy's Marco Pinotti was second, in the same time as Verbrugghe. Coun tryman Alessandro Petacchi was third, six seconds off the pace. None of the 25 riders who finished before the main pack is a serious threat to Armstrong or the other race leaders. Their performance did not affect the top of the standings. Men's tennis gets new assistant Mark Passwaters The Battalion The Texas A&M men’s tennis team has started preparing for the 2002 sea son with a new assistant coach and three highly sought-after recruits to de fend their 2001 Big 12 title. Tad Berkowitz, a former player under head coach Tim Cass at New Mexico and a former Western Ath letic Conference Player of the year, was named assis tant coach on Monday. The position has been open since former assistant coach Scott Treibly accept ed a job with the Nick Bol- lettieri Sports Academy in Florida earlier this month. “We’re real excited about (Berkowitz),” Cass said. “He was a great player, played three years professionally, and he can really come in and help the [players].” Cass said that being one of his former players helped Berkowitz stand out in the process of selecting a new assistant coach. “All of my assistants for the 13 years I’ve been a head coach have been former players, and it’s worked well,” Cass said. Berkowitz, the only New Mexico player in history to win the WAG Player of the Year award as well as being a three-time AJ1-WAC sin gles selection, is excited about reuniting with his for mer coach. “I played for three years for Tim (Cass) and I consid er that to be the most mem orable part of my playing ca reer,” he said. “To have the opportunity to work with him again is a real thrill. Texas A&M’s men’s tennis is now proven to be one of the top programs in the country and to work with the Aggies is a real honor to me.” Cass said that the tennis team has also been able to reload with three quality players that have committed to A&M for next year. See Tennis on Page 6.